March passed in the blink of an eye,
For Lu Ran, every day was ordinary,
cultivating, putting out fires...
But for the students under Zhou Yi, things were different.
She had not a single exceptionally talented student,
so she put the entire class through extreme training.
Almost every week, someone was expelled,
putting the students through a double ordeal, both physically and mentally. Some even had nightmares in the middle of the night,
leaving them with frayed nerves,
and making them come to class the next day with the same mood as someone on their way to a funeral.
The area beside the Martial Soul Academy's Soul Fighting Zone,
the Assessment Zone.
Unlike the Soul Fighting Zone, this was a flat, open stretch of ground.
The groups were assigned in the morning, and the assessments took place in the afternoon.
A plain-looking, middle-aged man of about forty walked into the field with a beaming smile.
He looked nothing more than ordinary and amiable,
yet in the eyes of some students, he was practically an angel,
inspiring a warmth and friendliness that came straight from the heart,
as if there were still hope in this world.
"My name is Wang Yan, and I'll be your assessment teacher,"
Wang Yan's gaze swept over the crowd,
lingering a little longer on Lu Ran,
"The assessment rules are simple: teams fight against one another. I'm sure you all know that already, but I'll remind you anyway: deliberately crippling an opponent is forbidden. Anyone who does so will be asked to leave."
The students present nodded,
some of them so moved they nearly cried. A teacher actually cared about their well-being...
Wang Yan keenly noticed that some of the students were acting strangely,
and raised an eyebrow,
puzzled, but the assessment couldn't be put on hold.
He took out his record book, opened it for a look, then raised his head. "First round, first match. Freshman Class One: Huo Yuhao, Chen Hu, and Zhao Chen. Freshman Class Five: Lin Po, Gao Ying, and Chu Sihu."
"We're first?"
Huo Yuhao stared blankly, then looked at his teammates: Lin Hu, the tall Agility Attack System student, and Zhao Chen, the sturdy Power Attack System student.
"Perfect!"
Chen Hu flashed a confident smile and raised a clenched fist.
His pearly white teeth glinted dazzlingly in the sunlight.
"Let's show everyone else what our training has done!"
"Yeah!"
"Let's go!"
After encouraging one another,
the three entered the arena,
where three male students stood opposite them.
They wore matching green uniforms,
and stood together with the shortest in the middle and the tallest on either side.
The short one in the middle was a little chubby and had long brown hair.
He might have stood out elsewhere, but this was Shrek, a major academy in a big city. A group like this was all too ordinary.
Among the students, there were all kinds of purple, yellow, and green hair colors—
they didn't stand out at all.
For instance, the student standing at the far right among their opponents had blue hair, and even his eyes were blue.
Wang Yan stepped back a few paces.
"Get ready—
Begin!"
"Black Fox Possession!"
"Great Strength Savage Bear!"
"..."
In an instant, one yellow Soul Ring after another burst into view.
But among the several Hundred-Year Soul Rings,
one gleaming white Ten-Year Soul Ring was mixed in,
making it particularly conspicuous.
The students watching from below weren't surprised.
Of course they'd gathered intelligence before the matches. They couldn't get detailed information about the other students, but they could at least learn the basics.
And the class monitor who had broken the record as an eleven-year-old freshman—
he was bound to draw even more curiosity.
A glint of gold appeared in Huo Yuhao's eyes as he used his First Soul Ring, Spiritual Sharing.
"We can't lose!"
"Wind Fox Break!"
"Yuhao, watch your right!"
After a fierce battle,
"..."
"...Huff... huff... We won...?"
"Huff... huff... We won?"
Huo Yuhao lay on the ground, half his uniform in tatters and his chest aching terribly, watching the last of his opponents fall.
He looked around in dazed disbelief.
We won?
Wang Yan walked over with a smile and announced the result:
"Freshman Class One: Huo Yuhao, Chen Hu, and Zhao Chen are the winners."
"Oh!!!"
"We won!"
The three hugged one another, their sweat-soaked faces brimming with excitement. Even the pain couldn't stop them from celebrating.
They waved their fists and shouted, "We won!"
Wang Yan looked at the three of them with satisfaction.
"Congratulations. Go rest for now."
He had always liked students who worked hard.
Beneath the azure sky,
Huo Yuhao and the other two helped each other up and limped out of the arena.
Their bodies still hurt,
but their smiles were radiant, and their spirits were soaring.
