Year-End Second-Round Assessment

"Where did you go yesterday?"

Gu Yue stared into Meng Li's eyes.

"I went back to Aolai City yesterday to take care of something." Meng Li inexplicably felt a little guilty, though he had no idea why.

It's not like I did anything immoral. What the hell am I feeling guilty for?

"You smell like another woman!" Gu Yue sniffed at him, her brows knitting even tighter.

Hey, what does it have to do with you whether I smell like a woman or not? Wait, didn't I shower yesterday? Meng Li froze for a moment before saying, "I went to see my primary school teacher yesterday."

"Hmph!" Gu Yue snorted coldly and walked away, quickening her pace.

"..." That's a bit much. She's even jealous of my teacher? Meng Li broke out in a cold sweat.

Gu Yue's words made it clear that she liked him, but their ages were still a serious obstacle. Meng Li's solution could be summed up in one word: stall. Stall until they were old enough.

"Look, it's my Male God!"

The moment Meng Li stepped out of the cafeteria, he found several pairs of wolfish eyes fixed on him. There were quite a few pretty girls among them, too.

"Your Male God didn't wash his face this morning," Gu Yue said coldly, slowing down.

"How can you slander our Male God like that!"

"Wah wah wah, how can you hold our Male God's hand?"

"My heart hurts so much!"

"..." Meng Li's hand was being held by a fair, delicate one. Looking at Gu Yue in her school uniform, with strange ornaments in her hair, his heart could not help racing.

"I haven't eaten yet." Gu Yue's face remained cold.

"I know you haven't. I brought you a couple of steamed buns." Meng Li took out the two steamed buns in his hand.

In truth, he had saved those steamed buns for himself. He had only eaten a little in the cafeteria just now.

"Class is about to start. This is all I have, and there's nothing to eat when we get back. Steamed buns like these are the most delicious."

"I remember there was a time when I never got enough to eat. Taking out a steamed bun at night felt like pure happiness." As Meng Li spoke, he tore off a piece of steamed bun and put it in his mouth, wearing an expression of complete enjoyment.

"Give me one." Gu Yue took one of the steamed buns, sat beneath a tree on the field, and like Meng Li, tore off a piece and began eating.

Once it entered her stomach, she felt a little puzzled. Today's steamed bun really did taste better than usual.

"You brought too few steamed buns. At noon, I want to eat the noodles you make!" Gu Yue said as if it were only natural.

"Okay..."

After the first round of exams, Meng Li and the others went through several more days of inhuman training. Wu Changkong truly showed them no mercy.

Something major happened over the past few days: Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi transferred away.

The reason was that after Wang Jinxi spent too much time around Tang Wulin, he could no longer use their Martial Soul Fusion Skill with Zhang Yangzi. After paying a large sum to cover the expenses for the semester, they left.

Tang Wulin's parents had left, and now two more companions by his side were gone. He felt guilty about it for a long time.

Meng Li took it rather well. They had never been especially close to begin with, so at most he would feel a little sad after they left.

"Brother Meng, you're my only family left."

"..." Meng Li touched his wallet and sighed.

That night, Tang Wulin treated Meng Li to another meal.

The next day, Tang Wulin treated Ouyang Zixin to a meal as well. They ran into an acquaintance: Xu Xiaoyu, whom he had defeated that day, and Xu Xiaoyan, his younger sister.

At last, the day of the year-end assessment arrived.

Wu Changkong brought Meng Li and the other four to East Sea Soul Tool Technology Park.

"Do you know this place?" Tang Wulin asked Xie Xie quietly.

Xie Xie said, "I've heard of it. Eastsea City's high-tech companies seem to all be gathered around here. Most of the major corporations in Eastsea City are here. I heard there are even factories producing mecha."

"Damn, they're not going to make us work in a factory, are they?" Meng Li loathed factories from his previous life.

How did that saying go again?

Soul-stealing, life-taking assembly lines; pitch-black hellish workshops; rotating shifts through life and death; forgetting food and sleep without a word; overtime without extra pay; tomorrow, it's bucket in hand and off to run away; at first, you don't understand what carrying a bucket means; when you see it again, you've become a bucket-carrying worker...

At this very moment, fear rose in the heart of someone who rarely feared anything.

"What's wrong?" Noticing that something was off with Meng Li, Gu Yue asked with concern.

"I'm fine!"

"Really?"

"I'm really fine."

Meng Li came to terms with it. If they really made him work in a factory, he would definitely skip class the next day...

The park was enormous. They walked for a full half hour before Wu Changkong brought them to a small compound within the larger park.

Could they really be making us work in a factory? Meng Li wondered.

A small, deep-blue building stood before them, its outer walls mirror-like, as though they were pieced together from blocks of glass.

There was no one at the entrance. The deep-blue glass doors were shut as well.

Wu Changkong stepped forward and pressed his right hand directly against the glass.

A bright blue flash flickered and vanished. A projection lit up as a voice said, "Yo, long time no see! Little Changkong of Eastsea."

"Open the door," Wu Changkong said coldly.

The voice sounded somewhat helpless. "You're still as boring as ever."

With a soft ding, the glass doors silently slid open to both sides.

Definitely entering a factory, Meng Li predicted inwardly.

Light flashed, his vision blurred, and they were inside.

"High-tech!" Meng Li exclaimed. He watched Wu Changkong rapidly type a long string of English commands on the assessment machine's keyboard.

Test difficulty: Medium. Number of test subjects: Three. Ten-second countdown.

Test difficulty: Advanced. Number of test subjects: One. Ten-second countdown.

"Ten, nine, eight..."

When the countdown ended, Meng Li's vision blurred.

Welcome to Hero Hall. First trial, difficulty: Extreme. Name: Meng Li. Age: Ten.

Test requirement: First round, survive for thirty seconds.

Meng Li looked ahead. A flash of light appeared, and a figure stood opposite him: a refined, handsome young man around twelve or thirteen years old.

"Begin!" The electronic voice sounded again.

Five Soul Rings lit up around the elegant, handsome young man: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black. A blue lightning dragon appeared behind him and immediately lunged toward Meng Li.

"A worthy opponent!" Meng Li sensed the Soul Power fluctuations radiating from the other party, and his eyes lit up as the blood in his body began to boil.

The enemies he had faced before were either far stronger than him or far weaker than him. It was truly rare to meet someone evenly matched.

Making him last thirty seconds was not an insult, was it? Even a lion used its full strength to hunt a rabbit. Meng Li did not lower his guard. The Sacred Winged Angel Martial Soul appeared behind him, and a golden spear appeared in his grasp.

Five Soul Rings lit up: black, black, black, black, red.

Second Soul Skill: Judgment!

At Meng Li's command, a quarter of his Soul Power was instantly drained away. A rift suddenly tore open in the sky, and a massive, dazzling golden sword covered in strange patterns fell from above, aimed directly at the refined young man.

Meanwhile, the elegant, handsome young man advancing toward him suddenly slowed. In the end, he stopped completely, his eyes empty, like a criminal awaiting judgment!