After Ma Xiaotao revealed her six soul rings, the six eliminated youths still had resentment in their eyes, but none dared act out. Shrek Academy might be fair, but provoking the strong was intolerable in any era.
Rashly angering a Soul Emperor from Shrek Academy would do neither them nor the families behind them any good.
Unwilling though they were, they could only swallow their anger and leave.
Ma Xiaotao withdrew her martial soul, glanced at the remaining four, and said, "All four of you passed the assessment. From now on, you're my juniors. Go straight to the Freshman Registration Office to register!"
The four nodded. Le Qianqian timidly asked, "Tea... senior, how do we get to the Freshman Registration Office?"
Le Qianqian had originally wanted to call her teacher, but remembering that Ma Xiaotao had called herself their senior, she hastily corrected herself.
Ma Xiaotao glanced at Le Qianqian and shook her head in vexation. "Le Qianqian, you have an excellent grasp of timing, and your Ghost King Vine is a superb control-type martial soul, but your responses are far too timid. You haven't a trace of your mother's forcefulness. I really never imagined that someone as forceful as her could have a daughter like you!"
"Senior, you know my mother?" Le Qianqian's large eyes lit up.
Ma Xiaotao's tone grew formal. "I do, but Shrek Academy's rules come first. Even if I know your mother, I would never bend the rules for personal favors, so don't expect any help from me. If your performance is poor, Shrek will still eliminate you, even if your mother is a Soul Douluo. Go on. Ask someone where the Freshman Registration Office is yourself."
She did indeed know Le Qianqian's mother, who was also her friend. But given Le Qianqian's personality, if she hadn't known beforehand, she really wouldn't have dared be certain that this girl was that woman's daughter.
Besides, Le Qianqian hadn't become one of the four who passed through any favoritism on her part.
Jiang Hai was immensely strong, but the Bronze Coffin was incredibly heavy, and he wasn't particularly fast. Yet neither the Diamond Tiger, who was faster than him, nor Wang Dong had been his match. The key lay in his outstanding grasp of timing and the situation. His speed truly wasn't great, but as long as he could keep up with an enemy's attacks and move a step ahead, he could naturally strike them.
Yet the first soul skill Le Qianqian unleashed had restrained him before he noticed the slightest warning. Her grasp of the moment to strike had been utterly flawless.
If not for Jiang Hai's monstrous strength and Bronze Coffin Martial Soul, that single mistake would have been enough for Wang Dong to eliminate him, while Wang Dong would then have been eliminated by the others surrounding her.
Although Le Qianqian's calculations had been perfectly timed, she hadn't anticipated that Jiang Hai and Wang Dong's strength would exceed their estimates. Still, that did nothing to diminish the excellence she and Wang Dong had demonstrated.
That was why Ma Xiaotao had still let Le Qianqian pass the assessment, even though she had been the first eliminated.
Battle soul masters weren't the only kind of soul master. There were support-type soul masters too. Their combat abilities weren't strong, but that didn't mean they were useless.
A ten-person free-for-all tested their ability to adapt on the fly. Showing a distinctive quality in even one area was enough to be selected.
Of course, the appearance of a freak who could fight ten people alone would certainly affect their ability to show what they could do.
But luck was also a form of strength. As long as they showed even a hint of their distinctive qualities, losing didn't matter. As for the unlucky ones who were defeated without showing anything, Ma Xiaotao wouldn't give them another chance.
Le Qianqian nodded timidly, wiped away her tears, and cast a frightened glance at Jiang Hai. Then she approached the exceptionally handsome-looking Wang Dong and asked softly, "Wang Dong, do you know where the Freshman Registration Office is?"
"I don't!" Wang Dong replied coldly.
Jiang Hai glanced at them. They would all be classmates from now on, and it wouldn't be good for their relationships to become too strained, so he said, "I know!"
"Ah!" Le Qianqian cried out and hid behind Wang Dong, looking thoroughly frightened.
Jiang Hai looked embarrassed. Was this little girl serious? Did I look like some raging flood or savage beast? Was there really any reason to be that scared?
At that moment, Chen Yong gathered his courage, walked up to Jiang Hai, and held out a hand. "Hello, my name's Chen Yong. You're Jiang Hai, right? It's nice to meet you. We'll be classmates from now on!"
Jiang Hai glared at Le Qianqian. Looking terrified, her little face went pale, and she immediately ducked behind Wang Dong. This girl...
"Hello, I'm Jiang Hai. It's nice to meet you too. You're pretty impressive!" Jiang Hai said sincerely. Although Chen Yong hadn't been able to withstand his punch either, he was the only person Jiang Hai had struck who hadn't been injured. He lacked neither strength nor courage.
Chen Yong scratched his head with an honest, good-natured look. His sturdy build hardly resembled that of a child not yet grown, but his features weren't fierce. He said sheepishly, "Not at all. You're the one who's really amazing. I couldn't even take one punch from you. Jiang Hai, I want to know why you always hit your target even though you aren't very fast. I'm strong too, though definitely not as strong as you. You're the strongest person I've ever met. But whenever I fight someone faster than me, I can never hit them!"
Wang Dong looked over curiously, and even the timid Le Qianqian poked half her adorable little head out.
