17 First Time Cooperating; Two People Control the Battlefield

Huo Yuhao was somewhat speechless as he said, “Arrogance causes setbacks; at least be a bit more low-profile.”

Wang Dong snorted. “Do you think that I can actually have a low-profile with my martial soul?”

“Uh…” Right! Wang Dong’s Radiant Butterfly Goddess was an existence that would always stun everyone whenever it appeared. For him to have a low-profile wouldn’t be easy.

A wordless night passed as the two cultivated in silence. The next morning, the two walked over to their school building after eating breakfast. When they entered class, they felt a fervent atmosphere envelop them.

Everyone had gathered in their respective groups of three, and were whispering to one another.

Xiao Xiao had arrived before the two of them, and thus was already waiting for them. When she saw them enter the classroom, she hurriedly waved towards them.

When Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong had reacher her, Xiao Xiao said, “The assessment is going to formally begin this afternoon. Let’s discuss some tactics.”

Wang Dong unperturbedly said, “There’s nothing for us to discuss. Let’s just go and fight.”

Xiao Xiao softly shook her head and said, “It’s not that easy. I’ve heard that every single class has a few especially outstanding students who’ve in turn formed elite teams that are gunning for the champion spot. They won’t be easy to deal with. We have to be well-coordinated to have a chance against them.”

Wang Dong still wanted to retort, but was cut off by Huo Yuhao. “Wang Dong, act properly. If you don’t, I’ll have to ask Teacher Zhou to change our teams.”

It wasn’t clear whether or not Xiao Xiao still held a grudge against Wang Dong rejecting her yesterday, but she immediately echoed Huo Yuhao, “That’s right! Too much over-confidence is simply arrogance.”

Wang Dong humphed, but no longer spoke.

Huo Yuhao put his hand on Wang Dong’s shoulder and said, “Alright, don’t be angry. If we work together, won’t it be even easier for us to defeat our enemies during the assessment? Let’s discuss the abilities that we specialise in.”

Even though they’d been classmates for three months, they’d still only studied together. Cultivation was something that they’d done individually, thus nobody really knew much about anyone else’s martial souls.

Huo Yuhao continued, “I’ll start first. I have a spiritual-type martial soul. I can use a skill known as Spiritual Detection Sharing, which can let you detect any movements within a fifty metre diameter in a fairly detailed manner. At the same time, it can also predict an opponent’s movements to a certain extent.”

Wang Dong said, “I’m an assault system soul master. Short-range and long-range attacks are both okay for me. I’m also able to fly.” Although he was somewhat arrogant, he truly had the qualifications to act as such. Regardless of whether it was his cultivation, his martial soul, or his soul skills, he was an outstanding existence among his peers. The simple fact that his second soul ring was a thousand year one was something that perhaps no one else in the academy could outshine.

Xiao Xiao nodded and said, “My main martial soul is the Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron. It can both attack and defend, and can control the battlefield to a certain extent. It can also intimidate my enemies by ramming into them, which will cause them to feel dizzy, while getting hurt at the same time. My second martial soul is a flute—the Nine Phoenix Flute. It focuses on auxiliary and control-type abilities. Currently, my second martial soul only has a hundred year soul ring. It can slow down the speed of our enemies during combat.”

Wang Dong was slightly amazed as he asked, “Your auxiliary-type martial soul doesn’t boost yourself?”

Xiao Xiao had a proud smile on her face as she replied, “Nope. Sometimes, weakening an enemy is better than boosting one’s self. When the time comes, you’ll see what I mean. However, it isn’t that easy for me to use my second martial soul, so it’s better if we hide a bit of our strength and take it slow.”

Both Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong suddenly realized something—Xiao Xiao might be even stronger than they thought.

What they didn’t know was that, when Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao worked together to control the battlefield, they would explode out with a frightening amount of control.

“Thump, thump, thump.” Three rapping sounds rang out. When the class heard that, it immediately became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Zhou Yi stood at the entrance to the classroom, her right hand just coming back down to her side. The rapping sound had been from her rapping on the door to the classroom.

Zhou Yi still maintained her ice-cold composure as she slowly walked up to the platform. “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. 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.” When Zhou Yi had finished speaking, she hard-headedly turned around and walked away.

Wang Dong spoke in a low voice to Huo Yuhao. “Don’t you think that old lady Zhou is becoming cooler and cooler?”

Huo Yuhao glanced at him and said, “This isn’t being cool; she’s being completely domineering.”

