"Alright, you brats. This is it." Zhou Yi coldly said as she stood before her students as usual, only, the atmosphere was more tense than ever before. "I've already reported the list of teams that are partaking in the competition later. The competition will formally start this afternoon."
"It will use a round-robin system, and you won't meet each other during the ten matches that you'll be competing in, only teams from other classes." She narrowed her eyes, an authoritative aura exploded out and engulfed every class one students.
"I only have one line of advice for you: if anyone tries to stop you from passing the assessment, beat the shit out of them. That's it, you can all disperse. We'll gather at the assessment area this afternoon."
Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao went out of the classroom together to do some last minute teamwork training.
On the way out, Wang Dong couldn't help but say, "Is it just me, or did teacher Zhou Yi became cooler?"
Huo Yuhao shrugged, "What are you talking about? Did eating so much meat last night made you more meatheaded or something? Teacher Zhou has always been a cool teacher."
Wang Dong snorted, glancing at him. "To you perhaps, you masochistic pervert."
"The hell you talking about?"
"What else am I supposed to describe someone so animatedly into training themselves and pushing themselves to the limit? It's like you derive pleasure from the pain or something."
Huo Yuhao rolled his eyes, a smirk playing at his lips. "Well, you know what they say, no pain, no gain. Besides, training is the only way we can improve and become stronger. We need to take this competition seriously."
'Well, for them anyway.' Thought Huo Yuhao. After all the training he did and some spars he does with Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Tang Ya he was confident that he could take on anyone below four rings easily head on.
Xiao Xiao chimed in, her voice filled with determination. "Wang Dong, Huo Yuhao is right. Teacher Zhou Yi wouldn't say something like that without reason. We should all be prepared to give it our all in the competition."
Wang Dong sighed and leaned against a wall, crossing his arms. "Fine, fine, I get it. You guys are just too serious sometimes. Can't we have a little fun too?"
Huo Yuhao chuckled. "Of course we can have fun, but we have to balance it with our goals. And right now, our goal is to pass this assessment and make our mark as a team."
"Alright, alright." Wang Dong smirked, smacking his fist. "I'll try to be serious too. But what are we doing here exactly?"
"Well," Huo Yuhao stopped, looking around to find no one around them, he took to leaning against a wall and said. "You and I have experience working with each other, but not with Xiao Xiao. Remember, this is a team effort competition. If one is lacking, the entire team would fall behind as well."
Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao looked at each other and nodded, the trio started sharing their respective martial souls and their soul skills.
As they spent talking about their abilities, they arrived outside of the academy and in a secluded area of a forest where they can train. Which, they spent a couple hours of practicing their teamwork.
It was during all that, that Xiao Xiao realized a shocking truth.
Huo Yuhao, their class monitor with a ten year old soul ring, was strong.
Unbelievably so!
They had done a little sparring session against each other to properly get a hang of what the others's fighting style was.
Wang Dong, their strongest soul master with the highest cultivation, suggested a two vs one match. It was Wang Dong and her versus Huo Yuhao.
Initially she thought Wang Dong was being mean and was bullying Huo Yuhao.
But it was only after she saw both herself and Wang Dong trapped in some kind of illusion that she realized that, she really underestimated Huo Yuhao.
Even after they prohibited his illusion skill, he still managed to defeat them through pure physical strength and technique.
'So there was a reason why Wang Dong would follow after Huo Yuhao's lead... And it wasn't just they were friends, but also because he respected him for his strength.' She pursed her lips and looked at Huo Yuhao, quietly meditating in a cross-legged position.
'With his illusion skill, physical prowess, and those strange skills I've seen him do... Becoming the champions would no longer be a possibility, but a certainty!' She smiled.
Xiao Xiao is a simple and humble girl unlike most students in the academy. After all, when one is among the rare chosen to remain in the academy and proven their worth, they'll be acting mighty, aloof, arrogant, etc. But despite being a heaven chosen with twin martial souls, she'd never showed off her talents and preferred to be low-key to avoid trouble as that was the way she was raised.
But even if she wasn't unlike the others, she still had pride in her bones as someone with twin martial souls. A rare phenomenon in soul masters that only happens in one in six thousand! And considering the low population of soul masters, she and others like her are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.
