CH 19: Shrek City

<please read the previous chapter "lightborne soul beasts' age", because I've recked my brain to make some changes>

Ali was the first person in history to have three martial souls, that alone would make him the greatest genius there is.

But those three martial souls aren't ordinary martial souls either. Two of them possess ultimate attributes while the third one can copy martial souls and abilities.

Even if he wasn't Mu En's son, the Shrek Academy would definitely make it their top priority to make him stronger.

And because of that, if he really wanted someone to stay in Shrek Academy, nobody will disagree with him.

Yuhao nodded seriously at Tang Ya :"Teacher Xiao Ya, I will definitely do my best. However, with your and eldest senior brother's power, have you actually not become students of the inner courtyard?"

Tang Ya shook her head and explained :"Wanting to enter the inner courtyard of Shrek Academy is easier said than done.

The rules for Shrek Academy have never been changed. The outer courtyard was only created later on, due to the three empires requests so that they could cultivate even more talented people.

However, only students who have entered the inner courtyard are considered true students of Shrek Academy.

Every single student in the inner courtyard is a genius or a monstrous genius, and some of them can only be described as monsters.

Students in the outer courtyard will have a test after staying there for six years, and can graduate after passing that test.

Only the most outstanding people that take the test, which number extremely few, will have the chance to take the entrance exam for the inner courtyard.

Only after passing that test will they have permission to enter the inner courtyard. The time taken to complete their studies within the inner courtyard is also six years.

Supposedly, every single person that has graduated from the inner courtyard is at least an expert of the Soul Emperor rank!

Furthermore, they'll receive the best treatment from all countries, including the Sun Moon Empire."

"Whoa, it's so amazing?!" Yuhao said as he looked at her with amazement before Beibei also added with a serious face :"It's far more amazing.

I once saw an upperclassman from the inner courtyard. He entered the Great Star Dou Forest by himself, and defeated three ten thousand year soul beasts with his bare hands, without killing them!

He then took them back to the academy. Supposedly, that was the mission he'd received for his tenth year assessment."

Tang Ya also added :"I've even heard that there was once a twelfth year upperclassmen who'd already reached the Soul Sage level by the time he graduated.

Furthermore, he even possessed a hundred thousand year soul ring! That upperclassman later stayed in the academy to be raised as the next dean of the academy."

Hearing the stories of the two, Yuhao had an extremely determined face because of the flame that was ignited in his heart!

Ali smirked with his arm folded in front of his chest :"And guess what, my lover is actually a student of the inner courtyard."

Yuhao's eyes went wide open with shock :"what?! That means that not only is she super beautiful, but super strong as well?!"

Ali nodded smugly :"yup, because of some circumstances, we had known each other for a very long time.

That's why she was my first love. Later on, I asked my elders for all kinds of advice to get her to love me.

And I got lucky, because she did. But don't worry about all of that! You and me have to work hard so that we will definitely become the strongest people in the academy!"

Halfway through his sentence, Ali circled his arm around his neck as he smiled and raised his fist, causing the determined look to return to Yuhao's face!

Tang Ya and Beibei smiled on the side, but Beibei's smile was slightly helpless :'and not just any student of the inner courtyard...

You've actually managed to make Ma Xiaotao, the most talented genius in hundreds of years your lover!

The student that not only reached level 70 at the age of 16, but all of her soul rings are 100,000 years as well!

You actually managed to get the heart of such a monster, great granduncle, you have my utmost respect...'

The only thing that was holding Xiaotao in the original was the demonic flame of her martial soul, which prevented her from cultivating.

But because of Ali's Cleansing Flame, ultimate fire and ice, Xiaotao could cultivate with peace of mind.

However, till now, Ali hadn't been able to completely purify her martial soul because of the difference in strength.

But he knew that once he reached level 40, he would be able to purify her martial soul for good and turn her into a true phoenix. The strongest phoenix!

After a few hours, Yuhao finally saw Shrek Academy for the first time in his life. Rather than calling it an academy, it'd be more suitable to call it a city.

As they walked out of the forest near the main road, they were able to see the tall walls of the city beginning to extend upwards from the distant fields.

Shrek Academy had been established on a wide field, thus the area that it covered was extremely vast.

It was a city in and of itself, and the city's name was 'Shrek City'. Shrek City was one of the biggest cities on the Douluo Continent, and the number of people who lived in it surpassed two million.

Furthermore, Shrek Academy was the sole governor of the city, and didn't need to pay any taxes to any country.

This single point just by itself was something that every single other academy, including those in the Sun Moon Continent, were unable to have.

Shrek Academy wasn't located in the middle of Shrek City, but the eastern part. This was because the distant Great Star Dou Forest was located towards the east.

Shrek Academy was surrounded by land in all directions, and could also be said to be accessible from all directions.

