Chapter 52: The Ninth Trial Begins
Sheng Feilong and Jian Wang had joined Tang Wulin and his friends to take the ninth trial together. After everyone, except for Jian Wang, successfully passed the eighth trial, Teacher Shen led them over to the grounds of the ninth trial. Sheng Feilong had talked to Tang Wulin a bit after the eighth trial and, according to the latter, the Shrek Entrance Exam has a total of 10 trials. Sheng Feilong currently had 62 points, already passing the minimum score to be admitted into Shrek Academy's Outer Court, while there were only two more trials. That means that Sheng Feilong will be unable to enter the Inner Court right after the exam, even if he aced the last two trials.
Thus, Sheng Feilong was quite relaxed. Jian Wang seemed just as relaxed as him; he currently had 54 points and just needed to pass a single trial to obtain the minimum score to enter Shrek Academy's Outer Court. Tang Wulin and his friends on the other hand were quite anxious and focused. Other then Tang Wulin, who had 60 points after the eighth trial, none of them were in the safe zone yet. It was especially dire for Gu Yue, who currently only had 48 points. She had to successfully pass both, the ninth and tenth trials, in order to pass the exam.
Tang Wulin also told Sheng Feilong that Teacher Shen's name is Shen Yi and that she's a friend of their teacher. Apparently, their teacher had organized for Shen Yi to personally oversee their entrance exam and although Shen Yi seemed indifferent and cold on the outside, she's actually a pretty nice person.
Walking down the corridor, they soon entered the room where the ninth trial would be held. This room was different from the rest so far; The lighting was dim and the surroundings lacked the usual decorations, with only a single large screen hanging from the metal walls. Sheng Feilong and the others couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity seeing this. A moment later, it suddenly struck Sheng Feilong; This place seemed similar to the Spirit Ascension Platform!
"Your goal for the ninth trial is to survive. I believe you've all been in the spirit ascension platform before. Well, this is similar to that. In a sense, all the soul beasts in it are real. If you kill one and are at a bottleneck, then you'll even be able to gain a soul ring. Alright. Prepare to enter." Shen Yi pressed a button and several metal capsules slid out of the walls.
Sheng Feilong seemed lost in thought for a moment before directing his gaze way from the metal capsules and onto Shen Yi.
"Teacher Shen, will this be a team trial or will we take turns like in the eighth trial?" Shen Yi glanced at him again, a slight surprise showing in her eyes, although just for a second, and she stoically answered his question.
"You'll be taking this trial as a team. No matter how many participants there are, they will take the trial together. This isn't just a test of your survival capabilities but also your ability to coordinate with other people. You may enter now. Good luck."
Hearing this, Sheng Feilong slightly glanced at Tang Wulin and his friends. If this trial was survival, then he was absolutely confident in his and Jian Wang's abilities, but he didn't know about the others. Still, since they were a team, he'd naturally try his best to make sure everyone of them succeeded. Tang Wulin similarly glanced at Sheng Feilong and both saw the self-confidence in each others eyes and slightly smiled. This trial should be quite easy compared to the ones before! After that, they all split up and entered a capsule each.
Unbeknownst to the six of them, two people entered the room after the capsules closed and the children entered the ninth trial. Among those two, one of them was someone Sheng Feilong and Jian Wang were most familiar with; it was the cranky old lady that failed Sheng Feilong at the fourth trial!
By her side was an tall old man with head full of grey hair that went down to his shoulders. He had a high nose and deep-blue sunken eyes, that accented his unyielding and stifling aura. Upon seeing this man, Shen Yi quickly walked in fornt of him and lightly bowed. "Shen Yi greets teacher."
The old man nodded, his eyes fixed on Tang Wulin in the big screen that hung in the room, as he courtly acknowledged Shen Yi's bow with a nod. "How are those children faring?"
