The next day brought the same familiar routine and the same familiar flavor.
After Du Weilun, the director of studies for the Outer Academy's Martial Soul Department, finished calling roll, it was time to draw lots. This was only the Freshman Assessment, after all, so there were no elaborate ceremonies.
Huo Yuhao stepped forward to draw a lot on his team's behalf. This time, the sixty-four teams participating in the elimination rounds were divided into thirty-two matches, using a one-on-one solo format.
This format was also the most ruthless, because every team had only one chance, with no room for error whatsoever.
One match was scheduled each morning and another each afternoon. Eliminated teams went straight back to class, while the winning teams stayed to continue competing. The final top three would be decided over three days.
The students had been given a day to rest yesterday, and Shrek Academy had also finished modifying the Assessment Zone. After all, they only needed to reposition the partitions.
The original fifty battlefields had been rearranged into sixteen areas. Each area was now several times larger, giving the students in the elimination rounds much more room to maneuver.
Once the draw ended, the round of sixty-four began immediately, with all thirty-two matches taking place simultaneously.
This shortened the assessment as much as possible, giving the victorious students ample time to rest before their afternoon matches.
With Huo Yuhao, the child of the plane, personally drawing their lot, they were assigned to Area Fifteen this time. Their proctor had changed as well. This time, it was a kindly-looking female teacher in her thirties.
The lots only bore numbers, so they had no idea who their opponents would be. But the moment Huo Yuhao reached the battlefield and took a look, he grew excited.
Fuck, talk about enemies meeting on a narrow road! Their opponents were actually the only other team from Freshman Class One to reach the elimination rounds besides Wang Dong's team.
The instant the three opponents entered the battlefield, their faces twisted into expressions more bitter than bitter melons.
Huo Yuhao and his teammates knew all three opposing students. Apparently, one had even tried to challenge Wang Dong before, but after she beat him up in private, he had learned to behave.
"Wu Feng, take a break this round. I've got this!" Huo Yuhao rolled his wrists with a wicked grin as he walked toward the three unlucky souls opposite him.
Three minutes later, all three members of Freshman Class One's team lay motionless on the ground. They had not even seen when Huo Yuhao struck before a heavy punch landed on the back of each of their heads.
"Freshman Class Nine, Huo Yuhao's team wins!"
At the entrance to the Assessment Zone, Zhou Yi stared at Huo Yuhao with a dark expression. Huo Yuhao chuckled at her, then turned and walked straight out of the Assessment Zone.
Mu Jin, who had been watching from the sidelines, walked over to Zhou Yi and said with a soft chuckle, "Now Class One only has one team left in the elimination rounds. If that team loses, then..."
"I don't need you to remind me! Mind your own business!" Zhou Yi roared.
"A cornered beast's last struggle... Heh..." Mu Jin shook his head disdainfully and left the Assessment Zone as well.
The round of thirty-two in the Freshman Assessment's elimination tournament officially began in the Assessment Zone as the afternoon class bell rang.
Compared with the morning, only half the participating students remained. After another draw, they immediately headed to their assigned areas to compete.
A raised platform supported by six metal pillars had been erected on the northern side of the Assessment Zone.
The platform stood a full twenty meters above the ground, with indistinct figures suggesting that quite a few people were watching from up there. From that height, they could overlook the entire Assessment Zone and clearly observe the matches on every battlefield.
By coincidence, Battlefield Seven, where Huo Yuhao's team was competing, lay directly in front of the platform. Huo Yuhao could faintly sense the powerful spiritual pressure emanating from above. Those spectators were undoubtedly all senior figures at Shrek Academy.
"Elder Xuan Zi, you're here." On the platform, Wang Yan respectfully approached Xuan Zi and greeted him in a low voice.
"Mm." Xuan Zi merely grunted before going back to ravenously devouring his large roast chicken.
Wang Yan pointed to Class Nine's team below and introduced them. "The Huo Yuhao I mentioned to you before is over there, and..."
Before he could finish, Xuan Zi impatiently waved the enormous chicken leg in his hand and said in a deep voice, "I can see for myself. No need to pour your bewitching potion into my ears."
"Yes." Wang Yan dared not say anything more and stepped aside.
Huo Yuhao's opponents this time looked rather peculiar. As soon as the three entered the battlefield, they lined up side by side, with a tall, fat boy standing in the middle.
The boy was at least 1.7 meters tall, and his waist measured 1.7 meters around as well. He looked like a water vat that had come to life. Against his enormous bulk, his two teammates looked like a pair of skeletons, so slender that it bordered on absurd.
"Both sides, state your names. Prepare for the match," the proctor said sternly.
The mountain of flesh abruptly slapped his chest, making all his fat jiggle. "My name is Xie Huanyue, Freshman Class Two."
"Freshman Class Two, Luo Tianlong."
"Freshman Class Two, Luo Tianba."
Huo Yuhao exchanged a glance with Wu Feng and asked with a quiet laugh, "Do you want to gnaw on this mountain of flesh, or try your hand against those two brothers?"
Wu Feng had already felt a little nauseated at the sight of Xie Huanyue, who resembled a mountain of flesh. Huo Yuhao's words nearly made her throw up.
What do you mean, gnaw on this mountain of flesh? You certainly have a way with metaphors.
"I'll take the two-on-one. He's yours!" Wu Feng said coldly.
"All right, all right, whatever you say." Huo Yuhao laughed and gave his name to their opponents as well. At the proctor's command, the battle for a place in the final sixteen officially began.
"Hah!"
Xie Huanyue's body suddenly began expanding, his height shooting from 1.7 meters to over 1.9 meters. His skin instantly turned pitch-black, and he pounded his chest with both fists, producing two loud thuds, before charging toward Huo Yuhao's team with great strides.
Two yellow Soul Rings and one purple Soul Ring circled his body-the ideal Soul Ring configuration.
Huo Yuhao's team stuck to their usual routine. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda boosted their speed, while Wu Feng activated Dragon's Fire and rushed forward to engage the Luo brothers directly. Huo Yuhao flashed forward and stood in front of Xie Huanyue.
"Hey, big guy, stop right there. I'm your opponent," Huo Yuhao said with a faint smile.
Yet Xie Huanyue smiled as well. Looking at Huo Yuhao's small frame, which seemed like the scrawniest of scrawny pups compared with his own, he shook his head lightly. "No, you've got it wrong. You're not my opponent."
His first soul ring lit up, and Xie Huanyue shot into the sky like a Soul Tool shell, leaping a full ten meters into the air.
Then he curled his fat body into a ball and hurtled like an enormous fleshy meteor toward Ning Tian, who stood at the very back.
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