So when she got rejected by him, a bit understandably, she was pissed. Seriously, she was a cute girl! What kind of guy would reject someone like her just because they were young?
But now...she understands.
While she was having these lustful thoughts, Huo Yuhao was busily improving himself every second to get stronger. She had even felt his soul power and was shocked to find that he had already reached rank 20!
Why isn't he getting his second soul ring!? Is because of a strange cultivation method? Ning Tian did mentioned that Huo Yuhao entered the fallen Tang Sect, if he weren't she would've already recruited him in her sect.
Truth to be told, even if Huo Yuhao wasn't part of Tang Sect, Ning Tian would never recruited someone she considers to be a friend in her sect. Even as the sect's successor and daughter of the sect master, she had only little freedom in her so-called 'home'. Why would she want that same treatment, probably even worse, to her friends?
Xiao Xiao watched Huo Yuhao cultivated while Wang Dong was...running up to a tree?
'Idiot.' She watched him fall down with a loud thud and shook her head, her tender gaze on Huo Yuhao.
This was the first time Xiao Xiao ever seen someone so dedicated and diligent in their pursuit of cultivation. She mustn't fall behind either!
With clenched hands, a determined expression on her face, Xiao Xiao also sat down and began cultivating.
Just because she was rejected once, doesn't mean she'll give up! She had her pride as a talented soul master, and she was determined to show Huo Yuhao that she was just as powerful and capable as him.
Shrek Academy's assessment area was located at the north-central part of the Martial Soul Department, and was adjacent to the Soul Duelling Area. To the outer courtyard students, this was a paradise for outstanding students, where they could display their abilities, but was a nightmare for weaker students.
There would always be a large number of students expelled after failing their assessment every year. A large majority of the assessments would be held in this Examination Area.
The Examination Area was oval-shaped. Unlike the Soul Duelling Area, which was enclosed, the Examination Area was basically an open field. It was only encircled by short walls, while inside it was separated into many small areas by partitions
The Examination Area was roughly twenty-thousand square metres large, but was currently separated into fifty areas. Every single partitioned area was around four hundred square metres in size, and was a twenty by twenty metre square. This was already sufficient for new students, who generally only had one or two soul rings.
After the intense division of groups in the morning, the assessment formally started in the afternoon. Because this was the first day of the assessment, all of the teams could leave after finishing only one match. This was done for the sake of letting the new students adapt, at least somewhat, to the schedule.
The academy had stationed a teacher in each of the fifty areas in order to complete the registration process for the assessment. The lot drawing for today's matches had already been done that afternoon, and the academy did all they could to ensure that no teams from the same class would meet each other during the ten-match round robin tournament.
Huo Yuhao's team of three was assigned to the 33rd arena. After the three ate lunch, they headed towards the Examination Area. Since each arena was quite obviously labeled, they managed to find which arena they were supposed to be in quite quickly.
It was still a bit early so there wasn't a lot of students gathered around yet so Huo Yuhao and co spent the remaining time meditating to be at their peak state.
"New students, please pay attention. New students, please pay attention. Please immediately enter the Examination Area to participate in the freshmen assessment. There are still ten minutes left for you to enter. Any students that are late will automatically forfeit their assessment."
A booming voice from the loudspeaker rang throughout the entire academy; it was loud enough to travel through every nook and corner of the academy.
Huo Yuhao opened his eyes and muttered,
"So it's time."
A teacher that looked to be around forty walked into the 33rd Area. He looked like an extremely average person; he didn't give off any sort of threatening aura. He had a smile on his face, as well as an extremely friendly appearance.
After counting the number of people present, he smiled. "Very good. We have a total of six teams participating in the freshmen assessment today. Allow me to introduce myself first. I'm Wang Yan, and I'll be your proctor for the next two days."
"Greetings, Teacher Wang." The students hurriedly bowed in respect.
Wang Yan chuckled, waving his hand. "No need to be so polite kids. This is an arena, not a classroom. Here, we can be friends or rivals. But we can't be rivals since I'm not part your assessment! Although this assessment determines whether or not you can continue to study in Shrek Academy, I have to remind you that this is still only an assessment."
Wang Yan's expression turned solemn, "Giving your opponent life threatening injuries or killing them is extremely prohibited. If I see any of you engaging in such behavior, you will be immediately disqualified from the assessment. This is not a place for such barbarism, but rather a place for showcasing your skills and teamwork."