Shen Yi took a moment to find the right answer, but in the end, she simply sighed and slightly shook her head. "They're simply unbelievable. I don't know much about the two that joined them before the 8th trial, but that big guy's combat standards are even higher than Tang Wulin and the rests. The other one is just as impressive; he actually beat his opponent in less than 15 seconds and with a single kick to boot." Before the old man could answer, they could already hear the old lady's sneer.
"That's right, they're really unbelievable. I didn't let them take the fifth trial, but that Tang Wulin actually already has 60 points; he got full marks on every trial so far! And that arrogant brat Sheng Feilong; You said he beat his opponent in less than 15 seconds? Hmpf, I guess he wasn't just mindlessly boasting after all. Zhou Shi, let me be frank; I don't care about the other five, but I've already set my eyes on that Gu Yue."
The tall old man, Zhou Shi, shot her a mocking look. "What do you mean you've set your eyes on her? Don't forget that they're all my granddisciples. They don't have anything to do with you. You can take the other two for all I care!"
The two started bickering for a while longer, not paying Shen Yi or the already starting trial of sheng Feilong and the others any heed. After a while, Shen Yi decided to cut the two of them off with a question.
"Teacher, what test level are they taking?"
Zhou Shi looked at her expressionlessly and plainly answered as if stating the obvious, but his answer made Shen Yi pale slightly with a disbelieving look.
"The highest level!"
---
Inside the capsules, Sheng Feilong's surroundings suddenly warped as he entered the trial grounds. It really was similar to the Spirit Ascension Platform; even the feeling was nearly identical, but that only made it easier for him to adept. When the warping stopped, the six children stood inside a lush forest and Sheng Feilong immediately spread out his Spirit Power to scout the surrounding. Just half a moment later, Bluesilver Grass slithered out from beneath Tang Wulin, probing the surroundings as well. None of them found any dangers and they quickly told their team members. Xie Xie was gleeful and started boasting how this trial would probably be the easiest for them yet.
Sheng Feilong lightly frowned at Xie Xie's lack of awareness and spoke up.
"This isn't quite the same as what you're used to. The feeling is different from the elementary level of the Spirit Ascension Platform. If I had to take a guess, I'd say it's similar to the intermediate level." Tang Wulin nodded gravely, agreeing to Sheng Feilong. "That right. I've been to the intermediate level once with Teacher Wu before, and the feeling is about the same. We have to be extremely careful. If this really is the same as intermediate level, the Soul Beasts here will be powerful and we might even meet a 10.000-year-old Soul Beast."
The others expressions became grave after Tang Wulin's words. Although all of them had fought 1.000-years-old Soul Beasts, a 10.000-years-old one was simply incomparably stronger and they would face certain death if they fought one. They decided on having Tang Wulin use his Bluesilver Grass to continue probing the surroundings while they hid in the bushes, two hours passed quickly passed by like that and nothing happened. A while later, Xie Xie suggested to go explore, but Tang Wulin stopped him, saying it would be safer to wait until dusk to allow Xu Xiaoyan to use her Spirit Essence to the best of its abilities. Another while later, when the sun had set, they went out to explore the region, when suddenly, a terrifying howl shattered the silence and flipped the forest upside down.
Tang Wulin shuddered in terror, goosebumps breaking out all over his body, but a powerful energy suddenly flared up inside of him, dispelling the fear and shock. The others were affected even more badly than him, but Sheng Feilong's pupils contracted immediately and his body shuddered involuntarily. He wasn't terrified like Tang Wulin, but the same energy – his bloodline's essence – flared up as well and excitement spread through him. He had heard that howl and felt that aura before; It was a Three-Eyed Golden Lion's aura!
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Yozuka
Yozuka Daily chapter delivery! I hope you enjoy it!
Please let me know if you spot any mistakes in spelling or grammar, I'll fix them asap!
Feel free to ask any questions in the comment section!
Let me know what you think of it so far!
Discord link: https://discord.gg/keWSXKE
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone