Battle Test

Early the next morning, Tang Wulin got out of bed early and left the dormitory.

After breakfast, Tang Wulin wandered around the Academy for a while before heading to the classroom.

He had no desire to get surrounded again by those girls who had ulterior motives toward him.

As he passed Sea God Lake, he instinctively sniffed the air.

"Hm? Why do I smell something burnt?"

He turned toward the source of the smell and subconsciously sucked in a cold breath.

"Did some Senior or Senior Sister from the Inner Court fight here?!"

A large Open Space had appeared by Sea God Lake, continuously giving off heat. It had clearly been scorched by flames of an extremely High Temperature, while the wild grass around it had turned yellow and looked ready to wither.

In stark contrast to the Open Space was the surface of Sea God Lake.

At some point, a thick layer of ice had formed over it, stretching nearly ten meters from the shore toward the Inner Court.

This scene of clashing ice and fire could only make him think that two soul masters had just fought here, and neither of them could have been low-level.

At that moment, the preparatory bell rang, interrupting Tang Wulin's thoughts.

"Ah, damn it. Class is about to start. I need to hurry."

He could only toss aside his speculation and rush toward the classroom again.

Fortunately, the preparatory bell left plenty of time. Tang Wulin arrived at the classroom with two minutes to spare, avoiding the fate of being late.

As soon as he entered the classroom, he spotted Huo Yutong sitting in the front row. He walked over, sat in the empty seat beside her, and struck up a conversation.

"Yutong, did you notice anything strange about Sea God Lake when you came here?"

Huo Yutong's gaze drifted for an instant before she gently shook her head.

"I didn't see anything. What happened there?"

"There were obvious traces of a battle between ice and fire attributes." Tang Wulin said excitedly, "Do you think some Seniors and Senior Sisters from the Inner Court fought there?"

Huo Yutong shook her head again.

"I don't think so. The Inner Court should have dedicated sparring grounds too. Even if the Seniors and Senior Sisters wanted to spar, they wouldn't come to the shore of Sea God Lake in the Outer Court."

"That's true." Tang Wulin accepted her reasoning. "Then what do you think happened?"

Huo Yutong fell silent for a moment, then suddenly revealed an unfathomable smile.

"I'm not sure either. Maybe some Senior Sister from the Inner Court came to the Outer Court and went crazy, only to be dealt with by some kindhearted Outer Court disciple?"

"?"

A question mark seemed to float over Tang Wulin's head.

He remembered that one needed to be at least a Soul King to enter the Inner Court. Did the Outer Court really have students capable of dealing with an enemy like that?

And if it really had been an Inner Court Senior Sister, her cultivation was hard to say. If she were a Soul Emperor, her Combat Power might not even be weaker than his former Teacher, Wu Zhangkong.

He did not think any student in the Outer Court could Contend with an enemy of that level.

Just then, the class bell rang. Wang Yan clapped his hands on the platform, drawing the entire class's attention.

"Students, come with me to the Training Ground. We won't be learning anything new today. We're having Combat Class."

At the mention of "Combat Class," the atmosphere in the classroom immediately became lively.

Zhou Sichen raised his hand high.

"Teacher, how are we doing this?"

"Good question." Wang Yan carefully explained as he led the students toward the Training Ground. "In a moment, I'll arrange for you to form teams of two and compete against one another. The goal is to help you become familiar with each other's abilities, prepare for the Freshman Assessment in Three Months, and train your practical combat abilities."

Tang Wulin asked curiously.

"Why do we have to form teams of two?"

He was familiar with Combat Class. His first class at Eastsea Academy had been a Combat Class.

But that class had been one-on-one duels, clearly very different from this one.

"Because one-on-one fights would be unfair to some students." Wang Yan patiently said, "There are quite a few Support Type and Food System students in our class. Asking those two types of soul masters to fight head-on would be too demanding, so I'll group them with some Control System students who currently lack frontal combat ability. They'll team up with students from the Assault System and Agility Attack Type. That would be more appropriate."

"I see."

Tang Wulin suddenly understood.

What Wang Yan said made a great deal of sense. Take Huo Yutong beside him, for example. In terms of support and battlefield control alone, even many Soul Grand Masters were inferior to her. But when it came to frontal combat ability, tragedy was the only way to describe her current situation.

Without exaggeration, Tang Wulin would not even need five seconds to defeat her.

Thus, the Teacher and students chatted as they arrived at the Training Ground.

It was already the second day since the freshmen had enrolled, and many classes had placed physical training on their schedules. There were therefore quite a few classes on the Training Ground.

Tang Wulin even spotted Wang Dong. Her blue-pink hair was simply too eye-catching.

After watching for a moment, he realized she seemed to be running laps.

Tang Wulin frowned.

Hadn't she run yesterday? Why was she still running laps today?

Unfortunately, he clearly had no chance to go ask Wang Dong about it now. Wang Yan had already begun dividing the groups.

"Tang Wulin."

"Here!"

Upon hearing his name, Tang Wulin instinctively responded and stepped forward.

Wang Yan glanced at him and pointed to the left.

"Assault System. Go."

Tang Wulin hesitated before saying, "But Teacher, my Martial Soul is Bluesilver Grass. Shouldn't I be Control System?"

The moment he said that, the expressions of the surrounding students changed.

His Martial Soul was Bluesilver Grass? Then where had that terrifying strength come from?

Wang Yan pushed up his glasses.

"The basis for classifying soul masters isn't their Martial Soul, but their fighting style. Given your circumstances, no matter what your Martial Soul is, you can only be Assault System. Go."

"Understood."

Tang Wulin did not object further and stood on Wang Yan's left as instructed.

He felt Wang Yan made sense. His main way of using Bluesilver Grass now was to whip people with it. No matter how he looked at it, that did not resemble a Control System soul master.

With the Golden Dragon King Bloodline empowering him, even if his first Martial Soul were a leaf, he could use it as an Assault System Martial Soul.

After assigning the oddball Tang Wulin to the Assault System, Wang Yan continued calling names.

This time, however, he mainly classified the students according to their own preferences.

As expected, Huo Yutong was classified among the Control System students who temporarily lacked combat ability and sent to the right.

Soon, Wang Yan finished the classifications. He closed the roll book and said, "Next, find your own partners. Remember, everyone's partner must come from the other side. Assault System students are not allowed to team up with Agility Attack Type, Defense System, or Control System students who possess combat ability. You have five minutes. Begin."

Author's Note

Starting tomorrow, Qian Duoduo will arrange for someone to deliver every meal to the dining hall. Tang Wulin can claim his food by showing his New Student Badge.

Also, I consider Tang Wulin an Assault System soul master. Calling him Control System feels a little absurd. If he counts as Control System, then Wang Dong's old line about using Assault System attacks for control might not have been unreasonable after all. (laughs)