'That depends on their behavior, teach.' Thought Huo Yuhao as he patiently waited for their team to fight. Having been trained by Ancestor in all sorts, especially fighting, he eventually learned one thing about fighting.
There are no rules, you fight to win, to survive, and achieve your goal!
Honor? Respect? Dignity? Those things wouldn't matter in battle.
Only when you stand above your opponent do you have the luxury to consider those things.
Wang Yan's expression softened, a smile on his face. "Do you all understand? Great, we can start now. If we end earlier, you can go back early to train for tomorrow. A slight sense of urgency is definitely a good thing for you youngsters."
As he spoke, he took out a sheet of paper and glanced over it. Afterwards, he raised his head and said, "For the first match of the first round of the freshmen assessment — Class 1: Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao. Class 3: Ouyang Junyi, Chen Junfeng, Zhao Haochen. The six of you can enter the battlefield and take your sides. When I announce the start of the battle, you can release your martial souls. Enter."
Huo Yuhao's team blinked in surprise.
They were up first?
"Well, this was going to end faster than I first thought." Wang Dong grinned, pumping his fist, he excitedly walked up to the corner of the arena.
'He's being too excited.' Huo Yuhao shook his head with Xiao Xiao giggling as they followed after their overly excited friend. They entered the arena, all three taking up a relaxed position with both Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao standing side by side before Huo Yuhao.
'Can't blame him, I'm also itching to get some action...' Huo Yuhao groaned as he stretched his arms out.
The other team also took up their position, but unlike Huo Yuhao's team, they were solemn and tensed. But their expressions turned agitated when they saw the relaxed actions of Huo Yuhao's team.
"We'll defeat them..." Ouyang Junyi muttered to his teammates, who both nodded in agreement.
Their desire for victory grew stronger when they looked upon the handsome visages of both Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong.
Compared to their ordinary faces and lacking physiques...it was like a group of toads against a pair of elegant swans and a cute kitten.
'Unforgivable!' Their alpha male hormones were raging for battle.
Seeing that both parties were in position, Wang Yan nodded.
"Start the assessment!"
....
Wang Yan was a representative from the moderate faction of Shrek Academy's theoretical school of thought. He had a large amount of knowledge on theory, and his ability to teach was extremely strong. Even though he was only forty or so years old, he was a highly ranked teacher that was second to none in the outer courtyard.
For the past several years, he had witnessed a lot of things, experienced a lot of good and bad for the sake of his research. He'd a lot of geniuses come and go in the outer courtyard, their skills and some miracles they performed befitting of a 'Shrek'.
So there weren't a lot in this academy and its students that can surprise him.
But in this one match, the first match of arena 33, his brain had...blanched for a moment.
Right on the arena, Huo Yuhao's team had looks of disappointment across their faces while class 3's team were all laying on the ground, defeated.
'What happened?!' That was the question everyone had in mind.
They had just barely released their martial souls before falling down unconscious. How could they just lose like that?!
"Ah," Snapping out of his dazed state, Wang Yan turned towards Huo Yuhao's team with suspicion. "it seemed that you have won but... May I please get some sort of explanation as to what had happened here?"
Huo Yuhao stepped forward, beads of cold sweat covered his face as he replied, "Teacher Wang Yan, it was due to a soul skill that I used to make them fall unconscious. As you can see, it uses a ton of soul power and stamina so I'm really..."
"Oh my! Such a powerful ten year soul skill..." Wang Yan muttered in disbelief.
'Liar.'
'Bullshit.'
Both Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao blankly stared at Huo Yuhao's back, having known of his true abilities and that his illusion technique only takes a small amount of his soul power.
"Teacher Wang Yan, are you not going to announce the victor...?"
"Hm? Oh, forgive my lack of judgment. Yes, of course." Wang Yan cleared his throat and announced, "The victor of the first match is Class 1's 'Team Huo Yuhao'." After Wang Yan had announced the results of the match, he noted it down on the previous sheet of paper he'd pulled out.
Though disappointed by the match, the trio still excitedly gave each other high-fives.
Wang Yan huffed, though he was curious, he didn't ask Huo Yuhao anything in the end. He believed that he'd definitely see Huo Yuhao's abilities in the following matches.
Oh how wrong he was.
.....
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