Psychological Shadow

The New Student Assessment began.

At noon,

the lots were drawn to determine the matchups.

By afternoon,

all the new students gathered in the Assessment Area.

Shrek Academy's Assessment Area

was located in the north-central part of the Martial Soul Department, adjacent to the Soul Fighting Zone.

Though it was merely an open space surrounded by low walls, with partitions dividing the interior into separate areas, it was the nightmare of Shrek Outer Courtyard students!

Especially those lacking strength.

The entire Assessment Area covered roughly twenty thousand square meters. It had now been divided into fifty sections, each around four hundred square meters—a square with sides measuring twenty meters. For new students, who generally possessed only the cultivation of Soul Masters or Soul Grandmasters, this was already sufficient.

Of course, sufficient only referred to ordinary new students. If someone's strength exceeded the norm, like Liu Yuan and Di Qiu'er... then this place might not be enough.

Since today was the first day of the assessment, each group would only have one match, allowing the new students to adapt to the process and intensity.

To that end, the academy had dispatched fifty teachers to oversee registration in the fifty sections, doing their best to ensure that teams from the same class would not meet during the round-robin matches.

"There are so many people!"

Xiao Xiao swept her gaze around the area, unable to keep the amazement from her voice. "There should be a thousand people here, right?"

"Probably a little less."

After making a rough estimate, Liu Yuan shook his head.

"Brother."

Just then, Huo Yuhao suddenly called out to him.

"What is it?"

"Look over there."

Following the direction of his finger, Liu Yuan saw Wang Dong'er bouncing up and down as she waved continuously at them.

"Heh, that girl..."

With a soft laugh, Liu Yuan was just about to respond to her.

But the next moment,

Zhou Yi reached out and pressed Wang Dong'er down. Then, a confrontation seemed to begin.

"That woman..."

Lowering the hand he had not fully raised, Liu Yuan smiled helplessly. However, he did not look away. Instead, he turned his gaze toward the students of Freshman Class One.

It had to be said,

they had far fewer students than the other classes!

Even their current remaining numbers were supposedly the result of Wang Dong'er holding back. After all, Zhou Yi had later focused almost all her energy on Wang Dong'er.

For the sake of the promotion rate, Zhou Yi was truly ruthless.

But...

looking at so many students,

a question surfaced in Liu Yuan's heart: Since geniuses would have chances to rise no matter where they were, then as a monster academy dedicated to cultivating monsters, what if it turned ordinary Soul Masters into monster Soul Masters?

The thought seemed to flash through his mind only briefly,

and Liu Yuan silently withdrew his gaze.

As they waited, the final count was confirmed. A total of three hundred and ten teams, nine hundred and thirty students altogether, were participating in the New Student Assessment. Of those three hundred and ten teams, only one hundred and fifty would remain and officially become first-year students to continue their studies. The rest would all be eliminated.

Liu Yuan's team was assigned to Area Thirteen.

Before long, a booming announcement rang throughout the entire Outer Courtyard. "Attention, all new students. Attention, all new students. Please immediately enter the Assessment Area and prepare for the New Student Assessment. You have ten minutes remaining to enter. Failure to arrive in time will be treated as forfeiture of this assessment." The announcement echoed through every corner of the Outer Courtyard.

Confident in their own strength, when Liu Yuan's trio strolled calmly into Area Thirteen, they stood in stark contrast to the other new students in the area.

Just then, the teacher responsible for Area Thirteen approached. She was a female teacher wearing glasses. Her appearance was ordinary, but she did not smile easily.

The moment she appeared, she wasted no words.

She coldly announced, "First round, first match. Freshman Class Five: Liu Yuan, Xiao Xiao, Huo Yuhao. Freshman Class Seven: Zhang Sanfeng, Li Siwei, Wang Wucheng. Enter the field and stand in separate corners. You may only release your Martial Souls after I give the command. During the assessment, you may not cripple or seriously injure your opponents."

"Do you all understand?"

"Understood." ×6

The two teams immediately entered the field and took their positions in opposite corners.

But when Liu Yuan's gaze fell upon the other three, his sharp eyes noticed that the person standing at the front was trembling slightly, with a trace of fear seemingly showing in his expression.

Even though the emotion was not particularly intense.

Liu Yuan: ???

What? What did I do?

They had not even moved, yet he had already scared the other side into that state? Was he planning to scam them or something?

Could it be that he had genuinely frightened him?

Liu Yuan subconsciously touched his face.

No disfigurement. Still as handsome as ever.

Before Liu Yuan could figure out what was wrong with that person, the female teacher had already given the command.

"Assessment begins!"

In less than three seconds,

the three on the other side had barely begun to move,

whoosh—

Liu Yuan waved his hand, and his Source Willow Martial Soul appeared.

Then came a series of sharp sounds cutting through the air. Before anyone could react, several willow branches had already reached the three opponents. They looped around them several times before tightening...

"Mm!?"

Li Siwei and Wang Wucheng saw this

and immediately tried to break free with their Martial Souls and soul skills.

But the problem was, "Urgh—ah!"

They used every ounce of strength they had, yet it was completely useless. Worse still, the willow branches only bound them tighter and tighter.

"Stop."

At that moment, Zhang Sanfeng spoke.

He was also the one whose eyes had revealed fear just now. He was also the one who had not struggled in the slightest from beginning to end.

He looked as though he had accepted his fate.

Li Siwei and Wang Wucheng both froze, seemingly unable to believe that their captain had surrendered just like that.

Until Zhang Sanfeng craned his neck and shouted,

"Referee, we surrender!"

The female teacher remained expressionless, as though she had seen this countless times before. She asked routinely, "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

The female teacher decisively announced the result. "First round, first match. Liu Yuan's team wins."

Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao: "..."

They had won just like that?

Still, the feeling of winning without doing anything was really nice!

After Liu Yuan and the others left the field, they happened to run into the dejected Zhang Sanfeng and his team.

After thinking for a moment, Liu Yuan walked over.

He patted them...

More precisely, Zhang Sanfeng's shoulder.

"I want to ask, what was going on with you just now?"

Zhang Sanfeng initially hung his head. Upon hearing that, he froze for a moment, then quietly said,

"Actually, three months ago, I saw you fighting the class monitor from Class Nine in the Soul Fighting Arena."

Oh!

At that moment, Liu Yuan understood.

Everything became clear!

He had left a psychological shadow on someone.

Xiao Xiao and Huo Yuhao also showed looks of realization. If that was the case, then it was no surprise. Anyone who had seen that scene losing their will to fight was perfectly normal.

Over the following days, the round-robin matches posed no difficulty whatsoever for Liu Yuan's team.

If Liu Yuan acted, all it took was a binding from his willow branches. If they could not break free, the match was over.

If they really could break free, he would just do it again.

If Liu Yuan did not act, Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao could handle things themselves. No one was their match.