With Heita's current identity, whether she goes to Shrek Academy or not actually no longer matters. Even without the knowledge inside Shrek, she can still forge her own path using only her own abilities.
Her reason for going to Shrek now is simply to show her face, to get familiar with the place, and incidentally meet the so-called strongest being on the continent—Yun Ming, and see if she can extract something useful from him. If one day Heita gets bored staying at Shrek Academy, she would probably leave without a second thought…
But as for Tang Wulin, Heita—or rather Yao Lan—found him quite interesting.
Even though he possessed the power of a Star God, it was completely different from the gods of the Douluo Continent. So, Yao Lan felt it necessary to send one of her divided souls to observe and collect some of the divine power leaking from Tang Wulin, in hopes of researching or refining something from it.
This task couldn't be handled by Heita herself, because she was supposed to leave this place. Staying longer would seem suspicious.
> "Just in time—I still have one slot left for a divided soul. If it's for data collection, she'll be perfect."
Aside from Heita and another, Yao Lan's third divided soul was about to make her appearance.
---
A few days later.
As Eastsea Academy began another school term, Tang Wulin and Xie Xie were lucky enough to be placed in Class Five. After all, they had just fought recently—right in the middle of the training field, no less—so the school decided to drop them down to Class Five together.
But this was also an opportunity, because the teacher of Class Five was none other than Wu Zhangkong, who had once trained Heita herself.
Since Wu Zhangkong was a former student of Shrek Academy, his teaching methods carried Shrek's tradition—namely, running with heavy loads!
While this method didn't really work on someone like Heita, it was perfect for these average students. After all, not everyone was as gifted as she was.
> "Though you can't compare to true geniuses, ordinary people need their own way of training. If you work hard enough, you at least have the hope of catching up to her."
—Eastsea's No.1 Heita fan, Wu Zhangkong.
Of course, there was a follow-up to that statement:
> "...But it's only hope, nothing more."
As for Tang Wulin and Xie Xie—who had just gotten into a fight—they were naturally getting special attention. After all, they really were stronger than most of the other students.
Tang Wulin, age 9. Martial soul: Blue… no, Green Silver Grass. Soul power: level 19.
Xie Xie, age 9. Martial soul: Light-Dark Dragon Daggers. Soul power: level 18.
In Class Five, they were definitely considered rare talents. With proper training, they could become top-level soul masters in the future. So Wu Zhangkong didn't hesitate—he strapped over 20 jin (~10 kg) of iron armor on each of them and had them run ten laps with the rest of the class.
Don't underestimate those ten laps. Eastsea Academy was huge—each lap was around 800 meters, meaning they had to run at least 8 kilometers in total.
---
While everything was going smoothly around the campus, a beautiful girl appeared outside. When she saw Wu Zhangkong, she hesitated for a moment—but still approached him.
> "Excuse me… are you Teacher Wu Zhangkong?"
> "I am. Who are you?"
The girl looked a bit timid, but that wasn't what caught Wu Zhangkong's attention. What did was that she wasn't wearing the Eastsea Academy uniform. In other words, she wasn't a student here.
So then—why was she on campus?
> "Um… my name is Liuying (Firefly). I was recommended to come study here, but the admissions office told me I missed the enrollment deadline… and they kicked me out…"
"Teacher Wu Zhangkong, can I please stay?"
Her tone held a trace of sorrow, but also an undercurrent of resolve. Wu Zhangkong had a moment of déjà vu—it reminded him of Long Bing, who once stood like this too…
Still, as a teacher of Eastsea Academy, he had a duty. He couldn't just accept a late student without reason.
> "I can give you a chance to enroll—but it depends on your own strength. If you can show your ability in a coming match, I'll talk to the school about keeping you."
Wu Zhangkong took the letter from Liuying's hands—and immediately, his expression changed. He looked at the girl with surprise. The letter came from none other than the one who had recently left Eastsea for Shrek Academy: Heita!
No wonder she knew his name!
Opening the letter, he recognized Heita's handwriting. She said she'd come across this girl by chance. Though not exceptionally gifted, she had some talent, but couldn't afford school due to her poor family background. She hoped Wu Zhangkong could train her.
Wu Zhangkong knew Heita well. If someone she considered "a bit talented" reached out for help, they were definitely much stronger than the average student. To test her properly, he had to send out someone strong.
> And that meant: Tang Wulin.
As for Xie Xie… forget it.
> "Xie Xie, keep running. Tang Wulin, step forward!"
At Wu Zhangkong's command, Tang Wulin removed his 20 jin weighted vest and walked over. Only then did he see the girl beside Wu Zhangkong—so pretty!
> "She's your opponent today. If you beat her, I'll treat you to a month of premium cafeteria meals. But if you lose—you're running another twenty laps! Got it?"
Hearing that made Tang Wulin light up instantly. Even though Wu Zhangkong hadn't spent much time with him, he clearly knew what this boy cared about.
He'd seen Tang Wulin many times squatting at the cafeteria door, drooling at the premium meals, but unable to afford them. So this reward hit right at his weak spot.
> "Understood, Teacher Wu!"
Tang Wulin was still young—he didn't understand feelings or girls. In his eyes, nothing beat food. His eyes were filled with fighting spirit—the hunger for a good meal!
> "Both sides, thirty meters apart. Ready… Begin!"
As Wu Zhangkong gave the signal, Tang Wulin charged like a cheetah. Though he no longer had the Golden Dragon King's power, his immense life force gave him great strength and stamina, letting him burst into speed in a flash.
The girl, who had looked weak and timid, didn't move at all—until Tang Wulin got close.
Wu Zhangkong narrowed his eyes. He seemed to see a green light flicker in her hands… then, fierce flames erupted and engulfed her body, forcing Tang Wulin to halt his attack.
At that moment, a bold voice emerged from the flames—
> "Hen! Shin!"
(Transformation!)