Luck or strength?

During the round-robin stage, the seeded team from the Ninth District actually lost!

Granted, Jiang Hai's team had hardly won fair and square. In fact, quite a few teams had not even seen how they won.

Four Soul Masters with Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial souls appeared. In the blink of an eye, the three-ring Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Master was eliminated. The other two powerful Soul Masters then fought their opponents to a standstill, only for an unexpected twist to strike as they suddenly surrounded the opposing team's last member. They lost on the spot.

"Teacher!" Mu Jin came over to the three girls, and the indignant Nanmen Yun'er, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng called out together, their expressions tinged with shame. As Class 9's seeded team, they had actually lost a match during the round-robin stage. Although this would not affect their passing the assessment, the defeat was humiliating-and they had even lost to a loser's team.

As though he had guessed what they were thinking, Mu Jin sighed softly and said, "Your defeat wasn't beyond my expectations. I simply didn't expect you to lose so decisively!"

"Teacher?" A trace of astonishment appeared in Wu Feng's eyes. Unconvinced, she said, "Teacher, if they hadn't used tricks, we definitely wouldn't have lost!"

"Definitely wouldn't have lost?" Mu Jin smiled. "Losing once isn't shameful. This is only the round-robin stage; you can win it back in the elimination rounds. What is shameful is refusing to acknowledge your defeat and failing to see your opponents' strengths."

"I checked the other team's record. They were assigned to the Forty-Ninth District, and just like you, they had won all five matches before this fight. They were transferred to the Ninth District to fight you because the Academic Affairs Office thought the six teams in the Forty-Ninth District were too weak, and there weren't enough participants there!"

Mu Jin paused, then looked at Ning Tian. "Ning Tian, you were eliminated first, and you watched the rest of the match from a spectator's perspective. Summarize this battle for us! Defeat isn't frightening. What's frightening is gaining nothing from it!"

Ning Tian reviewed the entire battle before finally saying, "You're right, Teacher. Our opponents were indeed very strong, and very cunning too. There should be a powerful Illusionist among them whose illusions can pass for reality. At the start, we fell for their illusion, which carelessly allowed them to seize the initiative and eliminate me first!"

At this point, Ning Tian remembered the kick to her backside, and her teeth practically itched with anger. Wu Feng and Nanmen Yun'er's little faces flushed red as well, their fury finding no outlet.

Mu Jin said, "The smallest of the three is called Sun Yunhai, and his martial soul is cloud. Although I don't know how he does it, he truly is a very unusual Soul Master! Shrek Academy has had Soul Masters with cloud martial souls before, but none has ever achieved what he has. In their own district, it was always this cloud martial soul user who took the stage. Using only his first Soul Skill, he defeated all five opponents in that district."

Recalling the information he had received from the Forty-Ninth District's examiner, Mu Jin could not help marveling. "These youngsters' ideas are truly ingenious. They always catch people off guard!"

Hearing Mu Jin's words, Ning Tian and the others were astonished. Even they could not defeat every opponent in their district using just one Soul Skill!

Anyone who could participate in Shrek Academy's Freshman Assessment had to be a genius. Even the weaker ones could not be all that bad. Ning Tian and the other girls could not imagine how Jiang Hai's trio had managed it.

Mu Jin continued, "Besides that cloud martial soul user, the team's other two Soul Masters aren't unknown figures either. You must have heard about the two freshmen who blocked the dormitory building and challenged other students during New Student Enrollment. Those two were the main characters in that incident!"

"What? Teacher, you're saying those two brazen lunatics were the two people on the platform just now? We actually fought them!" Wu Feng and Ning Tian had enrolled relatively late and were still a little puzzled, but Nanmen Yun'er could not help crying out in surprise.

"What lunatics?" Ning Tian asked curiously.

With excitement all over her face, Nanmen Yun'er said, "Ning Tian, you don't know this, but when we first enrolled, two guys blocked the dormitory entrance specifically to pick fights and challenge people. I heard lots of our fellow freshmen were beaten by them. One was even more outrageous-he went straight to the upperclassmen's entrance and blocked it, beating the second- and third-year students until they didn't dare show their faces. I heard it only ended when a student who was nearly in his sixth year stepped in!"

She had long heard this legend circulating among the freshmen, but she had never seen those two people. The team they had encountered today actually belonged to those two freaks.