"I can't believe a Ten-Year Soul Ring could have an effect like that."
"Good thing I dodged that blow, or I'd have been done for."
They hadn't gone far
when Huo Yuhao heard Wang Yan's voice behind him:
"First round, second match. Freshman Class Nine: Lu Ran and Wang Dong. Freshman Class Five: Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, and Cui Yajie."
The students outside the arena began chattering,
"Just two people?"
"Don't you need three to compete?"
"That Lu Ran seems really strong!"
"..."
"...?"
The smile slowly froze on Huo Yuhao's face.
He stiffly turned around
and saw that familiar golden hair, that familiar build... that familiar...
Hatred!
"Mom, I'll help you hang the laundry..."
"Yuhao, careful not to trip..."
"Beat him!"
"Young master! It was my fault. Yuhao is still little... Please, I'm begging you..."
Memories from the past surged into his mind like a tide.
He heard his mother's pleas in his ears... his own sobs...
His flushed face turned deathly pale in an instant.
...It was him... He was one of the men who had killed his mother...
He had killed his mother...
Killed his mother...
Huo Yuhao clenched his fists, his body trembling uncontrollably.
Blood-red rage flooded his deep blue eyes...
"Yuhao, what's wrong?"
"Yuhao?"
"Weren't you going to take the assessment alone?"
In the arena, Lu Ran remained calm and unruffled.
His gaze passed over the three approaching students.
One boy and two girls. There was no need to guess who they were.
The boy had handsome but cold features, golden hair falling to his shoulders, and mismatched eyes. He had a broad chest, and even in his uniform, he exuded an air of nobility.
More eye-catching than that noble bearing was his repulsive expression.
Lu Ran wasn't some saint,
and he wasn't interested in meddling in other people's affairs,
but he really couldn't stand arrogant, selfish villains like this.
The black-haired girl on the left had a graceful figure. Her slender waist swayed as she walked, drawing attention to her long legs.
She moved like a cat,
her pupils slightly vertical, her eyes mismatched gold and blue as well.
The girl on the right had long pink hair, gentle features, and a smile as bright as spring sunshine.
She was also the only one whose face showed no hostility.
Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, and Cui Yajie.
"What choice do I have? The academy won't let me sign up alone,"
Wang Dong said, deliberately avoiding Lu Ran's gaze
as she moved farther away.
Feeling Lu Ran's scrutinizing gaze, Dai Huabin's face twitched. He met it with a cold stare and stubbornly pursed his lips.
He hated everything about Lu Ran: his reputation, his attitude, even his eyes.
Lu Ran could sense Dai Huabin's emotions,
but he didn't care.
What could an arrogant Soul Elder do, anyway?
Wang Yan stood at the edge of the arena.
"Get ready—
Begin!"
Before he had even finished speaking, Dai Huabin and the other two leaped apart.
Of course they knew Lu Ran could control Rock Pillars or Rock Spikes to attack.
How could they possibly give him a chance?
Before they even hit the ground,
Dai Huabin roared, "White Tiger Possession!"
Three Soul Rings—yellow, yellow, and purple—surged into view. His body instantly swelled to twice its size, his muscles bulging and popping as his uniform ripped apart with a loud RIIIP.
His golden hair turned black and white,
His hands became sharp tiger claws,
The moment he landed, he charged,
"White Tiger—Diamond Transformation!"
His icy-blue and golden eyes suddenly blazed bright, and he surged toward Lu Ran at tremendous speed.
I'll make you pay!
Zhu Lu also transformed into a Spirit Cat, her ears growing long and pointed, her figure light and nimble, two Soul Rings floating around her.
Cui Yajie transformed from a young girl into a mature woman,
Her soft pink hair became long, flowing waves, exuding irresistible allure.
"Hey, they're here!"
The dreamlike butterfly wings behind Wang Dong beat as she dodged Zhu Lu's attack. Seeing that Lu Ran hadn't moved at all, she hurriedly warned him.
She knew Lu Ran had been powerful enough to defeat the upperclassman Xu Sanshi in a single blow years ago,
But she still couldn't help worrying.
Seeing that he was being ignored,
Dai Huabin's forehead veins bulged, and a fierce glint flashed in his furious eyes.
"White Tiger Intense Light Wave!"
A white beam of energy blasted from the tiger's jaws.
"Get down!"
Before you continue