Freshman Assessment

"Doctor Jiang, hurry and take a look at me. Is something wrong with me? I feel like I've been under too much pressure lately. Even my appetite isn't as strong as it used to be."

"How about you put down what's in your hands first? This is the Psychological Counseling Room, not somewhere you come to eat. Besides, you're eating my lunch right now!"

"What does it matter? It's all the same. Doctor Jiang, don't stand on ceremony. Hurry up and eat. If you don't, it'll all be mine."

On a relatively quiet commercial street in Shrek City stood a simply yet elegantly decorated shop that immediately put people in a better mood at first glance.

The shop had no eye-catching signboard, yet students in Shrek Academy uniforms entered from time to time. First-year freshmen made up the largest group, and a careful count would reveal that freshmen accounted for more than half of its customers.

Originally, this commercial street saw far less foot traffic than other parts of Shrek City. That changed after this shop took root here and introduced a profession that even many well-traveled merchants in Shrek City had never heard of: a psychologist.

This shop charged exorbitant fees. The cheapest treatment plan reportedly cost fifty Gold Soul Coins, while the expensive ones could reach several thousand. Ordinary people simply could not afford it.

Furthermore, the owner of the shop seemed to be a student of Shrek Academy, so most visitors were Academy students. Only occasionally would one or two finely dressed people come by.

Sitting beside the neat table, Jiang Yue looked speechlessly at the large ball of flesh that was continuously stuffing food into his mouth, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

This "large ball of flesh" wore an ill-fitting freshman uniform. He was at least 1.7 meters tall, and his waistline was also at least 1.7 meters. At that moment, the fat on his body trembled constantly as he wolfed down the food.

Jiang Yue was starting to wonder whether this guy had come specifically to cause trouble. How did this look like a loss of appetite?

Normally, Jiang Yue kept some candy and snacks here for his guests. But now, not only had those snacks been wiped out, even the lunch Jiang Yue had prepared for himself had been cleanly devoured while he wasn't paying attention.

"Xie Huanyue, if you want to eat, can you go back to the Academy? This is only a Psychological Counseling Room, not a cafeteria that provides meals!"

"You've come here four times this month already, and every time, you clean out all my food. Please, can you stop coming here to plague me?"

"Tch, Doctor Jiang, you're really stingy. It's not like I didn't pay. Besides, I've only come four times this month. Is there any need to make such a fuss? You opened this place to treat and save people, so don't fuss over such a small amount of food."

"The month only started five days ago! You've come here four out of those five days. Isn't that often enough?!"

"That's because Doctor Jiang's cooking is too delicious! The Academy cafeteria isn't bad either, but it can't compare to what you make. Besides, I've gotten sick of eating cafeteria food all the time."

That was right. This fatty was Xie Huanyue, one of the few Soul Elders among the freshmen, with a defensive-type Pippi Elephant Martial Soul.

Including Xie Huanyue, Jiang Yue had already gotten acquainted with the other freshmen Soul Elders before the Freshman Assessment.

During the three months before the Freshman Assessment, Jiang Yue spent nearly all his free time at this Psychological Counseling Room. With the natural advantages of his Martial Soul, coupled with his mastery of the powers of joy, anger, and sorrow, providing psychological counseling to Shrek Academy students under heavy stress could not have been easier.

No one in the entire Outer Court had Soul Power more than two Soul Rings above Jiang Yue's. Whether in Soul Power or spiritual power, Jiang Yue crushed everyone in the Outer Court. Naturally, influencing their emotions and helping them complete psychological counseling was effortless.

Generally speaking, the students who came here were merely under a bit too much psychological pressure. Very few had genuine problems. All Jiang Yue needed to do was use the Passionate Sword to lessen the sorrow in their hearts and amplify their joy.

Because the effects were exceptional, Jiang Yue had become quite famous in the Outer Court. His reputation was now roughly on the same level as Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi's.

Many students who had come here and experienced the psychological treatment deeply missed that carefree, clear-minded feeling. Some had even become slightly addicted to it, gradually turning into repeat customers of Jiang Yue's.

Among them, Xie Huanyue was the most frequent visitor of all. Or rather, Xie Huanyue treated Jiang Yue's place like a restaurant and came over every time it was mealtime.

Fortunately, the Gold Soul Coins Xie Huanyue paid every time—no, Xie Huanyue's sincerity—moved Jiang Yue. So Jiang Yue simply turned a blind eye to Xie Huanyue treating the Psychological Counseling Room as a dining hall.

"Ahh—I'm full. Thank you, Doctor Jiang. Your healing hands really brought me back to life. You cured my loss of appetite in an instant. But I feel like your treatment only cured me temporarily, and I'll need to come back for follow-up visits."

