The Freshman Assessment elimination round lasted three days in total,
On the first day, each team competed once, mainly to get used to battle,
On the second day, they competed four times, twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon,
On the third day, they competed five times,
Ten matches in all, a double test of combat strength and endurance,
In the end, rankings were based on the number of victories. There were three hundred teams of students this year; the bottom two hundred were eliminated outright, while the top sixty-four advanced to the semifinals. The top three would receive rewards,
The fourth day,
The assessment continued,
But the Outer Academy had already announced the list of eliminated students,
There was no point making the unsuccessful students wait through the final few days,
The bottom two hundred teams were all eliminated,
When the list was announced, the students were overcome by either extreme excitement or despair,
The divide was as clear as a line between two rivers,
Huo Yuhao ranked near the bottom among those who passed,
Ninetieth place,
He had come within a hair's breadth,
But he hadn't been eliminated.
The number of freshmen had suddenly fallen by two-thirds,
The Shrek freshman dormitories had a high vacancy rate. They were only used for three months each year and sat empty for the remaining nine, so it was no wonder that dust had greeted them when they first pushed open the door.
They had entered the semifinals,
The competition among the remaining sixty-four teams,
There was no need to guess,
There was no suspense,
Lu Ran had no rivals,
Every time, he won by a landslide with just one or two moves,
At Shrek, nothing was more shameful than admitting defeat voluntarily. It was the most disgraceful thing you could do,
So,
Not a single student Lu Ran faced forfeited...
They simply came up with all kinds of excuses to skip the match,
Team infighting, not enough members, oversleeping, feeling unwell...
All sorts of things.
After all, having talent and abundant resources had nothing to do with refusing to lose,
Who said that talented people had to be tough?
Wang Yan knew what these little brats were up to,
But he let them be,
They would lose if they took the field anyway.
Only a tiny handful of students bravely stood before Lu Ran,
Out of respect,
Lu Ran didn't look down on them, but he didn't hit them hard either,
He only knocked them out of the ring,
Once they were sent flying beyond the boundary, they brushed the dust from their clothes. It hurt, but they got back up and went about their business,
No harm done.
This selective attitude,
Made Lu Ran much more popular,
With all of them being freshmen in the same teaching building, everyone had seen Dai Huabin's arrogance and hot temper,
They couldn't beat him,
But they still found him deeply irritating,
Even among the powerful, there were ranks. Some were merely minor nobles, while Dai Huabin was the young master of the Duke's Mansion. The Duke's Mansion's inherited Martial Soul was the Evil Eye White Tiger,
A force to be reckoned with across all three great empires,
Meanwhile, Lu Ran completely outclassed Dai Huabin in status, position, and ability,
And he was more approachable, too,
All these factors,
Made Lu Ran increasingly popular, to the point that some male students had even begun to idolize him.
In the end,
As expected,
Lu Ran and Wang Dong took first place,
Wang Dong also earned a second nickname: the luckiest person at Shrek Academy,
Her first nickname was the person with the most beautiful Martial Soul.
Wang Dong hated her second nickname with a vengeance,
At night, she ground her teeth so loudly in her sleep that anyone who didn't know better might have thought a Soul Beast was making the noise,
But she knew there was no way she could leave the team and take on three opponents at once,
No matter how strong she was, she couldn't be like Lu Ran,
So she could only endure it, preparing to make a stunning comeback in the future,
"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west," and "Three rings of the soul, the second ring will be a terrifying thousand-year one," and so on...
At night, she dreamed sweet dreams of pinning Lu Ran beneath her and teaching him a lesson:
"Miss Dong'er, I was wrong..."
"Sniffle, sniffle, I, Lu Ran, am the luckiest person at Shrek..."
"Heh heh heh, good. You know you were wrong!"
After the assessment ended, the rankings were announced,
Lu Ran and Wang Dong took first place,
Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, and Cui Yajie took second,
Ning Tian, Wu Feng, and Nanmen Yun'er took third,
Just as resources had nothing to do with character, strength had nothing to do with character either. Dai Huabin was indeed one of the strongest students in this year's class, and Zhu Lu and Cui Yajie were just as exceptionally talented,
It was perfectly normal for them to take second place.
When Du Weilun announced the list of Core Disciples from the Outer Academy,
Huo Yuhao, standing below the stage, felt a wave of helplessness rise from the depths of his heart. He had done everything he could, yet his ranking had only just barely kept him from being eliminated,
Looking at Dai Huabin, resplendent onstage,
He lowered his head,
Clenched his fists,
Deep, bitter resentment welled up in his dark blue eyes.
Du Weilun continued his announcement onstage,
The top three teams would all receive the same reward,
When students went to obtain Soul Rings, the academy could help them acquire the Soul Ring best suited to them,
This wasn't just about hunting,
It covered the entire process, from choosing a Soul Beast to completing the hunt. Even if the most suitable Soul Beast was extraordinarily rare, Shrek would still help them obtain its Soul Ring.
It sounded pretty good,
The other students were quite excited, too,
But Lu Ran's reaction was lukewarm,
For him, it was a little underwhelming. After all, every time he obtained a Soul Ring, a Super Douluo accompanied him,
The most extravagant time, he had two Super Douluos and a Soul Saint with him.
The awards ceremony ended.
The teaching building,
Yan Shaozhe stood in his office,
He took out an exquisite box made of Black Iron Wood, its lines delicately carved and its surface gleaming with a metallic sheen,
Black Iron Wood usually took root on mineral veins,
It grew extremely slowly,
Its defining feature was its incredible hardness. It looked like wood, but if you struck it with an axe, sparks would fly,
It weighed as much as a block of iron of the same size,
Most Soul Beasts of the same rank were helpless against it.
Yan Shaozhe smiled. The instant he opened the lid,
An unusual surge of Soul Power filled the room, bringing a cool sensation over Lu Ran as a rush of rich moisture swept toward him. The entire office seemed to change,
On a piece of brocade cloth, bright as molten gold, lay a Soul Bone,
Half the length of a forearm,
Jade white with a hint of emerald green, the two colors blending and bleeding into each other,
Just looking at it lifted one's spirits.
"A ten-thousand-year Canglang Waterfall Dragon Right Leg Bone. Its Soul Skill is likely an attack skill, suitable for Control System, Power Attack System, and Support System Soul Masters."
With that,
He pushed the wooden box toward Lu Ran,
"..."
Lu Ran gazed at the Soul Bone,
Fell silent for several seconds,
Then shook his head,
"No, Dean Yan,"
"I'm not suited to absorbing a Soul Bone right now."
"Hm?"
Yan Shaozhe froze, thinking he must have misheard,
But looking at Lu Ran's expression,
He couldn't help asking, "Why?"
This was a ten-thousand-year Soul Bone!
A priceless treasure that money couldn't buy,
And he had personally selected it.
Lu Ran explained, "It doesn't suit me, but I'd like to exchange this Soul Bone for another reward. Would that be possible?"
Yan Shaozhe asked reflexively:
"What would you like instead?"
"I want to rent two small storefronts in busy locations, one inside Shrek Academy and one in Shrek City."
Yan Shaozhe: "?"
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