It was said that in just three short months, more than thirty freshmen in new student class one had been expelled by their class teacher, Zhou Yi.
None of those expelled were anything less than geniuses with Advanced Martial Souls, under twelve years old, and with Soul Power exceeding Rank 15. They would be treasures in any other academy, which showed both the abundance of Shrek's student source and the severity of Zhou Yi's teaching methods.
On this day, in the classroom of freshman class six, Han Ruoruo finished explaining the last knowledge point and closed the book in her hand.
"That's all for today's lesson."
Her gaze swept across the nearly one hundred young faces below the podium, her voice clear and steady.
"Three months have passed since the start of school, and you are about to face your first important hurdle at Shrek Academy—the Freshman Assessment."
The classroom fell silent instantly; one could hear a pin drop.
All the students held their breath and focused, knowing the moment that would decide their fate was approaching.
"Only by passing the assessment can you officially become first-year students of Shrek Academy and truly become a member here. Barring any accidents, you will be able to continue to Cultivate at the academy at least until the first-year graduation exam."
Han Ruoruo continued.
"The assessment starts tomorrow. Today, I will first tell you the key points of the assessment."
She explained the format of the Freshman Assessment in detail.
It was mainly combat, in the form of team battles with three people per group.
Nearly a thousand freshmen from the entire grade would form more than three hundred teams to conduct a round-robin tournament simultaneously.
In the end, only the top one hundred and fifty teams would be able to stay. The other half of the teams would be ruthlessly eliminated and leave Shrek Academy.
"Opponents will be decided by drawing lots. Each team must engage in at least ten battles, and rankings will be based on the number of wins. Among them, the top sixty-four teams will enter the subsequent Elimination Round. The top four teams of the Elimination Round will be given different rewards by the academy, and the reward for the champion team will be exceptionally rare."
All the class six students listened with utmost seriousness, their eyes filled with tension and determination.
This concerned whether they could stay in this Soul Master Holy Land and whether three months of hard work would bear fruit. No one wanted to fall at this moment.
Han Ruoruo looked at the tense faces of the children below the podium, her tone softening with encouragement.
"I hope that all the students in our class six can successfully advance."
She said that, but she knew in her heart it was almost impossible.
Although class six had three Soul Elders—Caelus, Gu Yuena, and Ye Guyi—the strength of the other students was uneven, ranging from Rank 17 or 18 to Rank 20 or so. Other classes also had hidden talents, so it was extremely unrealistic for everyone to advance.
These words were more for comfort and motivation.
Next, based on her observations over the past three months, Han Ruoruo selected a student who had shown interest and talent in spirit tools and announced that they would be specially recruited into the Soul Tool Department to study, without needing to participate in the Freshman Assessment.
This was a special channel for the academy to select talent for the Soul Tool Department, recommended by the class teacher.
As a result, the remaining number of people in class six was exactly ninety-nine, which could be perfectly divided into thirty-three three-person teams.
Then came the most critical grouping phase.
Almost all the students were secretly praying in their hearts, hoping to be assigned to the same group as Caelus, Gu Yuena, or Ye Guyi.
If that happened, it almost meant a guaranteed advancement.
However, Han Ruoruo's next words caused everyone's expectations to vanish instantly.
"First group."
Her voice spread clearly throughout the classroom.
"Caelus, Gu Yuena, Ye Guyi."
The moment these three names were read out consecutively, the entire classroom fell into an eerie silence.
Caelus, Gu Yuena, Ye Guyi!
These three forming a team?
Everyone was stunned, and then a sense of powerlessness and an 'as expected' realization surged in their hearts.
How could anyone fight this?
Probably even if one searched through the entire grade, they wouldn't find a single team that could contend with these three, right?
This was basically pre-ordering the championship.
Han Ruoruo looked at the complex expressions of the students below the podium and understood in her heart.
How could she not know that 'using the strong to lead the weak' could allow more students from her class to advance?
But doing so would be a kind of unfairness to the trio of Caelus and to the students who weren't chosen.
The champion's reward was too tempting for low-level Soul Masters; she had to ensure that class six had the strongest competitiveness.
Moreover, the dual control system pairing of Caelus and Gu Yuena with Ye Guyi's top-tier attack system made this combination practically perfect, with almost no weaknesses.
Grouping the strongest three together to ensure the championship belonged to class six, while also allowing other students to compete fairly based on their own strength, was the most reasonable decision she, as the class teacher, made after weighing the pros and cons.
Caelus was not surprised by this grouping. He glanced at Gu Yuena, who still had no expression, and Ye Guyi on the other side, whose lips were slightly curled up, clearly satisfied with this combination.
He knew that for their team, the journey of the Freshman Assessment might have lost most of its suspense from the moment the groups were formed.
Their goal was one and only one—that highest championship reward.
Although neither Caelus, Gu Yuena, nor Ye Guyi necessarily looked highly upon the small rewards of the Freshman Assessment championship, the pride in their bones did not allow them to lose in any competition among their peers.
Especially Caelus and Gu Yuena; both harbored the ambition to take charge of the Sea Gods Pavilion in the future. This meant they had to demonstrate absolute dominance at every stage, surpassing all their contemporaries with a crushing posture to finally enter the vision of the academy's high-level officials and stand out.
The night passed in silence, and the next morning, accompanied by the rising sun, the Freshman Assessment officially kicked off.
The assessment area was located in the north-central part of the Martial Soul Department, adjacent to the Soul Dueling Area.
But unlike the Soul Dueling Area, which was mainly used for high-level students to spar, entertain, and earn academic credits, the size of the assessment area was much larger.
For the students of Shrek Academy's Outer Court, this was the best stage for outstanding students to show themselves, but it was also a nightmare for countless those with insufficient cultivation and preparation.
Every year, a large number of students met their downfall here and were forced to leave the academy.
The entire assessment area was in the shape of a giant circle, internally divided evenly into fifty fan-shaped areas of exactly the same size, each with its own independent boundary and simple protective measures.
The ground of the areas was paved with hard bluestone, sufficient to withstand the impact of Martial Soul Abilities at the Spirit Grandmaster level.
The areas were separated by wide passages to facilitate the passage of students and Referee Teachers.
There were no stands here, and the assessment process was relatively closed, mainly to reduce external interference and allow students to perform at their full potential.
In order to allow the freshmen to adapt to the assessment rhythm, the schedule for the first day was relatively relaxed, with each team only needing to perform one battle.
The academy sent out fifty experienced teachers to be responsible for the assessment registration and refereeing work of these fifty areas.
------------------------
I've posted 40+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/DaoistRoeoNQ
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"