Chapter 17: The Fourth Exam (1)
After hearing Dai Mubai explain the four entrance exams for Shrek Academy, the five people following him were silent for a short while.
It was Xiao Wu who first broke the silence, saying, "Your requirements are way too strict. No wonder that teacher at the entrance said that only monsters are accepted here. People who are able to pass these four exams are monsters. I only want to task, how many students does Shrek Academy currently have? And each year, how many students do you enroll?"
With a wry smile, Dai Mubai said, "Since it was founded twenty years ago, Shrek Academy has, in total, only enrolled forty two students. That is an average of two students per year. This year, the five of you might be recruited and it will likely set a record. In these last two years, the Academy has not accepted any students. Currently, three are only three students studying at the Academy including me.
"Three?!" exclaimed Tang San, Xiao Wu, and the delicate young lady.
Dai Mubai chuckled a little with self deprication and said, "On this continent, we can be considered the only Academy where there are more teachers than students. Even after enrolling all of you, we will still have more teachers."
"How can the Academy continue to exist? Without a supply of students, it won't have any income," asked Tang San.
"Why else would the Academy be such a small village? It's because of how little funds they have. If it wasn't for my home sponsoring some money, the Academy may have closed down last year. If we still did not enroll any students this year, the three people here would have been the last students of Shrek Academy," replied Dai Mubai.
The delicate young lady asked, "Then why didn't the Academy lower the entrance requirements? The amount of people willing to enter the academy is quite large."
Dai Mubai spoke with pride, "The Dean said, 'Even if it means closing Shrek Academy, it is better to have nothing, than to accept rubbish. We only take monsters. Do you know what the Academy's graduation requirements are? Shrek Academy is not an intermediate or advanced spirit master academy. This is because our requirements are different from theirs. We only want students who have surpassed the twentieth rank before they turn thirteen. However, the graduation requirement is to surpass the fortieth rank before they turn twenty."
After letting that sink in, Dai Mubai quickly continued, "The Academy enrolled a total of forty two students since it opened. However, those that have graduated only number fourteen. After these fourteen people left the academy, each and every single one of them have received worldwide attention. Among them, the most remarkable has already become Spirit Hall's youngest elder whose authority and prestige are second only to the pope. The rest who did not manage to graduate, were unable to attain fortieth ranked cultivation before their twentieth birthday or were killed while hunting spirit beasts. The Dean said, 'Those that can't graduate absolutely cannot go out and make him lose face."
From all this, it was clear that Dai Mubai was very proud of the school and believed in the academy dean.
Durand smiled to Dai Mubai and said, "Well we're glad to be able to come here."
Dai Mubai sighed and said, "Balak Kingdom's royal family originally planned to sponsor the Academy, but demanded the Academy's graduates to swear fealty to the royal family. This condition was immediately refused by the Dean. Our Shrek Academy is also incompatible with other academies so after a long period of very small amounts of students, our school has become run down and is declining.
By now, they had reached another open space. This area was much smaller compared to the space for the second exam, only two hundred square meters or so. At the center, a middle-aged man was napping in a chair.
"Teacher Zhao, I've brought people to take the fourth exam," announced Dai Mubai.
"En? This year there is a fourth exam? Unexpectedly, there are still five people," said the middle-aged man who seemed to slowly rouse from slumber.
Opening his hazy sleepy eyes, he was rather surprised to see the five youths before him, as if this was an impossibility.
Dai Mubai said, "Not only are there five people for the fourth exam, but all were excused from the second and third tests."
When he heard that, Teacher Zhao's eyes shone and he stood up from the chair. His stature was not tall and his appearance very ordinary. However, he did look extremely rugged. Compared to even twelve years old Tang San, he still was shorter in height but gave people a majestic feeling. With wide shoulders resembling city walls, his jacket was basically unable to cover his whole body. Full of powerful muscles, he seemed to be cast from steel. Although the expression on his face was amiable, the sturdy stature virtually gave people a kind of intense pressure.
"Five surpassing twenty fifth rank! Not bad. Not bad. It seems that this year, there are quite a few little monsters. My exam is the final one. If you pass, you will be able to enroll into Shrek Academy. However, my trial isn't so simple. Real combat experience is necessary for every spirit master to possess. I will be examining exactly that."
