Direct to the Finals? Huo Yuhao: I'm Not Convinced!

"It was I who reported to Mu En that you shouldn't participate."

Zhang Lexuan didn't even lift her head as she spoke indifferently.

Upon hearing this, Long Yaochen actually calmed down.

Since that wily old man Mu En already knew, there must be other arrangements in place.

Sure enough, Zhang Lexuan's voice continued: "The original intent of the Freshman Assessment is to weed out the subpar students. With your strength, your participation would only skew the data."

"Some freshmen with decent talent would just have to pack their bags and go home if they ran into you."

"So, Mu En has decided..."

"To place you in the finals."

"The finals?" Long Yaochen was somewhat puzzled.

"That's right. Once the freshmen have determined the winners, they will challenge you, the Sea God Pavilion's seeded player."

"What about my teammates?"

"There are no teammates. You will fight three against one; it's the perfect way to showcase the foundation of Shrek to the world's talents." Zhang Lexuan set down her pen, a smile in her eyes.

Three against one... and they even had the nerve to call it showcasing Shrek's foundation.

They wanted to have their cake and eat it too!

However, thinking back on it, it actually sounded somewhat interesting.

Ever since he awakened his martial soul, Long Xiaoyao had mostly made him spar with soul beasts, so he had basically never fought a soul master in earnest.

He could use this opportunity to see exactly how strong he was... and incidentally, give Wang Dong a good thrashing.

Thinking of this, Long Yaochen grinned: "Fine, let me test just how good this batch of freshmen is on behalf of Shrek."

Zhang Lexuan glanced at him, looking somewhat surprised.

This kid's personality—he actually agreed so easily?

Originally, Mu En had even specifically prepared a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone suitable for him to use as a bargaining chip.

"Let's go, time for class."

Seeing that the other party had finished confirming, Zhang Lexuan stood up and walked toward the door, with Long Yaochen following closely behind.

Freshman Class One classroom.

The classroom, which was usually noisy, was unusually quiet today. Every freshman's face was etched with nervousness and excitement.

The Freshman Assessment was finally arriving!

This concerned not only whether they could remain at Shrek Academy but also the allocation of future resources.

Ring-ring--!

The bell rang, and Zhang Lexuan walked onto the podium holding the roster.

Long Yaochen, as usual, had his hands in his pockets, following leisurely behind her before sitting down next to Wang Dong.

"The rules for the Freshman Assessment have already been explained. Teams of three, group combat."

Zhang Lexuan scanned the room, her cold voice echoing through the classroom: "Now, I will begin announcing the team rosters."

The whole class immediately held their breath.

"Group one: Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao."

"Group two..."

Zhang Lexuan's voice continued to ring out, but Wang Dong's eyes had already lost their focus; she couldn't hear anything else.

Why... was she not in a group with Long Yaochen?

She instinctively looked toward the person beside her, who was also looking at her.

The half-smiling look in Long Yaochen's eyes made her instinctively feel a sense of foreboding.

"Hey, why didn't the Senior Sister put us in the same group?" Wang Dong poked him with her elbow.

"The Senior Sister won't let me bully the weak," Long Yaochen said irritably.

"But I don't want to be in a group with those two," Wang Dong said, feeling deflated.

Over the past three months, thanks to the heaven-defying cultivation buffs Long Yaochen gave her from time to time, her soul power had now broken through to the twenty-seventh rank.

She had originally intended to ride Long Yaochen's coattails and sweep through the Freshman Grand Competition.

She never expected to be assigned with Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao.

She knew Huo Yuhao; he was the thin, weak, and self-deprecating boy from the start of the semester.

After a few months of study and cultivation, he had become much more spirited than before.

But for some reason... she always felt that the way he looked at Long Yaochen was strange, as if there were an inexplicable sense of hostility and jealousy.

As for Xiao Xiao, he was even less familiar with her...

Just then, Zhang Lexuan closed the roster in her hands and spoke indifferently, "All thirty-three groups have been assigned. There are no classes today; each group should head to the training grounds to coordinate. The Freshman Assessment officially begins tomorrow morning."

As soon as her words fell, everyone except Wang Dong and Long Yaochen was stunned.

Assignments were finished?

What about that devilish teaching assistant?

The crowd cast their gazes toward Long Yaochen, who was idly filing his nails to pass the time, then shifted their eyes back to Zhang Lexuan.

Facing these gazes, Zhang Lexuan acted as if she hadn't noticed, leisurely tucking the roster back under her arm.

"As for him—"

She paused, her gaze landing on the bored youth.

"Long Yaochen will not be participating in the group assignments."

Before the crowd could begin to murmur, her cold, clear voice continued, "Given his strength, the academy has decided to place him directly into the finals. In other words, the winner of the tournament is not the champion; only by defeating Long Yaochen can one be considered the true champion."

Once these words were spoken, the entire class fell into a deathly silence. They looked at one another, the color visibly draining from their faces.

Are you kidding me?

After finally winning the finals, not only are we not the champions, but we also have to face this freak?

Three against one?

If outsiders heard this, they would likely think the Shrek higher-ups had all lost their minds. But in Freshman Class One, no one dared to question it.

After all, for the past three months, Long Yaochen had been able to beat them black and blue without even activating his martial soul.

Three against one—wasn't that just pure masochism?

Just then, a voice shattered the silence of the classroom.

"On what grounds?"

Everyone followed the sound to see Huo Yuhao in the back row. He slowly stood up, his hands clenched tightly at his sides.

"Why him?" He raised his head, his deep blue eyes locked onto Long Yaochen as he spoke word by word, "Why is he superior to everyone else, to the point where even the assessment has to revolve around him?"

Whoosh—

The entire classroom erupted.

This kid, usually the most inconspicuous one, was being awfully bold today, wasn't he?

"Superior?"

Long Yaochen let out a scoff, sweeping a lazy glance at him.

Huo Yuhao...

Didn't he stand with him against Zhou Yi before? What was going on now?

He didn't seem like the insecure kid from his memories at all.

And—

The moment their eyes met, he was surprised to find that the emptiness he had previously sensed in Huo Yuhao was completely gone.

It was as if something had filled it back up.

Interesting.

However, Long Yaochen couldn't be bothered to look into it.

He lowered his head to file his nails again, his tone flat, "Not letting you participate is to protect you, understand? Otherwise, you might not even make it into the main tournament."

The single sentence left Huo Yuhao choked, but he did not sit down.

"I don't think he has the right."

As the words fell, a flash of blue-gold light flickered in the depths of Huo Yuhao's eyes, his expression one of immense grievance.

That's enough.

This time, even many of the freshmen cast dissatisfied looks in his direction.

If this freak really came to fight in the Freshman Assessment and eliminated them all, it would be a joke.

Hearing this, the faint, lingering smile on Long Yaochen's lips gradually faded.

Am I giving you too much face?