Next came the class assignments. The entire first year would be divided into four classes.
Class One consisted of assault-type and control-type battle Soul Masters, Class Two of defense-type and agility-attack-type battle Soul Masters, and Class Three of support-type Soul Masters. The final class, Class Four, consisted of various mixed-type Soul Masters.
Lin Mo and the other three were undoubtedly assigned to the strongest class, Class One. Their homeroom teachers were still two familiar faces, Zhou Yi and Wang Yan.
"All right, everyone, return to the teaching building with your respective homeroom teachers according to the new class assignments. Lin Mo, the four of you, come with me to collect your reward."
At those words, the four immediately followed.
The director's office, in the teachers' office area.
Du Weilun sat down at the desk or in the teacher's chair. Before presenting the academy's secret reward, he first explained to Huo Yuhao why the Martial Soul Department had not selected him as a core disciple.
It was because the Soul Tool Department had already reserved him.
"Huo Yuhao, you don't need to feel burdened. The treatment of core disciples in the Soul Tool Department is no worse than in the Martial Soul Department."
So that was it!
Huo Yuhao abruptly raised his head. Light returned to his previously hollow eyes, and the blackening meter above his head, which had nearly gone off the charts, instantly reset to zero.
"Thank you, Teacher! I'll work hard!"
Huo Yuhao bowed deeply, his voice trembling slightly.
Lin Mo also let out a long breath.
Thank goodness. My life and innocence were safe for the time being.
Du Weilun waved a hand and wasted no more words. A huge ruby ring on his right hand flashed, and a leather pouch appeared in his hand. He passed it to Huo Yuhao.
"I applied to the academy to make an exception and give you this reward. Open it and take a look."
Hearing that, Huo Yuhao immediately opened the pouch.
Without warning, a ball of yellow light emerged from the pouch and slowly floated into the air under their astonished gazes.
It was a small bone, seemingly only a palm's length, giving off a faint yellow glow. The dense Soul Power fluctuations around it made the air throughout the office grow viscous.
"A Soul Bone?!"
Lin Mo was genuinely startled.
From Du Weilun's explanation, Lin Mo also learned that this Soul Bone was actually a Wild Soul Bone!
A Soul Master could possess no more than seven Soul Bones. Among them, torso bones were the most precious, while External Soul Bones were the rarest.
In his previous life, Lin Mo had possessed Soul Bones for every part except his skull, but almost all of them had been Secret Method Soul Bones. Only his torso bone had been a Wild Soul Bone, and even that had been given to him by Xu Yuwan.
There was a vast difference between Wild Soul Bones and Secret Method Soul Bones.
Secret Method Soul Bones were artificially consolidated products that provided only a permanent five-percent boost to Soul Power. Unlike Wild Soul Bones, they did not come with exclusive soul skills.
Their only advantage was their extremely high compatibility: they could serve as fusion mediums to help Wild Soul Bones complete their fusion.
The Wild Soul Bone Lin Mo had fused with in his previous life had come from an eighty-thousand-year-old Chongming Bird. Its exclusive soul skill was called "Return to Yang," and it could forcibly restore a sliver of health when his health bar emptied.
It was precisely thanks to this soul skill that Lin Mo had narrowly escaped the assassination attempt targeting Xu Yuwan and fled into the Star Luo Empire.
After accepting the Soul Bone, the four said goodbye to Du Weilun.
As soon as they stepped outside, all four stopped in unison. Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong'er, and Xiao Xiao exchanged a glance, then said together, "Lin Mo, this Soul Bone is yours."
Without allowing any argument, Huo Yuhao directly stuffed the Soul Bone into Lin Mo's arms.
Lin Mo stared at the Soul Bone in his arms, stunned.
To be honest, with a Wild Soul Bone placed right in front of him like this, how could he possibly remain unmoved? But, for some reason, his Martial Soul was rejecting this Soul Bone.
More precisely, it was probably turning its nose up at it.
Yes, turning its nose up.
Lin Mo could feel the little emotions coming from the Martial Soul within him with absolute clarity: contempt mingled with disdain, as though it were saying:
That's it? You think that's worthy of fusing into your Lord Bird's body?
Well, nothing I can do about that.
Forcing himself to absorb it despite his Martial Soul's rejection carried an extremely high risk of backlash.
With tears in his eyes, pain in his heart, and immense reluctance, Lin Mo could only give up the Soul Bone and shove it into Xiao Xiao's hands beside him.
"This Soul Bone doesn't suit me. It's yours."
Xiao Xiao froze.
Then her little head shook like a pellet drum. "No, no! Then give it to Huo Yuhao. He needs this Soul Bone more than we do!"
But Huo Yuhao shook his head too. Looking at Xiao Xiao, he said earnestly, "I'm a spiritual-type Soul Master. A Soul Bone that boosts speed and comes with a physical attack doesn't suit me."
"Speed would help you most directly, Xiao Xiao. On the battlefield, with your speed assured, you'll be able to use your two Tool Martial Souls more safely."
"Besides, you're the one among us who needs mobility most."
After Huo Yuhao finished, Xiao Xiao did not immediately accept the Soul Bone. Instead, she turned to look at Wang Dong'er.
Wang Dong'er folded her arms and curled her lip.
"Hey, hey, you've all already decided. Why are you looking at me?"
After a pause, she lifted her chin and said with haughty petulance, "Just take it if we're giving it to you! This young lady is plenty strong. One Soul Bone more or less makes no difference!"
Warmth surged through Xiao Xiao's heart at those words, and even her little nose began to sting. She nodded firmly before solemnly putting the Soul Bone into her soul storage tool, her face full of undisguisable excitement.
"Then I won't stand on ceremony!"
The four had only just finished allocating this Soul Bone when Zhou Yi arrived to deliver another one, though this time it was a Secret Method Soul Bone.
After they discussed it and reached a unanimous decision, Huo Yuhao accepted this Secret Method Soul Bone.
However, the storm over the freshman assessment had barely subsided before a new one arose on the first day after the class assignments.
"Teacher Wang, I object!"
Wu Feng slammed the desk with a bang and stood up. "Huo Yuhao only has one ring, and his Soul Ring is only ten years old. He has no right to run for class monitor!"
"Even if he can perform Martial Soul Fusion with Lin Mo and won the freshman assessment championship, he only won it alongside Lin Mo and the others. That wasn't his individual strength. What right does he have to run for class monitor?"
Her words immediately drew support from quite a few students, especially the control-type students.
For a moment, the crowd seemed thoroughly worked up.
Although Wang Yan offered his explanation, Wu Feng refused to yield an inch, insisting that allowing a one-ring Soul Master to run for class monitor could never convince everyone.
"Don't go too far!"
Seeing Wu Feng being so overbearing, Wang Dong'er immediately lost her patience and likewise slammed her desk and stood up.
"Still bitter about losing to us in the elimination rounds? If you're so capable, you should've beaten us during the assessment!"
Wu Feng folded her arms, her face full of contempt. "Lin Mo was the one who beat me, not you. You might be one rank above me, but in a head-on assault, you wouldn't necessarily beat me."
"Bullshit!" Wang Dong'er immediately snapped. "If you've got the guts, come to the soul dueling arena with me right now!"
Seeing the situation slipping out of control, Wang Yan frowned. Just as he was about to speak, a cold voice rang out in the classroom ahead of him.
"Enough!"
The voice was not loud, but it carried a faint trace of heavenly might.
Like ice water splashed into boiling oil, it instantly suppressed the clamor filling the room.