The Freshman Assessment

"Her Evil Fire flared up," Jiang Wu repeated for emphasis. "She told me to leave quickly, but I didn't get away in time."

Gu Yuena nodded. It was hard to tell whether she believed him or not. She took out another piece of pastry and began eating it. "So the lipstick mark on your face is hers."

"Mm."

"And Wang Dong'er wanted to kiss you back because of that?"

"Mm."

Gu Yuena chewed her pastry, her gaze traveling back and forth between the two of them a couple of times. Then she gave a faint smile, though she was clearly enjoying the show. "Carry on, then. I'll leave once I've finished my pastry."

"Gu Yue!" Jiang Wu glared at her.

Gu Yuena held up her pastry and waved it. "Just kidding."

The thick-skinned Wang Dong'er listened to their exchange, then pulled Huo Yutong away at a run, her face red.

The days passed one by one, and before they knew it, the day of the freshman assessment had arrived.

Just as in the original story, Wang Dong'er, Huo Yutong, and Xiao Xiao were on a team together.

Jiang Wu, meanwhile, was on a team with Gu Yue and a boy named He Song. Jiang Wu had no particular impression of He Song.

That was to say, he had no impression of him from the novel's plot.

After spending some time with He Song, Jiang Wu learned that his Martial Soul was called War Tiger, and that he was level twenty-two.

The War Tiger Martial Soul reminded Jiang Wu of a minor character from Douluo I.

That person was Wang Sheng, the God King of lackeys.

In those fanfictions, whenever a protagonist went to Nuoding Academy, nine times out of ten, Wang Sheng would become their lackey.

"Lackey" was only a joke. Jiang Wu thought there was nothing wrong with Wang Sheng's behavior. When you were weak, it was perfectly normal to cling to someone powerful.

Wasn't he clinging to Xian Lin'er's thigh right now?

The only difference was their status: he was Xian Lin'er's disciple, while Wang Sheng was someone else's underling.

After three months of cultivation, plus the resources Yan Shaozhe had given him, Jiang Wu had reached level thirty-three. The speed of his progress was outrageous.

Ever since that incident, Jiang Wu had never seen Ma Xiaotao again.

Jiang Wu figured that after Ma Xiaotao woke up and learned what she had done, she was too ashamed to come see him.

The three of them were assigned to assessment arena sixty-six, where the examining teacher was named Du You.

"Jiang Wu, are you nervous?" He Song leaned over and whispered.

"No."

"I'm a little nervous." He Song swallowed. "I heard there are over three hundred teams this time, and only the top one hundred and fifty will make it. More than half will be eliminated."

Jiang Wu patted him on the shoulder. "Just stick with me when we fight. Don't think too much about it."

Gu Yuena leaned against the wall, her silver hair tied in a low ponytail. With her arms folded and her eyes closed, she rested as if none of this concerned her.

Teacher Du You came out with a list in hand and looked around. "Arena sixty-six, Jiang Wu's team against Zhou Yang's team. Enter the arena."

Jiang Wu led Gu Yuena and He Song into the arena. Three people were already standing opposite them. Their leader was called Zhou Yang; his Martial Soul was the Iron Arm Ape, and he was level twenty-five. Of the other two, one was level twenty-three and the other was level twenty-two. Both had strength-type Martial Souls.

Du You stood at the edge of the arena and raised a hand. "Begin."

Without another word, Zhou Yang activated Martial Soul Possession. His arms grew dramatically longer, and he charged straight at them with his two teammates.

Jiang Wu stepped aside to evade Zhou Yang's straight punch, then caught his wrist with a Soft Skill and pulled him to the side. Zhou Yang lost his balance, and Jiang Wu followed through by pinning him to the ground.

Gu Yuena raised a hand and separated another opponent from the fight with a wall of ice. He Song met the third head-on. The two exchanged a couple of blows before He Song used the explosive power of his War Tiger Martial Soul to push his opponent out of bounds.

