While the students of Class One were putting on a live character demo for [Shrek] Freshman Class One, El had already arrived at Du Weilun's office.
"Director Du, I heard Dean Yan wanted to see me?"
El pushed the door open, walked in, and flopped straight onto the green sofa.
He showed not the slightest respect for Du Weilun as the director of studies.
But what could poor Du Weilun do?
Little Du could do nothing. (Sad.)
The corner of Du Weilun's mouth twitched. He adjusted the arm of his glasses and said:
"Dean Yan didn't ask to see you. I called you here to discuss your arrangements for the Freshman Assessment."
"As you know, with your strength, competing against first-year students would be going a little too far in bullying them."
"Never mind their bodies-you'd leave quite a few students with psychological scars alone."
"So?"
"So, the academy has decided to give you byes."
Du Weilun handed El a document.
It read "Arrangements for Student El's Freshman Assessment," with the seals of both the Martial Soul Department's dean and the Soul Tool Department's dean stamped at the bottom.
"Byes? Rather than having me sit it out?"
El shook the sheet of white paper in his hand. Instead of reading it, he asked Du Weilun directly.
"Yes. You're still a freshman, after all."
"The Freshman Assessment isn't just an assessment. It's also a platform for students to show what they can do."
Displaying their talent and power before what could be called the younger generation of all the major powers in the Douluo Three Kingdoms was another important purpose of the Freshman Assessment.
It was practically direct recruitment by the bosses themselves.
If someone performed well, an heir to some great sect or prominent clan might extend an olive branch.
Du Weilun continued.
"You'll be advanced straight into the quarterfinals."
"The quarterfinals?"
El paused, then understood.
"You want the standouts who rise above the rest to face a little pressure head-on?"
"Exactly."
Du Weilun nodded.
"Anyone who can make it into the top eight at an academy as vast as Shrek deserves to be called a prodigy."
"They can't compare to you, but they're bound to have some pride."
"I don't think anyone could still have any pride after watching my fight with Zhou Yi."
"Watching as a spectator and experiencing it as a contestant are bound to be different."
After saying that, Du Weilun looked rather helpless.
"Besides, how many freshmen could actually see that fight clearly?"
To a group of students who averaged two soul rings apiece, Zhou Yi and El's fight had been nothing but a jumble of afterimages.
They had only managed to make out a handful of soul skills with particularly obvious visual effects.
"Fine, then."
After chatting idly with Du Weilun for a little longer, El put the document away.
The same old saying still applied.
Stomping noobs in his spare time was good for physical and mental health.
His own physical and mental health, of course.
"Oh, right."
Just as El was about to leave, Du Weilun suddenly looked up and added something.
"Student El, you'll be the only member of your team."
"You're not allowed to team up with other students."
That was written in the notice he had handed El, but Du Weilun figured El wouldn't bother reading it at all, so he made a point of mentioning it.
"Got it~"
With his back to Du Weilun, El waved, drawing out the final syllable.
They actually wouldn't let him form a perfectly legal team...
After leaving the office, El took the paper out of his pocket, glanced over it, then crumpled it up and tossed it into a trash can.
Still, it was a gesture of goodwill from the academy's higher-ups, so he might as well go along with it...
"Dean Yan."
After watching El leave through the window, Du Weilun turned toward Yan Shaozhe, who had appeared in the office at some unknown point, and spoke with a face full of questions.
"Why exactly are we still requiring Student El to take part in the Freshman Assessment?"
"Even if we simply awarded him the championship, the other students wouldn't object, would they?"
Indeed, Du Weilun didn't actually know the real reason the academy's higher-ups wanted El to participate in the Freshman Assessment.
As for all that talk about putting pressure on prideful geniuses...
Don't be ridiculous.
Geniuses were arrogant, not stupid. Faced with a heavy-duty truck that could steamroll a Soul Emperor, would they really fail to understand the gap between themselves and him?
Don't make your genius bros laugh.
For many of them, even their strongest bodyguards were only Soul Emperors, and might not even be a match for Zhou Yi.
"Because this will make Student El happier."
Yan Shaozhe answered with a smile.
"Huh?"
"There's a saying: 'To gain wealth and glory without returning home is like wearing brocade robes through the night.'"
"Among these freshmen, Student El is the one wearing brocade. Making him champion outright would be no different from keeping him walking in the dark."
Someone who willingly stepped into the arena with a Soul Emperor, explained his martial soul's traits right to his opponent's face, and deliberately waited until she had used every one of her soul skills before ending the fight-could anyone expect him to be particularly restrained?
He simply loved showing off!
The Freshman Assessment was a perfect opportunity. If they didn't build him a proper stage, how was he supposed to dazzle everyone with his greatness?
If Yan Shaozhe didn't make El happy, how could he improve El's opinion of Shrek Academy?
Never mind the distant future-he was still counting on El to help his own personal disciple, Ma Xiaotao, suppress her evil fire!
Yan Shaozhe shook his head and sighed inwardly.
Little Du still lacks a discerning eye. He doesn't even know how to cater to someone's tastes.
No wonder he's still just the director of studies after all these years!
"...So that's how it is?"
Du Weilun struggled to keep the corners of his mouth from twitching.
He had never imagined that the reason the academy had gone to such lengths and insisted on sending El into the arena would be so plain, unadorned, and mundane.
Because they had deduced that El liked dazzling people with his greatness, they were providing him with an opportunity and a stage specifically for that purpose.
He had thought Yan Shaozhe was merely a little petty, a little calculating, and a little shameless...
But that he still possessed the dignity of a powerful expert.
Now, though...
Dean Yan, you really look like a bootlicker right now.
His rose-tinted image of Yan Shaozhe as a mighty expert shattered all over the floor. Du Weilun wailed inwardly, but his expression remained unchanged.
"It seems the academy really does place great importance on Student El!"
Still, that made sense. With talent like his, once El entered the inner court and truly became one of Shrek's own, they would probably groom him directly for the position of Sea God Pavilion Master.
"Of course."
As though something had occurred to him, Yan Shaozhe's expression grew serious. He looked at Du Weilun and spoke in a low voice.
"Besides all that, there's another reason for having El participate in the Freshman Assessment. You need to pay close attention to this."
"Yes!"
Du Weilun instantly grew solemn.
He had known the academy must have other considerations!
"Keep a close eye on what type of girl Student El prefers, so I can make the appropriate arrangements."
Du Weilun quietly shattered once again.
Dean, have you already switched careers to pimping?!
"After all, their family's bloodline is dwindling..."
Under Du Weilun's blatant stare, even Yan Shaozhe felt a little embarrassed. To conceal his awkwardness, he coughed lightly, put on a solemn expression, and declared in earnest.
"This is all for the development of the soul master world!"
He draped himself in a tiger's skin to borrow its authority.
"Look, Little Du, Student El's martial soul is so powerful. If it couldn't be passed down, wouldn't that be a tremendous loss to the world?"
"Well... it really would."
"Exactly!"
Yan Shaozhe clapped his hands, his face full of delight.
"So, arranging for more girls to interact with Student El is for the sake of the entire soul master world!"
"It would benefit the whole continent if he left behind more descendants."
Even if they couldn't inherit it completely-even if they inherited only a quarter, or even a fifth, of El's martial soul-it would still be an ultimate martial soul!!
An ultimate martial soul capable of cultivating to the level of a Limit Douluo!
Once El's bloodline took root in Shrek, if Shrek claimed to be second on the continent, what power would dare claim to be first?!
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