Chapter 16.2: Freshman Examination
The look in Zhou Yi’s eyes flickered a few times. This was the first time that a situation like this had occurred in Class 1, which exceeded her control. After thinking to herself for a moment, she said, “Fine, be a control system soul master if that’s your wish. It’ll also be easier for the three of you to work together in the future. Even though the freshman assessment is only your first examination within Shrek Academy, it’s very important for your future cultivation path. The only way for you to have a chance to appear in the academy’s cultivation honor roll is for you to obtain a good ranking in the freshman assessment. Being in this class, I’m optimistic about the chances that you three have. I don’t even need to mention Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao; you two alone have talents and strengths that far exceed those of the other students. As for you, Huo Yuhao, even though you have an ordinary amount of strength and talent, you have a level of willpower that ordinary people aren’t able to even strive for, as well as an extraordinary spiritual-type martial soul. Without even taking Xiao Xiao’s second martial soul into account, you three already complement each other to a certain extent. I’ll give you a mission. In the freshman assessment, you only have one target: Become the champions! If you don’t return as the champions, then so be it for Xiao Xiao. However you two, on the other hand, will have to continue following me as you cultivate.”
Huo Yuhao nodded and said, “Teacher Zhou, even if we become the champions, I’ll still be willing to follow you.”
Zhou Yi was stunned. “You foolish brat, don’t you also think that I’m extremely strict? I know what they call me in private. You don’t have to lie to me to make me happy.”
Huo Yuhao shook his head before saying seriously, “No, Teacher Zhou. I truly am willing to follow you and continue learning from you. Even though you’re a bit fierce, I can still learn many more useful things from you if I do. I’ve occasionally observed the students from other classes; their growth hasn’t been nearly as large as our class’s—at least during these past three months.”
Zhou Yi’s face finally revealed the trace of a smile. Although her aged face didn’t look even remotely pretty when she smiled, this was the first time that Huo Yuhao had felt a sense of warmth from her body.
“Alright, you three can go back and rest. Remember, you three definitely have to become the champions of the freshman assessment. Also, I can at least tell you three this: Shrek Academy has an enormous amount of wealth. Out of all the assessments the academy holds, the champions of the freshman assessment and the champions of the outer courtyard’s graduation assessment receive the most generous rewards. As for what those rewards actually are…well, you’ll naturally find out when you become the champions of the freshman assessment. Head back and make sure that you’re in top condition. I believe in your strength.”
“Yes.” They all answered her simultaneously, before proceeding to leave the classroom together.
Once they’d left, Xiao Xiao looked as if she’d finally drummed up enough courage to ask something. “Wang Dong, can I talk to you for a bit?”
However, Wang Dong waved his hand and replied, “There’s no need. Right now, I have to go back and prepare for tomorrow’s competition. You can show us how amazing your twin martial souls are when the assessment starts, Xiao Xiao.” After he finished speaking, he grabbed Huo Yuhao’s shoulder and left.
When he saw the disappointment in Xiao Xiao’s eyes, Huo Yuhao smiled at her, causing Xiao Xiao to forcefully return the smile. They were still young, so the somewhat hazy feeling that they had towards the opposite sex often was solely based on the other party’s appearance. Although Wang Dong’s rejection had caused her to be slightly disappointed, she didn’t think much more about it. She only thought inwardly to herself, “What’s so amazing about you? Just wait till the assessment starts. When it starts you’ll see just how amazing my abilities are, humph!” Her arrogance had always been hidden within the deep recesses of her heart.
“You didn’t have to be so obvious when you rejected her, did you?” Huo Yuhao teased Wang Dong.
During the past three months, the two had become very familiar with each other. To Huo Yuhao, their intense life of cultivating had only been another way to temper his body. However, his mind had experienced an unprecedented amount of relaxation. At least here, every single student within the academy was equal; he didn’t feel anything that resembled the class division that he’d previously felt when he was in the Duke’s Mansion. As his mind had relaxed, his personality had begun to turn much more cheerful. He was no longer that reticent and shy youth that he’d been when he’d just arrived.
