New Assessment Rules

"Thank you for your help, Senior. We shall meet again."

"That is true, we will certainly meet again," Zhang Lexuan said with a radiant, gentle smile.

Ji Siyuan let out a sigh: "Why are you so certain?"

"Because I am your new homeroom teacher. However, I will not officially take the position until after the Freshman Assessment. So, Junior, you may call me 'Teacher' in advance if you wish."

While Ji Siyuan stood there dumbfounded, Zhang Lexuan returned to the Inner Court.

"What on earth is going on?"

Tang San: "It feels pretty good. At least she is much better than that masked woman." He hadn't even bothered to remember Zhou Yi's name.

"Her strength is good, and her temperament is good. When necessary, her methods are sufficiently firm. In terms of deterrence, she is tougher than that Wang Yan currently is. If she were to stay with you until graduation, she would certainly be better than those two."

Clearly, both Tang San and Ji Siyuan knew that they would never follow the normal progression.

"Enough of that. Let's head back to the dormitory to rest. Tomorrow, I'll go find Xu Sanshi to practice my soul skills."

"In such a rush to get back to the dorm that you won't even eat? You haven't changed your nature; you're just thinking about your 'prey,' aren't you? A young girl disguised as a boy, and you're still worried she might get snatched away?"

"Uncle!"

"A day apart is like three autumns; this uncle spoke too much. Go on then, perhaps there is already an extra boy in your room."

Ignoring Tang San's laughter, Ji Siyuan sprinted toward the dormitory.

Downstairs at the dormitory, he was caught by Mu En.

"Why are you running so fast? This old man isn't going to eat you."

"Old thing—no, Senior, why are you still here?"

Mu En often appeared downstairs at the dormitory, sitting there without anyone knowing what he was doing.

Ji Siyuan followed his usual routine, moving Mu En to a different spot to soak up the sunlight.

"There you go, Senior. You can enjoy your lovely sunbath now."

Mu En used his soul power to turn his wheelchair: "To have the leisure to joke with an old man like me, it seems you have obtained a decent soul skill. Why not let me see it?"

"Here?"

"Yes, right here. Rest assured, with me here, nothing will go wrong."

As a rising star, Mu En paid close attention to Ji Siyuan's growth.

Every day, he watched Ji Siyuan return from outside, and he could feel the changes within him.

He had also consulted a vast amount of data and conducted field investigations.

He still hadn't figured out exactly what Ji Siyuan's Martial Soul was.

Going deep into the Earth's core was even more impossible; humans simply could not reach it.

Even if he went himself, there might not be a Geocentric Red Lotus.

The birth of the Geocentric Red Lotus was a miracle in itself, impossible to replicate.

With no other choice, he could only treat it as an Ultimate Martial Soul for now.

"Can I stop acting like a human for a moment?"

"Want to fight this old man? Fine, go ahead." Mu En smiled and agreed to Ji Siyuan's request.

A Soul Grand Master could never defeat a Title Douluo, no matter what.

Ji Siyuan activated his Martial Soul, his two Thousand-Year Soul Rings shining brilliantly. Aside from special secret methods of enhancement, no one had ever achieved two Thousand-Year Soul Rings at the start; he was the first.

"Second Soul Skill, Blazing Fire Lotus!"

Flames erupted beneath Mu En's feet, transforming into a red lotus as a pillar of fire shot into the sky.

Born from the earth, it surged toward the heavens.

It carried a knock-up effect and possessed formidable power.

"A good soul skill. Its power is top-tier even among other thousand-year skills. Combined with your Ultimate Fire, you are basically invincible within three rings."

Ji Siyuan was a bit dissatisfied with this assessment: "I already beat that three-ringed Dai Huabin, didn't I?"

"Are you going to compare yourself to him?"

He felt as if he had been struck by a bolt of enlightenment. Defeating a three-ringed opponent with one ring was a decent achievement. But the opponent was Dai Huabin, someone who wasn't even worthy of being compared to him in the first place. How could he be happy about this? It should have been treated as a trivial matter.

With high enough talent, one could basically cross ranks to defeat Dai Huabin. He was only level 18 at the time, so even crossing ranks didn't mean much.

He should be comparing himself to historical figures, not a weakling like Dai Huabin.

"Thanks, old man."

"Mm, remember to cultivate diligently. I'm going to rest now."

"Fine."

"Move me back!" Every time he chatted with Ji Siyuan, the boy would move him to some other place, ruining his mood.

"Don't you have soul power? Do it yourself."

Mu En scolded him with a laugh, watching as Ji Siyuan rushed into the dormitory building.

"Damn it, chatting with that old man is such a waste of time."

Even though it had only been a few minutes, Ji Siyuan still felt annoyed.

He arrived in front of his dormitory door.

Pushing it open, he said, "I'm back."

Tang San remarked, "Oh, there really is another boy here."

Seeing a person with powder-blue hair in the room, that was Ji Siyuan's first thought as well.

But then he reconsidered; this looked like Wang Dong.

"It should be Wang Dong'er."

Tang San asked in confusion, "Why 'should be'?"

"Because I'm not entirely sure myself."

The two people chatting turned around immediately upon hearing the voice.

"Welcome back, Siyuan."

"You still know how to come back?" The person who had appeared in their dorm was none other than Wang Dong'er.

"What's the situation? Why are you in our dorm? Isn't this the boys' dormitory?"

Wang Dong'er replied, "I came to discuss the Freshman Assessment with you and Huo Yuhao, but you weren't here. I had no choice but to find him."

"The Freshman Assessment? Isn't that a month away? Why is it starting so early?"

The Freshman Assessment was supposed to take place in three months, followed by the sorting of classes.

This was an old tradition; Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi had told him several times that he must secure first place, as the rewards were exceptional.

Furthermore, the higher the quality of the freshmen, the better the rewards.

There was no doubt that this year's batch of freshmen was the highest quality yet. The rewards would certainly be generous.

If there were rewards to be had, it would be a waste not to take them.

Wang Dong'er huffed, "Hmph, who knows. The teacher mentioned in class today that the rules have changed this year."

"Changed? Changed to what?" Ji Siyuan had heard rumors, but he didn't know any of the details.

Wang Dong'er said, "I can't explain it clearly. Let Huo Yuhao tell you."

Huo Yuhao explained, "It's currently divided into three stages. The first stage is free team formation, with three people per team. If you fail to form a team and submit it one week before the start, the school and the teachers will assign teams. The second stage is a small-scale melee, where three teams fight simultaneously to determine the winner who advances to the next round, until only six teams remain.

Finally, there is the grand melee in the finals to determine the champion team."

The traditional three-person team structure hadn't been completely overturned, as the Soul Fight tournament utilized combat modes like two-two-three.

However, this was completely different from the previous formal three-on-three matches. It had adopted a full-scale melee mode.

In this mode, the strongest team wouldn't necessarily advance, as they could be ganged up on. Unless, of course, you were truly far superior to the rest.

Wang Dong'er said, "It just so happens that I'll team up with the two of you. Don't tell me you've already found someone else."

Huo Yuhao added, "In this grade, you two are the only ones I'm familiar with."

Ji Siyuan was much the same. The only other person he knew was Dai Huabin, whom he had fought.

Asking him to team up with Dai Huabin would simply be disgusting.

That was completely out of the question.

"Hey, you didn't go out just now and get yourself booked by someone else, did you?" Wang Dong'er asked Ji Siyuan.

"Then it's settled, we're a team!"