Huo Yuhao's Self-Abuse

"All right, the freshman assessment is over. Tomorrow morning, we'll hold the freshman assembly, award the top three teams, and assign everyone to their first-year classes."

"Don't become arrogant in victory or discouraged in defeat. That's essential for making progress. You're all among the best freshmen I've ever seen, and I don't want this competition to affect your future development. All right, that's all."

With that, Du Weilun turned and strode out of the assessment area.

Seeing that Du Weilun wasn't going to keep pressing the matter and had simply accepted that Lin Yao had taken first place using threats, Dai Huabin could no longer contain his pent-up frustration. He spat out a mouthful of blood and crumpled to the ground...

The next morning dawned bright and sunny once again. Thanks to Sea God Lake on campus, the air at Shrek Academy was not only fresh, but also very humid.

All the freshmen who had passed the assessment gathered at Shrek Square, waiting for the upcoming class assignments.

Before long, Du Weilun, director of the Martial Soul Department's Academic Affairs Office, arrived in front of the students with more than a dozen teachers.

Although Huo Yuhao and the others had been eliminated in the first round, the award ceremony wasn't limited to students who had placed. All outer-court freshmen who had passed the assessment could attend as spectators.

Lin Yao spotted Huo Yuhao. He and Wang Dong were standing far apart, and Huo Yuhao had white bandages wrapped around him, with faint red marks showing through.

Clearly, Zhou Yi's devilish week was no joke. Just as Lin Yao was thinking that, he heard a classmate beside him say, "That nutcase from Class One who punishes himself is here too."

Lin Yao knew the classmate fairly well; they'd chatted a few times before. He lowered his voice and asked, "Bro, are you talking about Huo Yuhao?"

The classmate saw that it was Lin Yao, smiled at him, then nodded. "Yeah, Brother Lin. Didn't you know?"

Lin Yao took out a Gold Soul Coin and slipped it into the classmate's hand, smiling at him. "We've got a moment before the speech starts. Give me a one-Gold-Soul-Coin's worth of gossip."

"Sure thing." The classmate pocketed the coin and launched into the story.

Since he had to finish explaining before Du Weilun began speaking, the classmate kept it brief and spoke quickly. In short, after Huo Yuhao lost, Zhou Yi had made them run laps to maintain her authority in class.

That sounded absurd by ordinary standards, but from Zhou Yi's perspective and according to her logic, it was still understandable.

After all, Zhou Yi had always believed that a teacher had to maintain absolute authority to manage a class well, and that once she said something, she had to follow through.

In that respect, Zhou Yi could even be said to be impartial. The problem lay with Huo Yuhao.

Without Electrolux there to guide him, his stubborn nature had taken the worst possible turn.

On top of Zhou Yi's punishment, he piled on more and more himself. Zhou Yi had told him to run until class ended, but he kept going until nearly sunset, stopping only when he was utterly exhausted and collapsed to the ground.

After that, he kept pushing himself to extremes like this, leaving himself covered in injuries. Later, he'd even tried to drag Wang Dong into it with him.

Wang Dong, however, had made it clear that friendship was one thing, but if Huo Yuhao disturbed the inheritance of her god of sleep, then they'd have to go their separate ways. At first, she'd tried to stop his self-abusive behavior, but eventually she simply ignored him. After class, she'd pull up her blanket and sleep more soundly than anyone.

As for Xiao Xiao, she'd realized early on that something was wrong with Huo Yuhao and hadn't continued growing close to him.

Without anyone to guide him, Huo Yuhao's condition had only grown more extreme. By now, no one was willing to stand by his side for real.

Lin Yao considered Huo Yuhao's current predicament. His relationships with his classmates were already poor, and without the Secret Method Soul Bone, merging with the Ice Empress would be a major calamity.

And since he'd been eliminated in the first round, he naturally wouldn't have anything to do with the core disciples.

He could still attend classes at the academy as a Control System student, but he'd probably lose out on many of the advantages he'd had in the original story.

Just as Lin Yao was thinking over the situation, a voice rang out from the platform ahead, drawing everyone's attention.

Holding a folder, Du Weilun smiled as he swept his gaze across the young students. "I'm sure you all know that the freshman assessment has ended, and that we've determined the final top three teams.

"Now, I'll officially announce the results and the rewards they'll receive. In third place, the Huang Chutian team. The team members are Huang Chutian, Lan Susu, and Lan Luoluo. Step forward."

Led by Huang Chutian, the three stepped out and approached Du Weilun. Their young faces were flushed with excitement. Third place had already surpassed their expectations!

The entire first-year student body erupted in applause. After the elimination rounds, more than three hundred first-years remained—nearly two-thirds fewer than when classes had first begun.

The freshman assessment had eliminated only half of the total students. Subtract that half from the two-thirds who were gone, and the remainder was Zhou Yi's body count.

Thinking of this, Lin Yao couldn't help smiling faintly. The more he thought about that record, the more unbelievable it seemed.

Du Weilun didn't care what Lin Yao was thinking beneath the stage. He continued reading from the script: "In second place, the Dai Huabin team. The team members are Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, and Cui Yajie. Step forward."

Applause rang out again, but when the three stepped forward, none of them looked excited. Dai Huabin especially wore a tight expression, his head slightly bowed as if lost in thought. His eyes were even bloodshot.

After a brief pause, Du Weilun raised his voice slightly. "Next, let's welcome the champions of this year's freshman assessment with a rousing round of applause. They're the Lin Yao team, consisting of Lin Yao, Ye Guyi, and Xu Ye."

As soon as Du Weilun finished speaking, thunderous applause broke out.

Lin Yao's strength was beyond dispute, and Shrek Academy wasn't about to pull some backroom stunt and turn the Lin Yao team into the Ye Guyi team or the Xu Ye team. That would have been ridiculous.

Amid the applause of the freshmen, Lin Yao led Ye Guyi and Xu Ye up onto the platform.

Seeing the three approach, Du Weilun smiled and motioned for them to stand in the center.

The moment Lin Yao took his place in the middle, he felt Dai Huabin glare at him with open hostility. Lin Yao gave a faint, mocking laugh, then silently mouthed...