Wang Dong curled his lip and boastfully stated, “There are several girls who’ve liked me. Don’t tell me that I should accept all of them?” After he said this, he switched to a sagely tone of voice. “We’re still young, thus we should be focusing everything on our studies. How can we have other thoughts like this? Huo Yuhao, your mentality truly is unhealthy.”
“I….” Huo Yuhao couldn’t beat him in an argument. “You win!”
Wang Dong laughed cunningly and said, “Let’s go. Since we’ve been let out early today, you roast some fish for me to eat. We’ll be formally registering for the assessment tomorrow, so I’m guessing that the assessment will only start the day after. It seems that our time to show off has finally come.”
Huo Yuhao snapped back, “You eat roasted fish everyday! Will you ever get tired of it? Not only that, but the exam is the day after tomorrow! Shouldn’t you polish your skills before the battle?”
Wang Dong humphed. “You brain-dead idiot. You only know how to cultivate. Aren’t you scared of becoming an idiot that only knows how to cultivate?”
Huo Yuhao chuckled and said, “As they say, the clumsy bird leaves early to reach the forest first. Since I’m untalented, the only thing that I can do to compensate for my weaknesses is work hard. I’m sure you know that the main reason my soulforce was able to reach the seventeenth rank was because of the pills we took. I honestly think that I wouldn’t have a very high chance of passing the assessment with another group. Teacher Zhou’s clearly taking care of me by putting me in the same group as you and Xiao Xiao. If I don’t work even harder, wouldn’t I simply be letting her kindness go to waste?”
Wang Dong curled his lips and said, “Your talent might be nothing much, but your martial soul is still quite good. Don’t worry, with myself—a genius—here, don’t talk about a few freshmen, even some second year students might not be able to beat me. When the time comes, you only need to activate your Spiritual Detection Sharing and watch me do my job from the back. With me leading our group, becoming champions will be as simple as just stretching our hands out and grabbing it.”
Huo Yuhao reminded him, “Our Shrek Academy is till the number one academy in the world. It’s always been filled with hidden dragons and crouching tigers; you can’t be too careless. However, I think that Xiao Xiao’s quite strong as well. When the time comes, you two absolutely have to work together.”
He had four amazing spiritual-type soul skills, but Wang Dong only knew of his combined Spiritual Detection Sharing. As for his hand-to-hand combat skills, although he had a slight foundation in the Tang Sect’s secret techniques, simply relying on them and the strength of his martial soul wouldn’t be enough for a fair fight. It just just as Wang Dong had said—during the upcoming assessment, his greatest use would truly be his Spiritual Detection Sharing.
Even though Wang Dong could beat Huo Yuhao in a war of words, he couldn’t change how stubborn he was. When the two of them returned to their dorm room, they ended up meditating and cultivating. However, Huo Yuhao promised Wang Dong that he’d roast a few extra fish for him after the assessment.
Huo Yuhao’s seventeenth ranked soulforce could already condense into a white stream inside Huo Yuhao’s body. As it travelled throughout his body, following the circulation path of the Mysterious Heaven Technique, it seemed to pierce through his entire body, warming up his passageways. Not only was it comfortable, it also brought about an obvious improvement in Huo Yuhao’s cultivation.
After three months of bitter cultivation, Huo Yuhao was able to faintly sense that his passageways had expanded by a large amount. This was due, in part, to the subtle effects of the Mysterious Water Pill, as well as to the nourishing effect of the Mysterious Heaven Technique that he’d discovered by chance. Furthermore, his passageways were extremely elastic and durable now. In terms of physiques, Huo Yuhao was no longer inferior to anyone of the same age as him. However, the fact that he’d stepped onto the right path rather late was undeniable. It wasn’t very likely that he’d catch up to Wang Dong. Hence, he could only choose to improve alongsideh Wang Dong.