Mu Jin added, "It wasn't quite as exaggerated as Nanmen Yun'er described. Most of the older students were preparing for their assessments, and those who stepped forward were only Soul Grandmasters. The core talents in the second and third years never took action. Still, Jiang Hai truly is blessed with exceptional talent. He was born with divine strength and boundless power, and his physique surpasses even some Soul Elders. Combined with his heavy martial soul, his strength really does rival that of a Power Attack System Battle Soul Master!"

"Chen Yong has a bear-type martial soul. Although I don't know what species of bear it is, his strength is among the best at his rank."

Mu Jin sighed before saying, "Without question, they didn't use their full strength today. That makes your performance all the more unsatisfactory. Especially you, Ning Tian. You knew perfectly well that all three of them couldn't possibly have Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial souls, yet you still let their martial souls draw too much of your attention. That was why you failed to notice the danger lurking in the shadows! A truly shrewd Soul Master never allows useless emotions to influence their judgment at any moment. In the coming battles, I expect you not only to win every match, but also to watch every single one of Jiang Hai's matches without missing any. Once the round-robin stage ends, give me a written report and include your countermeasures!"

With that, Mu Jin turned and left, though the gaze he directed at Zhou Yi held deep jealousy and hatred.

Without question, however, he was also a competent teacher who knew when to give his students the guidance they needed most.

In Shrek Academy's outer court, his teaching ability was on par with Zhou Yi's, each having their strengths. Unfortunately, whether in luck or love, Zhou Yi had always held the upper hand over him.

The assessment continued. After defeating Ning Tian's team, Jiang Hai and the others truly had no opponents left who could threaten them.

By the end of four matches, Jiang Hai's team had once again rewritten the spectators' understanding of the world.

Even though their later opponents were on guard, they still underestimated the trio's outrageous antics. In their most shameless performance, Sun Yunhai transformed directly into the referee and declared the opposing team defeated. The three innocent youngsters were instantly dumbfounded, and Jiang Hai, Chen Yong, and Sun Yunhai sent them off the platform with one kick apiece.

After that battle, the trio gained another nickname-Shrek's Three Shameless Ones!

It meant that all three of them were despicable and shameless!

Ning Tian and the other girls also came to understand how Jiang Hai's team had remained undefeated while their district was rated the weakest. Those three were truly shameless. Simulating three Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagodas had actually been one of their more decent tricks.

Still, after watching every one of Jiang Hai's matches, Ning Tian and the others had gained plenty of food for thought. At least when they faced them again, they would not fall for their tricks.

With the final battle over, the Freshman Assessment's round-robin stage finally ended. More than half of the three hundred-odd teams were eliminated in one stroke, leaving only a hundred and fifty.

Of those, sixty-four teams would advance to the next round to compete for rankings!

The matches were over, and Jiang Hai and the others were just about to head back when Zhou Yi approached them. A hint of a smile appeared on her perpetually icy face as she praised them. "You three did well. Among the hundred and fifty teams that passed the assessment, only six remained undefeated. Your perfect record never surprised me. What surprised me was that you passed the assessment through your wits alone, without losing a single match."

Although some people disapproved of the trio gaining a perfect record through clever tricks, Zhou Yi did not mind in the slightest. Strategy was part of strength, too. Besides, Jiang Hai's team had defeated Ning Tian's team, which included a Soul Elder above Level 30. Could they really have done that without strength?

However, Zhou Yi's expression quickly returned to its usual calm. "You performed well during this stage, but you mustn't grow careless. Besides Ning Tian's team, at least three other freshman teams pose a threat to your championship!"

As she spoke, Zhou Yi's expression turned rather grim. Had they not encountered Ning Tian's team early, she would never have realized that two other classes also had specially admitted students concealing their cultivation. Both had already reached the strength of Soul Elders above Level 30, and both were Power Attack System Battle Soul Elders.

A Support System Soul Elder was more valuable than a Power Attack System Battle Soul Elder. If her teammates were also powerful Soul Elders, the team would surely be invincible. But if a Support System Soul Elder's teammates were merely Soul Grandmasters, they certainly could not compare with a team built around a Power Attack System Battle Soul Elder. After all, the Support System was a martial soul cultivation path that depended on teammates.

Zhou Yi sighed. "And you're familiar with the other team as well. It's Huo Yuhao's team from your own class. In the final ranking stage, there won't be any rule preventing classmates from facing each other. Sixteen teams from our class have advanced to the next round, and you're bound to encounter teams from your own class! Jiang Hai, you're the strongest. I hope you'll promise me this: when you face a team from our class, I won't ask you to go easy on them. That would be an insult to Shrek Academy. I only ask that you give them a sufficiently spectacular battle and let them see what true strength is!"