The dawn at Shrek Academy was unlike anywhere else.
There was no morning bell. No structured routine. Just the idle rustle of wind brushing past the half-broken walls and crooked rooftops, the occasional squawk of a distant spirit beast passing through the skies, and the sleepy murmurs of birds resting on stone.
Li Wei sat atop the dormitory roof, legs crossed as the early light painted the sky with hues of orange and violet. His thoughts were like the wind—quiet, shifting, never still.
'Twelve years. I've lived this second life for twelve years. But no matter how far I grow, the gap between me and this world remains… sharp. Tang San isn't here yet, but the dominoes have already started falling. Am I early? Or is this timeline already diverging?'
He closed his eyes briefly, feeling the pulse of spirit energy in the air. Not hostile intention. It just present. As if the land itself were watching.
'The Diend Driver… no, the Ohma Zi-O Driver still slumbers within me. Until the sixth ring… until then, I walk this road with borrowed power and shallow roots. But no longer aimlessly.'
With a sigh, he stood, brushing dust from his robes. As he leapt down from the roof in a smooth, practiced motion, a familiar drawl echoed from below.
"You always do rooftop brooding at sunrise, or is this a special occasion?"
Ma Hongjun leaned against a tree stump, already halfway through some greasy bundle of breakfast. His small round eyes were squinting up at him with lazy amusement.
"Just trying to keep my mind order. It just felt right."
' That guy's always so composed. Makes me feel like I'm the only one around here who oversleeps.Still, he's strong. I can feel it when he walks—he hides it, but that pressure is real. It's like he's waiting for something… or maybe someone.'
"And also morning," Li Wei said simply.
Hongjun raised a hand in a lazy wave. "Mubai's up already. Flender called us together for something. Something about a 'test.'"
"A test?" Li Wei echoed.
"Yeah," came a voice from the side, cheerful and familiar. "And it sounds like we're gonna get beaten up for educational purposes."
Oscar stepped into view, arms filled with sausages like a walking breakfast cart. His disheveled uniform and half-awake smile painted him as unserious—but his eyes, if one looked closely, were sharp.
'New kid, huh? He's way too calm for someone about to fight Zhao Wuji. Either he's stupid or scary. Or both. Or maybe he do not know about that. Pity him. Guess I'll just let the others figure him out the hard way. I'm just the snack support here.'
"Oh," Oscar added with mock surprise. "You must be the new guy. Li Wei, right? I'm Oscar. Spirit Master. Food-type. Prepare to be amazed by the strength of food martial soul. Hahaha"
Li Wei just chuckle a little seeing Oscar antic and gave him a neutral glance. "You arrived late."
"Woke up late," Oscar corrected cheerfully. "Well I have been here since before you, so it no problem as long a reach there on times. I just don't like waking up in the mornings."
He handed one of the sausages to Hongjun, who took it while sniffing cautiously. "These safe?" the phoenix boy asked.
"They're breakfast sausages, the one that I experiment recently" Oscar said solemnly. "They'll make you feel full for four hours. Side effect: mild flatulence."
'He says that so seriously. What kind of self-respecting spirit master has a fart warning in his skill set? Still… food-type? I've never seen one up close before. He doesn't fight. That might make him look weak, but it also makes him dangerous in another way. Support types aren't flashy. They're the backbone.'
Li Wei nodded slightly.
"Alright, alright," Hongjun said, rolling his shoulders. "Enough sausage talk. Let's get moving before Flender yells."
As they walked through the rough stone paths of the campus, Li Wei couldn't help but notice the mood among them.
'Ma Hongjun's power leaks around him like a lazy fire. It's untamed, but potent. Oscar… he hides behind that humor, but he knows his place. A rare awareness. And Dai Mubai—he's steady, arrogant, but not foolish, well if you put leaving his fiance to fend for herself that is. Everyone here has potential. Unpolished, but real.'
They stepped into the training ground, and there, like a statue carved from muscle and menace, stood Zhao Wuji.
Flender stood beside him, arms crossed. The wind stirred his robes like a curtain before a stage.
"This is Zhao Wuji," Flender announced. "Rank seventy-six Soul Saint. You may also know him as the 'Immovable King.' Today, he'll be assessing your combat ability. Simultaneously, we will also determine the other progress"
Dai Mubai, standing at the side already, watched the newcomers with folded arms.
'Finally. I've been itching for a proper match. Last time cannot be count. It just a test. Now it will be different. And this guy with the weird shape martial spirit that allow him to transform… there's something about him. His spirit power is clean—unnatural, even. I know that he is strong and I acknowledge it. Even though he is just twelve years old, he already reach soul elder and even his spirit rank is 38. One more than me.'
Zhao Wuji stepped forward, his shadow swallowing the sunlight as he loomed over the group.
"You're the one with the strange soul tool?" he asked.
Li Wei answered calmly, "Yes."
Zhao Wuji cracked his knuckles, his grin sharp. "I won't go easy on you just because you're new."
"I wouldn't expect you to."
Beside them, Dai Mubai smirked. "Finally. Something exciting."
Ma Hongjun grinned, already releasing a flicker of red-hot energy from his palms. "Don't blame me if I accidentally burn your clothes off."
Oscar, already halfway behind a tree, waved lazily. "Don't look at me. I'm just here to heal your broken pride afterward."
'Idiots, he thought fondly. They're gonna die today.'
Flender raised a hand. "No killing blows. No excessive force. This is a spar Zhao Wuji, do not goes to far. But the rest of you need to go all out. Understood?"
"Yes, Headmaster!" the three replied in near-unison.
Zhao Wuji stepped forward, the ground seeming to tremble beneath him.
'This man,'Li Wei thought, 'is the real deal. Not a genius. Not a chosen one. Just… strong. Earned strength. The kind that doesn't flinch when death looks it in the eye.'
Zhao Wuji smiled, a wild glint in his eyes.
"Let's see if you brats are worth Flender's effort."