Jiang Hai pondered for a moment.
Chen Yong immediately said, "Of course, if it's your secret, just pretend I never asked!"
Jiang Hai smiled. "It's not really a secret, so there's no harm in telling you. Everyone's attack trajectories can actually be predicted. You just need to calculate when your enemy will attack, work out their attack path and timing beforehand, then control the path and timing of your own attack and strike in advance!"
Le Qianqian and Wang Dong both looked thoughtful, while Chen Yong alone looked completely bewildered. "You can predict an enemy's attack path and timing beforehand? Jiang Hai, you're so smart. No wonder you're so amazing. My dad said smart people are all really capable, and it's true. Too bad my head hurts whenever I read a book. Otherwise, I could learn from you too."
In truth, soul beasts' attacks were fairly easy to predict, but humans were unpredictable. Previously, Jiang Hai hadn't been able to fully grasp everyone's attack trajectories either, so he could only focus on defense and counterattack once he had gathered enough information. But as the Golden Coffin continually enhanced his intelligence, his ability to calculate grew stronger and stronger, allowing him to handle heavy tasks with such a light touch.
"Hahaha, I took plenty of beatings at first too. Once you get used to it, things get much better. You don't need to predict every attack trajectory your enemy might take. Just do your best to defend, then look for an opening. One successful prediction is enough!" Jiang Hai could sense the sincerity in this honest, good-natured youth's heart and didn't mind giving him a little guidance.
Chen Yong nodded. "I'll remember that. Thank you!"
"Hey, are you two coming or not? We need to register!" Jiang Hai and Chen Yong were getting along swimmingly, but Wang Dong had grown impatient.
Jiang Hai shook his head and led them to the Freshman Registration Office to enroll and pay their fees. Shrek Academy's annual tuition was ten gold coins. In truth, Jiang Hai hadn't accumulated much money over the years, and after paying those ten gold coins, he really didn't have much left.
But he had heard that the three great empires provided soul masters with a monthly subsidy. The policy had existed for ten thousand years, though in the past, Spirit Hall had distributed the payments.
Jiang Hai harbored little ill will toward Spirit Hall as an organization. Although Spirit Hall had already been destroyed, it couldn't truly be called wholly evil. At the very least, in Spirit Hall's era, cases of children only awakening their martial souls at eight years old wouldn't have occurred. Spirit Hall had valued soul masters greatly in those days.
After registering and paying the fees, Jiang Hai's enrollment was complete, and he officially became a member of Shrek Academy.
Jiang Hai sighed. He hadn't expected that, through a strange twist of fate, he would still end up joining Shrek Academy.
"Jiang Hai, now that we've registered, are you going back to the dorm?" Chen Yong asked.
Jiang Hai nodded. He lived in Room 109, and Chen Yong shared his room, while Wang Dong was in Room 108. If Jiang Hai remembered correctly, Huo Yuhao was also in that room? Le Qianqian was the only girl among the four. All the freshmen's rooms were in the same dormitory building, but the girls lived on the fourth floor and above, while the boys lived on the first, second, and third floors.
"Then let's go together!" Chen Yong said happily.
After Jiang Hai and the others left the fourth assessment area, a handsome middle-aged man appeared.
"Teacher, what brings you here?" Ma Xiaotao asked in surprise when she saw him.
The man was none other than Yan Shaozhe, and Ma Xiaotao was his disciple.
Yan Shaozhe nodded and looked in the direction Jiang Hai and the others had left. "Xiaotao, what do you think of those youngsters just now?"
Ma Xiaotao thought for a moment before saying, "Wang Dong is mysterious. Her martial soul is the Light Goddess Butterfly, unquestionably a top-tier martial soul. And with one yellow and one purple soul ring, she clearly comes from an extraordinary background. Jiang Hai is strange. He looks perfectly ordinary, but his strength is astonishing. Although he only has one soul ring, it probably isn't an ordinary three- or four-hundred-year ring. A ring of that age couldn't possibly enhance him enough to take Wang Dong's first soul skill head-on. Also, his soul power doesn't seem to meet the requirement. He probably hasn't reached rank fifteen-rank fourteen at most. Chen Yong is honest and good-natured, and his talent, strength, and temperament are all quite good. If he hadn't encountered Wang Dong and Jiang Hai, he probably would have been the brightest of the lot. As for Le Qianqian, she seems timid, but her ability to seize opportunities is extremely strong. In a team, someone like her will either be completely useless or seize the critical moment and turn the battle around outright. She's a rare talent too."
Ma Xiaotao held all four who had passed this time in high regard.
Yan Shaozhe said, "Your assessment is very accurate, but you think Wang Dong is the most outstanding of the four, don't you?"
Ma Xiaotao nodded, looked at Yan Shaozhe, and asked, "Teacher, isn't that the case?"
Yan Shaozhe shook his head and smiled. "That's why I say your eye for talent still falls short of Lexuan's!"
Ma Xiaotao asked in confusion, "Teacher, what do you mean by that? I admit Jiang Hai is truly outstanding, but the higher his rank rises, the smaller his advantage in strength will become. Besides, his soul power is too low. One look is enough to tell that his talent as a soul master is average. Although Wang Dong might not be his match right now, the gap between them will only grow wider in the future."
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