Early in the morning, the class bell rang.
Li Qingming and Wang Dong had just walked into 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.
When Zhou Yi saw the slightly late Li Qingming and Wang Dong, her gaze swept over them. Then she tilted her head slightly, signaling for them to go in.
The two paused for a second, then walked inside without lingering.
"Let me emphasize this once again. Only by passing the freshman assessment can you remain at Shrek Academy and become official students."
"The assessment will be conducted through three-person team battles. Each group of students will participate in at least four matches and be ranked according to their number of victories. There are three hundred groups in total, and only the top one hundred and fifty will pass. The rest will leave Shrek Academy."
Zhou Yi's voice was not loud, but her words were icy to the extreme. Nearly all the students below exchanged glances.
In his seat, Wang Dong turned his head slightly toward Li Qingming. What reassured him was that there was no unnecessary expression on the young man's face.
Li Qingming merely sat there quietly, twirling the pen in his hand as though he had not heard Zhou Yi at all.
Seeing the students' reactions, Zhou Yi gave a soft cough.
"Of course, the top sixty-four teams will proceed to an elimination tournament. The top four teams in the tournament 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 assigned to different classes according to your Soul Master classifications."
Zhou Yi swept her gaze across the room as she spoke. Some of the quicker students below had already begun writing.
Upon hearing the words "class assignment," Li Qingming's eyes flickered for a moment. He then picked up his pen and slowly wrote down his name before continuing 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 come to understand Li Qingming's personality very thoroughly.
Perhaps girls were more delicate in their thoughts and especially perceptive in their observations. He had only known Li Qingming for three months, yet he saw him very clearly.
The young man 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 about it than anyone else.
The more Wang Dong understood this, the more fond he became of the young man, because he had never encountered someone like him before.
Whether he had been with the younger generation in the Clear Sky Sect or with his eldest and second fathers, he had never felt this way.
Moreover, the young man 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 young man 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 mind was calm. He did not think about anything complicated or useless, merely considering the road ahead of him.
The past three months had not been without other developments. Nangong Wan had contacted him as well. Aside from giving him a batch of resources, he had not assigned any other tasks, merely asking him to observe which top geniuses existed among Shrek Academy's younger generation.
The Holy Spirit Cult had clearly taken an interest.
Under normal circumstances, the Holy Spirit Cult should not have been interested in this at all. After all, placing spies in Shrek Academy was nearly 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 into joining 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 and coerced, they were still highly likely to refuse.
Moreover, the Soul Masters they could threaten generally had mediocre talent.
Those with talent either had powerful family backgrounds or had already been placed under Shrek Academy's protection. These Evil Soul Masters had no way to get at them.
Under such circumstances, it was nearly impossible for them to learn about Shrek Academy's inner workings.
Li Qingming was like a nail driven into the academy. Not only was his talent unparalleled, but every aspect of him was monstrous. More importantly, he was controlled by Ye Xishui and completely under the Holy Spirit Cult's control.
Even Nangong Wan considered such a suitable pawn a rare find.
Yet Li Qingming did not feel much about any of this. He had always been perfunctory toward the Holy Spirit Cult.
After all the papers had been collected, Zhou Yi casually glanced over them.
Then she picked up the red-covered 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 development directions had merely been a final confirmation.
Her gaze swept across the students below. Many wore nervous expressions. Most of them lived in dormitories, and after three months together, some pairs had developed strained relationships while others got along well.
Thus, although many were willing to be grouped randomly, with teams of three, some still hoped to be assigned with their roommates.
Looking at these students and sensing their emotions, Zhou Yi remained calm.
Her gaze moved toward the back and paused on Wang Dong for a second. A meaningful glint flashed through her eyes. The Light Goddess Butterfly martial soul might deceive others, but it could not deceive Shrek's teachers.
Thus, she had long known Wang Dong's gender. However, Li Qingming seemed completely unconcerned about it, so she had not exposed it.
Watching Wang Dong clutch his pen tightly in both hands and stare at her nervously, Zhou Yi lowered her head and looked at the chart in her hand again.
The first name in Group One was Li Qingming, and the second was Xiao Xiao, but the third name was not Wang Dong.
At that thought, hesitation appeared in Zhou Yi's eyes.
In the end, she lightly crossed out the third name, then crossed out Wang Dong's name from Group Sixteen, where he had originally been designated captain, and swapped the two names.
"Group One: Li Qingming, Xiao Xiao, and Wang Dong. The three of you are Group One."
Zhou Yi's voice was very soft. Yet the moment they heard this, sighs rose from quite a few girls around the room.
After all, the two most handsome boys in the class had actually been assigned to the same group, so quite a few people instinctively 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 placed in a group with the two handsomest boys in the class.
Jealousy appeared on many faces, while Xiao Xiao, who had just stood up, also had a trace of hesitation in her beautiful green eyes.
Her gaze fell on the two of them, and they had both turned to look at her.
Wang Dong studied her with curiosity, 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 Li Qingming nodded at her, Xiao Xiao's cheeks flushed almost instantly.
She instinctively turned her head to the side, no longer daring to look at Li Qingming.
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