Word Count: 2,913 Words
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"Yo, you all got here pretty early, huh?"
Dugu Lin, Chu Qingtian, Tai Xing, Pan Tao, and Zhou Sen had co to the Examination Hall early to wait. Ling Bai could vaguely discern flashes of nervousness and unease occasionally surfacing in their eyes.
After all, it was their first Inner Courtyard examination; being nervous was perfectly normal.
"You look so relaxed. The freshman examination assignnt determines whether we can continue studying in the Inner Courtyard. I was so anxious last night that I couldn’t even ditate properly."
Dugu Lin admired her own slender, jade-green fingernails while casually joking. Over the past three months, she had beco much more familiar with Ling Bai and had beco one of his closest friends in the Inner Courtyard.
Ling Bai stretched lazily to loosen up his muscles and chuckled softly, "No matter how anxious you get, it can’t really change anything. Might as well rest well and keep your spirits up."
"You little fellow sure are carefree."
A hoarse, aged voice rang out as a hunched elderly figure gradually erged from the Examination Hall. A scar ran over his left eye, across his nose, and down to his chin, nearly splitting his face in two.
"My surna is Li. I am responsible for issuing both the freshman examinations and future advancent examination assignnts. So, for those of you who pass this examination, we’ll be dealing with each other for many years to co."
Elder Li pulled out a smile. His tone was very kind and amiable. But paired with his grizzled appearance, it took on a sowhat sinister air. Pan Tao, the most timid of the bunch, couldn’t help shrinking back half a step to hide behind Dugu Lin.
⊙﹏⊙)∥
Elder Li was long accustod to being avoided by the junior students. He didn’t mind Pan Tao’s small actions. Taking out a deep brown, ancient-looking wooden box filled with assignnt slips, he said:
"Your senior brothers and sisters might have told you that there’s a huge elent of luck in the freshman examination. That is indeed the case.
Shrek Academy has been glorious for ten thousand years, so we’ve set up a total of ten thousand examination assignnts divided into five grades: white, yellow, purple, black, and red, with increasing difficulty. White-grade assignnts account for 10%, black-grade assignnts account for 20%, and the rest are basically split evenly between yellow-grade and purple-grade assignnts."
"Then how many are red-grade?"
Chu Qingtian raised his hand high like an elentary school student to ask.
Elder Li smiled and answered, "There are ten red-grade assignnts, accounting for a re one in a thousand of the total. Let make it clear. Over the past ten thousand years, the Inner Courtyard has admitted tens of thousands of students, and up to now, only seven Shrek freshn have drawn red-grade assignnts, and without exception, they all failed."
"... Elder Li, I don’t understand the purpose of the academy setting up red-grade assignnts. Is it just to weed people out?"
Dugu Lin frowned slightly. Assignnts were ant to be completed. It seed unnecessary to create ridiculously difficult assignnts that spell death for anyone who attempted them.
"To screen."
Elder Li’s answer was simple and straightforward.
"Inner Courtyard students are all mbers of the Shrek Guardians. The danger of carrying out surveillance assignnts far exceeds that of examination assignnts. Every few years, news of students dying out in the field cos back to the Academy.
There are many reasons why Inner Courtyard students fall. Enemies being too strong, one’s own strength being insufficient, and...
Their luck is too bad."
Elder Li grinned, the hideous scar running across his entire face writhing, making his appearance even more frightening.
Everyone was dumbfounded upon hearing this. Bad luck counts as a reason too?!
"Red-grade assignnts are ant to screen out that one-in-a-thousand unlucky fellow and have them preserve their lives early on to contribute to the continent elsewhere
Oh, by the way, eight thousand years ago, a Sea God Pavilion Master established a rule. If an Inner Courtyard student completes a red-grade assignnt, regardless of their Martial Spirit or background, they will be imdiately transford into a ’monster’ most highly regarded by the academy, and from then on be nurtured with full effort as a future Sea God Pavilion mber.
Danger always equates to opportunity. The greater the waves, the more precious the fish.
Enough idle chatter. Who wants to co and draw lots first?"
