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After that heartfelt conversation, the relationship between Xiao Xiao and Yuwen Tuo grew even closer.
They were almost inseparable, and the only duo that could compare to them was Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong.
Three months passed in this manner, and for Yuwen Tuo, it was a rather pleasant period. His most detested person, Ma Xiaotao, had not bothered him for quite some time, apparently having reached a bottleneck at Level 70 as she prepared to break through to become a Soul Sage.
In the original storyline, she should have been around Levels 66-67 at this point. It seemed her years of absorbing his soul power hadn't gone to waste—she was advancing rapidly toward becoming a Soul Sage. Given her talent and the fact that nine-tenths of her evil flames had been neutralized, Yuwen Tuo estimated that before the next Continental Dueling Tournament, she would undoubtedly achieve the rank of a true Soul Sage.
The first phase of the new student class was drawing to a close, and soon it would be time for the new student assessment.
That day, Zhou Yi stepped up to the podium and announced, "Everyone, three months have passed since the start of the semester. You are about to face your first official assessment at Shrek Academy. Passing this assessment will officially make you students of Shrek Academy. Unless you provoke me unnecessarily, you won't need to worry about being expelled before the end-of-year exam for first-years. Now, let me explain the key points of the assessment."
It was rare to see Zhou Yi so calm. In truth, she was quite satisfied. This batch of students had far fewer dropouts compared to previous years.
Huo Yuhao, the class monitor, had played an excellent leadership role. Though he lacked natural talent, his diligence made up for it.
Additionally, Wang Dong and Yuwen Tuo, both prominent figures among the first-year students, had inspired many others.
Zhou Yi now realized she had misjudged Yuwen Tuo. He hadn't skipped classes out of self-abandonment but simply because he didn't want to attend. Clearly, he must have had his own training regimen, as evidenced by his rapid progress over the past three months.
He was already at the peak of Level 24, surpassing Wang Dong, who had previously been the top student.
His innate full soul power of Level 20 truly lived up to its reputation.
"Huo Yuhao!" Zhou Yi called out.
"Yes, Teacher!"
Huo Yuhao walked up to the podium and took a stack of papers from Zhou Yi. Without needing further instructions, he quickly distributed them to every student in the class.
Zhou Yi explained, "After the new student assessment, we'll tailor our teaching methods based on your chosen cultivation paths. Write down the direction you plan to pursue, and hand them in later."
The cultivation paths she referred to included categories like assault, defense, control, and support. Different paths required different teaching methods, and after formal enrollment, distinctions had to be made to ensure each type of soul master followed the correct path.
Generally speaking, assault, agility-focused, and defense-oriented battle soul masters were more common. For example, Yuwen Tuo and Wang Dong clearly fell into the assault category.
Support and control types were rarer. In this freshman class, only three students leaned toward the control path: Huo Yuhao, Xiao Xiao, and a boy named Cao Jinxuan.
Unfortunately, Huo Yuhao's current situation was less than ideal. Unlike in the original storyline, he hadn't received two Xuan Water Pills gifted by Bei Bei. Since Ma Xiaotao's evil flames had already been neutralized by nine-tenths, there was no attack incident, and thus, Huo Yuhao and Ma Xiaotao remained strangers. As a result, the academy never compensated Huo Yuhao with a Soul Ascension Pill.
The only thing he had received was one Xuan Water Pill that Bei Bei later obtained from the Xuanming Sect through his family's connections.
This meant Huo Yuhao currently possessed only Level 14 soul power instead of the original storyline's Level 17. He hadn't even met Shrek Academy's admission standards, making participation in the new student assessment extremely challenging.
Still, he couldn't give up. He had no choice but to persist and take part; otherwise, he'd be expelled from Shrek Academy.
Zhou Yi continued, "You're all my students for now. After the new student assessment, classes will be divided, and I may no longer be your homeroom teacher. However, I hope you don't forget what I've taught you. Hand in your cultivation directions after class. For now, focus on listening."
With that, Zhou Yi turned to the blackboard, drawing a few simple lines and writing the word "Battle" in large characters.
"Listen carefully. These two words are the essence of the new student assessment. Practical combat is the ultimate test of everything. Everyone must participate in battles, whether you're a battle soul master or a support-type soul master—no exceptions!"
"Shrek Academy places the highest importance on preparing students for real combat situations."
"Of course, rest assured that the academy won't pit support-type soul masters against strong assault-type soul masters in direct confrontations—that would be unfair to the support types."
"The new student assessment will be conducted in team battles. Each team consists of three members working together. This is considered the standard level of cooperation expected at your age. There's one rule: each team can only have one strong assault-type battle soul master. The other two members are unrestricted. Typically, roommates will form teams, and the third member can be freely chosen. If you haven't formed a team by the assessment date, assignments will be decided by lottery. Later, I'll suggest which groups are reasonable."
Zhou Yi then outlined the rules of the new student assessment.
The assessment would involve the entire grade, with roughly 300 teams participating. Only half—about 150 teams—would advance. Rankings below 150 faced a high risk of elimination, while those below 200 would be directly dismissed.
The competition would proceed via a lottery system, with ten matches held in a round-robin format. Final rankings would be determined based on the number of victories.
The top 64 teams would enter the knockout rounds, and the top four teams would receive rewards from the academy. Historically, the champion team's prizes had always been extremely valuable.
Every student listened intently. For them, the new student assessment would determine their fate. Being eliminated meant returning home in disgrace and attending an ordinary academy. After three months of hard work, no one wanted to lose everything now.
Zhou Yi added indifferently, "Our class currently has 68 students, which allows us to form 22 teams, with two extra. Based on your respective martial souls' characteristics, I've already categorized you and assigned teams. If anyone is dissatisfied, discuss it among yourselves after class and report back to me tomorrow morning. If no objections are raised, you must strictly adhere to my arrangements. Otherwise, the consequences are clear."
With that, Zhou Yi began announcing the pre-assigned teams.
When it came to Huo Yuhao's group, the lineup was none other than Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao.