"Name?"
"Wang Nan."
"Age?"
"10 years old."
"Spirit?"
"Coiling Dragon Staff."
"Come, put your hand here, and let's test your spirit power."
The teacher registering new students took out a crystal ball, similar to the one used for Spirit Awakening but slightly larger.
A brilliant blue light emanated from the crystal ball.
The teacher in charge of registration glanced at it, then confirmed again.
"Are you really 10 years old this year?"
"Yes."
Wang Nan nodded.
"Not bad, spirit power rank, twenty-six."
The person in charge of registration had seen many geniuses in one day, but Wang Nan's talent still made him take a second look.
At 10 years old with Rank twenty-six, he would likely achieve a three-spirit ring breakthrough before he was twelve.
Such talent would be considered top-tier even in Shrek Academy.
"Take this form to the assessment area behind, Ring One, where the entrance examination personnel are."
Wang Nan understood the content of the entrance examination—it was actual combat.
According to Shrek Academy, any data is pale in the face of actual combat, so he was not surprised by this assessment method.
What was called the assessment area was actually the academy's Fighting Soul Zone.
Several new rings had been set up here, and many students were already fighting on them.
There were far fewer people near Ring One.
It was unclear whether the students being assessed here were too weak or the assessing teacher was too harsh, as each battle lasted much shorter than those on other rings.
"Hello, Teacher, I..."
"Come, come, come, get up here first."
The assessing teacher didn't wait for Wang Nan to finish speaking before taking the registration form from his hand, scanning it, setting it aside, and then turning to leap onto the ring.
Wang Nan was not polite either.
Having experienced many real battles since childhood, he was quite familiar with the routine, so he mimicked the assessing teacher and jumped to the other side of the ring.
"My name is Sun He, just call me Teacher Sun.
The entrance assessment is quite simple; winning or losing doesn't affect the outcome.
The main thing is to see your performance, understand?"
"Under—"
Wang Nan hadn't even finished saying "understood" when he saw Sun He rushing towards him from the opposite side.
'Hmm? This isn't right, is it? A teacher ambushing a student?'
Wang Nan complained internally, but his movements were not slow.
With a wave of his right hand, the Coiling Dragon Rod appeared in his grasp, followed by two yellow spirit rings.
One of the spirit rings was deep in color, indicating it was a higher-year hundred-year spirit ring.
In that brief moment, Sun He had already reached Wang Nan, showing no mercy due to Wang Nan's age.
His left hand slapped towards Wang Nan's eyes, and his right hand struck directly at his chest.
Wang Nan dared not be careless.
He immediately unleashed a Spirit Ability, using its amplification to quickly turn his head and dodge Sun He's left hand.
He then held the Coiling Dragon Rod horizontally across his chest to block the other strike.
Although Sun He hadn't released his Spirit, his physical strength still numbed Wang Nan's hands.
Sun He, having gained the advantage, pressed forward, his hands continuously striking at Wang Nan's body.
Wang Nan dared not meet the attacks head-on and could only use the force to deflect Sun He's attacks to the sides.
Despite this, he was still forced to retreat step by step.
However, in Sun He's eyes, although Wang Nan was retreating, his footwork showed no signs of panic.
So, he quietly slowed his attack speed, giving Wang Nan an opportunity to counterattack.
"You're handling it quite well.
Have you had actual combat experience before?"
Wang Nan did not speak, fearing that if he opened his mouth, Sun He would seize a weakness.
Just from the very first palm strike, he knew that this Teacher Sun's strength was even above his own father's.
With such a huge spirit power gap, he couldn't afford any distraction.
However, as Sun He spoke, his speed slowed a few points.
Wang Nan stopped retreating, and the Coiling Dragon Rod in his hand changed direction.
He launched a "Mountain Splitting Strike" from top to bottom, aiming it at Sun He.
Sun He also intended to test Wang Nan's strength, so he crossed his arms, wanting to block the strike.
But as soon as his arms touched the Coiling Dragon Rod, he felt something was wrong.
Even for a two-ring Spirit Grandmaster, the force shouldn't be only this much.
Indeed, the next moment, Wang Nan's arms bent, hugging the Coiling Dragon Rod to his chest, then quickly retracted the upper end and extended the lower end, thrusting it towards Sun He's lower abdomen.
Although Wang Nan had caught a glimmer of opportunity, he didn't believe Sun He would leave such an obvious opening.
This opportunity might well be a trap intentionally left for him, so the chopping strike was just a feint; the real attack was the other end of the Coiling Dragon Rod.
Seeing the direction of Wang Nan's attack, Sun He dared not take it head-on.
He reached down with his right hand to block Wang Nan, but Wang Nan's second spirit ring flashed, and he exerted force with both hands, pushing Sun He back.
Second Spirit Ability—Mountain Collapse.
Wang Nan's second Spirit Ability was similar to his first Spirit Ability, both being auxiliary Spirit Abilities that amplified himself.
It mainly amplified his strength, and its source was an eight-hundred-year-old Scale Armor Demon Crocodile.
That's right, it was the kind of Scale Armor Demon Crocodile Shrek used for soup, just slightly mutated.
"Good, good, good."
After all, he was a teacher at Shrek Academy.
Although Sun He was caught off guard by Wang Nan, he quickly stabilized himself, uttering three "good"s in a row.
"Your assessment is passed.
Now you'll have to be careful."
As he spoke, spirit power flowed around Sun He, and a golden abacus appeared in his hand.
Six spirit rings—two yellow, two purple, and two black—rose around him.
'As expected of Shrek Academy, any random teacher is a Spirit Emperor and even has two ten-thousand-year spirit rings.
But for a Spirit Emperor like you to bully a Spirit Grandmaster like me and even activate your Spirit, isn't that a bit unreasonable?'
The Sun He in front of him had no sense of bullying the weak.
He let out a somewhat cunning laugh. "Today, Teacher Sun will teach you the first lesson, called 'Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit.'"
"Clack—"
This was the sound of Sun He moving the abacus beads.
It was just a slight movement of his fingers, yet the sound echoed throughout the entire ring.
"Clack, clack—"
Sun He's fingers moved continuously, and the abacus beads on his Spirit also changed constantly.
Listening to the sound of the beads colliding, Wang Nan inexplicably grew anxious.
'Is this a mental attack?'
There were many types of Spirits, and the Spirit Ability that could be attached were countless.
Although Wang Nan had memories from his previous life, he still knew too few Spirits, so he could only make a rough guess.
However, when it came to attacks targeting the mind, Wang Nan happened to know one or two.
Wang Nan tucked the Coiling Dragon Rod at his waist, his consciousness sinking into his spiritual sea.
The originally calm lake surface rippled due to the influence of Sun He's Spirit Ability.
He ignored it, instead casting his consciousness toward the ball of light in mid-air...
'Huh? What's wrong with this kid?'
Sun He, who was beside him, noticed something was amiss.
Wang Nan's resistance to his first Spirit Ability was much stronger than expected.
Moreover, from their previous exchange, Wang Nan didn't seem like the type to just wait for death.
He must be brewing some counterattack.
Thinking this, Sun He closed in on Wang Nan, raising the abacus in his hand, ready to smash it down.
Whatever Wang Nan was brewing, Sun He had no intention of letting him use it.