Xiao Xiao walked over and giggled. “Teacher Zhou’s just giving off a strong presence. Let’s go and find a place to train together for a while. If we don’t, how will we coordinate later?’

Without waiting for Wang Dong to speak, Huo Yuhao immediately nodded his head in agreement. “Student Wang Dong, if you ever want to eat roasted fish next time, I have to request that you to listen to every command of the current class monitor during the freshman assessment. Do you agree to these terms?”

“Urgh…” Wang Dong looked at Huo Yuhao’s resolute gaze, then said with an indignant expression on his face, “Huo Yuhao, you’re really taking advantage of my fear.”

Huo Yuhao calmly replied, “You can choose not to eat them.”

Wang Dong hesitated for a moment, but still relented in the end. “I surrender. I’ll listen to you. However, you’re in charge of the hygiene in the dorm room from now on.”

Huo Yuhao had a look of disdain on his face as he said, “Have you cleaned the room at all during these past three months?”

“This…” Wang Dong felt speechless as he said, “You’re a fierce one, aren’t you?”

Xiao Xiao seemed to be standing completely on Huo Yuhao’s side as she giggled. “Laziness is a type of sin.”

Wang Dong suddenly blurted out a few words, causing the young Xiao Xiao to immediately blush. “Xiao Xiao, the target of your affection really changes fast!”

“You—!” Xiao Xiao pointed her finger at Wang Dong with a look of anger on her face. She even looked as if she had been wronged.

“Okay, okay. Didn’t we say that we were going to train? Let’s hurry up and do so. I think that we should head outside the academy. There are tons of trees outside the academy, thus we won’t be easily disturbed by the others.”

Wang Dong stuck his tongue out at Xiao Xiao, then turned around to leave. Only after Huo Yuhao had given Xiao Xiao a few words of consolation, did she become happy. Afterwards, the two chased after Wang Dong, following the lakeside path as they left the academy.

Looking for a quiet place outside Shrek Academy couldn’t be any easier for them. Although there were several roads, there was a large amount of vegetation that covered both sides of the main road. Some of it was naturally grown, while some of it had been planted by hand.

After the three had found a relatively flat area in the forest, Wang Dong asked, “How’re we going to train? Are we just going to use our soul skills once?”

Xiao Xiao immediately refuted him, “How would that be useful? You naturally need to have a fight for training to be the most effective. You’re an assault system soul master, so you can be on one side, while the class monitor and I will be on the other side. Let’s have a match.”

“You two against me?” Wang Dong raised his right hand, wagging his forefinger as he said, “That won’t do. With just the two of you, you won’t have a chance against me!”

Xiao Xiao gave an opposingly cold smile. “How will we know if we don’t try? However, you’re an assault system soul master, so you can’t be right next to us when the battle starts. Let’s spread out a bit. Let’s say… thirty metres.”

As Huo Yuhao listened to the two’s argument, he gradually discovered how clever Xiao Xiao was. His Spiritual Detection Sharing had a fifty metre diameter, thus for Xiao Xiao to ask for Wang Dong to start off thirty metres away was equivalent to having him enter the range of his Spiritual Detection the instant he made a move.

Wang Dong agreed without any hesitation at all.

Xiao Xiao then said, “You can fly, but we can’t. This is a training session, so you’d better not fly away once you start losing.”

Wang Dong replied in a very casual manner. “I won’t leave the ground by more than five metres. Then, I’ll be heading over. You can shout ‘start’ when you guys are ready.” When he’d finished speaking, he began to walk away.

Xiao Xiao immediately turned towards Huo Yuhao and said, “Class monitor, let’s kite this fool. It’ll be fine if you just use your Spiritual Detection Sharing to support me. Let’s make that arrogant guy eat a loss.”

If this had been before Huo Yuhao had come to Shrek Academy, he definitely wouldn’t have known what ‘kiting’ was. However, he was extremely clear about what it was now—it was a tactic that relied on retreating as one fought.

Huo Yuhao nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll help you.” He also wanted to see just how strong Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong were. During the past three months, he hadn’t ever been able to see exactly how strong Wang Dong truly was when he used his martial soul to fight. However, he understood that even though Wang Dong was slightly more arrogant than others, he was just being self-confident, not arrogant. This was because self-confidence came from strength.

