After the upheavals of the first two days of school, Lin Mo's academy life gradually settled down.
The good news: no major surprises.
The bad news: he was surrounded by a bunch of absolute legends.
There was Huo Yuhao in the morning, then Wang Dong'er and Xiao Xiao joined them in the cafeteria at noon. When afternoon classes finally ended, Zhang Lexuan respawned at the outer courtyard library at the same time every day like an NPC.
If this had been his previous life, back when he was still in Star Luo City, he would have been delighted.
But judging by the timeline of the romantic history Zhang Lexuan had recounted in his previous life, Lin Mo deduced that, at this point, her engagement to that fiancé had not been dissolved, nor had she let go of it.
So it really was awkward.
But she was, after all, the only person he had genuinely liked in his previous life. Lin Mo could not bring himself to be too cold, so in the end, he simply gave up trying.
In the blink of an eye, the freshmen's first three months of study had passed.
Over those three months, Lin Mo felt nothing but smooth sailing in his cultivation, completely free of the bottlenecks of his previous life. With the heavenly treasures Yan Shaozhe had given him on top of that, he broke straight through to rank 29 in one fell swoop.
The first thing Lin Mo did after breaking through was find Wang Dong'er, and then...
"Down you go. The class monitor position is mine."
"Lin! Mo! You're a bastard!!"
Wang Dong'er was angry and decided not to speak to Lin Mo for a week.
One minute later:
Wait, why hadn't Lin Mo come to coax her yet?
Another minute later:
Forget it. She was magnanimous enough not to hold it against him. She would reluctantly forgive him.
Wang Dong'er said, "Fine. If you could beat this young lady, you really are outstanding, Lin Mo. I won't hold it against you. Well? Don't you feel honored?"
Lin Mo said, "...You're nuts."
Yet only a few days after Wang Dong'er dropped to vice monitor, Huo Yuhao won Zhou Yi's and the entire class's recognition through his absolute dedication and diligence, successfully booting her out again to become vice monitor.
The result was that the moment class ended, she latched onto Lin Mo's arm.
Wang Dong'er practically hung off him, tugging his arm back and forth and whimpering like a kettle coming to a boil.
"Lin Mo, tell me, what gives Huo Yuhao the right? How am I any worse than him? Waaaah..."
Lin Mo's temples throbbed as he listened.
He lowered his head and saw that the tip of Wang Dong'er's nose was red. Tears faintly pooled in her large pink-and-blue eyes, swirling on the verge of falling, and her little mouth was pouting in grievance.
His attempt to pull his hand away paused.
For a little princess like Wang Dong'er, born extraordinarily gifted and raised pampered by her family, feeling aggrieved after suddenly being outdone by an ordinary person with mediocre aptitude was only human nature.
Forget it. Why was he quibbling with a child?
So Lin Mo raised his other hand and gently rested it on top of the girl's head.
"Hey, it's all right."
With a rare show of patience, his first time speaking to her this way, he said, "The class monitor and vice monitor positions are meant to set an example for all the students."
"Huo Yuhao didn't become vice monitor because he's better than you."
Lin Mo paused, his tone earnest.
"On the contrary, you're far better than he is."
Wang Dong'er's whimpering immediately grew quieter. She tilted her face up and looked at him eagerly.
Lin Mo continued, "But as I said, those two positions are about setting an example. Huo Yuhao is dedicated and hardworking by nature, so he really is better suited to the position."
"And even if you aren't vice monitor, your strength and reputation are plain for the whole class to see."
His explanation was clear and well organized.
But when he turned his head, he found the girl staring at him without blinking, her eyes astonishingly bright. Where was there even a trace of grievance left?
"...Are you listening?"
"Yes, yes!" Wang Dong'er nodded repeatedly, gazing at him intently, her voice brimming with irrepressible delight. "Hehe, that was the first time you've ever coaxed me, Lin Mo!"
Lin Mo said, "..."
He should never have bothered worrying.
