Freshman Assessment

What a haul! What a haul!

Ignoring the gag order warning from the Soul Master who had escorted him back, Lu Yuan felt the trip had been more than worthwhile. In just this one visit, he had finally gathered all the Soul-Eating Dagger fragments. Once the holiday arrived, he could head to the Starlight Auction House and trade one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins for the "divine weapon," the Soul-Eating Dagger!

And as long as he kept Xiaotao, Yan Shaozhe's precious disciple, firmly in his grasp, Lu Yuan believed he would have plenty more chances in the future to make that miser Yan Shaozhe cough up a fortune!

Just like that, three months flew by. With the help of the three pills Yan Shaozhe had sent over to nourish his meridians and raise his Soul Power, along with the various cultivation resources Yan Shaozhe and Xiaotao had yielded together, Lu Yuan's Soul Power officially reached level thirty-eight.

That was despite the time he regularly spent studying theory in the library and the attention he devoted to learning magic from Elder Yi.

And today, three months later, was also the final day of the round-robin stage for this semester's Freshman Assessment.

"Lu Yuan, Ning Tian, Wu Feng, just relax today and enjoy the match."

Before the competition, beside the arena, Mu Jin looked at the three of them with a kindly smile.

Just as Ning Tian had predicted, before teams were formed for the Freshman Assessment, Mu Jin had privately approached them and hoped that the three most competitive students would form a team.

With two Soul Elders and a Dragon-type Martial Soul assault-class Soul Grandmaster on the same team, Mu Jin could not imagine how this squad from her class could lose in the round-robin stage.

And the reality was exactly as Mu Jin had expected. The team formed by Lu Yuan and the other two had been utterly unstoppable in the round-robin matches. Most of the time, Lu Yuan did not even need to act. So long as he provided Ning Tian with simple protection, Wu Feng, enhanced by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tower, could tear through their opponents.

How could Mu Jin not be all smiles at the sight of these three students? Through them, she could practically see the title of senior teacher beckoning to her after the Freshman Assessment ended.

And as this was the last day of the round-robin stage, Lu Yuan's team still had not been matched against any particularly strong opponents. The opposing team consisted of three low-level Soul Grandmasters without any powerful Martial Souls, which was why Mu Jin had told them to enjoy the match and relax.

"Don't worry, Teacher Mu. There won't be any problems," Wu Feng answered confidently.

Ever since Lu Yuan had beaten her into self-doubt that day, Wu Feng had been depressed for quite some time. For a while, she had even wondered whether she was simply too weak.

It was not until these recent round-robin matches, where she fought above her rank as a Soul Elder in every match under Ning Tian's enhancements and defeated opponents of higher cultivation, that Wu Feng regained her confidence—

So I'm still a genius after all. Lu Yuan is just too much of a freak!

"Both sides, prepare—"

"Match, begin!"

At the referee's command, Lu Yuan's team began its final round-robin match.

"Seven Treasures turn forth with glazed light!"

As Ning Tian summoned her Seven Treasure Glazed Tower Martial Soul, Lu Yuan habitually took a step back and placed Wu Feng in front of him—

After all, why work desperately when he could slack off?

Just like in the previous matches, the enhanced Wu Feng charged toward the opposing team and slaughtered her way through them, while Lu Yuan only needed to remain by Ning Tian's side, guard against any agility-class Soul Masters trying to ambush her, or lend a hand to break Wu Feng out whenever she was surrounded.

"This kid is just like he was in the previous matches!"

The referee for this round-robin match was Wang Yan, a theoretical researcher from the inner courtyard. Seeing Lu Yuan openly slacking off on the field, Wang Yan could not help sighing.

Speaking of which, Lu Yuan and Wang Yan had met in the library. In an academy that produced martial brutes by the truckload, Shrek's library was practically deserted. Aside from a handful of teachers like Wang Yan who studied Martial Soul theory, almost no students ever visited.

Lu Yuan had encountered Wang Yan while spending time in the library. After meeting several times, Lu Yuan occasionally asked Wang Yan questions. Before long, the two had grown familiar with each other.

Recently, Wang Yan's research had hit a bottleneck, so he had decided to clear his head. He applied to become one of the referees for the outer courtyard's Freshman Assessment round-robin stage. First, to change his mood, and second, to see whether this year's outer courtyard had any outstanding talents.

By coincidence, Wang Yan had been assigned to the same group as Lu Yuan's team.

After observing for several days, Wang Yan discovered that although this team had Wu Feng as its main attacker, Ning Tian as its key support, and Lu Yuan, who appeared to be constantly slacking off, his instincts told him that Lu Yuan was the true core of the team.

What a pity. This team would not be able to force Lu Yuan to reveal his true strength either.

Watching the situation on the field, Wang Yan knew the outcome had been decided. The opposing team's strongest assault-class Soul Master had already been injured and forced out of the match during his clash with Wu Feng. It was only a matter of time before the remaining agility-class and control-class Soul Masters were eliminated.

Wang Yan knew Lu Yuan's idleness did not mean he could only protect Ning Tian and could not participate in direct combat. It merely meant the teams in these round-robin matches were too weak to force Lu Yuan into action. After several matches, Lu Yuan had barely even lit up his soul rings.

This made Wang Yan, who was obsessed with Martial Soul research, extremely curious about Lu Yuan's Martial Soul.

According to the freshman enrollment records, aside from Ning Tian, the support-class Soul Elder, the other Soul Elder in Mu Jin's class was most likely Lu Yuan.

For Lu Yuan, who came from a commoner background, to reach Soul Elder cultivation at this age proved that both his Martial Soul's quality and Innate Soul Power were not low. Combined with Lu Yuan's actions over the past few days, Wang Yan could infer that Lu Yuan's Martial Soul was likely a rather powerful light- or holy-attribute Martial Soul.

"Match over! Freshman Class Nine wins!"

As the two members of the opposing team were eliminated one after another, Wang Yan announced the end of the match and Lu Yuan's team's victory.

"Yay! Young Mistress, we won! We advanced with a perfect record!" Wu Feng excitedly high-fived Ning Tian.

"Yes, Feng. We can celebrate tonight. Lu Yuan, will you come?" Although she had long anticipated the result, Ning Tian still smiled at their undefeated record.

"Sure," Lu Yuan readily agreed. Why would he turn down a free meal?

"No! Young Mistress, Lu Yuan should be the one treating us! This guy has been slacking off for so long. He should at least do his part at the dinner table!"

"Fine, fine. I'll treat tonight!" Hearing Wu Feng's words, both Lu Yuan and Ning Tian laughed at the same time.

After getting a windfall from that rich bastard Yan Shaozhe, Lu Yuan no longer had to worry as much as before about the Gold Soul Coins needed for the Soul-Eating Dagger. As a result, he had more spare money on hand.

Besides, relationships required give and take. Though Ning Tian's past invitations to meals had carried an element of recruiting him, after several months together, the few of them could be considered friends. Lu Yuan had always been generous toward friends, in both his previous life and this one.