Of course, Ning Tian would have preferred to stay with Wu Feng, her close friend, but she needed the freshman assessment championship even more to prove herself to her family and secure her position as its heir.
Compared with its heyday ten thousand years ago, when it had boasted two Super Douluo elders, the present Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had fallen far.
But with the powerful money-making ability of treasure appraisal, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect might decline, but it would never perish.
Likewise, as a top-tier major sect of its time, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had incredibly fierce struggles among the heirs within its family.
Although Ning Tian was the designated heir to become the next sect master and was sufficiently talented, having already cultivated to become a three-ring Soul Elder before turning twelve,
as a girl, she could not spread the family's branches and leaves the way a man could, and thus faced even greater pressure.
So she needed to keep proving herself, proving that she deserved that position.
And the freshman assessment was one of the best opportunities to prove herself after coming to Shrek Academy.
Ning Tian had watched Nan Zhuliu's soul battle with Xu Sanshi that day.
If it had only been Nan Zhuliu, Ning Tian felt that, with her three-ring cultivation and Wu Feng's help, she could still contend for the freshman assessment championship.
But when she saw the pair of heirs in Freshman Class Five, from the Star Luo Empire's White Tiger Duke's Estate and Zhu Clan, who possessed an inherited Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Ning Tian immediately felt her pressure multiply and finally decided to join forces with Nan Zhuliu.
As for Wu Feng, with her strength, passing the freshman assessment would be as easy as eating and drinking, so Ning Tian could choose Nan Zhuliu without any psychological burden.
Nan Zhuliu laughed, however. "Then here's the question. With my strength, I could easily win the freshman assessment championship even without taking anyone along. Why should I team up with you?"
Ning Tian was not annoyed. Able to easily defeat Xu Sanshi, who had the cultivation of a Soul Elder, Nan Zhuliu did indeed have the capital to be so arrogant.
"If you can lead me to the freshman assessment championship, as the heir to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, I can certainly give you a reward you'll find satisfactory."
"I wouldn't say our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has wealth to rival a nation, but it certainly ranks among the wealthiest top-tier sects on the Douluo Continent."
"That sounds very tempting. I just don't know whether you can meet my demand."
Seeing an opportunity, Ning Tian immediately said, "This isn't the place to talk. Let's find somewhere to sit down and discuss it properly."
"After you."
Over the past three months, Huo Lingtong had successfully become the class monitor of Freshman Class One through her own perseverance and hard work. She was collecting the forms listing the Class One students' cultivation directions.
Suddenly, Huo Lingtong seemed to catch a familiar figure out of the corner of her eye.
She instinctively looked up and saw Nan Zhuliu walking past the Class One classroom, chatting and laughing with an unfamiliar girl.
Huo Lingtong froze for a moment. Zhuliu...
Wang Dong saw it too and gave a couple of indignant huffs.
Arriving at Sea God Lake, Nan Zhuliu stated his condition: help him obtain the Soul-Devouring Carving Knife.
One hundred thousand gold soul coins-he believed that, for Ning Tian, heir to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, it would be no more than a sprinkle of water.
Ning Tian pressed her lips together. "I can help you obtain this Soul-Devouring Carving Knife you mentioned, but I need to know whether you have the confidence to win the freshman assessment championship."
"To be frank, among this year's freshmen are two students carrying the legacies of ancient families from the Star Luo Empire. One of those families was even once the Star Luo Empire's imperial family."
"I suspect they possess their families' inherited Martial Soul Fusion Skill, which would allow them to briefly unleash strength an entire major realm above their own."
With Ning Tian putting it so plainly, how could Nan Zhuliu fail to guess whom she meant?
It was none other than the pair, Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu.
Nan Zhuliu said nothing. With a thought, three Soul Rings-purple, purple, black-slowly rose from beneath his feet, erupting with terrifying Soul Power fluctuations that made hearts tremble.
"That should be enough confidence, shouldn't it?"
Dumbstruck, Ning Tian stared blankly at the almost impossible Soul Ring configuration before her.
How could anyone have a Thousand-Year Soul Ring as their first Soul Ring, and even a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring, which, under normal circumstances, only Soul Masters whose cultivation had reached rank fifty could absorb?
This was simply too unbelievable.
Seeing that she remained silent for so long, Nan Zhuliu tilted his head. "If you're still worried..."
Nan Zhuliu flicked a finger.
Boom!
A towering wave dozens of meters high instantly rose over Sea God Lake, churning the entire visible expanse of the lake into violent upheaval, as though mountains were shaking and the earth were quaking.
The excitement Ning Tian had only just managed to calm surged and plunged again like a roller coaster.
The strength Nan Zhuliu had displayed far exceeded her understanding of a three-ring Soul Elder.
Even a Soul King expert probably could not match the might of that casual strike.
"Well?" Nan Zhuliu asked.
Once Ning Tian's thoughts were called back, she gave him a deep look. "I'll get what you want into your hands as soon as possible."
"Please keep my affairs confidential."
Ning Tian nodded. "I will."
Watching Nan Zhuliu's departing figure, Ning Tian felt mountains collapsing and tsunamis surging in her heart.
She had never imagined that such a monster had actually come to Shrek.
If she could recruit Nan Zhuliu into the sect, wouldn't her position as heir be secure?
But Ning Tian quickly dismissed the idea.
A family capable of raising a monster like Nan Zhuliu surely possessed extraordinary strength.
Yet she had never heard of a clan surnamed Nan with an inherited dragon Martial Soul. Could it be some powerful hidden faction?
Afterward, with Ning Tian's guarantee, Nan Zhuliu sold his last teammate slot for another one hundred thousand gold soul coins.
Although it was only a nominal position, it guaranteed passage through the freshman assessment and came with the title of first place. People practically fell over themselves to give him money, arriving in an endless stream.
"Zhuliu, what you said was right. Today, when we were dividing into groups for the freshman assessment, Teacher Zhou sent a student straight off to the Soul Tool Department. She even threatened that if he didn't go to the Soul Tool Department, he could pack his bags and leave."
Huo Lingtong was deeply worried. "If I fail to become a core disciple of the Martial Soul Department, will Teacher Zhou send me off to the Soul Tool Department like that too?"
Nan Zhuliu thought it over. In the original story, Huo Yuhao had failed to become a core disciple because his first Soul Ring was a Ten-Year Soul Ring, and because Zhou Yi, wanting him to transfer smoothly from the Martial Soul Department to the Soul Tool Department, had concealed from Du Weilun the fact that he had advanced from rank eleven to rank seventeen in just three months.
But now, Huo Lingtong's first Soul Ring had become a "Hundred-Year Soul Ring." If Zhou Yi did not play any tricks, her becoming a core disciple of the Martial Soul Department would be nailed firmly to the board.
"With your qualifications, you can definitely become a core disciple of the Martial Soul Department. Don't worry."
Huo Lingtong knew that Nan Zhuliu had said this more to comfort her than anything else, but she still felt considerably reassured.
"I'll work hard to pass the freshman assessment and become a core disciple of the Martial Soul Department."