Freshman Assessment, Grouping

Early in the morning, the class bell rang.

Li Qingming and Wang Dong had just entered the classroom side by side when they saw Zhou Yi standing at the podium.

Zhou Yi had both hands braced against the podium. Behind her, four large words were written on the blackboard: Freshman Assessment.

Seeing that Li Qingming and Wang Dong were somewhat late, Zhou Yi swept her gaze over them. Then she tilted her head slightly, signaling for them to enter.

The two paused for a second, then did not linger and slowly walked inside.

"Let me emphasize this once again. Only by passing the freshman assessment can you remain at Shrek Academy and become official students of the academy."

"The assessment will consist of team battles in groups of three. Each group must participate in at least four matches and will be ranked according to their number of victories. There are three hundred groups in total, and only the top one hundred and fifty groups can pass. The rest will leave Shrek Academy."

Zhou Yi's voice was not loud, but her words were cold to the extreme. Nearly all the students below exchanged looks.

At his seat, Wang Dong turned his head slightly toward Li Qingming. What reassured him was that there was no unnecessary expression on the boy's face.

Li Qingming merely sat there quietly, spinning the pen in his hand as though he had not heard Zhou Yi's words at all.

Seeing the students' reactions, Zhou Yi gave a soft cough.

"Of course, the top sixty-four teams will proceed to the elimination rounds. The top four in the elimination rounds will all receive rewards from the academy."

As she spoke, she picked up a notebook. "Write down your future cultivation direction and hand it to me. After the freshman assessment, you will be placed into classes according to your Soul Master classifications."

Zhou Yi swept her gaze over the crowd as she spoke. Some quick-witted students below had already begun writing.

At the words "class placement," Li Qingming's eyes flickered for an instant. He then picked up his pen slightly, slowly wrote down his name, and continued with his cultivation direction.

Beside him, Wang Dong secretly watched him. After three months together, the barrier between them was no longer so strong. Or rather, Wang Dong had already gained a thorough understanding of Li Qingming's personality.

Perhaps girls were more delicate in their thoughts and especially perceptive in observing things. Wang Dong had only known Li Qingming for three months, yet he saw things very clearly.

The boy did not cause trouble, but he was never afraid of it either. In many ways, he seemed gentle, even somewhat indifferent.

But once something he cared about was involved, he was more serious than anyone else.

And the more Wang Dong understood this, the more favorable an impression he had of the boy, because he had never encountered someone like him before.

Whether he had been with the younger generation in the Clear Sky Clan or with his two fathers, he had never felt this way.

Moreover, the boy gave him a very clean feeling. Although Wang Dong still did not understand exactly what that meant, he was very willing to follow behind Li Qingming.

Watching the boy calmly write the words "Assault-Type," Wang Dong's fingers paused for a second. He then picked up his pen and wrote the same words: "Assault-Type."

After everyone had finished writing, the papers were collected.

Li Qingming sat there and slowly closed his eyes. His thoughts were calm. He did not dwell on complicated or useless matters, merely considering the road ahead of him.

These three months had not been without other developments. Nangong Wan had also contacted him. Aside from providing a batch of resources, he had not assigned any other tasks, merely telling Li Qingming to observe which top geniuses existed among Shrek Academy's younger generation.

Clearly, the Holy Spirit Cult had taken an interest.

Under normal circumstances, the Holy Spirit Cult should not have been interested in this. After all, planting spies in Shrek Academy was almost as difficult as ascending to heaven.

One had to know that the prerequisite for joining the Holy Spirit Cult was almost always being an evil Soul Master. Only evil Soul Masters with evil martial souls would be forced to join it.

Even if they tried to find a way, there was no particularly good method. Normal Soul Masters would never agree to the Holy Spirit Cult's demands. Even if they were threatened or coerced, they would very likely refuse.

Moreover, most Soul Masters they could threaten had mediocre talent.

Those with outstanding talent either had influential families or had already been placed under Shrek Academy's protection. Those evil Soul Masters had no way to get at them.

Under such circumstances, it was nearly impossible for them to understand Shrek Academy's inner workings.

Li Qingming was like a nail driven into place. Not only was his talent unparalleled, but every aspect of him defied the heavens. Furthermore, he was controlled by Ye Xishui and completely under the Holy Spirit Cult's grasp.

Even Nangong Wan felt that such a suitable chess piece was rare.

However, Li Qingming did not feel much about this. He had always been humoring the Holy Spirit Cult.

After all the papers had been collected, Zhou Yi casually glanced over them.

Then she picked up the red attendance register in her hand and slowly opened to the first page. Clearly, Teacher Zhou Yi had long since made her own plans. The so-called future cultivation directions were merely a final confirmation.

Her gaze swept over the students below. Quite a few wore nervous expressions. Most of them lived in the dormitories, and after spending three months together in pairs, some had fallen out badly while others had gotten along very well.

Thus, although many were willing to be assigned groups at random, with groups of three, some still hoped to be placed with their roommates.

Looking at these students and sensing their emotions, Zhou Yi's expression remained calm.

Her gaze swept toward the back and paused on Wang Dong for a second. A meaningful glint flashed through her eyes. The Radiant Goddess Butterfly martial soul could deceive others, but it could not deceive Shrek's teachers.

So she had long known Wang Dong's gender. However, Li Qingming seemed completely unconcerned about it, so she had not exposed it.

Seeing Wang Dong grip his pen tightly with both hands and look at her nervously, Zhou Yi lowered her head and looked at the list in her hand again.

The first name in the first group was Li Qingming, the second was Xiao Xiao, but the third was not Wang Dong.

At that thought, a trace of hesitation appeared in Zhou Yi's eyes.

In the end, she lightly crossed out the third name. She also crossed out Wang Dong's name, which had originally been listed as the captain of the sixteenth group, and swapped the two names.

"First group: Li Qingming, Xiao Xiao, and Wang Dong. You three are the first group."

Zhou Yi's voice was soft. Yet upon hearing this, sighs from quite a few girls immediately rose from around the room.

After all, the two most handsome boys in the class had actually been assigned to the same group. Thus, quite a few people unconsciously looked toward a little girl in the back.

The little girl had long black hair and looked ordinary in every respect. No one had expected her to be assigned to the same group as the two most handsome boys in the class.

Jealousy showed on many faces, while Xiao Xiao, who had just stood up, also had a trace of hesitation in her beautiful green eyes.

She looked toward the two of them, and they were both looking back at her.

Wang Dong studied her with a curious expression, while Li Qingming merely stood there calmly. His gaze swept over her, and he gave her a slight nod.

Seeing their gentle gazes, especially when she saw Li Qingming nod at her, Xiao Xiao's cheeks reddened almost instantly.

She instinctively turned her head aside, not daring to look at Li Qingming again.