The Final Boss of the Freshman Assessment

"Oh, so you two have no teammates, and you finally realized I'm your homeroom teacher?" Zhou Yi didn't know what to say about Mu Xuanheng and his companion.

With the freshman assessment looming, they were only just now coming to find her. And the teams had already been finalized.

Mu Xuanheng explained, "Isn't it because we've been studying Soul Tools the whole time? You know our talents, Teacher."

Zhou Yi knew far more than just their talents in Soul Tools.

Mu Xuanheng's orange soul ring was no longer a secret among the upper echelons of Shrek.

Only Elder Mu and Xuan Zi knew that the source of the soul ring was Xue Di.

And Gu Yuena was no simple character either; her third ring was a black ten-thousand-year soul ring. If not for Mu Xuanheng overshadowing her, her influence would have been even greater.

"You two are both three-ringed and so exceptional that the academy made the choice for you long ago."

Mu Xuanheng asked, "Do we have anyone else as a teammate?"

"Teammates? You two are the final bosses. You are responsible for defeating everyone."

Gu Yuena pinpointed the issue precisely: "Teacher Zhou Yi, you just said defeating everyone, not just the champion team?"

"That's right. I didn't say defeating the champion team would be enough. You have to fight every single team. And it's not a gauntlet; you two are going up against the entire freshman year."

The gap between those two scenarios was significant.

Although Mu Xuanheng was confident he could take them all down, the problem was whether the teachers were underestimating the caliber of this year's freshmen.

The two had different expressions—one worried, one confident. Zhou Yi said, "Xuanheng, can't you be as confident as classmate Gu Yuena? You're a three-ringed Soul Elder, and your soul power is almost at the Soul Ancestor level now. Are you still afraid you won't be able to beat this group of freshmen?"

"No, I'm worried about giving them psychological trauma. I don't want to become a mental demon on their path of cultivation."

"Hah, look at you putting on an act." Zhou Yi wore a mask, so her expression was unreadable. "But you two really haven't made a move in class. Even I only learned about your soul rings from Fan Yu. Go easy on them when you fight."

The super-model duo sat in their seats, and others still came to ask if they had a team.

Mu Xuanheng became the point of contact for external inquiries: "You can only hope you don't run into us. The bad news is, praying won't do any good—you will definitely run into us."

"That's not necessarily true. We don't have civil wars within our own class during the round-robin."

"You'll understand soon enough."

Huo Yuhao also came up to them: "Senior Brother, Senior Sister, are you both assault-types? I remember we aren't allowed to team up with the same type."

Gu Yuena answered without hesitation: "I'm control-type."

Mu Xuanheng added: "We're special cases."

Different answers, yet both declared one thing: the two of them were definitely a team.

Zhou Yi walked in and clapped her hands: "Quiet down, everyone." Then she began to explain the freshman assessment.

This was completely irrelevant to Mu Xuanheng and his partner; they weren't part of the standard freshman assessment.

"Mu Xuanheng, Gu Yuena. Dean Yan wants to see you."

Special tasks naturally had special people to announce them, and Zhou Yi was merely the messenger.

Yan Shaozhe stared at the young man and woman: "You two are truly peerless geniuses rarely seen in Shrek's ten-thousand-year history, which is why we aren't having you participate in the assessment according to tradition. Zhou Yi should have already notified you. Do you have any questions?"

They shook their heads. They would just fight; it wasn't like they had to fight above their rank.

"If you can challenge the entire grade this time, the academy will give you a special reward. But I can't tell you what it is in advance."

Mu Xuanheng himself didn't know what kind of special reward Shrek could possibly offer.

"Classmate Gu Yuena, you can leave first. I have other things to discuss with Mu Xuanheng."

"I'm leaving with him."

Yan Shaozhe gave Mu Xuanheng a strange look.

He couldn't help but feel a hint of disappointment; the spot he had reserved for his disciple had already been snatched up.

