Cutting Vegetables Like a Pro

Elder Xuan stuffed the last piece of meat into his mouth, smacked his lips, and looked as if he were still craving more. He stood up lightly and brushed off his backside.

"These children are truly impressive. They don't lose heart under pressure; they're quite the promising sprouts."

"Indeed, Elder Xuan. Watching them grow stronger under pressure is the very intention Shrek has held for all these years, isn't it?"

Elder Xuan nodded in agreement, but his mind was clearly elsewhere.

He wanted to return to his courtyard and wait for that brat to finish his break so he could cook for him. Especially the roasted Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear meat—it was crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and completely devoid of any gamey smell. If he sprinkled some barbecue seasoning on it...

At the thought, drool leaked from the corner of his mouth.

He wiped his mouth casually, gave a word to Yan Shaozhe and the puzzled Du Weilun, and then rose to leave.

Watching the figure disappear into the sky, Yan Shaozhe chose to leave as well after Elder Xuan had gone, leaving Du Weilun alone to stand in the wind, utterly bewildered.

Of course, the students could not see what was happening up there; in their eyes, there was no one above.

At the freshman assessment site.

Yue Ling, Ma Xiaotao, and Gongyang Mo did not leave after their battle ended.

Observing their opponents and thinking through future countermeasures was of the utmost importance. One could not look down on opponents simply because of one's own high soul power or numerous soul rings.

Since ancient times, battles across ranks had never been unheard of. Furthermore, this was Shrek, a place where geniuses gathered.

After watching the remaining two battles, Yue Ling and his group bid farewell to Zhou Yi and turned to leave.

The first round of the freshman assessment ended quickly.

Today's assessment was mainly to let the freshmen adapt to this style of combat-based evaluation. Tomorrow, however, the density of the assessments would increase significantly.

At that point, there would be two rounds in the morning and two in the afternoon, for a total of four rounds. The third day would be even more terrifying, with each team having to undergo five rounds of assessment. The entire freshman assessment lasted only three days.

The high-intensity, continuous combat capability left the students miserable, and it was only thanks to Wu Ya frequently organizing physical training for them that they were barely able to endure it.

Ma Xiaotao, however, had turned into a sourpuss.

Every time there was training, I'm lazy, lazy, lazy; every time there's an assessment, I'm tired, tired, tired.

If Ma Xiaotao were allowed to fight continuously, her spirit would remain in a state of excitement, and she wouldn't feel too exhausted.

But the opponents were too weak, and having to constantly activate her martial soul was what made it difficult for her.

Therefore, Yue Ling usually took direct control of the matches, while Gongyang Mo was used as a trump card.

After his observations, he had already determined that there was no one left in District 13 who could pose a threat to them.

Most of the eleven or twelve-year-old students were two-ring soul masters, or even only one-ring. It was likely that Ling Luochen's team was the strongest in this district besides their own.

In this kind of multi-team competition, the other groups of freshmen were not fools. In order to achieve better results, they chose to give up on the spot when facing Yue Ling's team.

As a result, unlike the other freshman teams who were completely exhausted, Yue Ling and his two companions won all four of their matches on the second day with ease, achieving a stellar record of five wins out of five.

With this record as a foundation, they could basically say they had passed the freshman assessment. Moreover, these five victories had built up their confidence significantly.

Just then, Zhou Yi walked over.

"Congratulations on achieving five straight wins, but don't get arrogant. You must continue to work hard in the upcoming matches and strive to enter the top sixty-four to participate in the ranking tournament."

"However, tomorrow's five matches will definitely not be as easy as today's."

"After today's matches, there will be a re-drawing of lots, and those teams that have lost all five matches will be directly eliminated."

"When drawing lots, in addition to ensuring teams from the same class don't clash, we will also consider previous records. Your match location tomorrow will certainly still be our District 33, but you will very likely encounter a strong challenge from one or two teams."

Yue Ling nodded. "Thank you, Teacher Zhou, we will remember that."

"Mm." After receiving the reply, Zhou Yi left.

"How boring. I hope there will be some stronger opponents tomorrow!"

"It's fine, watching you guys slaughter everyone while I lie back and win is just too satisfying!"

"You jerk..."

Watching the two bickering, Ma Xiaotao didn't find it noisy at all; instead, she felt a bit relaxed.

"Let's go get something to eat together, I'm a bit hungry."

At the mention of food, Gongyang Mo's eyes lit up. "Then let's go to a restaurant in Shrek City; the stir-fried dishes there are delicious!"

"Sure, actually, I am a bit hungry too."

"Mm, me too."

The three of them left the assessment site in their usual noisy fashion.

The subsequent matches were repetitive and dull.

Either Yue Ling and his Flower Blade would crush the opposition, or Ma Xiaotao would occasionally get an itch to fight.

Because they had the best record from the previous five rounds, they remained in District 33. After the re-drawing of groups, five new sets of freshmen were brought in to continue the assessment with them.

These freshmen were certainly not the top teams from other areas, so they would not encounter the strongest opponents in the next five round-robin matches. However, compared to before, it might not be quite as easy.

Each match was basically against two-ring great soul masters, with the occasional three-ring soul elder.

Now, even Yue Ling had to take it seriously. Of course, he had to make sure Ma Xiaotao held back, otherwise, if her evil fire erupted, everyone present would suffer.

A total of six teams participated in the assessment, and as soon as their match ended, the second one began immediately.

The freshman assessment had entered its second half after the re-zoning, which was also the most critical moment for grabbing points; every additional victory meant one more chance of staying.

Therefore, regardless of which team it was, everyone had started to give it their all.

Soon, all three matches of the first round ended.

Just as Yue Ling had hoped, the other four teams had also expended a considerable amount of energy.

They weren't just burning out today; the continuous battles from yesterday had also taken a significant toll! They hadn't even fully recovered to their best state yet.

As a seeded team, they were the first to take the stage when the second round began.

This time, their opponents were three students from Freshman Class 6.

After both sides announced their names, they quickly took their positions. This time, Yue Ling stood at the very front, while Ma Xiaotao and Gongyang Mo stood on either side, forming a fixed triangular formation.

Yue Ling and Gongyang Mo provided the main attacks, while Ma Xiaotao acted as the safety net.

Yue Ling and his group had observed the previous battles and discovered that they were also a team composed of two assault-type soul masters and one support-type soul master, all of whom were also two-ring great soul masters.

Following Zhou Yi's shout of, "Assessment start!"

Both sides released their martial souls simultaneously.

After the command was given.

The support-type soul master immediately released a buffing skill on the two assault-type soul masters in front.

Yue Ling responded calmly by summoning his first and second soul skills. Meanwhile, Gongyang Mo took the opportunity to provide buffs, while Ma Xiaotao observed the flow of the match while recovering her soul power.