Ji Hongbin nodded to her and said, “Hello, sorry to trouble you.”
Ling Yiyi gave a friendly smile and looked at the 21 Elite Junior Class students behind him. “It’s my duty. Follow me, everyone.”
Her smile was stunning; it gave one the feeling of basking in the spring breeze. She waved, and there were soft brilliant rays. In the next moment, other than Ji Hongbin and Mu Zhongtian, all of the students disappeared.
Mu Zhongtian exclaimed, “I really envy these children! I didn’t have this opportunity when I was younger.”
Ji Hongbin glanced at him, askanced, and said, “As the Elite Junior Class’s form teacher, if they’re selected, you’ll have a chance to further your studies in Shrek Academy too. Do you not have confidence in your students?”
Mu Zhongtian smiled bitterly. “Who dares to say they’re confident before the Shrek Academy, huh? Old Ji, you understand the people in Shrek best. Do you think these kids have a chance of getting in?”
Ji Hongbin shook his head and said, “I have no idea either. Shrek changes their method of assessment every year. I have to say that sometimes, chance plays a part too.”
Mu Zhongtian said, “Which team do you think has the highest chance, then?”
Ji Hongbin answered, “Lan Xuanyu’s team.”
Mu Zhongtian was stunned. “Lan Xuanyu’s team? But based on cultivation, Lu Qianxun’s team should have the highest chance. Lu Qianxun already passed rank 30, Chang Jianyi as well, and Ye Lingtong is at least at rank 28. Their overall strength is the strongest in class, don’t they have the highest chance?”
A rare smile appeared on Ji Hongbin’s face. “You say this because you don’t understand Shrek Academy. Shrek’s motto is to recruit only monsters and not ordinary people. Lu Qianxun’s team is quite strong compared to people of their age. But let me ask you this, in the Federation, are there other students who have the same level of cultivation? How many are there? Even if there aren’t many of them, there wouldn’t only be a handful either. Their Martial Souls are in no way weak, but they are still quite ordinary. Unless they have something special in their field or rely on their extremely strong power to crush their opponents, I don’t have high hopes for them.”
Mu Zhongtian said, “But Lan Xuanyu’s team’s average strength is a little weak! He is a Twin Martial Soul indeed and is extremely special, but his cultivation is quite low. That Martial Soul Fusion technique of his is very evil—he cannot keep using it. Also, Qian Lei and Liu Feng would be in trouble without his enhancement. Thus, their group seems fine sometimes, but if you look closely, they have many flaws.”
“But they are weird enough,” Ji Hongbin said. “Liu Feng’s speed far surpasses normal standards. You should know his data very well. He’s so fast that it’s almost uncontrollable, but what if he could control his speed? We may be unable to guide him to do that, but it doesn’t mean that the Shrek Academy can’t. Among the three of them, the weirdest isn’t Liu Feng or even Lan Xuanyu, but Qian Lei. I’ve never seen this chap’s coin of summoning Martial Soul in my life; even when I was learning in Shrek Academy, I didn’t see it in any records. This could possibly be a brand new Martial Soul, and although it isn’t always reliable, when it is, it allows Qian Lei to be the strongest in the entire class. Just this weird Martial Soul of his alone is worth researching already. Hence, if they could successfully get through the qualifier, they would have a higher chance after that.
Mu Zhongtian suddenly saw the light and said, “I see. Then it seems that if we continue the Elite Junior Class in the future, we should look for newcomers who are weird.”
Ji Hongbin said, “We’ll have to see whether anyone is able to enroll this time first. If not a single one of them is able to get in, then the academy won’t spend so many resources to continue the class.”
“Not three of them?” Mu Zhongtian asked. “Didn’t you say that they will get in as a group?”
“That was the previous time,” Ji Hongbin replied. “I said that to strengthen their teamwork so that they don’t get eliminated for abandoning their teammates. The academy places more emphasis on personal uniqueness and capability during the subsequent tests. As for whether the entire team can get in, it still depends on their personal ability.”
Mu Zhongtian smiled bitterly. “You sure put in a lot of effort.”
With deep meaning in his eyes, Ji Hongbin said, “Shrek Academy’s requirements for the preliminary test have remained for 30,000 years. Following the progress of time and advancement of technology, modern people’s physical attributes and talents are much better than they were 30,000 years ago. Therefore, the standards of then are not considered high anymore, but this is simply following tradition. Shrek Academy only recruits 30 students a year, and it’s not easy to get in at all. Students aren’t simply assessed based on their Soul Power or age; the method of assessment is very strange, but at the end of the day, it still boils down to overall qualities!”
A light flashed, and Lan Xuanyu and his classmates arrived at another place.
That young girl called Ling Yiyi stood in front of them and smiled. “Students, I am your guide in the qualifier this time. I will be explaining some things that you will need to take note of. What happens later depends on your own strength.”
Lan Xuanyu listened to her as he observed the situation around him.
This was a valley, and there wasn’t a single blade of grass around. They were at a platform halfway up the mountain, and as far as the eye could see, the bottom was an odd rocky terrain.
“Your upcoming mission is to survive,” Ling Yiyi said. “You will work in groups of three. There are some soul beasts living in this valley, and they are quite aggressive. The longer you survive, the higher your score for the qualifier. If you can kill a soul beast, different soul beasts will give you different points. If you’re killed by a soul beast, it will end your qualifier this time and the final score will be calculated.”
Survive?
This seemed quite similar to the test they took before, and they had taken part in this sort of training too. Hence, when the Elite Junior Class students heard Ling Yiyi’s words, they didn’t have a huge reaction.
After she saw that they had nodded to indicate their understanding, Ling Yiyi smiled with deep meaning in her eyes and said, “Let’s begin, and good luck.”
As she spoke, Ling Yiyi moved her hands by her side gently, and in a brief moment, a layer of energy released from her body. Then, she became a flash of light and disappeared without a sound.
Qian Lei and Liu Feng stood next to Lan Xuanyu. They had already built a very good rapport with one another these few years and formed a battling method with Lan Xuanyu as the core.
The moment Ling Yiyi left, Qian Lei furrowed his brows and said, “Why do I feel like something isn’t right? Also, all 20 of us are together, but we can’t even move around? Then wouldn’t it be safer if…”
The words had just left his mouth when all of a sudden, a thunderous roar resounded.
Stunned, the Elite Junior Class students turned to look in the direction of the sound at the same time.
From where they stood, they had a full view of the valley. This valley was very broad and the interior was a hilly area. There wasn’t any vegetation, and everywhere looked bare.
That roar came from the depths of the valley, and then, they saw a cloud of smoke.
‘What’s happening?’
Lu Qianxun cried out, “Be alert, take cover.”
From a certain perspective, all of them were competitors, but Ling Yiyi already mentioned just now that the test was survival, which meant that living was more important than anything else. Their bigger competitors were external and not here. It was most important to work together and fight against the outsiders to survive as long as possible.
Everyone, having undergone training for so long, was able to react instantly. They quickly looked for a rock to hide behind, squatted down, and tried their best to conceal themselves.