"It will only take a few minutes, would you mind waiting to the side?" Yan Shaozhe didn't give Gu Yuena a chance to refuse, immediately casting a barrier to isolate them from her.

"Not bad, Junior Brother. You've already captured someone's heart not long after school started. You're much better than your Senior Brother."

"Huh?" Mu Xuanheng felt bitter inside. Could Cai Mei'er and Xian Lin'er even compare to Gu Yuena?

The difficulty level wasn't even in the same league.

Yan Shaozhe coughed twice and said seriously, "I have a favor to ask of you. You know that I've taken on a disciple, Ma Xiaotao. Like our ancestor Ma Hongjun, she possesses the Evil Fire Phoenix and is plagued by the evil fire. She needs Ultimate Ice to alleviate it. Can you help?"

"Xuan Zi told you?" Only three people knew that Xue Di was with him, and the only one who could have leaked it was Xuan Zi.

The blunt way he addressed the elder made Yan Shaozhe's mouth twitch: "I begged Elder Xuan. I wanted to know what was going on with your third ring, and since Elder Xuan couldn't solve Xiaotao's evil fire problem either, he just said you had Ultimate Ice. He wouldn't tell me anything more."

"Fine, make the arrangements." Mu Xuanheng didn't want to get involved with Ma Xiaotao, but he was her grand-uncle, after all.

"Then after the freshman assessment is over, I'll arrange for her to receive treatment."

Yan Shaozhe was silent for a moment: "Does this Gu Yuena follow you everywhere?"

The question struck a chord in Mu Xuanheng. He and Gu Yuena had been practically inseparable at school for three months.

He had been lost in it himself.

He gave a self-deprecating smile: "I suppose she does."

"Rest assured, I've already investigated. There are no issues."

Mu Xuanheng looked at the smug Yan Shaozhe and could only think of him as a cute little fool.

To say the investigation wasn't thorough would be an understatement; it was clear no investigation had been conducted at all.

Time quickly passed until the day of the Freshman Assessment.

Du Weilun began to read the rules for the Freshman Assessment on the stage.

The clichés were tiresome, but there were new rules this year.

"Due to two freshmen being overly powerful this year, which could easily affect the fairness of the Freshman Assessment, the two of them will be treated as the final objective. Students Mu Xuanheng and Gu Yuena, please come up to the stage."

Du Weilun pointed a finger: "These are the final objectives for this year's Freshman Assessment. There will be two challenges: one against the champion team, and another where all freshmen challenge them together."

As soon as he finished speaking, all the freshmen began to stir.

The students of Freshman Class One finally understood what it meant to be destined to meet them.

Dai Huabin, who considered himself the strongest individual, immediately jumped out: "This is unfair! Doesn't doing this mean you've already decided they are the champions? Why should they be allowed to skip all the previous rounds and go straight to the finals?"

Du Weilun replied: "This is for the sake of fairness. If they were to fight, they would likely cause others to lose their combat ability, affecting the competition for subsequent rankings and the academy's evaluations."

There were still those who refused to accept it; the two of them clearly enjoyed special privileges. It was just that this privilege was meant to ensure fairness.

Mu Xuanheng took over from Du Weilun: "Student Dai Huabin, right? Just make sure you don't fall on the road to challenging me."

After saying this, he left the stage. If they wanted to fight him, they would have to prove their strength through the proper process; otherwise, it would just be giving them the qualification to challenge him for nothing.

Without proving it with strength, all they earned was resentment and dissatisfaction.

"Defeat them."

"What are they acting so arrogant for? Do they really think they can take on the entire freshman year?"

"Wait until the Freshman Assessment; we'll teach them a lesson."

The Freshman Assessment was not just a proof of strength, but also the basis for the academy to distribute rewards. No one wanted to let someone stand over their heads for no reason.

The freshmen's resentment gathered on the two of them; they were about to face a challenge from an entire grade.