"I knew it. Sure enough, they were Hidden Weapons." Wang Dong opened the Hundred Treasure Pouch and wore an expression that said she'd known it all along.
"Oh, so it wasn't that you looked down on me," Huo Yuhao said with a smile. "You were looking down on yourself!"
"After all, I never learned the Tang Sect Hidden Weapons!"
Wang Dong could only feel speechless. "Teacher Xiao Ya really thinks that little of me, huh?"
It was true, he couldn't beat Huo Yuhao right now.
But he was also over level twenty!
And his Second Soul Ring was a purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring!
Who else had a configuration like that?!
Huh?
Across the entire Shrek Academy, there couldn't be anyone with a higher Soul Ring Configuration than his!
"Relax. After all, you're currently the weakest person in the sect."
Huo Yuhao smiled.
Shrek Academy's Assessment Area.
It was located north of the Martial Soul Department.
For weak students, it was a nightmare; for strong students, it was paradise!
Most of Shrek Academy's assessments took place here.
The entire Assessment Area was oval-shaped, with an exceptionally wide open space.
Partitions divided it into several sections. These partitions could be removed at any time to adjust the size of each area.
Since they were all freshmen, the assessment grounds had been split into fifty sections.
Each section was about four hundred square meters.
That was more than enough space for freshmen who were only at level ten or twenty.
The assessment officially began.
Today, every group had to compete in three matches.
The academy had sent out fifty teachers, one to register matches in each of the fifty sections.
This was to prevent groups from encountering the same opponents in the round-robin tournament.
There were 321 groups in total, with more than thirty groups in each class on average.
With Zhou Yi gone, Freshman Class One still had thirty groups.
There were 963 students in all.
But out of so many students, only 450 would be allowed to stay—that is, the top 150 groups.
They would become official students. Everyone else would be eliminated.
"District 33? That sounds familiar." Huo Yuhao glanced at the area assigned to Wang Dong's group and murmured.
The three of them arrived at District 33 and immediately spotted Wang Yan, who had arrived early.
After greeting him, the three of them found a corner and sat down.
The other competing groups had arrived as well.
They all seemed to have their own thoughts, and the hostility in their gazes as they looked at the other groups was unmistakable!
Because half of them might not make it through!
"Prepare for the assessment. Freshmen, return to your assigned areas immediately!"
"Anyone who fails to arrive on time will be considered to have forfeited!"
As the announcement rang out, Wang Yan slowly walked over to the students.
"Looks like all the groups in our area are here."
"My name is Wang Yan. I'll be your assessment teacher over the next few days."
"I hope you'll all remember that this is only an assessment, not a fight to the death."
"You absolutely must not cripple your opponents. Otherwise, I'll have no choice but to ask you to leave and report the matter to the academy authorities."
Wang Yan spoke gently, without a hint of menace in his voice.
But everyone understood what he meant.
"All right, let's begin."
"First round, first match."
"Wang Dong's group from Freshman Class One versus Ouyang Junyi's group from Freshman Class Three."
"Take your positions. You may release your Martial Souls only after I say 'begin.'"
Ouyang Junyi's group clearly hadn't expected to be the first to compete!
And they were facing the legendary Heavenly King!!!
The one-Soul-Ring Huo Yuhao who had defeated Xu Sanshi, one of the Outer Court Twin Stars of Shrek Academy, with a single hand!
What was the point of even fighting?!
"Teacher, we concede!" Ouyang Junyi said at once, after getting his teammates' agreement.
Wang Dong: "???"
Wang Yan: "???"
Everyone present: "???"
What was going on?
They were conceding before the fight had even begun?
The other groups had no idea how famous Huo Yuhao was, so they couldn't imagine why Ouyang Junyi's group had conceded.
Of course, they weren't foolish enough to spread the news!
After all, if someone else was weaker, didn't that make you stronger by comparison?
In Huo Yuhao's view, their decision to concede made sense.
After all, they still had ten matches ahead of them!
Losing one without expending any energy still left them a chance. If they actually fought him, they'd probably be out of the running for the next ten matches!
It wasn't that Huo Yuhao was cruel. He was just afraid he might fail to control his strength and kill someone.
He was terrifyingly strong now!
He could even pin Ma Xiaotao down and beat her!
Against a group made up of a chicken-leg support Soul Master and two agility-attack Soul Masters, wouldn't he wipe them out with a wave of his hand?
"Are you sure you didn't misspeak?"
"You really want to concede?"
Wang Yan asked.
"Absolutely!" Ouyang Junyi nodded without the slightest hesitation.
"All right, then."
"Wang Dong's group from Freshman Class One wins!"
"One victory."
As he spoke, Wang Yan recorded the result on the document in his hand.
After that, the other groups finished their matches one after another.
Soon, it was Wang Dong's group's turn to compete for the second time.
Their opponents didn't concede this time, and Wang Dong ended the match in a flash with her two-ring strength.
She was simply too strong!
One strike had taken out two agility-attack Soul Masters!
And that was with a control-type Soul Master on the other side!
Sure, her opponents only had one ring each, but Wang Dong herself only had two!
The gap wasn't as wide as one might imagine!
Yet even so, Wang Dong had instantly defeated the entire group!
That showed just how powerful this Power Attack System Soul Master with the Light Goddess Butterfly Martial Soul was!
And there were two more like Wang Dong in her group!
As far as they knew, Huo Yuhao also had two rings!
Three Soul Grandmasters with two rings—there was no way they could fight them!
The other groups finally understood why Ouyang Junyi's group had conceded when they first faced Huo Yuhao!
So they'd been saving their group's strength, huh?
If they knew Huo Yuhao's true strength, they probably wouldn't have had the will to keep fighting!
Huo Yuhao also found it a little strange.
Why hadn't a "blow up" option appeared?
Normally, shouldn't he have gotten an option to blow something up?
Could it be because things were too proper?
There was nothing to blow up?
That made sense. The three opponents and Wang Yan were all men.
There really was nothing to blow up.
Wang Yan also realized why the first group had conceded.
So they had inside information!
For a moment, all of District 33 fell silent.
Soon, it was Wang Dong's group's turn to compete for the third time. This time, their opponents conceded before even entering the arena.
Huo Yuhao and the other two easily finished the first day with a perfect record.
And the only thing they knew about Huo Yuhao was that he was a two-ring Soul Grandmaster.
There was no denying it—Simulation really was useful.
That concluded the first round of the freshman assessment.
Tomorrow would be the most intense day for the freshmen!
They would have to fight a full seven matches!
This was something Shrek Academy had arranged deliberately.
The goal was to train the students' ability to fight for extended periods, manage their Soul Power consumption, and, most importantly, gain practical combat experience!
"Ha ha ha! I really am amazing. I only had to step in once, and my opponents were so scared they didn't even dare enter the arena!"
Wang Dong laughed smugly!
It had boosted her confidence right through the roof!
She wasn't worried about tomorrow's seven matches at all!
Before you continue