"It was I who reported to Mu En that you wouldn't be participating."
Zhang Lexuan did not even raise her head as she said it calmly.
Long Yaochen instead calmed down upon hearing that.
Since that old fox Mu En already knew, he must have had other arrangements.
Sure enough, Zhang Lexuan continued, "The purpose of the Freshman Assessment is to eliminate unqualified freshmen. If someone of your strength participated, you would only disrupt the results.
Some freshmen with decent talent would have no choice but to pack up and go home if they encountered you.
So Mu En decided...
to place you directly in the finals."
"The finals?" Long Yaochen was somewhat confused.
"That's right. Once the freshmen determine a winner, they will challenge you, the Sea God Pavilion's seeded contestant."
"What about my teammates?"
"You will have no teammates. You'll fight one against three, which will be perfect for showcasing Shrek's foundations to the talented people of the world." Zhang Lexuan set down her pen and spoke with a smile in her eyes.
One against three... and they were fucking calling it a display of Shrek's foundations.
They really got all the good things, didn't they!
But thinking it over, it actually seemed somewhat interesting.
Ever since awakening his martial soul, Long Xiaoyao had mostly made him fight Soul Beasts in actual combat. He had barely fought Soul Masters seriously at all.
This was a good opportunity to see how strong he really was... and beat Wang Dong up again while he was at it.
At that thought, Long Yaochen grinned. "Sure. Let me inspect just how capable this year's Shrek freshmen are."
Zhang Lexuan looked at him in surprise.
This brat actually agreed so easily?
Originally, Mu En had specifically brought out a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone suitable for him as bargaining leverage.
"Come on. Go to class."
After seeing that the matter had been confirmed, Zhang Lexuan rose and headed out the door, with Long Yaochen following close behind.
Freshman Class One classroom.
The classroom, usually filled with noise, was unusually quiet today. Every freshman's face was filled with tension and excitement.
The Freshman Assessment was finally here!
This not only concerned whether they could remain at Shrek Academy, but also the distribution of future resources.
Ding-ding-ding—!
The class bell rang, and Zhang Lexuan walked onto the podium with the roster in hand.
As usual, Long Yaochen followed behind with both hands in his pockets, looking utterly at ease, then sat down beside Wang Dong.
"The rules of the Freshman Assessment have already been explained. Teams of three, fighting as a group."
Zhang Lexuan swept her gaze across the room, her cool voice echoing through the classroom. "Next, I will announce the team assignments."
The entire class immediately held its breath.
"Group One: Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao."
"Group Two..."
Zhang Lexuan's voice continued to ring out, but Wang Dong had already gone blank-eyed and could hear nothing else.
Why... wasn't she grouped with Long Yaochen?
She instinctively looked to her side, only to find him looking at her as well.
The half-smiling look in Long Yaochen's eyes gave her an instinctive sense that something was wrong.
"Hey, why didn't Senior Sister put us in the same group?" Wang Dong poked him with her elbow.
"Senior Sister won't let me bully rookies." Long Yaochen replied irritably.
"But I don't want to be grouped with those two." Wang Dong said dejectedly.
Over the past three months, thanks to Long Yaochen occasionally giving her absurdly powerful cultivation buffs, her Soul Power had now broken through to Rank Twenty-Seven.
She had originally planned to cling to Long Yaochen's thigh and steamroll the Freshman Grand Competition all the way through.
Yet she had unexpectedly been assigned to Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao.
She knew Huo Yuhao. At the beginning of the school year, he had been skinny and frail, with an inferiority-ridden appearance.
After several months of studying 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 though it carried an inexplicable hostility and jealousy.
As for Xiao Xiao, she was even less familiar with her...
Just then, Zhang Lexuan closed the roster in her hands and spoke calmly. "All thirty-three groups have been assigned. There will be no classes today. Each group may head to the field to practice coordination. The assessment will officially begin tomorrow morning."
The moment those words fell, everyone except Wang Dong and Long Yaochen froze.
The assignments were finished?
What about that devilish teaching assistant?
Everyone's gaze shifted to Long Yaochen, who was idly filing his nails, before turning back to Zhang Lexuan.
Facing those stares, Zhang Lexuan acted as if she had noticed nothing and unhurriedly tucked the roster beneath her arm.
"As for him—"
She paused, her gaze falling on the bored youth.
"Long Yaochen will not participate in the team assignments."
Before anyone below could begin discussing it, her cool voice continued to suppress the room. "In view of his strength, the academy has decided to place him directly in the finals. In other words, the victor will not be the champion. Only by defeating Long Yaochen can one be considered the true champion."
The moment she said that, the entire classroom fell silent. Everyone looked at one another, the color visibly draining from their faces.
Was this a joke?
After fighting so hard to win the finals, they would not even be champions, and they would still have to face that monster?
Three against one?
Outsiders would probably think Shrek's higher-ups had all hit their heads. But not a single student in Freshman Class One dared question it.
After all, over the past three months, Long Yaochen had beaten them until they were scrambling for their teeth without even activating his martial soul.
Three against one—wasn't that just asking to be beaten up?
At that moment, a voice broke the class's deathly silence.
"Why?"
Everyone followed the voice and saw Huo Yuhao in the back row slowly rise to his feet, his hand clenched tightly at his side.
"Why him?" He lifted his head, his deep-blue eyes fixed firmly on Long Yaochen as he said word by word, "Why does he get to stand above everyone else? Why does even the assessment have to revolve around him alone?"
Whoosh—
The entire classroom instantly erupted.
That normally inconspicuous kid was being far too bold today, wasn't he?
"Above everyone else?"
Long Yaochen gave a derisive laugh and lazily glanced at him.
Huo Yuhao...
Hadn't he rebelled against Zhou Yi alongside him before? What was this about now?
He seemed different from that timid, self-conscious kid from the early part of his memories.
And—
At the instant their gazes met, Long Yaochen discovered in surprise that the emptiness he had once sensed within Huo Yuhao had completely vanished.
It was as though something had filled it again.
Interesting.
But Long Yaochen could not be bothered to investigate further.
He lowered his head and resumed filing his nails, speaking casually. "You're not being allowed to participate to protect you, understand? Otherwise, you might not even make it into the main competition."
That single sentence left Huo Yuhao choked in place, but he did not sit down.
"I don't think he has the right."
As those words fell, a blue-gold gleam flashed through Huo Yuhao's eyes, while his expression made him look as if he had suffered some enormous injustice.
That was enough.
This time, even many freshmen cast dissatisfied looks at him.
If this monster really joined the Freshman Assessment and sent them home after eliminating them, that would be ridiculous.
Upon hearing those words, the faint smile at the corner of Long Yaochen's lips gradually disappeared.
Have I been giving you too much face?
Before you continue