The distance between the two sides quickly grew larger. Wang Dong lazily leaned against a large tree and gazed at the two that were thirty metres away from him—he’d even increased the distance between them a bit. He raised his arm and waved at Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao, indicating that he was ready.

Xiao Xiao and Huo Yuhao stood next to each other. Xiao Xiao had a petite body, and was rather short compared to the rest of the class. She even had the title of ‘pocket-sized beauty’. She glanced at Huo Yuhao and nodded. “Class monitor, please assist me.”

“Okay.”

Only then did Xiao Xiao turn around and shout towards Wang Dong, “Start!” As soon as she spoke, she released her martial soul.

Two yellow lights simultaneously lit up as soon as they rose from Xiao Xiao’s feet; she was actually a Soul Grandmaster! When Huo Yuhao saw this, he inwardly blushed from shame.

The two shining soul rings rose from Xiao Xiao’s feet, but nothing seemed to happen to her body. However, a black shadow rapidly condensed above her head, clearly forming a three-legged cauldron that had two handles and a diameter of around one metre. This was Xiao Xiao’s main martial soul, the Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron.

Huo Yuhao activated his Spiritual Detection Sharing at the same time, causing a white soul ring to rise up from his feet. The onlooking Xiao Xiao couldn’t help but find it somewhat weak. She thought to herself, “No wonder the class monitor cultivates as hard as he does; his talent’s really lacking!”

However, Xiao Xiao was quickly shocked by the mysterious scene that Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection Sharing showed her.

Everything within a twenty-five metre diameter of them instantly became three-dimensional figures within her mind. She basically didn’t even have to think about them either—information about them rapidly appeared inside of her mind. She could even clearly sense the existence of every single strand of grass and bit of vegetation within the area that was surrounding them. Furthermore, besides the three-dimensional panoramic view that she’d suddenly received, she felt as if she suddenly had an extra brain that could help her process the new information that she was receiving.

As Xiao Xiao glanced at Huo Yuhao, astonished, Wang Dong had already begun to make his move.

Although Wang Dong seemed to be looking down on Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao on the surface, he wasn’t being careless at all. He’d personally experienced Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection Sharing, so he was fully aware of the fact that it could predict an opponent’s movements.

A dazzling pair of blue wings instantly spread out from his back, causing Wang Dong’s body to also be covered in an exotic colour that seemed to constantly change between blue and purple. Furthermore, a few golden balls of light appeared on his enormous pair of wings and lit up, forming a ‘V’. As his two soul rings rose up from his feet, one yellow and one purple, his Radiant Butterfly Goddess was fully released.

With a flash, Wang Dong rushed out at high speed. The balls of light on his wings began to emit soulforce, which caused his speed to instantly reach an extreme level.

This wasn’t a soul skill, but an innate skill that belonged to his Radiant Butterfly Goddess. From this alone, it could be seen how strong his martial soul was.

Wang Dong’s sudden increase in speed caused him to instantly cross a distance of ten or so metres; he had already nearly arrived in front of Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao. The result of an assault system soul master approaching two control system soul masters who had no means of engaging him in close-combat could be imagined. Their defeat seemed to be inevitable.

When Wang Dong was only twenty-five metres away from Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao, a digital representation of his movements instantly appeared in Xiao Xiao’s brain. This included the trajectory of his movements, the minute changes in his body, the smallest changes in his martial soul… even the rotation of Wang Dong’s soulforce within his meridians could be faintly examined by Xiao Xiao.

Xiao Xiao didn’t look flustered at all. Huo Yuhao’s soul ring, which was only a ten year soul ring, had already surprised her immensely. As she watched Wang Dong approach them, she decided to make a move too.

She pointed her right hand towards Wang Dong, causing the one-metre wide cauldron above her to charge forwards. It didn’t head straight towards Wang Dong, but towards the only path that he could take. Furthermore, she similarly used an innate skill that belonged to her martial soul: she delayed the use of her soul skill.

Wang Dong was put into an extremely difficult position due to the position of the enormous black cauldron, as it was currently flying directly towards the only path that he could take. This was definitely a clever application of Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection Sharing, no doubt. If not for Huo Yuhao’s help, Xiao Xiao would have had to rely on her eyesight and the fluctuations in Wang Dong’s soulforce to make a judgement, which definitely wouldn’t have been as accurate as right now.

In this moment of helplessness, Wang Dong suddenly contracted his left wing. This allowed his body to twist slightly in midair, slightly changing his trajectory. However, he became even more depressed when the black cauldron instantly shifted, allowing it to continue blocking him.