Elder Li shook the box in his hand, making a rustling sound. The six Inner Courtyard freshn looked at each other, their gazes silently urging one another to go first. Then, a slender, erald-green figure took the initiative to step forward.
"Ladies first, I won’t stand on ceremony."
Dugu Lin’s fair and delicate hand reached into the assignnt box. Everyone stared intently at the box opening, their gazes filled with different emotions as their hearts leaped to their throats.
"Please don’t start off with a red one."
Dugu Lin joked to herself. This girl had the guts to rge the Jade Phosphor Five Poisons. Her earlier words about being so anxious she couldn’t sleep were just a joke.
A slip of paper that she pulled out lay quietly in the center of her fair palm. Purple ink strokes as bold as silver hooks were written in a carefree and elegant manner.
"Purple-grade assignnt. A pack of Wolftaken has recently appeared in the Mingtai Mountain area of the Dou Spirit Empire. There are more than 30 of them. Their strengths mostly range from Spirit Grandmaster to Spirit Elder, and the leader has barely reached the level of a 4-ringed Spirit Ancestor.
This assignnt is to eradicate the Wolftaken, leaving not a single one alive, and bring back the head of the Spirit Ancestor-level Wolftaken leader. The ti limit is ten days.
Hmm, not bad luck today~"
Dugu Lin was all smiles. Wolftaken were vile offspring born from the union of Stormwind Demon Wolves and humans. They had wolf heads and human bodies, and possessed both the powerful bodies of spirit beasts and the superior intelligence of humans. They were cruel by nature, preferred to live in groups, and especially enjoyed violating human won. Ordinary Spirit Masters were nearly powerless against them, but in the face of her Jade Phosphor Absolute Poison...
Have you ever heard of ’a city covered in ghastly green’?
The Jade Phosphor Serpent was the nightmare of low-level Spirit Masters/Spirit Beasts!
Everyone instantly breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. Dugu Lin had set a good precedent for them, and the stones weighing on their hearts also lightened sowhat.
The second female student, Pan Tao, followed closely after. Her ntal fortitude was far inferior to Dugu Lin’s. With closed eyes and trembling hands, she drew out an assignnt slip. Then she respectfully bowed three tis to the empty space before slowly opening her eyes. The next second, she leaped onto Dugu Lin, her legs wrapped around her water snake like soft waist, and exclaid with ecstatic joy:
"White! Hooray!"
The Queen of Luck herself. She managed to hit that 10% probability in one fell swoop!
"White-grade assignnt. The 100-year spirit beast Yellowfur Rat has been spotted in Wangjia Village of Suyun City in the Heavenly Soul Empire. This magical beast frequently attacks livestock, causing severe losses for the villagers who have reported being unable to tolerate the harassnt. The student must slay the Yellowfur Rat within five days from receiving the assignnt and bring back its pelt as proof."
Pan Tao’s upturned lips couldn’t be suppressed. A re 100-year spirit beast—how could she, a dignified Spirit Ancestor expert, not handle it with ease!
The two female students had excellent luck, and the male students’ examination lot drawing also proceeded in an orderly manner.
"Yellow-grade assignnt. Citizens of Liusu City in the Heavenly Soul Empire have reported that the city lord mistreats commoners and disregards human life. The student is responsible for collecting evidence of his cris and anonymously submitting it to the Heavenly Soul Empire’s imperial liaison. Ti limit: seven days."
"Purple-grade assignnt. The Sun Moon Empire has dispatched a Spirit King-level spy to infiltrate the City of tal, Gengxin City, to investigate the empire’s rare tal smuggling. The student needs to locate and eliminate the spy within ten days and return with their identity token."
The difficulty of Zhou Sen and Tai Xing’s assignnts wasn’t unreasonable and matched their current strength levels. The probability of success was very high. Now, only Ling Bai and Chu Qingtian remained to draw lots.
Ling Bai looked at Chu Qingtian, who was trembling all over like a sieve, and said with an amused smile, "Qingtian, shall I go first or will you?"
" first, first! Ling-ge, you can take the grand finale!"
