Is Wang Dong a Girl?

The round-robin stage of the freshman assessment had ended. As the only two teams from Class One to advance to the knockout rounds, Huo Yuhao's team and Wang Dong's team were taken by Zhou Yi to Shrek Academy's cafeteria for a lavish meal.

With the meal costing fifty or sixty Gold Soul Coins per person, Huo Yuhao and Xu Jie ate with great relish. The other three girls ate far more reservedly, unlike Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao, who wolfed everything down.

Perhaps because she had consumed too many Heavenly Materials, Earthly Treasures since childhood, Wang Dong seemed somewhat absent-minded during the meal.

She kept shooting Xu Jie disgusted glances from time to time. She could sense that something important in her fate seemed to be constantly slipping away, and Xu Jie appeared to be the reason.

Xu Jie naturally noticed Wang Dong's furtive looks, but he did not care in the slightest. Looking at the original story, he truly could not understand why Tang Wutong, who also possessed three Martial Souls and whose father was a God Realm Enforcer, had only become an ordinary Second-Rank God in the end, even with Huo Yuhao's help.

He wanted to see what Tang Wutong's final outcome would be without Huo Yuhao. In any case, without Tang Wutong, Huo Yuhao's outcome would certainly be much better than in the original story.

Time passed. After lunch, Xiao Xiao wanted to pull Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao aside to discuss tactics for the upcoming knockout rounds, but Xu Jie flatly refused. What tactics could there be in a three-on-three? What they had used before was more than enough.

Though they did not settle on any tactics, Xu Jie did drag Xiao Xiao off to train for the entire afternoon.

As the evening sun sank westward, a ray of sunlight fell over the woods by the Sea God.

"Whew... whew... whew!" Xiao Xiao sat beneath a maple tree, panting heavily. The sunlight filtering through the leaves made her little face look flushed.

"Aren't you tired?" Xiao Xiao asked Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao, who were still training some distance away.

"Not really." Hearing Xiao Xiao behind him, Xu Jie answered without thinking. He had been meaning to ask Xiao Xiao about Wang Dong. From their meal earlier, Xu Jie could tell that Xiao Xiao clearly liked Wang Dong.

He was somewhat worried that if they encountered Wang Dong's team in the coming matches, Xiao Xiao might hold back. So he wondered whether he should make Xiao Xiao lose interest in Wang Dong.

After all, Wang Dong could never accept Xiao Xiao anyway.

After thinking for a while, Xu Jie stopped, let out a long breath, and walked over to Xiao Xiao, whose breathing had already steadied.

Gulp, gulp!

Xu Jie picked up his water flask and took a huge swig before speaking to Xiao Xiao.

"Xiao Xiao, do you know one trait of the Radiant Goddess Butterfly Martial Soul?"

"What trait?" Though Xiao Xiao found the question rather baffling, it concerned information about the person she secretly liked. Naturally, it caught her interest.

Huo Yuhao, who was still training nearby, also pricked up his ears.

"The Light Goddess Butterfly only appears on women."

"What? Wang Dong is a girl?!" Xiao Xiao clearly did not quite believe it, but Wang Dong's impossibly delicate face seemed to hint at something.

Huo Yuhao was equally shocked when he heard it.

"But there is another possibility." Xu Jie's expression turned grave.

"What other possibility?" There was clearly a hint of hope in Xiao Xiao's voice.

"I think she's probably a hermaphrodite."

Xu Jie wore a solemn expression.

"What?!" Xiao Xiao cried out in shock, her face filled with disbelief. Huo Yuhao, who had still been training nearby, was clearly interested now as well. He walked over, plopped down beside them, and waited for Xu Jie to continue.

"Think about it. If he were a girl in disguise, after three months, after using the restroom so many times and bathing so many times, how could no one have noticed even the slightest clue?" Xu Jie explained. "Besides, no one has ever heard of a soul skill that can turn a woman into a man."

"And if he really were a genuine male wielder of the Light Goddess Butterfly, then when he summoned his Martial Soul, the surfaces of his wings should have the males' distinctive dazzling metallic luster. But he doesn't have it.

"After all, according to the book The Unique Connection Between Beast Martial Souls and Soul Masters, the sex of a Beast Soul Master's Martial Soul generally matches the Soul Master's sex, unless..."

"Unless the Soul Master has two sexes," Huo Yuhao immediately picked up the thread. He had read that book when he went to the library as well. Since Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had said that his second Martial Soul would definitely be a beast Martial Soul, he naturally needed to learn about this area.

Xiao Xiao's face immediately turned pale, her eyes full of disbelief.

A hermaphrodite? No wonder Wang Dong had righteously rejected every girl who confessed to him. So that was the reason.

"The library has both The Unique Connection Between Beast Martial Souls and Soul Masters and The Basic Characteristics of Butterfly-Type Soul Beasts," Xu Jie said as he looked at Xiao Xiao's disbelieving expression.

There were many books in Shrek's library. He occasionally took Huo Yuhao there to read, though most of the time, he went by himself while Huo Yuhao was at the Soul Guidance Department.

You really did benefit from reading more books. See? It came in handy today!

"Thank you." Xiao Xiao hurriedly rose to her feet and headed for the library.

Sigh!

Xu Jie could not help sighing as he watched Xiao Xiao leave. What he had said was mainly for Huo Yuhao's benefit. The two of them could not possibly remain together forever. Take Huo Yuhao's experience in the Extreme North Land after reaching Rank Twenty—Xu Jie could not follow behind him. Huo Yuhao could only experience it alone.

So Xu Jie had to find a way to cut off every possibility between Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong.

After Xiao Xiao left, the two did not say much. They completed their daily training as usual, went to the cafeteria for dinner, then returned to cultivate.

Early the next morning, when the time was about right, Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao slowly made their way to the assessment area. After a day of adjustments, the assessment area, which had originally been divided into fifty sections, had now been evenly divided into sixteen.

Each section was more than three times its original size. It had to be said that this wider arena suited Xu Jie much better. For a fire mage who liked to kite his enemies, the larger the field, the farther he could kite them.

"Over here, over here..." Xiao Xiao, who had arrived at the assessment area long ago, waved at Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao as they entered from afar.

Seeing this, Huo Yuhao immediately pulled the still-unhurried Xu Jie toward Xiao Xiao.

Once the two had taken their places, Xiao Xiao quieted down and waited for the academy's arrangements.

Before long, a tall teacher with a dark complexion, no beard, and an age of around fifty walked over. He took out a sheet of paper and began reading from it.

This teacher, named Du Weilun, was the dean of instruction for the outer court's Martial Soul Department.

The rules for the knockout rounds had already been relayed by each class's homeroom teacher to the students from their classes who had advanced.

The rules were simple: one match in the morning and one in the afternoon. Eliminated teams would leave immediately, while victorious teams would remain and continue competing.