Wu Feng: I should have been under the bed...

"Which classes are you all from? Give me your names and classes! Every last one of you is getting a demerit!"

The dark-faced middle-aged man was none other than Du Weilun, the teaching director of the Outer Court's Martial Soul Department.

Since Yan Shaozhe, the dean of the Martial Soul Department, had always concerned himself only with the Inner Court, while the dean overseeing its Outer Court was a scholarly sort of teacher, Du Weilun's authority in the Outer Court was enough to blot out the sky with one hand. Add his decidedly unpleasant temperament to the mix, and the many Outer Court students had given him the nickname "Black Yama."

Bei Bei was fairly familiar with Du Weilun and knew his temperament well, so he and Tang Ya immediately gave their names and classes. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, whom he was supporting, followed suit.

Jiang Yu and his two companions did not care either.

A demerit was a demerit. As far as they were concerned, it did less actual damage than skipping breakfast.

Even if the three of them bombarded the Outer Court with cannon fire every day, they could still coast comfortably all the way to graduation from the Inner Court.

After recording their names and classes, Du Weilun turned his gaze back to Huo Yuhao.

"In light of your actions, you are henceforth forbidden from conducting any commercial activities within the Outer Court. If you are caught doing so, you will be expelled immediately!"

Huo Yuhao froze on the spot.

Wu Feng, meanwhile, could not hold it in and burst out laughing.

Jiang Yu and Ning Tian exchanged a glance, each seeing suppressed laughter in the other's eyes.

The Outer Court's Grilled Fish Huo had just become history!

After the "Grilled Fish Incident," Jiang Yu and his two companions continued happily going about their little lives.

Huo Yuhao, however, had a miserable time of it.

He had originally been able to support himself by selling grilled fish, but Du Weilun's ban had cut off his largest source of income. Left with no choice, he could only use Tang Ya and Bei Bei's connections to find a job doing odd jobs in the cafeteria.

With Grilled Fish Huo offline, Cafeteria Huo came online!

Whenever Jiang Yu and his companions occasionally ate at the cafeteria, they could see him helping the cafeteria ladies serve food.

Of course, since he was so new, he had been assigned to the lowest-tier serving window.

Sometimes, when Jiang Yu looked up, he could sense a faint, complicated gaze upon him.

But Jiang Yu had always chosen to ignore it.

Things had already come to this, after all. As Jiang Yu had said, one living and the other dying was the best outcome.

Time drifted by, and two months passed in the blink of an eye.

Three months after enrollment, only about nine hundred of the original thousand-plus new students remained.

After the freshman assessment, roughly two-thirds of them would be eliminated outright. Only about a third would successfully advance to the first year.

"..."

"I have explained all the rules of the freshman assessment. After class today, form your own teams and submit them to me for approval. If anyone still hasn't formed a team before class tomorrow, I will assign the remaining students to teams at random."

"All right, class dismissed."

The bell rang right on cue. Having timed it perfectly, Mu Jin picked up his lesson plans and left without paying any further attention to the noisy crowd of freshmen.

In a window seat at the back, Jiang Yu lounged against his chair, basking in the sunlight.

There were several Soul Elders among the freshmen. Though none of them was ordinary, there were still gaps even between geniuses.

Twin martial souls of the same origin, such as the Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger, would indeed be nothing impressive ten thousand years later. Only by merging into the Space-Time Dragon would they qualify to enter the ranks of supreme geniuses.

I won't fault you for looking down on the Light and Shadow Daggers ten thousand years from now, but ten thousand years earlier, what should you be calling me?

Leaving aside Jiang Yu, whose soul power had already reached rank thirty-eight, even Ning Tian and Wu Feng, both Soul Elders, would only encounter some trouble against a Soul Elder-level Martial Soul Fusion Skill. As for other teams, the two of them were more than strong enough to sweep straight through.

If all three joined forces, Jiang Yu would not be worried in the slightest, even against something a tier above a Soul Elder-level Martial Soul Fusion Skill.