Chu Qingtian imdiately jogged forward a few steps. First, he shook hands with the Queen of Luck Pan Tao to absorb so good fortune, and while reaching his hand into the drawing box, he frantically muttered under his breath:
"This junior’s luck has been terrible for more than ten years. I beseech the great Sea God Tang San for blessings, Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang for blessings, and the various venerable ancestors of Shrek Academy for blessings!
This junior doesn’t ask for white or yellow, just a single purple draw!"
Chu Qingtian finished his prayers, yanked out a slip, and fixed his gaze on it!
Black!
Fuck!!
Chu Qingtian instantly felt as if he had swallowed a fly, his face tightly scrunched up. Although the others maintained poker faces, they secretly laughed in their hearts. This kid Chu Qingtian must have committed too many misdeeds; even the combined blessings of the Sea God and the ten-thousand-year ancestors of Shrek couldn’t save him.
"Black-grade assignnt. A serial murder case has occurred in the Star Luo Empire. After killing their victims, the murderer completely skins off their faces... The behavior is suspected to be that of an Evil Spirit Master, code-nad the ’Bloodface Killer.’
The Bloodface Killer’s last three cris were all committed in Jinghai City of the Star Luo Empire. Based on his exhibited killing patterns, the academy has determined that he is still in Jinghai City. The student must investigate the situation and eliminate the Bloodface Killer within fifteen days!"
A face-flaying maniac!
An Evil Spirit Master!
Not to ntion Chu Qingtian, even Ling Bai couldn’t help but change his expression slightly.
The Envoys of the Death God—three Spirit King-level Evil Spirit Masters paired with a bunch of low-level minions—had nearly wiped out the official Shrek Seven Monsters team with a single super corpse explosion.
As for Chu Qingtian...
It was hard to say. After all, different fields, different battles. All Ling Bai could do was cross his fingers for the guy!
Dugu Lin, Pan Tao, and the others cast complex gazes at Chu Qingtian upon hearing that his freshman examination assignnt was to directly confront an Evil Spirit Master.
Concern, sympathy... and a trace of relief.
Evil Spirit Masters were notorious for their sinister power and an endless array of vicious, ruthless techniques. In every generation of Shrek Academy, Inner Courtyard students and teachers had t tragic ends at their hands.
Would Chu Qingtian be able to return to the academy in one piece after fifteen days?
"Qingtian, why are you shaking?" Ling Bai suddenly asked.
"Huh? I- I am?"
Chu Qingtian clenched his legs tightly, his eyes darting about uneasily. Though he was physically present, his soul had already drifted away.
"Don’t be nervous. Go with peace of mind. Worst case, in eighteen years you’ll be a brave man once again."
Ling Bai’s three-sentence pep talk left Brother Chu with a ’warm and fuzzy’ feeling in his heart for the whole day.
Chu Qingtian snapped back to reality and wilted like an eggplant hit by frost. A thought inexplicably popped into his mind:
Lofty aspirations aside, if he couldn’t handle it, why not just drop out? Was getting into Shrek’s Inner Courtyard truly a matter of life and death?
"This assignnt could be considered one of the most challenging even among black-grade assignnts. Do your best, but rember that preserving yourself should be your top priority."
Elder Li shook his head and sighed. The old man had seen and experienced much. One look at Chu Qingtian’s cowardly appearance told him the young man’s chances of survival were grim. After offering a few words of consolation, he turned to Ling Bai and said:
"Co on, you’re the only one left."
In stark contrast to Chu Qingtian, Ling Bai was quite confident in his own luck. He calmly stepped forward, reached into the box, pulled out a slip of paper, and read it aloud. The sequence was executed in one fluid motion!
"Red-grade assignnt. Capture the 10,000-year dusa alive!"
"..."
Silence fell over the scene like a heavy curtain.
Everyone bit their lips tightly, heads lowered, not daring to utter a sound!
"Red-grade assignnt. Capture the 10,000-year dusa alive. Ti limit: fifteen days.
