"That felt good!"
After hearing Jiang Yu's account, Wu Feng pumped her fist excitedly.
"That's what they get for provoking us without knowing their place. Now one's lost a finger and the other's disfigured. Let's see what they have left to be so arrogant about."
After a pause, Wu Feng poked Jiang Yu's arm again and asked expectantly:
"Did you use the powder I gave you?"
"I did, but I was pressed for time, so I only used it on Dai Huabin." Jiang Yu asked curiously, "Where did you get that powder? It smelled kind of strange. Is it really poison?"
Wu Feng gave a mysterious smile. "It's no ordinary poison. It's a special concoction I made by mixing a dozen or so poisons I stole from Sister Yaoyao with Soul Beast dung and a potent aphrodisiac I bought a few days ago. I don't know exactly what it does, but it'll definitely give Dai Huabin one hell of a good time."
"Holy shit, are you even fucking human?"
Jiang Yu looked at his left hand, feeling that the Shadow Dragon Dagger really ought to be thrown away.
Ning Tian's expression shifted as well, but her attention was on a different point.
"Wait a second, Wu Feng, what did you just say? An aphrodisiac? What's a young girl like you buying aphrodisiacs for?"
Ning Tian keenly spotted the overlooked detail.
At those words, an imaginary bead of cold sweat trickled down Wu Feng's forehead. She gave two awkward chuckles, then whispered:
"If I said I was just curious and bought it to see what it smelled like, would you... believe me?"
Ning Tian sneered and grabbed Wu Feng's arm.
"Already getting up to no good at your age. Move! Come inside with me. I'm going to teach you a proper lesson today."
In the afternoon's match, Ning Tian's team defeated Zhou Sichen's team without any suspense and advanced to the finals.
The freshman assessment finals thus became, in another form, an internal showdown between the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's youngest geniuses.
The utterly one-sided victories of the two semifinals continued into the finals.
After completing his preliminary experiment with the Hell White Tiger, Jiang Yu once again displayed the brilliance of the Space-Time Dragon in the finals at the request of Ning Tian and her two teammates.
This also made Ning Tian and Wu Feng experience once more the terrifying pressure Jiang Yu had brought them in childhood.
Jiang Yu did not hit his own people quite so hard, but that was only relatively speaking.
Ning Tian and Wu Feng had enjoyed far too smooth a ride since childhood. Apart from him, they had barely suffered any meaningful defeats.
Combined with his interference in and changes to the original storyline, even at Shrek Academy, their peers would find it hard to defeat them now.
An overly smooth path of cultivation was both good and bad. But that was fine. Since no outsider could put pressure on Ning Tian and Wu Feng, he would do it himself.
After leaving Shrek Square, the championship-winning Jiang Yu team was led by Du Weilun to the top floor of his office area behind the upper-year teaching building.
Once the three had taken their seats, Du Weilun first praised their performances.
Of course, the young sisters Tang Xingxing and Tang Yueyue were merely included in passing. Du Weilun's attention remained on Jiang Yu throughout.
After tossing out the two inconsequential rewards of core disciple status and free assistance in obtaining Spirit Rings at their maximum tolerable ages, he finally reached the main event.
Du Weilun cleared his throat softly, then took out a brown leather pouch that gave off faint fluctuations of Soul Power.
The pouch opened, and a ball of yellow light emerged.
It was actually a small left leg bone, barely the length of a palm, emitting a faint yellow glow.
Jiang Yu had already seen plenty of high-quality Soul Bones, so his heart remained as still as water upon seeing this incomplete Soul Bone with its rather weak Soul Power fluctuations.
The sisters Tang Xingxing and Tang Yueyue, however, were nowhere near as composed as Jiang Yu.
Both cried out involuntarily when they saw the Soul Bone, but once they recovered, they obediently lowered their heads.
There was value in knowing one's own worth. The sisters understood that becoming reserve core disciples outright and winning the championship already amounted to an incredible stroke of luck. Had they teamed up with anyone else, they probably would not even have made the top thirty-two.
Du Weilun was very pleased that the sisters knew their place.
After all, judging purely by their Martial Souls and potential for growth, the sisters were only moderately above average among this year's freshmen. They owed their presence here entirely to Jiang Yu carrying them to victory.
Giving you reserve core disciple status and a Spirit Ring is already plenty, and you still want a Soul Bone?
How about a slap across the face instead?
"Student Jiang, let me introduce this to you. This Soul Bone came from a Voidlight Demon Leopard. Absorbing it will increase a Soul Master's speed and grant an offensive Soul Skill activated through the left leg."
"Let me put it this way: this Soul Bone is absolutely the most precious freshman assessment reward the academy has offered in three hundred years. I selected it especially for you."
Du Weilun spoke with a genial smile, his gentle manner making him seem like an entirely different person from the "Black Yama" the students spoke of.
"Then thank you, Director Du." Jiang Yu smiled. His impression of Du Weilun was neither good nor bad, but since the man wanted to build a closer relationship with him, he had no reason to refuse.
Noticing Jiang Yu's warmer attitude, Du Weilun's delight showed even more clearly.
After his dominant performances in the semifinals and finals, Shrek Academy's appraisal of Jiang Yu rose another notch. They believed that once he fully mastered the Space-Time Dragon's power, he would become an Ultimate Douluo at the very least.
Paying a small price now was entirely worthwhile if it meant befriending a future Ultimate Douluo.
Having thought that through, the last traces of reluctance and hesitation in Du Weilun's heart vanished completely.
After a little small talk, Du Weilun found an excuse to send the Tang sisters away. Jiang Yu also realized something was afoot, and a hint of curiosity entered his gaze.
Once he sat down again, Du Weilun mysteriously produced a jade box and handed it to Jiang Yu.
"Student Jiang, this Soul Bone isn't a reward from the academy. It's my personal recognition of your outstanding performance during this freshman assessment. Keep it safe, and don't tell any outsiders. After all, an ordinary man may be innocent, but possessing a precious jade makes him guilty."
Surprise flashed in Jiang Yu's eyes, but after a moment's thought, he accepted the jade box without hesitation.
After sensing the Soul Power fluctuations of the Soul Bone inside, Jiang Yu's smile deepened.
Director Du really is a good man. When he has something good, he actually gives it away!
Looks like I misjudged Director Du before.
When the three-person team reunited, before Jiang Yu could speak, Ning Tian and Wu Feng brought him good news first.
Looking at the Secret Art Soul Bone set before him, Jiang Yu clicked his tongue.
Weren't Soul Bones supposed to be precious? How had they managed to get their hands on three just by taking part in a tournament?
Although two of those Soul Bones were not particularly high-quality, they were still Soul Bones, weren't they?
Jiang Yu and the others might look down on these Soul Bones, but for geniuses like Nanmen Yun'er and Xie Huanyue, whose backgrounds were not actually all that powerful, they were treasures they could only dream of.
Just as Jiang Yu was about to take out the two Soul Bones he had obtained, Ning Tian and Wu Feng exchanged a glance and smiled mysteriously.
Then the two took a dark green leather pouch out of a Storage Soul Tool.
Jiang Yu: !!!
Before you continue