Foresight.

Xiao Xiao subconsciously turned to glance at the golden-eyed Huo Yuhao. With his Spiritual Detection Sharing, she didn’t even need to look at Wang Dong. She only needed to follow the instructions of Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection Sharing to continue her attacks. This couldn’t be any easier for her.

However, Wang Dong wouldn’t simply admit defeat; he continued to flap his wings as he soared through the air, increasing his speed by several times. Despite this, Huo Yuhao was still able to sense the rotation of his soulforce via his Spiritual Detection, thus he was able to consistently predict his movements. For him to attempt to avoid Xiao Xiao’s Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron while it was under her control clearly wasn’t realistic.

Wang Dong felt depressed. He couldn’t help but shout, “Huo Yuhao, you’re inhumane! Fine, I won’t dodge—I’ll force my way in!”

His first soul ring suddenly lit up as he spoke, while the golden light in Huo Yuhao’s eyes suddenly lit up as well. With his Spiritual Detection, he could clearly sense that the soulforce within Wang Dong’s body was rotating in an explosive manner, surging madly into his front pair of wings. On the other hand, his rear wings had been spread out for the sole sake of maintaining his balance.

His front pair of wings turned completely azure, the golden patterns on them releasing a golden light that spread outward, instantly forming a three-inch wide sharp golden edge on his front wings.

The look on Xiao Xiao’s face changed slightly. Via Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection Sharing, she could clearly sense the astonishing destructive power that was currently contained within Wang Dong’s wings after he used this soul skill.

Wang Dong simultaneously raised his hands, grabbing the inner part of his front wings. With a sudden pull, his front pair of wings immediately unfurled, resembling two guillotines with golden edges. He then twisted his body, causing his right wing to slash towards the Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron. It was just as he’d said: If a soft method wouldn’t work, he’d have to use a hard one!

However, he’d still underestimated the level of coordination that Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao shared, who were both working together to control the battlefield. Xiao Xiao didn’t have her Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron forcefully take the hit that Wang Dong has sent at it, instead choosing to have it two metres. This allowed it to perfectly dodge the slash made by Wang Dong’s right wing, before suddenly ramming into his wing.

A loud ‘bang’ rang out from their collision, and Wang Dong’s body was sent flying several tens of metres away. On the other hand, Xiao Xiao’s Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron remained hovering in midair.

Wang Dong truly felt depressed by this. His strength absolutely exceeded Xiao Xiao’s, but he hadn’t been able to display any of it whilst facing the combined forces of Xiao Xiao and Huo Yuhao. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. This time, he decided to retreat instead of advancing. With a flash, he moved more than twenty-five metres away from Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao, naturally meaning that he’d escaped the range of Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection Sharing.

“Hehe, Huo Yuhao, I want see how you’ll detect the my body’s condition now. This brother has long-range attacks too.” As he spoke, his second soul ring lit up.

Huo Yuhao smiled slightly and said, “Have you forgotten? I can also manipulate the direction of my Spiritual Detection. As of right now, I can send it out around a hundred metres. If your attack can lock onto us from over a hundred metres away, you can try using it. And even if it can, there’ll still be enough time for me to help Xiao Xiao take it on when your attack enters the range of my Spiritual Detection, unless the strength of your attack can shatter Xiao Xiao’s Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron. And besides that, you shouldn’t forget that Xiao Xiao still has her second martial soul.”

Wang Dong was stunned. Right! Even though his second soul skill was a thousand year one, and was relatively strong compared, its might would still be greatly reduced after it had crossed a hundred metres. Besides, Huo Yuhao truly would have enough time to help Xiao Xiao take it on. However, he still wasn’t willing to concede to them. “My long-range attack is an AoE attack. Even if you can detect it, it won’t be of any use.”

Xiao Xiao smiled. “Wang Dong, don’t be so proud of yourself. Don’t forget, I still have multiple soul skills that I haven’t used. Would you like to know what soul skills my Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron has? To be honest, you might not be my match, even if this were a one-on-one fight. As for your long-range attack, it might have an extraordinary amount of strength, but all the class monitor and I need is enough time to dodge it. Just wait and see.”

Whilst speaking, she pointed at the Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron with her right hand, causing it to suddenly tremble slightly. Immediately after that, it unexpectedly split into three smaller cauldrons that surrounded her and Huo Yuhao, forming a tripartite formation. At the same time, Xiao Xiao’s first soul ring lit up.