Petrified spirit beasts and Spirit Masters have been discovered in the Luminous Mystic Forest within the Star Luo Empire’s territory. It has been determined to be the work of ’dusa’s Gaze,’ the Innate Spirit Skill of dusa, the nearly extinct Queen of Snakes in this era.
According to analysis by Shrek Academy’s spirit beast experts, the Snake Queen dusa who unleashed this Innate Spirit Skill is inferred to have a cultivation exceeding ten thousand years. It is hoped that this unlucky sod (crossed out) fortunate Inner Courtyard genius who drew this assignnt will exercise extre caution!"
"Unlucky sod? Fine, fine, fine. So this is how you’re playing it, huh."
Ling Bai laughed in anger. He felt the urge to transform into Cao Cao, grandly wave his hand, and shout:
Impossible, absolutely impossible!
Looking at the flamboyant blood-red handwriting on the slip, Ling Bai found it hard to accept reality for a mont!
Don’t misunderstand—he wasn’t unable to accept a red-grade assignnt; he just couldn’t believe his luck was this terrible!
One in a thousand!
And he fucking drew it!
Damn it, just admit that you rigged it!
Go on, say it!
Say it now!
Perhaps Ling Bai’s overwhelming resentnt startled Elder Li.
He coughed, withdrew the assignnt box, and adopted a proper official tone:
"This Inner Courtyard freshman examination was fair, just, and open. Everything depended on one’s own luck. I urge certain students to quickly accept reality and refrain from harboring any absurd delusions!"
Who are you pointing at, old man!
Ling Bai’s face instantly soured as if he had swallowed two flies. anwhile, Chu Qingtian, who had been wearing a long face beside him, couldn’t hold back and let out a ’pfft’ of laughter.
Laughter doesn’t disappear; it only transfers. The wisdom of the ancients proved true once again!
The Luminous Mystic Forest was one of the major gathering places for spirit beasts on the Douluo Continent, second only to the Star Dou Great Forest. Legend had it that it was split in two by the gods, equally divided into the two wondrous phenona of Eternal Day and Eternal Night. In its central area, terrifying Great Beasts with over a hundred thousand years of cultivation were rumored to exist!
Compared to Ling Bai risking his life to venture alone into the Luminous Mystic Forest and capture alive the top-level 10,000-year Snake Queen dusa, Chu Qingtian suddenly felt that the Bloodface Evil Spirit Master was nothing but trash!
I could take on ten of those!
Dugu Lin gracefully approached and gently shook Ling Bai, who had already lost all worldly desires and was deeply questioning his own luck. She whispered in his ear, her breath fragrant like orchids:
"Ling Bai, an extraordinary person must lead an extraordinary life. I’m sincerely happy that you drew a red-grade assignnt!"
Ling Bai clenched the slip of paper in his hand until it crackled. He turned his head to gaze into those erald-green eyes. "You’d better be."
Dugu Lin’s fair fingertips brushed his nose tip as she said with a smile, "Of course I am, and I’m super~ looking forward to you bringing back the 10,000-year dusa alive."
"Red-grade assignnt... Sigh, just the round trip to the Luminous Mystic Forest will take at least four days..."
Ling Bai ran his fingers through his golden long hair, his face full of distress. The Outer Courtyard’s three-on-three freshman examination competition was about to begin. Last night at dinner, Ning Tian and Wu Feng had specially reminded him to complete his examination as soon as possible and then co to the Outer Courtyard to cheer for them. They were eagerly looking forward to defeating their opponents under his witness, winning the freshman championship, and making a na for the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan in one fell swoop.
The journey was long, and the Luminous Mystic Forest covered a vast area. Who knew where dusa was hiding? This ti, he might be forced to break his promise.
"All the freshman examination assignnts have been issued. You may each set off to carry them out!"
Elder Li waved his hand and turned to disappear into the darkness of the Examination Hall.
"Let’s go, Ling-ge. A true warrior dares to face the bleakness of life."
Chu Qingtian hooked his arm around Ling Bai’s shoulder like they were old pals. Both of their assignnt locations were in the Star Luo Empire, so they could travel together for a while.
"Tsk, I advise you to take care of yourself..."
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