Chapter 260: The Fourth Trial

Soul skills that produce clones weren't anything special, and were actually a common sight among agility-type soul masters. Three clones were fairly impressive, but still couldn't be considered much to Shrek Academy. Six clones, however, were a different story, especially since half of them were invisible.

Thirty seconds later, the three clones merged back into one figure. Sweat dripped from Xie Xie's forehead as he bowed to the three teachers three times. "I'm finished with my performance."

The old lady looked at him with interest. "Kid, your twin martial souls are similar to one another, correct?"

"Yes, that's right." Xie Xie wasn't surprised at the elder's insight into his secret. This was Shrek Academy after all!

The old lady nodded. "Not bad, but you still lack control. You've only scratched the surface of the Tang Sect's Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. Don't try to rush progress and don't bite off more than you can chew. Refine your Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track more before giving all of your clones the same abilities. Furthermore, your spiritual power is too weak at the moment. It's impossible for you to have complete control over three clones at once. Focus on strengthening your spiritual power first. If you can reach the Spirit Sea realm within three years, your future will be boundless."

Xie Xie had been quite proud of himself. With his Twin Dragon Clones, each one utilizing Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track against one target, he considered himself quite formidable.

However, he couldn't say a single word to refute the old lady's criticism. She had hit each nail right on the head, pinpointing each and every one of his weaknesses.

Xie Xie happily bowed once more, his head nearly dipping below his knees. Admiration welled from the bottom of his heart.

"Thank you for your guidance. I will do my best to improve myself."

"Mn." The old lady nodded. "Next."

Xie Xie returned to the others in humiliation, shoulders drooping and his face bitter. The next person to go up was Xu Xiaoyan. Similar to Xie Xie, she had received some instructions from Tang Wulin.

"What's wrong with you? Are you depressed?" Tang Wulin asked Xie Xie softly.

Xie Xie laughed bitterly in response. "That's right! I originally thought I was pretty amazing, but I don't think I did too well in this trial."

Tang Wulin smiled calmly. "It's fine. Actually, I think it's the opposite. I bet you scored quite highly. That grandmother is clearly the central figure among the three teachers. If she thought you were rotten wood that couldn't be carved, would she have given you so much advice? Besides, we're students! We came to Shrek to learn. What would be the point of coming if we already know everything?"

Xie Xie was dumbstruck.

That's right! I'm not horrible, that grandmother was just telling me how to make future progress!

Tang Wulin patted him on the leg. "Let's watch."

Xu Xiaoyan stood in the center of the room and bowed to the three teachers.

"You may start," the old lady said.

"My sincerest apologies to the three examiners" Xu Xiaoyan said. "I am unable to show you my specialty because it is still daytime. My martial soul is different at night. From a certain perspective, I can be considered a monster of a soul master. That is why I have come to Shrek."

Moving the examiners with words alone was not an easy task. Tang Wulin knew this, so he had instructed her to immediately point out her uniqueness. Being a "monster" was Shrek's motto. Calling herself one would instantly draw the attention of the examiners.

"Oh? Then how are you different at night?" the examiner on the old lady's left asked.

Xu Xiaoyan summoned her ice staff and grabbed it with her right hand, two yellow soul rings rising as she did so. "During the day, my martial soul is just the Ice Staff, which excels at controlling the battlefield and long-ranged attacks. At night, I gain the power of starlight, and my martial soul transforms into the Starwheel Ice Staff, changing my soul skills."

A spark of excitement appeared in the old lady's eyes. "I know of the Starwheel Ice Staff. It came from the Xu family long ago, but not many of them had it. Your surname is Xu?"

The old lady's words took Xu Xiaoyan by surprise. "That's right! You know about my family?"

The old lady smiled calmly. "There are very few things in the world of soul masters that Shrek doesn't know about. You can go back now."

Xu Xiaoyan gaped at her. "But I'm not done explaining."

The old lady's brow wrinkled. "Since I know about your origins, why wouldn't I know about the absolute control of your starlight soul skills? Now go on back to your friends."

"Oh." Xu Xiaoyan bowed again before leaving.

Tang Wulin was already standing to welcome Xu Xiaoyan back, nodding with approval. "You did great. Relax."

His words of assurance caused the tension to flow out of her body. Tang Wulin walked past her toward the center of the room.

The old lady inspected Tang Wulin curiously. "You seem quite confident!"

"Huh?" Her words caught him off guard, but he quickly realized his mistake and bowed. "Greetings to the three examiners."

The old lady smiled strangely. "They seem to trust you. Show me what you can do. Show me... why they have so much faith in you."

"Yes." Tang Wulin didn't explain himself. He now realized that the three examiners had likely heard everything he whispered into Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan's ears. They were truly formidable, worthy of being teachers of Shrek Academy!

"My speciality is power," he said.

A golden light flashed in his eyes and his blood essence erupted outward.

In a world of his own, he could hear the sound of his blood pumping through his veins like a mighty river. His right arm swelled with strength, golden scales covering it. Then a golden soul ring appeared.

"Ah!" Shock wiped the smile off the old lady's face, her eyes wide at the resplendent soul ring.

Beside her, the other two examiners similarly gaped at the sight before them.

All of the colors a soul ring could be had long since been established in the world of soul masters. White represented a ten-year soul ring, yellow meant hundred-year, purple stood for thousand-year, black indicated ten-thousand-year, and red signified hundred-thousand-year.

Normal soul rings could be one of those five colors. However, in the entire history of the Douluo Continent, soul rings with special colors had appeared. The appearance of such a soul ring signified immense power.

In the history of Shrek Academy, a golden soul ring had appeared once.

Tang San of the original Shrek Seven Monsters, the founder of the Tang Sect, had killed a million-year soul beast and obtained a golden soul ring.

Yet million-year soul rings had only appeared twice in the history of the Douluo Continent. The second person to possess a million-year soul ring was the legendary figure that the plaza was named after, the founder of the Spirit Pagoda, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao!

However, Huo Yuhao's million-year soul ring was different from Tang San's. His was white and could easily be disguised as a ten-year soul ring. According to the analyses of later generations of soul masters, Tang San's million-year soul ring had been directly obtained from a soul beast, resulting in its golden color. Huo Yuhao, on the other hand, had been lucky enough to fuse with the million-year Skydream Iceworm which had slept all the way until it reached the million-year level. This was the supposed reason for the difference in color. Although the Spirit Ice Douluo's soul ring became very powerful, it wasn't on par with Tang San's golden soul ring.