Assessment Ends

A few minutes later, Du Weilun respectfully bowed his head as he saw Yan Shaozhe off. Only after Yan Shaozhe had left did Du Weilun quietly let out a sigh of relief. He then walked to the edge of the platform and announced the teams for the second match as though nothing had happened.

Two days later, in the afternoon, the New Student Assessment came to an end. All the students who had passed stood beneath the platform, waiting for the upcoming class assignments.

Du Weilun, Director of Teaching in the Spirit System, arrived at the edge of the platform with more than a dozen teachers. Looking at the hundreds of vibrant students below, all the teachers wore satisfied expressions.

As for Zhou Yi, she had been forced to submit her resignation to Du Weilun the day before, in accordance with their wager. Du Weilun hadn't tried to stop her at all; he hadn't said a word of protest and had approved it on the spot.

"The students this year are far better than last year's. At a glance, I can see more than a dozen promising prospects," one teacher exclaimed.

"Teacher Feng is right. But if you ask me, Mo Yuan from Teacher Mu Jin's class is the real monster. I have no idea how he trains," another teacher chimed in.

"Beating Class One's team in less than a minute was impressive enough, but then he went on to defeat teams led by two Soul Elders in just a few moves in the semifinals and finals. He's simply a monster..."

At those words, the other teachers couldn't help looking toward Mo Yuan, standing among the crowd below. Their faces were full of astonishment.

They estimated they would never forget what they had seen during Mo Yuan's semifinal and final matches the day before.

After the quarterfinals had concluded two days ago, the teams led by Dai Huabin, Xie Huanyue, Ning Tian, and Mo Yuan had, as expected, advanced to the semifinals.

Mo Yuan faced Xie Huanyue. There were no surprises: it took only a few moves for all three members of the opposing team to fall.

On the other side, Dai Huabin won his match against Ning Tian. After all, even with the support of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, Ning Tian's team had been unable to avoid defeat against the fusion skill, Hell White Tiger.

Everything had been normal up to that point. But Mo Yuan had given them a tremendous shock in the finals. There was no other explanation—

When facing Dai Huabin, who had used a Martial Soul Fusion Skill as soon as the match began, Mo Yuan had also released a Soul Skill for the first time during the New Student Assessment. And it was his Fourth Soul Skill, powered by a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.

Yanling: Ice Emperor, a skill that came extremely close to Extreme Ice, erupted across the arena. The terrifying cold gave Dai Huabin's team no time to react.

In the blink of an eye, Hell White Tiger and Cui Yajie, who had been waiting for an opening at the edge of the arena, were frozen solid.

Unlike the fierce, unpredictable finals of previous New Student Assessments, this had been a complete rout. A sense of helplessness overwhelmed the thousands of Outer Court students watching. They couldn't imagine who in the Outer Court could possibly defeat Mo Yuan.

Back in the present, once all the students had assembled, Du Weilun walked to the edge of the platform with a folder in hand. He smiled and surveyed the students below before speaking:

"I hereby announce that the New Student Assessment has come to an end. Next, I will announce the top three teams and the rewards they will receive.

"Third place in the New Student Assessment: Ning Tian, Wu Feng, and Luo Huan of Newborn Class Nine. Step forward."

Ning Tian, who had been quietly talking with Mo Yuan, immediately led the gloomy Wu Feng and Luo Huan out of the crowd. She wasn't dissatisfied with their result.

After all, given the strength of the students in their year, third place was already quite good.

As thunderous applause rang out, Du Weilun announced the second-place team.

"Second place: Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, and Cui Yajie of Newborn Class Five."

Applause broke out once again.

Dai Huabin walked out of the crowd with a dark expression. He was still furious about being eliminated in an instant during the finals. It had been humiliating—he'd lost before he could even react.

He hadn't even realized that he'd lost until he was thawed out and regained consciousness.

Du Weilun paused briefly, then raised his voice slightly.

"Next, let's give a warm round of applause to the champions of this New Student Assessment! They are Mo Yuan, Bai Yi, and Nanmen Yun'er of Newborn Class Nine!"

A deafening roar of applause erupted.

The reason was obvious. On Douluo Continent, the strong earned enthusiastic applause. Besides, both Bai Yi and Nanmen Yun'er were exceptionally good-looking.

They had talent, strength, striking looks, and refined bearing. It was hard to find a single flaw in the three of them. Aside from Mo Yuan being a little difficult to approach, they were practically perfect.

In previous years, there had been teams like Mo Yuan's, with one Big Daddy carrying two sidekicks to victory.

But things were different now. Back then, people would always say things like, "So what if they're champions? I could win too if someone carried me."

Under Mo Yuan's plan, however, Bai Yi and Nanmen Yun'er had both shown off their strength and talent. Their record of dozens of matches fought two against three had even silenced the few people who might otherwise have mocked them.

The three walked up beneath the platform and stood between Ning Tian's team and Dai Huabin's team, in the place reserved for the champions.

Du Weilun continued, "All right, I will now announce the rewards for the top three teams in the New Student Assessment.

"All three teams will receive the same reward from the academy. When they need a Soul Ring, each student may submit a request to the academy, which will help them obtain one that suits them best and is within their capacity to absorb."

The first-year students immediately broke into surprised exclamations. This reward meant that, as long as they didn't fall behind, their next Soul Ring would certainly be at the limit of what they could absorb.

Bai Yi rubbed his hands together, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. He nudged Nanmen Yun'er and Mo Yuan, then chuckled.

"Do you think the academy would agree if I asked for a thousand-year Darkgold Fearclaw Bear as my third Soul Ring?"

"If you're not afraid of Director Du killing you, go ahead and ask," Mo Yuan said with an amused glance at Bai Yi. At the same time, though, he was tempted too.

If the academy really honored its promise, could he ask them to help him hunt Di Tian when he reached level eighty?

After all, the academy had said it could hunt a Soul Ring at the limit of what he could absorb. Given the nature of his Black King's Blood Martial Soul, he might really be able to absorb Di Tian's Soul Ring at level eighty.

But then Mo Yuan smiled again. There was nothing wrong with his request, but with Shrek's ways, the final interpretation of any promise would always be: "I decide what I meant."

Du Weilun then announced the additional reward for the champion team.

"In recognition of the outstanding performances and undefeated record of Mo Yuan, Bai Yi, and Nanmen Yun'er throughout the competition, the academy has decided to grant them an additional special reward.

"The academy will not disclose what the reward is. The three of them will come with me to claim it after the class assignments are over."

At this, everyone looked at the three of them with envy. It was a reward from Shrek Academy, and the academy wouldn't dare be too stingy unless it wanted to lose face.

"All right, you may return to your places."

Du Weilun waved them back, then turned to address everyone again. After offering the students some words of encouragement, he finally got down to business.

"In view of the outstanding new students who emerged during this year's New Student Assessment, the academy has approved a number of them to become Outer Court Core Disciples. I will now announce the names."

Shrek Square fell completely silent. Almost every student strained to listen, seemingly afraid of missing their own name.

After all, Core Disciples weren't limited to the top three teams. Other students who had performed exceptionally well had a chance, too.

The New Year was just around the corner, and there was a lot to do at home, so I didn't have time to write. There will only be one update today.

Thanks to reader 3rdeye for sending one monthly ticket, and thanks to readers 20180811184904646 and 20190125183013861 for sending one monthly ticket each.

Thanks to the reader Meow Meow's Thoughts for sending two monthly tickets.

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