The First Battle, Ended Before It Even Began!

When Ling Luochen heard that Jiang Ming actually wanted to bet on this, anger flared up in her.

She was thinking of Jiang Ming's own good! If they failed to win the championship in the Freshman Assessment and could not complete the task, then with Teacher Zhou's temper, they would definitely be punished!

Yet not only was this guy not thinking about tactics, he was even using this matter to make a bet. Honestly, he was far too arrogant!

"Fine, a bet it is! Anyway, when you lose, Teacher Zhou will definitely punish you severely!"

Ling Luochen agreed outright, then stood straight up from her chair and stomped upstairs.

The girls' dormitory and the boys' dormitory were together; it was just that the boys' dormitory occupied the lower four floors, while the girls' dormitory was above the fourth floor.

Watching Ling Luochen's departing back, Jiang Ming bit down on his straw. The blue drink flowed through the straw into his mouth, bringing an icy, comfortable chill.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. When the time comes, how many Gold Soul Coins should I ask for without going too far? This little girl is from some great clan, right? How about five hundred Gold Soul Coins?"

Jiang Ming thought it over and felt that was still a little excessive.

After all, when he had first come to Shrek Academy, Old Nie had only given him a few hundred Gold Soul Coins for living expenses and school fees. Asking for five hundred all at once—even for a child of a great clan—would probably leave her eating dirt.

"Then three hundred. Three hundred Gold Soul Coins shouldn't count as too much. Mm, three hundred it is!"

Jiang Ming made his decision, choosing to tell Ling Luochen this not-too-excessive demand after steamrolling the Freshman Assessment.

As for whether he could get this wager or not, Jiang Ming had not the slightest hesitation or doubt in his heart.

If he could not fight his way through this Freshman Assessment, then all the Soul Power he had cultivated might as well have gone to a dog!

A few days later, on the day the Freshman Assessment began.

The entire freshman year had put together four hundred groups. Although some students had gone to the Soul Tool Department, the number was still quite large.

"The assessment starts this afternoon. Are we really not going to discuss tactics?"

In the classroom of Class One, Ling Luochen sat down beside Jiang Ming and asked with a worried expression.

A few days earlier, she had been so angered by Jiang Ming's wildly arrogant attitude that she had not spoken to him for several days. But now that the day of the assessment had truly arrived, she still could not keep going like that.

"I told you, trust me!"

Jiang Ming turned his head, set down the Soul Tool book in his hand, placed his hands on Ling Luochen's shoulders, and spoke solemnly and earnestly.

He had already said it many times, so he was more or less getting impatient, but when facing a little beauty like Ling Luochen, Jiang Ming still had a bit more patience.

Ling Luochen had already grown used to Jiang Ming's arm-around-the-shoulders gestures. Although a faint blush would still appear on her small face, she no longer felt unnatural about it.

"Trust you? Of course I trust you! When you lose, I'm definitely going to make a very excessive demand! Hmph!"

Seeing that Jiang Ming was still acting like this, Ling Luochen gave an angry snort, then returned to her own seat.

Today was only the first day, so the opponents they ran into should not be too strong. Moreover, in the ten matches of the round-robin tournament, all the opponents they faced would be students from other classes.

That way, the possibility of them encountering a team with a Soul Elder was directly cut in half!

Because among the entire freshman year, on the surface, there were only two Soul Elders: Dai Yueheng from Class One and Ning Feng from Class Three.

Jiang Ming, this hidden Soul Elder, had never displayed his strength in front of everyone, so many people did not know.

So at most, they would run into the group led by Ning Feng.

As for whether there were any other hidden Soul Elders in the entire freshman year...

Ling Luochen truly felt that the possibility was not high!

They were all youngsters. After entering Shrek Academy, each of them was proud and arrogant. Those with strong abilities could hardly wait to show off their strength and satisfy their vanity.

Except for Jiang Ming, this oddball, who disappeared to who knew where every day after class.

At last, amid the nervousness and anticipation of all the freshmen, afternoon arrived, and the Freshman Assessment officially began!

The entire assessment area was divided into fifty small zones, allowing fifty battles to take place at the same time. This could greatly increase the efficiency of the assessment; otherwise, with more than four hundred groups and twelve hundred people, just the first round of ten round-robin matches would take a very long time.

To give the students participating in the Freshman Assessment for the first time a chance to adapt, there was only one match this afternoon.

And the group Jiang Ming and Ling Luochen belonged to was assigned to Area Thirteen!

"Area Thirteen. That's an auspicious number."

Jiang Ming smiled and went to Area Thirteen together with Ling Luochen.

"All freshmen, please take note. All freshmen, please take note. Please enter the assessment area immediately and prepare to participate in the Freshman Assessment. There are ten minutes left to enter. Anyone late will be considered to have forfeited this assessment match."

As soon as they entered the venue, the booming sound of the broadcast rang out.

Very soon, all eight teams and one teacher in Area Thirteen had arrived.

Jiang Ming did not know this teacher. After simply greeting him, he walked to the side and waited for his own match to begin.

A few minutes later, the first match in Area Thirteen began.

Neither of the two groups that went up had a Soul Elder, and there were even Soul Masters with only a dozen or so ranks of Soul Power.

Their fighting style was very immature, at least in Jiang Ming's eyes. There were too many unnecessary movements, and their reactions were very slow. Watching them made Jiang Ming want to yawn.