"Dinner, right? Got it. What do you want to eat tonight?"

"Doctor Jiang, that's not what I meant. But if you insist on having me come back for a follow-up tonight, that's fine too. Go easy on the scallions."

"Come to think of it, Doctor Jiang, why is it that you're clearly a... uh, a psychologist, yet your cooking is so delicious? You only use simple ingredients, but eating it makes people feel happy. Is your cooking some kind of special treatment method?"

"Diet therapy is also a kind of treatment. Besides, no one but you treats this place like a restaurant!"

Xie Huanyue licked his lips as though savoring the taste of Jiang Yue's cooking. One look at him made it clear that if he were not already too full, he could absolutely keep demolishing Jiang Yue's food.

As for why Xie Huanyue liked his cooking so much, Jiang Yue had a theory of his own.

Emotions. Just like Huo Yuhao's grilled fish, Jiang Yue's dishes carried a special flavor of their own.

Jiang Yue had discovered that he could cook with emotions after earning the first pot of gold since opening his shop. Filled with joy, he had personally cooked several dishes to reward himself, only to find that the flavor was somewhat unusual. After several experiments, he discovered this ability.

When Jiang Yue first figured out this ability, his feelings had been rather complicated. He already possessed the Passionate Sword Martial Soul, which was highly compatible with the divine position of a certain fellow up in the heavens. Now he had gained another such ability. If that fellow found out, forget merely handing over the divine position—he would probably pass all his skills on to Jiang Yue himself.

Including, but not limited to, cooking.

During the three months before the Freshman Assessment began, Jiang Yue had earned more than ten thousand Gold Soul Coins on his own. All he could say was that the money of Soul Masters from great clans was truly easy to earn.

Combined with the Gold Soul Coins he already had, he was still some distance from one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. But there was still a long time before the end of the academic year.

At worst, after the Freshman Assessment ended, he could work at this Psychological Counseling Room during the day and set up a stall at the snack street outside Shrek Academy at night.

Jiang Yue simply refused to believe that, with his current abilities and a little flashbang added to his dishes, he still would not be able to make money.

At the current rate, Jiang Yue no longer needed to consider selling himself for money.

Xie Huanyue in front of him had contributed quite a bit to this huge sum of Gold Soul Coins. However, his money was for meals, not treatment.

"The Freshman Assessment starts tomorrow, so this Psychological Counseling Room will be closed for a while. Starting tomorrow, don't come here anymore."

"Ah?! If I can't eat Doctor Jiang's cooking, what am I supposed to do about my loss of appetite?"

"Bear with it for a while. Mm, that's the only way."

"All right, what a shame. Doctor Jiang, you and I aren't in the same class. Otherwise, we'd definitely be on the same team, and the Freshman Assessment championship would be ours for the taking. By the way, who are you teamed up with? I haven't heard you mention it."

"I just found two people whose strength is decent enough. They can't compare to you guys."

This year's Freshman Assessment was held in teams of three. If one did not form a team personally, the Academy would draw lots to determine one's teammates in the end.

What kind of strong people would be left over?

Jiang Yue's goal was not merely to pass the Freshman Assessment, but to obtain the Soul Bone awarded to the champions. That was his fallback option, and naturally, he could not let it slip away.

Under such circumstances, Jiang Yue naturally could not wait until the end. He had found two reasonably capable Soul Grandmasters in his class early on.

Compared with one-ring Soul Masters, Soul Grandmasters could play a much greater role. In the original story, by the later stages of the Freshman Assessment, there had not been a single one-ring Soul Master besides Huo Yuhao.

Even so, Jiang Yue's team was still somewhat inferior to the teams of Soul Elders like Ning Tian's.

Wu Feng and Ning Tian had grown up together. Xie Huanyue and the Luo Brothers had already developed some coordination over the past three months. Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu could even use a Martial Soul Fusion Skill.

Looking at it this way, Jiang Yue instead appeared to be the weakest one. He and his teammates were a hastily assembled makeshift group with no teamwork whatsoever—or at least, that was what those who did not know Jiang Yue thought.

After Dai Huabin had been defeated by Jiang Yue, he kept completely silent about what had happened in the dormitory that day. Thus, aside from Dai Huabin, only Huo Yuhao among the freshmen knew that Jiang Yue possessed a Thousand-Year Second Soul Ring.

Of course, Jiang Yue was not the only one with a Thousand-Year Second Soul Ring. Wang Dong had one as well. She might even become the dark horse of this Freshman Assessment.

"I see. Doctor Jiang, if we run into each other then, don't you dare hold back. You have to give it everything you've got."

"Don't worry. Since it's a competition, of course I'll give it everything I've got to show you my respect."

