The air in the room surged violently, streams of energy converging into specks of azure light that gathered in Forth's left palm. At the same time, a deafening thunderclap split the air, and raging lightning-element energy condensed into her right palm.
There was more!
Cai Yue'er and the two middle-aged examiners standing beside her were already too shocked to speak.
The light, agile wind element formed into a lotus with four petals, while the fierce lightning element condensed into a lotus with three petals. One after another, they merged with the previously manifested five-element lotus.
After completing this step, Forth exhaled deeply. Unlike the earlier Five Elements Mutual Growth, fusing wind and thunder was far more challenging for her.
The middle-aged examiner was about to praise her unprecedented feat of seven-element fusion, but Cai Yue'er stopped him with just a glance.
Her eyes were fixed on Forth, watching the rotating seven-element lotus, while recalling the number of petals she had previously manifested. A terrifying thought began to form in Cai Yue'er's mind—
She can continue!
And sure enough, Forth reached out once again, pulling from the void the radiant light element and the gloomy darkness element.
However, instead of transforming into lotus petals, the two merged into a yin-yang sphere, black and white swirling together, hovering at the lotus's core.
A seven-colored lotus now revolved unceasingly, encasing a black-and-white energy sphere. The radiance of nine different powers illuminated the room, reflecting in the stunned, speechless faces of everyone present.
Nine elements.
She was actually wielding nine elemental forces—and not only controlling them, but merging them into one whole! The sheer magnitude of her elemental mastery, her unfathomable spiritual power… it was beyond imagination.
"Good! Good! Good! This time, our Shrek Academy has truly struck gold. To think a student with nine-element control… This will absolutely go down in the annals of the continent's history!"
Cai Yue'er couldn't stop herself, saying "good" three times in a row. Her joy was evident on her face. This was no ordinary talent—this was a once-in-a-millennium prodigy.
The next instant, Forth rotated the nine-element lotus and then threw it outward!
"Be careful!" The others panicked, and Cai Yue'er immediately prepared to act. Nine spirit rings appeared around her body: four purple, four black, one red.
But before she could intervene, the lotus's light and darkness elements exploded, triggering the violent resonance of wind and thunder. The four forces collided uncontrollably—
Yet, unexpectedly, the surrounding five-element lotus flared, merging into a brilliant five-colored ring that locked the raging energies in place, preventing even a shred of leakage.
That was the Great Five Elements Divine Radiance, a fusion ability of the Five Elements carrying annihilation properties!
The four raging forces collided against the five-colored radiance, then dissipated together into nothingness, transforming into a dazzling rain of elemental light that filled the room.
"So beautiful…" Cang Jingkong muttered under her breath, captivated. The others silently nodded in agreement.
"Hu…"
Fourth finally let out a sigh of relief. For her, the Five Elements fusion wasn't too difficult, but merging wind and thunder had already pushed her to her limit. That was why light and darkness had only been fused in a yin-yang form at the lotus's core.
As for the chain reaction of light and darkness detonating and pulling wind and thunder along with them, she had already anticipated that.
Still, with her ability to endlessly draw on the void's elemental energy to reinforce the Five Elements, it was impossible for the backlash to spiral out of control.
Finished at last, Forth looked at the four stunned examiners, smiling faintly.
"Well then, how many points do I score for this test?"
Points? Of course, it was a perfect score!
Cang Jingkong almost blurted it out on behalf of the examiners. To her, Forth's performance was flawless. If a monster of this level couldn't get full marks, then who at Shrek could?
But thankfully, she remembered her role was only that of a guide, not an examiner, so she held her tongue, turning instead to Elder Cai. The two middle-aged men did the same.
All eyes turned to Cai Yue'er, who walked up to Forth with a smile, her gaze filled with appreciation.
"Little girl, would you like to become my disciple?" she asked with a kindly expression.
"Are you the Head of the Sea God Pavilion?" Forth countered with her own question.
Cai Yue'er froze—this little girl dared to counter-question her? She had just revealed her nine spirit rings! Any other student would've instantly agreed without hesitation. After all, her position within Shrek Academy was not low by any means.
But then she remembered: geniuses were always proud. With the strength this girl had shown, her pride was justified. So Cai Yue'er patiently replied, "Though I am not the Head of the Sea God Pavilion, I too am a member of the Pavilion…"
She was interrupted.
"Then, are you the strongest person in the world?" Fourth asked again.
Cai Yue'er stiffened but remained composed. "While I am not the strongest alive, there are few in this world who can match me…"
"Are you a Rank 99 Title Douluo, or a Four-word Battle Armor Master?"
Cai Yue'er's face twitched. These questions were so sharp and precise!
One examiner tried to help her, explaining, "Little girl, you must understand, Rank 99 Title Douluos and Four-word Armor Masters are incredibly rare. Elder Cai may not be one, but she is—"
"Ohh~" Forth dragged out her voice. "So in other words, she's not Rank 99, and not a Four-word Armor Master either."
Her tone turned resolute.
"Then I won't bow."
Her firm words echoed through the chamber, resonant and unyielding.
"Young one, you may not understand Elder Cai's standing in Shrek, but—" Cang Jingkong hurriedly tried to explain, yet Forth cut her off again.
"No bowing means no bowing. If I am to take a master, it will either be none, or the strongest person alive. If she's not even a Four-word Armor Master, why should I acknowledge her as my teacher?"
Her voice was steady, filled with unshakable determination.
Cai Yue'er's expression darkened. Never in her life had she been rejected like this. With her identity, if she wanted to take disciples, countless people would line up begging for the chance. And yet today, she was… dismissed.
"Young lady, think carefully! Don't make a mistake out of childish impulse!" the two middle-aged examiners tried to persuade her.
Hmph! Suit yourself, then. Elder Cai's face turned cold. With a flick of her sleeve, she stormed out of the room.