As his smiling gaze swept from Durand to the others, he said mildly, "I'm called Zhao Wuji. Since the five of you were excused from the second and third exams, I will personally accompany you to play. I'll give the five of you thirty minutes to get familiar with each other. After that, you will have to last thirty minutes against me in combat. Even if only one person is able to persevere to the end, all five of you will pass. I hope none of you will try any cheap tricks. There is nowhere for any of you to escape at this range. Also, relying only on one person to withstand my attacks is impossible. You will have to coordinate together in order to succeed."
With some hesitation, Dai Mubai said, "Teacher Zhao, this isn't too proper."
Zhao Wuji started at him, saying, "What isn't proper? The dean isn't here so I am now the one in charge. I will light the incense. You all don't have much time so go make your preparations. Little Bai, you can also tell them about my abilities, let the five of them have a little preparation."
After speaking, Teacher Zhao pulled out a stick of incense. Using his fingers to pinch the tip of the incense, it directly ignited the stick. In an instant, the incense was already stuck in the ground, and moreover did not have the slightest tremble. Having finished the exam preparations, Zhao Wuji again sat back down on his chair, closing his eyes to continue sleeping.
At this time, the five youths did not seem to be particularly worried about the test ahead of them. This was because Durand knew that even without him, Tang San and the others had been able to pass. With the addition of Durand who was even higher ranked than the others, this would be much easier. Tang San and the others though, had underestimated Zhao Wuji.
Dai Mubai did know the extent of Zhao Wuji's power and came over to them with a worried face and said gravely, "This time I also am unable to help you. I didn't expect teacher Zhao to suddenly personally do this."
With a smile, Xaio Wu said, "This teacher Zhao can't possibly be like the old man outside the gate at spirit emperor level strength, can he?"
Dai Mubai shook his head and said, "No."
"Then don't worry. With the five of us near the thirtieth rank, don't tell me one stick of incense of time won't do against a spirit king?" said Xiao Wu.
Dai Mubai looked at her, expression a bit like he was looking at an idiot, "If you think teacher Zhao is that good at holding back his attack, then then you're gravely mistaken. You are right that Teacher Zhao is not at the spirit empeor. However you are wrong about him being below that level. In fact, he is a seventy sixth ranked spirit sage. Moreover, he is an attack system spirit master. He is the academy's vice dean whose strength is second only to the Dean."
With disbelief, Xiao Wu exclaimed, "He is seventy sixth ranked? But compared to that gate old man he looks so much younger."
Dai Mubai calmly said, "Age does not represent strength. There isn't much time; I will simply tell you all teacher Zhao's abilities. Afterwards you must immediately design a strategy to counter him, otherwise, let alone one stick of incense, being able to withstand his first attack will be very difficult."
The five youth's expressions became solemn; facing a seventy sixth ranked spirit sage was a serious matter.
Dai Mubai quickly began explaining, "Teacher Zhao's spirit is a Vigorous Vajra Bear and it's a kind of powerful beast spirit. The whole body does not have any weakness. The defensive power is extremely terrifying. Even spirit masters at the same rank would find it very difficult to cut open his defense to cause him harm. Even though speed is not what teacher Zhao excels in, the spirit power gap between the five of you and him is simply too large and he will also be faster than you. Teacher Zhao's biggest strength is in physical attack power and defense power. Let alone you five, even if I was included, we still might not be able to obstruct his attack for one stick of incense. Right now I only hope teacher Zhao won't fight so seriously."
The short haired beautiful young lady suddenly cried out in surprise, "He is Motionless Bright King Zhao Wuji! He's been missing for nearly ten years. I didn't expect that he would be teaching here. Originally, Motionless Bright King Zhao Wuji and Spirit Hall had a disagreement. Spirit Hall wanted to punish him, but he easily escaped from the siege of sixteen Spirit Hall bishops. Spirit Hall's bishops are all at least sixtieth ranked or higher spirit emperors. At that time, he had also only been a spirit emperor. Now that he has advanced, he'll be even more difficult to deal with."
Dai Mubai nodded and said, "I have never seen teacher Zhao's appearance at all his full strength. Therefore, I hope you the best. Among teacher Zhao's seven spirit rings, the first two are hundred year spirit rings, the third spirit ring and the fourth spirit ring are thousand year, and the last three spirit rings are ten thousand year. Also, the seven spirit rings have attack and defensive properties. You should be able to imagine his frightfulness. Right now, you should first get familiar with each other by announcing your names and abilities. This will let you have a look into how you should best match abilities to withstand Zhao Wuji's exam."