"I'm leaving."
With that, he turned and walked away, his strides swift.
"Huh? Lin Mo! Wait for me-!"
"Today's physical training class is suspended." Zhou Yi stood behind the lectern, her aged face as indifferent as ever.
Next, Zhou Yi began discussing the main event:
The freshman assessment.
At present, he could at most be considered a probationary student at Shrek Academy. Only after passing the freshman assessment would he truly become a member of Shrek Academy. The assessment would eliminate at least half the students.
For once, Zhou Yi's voice was relatively mild.
Her gaze swept over every student below, and she felt exceptionally pleased.
The caliber and willpower of this year's students were absolutely the strongest of any she had taught, and Lin Mo and Huo Yuhao, as class monitor and vice monitor, had played particularly important roles.
With the Mystic Bird as class monitor, she had been carried to victory for once, too.
"Lin Mo."
"Here," Lin Mo said, standing.
Seeing Zhou Yi beckon to him, Lin Mo walked up to the lectern, took the stack of papers she handed him, then turned and distributed them to every student in the class.
"After the freshman assessment, instruction will be tailored to your aptitudes, and you'll be reassigned to classes. Write down your future cultivation direction. I hope you little brats haven't forgotten what I taught you."
Looking at the paper in his hand, Lin Mo wrote down "power attack" without hesitation.
Wang Dong'er did the same.
Having learned from the Skydream Iceworm that he and Lin Mo were destined to be together in this life, Huo Yuhao also calmly wrote down "control system."
He believed that if it was destiny, he would not be separated from Lin Mo even if he chose the control system.
After much hesitation, Xiao Xiao also wrote down "power attack."
"Hand in those papers after class. For now, I'll explain the key points of the freshman assessment."
With that, Zhou Yi began explaining the key points of the assessment.
The freshman assessment would first eliminate half the students, but passing the preliminaries only meant earning the right to stay and study. Becoming a disciple whom the academy would focus on nurturing depended on the subsequent knockout rounds.
The academy would give different rewards to the top four teams in the knockout rounds, and the champion team's reward would be exceedingly rare and precious.
Unlike the other classes, where students could form their own teams, Class One's teams would be assigned by Zhou Yi herself.
"I'll now begin assigning teams."
"Team One: Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao."
As Zhou Yi finished speaking, the three whose names had been called stood up almost simultaneously.
The three exchanged looks.
Surprise was written on all three faces, along with undisguised disappointment.
There was no other reason: all three had wanted to be on Lin Mo's team.
In the classroom, Zhou Yi continued reading the team assignments at an unhurried pace, but even after she finished assigning all of Class One, she had not called Lin Mo's name.
This special treatment made Lin Mo's right eyelid twitch.
"Lin Mo, Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao, you four stay behind."
The four followed Zhou Yi to her office.
Zhou Yi wasted no words. After sitting down in the teacher's chair, she said bluntly, "Lin Mo, given your special circumstances, you'll be assigned to Huo Yuhao's team as a reserve member for the freshman assessment."
"Me? A reserve member??"
Lin Mo braced one hand on the desk and pointed at himself with the other, saying incredulously:
"Teacher Zhou, you mean you want me, the monitor of Freshman Class One and its strongest student, to be a reserve member???"
Zhou Yi remained expressionless. "That's right."
It was not that she looked down on Lin Mo. On the contrary, it was precisely because Lin Mo was too strong.
As the innate number one Martial Soul, the Mystic Bird's power of destiny suppressed almost every other Martial Soul.
By Zhou Yi's estimation, although Lin Mo was currently only rank 29, the actual strength he could unleash far surpassed even that of a low-ranking Soul Elder. He could form a team all by himself without any problem.
Moreover, it was no exaggeration to say:
Lin Mo himself was destiny. Wherever he was, that was where destiny's favor lay.
For Lin Mo's safety, Mu En and the few others in the know did not want him exposed too early, and had deliberately made these arrangements.