A loud rumbling echoed out as the ten square metres of air above the two of them twisted due to a violent vibration.

The three cauldrons then merged back into one and quietly landed in front of Xiao Xiao.

Huo Yuhao’s and Wang Dong’s expressions changed. What a strong martial soul! When the Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron had split into three parts, that was an innate skill that belonged to it. However, that tremor was definitely its attack. Huo Yuhao had clearly been able to sense the terrifying might of that tremor via his Spiritual Sense.

Wang Dong quickly regained his composure. “I get it, I won’t fight anymore. If the two of you team up, it’s true that I can’t beat you. But Xiao Xiao, in the future, you’ll definitely learn that you’re not my match in a one-on-one fight. On the other hand, if two people around the same level of cultivation fight against one another, the side that has Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection will definitely win. That skill of his doesn’t give anyone a way out at all. You’ll be left in a passive state throughout the entire battle, unless someone with an exceedingly high cultivation uses absolute power to crush him.”

Although Xiao Xiao wasn’t willing to accept Wang Dong saying that he could beat her in a one-on-one fight, she had to acknowledge what else he’d said. She nodded and said, “Yeah! With the class monitor’s Spiritual Detection, fighting is as simple as just using my soul skills. Class monitor, your soul skill is super strong. It feels great teaming up with you! I even underestimated your ten year soul ring, sorry!” Xiao Xiao was a girl who had a very straightforward attitude; she said whatever she was thinking about without beating around the bush. Due to this, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong immediately had a favourable opinion of her.

Huo Yuhao extended his right hand horizontally towards Xiao Xiao, who responded with a sweet smile, before placing her right hand on top of his. Finally, Wang Dong walked over and placed his right hand on the very top.

Huo Yuhao then said, “From now on, we’re comrades on the same team. As for the freshmen examination, we want to be champions.”

“We want to be champions!” The three simultaneously shouted. At this moment, the relationship between them had deepened further. The happiest person of the three was naturally Xiao Xiao; she finally felt as if Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong had sincerely accepted her as one of their friends. Because of this, it was always said that, between soul masters, speaking with one’s fists was always the simplest, most direct, and most effective way to do things.

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. However, the Examination Area was much larger than 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. These partitions could be moved at any time to alter the size of the Examination Area.

The Examination Area would always be divided the most whenever the freshman assessment happened. It wasn’t just because of the large number of new students, but also because there was still a limit to the destructive power and attack range that new students had. Because of this, they didn’t need too large of an area to allow them to fully display their abilities.

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.

Other than Class 1, which only had twenty-two teams, the other classes generally had at least thirty teams. Unless there were students that had performed extremely poorly during their first three months at Shrek Academy, teachers in charge of the freshmen classes would generally always give them a chance to take the freshman assessment.

There were a total of three hundred and ten teams participating in the freshmen assessment, which meant a total of nine hundred and thirty people. Out of these three hundred and ten teams of students, only a hundred and fifty of them would be able to remain and formally become first-year students to continue studying. The rest of the teams would be eliminated.

Whilst studying in Shrek Academy, the competition was undoubtedly fierce and cruel. However, this also resulted in students working even harder under this intense atmosphere, allowing them to stimulate even more of their potential. This had, in turn, allowed Shrek Academy to survive ten thousand years without becoming weak at all.

There were a total of fifty arenas for the freshmen assessment, which meant that every single arena would have six or seven teams within it. It wasn’t just today; they would also compete with other teams from the same arena tomorrow, up until they’d finished competing with all the teams in the same arena as them. Afterwards, the winners would be redistributed into new groups, allowing them to finish their ten-round competition.

Huo Yuhao’s team of three was assigned to the 33rd arena. After the three ate lunch, they returned to their respective dorm rooms in order to meditate for a while, then met back up when it was time to. The arenas with the Examination Area were extremely easy to look for, since each arena was quite obviously labeled. They managed to find which arena they were supposed to be in quite quickly.

The students from the other classes who were also meant to be in the area had already arrived. Some of them looked nervous, while some of them seemed eager to begin. All of them were only kids, around eleven or twelve years old, so they couldn’t really conceal their thoughts. When they looked at each other, their eyes clearly exposed the hostility they had for one another. After all, only half of them would continue to remain within Shrek Academy. Even though the freshmen assessment only had a total of ten rounds, every single round would affect their future.

