After meeting up with Jiang Nannan, Zhu Ziyang headed with her to the assessment room.
Inside, there were only two students, both wearing black uniforms, marking them as sixth-year students. One was male, the other female. When they saw Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan enter, their eyes lit up—after all, who doesn't enjoy seeing a handsome young man and a beautiful girl?
"Please step over here!" they said in unison, pointing to a yellow-circled area on the ground.
Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan followed instructions and stood in the designated circle.
The two senior students picked up long, rod-shaped devices from a nearby table—similar to metal detectors—and walked over to them.
The female student said,
"Please extend your right hand and place it over the red zone of the soul power detector. Then, release a small amount of your soul power."
Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan complied, placing their hands on the devices.
The top of the detector, made of glass, lit up when Zhu Ziyang released his energy. A line of text appeared:
"Bone age: Eleven years. Soul power: Level 35."
The female student was stunned by the result and exclaimed,
"My god! A Soul Elder at eleven!?"
At the same time, the male student checked Jiang Nannan's reading and was equally shocked.
"Eleven years old, Level 25!" he said, now regarding her with more respect.
"Wang Jian, look at this!" the female student said, handing her detector to her partner.
"Whoa!" Wang Jian gasped when he saw the numbers. He stared at Zhu Ziyang in disbelief.
As sixth-year students about to graduate, they knew very well what this level of talent meant—these two might very well make it into the Inner Court.
The Inner Court… it was something they didn't even dare dream of. Even walking near its lakeside path felt like a luxury.
"Please release your martial souls and soul rings," they said, this time using the polite form of address.
Zhu Ziyang felt a tinge of amusement, but his actions were smooth and precise. He summoned the World-Pacifying Scythe, and behind him, three soul rings appeared—one yellow and two purple. Jiang Nannan released her martial soul as well, and her light-blue rabbit ears popped up, accompanied by two yellow soul rings.
Once again, the two senior students were stunned.
One yellow, two purple? That configuration was unbelievably rare and powerful.
"Th-thank you. You may put your martial souls away now," they said, exchanging glances and realizing these two were far beyond their reach.
They hurried back to their seats and began filling out forms for Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan, stamping them once more and returning the papers.
"Congratulations to both of you—you're now provisional students of Shrek Academy!" said the female student.
"All that's left is to register in the Freshman Teaching Building, and you'll be official Shrek students."
"Thank you very much!" Zhu Ziyang said with a smile as he accepted the papers. He let out a small sigh of relief.
"So this is Shrek's entrance assessment? That wasn't so hard," he thought to himself as he took Jiang Nannan's hand and walked out of the room—toward the true gates of Shrek Academy.
As they stepped inside, they were greeted by lush greenery and vibrant flowers, all meticulously trimmed and full of life.
They saw the statue of the Golden Iron Triangle, and then passed by the statues of the original Shrek Seven Devils. Upon seeing the various postures and expressions of the statues, both Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan stopped to take a closer look.
Zhu Ziyang's gaze lingered on the third statue for a while. He looked down and let out a faint, ironic smile.
The statue was of Tang San, the third of the original Shrek Seven Devils—Douluo of a Thousand Hands, and later the Sea God and Asura God.
Due to the memories of his past life, Zhu Ziyang had always been intrigued by Tang San.
Over the past few years, he had read every book he could find about the Sea God Tang San. Most of them were written thousands of years ago and held high historical credibility.
Most of those texts painted Tang San as a savior and righteous hero, offering glowing praise. Only a few offered a more objective view—but even those leaned mostly positive.
Which made sense—history is written by the victors.
However, one book stood out to him:
A book called "Xue's Diary"—which was more of a confessional than a diary.
Based on its content, Zhu Ziyang was almost certain it was the diary of Qian Renxue, the last Holy Maiden of the Spirit Hall ten thousand years ago.
It had clearly been written after the Battle of Jialing Pass, when Qian Renxue went into seclusion. The diary contained her regrets and a detailed account of the battle.
By combining the contents of the diary with other contemporary records, Zhu Ziyang had formed a detailed and multidimensional understanding of the events from ten millennia ago—especially the legendary deeds of Tang San.
He discovered that the Battle of Jialing Pass was actually a divine war of unprecedented scale!
At least four gods participated: the Sea God, Angel God, Rakshasa God, and Asura God. Tang San, the Thousand-Hand Douluo, wielded both the Sea God and Asura God positions. No wonder he could defeat two other gods on his own.
Zhu Ziyang also learned of Tang San's long-standing conflict with the Spirit Hall—but he chose not to comment on that.
However, he deeply questioned Tang San's character.
Many ancient documents, including Xue's Diary, repeatedly mentioned a single rule:
"Gods of the Divine Realm must not interfere with mortal affairs on Douluo Continent. Violators will be punished by enforcers of the Divine Realm."
This rule seemed extremely credible.
So… how interesting.
If Divine Realm gods were forbidden to interfere in the mortal world, then the final events in the book "Peerless Tang Sect" become highly questionable.
In that future scenario, did Tang San not blatantly interfere in Douluo's affairs? That would clearly violate Divine Law. But why was he not punished?
Oh right—because he himself was the Asura God, who managed that very law.
How convenient.
A god enforcing rules on others while breaking them himself? And let's not forget how Tang San once threatened a mother with her child's life—a despicable act.
Zhu Ziyang had every reason to believe that this so-called divine hero, so revered by the world, had deep moral flaws.
He now fully understood the disdain and ridicule that had surfaced in his past-life memories.
And he agreed wholeheartedly.
Continuing forward.
To the left of the statue plaza was a broad avenue, wide enough for five carriages to ride side-by-side. To the right was a shimmering, boundless lake.
Jiang Nannan found it breathtakingly beautiful.
Zhu Ziyang, however, recognized it instantly: this was the famous Sea God Lake.
Peering through the foliage, he could faintly see an island at its center.
That was Sea God Island, the location of Shrek Academy's Inner Court.
After passing Sea God Lake, the two followed the signs and arrived at Shrek Plaza. Behind it lay the main campus, which included the teaching area, dormitories, and assessment halls. These together made up two-thirds of the entire academy grounds.
At the very front stood the Teaching District, where several large buildings stood in orderly fashion, their colors indicating grade levels:
White: Freshman Teaching Building (like a ten-year soul ring)
Yellow: Second and third years
Purple: Fourth and fifth years
Black: Sixth year (Graduation Level)
Those who completed their studies in the black building earned their Outer Court graduation certificate.
The white Freshman Building was closest to the lakeside path. After walking south from Shrek Plaza, they finally entered the freshman hall.
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