Tang San first opened his mouth, "I'm Tang San. Tool spirit: Blue Silver Grass, twenty ninth ranked control system battle spirit master."
Xiao Wu looking at Tang San speaking, and spoke second, "Xiao Wu, beast spirit Soft Bone Rabbit, twenty ninth ranked attack system spirit master."
The delicate young lady spoke third, "Ning Rongrong, tool spirit Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, twenty sixth ranked auxiliary system spirit master."
Fourth, the ice cold young lady spoke, "Zhu Zhuqing, beast spirit Hell Civet, twenty seventh ranked agility system spirit master."
Finally, Durand introduced himself, "Durand, tool spirit Moonlight Guardian, thirtieth ranked defensive system spirit master."
After the introductions, all five people, including Dai Mubai's gazes focused onto the delicate young lady, Ning Rongrong.
Tang San looked shocked said, "Your spirit is Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. That means, you come from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School?"
Even Durand, who already knew about Ning Rongrong's spirit was curious. Grandmaster had described the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda spirit as a legend. It could only be possessed by the children directly related to the core family of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School. On the continent, every spirit master agreed that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda was the most formidable auxiliary tool spirit. It was the best companion spirit for all fighting system spirit masters. Among Spirit Hall's six signs, one of them was the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.
Ning Rongrong stuck out a cute little tongue and said, "Don't stare; I'm no different from ordinary people. I've run away from home. Let's get back to the topic at hand. My spirit is seven treasure glazed tile pagoda, two spirit rings. I am able to amplify everyone's strength and agility by about thirty percent. Sustaining this for thirty minutes is no problem.
Even though 30% amplification was already pretty good, Druand knew from Grandmaster that the reason why the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda was considered the most powerful auxiliary system spirit was because for every spirit ring that was absorbed, this amplification would increase by 10 percent for all rings. This meant that once Ning Rongrong absorbed her third spirit ring, her amplifications would increase to forty percent. At the seventieth rank, she could increase attributes by 80 percent.
Having such an amazing supporting effect, spirit masters with this spirit were coveted by all organizations. If one were to appear in either of the imperial regions, they would cause fighting between the spirit master organizations nearby. Fortunately, the amplification effects did not stack which meant that only the highest ranked spirit master between two Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda would affect the same person.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's biggest weak point was having no offensive ability, requiring other battle spirit masters to defend them. Of course, volunteers to do so were not uncommon. Among them included at least two of the top level existences, Titled Douluo. On the entire Continent, Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School was absolutely ranked in the top three schools.
As for what kind of amplification effect would emerge when the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda finally reached the eightieth rank and ninetieth rank, only their school's inner core members knew. This was Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School's biggest secret.
Dai Mubai drew a deep breath and said, "The five of you match pretty well. There aren't even any overlaps in system spirits. You guys will have to decide on your own how to resist teacher Zhao's attack."
Tang San immediately took charge and said, "Ning Rongrong is in charge of supporting the four of use. Xiao Wu is in charge of the main assault. Durand will be in charge of controlling teacher Zhou's attack and preventing him from eliminating the others from the fight. I will be restricting his movements while supporting Xiao Wu's frontal charge. Zhu Zhuqing, I'll have you attack from the flank and use your speed to pin him down."
The four of them gave Tang San a look before nodding and agreeing to his plans. With only a short amount of time, they could only form some simple tactics. Whether or not they were good could only be determined after using actual combat to test it. No matter what, none of them had run into such a formidable opponent and they weren't even sure if they could even match the degree of strength that the opponent possessed.
"Time is up. Get ready for the fight," said Zhao Wuji.
The five of them turned, only to see that the incense stick had already burned out and could no longer be seen.
"Teacher, we can begin," said Dai Mubai with a nod.
He quickly stepped back to spectate on the side. Even though this was an abnormal fight, being able to see Zhao Wuji fight at any capacity was an opportunity that he could not miss out on. Zhao Wuji stood up once again. As he did, he began loosening his wrists and arms. His bones cracked so loudly that the intangible pressure suddenly increased. Flicking his hand, another incense stick ignited and was planted into the floor.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
darkqi
darkqi I'm stuck with how I want to end the next chapter and I was hoping to get the two published at the same time.
Unfortunately, I still have yet to finish the next chapter so I am just publishing this for the week of 7.14-7.20
Word Count: 2705
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone