Recruit First, Then Form a Team

After removing Ma Xiaotao's Mental Imprint, Huo Yuhao returned directly to the classroom for lessons. Over the past three months, aside from Huo Yuhao himself, everyone else had made considerable progress.

Excluding Huo Yuhao's small group, one student in Class Nine had even broken through to Rank 30, becoming an official Soul Elder and the class monitor of Class Nine. This showed that Mujin's teaching ability was indeed far superior to that of teachers from the other classes.

Mujin never blindly made the entire class undergo physical training. Instead, she developed their strengths to the fullest extent possible.

In this era when Soul Tools were about to gain recognition and acceptance among Soul Masters, the proper path was to continuously strengthen a Soul Master's inherent advantages while using Soul Tools to compensate for their shortcomings.

In the near future, large-scale war would become the theme of this continent. A balanced set of individual abilities could not determine the outcome of a war.

Take the Support Type and Food System Soul Masters, who had always been well protected by the military. Rather than training their physical fitness and willpower, it would be better to further optimize their role on the battlefield. People always said that enemies would not spare you just because you were a non-combat Soul Master. But looking at it from another angle, if my main force and the guards protecting the rear were all kept alive through my support, what gave you the right to approach and kill me? It would already be merciful if I did not crush you first.

As the times advanced, individual heroism would eventually become history. This was also the trend of technological productivity evolving. Whenever Mujin spoke of these theories, even Huo Yuhao, who had never liked listening in class, would unconsciously pay close attention and offer his own views.

Thus, Huo Yuhao became the student Mujin both loved and hated most.

Because his Spiritual Power far surpassed that of his peers, even when Huo Yuhao's mind wandered during Mujin's lectures, he could use his Spiritual Power to gather the theories she taught and absorb them as his own knowledge. This was what led to such an oddity as Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao had never seriously listened through an entire lesson, yet he could score nearly full marks in every written theory examination. The few points he lost were usually due to differences between his own views and those of the teachers.

The complete opposite was Xie Huanyue, the only Soul Ancestor among the new students. Though Xie Huanyue listened attentively most of the time, his theory examinations were a complete mess. He would forget what had just been taught the moment he turned around, then start savoring the memory of last night's grilled meat...

"Today's specialty training class is suspended." Standing behind the podium, Mujin's beautiful face still wore its serene and gentle expression. Whenever it was her class, nearly every male student sat ramrod straight, unwilling to look away even for a moment.

"Three months have passed since the beginning of the school term. You will soon face your first assessment since entering Shrek Academy. Only by passing it can you officially become first-year students and truly become members of Shrek Academy. If nothing unexpected happens, you will be able to remain at the academy to cultivate, at least until the first-year graduation examination. The assessment will begin tomorrow, so today I will first explain the key points."

Mujin's voice was as calm as ever. Her gaze swept across the 101 students below, and she was quite satisfied. The quality of this batch of students might not be much better than that of previous batches, but after these three months of instruction, their future potential would definitely not be inferior to that of students from any other class.

"Team battles. That's right, the freshman assessment is a battle assessment. And every single one of you must participate. I know that the Tool Soul Masters among you, especially Support Type and Food System Tool Soul Masters, may find it strange. Why must you participate in battle as well? I did not misspeak. You must indeed appear on the battlefield, just like Battle Soul Masters. Although Shrek Academy cultivates well-rounded talents, the most important thing is still your ability on the battlefield. On the first day of school, I said that with the emergence of Soul Tools, the classifications of Soul Masters had become blurred. Even if you are a Support Type or Food System Tool Soul Master, you can still unleash formidable combat strength through Soul Tools. But where will your combat instincts come from? Can any Soul Master simply be given a Soul Tool, then foolishly sent onto the battlefield and expected to survive? Of course not. Combat ability must come from combat. Therefore, every one of you must undergo a combat assessment."

