Freshman Assessment

In other words, no one else could probe the state of his Spiritual Sea at all. He had tested this with Huo Yuhao, even having Sky Dream Ice Silkworm possess Huo Yuhao for another test. The results were exactly as Xu Jie had guessed.

Once Soul Power or Spiritual Power was sent into Xu Jie's Spiritual Sea, it would naturally be burned away by his Martial Soul. Yet to outsiders, it felt more like their Soul Power had been devoured by Xu Jie's Martial Soul.

This was exactly like the case of a Martial Soul devouring Soul Power described in the book Several Major Flaws of Martial Souls that Xu Jie had dug out from Shrek Academy's library.

As for the portion of Soul Power that overflowed when he absorbed a soul ring, Xu Jie had a way to deal with that as well.

During the six years after Xu Jie awakened his Martial Soul, because he had been unable to obtain soul rings, he could only continuously compress his Soul Power. After six years of persistent effort, Xu Jie had successfully condensed an incredibly tiny Soul Core within his Spiritual Sea.

Otherwise, with the Nine Yang Divine Skill and his daily cultivation alongside Huo Yuhao over those six years, how could his displayed Soul Power Level have been a mere rank seventeen after absorbing his first soul ring? Aside from the Soul Power he constantly compressed within his body, most of it was stored in that tiny Soul Core within his Spiritual Sea.

With these two methods, it truly appeared to outsiders that Xu Jie's Martial Soul had the flaw of devouring Soul Power.

After Zhou Yi escorted Xu Jie out of the inner courtyard, she returned by herself.

Xu Jie said nothing about it and walked alone toward the dormitory building, looking utterly dejected.

Bang, bang, bang!!!

A brief knock sounded. Huo Yuhao, who had been cultivating on his bed, opened his eyes and got up to open the door.

"Brother Jie, how did it go?" A trace of delight appeared on Huo Yuhao's face when he saw Xu Jie standing at the doorway.

"Let me in first." Xu Jie still wore a faintly disappointed expression.

Huo Yuhao immediately stepped aside and let Xu Jie enter the dormitory.

Clack!

The door shut.

Xu Jie stood in the dormitory as three soul rings—yellow, purple, purple—rose beneath his feet. He began telling Huo Yuhao about what had happened during this soul hunt. Naturally, he omitted the part about Sea God Island, and he said nothing about the flaw in his Martial Soul.

It was not as if his Martial Soul truly had a flaw. Why would he tell anyone about it?

Over the next month, Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao returned to their usual routine. The matter of his Martial Soul being "flawed" was not spread around, though the teachers of the inner courtyard should all have known about it.

For the first dozen or so days, old men and old women kept coming to find him and sending Soul Power into him, annoying him to no end. Fortunately, there had only been many of them at the beginning. Later on, he was able to return to peace and quiet.

Of course, those old men and women did not doubt Mu En's findings. They merely held onto a sliver of hope. If they happened to find a way to solve the flaw in Xu Jie's Martial Soul, it would be a great achievement for both Xu Jie and the academy.

Every day consisted of getting up, training, eating, attending class, eating, training, attending class, eating, bathing, and cultivating. It was just that his cultivation goal had shifted from raising his Soul Power Level to compressing Soul Power and sending it into the Soul Core in his Spiritual Sea. He was already thoroughly familiar with this kind of thing.

Finally, three months after enrollment, the freshmen welcomed the assessment that belonged to them.

Three months of school had passed. Freshman Class One had gone from more than ninety students to sixty-nine, and the elimination rate had already approached one-third.

Moreover, under Zhou Yi's brutal guidance, the remaining students of Freshman Class One were now glowing with vitality. The spirit they displayed was far beyond what it had been before.

The position of class monitor had always been held by Wang Dong. Quite a few people in the class had challenged her, but without exception, all had been defeated by Wang Dong.

Ever since being taken out by Zhou Yi on that soul hunt, Dugu Lu, who had failed another challenge against Wang Dong, had constantly urged Xu Jie to challenge Wang Dong.

But Xu Jie truly had no interest in being class monitor. They could not possibly expect an adult to compete with elementary school students for a class monitor position, could they?

Fortunately, under Xu Jie's slacker offensive, Dugu Lu's expectations of him gradually faded. Though his attempt to urge Xu Jie into challenging Wang Dong had failed, Dugu Lu became a friend of Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao.

"Physical training is suspended today." Zhou Yi stood on the podium and looked over the crowd below, her gaze lingering briefly on Xu Jie and Wang Dong. These two were the mainstays of Freshman Class One in the assessment, and Zhou Yi thought highly of them both. Although Xu Jie's Martial Soul had a fatal flaw, his rank-thirty cultivation combined with an Ultimate Fire Martial Soul undoubtedly made him one of the best among the freshmen. Securing a good placement would not be a problem for him.

At present, Wang Dong truly could not compare to Xu Jie.

"Three months have passed since school began. You are about to face Shrek Academy's first assessment. Only by passing this assessment can you be considered true members of Shrek Academy. And barring any surprises, you will be able to remain at the academy and continue cultivating at least until the first-year graduation examination. Now, I will first explain the contents of the assessment."

"Wang Dong."

"Here." Wang Dong immediately answered.

Zhou Yi beckoned to Wang Dong and handed her the sheets of paper in her hand. Wang Dong took them and quickly distributed one to every student in the class.

Zhou Yi looked at everyone and said, "Although the emergence of Soul Tools has blurred the classifications of Soul Masters, those classifications are still necessary.

"First, Soul Tools have not developed to the point where they can replace Martial Souls. Second, the same Soul Tool can produce different effects in different types of Soul Masters. Therefore, choosing a cultivation path suited to yourself remains necessary."

For Soul Masters, there were only a few possible directions: broad classifications such as assault, defense, control, and support. The first three months had been more like an internship, where they had to learn a little of everything. Once they passed the assessment, they would begin to be separated according to their respective cultivation directions.

Xu Jie did not give it much thought and directly wrote the two words "assault" on the paper. As a "fire mage," what else could he choose besides assault? If he had initially displayed the Ultimate Light attribute, he might have chosen the Control System instead.

Then again, that was not necessarily true. Even with Ultimate Light, he might have gone astray after learning Flash Technique and turned into Gandalf—a melee mage.

Huo Yuhao did not hesitate either, writing the word "control" on his paper. Then he looked up and saw Zhou Yi turn around and write two large words on the blackboard: Battle.

Zhou Yi tapped the blackboard with the chalk in her hand and said to the students below, "Battle. The freshman assessment requires you to fight."

After saying that, she looked at several students who had lowered their heads. "Those of you who are support-type and Food-Type Soul Masters must be wondering why you have to fight as well. Hmph. On the battlefield, the enemy will not go easy on you just because you are a support-type or Food-Type Soul Master. On the contrary, you will become the enemy's primary targets for elimination. Furthermore, after the emergence of Soul Tools, support-type and Food-Type Soul Masters can also wield formidable combat power through Soul Tools."