The Freshman Assessment finals came to a close without a hitch.
After exchanging a few moves with Crimson Ascending Dragon, Wu Feng readily chose to surrender rather than keep fighting.
Even with Ning Tian's boost, Wu Feng was absolutely certain that if You Jie wished, Crimson Ascending Dragon could turn her into a shooting star with a single slap.
As for the awards ceremony and class assignments after the Freshman Assessment, You Jie didn't particularly care. He already enjoyed more than enough resources at Shrek Academy, and he certainly didn't need the small perks that came with being a core disciple of the Martial Soul Department.
The only thing he cared about was the class assignments. Although Zhang Lexuan had told him she would push for measures to increase the number of classes starting with this year's freshmen, You Jie still needed to see the final assignments for himself before he could be sure.
And the final assignments left You Jie with mixed feelings.
The bad news was that the perverted old hag could still work as a homeroom teacher for first-years.
The good news was that she'd been assigned to teach a class of auxiliary Soul Masters, so she couldn't keep preaching her theory of education that pushed academic competition to the limit.
There was one other thing he could be relieved about: Wang Dong hadn't been assigned to his class. That meant that unless there was another direct confrontation between classes, You Jie wouldn't need to be ready to use Solemn Judgment at a moment's notice.
However, You Jie had forgotten one thing. Besides inexplicably wanting people to throw themselves at her, Wang Dong also had intense feelings for a certain sect.
For instance, the Tang Sect, which currently had only a sect master in name, Tang Ya, and a senior disciple, Bei Bei.
"What? Brother Bei Bei, are you saying that Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao both want to join the Tang Sect of their own accord?!"
When You Jie heard it from Bei Bei, he immediately realized that he'd forgotten something all along.
But since You Jie had already made it clear that he wouldn't join the Tang Sect, he hadn't paid much attention to the sect—and so he'd forgotten Wang Dong's obsession with it.
Still, Wang Dong joining the Tang Sect might be a good thing for You Jie. Just look at how badly Prisoner Huo from the original story wore himself out trying to revive the Tang Sect. Even Xuan Ziwen, a workaholic so obsessed with working that he'd gone mad, worried about Huo Yuhao's condition.
Now that the Tang Sect no longer had a top-tier workhorse like Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong would be dragged into the bottomless pit that was the Tang Sect's revival after she joined. Even if she still wanted to act like a pampered young lady and do no work, she'd be forced to get involved. Then she wouldn't have so much energy left to wreak havoc on other people.
As for the warnings about incurring a death sentence that came with joining the Tang Sect... What a joke. As the daughter of a God King, she'd been born with that ability. That was true even now, with her personality still incomplete.
"Yeah. Although Xiao Ya said she still needed to think it over, and that while the Tang Sect had fallen into decline, it wasn't a place just anyone could join. She even listed a few tests they'd have to pass.
"But Xiao Ya was really happy about it. She's even been working harder at cultivation..."
"Brother Bei Bei, are you saying that even though Sister Lexuan and I personally helped her get her third Soul Ring, and she's been enjoying the cultivation resources that should've been yours, she still has no motivation to cultivate? Instead, she's putting all her energy into this pointless nonsense?
"I think she doesn't actually want to revive the Tang Sect at all. She just wants to enjoy being the sect master of the greatest sect under heaven for once, then watch her disciples turn into workhorses and build a new Tang Sect for her, so she can sit back and reap the rewards!"
Hearing Bei Bei's answer, You Jie immediately recalled the bizarre things Tang Ya had done in the original story—things he'd long since buried in his memory.
Of course, not just anyone could become a disciple of a sect.
But the Tang Sect had fallen so far that it was all but extinct. Hardly anyone still thought it was worth joining.
And the students at Shrek Academy had all had their character and strength vetted by the academy. You Jie had no idea what Tang Ya was being so picky about.
In all these years, apart from Bei Bei, who'd paid his own way to join the sect, not one disciple had joined the Tang Sect. Why didn't Tang Ya stop and consider whether she was the problem?
Had she worked hard to improve herself through cultivation? Had she worked hard to enter Shrek Academy's Inner Court and gain access to a higher level of social connections?
Had she worked hard to advertise that the Tang Sect was recruiting disciples and restore its former size?
Even now, when two capable students had come to her of their own accord, Tang Ya was deliberately putting on airs and stringing them along, all under the guise of some lofty excuse.
You Jie could only ask: How exactly had the Peerless Tang Sect become "peerless"? Did Tang Ya really have no idea?
"You Jie, that was too harsh. Xiao Ya really isn't like that!
"Reviving the Tang Sect is a major undertaking, so naturally we can't settle for just anyone as a disciple. And Xiao Ya has already worked very hard to revive the Tang Sect!"
As soon as Bei Bei heard someone criticize Tang Ya, his lovestruck brain kicked in and he started hissing. Even though he couldn't think of a single thing Tang Ya had done to help, he still had to speak up and put on a show.
But You Jie wasn't buying it. He'd been planning to keep listing all the things Tang Ya, the sect master, had done for the Tang Sect's glorious revival, but when he saw Bei Bei's eyes, he gave up.
Because Bei Bei actually knew everything. But thanks to his lovestruck brain, he'd already sunk too deep.
For someone like that, nothing—not a lecture, not any experience—could change his mind. The only way would be to use something like the Valley of Universe Inquiry to make Bei Bei forget Tang Ya entirely.
Since that was the case, You Jie had nothing left to say.
After leaving him with a parting wish that was rather barbed, You Jie turned and left. He went straight to the Inner Court, found Mu En, and told him everything he'd just discussed with Bei Bei.
Mu En had thought it was just a quarrel between children. But after hearing the whole story, the warm smile on his face faded.
Mu En had actually turned a blind eye to Bei Bei giving most of his cultivation resources to Tang Ya. After all, Shrek Academy hadn't done much to help when the Tang Sect was destroyed, and Mu En felt at least a little guilty about it.
But if Mu En had known that Tang Ya was such a hopeless case—and that she still put on airs—he might not have been so lenient.
The Tang Sect didn't care much about bloodline inheritance, anyway. All they had to do was find a Blue Silver Grass Soul Master, have him take the Tang surname, and he could become the sect master. Then Shrek Academy could take over all the Tang Sect's inheritance and find another Blue Silver Grass Soul Master to lead the sect. Wouldn't that be much easier?
But Mu En had already invested one great-grandson in the matter. And that great-grandson was a lovestruck, devoted romantic. The sunk cost was just too high.
"Sigh. If only your Martial Soul had been the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, You Jie." Mu En sighed, seeming rather helpless.
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