In less than twenty breaths, the three-on-three had become three against one. Zhou Yang was still lying on the ground, unable to get up, and the remaining opponent saw which way the wind was blowing and surrendered on the spot.

Du You made a note on his list. "Jiang Wu's team wins."

There was only one round on the first day of the round-robin, and they could rest once it was over. The three left the arena, and He Song's face turned red with excitement. "We won, we won! That push of mine was impressive, wasn't it?"

"Not bad." Jiang Wu nodded.

Gu Yuena suddenly added from the side, "Your opponent was level twenty-two, and so are you. Your Martial Soul even had the edge over his. It would've been strange if you couldn't push him out."

He Song scratched his head and chuckled twice, not at all angry.

The schedule grew much busier on the second day, with two matches in the morning and two in the afternoon. They won all four in a row.

Gu Yuena coasted through the whole thing, freezing opponents whenever she could rather than fighting them. He Song, on the other hand, grew more fired up with each match. Though his strength was ordinary, he made up for it with his willingness to charge in and fight. Jiang Wu directed them from the middle, and the three worked together more and more smoothly.

After the four matches, He Song was so exhausted that he squatted on the ground, panting. Sweat had appeared at Gu Yuena's temples too, but Jiang Wu was still doing fine.

That little bit of exertion was nothing.

On the third day, they had five matches back-to-back. That was when they were truly put to the test.

The first two matches went fairly smoothly, but in the third, they ran into a decent opponent.

The opposing captain was a level twenty-nine control-type Soul Master. He bound He Song tightly with his Entanglement Vine, then sent vines burrowing underground to break through Gu Yuena's ice wall. In the end, Jiang Wu used Instant Beast Flash to circle behind him and blasted him out of the arena with a Mitu Shockwave.

By the end of the fourth match, He Song was holding on through sheer willpower, his legs trembling.

Their opponents in the fifth match surrendered outright, giving them an easy win.

The other team knew perfectly well that they were no match for Jiang Wu's team, especially Jiang Wu and Gu Yue.

With five wins, plus the five matches from the previous two days, Jiang Wu's team had won all ten of their battles.

"Heh heh heh, Xiao Wu, let me tell you, the three of us won all ten of our matches." Wang Dong'er boasted to Jiang Wu, her face full of pride.

Jiang Wu glanced at her, then looked at Huo Yutong and Xiao Xiao behind her. Both wore the smiles of winners, and Xiao Xiao had even puffed out her chest and lifted her chin high.

"Ten wins out of ten?" Jiang Wu raised an eyebrow. "What level were your opponents?"

"What level?" Wang Dong'er counted on her fingers. "There was one at level twenty-nine, another at level thirty, and one at level thirty-one. Anyway, none of them could beat us."

"You even beat the level thirty-one?"

"Of course." Wang Dong'er shook her head proudly. "Yutong and I worked together. I held the front while she used control from the side, and Xiao Xiao finished them off from behind. We worked really well together. That level thirty-one captain got a Butterfly God Slash right in the face and surrendered on the spot."

Huo Yutong smiled with her lips pressed together and added softly, "Actually, Wang Dong'er charged too fast and nearly tripped herself. The other side was scared by the way she moved and thought she was winding up some powerful Soul Skill."

Wang Dong'er's smile froze. She turned and glared at her. "Yutong!"

Xiao Xiao covered her mouth and laughed. "Don't glare at her, Wang Dong'er. I saw it too."

The corner of Jiang Wu's mouth twitched, but he said nothing.

From behind them, Gu Yuena leisurely added, "So how many of those ten matches did you win by scaring people?"

Wang Dong'er was momentarily lost for words. Then she straightened her back. "Scaring people takes skill too! Why do you care how I won? A win is a win."

Jiang Wu paid no attention to their bickering, his gaze falling on Huo Yutong.

Huo Yutong looked much healthier than she had when she first enrolled. She had grown a little, some of the childishness had faded from her face, and her chest had begun to show a slight curve. She was no longer the scrawny little girl she had once been.