“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.”

The booming voice from the loudspeaker rang throughout the entire academy; it was loud enough to travel through every nook and corner of the academy. At this moment, most students’ expressions became quite serious. Everyone’s first match was about to begin; they’d be lying if they said that they weren’t nervous.

Huo Yuhao unconsciously clenched his fists, then felt the Twenty Four Moonlit Bridges on his waist for reassurance. The freshman assessment prohibited the usage of soul tools, but hidden weapons were still classified as ordinary weapons, which weren’t prohibited. Soul masters would rarely use any weapons, unless they were soul tools. However, as a disciple of the Tang Sect, Huo Yuhao was clearly an exception to this rule.

Wang Dong placed his left hand on Huo Yuhao’s shoulder and leaned towards him. “Don’t be nervous, this will be trivial to us.”

Xiao Xiao didn’t call Wang Dong out for being arrogant this time. Instead, she nodded towards Huo Yuhao. Although Wang Dong hadn’t been able to show off his full power when the three of them had fought earlier, she had still been able to see that his cultivation wasn’t any lower than that hers, based on the resolute words he spoke at the very end. Combined with the class monitor’s mystical Spiritual Detection Sharing, there were an extremely small number of students within their age group who could be their opponents.

Huo Yuhao whispered, “We’ll be the champions.”

Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong simultaneously nodded. The three then placed their palms above each other’s once again. Although they were young, they knew one thing: Although simply passing the assessment might not be that hard for them, if they wanted to become champions of the assessment, teamwork would be key. Because of that, even Wang Dong restrained his pride.

The freshmen assessment was extremely important, so the academy’s announcement wasn’t really that useful. All of the freshmen had already arrived at their designated arenas in order to make preparations for the upcoming assessment.

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. As such, he was as different as heaven and earth when compared to Zhou Yi. After counting the number of people present, he smiled slightly. “Very good. We have a total of six teams participating in the freshmen assessment today, and it seems that you’re all present. 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. “No need to be so polite. I’ve always treated everyone as a friend while I’m teaching, and from now until the end of our time together, you’ll all be my little friends. As such, I don’t wish to see anyone get hurt. 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. You absolutely mustn’t hurt your opponents too badly. If that happens, I’m afraid I’ll have to ask him to leave and report the incident to the Academy.”

He spoke with a very gentle tone and downplayed the entire matter. Although he didn’t mention the consequences for crippling one’s opponent, every single student that was able to enter Shrek Academy was a child prodigy. They naturally understood the implications behind his words, and nodded to express their understanding.

Wang Yan smiled. “Since that’s the case, 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.”

There were six teams of students, thus three matches would be held within the 33rd arena today. However, Huo Yuhao never thought that they would be the first team to go out. The three of them glanced at each other, then quickly walked towards the northwestern corner of the arena.

The three of them positioned themselves quite carefully. Wang Dong stood in front, while Xiao Xiao stood behind him. Huo Yuhao, on the other hand, stood behind both of them, in the the corner of the arena. As for the the other team of three, they naturally chose to stand at the southeastern corner of the arena.

The three students from Class 3 were all boys—they even looked quite handsome. The tallest person of the three was Ouyang Junyi, who was also the most handsome of the three. Although there was still a gap between him and Wang Dong, his body looked much sturdier than Wang Dong’s. The person next to him, Chen Junfeng, was extremely slender, even though he wasn’t that tall. Finally, Zhao Haochen was a little fatty who had a plump stomach, as well as a straightforward smile on his face.

Seeing that both parties were in position, Wang Yan nodded. “Start the assessment.”

The two parties instantly released their martial souls. Although Huo Yuhao was standing in the corner, with his meticulous control, he was able to prevent his Spiritual Detection Sharing from covering what was behind him. Instead, he merely covered the arena in front of him with his Spiritual Detection Sharing. Xiao Xiao also released her Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron, causing an enormous black cauldron to rapidly form in midair.

Wang Dong’s movements were even more direct. With a flash, he charged straight into the air, his pair of dazzling blue and purple wings already unfurled. A brilliant golden pattern traced them. No matter whether it was his opponents, or their proctor Wang Yan, they were all astonished by his beautiful pair of wings. His wings were simply too beautiful! It was even to the extent that Xiao Xiao and Huo Yuhao’s limelight was completely overshadowed.

Their three opponents had already made their preparations; they had released their martial souls the instant the battle had started.