While Jiang Yu was pondering this, Ning Tian suddenly tugged at his arm. Then, with a serious expression, she said:

"Yu, Feng and I won't be teaming up with you for this freshman assessment."

Jiang Yu: "???"

Seeing Jiang Yu's confusion, Ning Tian took a deep breath before explaining:

"Ever since we were little, you've always been the goal Feng and I chased after. But over time, whenever we face a problem or difficulty, we instinctively turn to you and rely on you. Even in the vast majority of our battles, we need you to be our main fighting force."

After a pause, Ning Tian added:

"Of course, I'm not saying that relying on you is a bad thing. It's just that Feng and I can't live under your protection forever. I think this freshman assessment is a perfect opportunity for us to step away from you and train ourselves. What do you think, Yu?"

Jiang Yu could not help chuckling.

"Now that you've put it that way, how could I refuse?"

Ning Tian smiled brightly. "Then I'll speak to Teacher Mu later. Yu, you should find your teammates as soon as possible too. I think that even without teaming up with us, you'll definitely be the strongest contender for the championship."

Hearing this, Wu Feng, who was sitting beside Ning Tian, immediately grabbed her arm and complained:

"Young mistress, don't puff up someone else's prestige and tear down our own spirit! Once the ten round-robin matches are over and we enter the ranking tournament, if we run into him, I'll make sure he learns just how strong a Red Dragon Soul Elder supported by a three-ring Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda really is."

Jiang Yu merely smiled faintly without replying.

Apparently, after breaking through to Soul Elder, Wu Feng had forgotten how miserably he had beaten her when they were at the same cultivation level.

But that was fine. If they met in the ranking tournament, Jiang Yu would not mind teaching her another lesson.

By the time they finished discussing their teams, most of the students had left the classroom. Ning Tian hesitated, then looked at Jiang Yu and asked:

"Yu, how far do you think Feng, Yun'er, and I can go in the ranking tournament?"

Jiang Yu more or less understood what Ning Tian was thinking.

A lineup of two Soul Elders and one Soul Grandmaster was as one of a kind as a scorpion taking a dump-the only portion of its kind-in the entire freshman assessment. But this year's freshmen could be called Shrek Academy's strongest cohort in centuries. There were fully five Soul Elders alone, far more than the one or two in previous years.

Anyone who could break through to Soul Elder at this age was no weakling. Ning Tian was very confident in her team's strength, yet she still felt uneasy.

Jiang Yu understood that perfectly well.

After all, most of Ning Tian's talents lay in socializing and management. Fighting was not her forte.

After a moment's thought, Jiang Yu gave an answer that put Ning Tian somewhat at ease:

"Top four at the very least. If you don't run into other strong teams with powerful trump cards, even second place isn't out of the question."

Ning Tian burst into a little laugh, then asked in amusement:

"What, have you already decided the championship is in your pocket?"

"Isn't it inevitable that I'll win?" Jiang Yu asked back with a smile.

"You..." Ning Tian wanted to say something, but when she thought of Jiang Yu's many hidden abilities and trump cards, she felt there was nothing wrong with his claim.

Seeing Ning Tian looking a little glum, Jiang Yu thought for a moment, then raised his hand and gently patted her head.

"Don't be upset. Losing to your big brother isn't anything to be ashamed of."

Feeling the warmth on her head and hearing Jiang Yu's shameless remark, Ning Tian's gloom vanished in an instant.

She lightly swatted his hand away, then scolded him:

"You're asking for a beating. Since when does a younger brother get to pat his older sister's head?"

As she spoke, Ning Tian reached out to pat his head in return.

Naturally, Jiang Yu refused. As they tussled and teased each other, they drew closer and closer, their smiles growing brighter.

But in the next instant, a dull clang suddenly came from the classroom doorway.

Both snapped back to their senses and saw Wu Feng looking as though she was about to cry.

"Y-you two... what are you doing behind my back?"

A heartbroken voice suddenly rang out in the silent classroom.

Wu Feng: I should have been under the bed...