Throughout the past 20,000 years, almost all of the most exceptional young Soul Masters on the continent would try to apply for Shrek Academy, and as a result, all other high-grade academies habitually set their enrolment dates later than Shrek Academy"s. The students that they would be receiving would be the ones rejected by Shrek Academy.
However, the Spirit PaG.o.da had broken this convention on this occasion, and with its absolute advantage in the resources department, it was confident that it would crush Shrek Academy in this enrolment battle.
Even if Spirit Academy couldn"t take all of the students, it would count as their victory if they could take over half of the most exceptional students. They were confident that with the resources provided by the Spirit PaG.o.da, these students would definitely develop to be no less exceptional than the students of Shrek Academy. They were determined to take the t.i.tle of the number one academy on the continent, and once they managed to secure that t.i.tle, it wouldn"t even matter if Shrek Academy continued to exist as it would only be an empty sh.e.l.l of its former self.
Qiangu Dongfeng had devised this plan in order to not give Shrek Academy any chances.
In contrast with Shrek Academy"s subdued display, Spirit Academy was like a peac.o.c.k flaunting its canopy. The paths leading into the academy were lined with countless bouquets of flowers, and there were many people attending to the young applicants and their parents.
Almost half of the employees at the Spirit PaG.o.da headquarters had been sent to Spirit Academy, and even Qiangu Dongfeng was going to be present in the academy until the commencement of the opening ceremony.
The 300 mechas soaring over Spirit Academy were drawing gasps of awe and admiration from the crowd, particularly the three red mechas; all of them were radiating dazzling light, and even though they were smaller than the mechas of other colors, everyone knew just how powerful divine-grade mechas were.
Even though divine-grade mechas couldn"t compare with four-word battle armor, a mecha pilot would have to at least be a t.i.tled Douluo if they wanted to unleash the full power of a divine-grade mecha.
How could such a stunning display of power and wealth not attract widespread attention?
These three divine-grade mechas didn"t actually belong to the Spirit PaG.o.da. Instead, they were the best mechas that the mecha pilot a.s.sociation had to offer. The mecha pilot a.s.sociation was looking to collaborate with the Spirit PaG.o.da through Spirit Academy. If the a.s.sociation could establish strong ties with Spirit Academy"s mecha division, then there would be more and more exceptional young mecha pilots joining their a.s.sociation after graduating from the academy, and that would certainly be a very desirable outcome.
Aside from the mecha pilots, there were also Soul Masters flying through the air, releasing their martial soul true bodies or displaying their powerful martial souls and soul spirits. It was as if a festival were taking place outside Spirit Academy.
All of this had been painstakingly planned and prepared, and the Spirit PaG.o.da had expended this much effort to ensure that it could strike down Shrek Academy once and for all.
It was clear that they were targeting Shrek Academy, but everything was being done fair and square, so no criticism could be directed toward the Spirit PaG.o.da.
As the first princ.i.p.al of Spirit Academy, Qiangu Zhangting was overseeing the proceedings in person.
A long line had already formed outside Spirit Academy, but the enrolment hadn"t officially begun.
In 10 minutes, Spirit Academy was going to be extending a direct challenge toward Shrek Academy.
Qiangu Zhangting"s heart was filled with excitement, but also a hint of anxiety. This was the first opportunity anyone had had in 20,000 years to truly surpa.s.s Shrek Academy, and this was an extremely important event for the Qiangu Family, as well as his lifelong dream.
As the princ.i.p.al of Spirit Academy, he was standing at the very forefront of all of this, and if he were successful, his position in the Spirit PaG.o.da would definitely be elevated to a whole new level. At the very least, it would make up for the loss he suffered to Tang Wulin.
So what if Tang Wulin was individually powerful? This was a world in which resources were integral.
A resentful look appeared in Qiangu Zhangting"s eyes at the mere thought of Tang Wulin. He wanted nothing better than to tear Tang Wulin to shreds with his bare hands.
"Is everything ready?" Qiangu Zhangting asked.
An employee immediately replied, "Rest a.s.sured, Princ.i.p.al, everything is ready, and we"ve set up a total of 50 registration desks. After registration, everyone will immediately be taken to undergo examinations, and lodging will be provided in the academy for those who pa.s.s."
Spirit Academy was covering all bases with registration, examination, enrolment, and boarding, giving students no chance to leave. To put it in simpler terms, no student would be allowed to leave, particularly not to defect to the enemy on the other side.
"Good. Prepare for the countdown," Qiangu Zhangting said as he glanced at the time on his soul communicator with a cold light in his narrowed eyes.
He had been waiting for this opportunity for a very, very long time.
It had to be said that everything the Spirit PaG.o.da was doing was proving to be very effective. The performance they were putting on and the biased reporters they had sent to Shrek Academy were convincing more and more people to enrol at their academy, and it was clear that there were more students enrolling at Spirit Academy than at Shrek Academy.
The clash between the two academies was about to begin!
What everyone failed to notice was that there were a few unremarkable figures making their way into Spirit Academy"s registration area. Everywhere they went, the dense crowd would naturally part for them without even realizing it, and they soon arrived at the very front of the registration area.
There were around a dozen of them in total, and they stopped as soon as they arrived at the main gate of Spirit Academy.
They then quickly pulled two long rods out of a storage soul tool, then suspended a banner high up in the air.
The banner read: "Preliminary Examination".
One of the young men glanced at the time, then said to the parent of the child that was first in line, "Hi there, prior to registration, your child must undergo a preliminary examination. Please bring him over here."
"No problem." The parent immediately did as he was told.
Another chubby young man said to the small child, "Give me your hand."
The young boy appeared to be around 11 or 12 years of age, and he extended a hand forward in a nervous manner.
The chubby young man gently squeezed the pulse on his wrist, then said, "He"s pa.s.sed; you may enter for registration."
"Thank you," the parent said in a grateful manner before departing with his child.
"Next."
The next parent quickly brought their child over to the same young man.
The preliminary examination was very quick, and it didn"t seem all that difficult to pa.s.s, considering the first child had pa.s.sed so easily.
Sure enough, the next child was also promptly granted entry after having his pulse briefly felt.
At this point, registration had already commenced, and there were designated employees leading the children and their parents in through the academy"s main entrance.
For some reason, all of them were struck by a sense of disorientation, but the registration process progressed very smoothly. However, none of the employees paid any heed to the group of people under the preliminary examination banner.
Everything proceeded in an orderly fas.h.i.+on, and the parents had no reason to doubt that the preliminary examination had been organized by anyone other than Spirit Academy.
After laying his hand onto the wrist of the 37th child in the line, the chubby young man"s expression suddenly lit up. "You"re a special case; you"re a monster, so you have to register somewhere else." He pointed to the area beside the banner as he spoke, and a door that was rippling with rainbow light suddenly appeared there.
The parent was rather perplexed. "What"s the meaning of this? Why do we have to go somewhere else? My son is very exceptional; he"s always been top of his cla.s.s back where we came from."
The chubby young man smiled, and replied, "That"s exactly why we"re giving him special treatment! Go on now, don"t delay everyone else."
"Alright, but what is this door?"