Three Months

The first three months of the new students' year passed quickly.

During this time, the academy's courses focused mainly on physical conditioning and Soul Power training, with practical combat lessons as a supplement.

Fortunately, no one in the entire Freshman Class 10 was expelled. The class had maintained its full roster of one hundred students, making it the largest freshman class in this year's intake.

But that also created a problem. The freshman competition originally had students form teams of three, which meant Class Ten could make thirty-three teams, with one student left over...

Naturally, the student left over in Class Ten was Huo Yuhao, the most highly cultivated among this year's freshmen. It could also be considered a test set by the higher-ups.

But in view of Huo Yuhao's earlier insolent remarks about the academy's training program, the higher-ups had stipulated that even though he would be competing alone, he had to win at least three matches to pass and qualify for core disciple status.

As for whether he could win the freshman competition... that would depend on his luck.

Huo Yuhao naturally had no interest in becoming the freshman champion, but fighting a few matches was a piece of cake.

You Shrek Academy want to test me? Then I'll show you what I can do. I can grow stronger just fine without you pointing fingers and telling me what to do.

To be honest, if he weren't reluctant to leave Zhang Lexuan and Ma Xiaotao behind, Huo Yuhao would have walked away right then and there.

A sacred land for Soul Masters? It was just a bunch of rotten wood wrapped in gold...

Freshman Class One.

It had to be said that Zhou Yi had been demoted to deputy homeroom teacher, and Wang Yan had taken over as the class's homeroom teacher.

Compared with Zhou Yi's overbearing and unreasonable approach, Wang Yan's teaching methods were much gentler and better suited to most students. He was also better at tailoring his instruction to each individual.

Everything looked worse by comparison, so the students in Class One were more willing to obey Wang Yan. This made the great teacher Zhou quite unhappy. In her classes, she often made things difficult for the students who wouldn't listen—for example, after they finished running in physical training, she wouldn't let the healing-type Soul Masters treat them and help them recover.

Wang Yan eventually found out about it. Given his lower standing and Zhou Yi's relatively powerful connections, all he could do was cut most of Zhou Yi's classes. He took over nearly all of Class One's lessons and activities himself, including the freshman examination now underway.

If Zhou Yi had been in charge, who knew what kind of trouble she would have stirred up... Besides, the freshman competition determined whether each student could continue studying at Shrek, so Wang Yan didn't dare take it lightly.

"Three months have passed since the start of the school year, and you're about to face your first examination since entering Shrek. Only after passing will you officially become first-year students. The examination begins tomorrow, and today I'll go over the key points. There's no need to be nervous. I have great confidence in you."

Wang Yan's gaze swept over every student in the class. His pride and encouragement were plain to see as he explained every detail of what they needed to pay attention to during the examination.

Everyone listened attentively, but Lan Xuanyu couldn't stop his thoughts from drifting back to his previous life.

The three-person examination... Back then, he had led Liu Feng and Qian Lei just like this. With his intelligence and quick thinking, they had fought their way through the competition, won the championship, and secured the chance to enroll at Shrek Academy.

If he could do it in his previous life, there was no reason he couldn't do it now! And with his aunt working with him, it was only the freshman competition championship. He, Lan Xuanyu, would definitely claim it!

And that Huo Yuhao! He would expose his true colors and set everything back on the right track!

Come to think of it, he remembered Liu Feng had even managed to snag a Soul Bone from the Spirit Pagoda back then... Unfortunately, the Spirit Pagoda hadn't been built yet. Otherwise, once his cultivation improved, he could blow up the Spirit Ascension Platform again.

He just didn't know whether he could find Xiaobao again... It really was inconvenient without it.

Wang Yan continued, "Next, I'll go over the provisional team assignments. If you have any objections, come see me in my office before this evening. Once I submit them, they can't be changed."

"Team One: Lan Xuanyu, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao."

"Team Two: Zi Hao, Ma Qingshuang, Leng Leng."

After reading out the team assignments for Class One, Wang Yan clapped his hands and smiled. "All right, that's it. Go back and eat something good today, and get plenty of rest so you're ready to face the competition tomorrow."

"Oh, and Lan Xuanyu, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, you three stay behind."

The other students handed in the sheets of paper on which they had written their future cultivation goals, then filed out of the classroom and headed back to their dormitories. Only Lan Xuanyu and the other two remained.

Wang Yan gave the three of them a gentle look. "Do you know why I asked you to stay?"

Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao shook their heads, but Lan Xuanyu didn't react at all. Wang Yan couldn't help taking a closer look at him.

In Freshman Class One, the student Wang Yan paid the most attention to wasn't Wang Dong, whose Martial Soul was the highest quality and whose looks were the most striking. It was Lan Xuanyu.

This little fellow's Martial Soul was Blue Silver Grass, but unlike the Blue Silver Grass Soul Masters who had come before him, he hadn't taken the control-type path. Instead, he'd chosen a path that Wang Yan found utterly baffling.

Using the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul to control the elements—who could have imagined that? And in Wang Yan's view, Lan Xuanyu was doing quite well at it. He could even pull off all sorts of tricks with water and fire, two completely opposing elements.

Wang Yan wanted to see how far Lan Xuanyu could go down the path of using Blue Silver Grass to control the elements.

He smiled warmly at the three. "Because you're the seed team for Freshman Class One, both the academy and I have high hopes for you. So naturally, I'm going to give you a little extra help."

Then he pulled out a stack of papers and handed them to Lan Xuanyu. "These are the students in this year's intake whose Soul Power cultivation is above thirty levels. Unless something unexpected happens, you'll run into them during the competition. Of course, your profiles are in here too, Xuanyu."

Lan Xuanyu, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao looked through the information Wang Yan had given them, nodding in agreement from time to time.

This showed just how thorough Wang Yan was as a teacher. By comparison, Zhou Yi was such a useless piece of trash that it made you wonder whether she'd gotten her job through connections...

Wang Yan thought for a moment, then added, "In my opinion, the one you need to watch out for most is Huo Yuhao. It's a pity, but he seems to have been singled out by the academy. In this freshman competition, he's been assigned to fight alone."

When he heard Huo Yuhao's name, Wang Yan noticed that Lan Xuanyu and Wang Dong both looked a little strange. Thinking back to how the two of them had applied to change classes several times, it was hard not to suspect there was something going on.

Wang Yan didn't dwell on it, assuming it was just the children comparing themselves to one another.

"Of course, it doesn't matter if you lose. Winning or losing one or two matches means nothing in the long run. You have a long life ahead of you. Don't lose heart over a temporary setback, and above all, stay safe."

Compared with Zhou Yi's habit of scolding or hitting them, Wang Yan's gentleness nearly brought the long-suffering Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao to tears.

But Lan Xuanyu said with complete confidence, "Thank you, Teacher Wang. Don't worry—we'll definitely win."