Speaking of which, ever since he had arrived at Shrek Academy, he did not seem to have had a proper sleep. Although meditation could also replenish his energy, its effect was ultimately not as good as sleep. Otherwise, why wouldn't Soul Masters all cultivate at night instead of sleeping?

"Class Two, Luo Chong, Zhang Hao, and Ma Lingling win!"

Jiang Ming narrowed his eyes and looked toward the competition stage, somewhat surprised.

"Was the fight that fast? I only yawned and spaced out for a second, and it was already over?"

Off to the side, Ling Luochen could not help rolling her eyes and said, speechless, "Can you actually watch the other groups' matches properly? Yawning too? Did you not sleep last night?"

Jiang Ming nodded and said drowsily, "I really didn't sleep much. I went to meditate."

Hearing this, Ling Luochen's brows lifted. She glanced at Jiang Ming, secretly startled.

Sure enough, someone who could cultivate to Soul Elder at the age of twelve could not possibly be nothing but arrogant and conceited.

"First round, second assessment match. Class One: Jiang Ming, Ling Luochen. Class Two: Li Shen, Lu Ming, Zhao Yu. Enter the arena! After entering, stand on opposite sides. You may only release your martial souls when I say begin!"

The teacher briefly explained the rules, then had the two groups enter the arena.

When the others still in the arena heard that this group from Class One only had two people, they were all surprised.

"Why does this group only have two people? Aren't they supposed to team up in threes?"

"Yeah, how are two people supposed to fight? The other side has three!"

"Don't tell me one of their teammates didn't show up?"

The groups below the stage that had already finished their matches and the groups that had yet to compete began discussing it one after another.

The teacher acting as referee shouted loudly at once, "I have already confirmed it with Teacher Zhou Yi from Class One. This group only has two people, and there is no problem! Everyone else, quiet!"

After saying that, he looked at the students who had already taken their places on both sides of the arena, nodded, and shouted, "Begin!"

When Ling Luochen heard the teacher say begin, she had originally still been thinking of relying on her Level 29 Soul Power and Ice Attribute Martial Soul to control the field.

But Jiang Ming beside her had somehow vanished outright!

No, he had not vanished. He had charged straight toward the other side!

She had not even seen Jiang Ming's figure clearly!

In truth, before the match had even begun, Jiang Ming had already thought it through.

This competition arena was a square with sides twenty meters long. The two groups stood at two corners, so the straight-line distance was at most the diagonal, twenty times the square root of two meters, roughly twenty-eight meters.

And for that distance, with his speed, it would only take two to three seconds.

Moreover, once the teacher shouted begin, the opponent's Attack-type Soul Master would definitely charge forward!

In that case...

In one second, Jiang Ming came face-to-face with the other side's Attack-type Battle Soul Master named Li Shen!

And at this moment, Li Shen had only just released his martial soul!

Jiang Ming wasted no words. He clenched one hand into a fist and did not even release his martial soul. Relying on his powerful momentum and the support of his Soul Power, he threw a punch before the other party could react at all!

Bang!

It struck him squarely in the chest!

Li Shen only felt as if his chest had been rammed head-on by a Soul Beast. The intense pain made him lose his ability to fight in an instant.

After throwing that punch, Jiang Ming did not slow down. Within one second, he rushed in front of the remaining two opponents and gave each of them a knife-hand strike, and the two fellows collapsed on the spot.

From start to finish, in less than three seconds, the battle ended outright!

And at that moment, Li Shen, who had taken Jiang Ming's punch at the start, happened to hit the ground.

Bang!

Only when the sound of Li Shen landing rang out did the others finally react.

"C-Class One: Jiang Ming, Ling Luochen win!"

The teacher acting as referee could not help swallowing, his voice trembling slightly.

This... the battle had been settled in three seconds. Even he, the referee, had almost failed to react!

Moreover, if he had not seen wrong, that student named Jiang Ming had not even released his martial soul just now, right?

Without releasing his martial soul, he had settled two Soul Grandmasters in their twenties and one Soul Master in his teens in three seconds.

The referee teacher could not help recalling what Zhou Yi had said when he previously went to find the teacher of Class One.

"So what if there are two people? The Freshman Assessment doesn't say two people can't form a team, does it? Don't worry, they'll be fine! The ones you should be paying attention to are their opponents!"

Earlier, he had thought Zhou Yi had gone a little too far with her words, but now it seemed she had been being modest!

The students below the stage were even more stunned. They heard the referee call begin, and then Jiang Ming disappeared. By the time they found Jiang Ming, the referee had announced that the two-person group had won!

A textbook case of it being over before it had even started! There was simply no time to react!

After announcing Jiang Ming and Ling Luochen's victory, the referee teacher hurriedly jumped onto the arena and checked Li Shen's injuries.

"Teacher, it hurts so much. Am I going to die?"

Li Shen clutched his stomach and groaned, looking as if he were in great pain.

After the referee teacher checked him over, his expression turned somewhat grave.

"You won't die. By competition standards, this doesn't even count as a minor injury."

With that, the referee helped Li Shen to his feet and looked at Jiang Ming.

One punch had made an Assault-type Battle Soul Master lose his ability to fight, yet it had not even caused a minor injury. This kind of control—was he really a new student?!