As soon as he entered the classroom, Feng Piaoling felt a surge of eager energy.
Following Mu Jin's grouping yesterday, today the students were huddled in clusters of three, whispering amongst themselves. Zhu Lu and Nanmen Yun'er had arrived earlier; seeing Feng Piaoling's arrival, they hurriedly waved him over.
Feng Piaoling walked toward them. Just then, three sharp raps sounded from the podium—Bang! Bang! Bang!
In the next instant, the entire class fell silent. Mu Jin was already standing at the lectern; it was she who had just knocked. Scanning the room and seeing that everyone was present, she spoke with a serious expression:
"The freshman assessment begins this afternoon. I have already submitted your team registrations. In the ten rounds of the freshman assessment matches, you will not encounter teams from your own class. However, let me say this: if you encounter teams from other classes, do not be soft-hearted. Especially if you meet those from Class One—if you have the ability, you may beat them to death if necessary. I will take full responsibility for everything."
After saying this, Mu Jin gave Feng Piaoling a deeply meaningful look before turning to leave.
Nanmen Yun'er looked at Feng Piaoling's handsome face—one capable of infatuating thousands of girls—and asked somewhat dreamily, "The assessment officially starts this afternoon. Do you have any specific plans?"
"No particular plans. I will provide support, and the two of you can simply sweep through the opposition," Feng Piaoling glanced in the direction Mu Jin had left and spoke nonchalantly to Zhu Lu and Nanmen Yun'er beside him.
"True. If you were to take action yourself, this freshman assessment wouldn't have much meaning for us... Wait, did you say you can provide support?" Nanmen Yun'er nodded, then suddenly reacted, looking at Feng Piaoling in disbelief.
Zhu Lu also showed a look of anticipation. After all, anything this powerful youth termed as "support" was bound to be extraordinary.
"What, do you want to try it out?" Feng Piaoling was also curious to see the effects of his Darkgold Talismans when applied to the two of them.
"Of course." As she spoke, Nanmen Yun'er—completely disregarding the social boundaries between men and women—stepped forward, hooked her arm through Feng Piaoling's, and pulled him toward the classroom exit.
Zhu Lu followed, raising her hand slightly, but in the end, she lacked the courage to grab Feng Piaoling's other arm. She could only follow closely behind, though her distance from him was exceptionally small.
This scene directly drew the envy of the boys and girls of Class Nine. The boys envied Feng Piaoling for being flanked by two great beauties, while the girls envied Zhu Lu and Nanmen Yun'er for being able to get close to the most handsome and powerful student in the outer court.
Finding a quiet place outside Shrek Academy was easy. Although the area was well-connected with many thoroughfares, the roadsides were lined with thick vegetation. The three of them found a relatively flat clearing within a small grove.
Nanmen Yun'er asked, "Class Monitor, how are you going to support us? Is it your second martial soul?"
Beside her, Zhu Lu shook her head. "It shouldn't be. Our family has records regarding the cultivation of twin martial souls. Setting aside the fact that the monitor has never admitted to having them—that was just Old Lady Zhou's blind guess—even if he did, with the monitor's insight, he wouldn't rashly attach soul rings to a second martial soul, let alone for support purposes."
These words caused Nanmen Yun'er to shoot an astonished look at her friend. Based on her understanding of her best friend, Zhu Lu had a rather cold personality and didn't enjoy talking to others, especially men. Yet, when it came to Feng Piaoling, she was remarkably talkative. Furthermore, she had taken the initiative to invite Feng Piaoling to team up with them last time. This made things even more intriguing.
"Stop guessing. You'll know once you try it."
Three soul rings—one yellow and two purple—suddenly rose from beneath Feng Piaoling's feet. His third soul ring flickered twice, and two dark-gold talismans appeared in his hand.
Before Zhu Lu and Nanmen Yun'er could react, he gripped a talisman in each hand and pressed them toward their chests.
The two girls were startled and instinctively wanted to dodge. After all, they had witnessed the might of Feng Piaoling's Darkgold Talismans; he had even shattered Xu Sanshi's tortoise-shell shield. If they were hit by that, wouldn't they be pulverized?
However, out of trust for Feng Piaoling, they didn't move. Of course, even if they had wanted to, it would have been too late.
The talismans were pressed right between the girls' collarbones at the top of their chests. In the next moment, their clothes and the tips of their hair fluttered upward despite the lack of wind. Their bodies were enveloped in a layer of bear-shaped, dark-gold transparent energy. Even the energy on their arms took the form of bear claws.
"This... this is..."
Feeling the explosive power surging through their bodies, the two girls were filled with shock.
Just then, a young woman around twenty-five or twenty-six years old stepped out from behind a nearby tree, accompanied by a voice as melodious as nature's own:
"Was your third soul ring obtained by hunting a Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear?"
Zhu Lu and Nanmen Yun'er were startled and instinctively looked toward the source of the voice. Once they saw the newcomer clearly, their expressions relaxed slightly.
It was a young woman who looked to be in her early twenties, with long black hair falling to her waist. Her delicate face was porcelain-white and flawless. She wore the vibrant red form-fitting uniform of Shrek Academy, which perfectly outlined her graceful curves with its exquisite tailoring. High-born, elegant, and beautiful—it was as if every positive adjective in the world could be found in her. Her tranquil and gentle temperament was unforgettable at a glance.
Unlike the two girls, Feng Piaoling—thanks to his powerful spiritual strength—had noticed her arrival in advance. However, because she showed no ill intent and Electrolux in his spiritual sea hadn't raised an alarm, he hadn't fled immediately.
Nonetheless, his right hand gripped a hidden Earth Escape Talisman at his chest. Frowning slightly, he quietly took a step back, shielding Nanmen Yun'er and Zhu Lu in front of him, ready to retreat at a moment's notice. Simultaneously, a red light flashed in his eyes.
Operating his Heaven-Reaching Demonic Eyes, he subtly observed her. Noting that the fluctuations of her soul power were similar to Fan Yu's when he was with Zhou Yi that day, and seeing her wearing the red uniform of the inner court, he immediately guessed her identity.
She was the Eldest Senior Sister of Shrek Academy's Inner Court, Zhang Lexuan—a tragic soul who shared a similar fate to his own.
"Greetings, Senior Sister," the three of them bowed in unison.
Zhang Lexuan nodded slightly, her gaze then falling on Feng Piaoling with a flash of admiration in her eyes.
"Rank 36. It seems an extraordinary genius has appeared among the outer court freshmen this year. What is your name? Was your third soul ring indeed an absorbed Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear ring?"
Hearing Feng Piaoling's soul power rank, Zhu Lu and Nanmen Yun'er were once again greatly shocked. They had thought he was around Rank 31 or 32; they hadn't expected his rank to be so much higher than they had imagined. As for Feng Piaoling being able to advance another rank in less than three months, it was naturally the result of his constant, day-and-night cultivation.
He took a step forward and said, "Senior Sister, my name is Feng Piaoling. For my third soul ring, I happened to encounter a heavily wounded and dying thousand-year Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear by chance and absorbed its ring."
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