It wasn't only the location of Shrek Academy, but was also the most important trade city for the Douluo Continent's original three empires.

Because of Shrek Academy, the peacekeeping within Shrek City was extremely good.

Transactions made within the city weren't just fair, but also made people feel at ease. Because of this, most of the merchants from the three empires would choose to do their business within Shrek City when conducting transnational trade.

The southern, western, and northern city gates of Shrek City could be entered and exited through at will. Only the eastern gate was exclusive to Shrek Academy.

Ali and co made their way towards the eastern gate, where the students of the Shrek Academy could enter from.

This city gate was only usable by Shrek Academy, but it was currently extremely busy. There were at least five thousand people gathered outside the eastern gate, and it was unusually lively.

A large number of traders had already moved here due to the rumours, as this gate was even livelier than the other gates by a large margin.

Ali couldn't help but smile as he sighed in his heart :'home sweet home. Man, I missed this place. Love you, Yuhao, but we took a long ass time because of you...'

While he was looking around with a slight frown on his face because of it being too crowded, Beibei was explaining somethings to Yuhao :"Junior brother, you're just in time for the academy's recruitment of new students.

You should be able join this year's batch of new students without any problems, which'll make you our junior by three years.

These ordinary new students don't just have to pass the assessment, but also have to have a recommendation letter from one of the three empires' capital cities at the very minimum. This time of year is always the busiest period of time for Shrek City."

"Eldest senior brother, is the assessment very difficult?" Hearing how quietly he talked, Ali felt a little bad for the poor orphan.

Ali and Beibei felt a little troubled in telling him, but Tang Ya was straightforward as she replied :"He'll find out sooner or later.

This will also become the driving force behind his future hard work, so it's better to tell him now.

Little Yuhao, the entrance exam for Shrek Academy's outer courtyard has two requirements: One, you cannot be older than twenty, and two, your soul power cannot be lower than the fifteenth rank.

If you look at it purely from the standpoint of the examination's standards, you don't meet the qualifications to enter."

She didn't say anything that would make Yuhao work harder, because she knew that he already worked hard enough.

Ali put his hand on Yuhao's shoulder and nodded reassuringly :"you don't need to worry though, because the soul power test is only at the beginning.

That means that you don't need to worry about your soul power in the assessments. After all, Shrek Academy values actual power far more than just numbers."

Beibei also nodded in conformation :"Ali's right. The assessments of our Shrek Academy always consist of live combat. As a teacher once said, "any amount of numerical data pales in the face of live combat"."

After a moment of silence, Yuhao nodded his head seriously :"Teacher Xiao Ya, eldest senior brother, perhaps I currently can't compare to the overwhelming majority of the new students, but I will definitely exceed them in the future." His words had a calmness that surpassed his peers, and an a firmness that did the same was also present within his Spirit Eyes.

Hearing his words, Ali laughed as he pat his shoulder :"well said, Yuhao, well said! If you don't want to be pushed around, you have to have guts!

But remember this as well, to have the guts to talk and act however you want, you have to have the strength to back it up.

The most important things in a fight are power and guts. Having guts without power is like spewing bullshit while having power with no guts will give no meaning to the power itself. So you have to work really hard from now on."

Yuhao nodded once again with a serious face :"you don't have to worry, brother Ali. I will definitely work hard."

Beibei also put his hand on Yuhao's other shoulder with a smile :"Let's go. If you can get through the following three months, eldest senior brother will be optimistic about your chances to get to the end."

They continued walking while avoiding the crowd before they arrived at the eastern city gate. There were ten male and female youths standing outside the eastern city gate, protecting it.

They were roughly the same age as Tang Ya and Bei Bei, and all of them were wearing yellow warrior robes with a green pattern inscribed on the chests. This was the uniform for second and third year students of Shrek Academy's outer courtyard.

When they saw Beibei and Ali, they immediately became respectful and greeted :"Eldest senior brother Bei, Ali, you've returned."

Nobody knew Ali's true identity, they just knew that he was a very important person in Shrek Academy.

They knew his name only because he would go back and forth from the eastern city gate to the Star Dou Great Forest to train.

The teachers had also told them to never trouble Ali and let him go and come as he pleases, so they did as they were told.

The teachers didn't know that much about him either. After all, Ali lives in the inner courtyard on the Sea God Island.

Most teachers weren't allowed to go to the Sea God Island, so of course they didn't know about him.

Ali didn't know them at all, he just remembered a few of them from the many times that he had passed this gate.

So he just waved while Beibei smiled and greeted every one of his junior and senior brothers. Afterwards, he spoke a few words to the leader of the group.

That student glanced at Yuhao, then immediately nodded his head. "There's nothing to doubt about our senior brother's words. Go take this junior brother inside to register."