Chapter 143: The Freshman Assessment
That afternoon, the freshman assessment officially commenced.
Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao's three-person team faced off against a team of three generic opponents.
The outcome was completely one-sided. The strongest among their opponents was merely a two-ring Soul Grandmaster, and one of them only had a single ring. With Wang Dong serving as the main attacker, Huo Yuhao providing Spiritual Detection Sharing as support, and Xiao Xiao maneuvering in support from the flank, the battle was practically a steamroll. They secured an effortless victory.
Furina merely glanced at Huo Yuhao's opponents from a distance and knew the outcome was already decided—and that it would inevitably be resolved swiftly. As for her own opponents, she didn't go out of her way to observe them or make a spectacle.
During her time running the treatment booth, she had treated one of them and extended an invitation to the Church of the Water God. Anyone who could test into Shrek Academy was, by any measure, no mediocrity. As for character—if there were truly any issues, within the Church of the Water God, Neuvillette and the various department heads would handle the screening and vetting, barring them from entry.
For these "generic background characters," who left virtually no trace in the original plot or the comic, Furina's interest was admittedly quite limited.
She was far more inclined to unearth those overlooked, uncut gems—like the sisters Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo, who possessed the Hair Body Martial Soul.
She recalled Elder Xuan's statement: "For a Body Martial Soul, the key lies in the two words 'body' itself. The more vital the body part that serves as the martial soul is to the individual, the greater its potential." Someone ignorant of the deeper truths might well be convinced by this. But having seen the Body Sect's profound development methods for Body Martial Souls and their systematic approach to secondary awakening, Furina found Elder Xuan's words to be, to some degree, one-sided—even misleading. Professional matters, in the end, required professional handling.
Her thoughts drifting to "unprofessional" and "irresponsible" naturally led Furina's mind to wander to that Supreme Elder of the Holy Spirit Cult—Xuanzi. Putting aside his other actions, his sheer negligence and dereliction of duty alone were staggering.
When Zhang Lexuan was hunting for her eighth soul ring, he had lost contact with the team due to his drinking, resulting in twelve Inner Courtyard elites encountering a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, with eight ultimately dying in battle... With a "combat record" like that, even an evil soul master organization would likely have to concede defeat.
Just as Furina's thoughts were drifting far afield, the sonorous voice of Teacher Wang Yan—serving as the proctor for these matches—pulled her back to reality: "Prepare for the second round of assessment! Freshman Class One: Furina. Freshman Class Two: Jiang Xueqing, Bai Xiu, Tang Le. Both parties, please take your respective positions at opposite corners of the field. Release your martial souls only after I declare the match begun. Students from the other groups, please observe from the remaining two corners and do not interfere with the progress of the match."
Following Wang Yan's directive, Furina was the first to walk with unhurried composure to the designated corner and stand still. At the opposite corner were Jiang Xueqing's trio. The rest of the observing students and Wang Yan gathered at the other two corners.
Jiang Xueqing was a tall, red-haired girl whose figure was just beginning to show its curves, a trace of heroic spirit between her brows.
Bai Xiu was petite and exquisitely delicate, like a fine porcelain doll, possessing a rare head of blue-white hair. The last, Tang Le, was a golden-haired youth with a sunny smile who seemed to have an outgoing personality. This combination was similar to Huo Yuhao's group—also two girls and one boy.
Once everyone was in position, Wang Yan swept his gaze across the field. Confirming everything was in order, he declared in a clear, ringing voice: "Assessment—begin!"
However, after Wang Yan's "begin" rang out, both sides remained standing where they were. Neither made the first move.
From Jiang Xueqing's trio's perspective, their opponent was Furina alone. Three against one—by any reasonable measure, their victory seemed all but assured.
The key point was that Furina rarely revealed her soul rings in public settings. Even when she set up her treatment booth at the academy gates, she only brought out pre-prepared cakes and had never once displayed her soul ring configuration. As a result, aside from the students of Freshman Class One, the students from other classes knew practically nothing about her true strength.
And from Furina's perspective, the situation was precisely the opposite—she alone had already "surrounded" the three of them. The confidence born of overwhelming strength kept her utterly composed.
Jiang Xueqing was the first to break the silence. Out of politeness, she spoke up and asked, "Classmate, you're all by yourself. Are you sure you want to fight the three of us? Do you need... one of us to step down first, to make it more fair?" Her words carried a probing tone.
Hearing this, Tang Le chimed in half-jokingly: "Huh? Don't tell me you're planning to kick me—the only guy—off the team?"
Bai Xiu, in a timid, tiny voice, added: "I-I can step down... I'm a support-type soul master, my combat strength isn't strong..."
Furina was amused by their "deferential courtesy" and let out a charming laugh. "Hey now, you three. We haven't even revealed our soul rings yet. How can you be so certain that I'll lose?"
Jiang Xueqing and the other two all revealed expressions of bafflement upon hearing this.
Jiang Xueqing countered: "What do you mean? No matter how strong you are... at most, you'd be a three-ring Soul Elder, right?" This was a judgment based on common sense. At the age of eleven or twelve, even with peerless talent and the finest resources, Soul Elder was generally considered the limit. Soul Ancestor would qualify one for direct entry into the Inner Courtyard. Soul King... that simply didn't fall within the scope of rational consideration.
However, Furina responded to their "common sense" with concrete action.
In the very next moment, five full soul rings slowly rose from beneath her feet, revolving around her body. Not a single one was below the thousand-year purple. The first two rings were deep violet, and the two after that were ink-black! The domineering soul power aura of a rank 52 Soul King erupted without the slightest reservation in this instant, forming an intangible, suffocating pressure that even made the observing students at the edge of the field feel their breath catch.
"What about this, then?" Furina tilted her head, her smile as radiant as ever, yet carrying an unquestionable, absolute strength.
Jiang Xueqing's pupils abruptly constricted. Her face instantly filled with the two words "I surrender." Crisply and decisively, she said: "Never mind, we surren—"
"Wait!" Furina hurriedly cut off her words and added, "Don't be in such a rush to surrender. We haven't even fought yet! It's not too late to surrender after we've fought, is it? Oh, I forgot to mention—I'm a food-type support soul master."
"Food-type?!" Tang Le yelped in shock, his eyes practically popping out of his head. "Big Sis! Your soul rings are this monstrous, your soul power is this high—even if you're a support-type, just how terrifyingly powerful are your soul skill effects going to be? After you finish buffing yourself, would we even be able to put a dent in you?! And besides, if you dared to take the field alone, you've definitely got backup weapons or some kind of special methods, right? The freshman assessment only bans soul tools—it doesn't ban anything else!"
Jiang Xueqing also nodded in deep agreement and gave a rueful smile. "Exactly. Although soul tools aren't allowed, other weapons or equipment aren't restricted... We really might not... be able to defeat you!" She had even unconsciously shifted into using honorifics.