Chapter 11: Approaching the Assessment

Slake Academy, after a day's travel, Su Yun Tian finally returned to the academy.

By then the sky was pitch black; returning to the Dormitory, he pushed open the door and Wang Dong was not sleeping.

"Back already?" Wang Dong's eyes lit up a bit when he saw Su Yun Tian, but the excitement quickly faded into worry.

"How are you, no injuries? Did you get the soul ring?"

"You underestimate me like that," Su Yun Tian teased, releasing his own soul ring.

Purple, purple, purple.

"Good that nothing's wrong," Wang Dong exhaled, and it was clear that after more than two months together, his relationship with Su Yun Tian was gradually drawing closer.

Then Wang Dong pursed his lips, saying sourly, "I really don't know if you're even human; your cultivation speed is that fast—when you first arrived you were only level 25, now you're already a Soul Elder."

"What's so strange about that?" Su Yun Tian said with a rational expression, "I was already level 26 before, ate a soul‑raising pill to reach level 27, and as for the divine‑grade martial soul you should know, my cultivation speed practically tramples peers, so reaching level 30 isn't surprising."

In fact, being able to cultivate to level 30 was largely thanks to Ma Xiaotao's evil fire.

But it must be said, the divine‑grade martial soul does indeed cultivate very quickly.

Thinking of that, he couldn't help to complain about Qian Renxue in his mind.

Even though she also had innate level‑20 soul power, Qian Renxue didn't become a Soul Saint until she was 30!

She clearly has top‑tier talent, yet chose to lie low in the Heavenly Battle Empire, playing a raccoon‑cat swap of the heir.

Within the Spirit Sea.

Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm and Bing Di gave Qian Renxue a strange look; because both belong to intelligent soul rings, they could sense Su Yun Tian's thoughts, and naturally they heard those matters as well.

Qian Renxue was the same; her current state allowed her to be mentally linked with Su Yun Tian.

Listening to Su Yun Tian's complaints, her face flushed and she showed embarrassment.

Now looking back, she shouldn't have taken that brain‑dead mission.

Otherwise, with her talent, not to mention anything else, she would have become a deity before turning 30.

Then crushing the two great empires with an invincible stance would be as easy as a snap.

At that time, mere Tang San would be nothing more than an ant.

Early the next morning.

Wang Dong and Su Yun Tian were joking in the back row when Mu Jin walked in, her face gentle.

"Alright, everyone be quiet, I have something to say,"

"Since the start of school three months ago, you will now face your first assessment; only by passing can you officially become a first‑year Slake student.

The assessment begins tomorrow; today I'll tell you some details."

"Huo Yuhao."

"Got it!" Huo Yuhao sprang up at once; although not in the same class, his talent and his drive to grow still led Mu Jin to choose him as class monitor.

Mu Jin handed Huo Yuhao a stack of papers and continued, "After the Freshman Assessment, we'll tailor instruction; write down your upcoming martial soul development plans and submit them to me after class."

During the first three months of instruction everyone could study together, but once the real first‑year curriculum starts, distinctions must be made, since different categories of soul masters have vastly different cultivation tendencies.

The cultivation directions Mu Jin mentioned are the Attack, Control, Support, and Defense classifications of soul masters.

After receiving the paper, Su Yun Tian wrote without hesitation, "Attack Class."

Wang Dong glanced at it, his mind wavering.

At that moment, Mu Jin came over and whispered beside them, "Wang Dong, Su Yun Tian, our class now has only 101 students; the dean told me that for the Freshman Assessment you two will form a team. Any objections?"

"No objections," Su Yun Tian shook his head; after all, there aren't many capable freshmen, just a few Soul Elders with a bit of strength, and that's all.

"Good then," Mu Jin smiled faintly.

Then Su Yun Tian saw Wang Dong quickly scribble "Attack Class" three times on the blank paper.

After walking around, Mu Jin stepped onto the platform, clapped her hands and signaled everyone to be quiet.

"Next, I'll explain the Freshman Assessment rules,"

She then quickly wrote the characters "Combat" on the blackboard.

"Combat, that's right, the Freshman Assessment is about combat.

And it's a battle every person must join.

I know that among you, the vessel soul masters—especially those in the Support Class and Food Class—might find it odd why you also have to fight."

"I'm not wrong; you indeed must appear on the battlefield, just like battle soul masters. Although Slake Academy cultivates well‑rounded talent, the most important thing is battlefield capability.

I said on the first day of school that with the emergence of Soul Guide Devices, the classification of soul masters has become blurred."

"Even if you're a Support Class or Food Class vessel soul master, you can still unleash great combat power through a Soul Guide Device.

But where does your combat instinct come from?"

"Is it that a soul master given a Soul Guide Device can foolishly step onto the battlefield and survive?"

"Of course not; combat ability must come from combat, so all of you must undergo combat assessment."

"Certainly, the academy will never pit Support Class vessel soul masters against Attack Class battle soul masters; that would be unfair to you.

Therefore, the Freshman Assessment will be conducted as a team battle, but the groups won't be large; the final decision is three members per team this year, a high standard of coordination for your age."

"When forming teams, at most one Attack Class battle soul master is allowed.

The other two members can be assigned arbitrarily.

First, students from the same Dormitory will be considered a team; the rest you can freely combine, and those unable to form a free combination will be decided by lottery. Later, I'll give you a reasonably planned team allocation."

"The Freshman Assessment will be conducted across the whole grade simultaneously; because in recent years our academy's student numbers have grown, this time nearly three hundred teams will participate, but only half will survive."

"That means the top one hundred fifty teams. Rankings are based on your combat match points.

Matches will be drawn by lottery; each team must fight at least ten battles, and final rankings will be based on wins. The top sixty‑four teams will advance to the knockout stage…"

Every student listened intently; for them, the Freshman Assessment is the key to whether they can stay.

Once eliminated, they can only go home and choose a lower‑tier academy.

They have already been striving for three months; no one wants to be eliminated now, and no one wants to lose the chance to become a super elite.

"Alright, let's start forming groups now."

"First group: Ning Tian, Wu Feng, Huo Yuhao."

"Second group: Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu…"

"Last group: Su Yun Tian, Wang Dong. The dean assigned those two personally; they are a pair. Any objections?"

(End of chapter)