After news of the Freshman Assessment spread, the entire Shrek Academy buzzed with excitement.
Countless students rubbed their fists and flexed their palms, brimming with anticipation. Some were anxious, while others already had victory mapped out in their minds.
Wang Dong belonged to the latter group.
He sat in the dining hall, gnawing on a chicken drumstick and listening to the chatter around him, a faintly nonchalant look on his face.
Honestly, he felt little pressure about this Freshman Assessment. Familiar with the original story, he knew perfectly well.
Only a handful of people could truly threaten him: Dai Huabin, Ning Tian, and Xie Huanyue. Those three Soul Elders each led their own teams, and their strength was indeed impressive.
But that was all. If he stopped hiding his twin martial souls, he honestly couldn't see how he could lose.
Huo Yuhao sat across from him. Seeing his utterly unconcerned expression, he couldn't help asking, "Aren't you nervous?"
"What is there to be nervous about?" Wang Dong took a bite of his drumstick. "It's not a fight to the death."
"But... what if we face a strong team?"
"A strong team?" Wang Dong thought for a moment. "You mean Dai Huabin and the others? They're nothing special."
Huo Yuhao looked at him, unsure what to say. He found that Wang Dong's confidence sometimes left him speechless, but on second thought, Wang Dong really did have the strength to back it up.
Rank twenty-nine soul power, twin martial souls, and a bizarre hammer technique-not just freshmen, but even among the senior students, few could get the better of him.
Hadn't Xu Sanshi lost to him, after all? There had been an element of luck involved... but Wang Dong's victory over Xu Sanshi didn't seem to have caused much of a stir.
To save face, Xu Sanshi had kept insisting afterward that he had gone easy on Wang Dong and so on. As a result, many people felt the victory didn't count, and Wang Dong hadn't made a name for himself.
In the blink of an eye, the next day arrived.
On the day of the assessment, Shrek Academy's Training Grounds were a sea of people. This was the day the academy selected promising talents. Not only had teachers from every department turned out in full, but even some important figures rarely seen in public had appeared.
On the raised platform at the very center of the Training Grounds stood a grand armchair. A disheveled old man with graying hair sat in it, clutching a glistening roast chicken and gnawing away until grease coated his mouth.
He was none other than Xuan Zi, the deputy pavilion master of the Sea God Pavilion, whose martial soul was Taotie!
A rank ninety-eight Super Douluo, he was also Shrek Academy's second most important figure. However, his martial soul had a slight flaw, requiring him to keep eating and drinking in great quantities.
Beside him stood a distinguished middle-aged man: Yan Shaozhe, dean of the Martial Soul Department, whose martial soul was the bright phoenix-a rank ninety-six Super Douluo.
Xuan Zi took a bite of chicken drumstick and asked indistinctly, "Shaozhe, are there any promising talents among this year's freshmen?"
Yan Shaozhe promptly answered, "Elder Xuan Zi, several stand out this year. We have three Soul Elder students: Dai Huabin, Xie Huanyue, and Ning Tian... The first comes from the White Tiger Duke's Mansion in the Star Luo Empire, while the last is the heir to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and possesses the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul.
"There are also two promising students with twin martial souls, one named Wang Dong and the other Xiao Xiao. Several others have high-quality martial souls as well. Overall, they're considerably better than previous years."
Xuan Zi nodded, allowing a hint of satisfaction to show. "Then who do you think will take the championship?"
Yan Shaozhe considered it and answered honestly, "It should be Dai Huabin's team. That boy's soul power has already reached rank thirty-four, the highest among this year's freshmen. His martial soul is the Evil-Eyed White Tiger, too. Its quality is exceptional, and he's very capable in actual combat."
"Dai Huabin..." Xuan Zi rolled the name around in his mouth and nodded.
"The white tiger martial soul is indeed good, but what about that boy named Wang Dong? Twin martial souls, and I hear he even has the clear sky hammer martial soul... He shouldn't be bad either, should he?"
Yan Shaozhe smiled. "Wang Dong is indeed excellent, but his soul power is only rank twenty-nine, five ranks below Dai Huabin's. Moreover, his team has a control-type student who's only rank nineteen. Their overall strength is still somewhat below Dai Huabin's team's."
They were all geniuses!
Fighting opponents above their rank was as commonplace as an everyday meal, so their relative strength was generally judged by soul power level.
Xuan Zi didn't reply. He took another bite of his drumstick, but his gaze swept unobtrusively over the Training Grounds below and settled on the boy with long pink-and-blue hair standing in a corner.
He narrowed his eyes, chewing his chicken as he quietly committed that name to memory.
The boy's aura had caught his attention.
The aura of a draconic bloodline... His Taotie martial soul had sensed it.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Training Grounds, the drawing of lots was underway. The team captains stepped forward one after another to draw their opponents' numbers from a box.
Dai Huabin stood with his team, his expression cold. Over the past three months, he had trained with fierce determination, his soul power soaring all the way to rank thirty-four and making even his older brother see him in a new light.
The championship was his goal in this year's Freshman Tournament.
He reached into the box, pulled out a slip of paper, and unfolded it. His expression changed instantly.
"Dai Huabin versus-Wang Dong's team."
His entire body froze, and the slip nearly fell from his hand. What kind of joke was this?
He had prepared for three months, waiting to settle things with Wang Dong in the finals, only to run into him in the very first round?
He had imagined meeting him in the finals, where even a defeat would leave him as runner-up. Was his first match now going to be a fight to the death? What if he lost?
Behind him, Zhu Lu also saw the words on the slip, and her expression was equally grim. "How could it be such a coincidence?"
Wang Dong, on the other side, also saw the draw's result. He paused, then the corners of his mouth curled into an amused smile. "Oh? What a coincidence."
Huo Yuhao stood beside him. When he saw the name on the slip, his eyes lit up. "Dai Huabin? We're fighting him?"
"What, are you scared?" Wang Dong tilted his head to look at him.
"No." Huo Yuhao shook his head, a rare trace of fighting spirit in his voice. "I've wanted to fight him for a long time."
He recalled all the injustices he had suffered in the Dai Family, all those years of being treated coldly by this so-called brother. In the past, he hadn't had the strength and could only swallow his anger.
But things were different now. He had Wang Dong, Haodong Power, rank nineteen soul power, and skill with soul tools.
He had long wanted to stand openly and proudly before Dai Huabin and tell him that he wasn't useless.
Seeing how eager Huo Yuhao was, Wang Dong smiled without saying anything more.
Of course he knew about the grudge between Huo Yuhao and Dai Huabin, and he knew Huo Yuhao had been holding his anger inside. This assessment was the perfect chance to let him vent it.
Dai Huabin walked over with Zhu Lu and looked at Wang Dong with a dark expression.
"Wang Dong, don't get too cocky. This isn't a one-on-one duel. What good is being strong on your own? Those two teammates of yours-one's rank nineteen and the other's a support type. What are you going to fight me with?"
Zhu Lu chimed in, "Exactly! Especially that Huo Yuhao. He's only rank nineteen and doesn't even have a second ring, yet he dares enter the arena? Don't end up dragging your team down so badly you can't even cry."
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