The First Round of the Freshman Assessment

Upon arriving at one of the Soul Fighting Arenas, the three gathered to discuss how to familiarize themselves with each other's soul skills.

Wu Feng said excitedly, "Why don't we have a match? Ning Tian and I will be a team, and Song Mu will be on his own. But you can't use thousand-year soul beasts, otherwise, there's no point in fighting."

The soul fight on the first day of school was still fresh in Wu Feng's mind. She had lost that match, but she believed that with the support of Ning Tian, a Soul Elder with the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda martial soul, she would have a chance to win even if she faced two soul beasts at once.

However, she still looked at Ning Tian cautiously. On the day of the class monitor election, she had stood up to challenge Song Mu because she refused to accept him as monitor. After returning, she had been lectured by Ning Tian and subsequently taken to apologize to Song Mu.

She had no ulterior motives in wanting to challenge Song Mu again, but she was afraid Ning Tian would misunderstand her intentions.

To her surprise, Ning Tian did not stop her. Instead, she looked at Song Mu and asked, "What does classmate Song Mu think?"

The best way to quickly familiarize oneself with another's soul skills is to experience them firsthand.

Understanding this, Song Mu nodded and said, "I have no problem with that."

Seeing that Song Mu did not refuse, Wu Feng breathed a sigh of relief. Her fighting spirit ignited, and she felt full of confidence for the upcoming battle.

Especially when she imagined Ning Tian looking at her with admiration after she defeated Song Mu, Wu Feng felt a warm sensation in her nose.

"Sister Feng, did you hear me?" Ning Tian asked.

"Ah? Hear what?" Wu Feng snapped back to reality, her face full of confusion.

Seeing this expression, Ning Tian realized she had been distracted. She repeated, "We will retreat to the west side of the arena. Once classmate Song Mu gives the signal, the battle begins."

"Understood, Young Mistress!" Wu Feng stood at attention and said earnestly.

"Alright, enough with the jokes. Let's go."

"Hehe~" Wu Feng followed Ning Tian to the edge of the soul fighting platform.

On the other side, seeing that the two girls were ready, Song Mu raised his right hand to announce the start of the match.

As Song Mu swung his right hand down, Wu Feng immediately activated her martial soul and charged forward.

While running, she suddenly felt two streams of soul power surge into her body, and at the same time, her speed and strength were significantly enhanced.

She didn't need to look back to know that Ning Tian was using her first and third soul skills to support her.

Song Mu on the opposite side had already released two soul beasts. She could only identify them as a pig and a snake, neither exceeding a thousand years in age.

Wu Feng's confidence soared. Boosted by Ning Tian, she possessed the combat power of a Soul Elder. She decided to take out the pig first before rushing over to defeat Song Mu.

"First Soul Skill, Dragon Fire!"

"Second Soul Skill, Dragon's Fury!"

Releasing two soul skills in succession, Wu Feng's strength and the flames on her body intensified. She swung her dragon claws, striking fiercely at the Mountain-Ramming Pig.

At the moment of impact, the Mountain-Ramming Pig condensed a layer of rock-earth armor over its body.

The dragon claws struck the pig, shattering its armor but failing to cause it any harm.

How is this possible!

Suddenly, an urgent cry came from behind her.

"Sister Feng, watch out behind you!"

Wu Feng instantly thought of the snake; it must have circled behind her to attack while she was clashing with the pig.

Without looking back, she reacted instantly, pushing off the ground with her left foot to retreat.

The Mountain-Ramming Pig in front of her stomped its feet violently, causing the ground to shake intensely and making it very difficult for Wu Feng to move.

The snake soul beast's attack arrived, striking her in the back.

Behind her, Ning Tian felt her heart tighten as she saw Wu Feng hit by the water jet released by the snake.

Unexpectedly, Wu Feng only stumbled, suffering no real damage.

But Ning Tian did not think it was Wu Feng who had blocked the blow; it must have been Song Mu holding back.

Thinking of this, Ning Tian was startled. Had he calculated it all along, knowing the attack would hit Wu Feng, and thus weakened the soul skill in advance?

Judging by the result, that was indeed the case. Song Mu understood his soul beasts well and controlled them with excellent coordination, allowing him to defeat Wu Feng with ease.

After being hit, Wu Feng stopped attacking. She knew she had lost.

She couldn't help but feel a bit discouraged, yet at the same time, a sense of admiration for Song Mu grew within her.

Just as she was feeling down, Song Mu and Ning Tian came to her side.

"Are you alright, classmate Wu Feng?" Song Mu asked, seeing her head bowed and fearing she had been injured.

Wu Feng looked up at Song Mu with determination and said, "I'm fine. Song Mu, you're strong. I want to fight you again."

Song Mu smiled. "No problem. I didn't intend to only fight once anyway. Since we need to get used to each other's abilities, it's better to do it a few more times."

With that decided, the three of them engaged in several more soul fights.

As the afternoon passed, the three became generally familiar with each other's soul skills and developed a bit of coordination.

The next day, the freshman assessment officially began.

There were over three hundred teams participating, but only one hundred and fifty would pass the assessment to remain at Shrek Academy, a failure rate of over fifty percent.

The rules of the assessment dictate that freshman teams engage in two-on-two soul fighting, with rankings determined by the number of victories.

The venue for the assessment soul fights is not the Soul Fighting Zone itself, but a nearby area specifically designated as the Assessment Zone.

The Assessment Zone is divided into fifty sections, and the freshman teams are similarly split into fifty groups; Song Mu and his team are in Section Twenty-Three.

The signage for each section is quite clear, allowing Song Mu to locate Section Twenty-Three with ease.

He leads Ning Tian and Wu Feng to their designated area, where they stand and wait for the assessment to begin.

A middle-aged man is already standing in the center, presumably the instructor in charge of this section.

Before long, all the freshman teams have arrived, and the middle-aged man speaks, confirming Song Mu's suspicion.

"My name is Liu Yang, the assessment instructor for Section Twenty-Three. I will be responsible for your freshman assessment from here on out."

"First match: Team Song Mu versus Team Cao Jinxuan. These two teams remain; everyone else, please step off the platform and wait."

Upon hearing the name Cao Jinxuan, Song Mu recalls the Cao Jinxuan from the original work, the one with a time-based martial soul.

Could it be them? I didn't expect to run into such a formidable team in the very first match.

While mentally reviewing the martial souls and soul skills of the three members of Cao Jinxuan's team, Song Mu follows the instructor's directions and walks to the position designated for their team's soul fight.

Looking past the assessment instructor, Song Mu sees the boy at the back of the opposing team glance at Ning Tian and Wu Feng before turning to speak to the youth beside him.

With a mischievous grin, Cao Jinxuan says to Zhou Sichen, "There are actually two girls on the other side. Don't you think they'll be scared to tears once they see you summon two soul beasts?"

Zhou Sichen retorts, "If they cry, it'll be because they're scared by your ugliness."

Despite his words, a sense of pride rises within him; the ability to summon soul beasts is the greatest asset of his martial soul.