"Of course, the academy will never have Support Type Tool Soul Masters compete against Assault System Battle Soul Masters. That would be unfair to you. Therefore, the freshman assessment will be conducted in the form of team battles. However, the teams will not be large. This year's team battle format has been set at three people per team, which is already a high standard for achieving a certain degree of coordination at your age. When forming teams, there may be at most one Assault System Battle Soul Master. The other two members may be arranged freely. Students from the same dormitory will be considered for placement on the same team first. Everyone else may form teams freely. Those who fail to form their own teams will be assigned by drawing lots."

"The freshman assessment will be held across the entire year. Since our academy has accumulated quite a number of students over the years, nearly three hundred teams will be participating in this freshman assessment. However, only half of them will remain—namely, the top 150 teams. The rankings will be determined by the points earned in your battle matches."

"The matches will be determined by drawing lots, and every team must participate in at least ten battles. Rankings will ultimately be based on the number of victories. The top sixty-four teams will then enter the elimination rounds. The top four teams in the elimination rounds will receive different rewards. The champion team's reward will be exceedingly rare."

Every student listened with rapt attention. To them, the freshman assessment was the key to whether they could remain. If they were eliminated, they could only return and choose a lesser academy. They would likely never become top-tier powerhouses of the Douluo Continent. They had already worked hard for three months, and no one wanted to be eliminated at this point.

Mujin looked around at the seats and said, "Our class currently has 101 students. We can form thirty-three teams, with two students left over. Tomorrow morning, I will submit the registration. I hope you can make your own arrangements tonight. Otherwise, you will be expelled directly for missing this assessment."

"As for the two extra students, after communicating with the other classes, a new student will soon be transferred into our class. So no one needs to worry about becoming one of the two people without teammates."

Hearing Mujin's highly democratic decision, the freshmen who already got along well in small groups immediately gathered together and began forming their own small teams, so long as they did not violate the requirements.

Compared to Zhou Yi's arbitrary arrangements for Class One in the original story, the three people placed together might have been able to complement one another in ability, but their unfamiliarity with each other or private conflicts could instead easily cause internal team problems during the assessment.

Ning Tian and the other two girls had long agreed to form a team together. Huo Yuhao likewise had his own arrangements.

In the entire class, only Xie Huanyue and Huo Yuhao had received no team invitations. Over the past three months, some people had initially tried to recruit the former because of his Soul Power Level, but perhaps because he had awakened the Sun God Ape martial soul, Xie Huanyue's personality had become increasingly unruly. He was extremely unreliable and would even make trouble without explanation on certain occasions, completely ruining his reputation.

As for Huo Yuhao, his usual image as a playboy had already made him the public enemy of all the boys.

Soon, the dismissal bell rang.

"Huo Yuhao, Xie Huanyue, you two stay behind. Everyone else, class dismissed!" Mujin ended the discussion and announced the end of class.

Xie Huanyue had no idea what was going on. Looking listless, he followed behind Huo Yuhao. He was so hungry his chest was nearly sticking to his back.

Mujin looked at Huo Yuhao among the two students who had remained and smiled. "I've recruited the person for you. As for what you intend to do with them, that depends on you."

Huo Yuhao's eyes lit up. After Mujin's continuous persuasion over the past three months, the person he wanted had finally agreed to transfer to Class Nine.

At that moment, a graceful figure entered through the classroom door and gave Mujin, who stood at the podium, a slight bow. "Hello, Teacher Mujin."

She was a girl with pink hair. Her beautiful face bore a pitifully delicate look, and she possessed an innate seductive charm. Who knew what sort of devastating beauty she would become once she grew up?

"You're Huo Yuhao?" The girl turned to look at a certain Huo, who wore a mischievous smile, her lovely face carrying a faint hint of scrutiny.

The freshman assessment was about to begin! Guess who the new addition was! Huo Hang's new team would have a name that everyone would never expect. Interested readers, feel free to guess! I'm not fooling you today—three chapters will be posted. Happy April Fools' Day!