"You don't really need to give it quite that much. Come to think of it, we're already Core Disciples. If it weren't for Soul Elders like you guys, I probably wouldn't even be interested in this Freshman Assessment. I'd want to test myself against you."

Core Disciple was the most important status for Outer Court students of Shrek Academy. Nearly all Inner Court disciples had once been Outer Court Core Disciples, and Core Disciples also enjoyed many benefits unavailable to ordinary disciples.

Jiang Yue, Ning Tian, Xie Huanyue, and Dai Huabin were all Soul Elders. Their cultivation far surpassed that of the other freshmen. If even they could not become Core Disciples, the other students would have even less chance. Thus, Shrek Academy had simply decided their Core Disciple status in advance and would announce it publicly alongside the others after the Freshman Assessment.

Battle intent rose in Xie Huanyue's eyes as he looked at Jiang Yue. He was greatly looking forward to fighting the other Soul Elders of the same year.

Moreover, this concerned their reputations. Whichever of the four Soul Elders failed to make the final four would be embarrassed.

Of course, that depended on Shrek Academy's arrangements. If any of them met before the final four, there was nothing they could do about it.

That afternoon, Jiang Yue received several more guests in need of psychological treatment and earned quite a few Gold Soul Coins. After finishing dinner with Xie Huanyue, he returned to the dormitory.

The next day, Jiang Yue brought his other two teammates to the assessment area, which had been divided into equally sized sections by partitions.

Because the Freshman Assessment had only just begun that day, the freshmen only needed to undergo one match in order to get accustomed to it first.

The Freshman Assessment was divided into a Round-Robin Tournament and an Elimination Round. During the Round-Robin Tournament, the Academy would try its best to ensure that students did not face others from the same class, avoiding such internal battles whenever possible.

The two people following Jiang Yue felt no pressure at all. Both were Soul Grandmasters, and neither belonged to the auxiliary type. Jiang Yue was even a Soul Elder. Unless they encountered another team of Soul Elders during the Round-Robin Tournament, Jiang Yue could handle anything. There was no way they could lose.

Jiang Yue's group did not have very good luck. The teacher assigned to supervise their section was an elderly woman with skin like chicken and hair like a crane, dressed in a white robe.

When she saw Jiang Yue's group and their opponents arrive, the old woman gave them a cold glance. A faint pressure of Soul Power spread from her body, instantly making everyone except Jiang Yue nervous.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Zhou Yi, and I will be your assessment teacher during the next two days of the Round-Robin Tournament."

"If you fail to give it your all during a match, or if you engage in any form of cheating, I will personally throw you out and report you to the Academy."

"If you understand, begin the match now!"

After Zhou Yi shouted at them, Jiang Yue's teammates immediately pulled him to a corner of the stage. Their opponents had also taken their positions, waiting only for Zhou Yi to announce the start.

"Are you two going up, or should I make a move?"

"No need, Brother Jiang. You're our trump card. We haven't run into any difficult opponents yet, so leave this to the two of us. Otherwise, we'll look completely useless."

"All right. Don't force yourselves. If there's a problem, call out to me."

With the two of them shielding him in front, Jiang Yue had nearly retreated to the outermost edge. He had already sensed the extreme nervousness of the opposing three. They would not be this nervous if they had even the slightest confidence.

Jiang Yue was certain that the three people before him could not all be Soul Grandmasters. Otherwise, they should have had at least some confidence.

Although he did not need to act, Jiang Yue stood at the edge and watched the people on the field with complete focus. At the slightest problem, he would immediately enter the fight.

There was no rest time in the middle of the Freshman Assessment. Any injury would inevitably affect the following matches. To make the later rounds easier, he had to pay close attention to his teammates now.

Seeing that Jiang Yue had no intention of acting, Zhou Yi could not help frowning.

She did not know what Jiang Yue's situation was. Did he disdain his opponents, or did he simply have confidence in his teammates?

Zhou Yi did not know, but she instinctively disliked Jiang Yue's behavior. If he were her student, Zhou Yi could guarantee that anyone who dared to be so overconfident would be expelled directly.

There were quite a few teams participating in the Freshman Assessment, and half of them would be expelled from Shrek Academy.

Jiang Yue's group was fortunate. All three opponents had only one Hundred-Year Soul Ring, and one of them was even an auxiliary-type Soul Master. They simply could not compare with Jiang Yue's side.

The result was obvious. Jiang Yue's group won without any suspense.

"Class Five's Jiang Yue team has won one match."

Once she saw that the victor had been decided, Zhou Yi immediately announced Jiang Yue's team's victory.

Seeing that the two who had fought on the field clearly followed Jiang Yue, who had not made a move, Zhou Yi also understood who the true core of this team was.