Yesterday, Ye Chen was led around the academy by Jiang Nannan, so he easily found the classroom for Ninth Class and walked straight in.
There were already quite a few students in the classroom. Because it had been some time since the school year started, some students were already quite familiar with each other, forming small groups and having good relationships. They were all chatting before class began.
However, some people still noticed Ye Chen.
"Classmate, this is Ninth Class. It looks like you've come to the wrong classroom."
The speaker was a tall girl with short golden hair. Her gaze towards Ye Chen sparkled with a strange light, and she was quite polite.
After all, Ye Chen already had a somewhat delicate appearance, and with his 999 charm almost maxed out for the opposite sex, his favorability increased by at least 30% upon first meeting.
"Hello, I'm Ye Chen, a transfer student in Ninth Class. Is there an empty seat?" Ye Chen smiled slightly at the golden-haired girl.
He looked around. There was only one golden-haired girl in the entire Ninth Class. Ye Chen remembered that Ning Tian had golden hair, so it was highly probable that this was the girl.
"Ah, a transfer student?"
Ning Tian was clearly surprised. She hadn't expected Shrek to have transfer students. Did Shrek even have such a rule?
However, despite her doubts, she didn't think the other party was lying.
After all, he had no reason to lie, and he was so good-looking. One look and you could tell he was an honest person; how could he possibly deceive her?
Thinking of this, Ning Tian immediately became a bit more enthusiastic, smiling, "Hello, my name is Ning Tian. You can sit next to me; this spot happens to be empty."
There were two seats next to her; the left one was occupied by Wu Feng, and the right one was empty.
The classroom was very large, accommodating over a hundred students, and there were still many empty seats.
"Wow, look, a handsome guy!"
At this moment, many people in the classroom also saw Ye Chen, immediately causing a stir.
"Damn, who is this pretty boy?"
"Damn it, why is this kid so handsome?"
"Shit, this kid just arrived and is already flirting with Ning Tian, it's too much!"
Everyone discussed animatedly, the girls surprised, the boys jealous.
It was simply that Ye Chen's appearance and temperament were too striking; upon seeing him, one couldn't help but want to comment.
"Oh, who are you?"
Just then, a surprised voice came.
Ye Chen turned his head and found it was a cold-faced, red-haired girl.
Ye Chen knew without looking that this was Wu Feng, who liked Ning Tian.
But in the original work, Ning Tian chose to become a man...
Ning Tian's father, knowing his thoughtful little cotton jacket had turned into a big treasure, would he be happy or sad...?
Moreover, this also showed that Wu Feng didn't like women; she just liked Ning Tian.
"Wu Feng, this is the new transfer student, Ye Chen." Ning Tian introduced with a smile.
"A transfer student? Shrek has transfer students?" Wu Feng was also somewhat confused.
However, her gaze towards Ye Chen also carried a strange light.
The reason she liked Ning Tian was partly because they had lived together since childhood, which made her develop feelings for Ning Tian.
On the other hand, it was because Ning Tian was too outstanding, which made her standards very high, and she couldn't look down on ordinary boys.
But at this moment, upon seeing Ye Chen, her heart inexplicably skipped a beat...
The other students around, hearing this, also began discussing animatedly, each of them looking at Ye Chen with curiosity.
Ye Chen, however, ignored the others and sat down in the seat next to Ning Tian.
This seat was just adjacent to Ning Tian, not directly next to her, with a small aisle separating them.
Not long after Ye Chen sat down, the class bell rang.
Everyone sat obediently in their seats, very well-behaved and disciplined.
Immediately after, a woman in a purple, form-fitting long dress slowly walked in.
The woman looked to be around thirty years old and wore glasses, appearing somewhat authoritative. She was the homeroom teacher of Ninth Class—Mu Jin.
As soon as Mu Jin entered, she saw Ye Chen sitting in the front row, and her eyes instantly lit up.
"Ye Chen, come up here." Mu Jin beckoned to Ye Chen.
Ye Chen stood up and came to Mu Jin's side.
"Alright, everyone, let me introduce you to our new class member—Ye Chen. He is a Level 41 Soul Master."
Mu Jin said with a smile, unable to suppress the corners of her mouth.
Goodness, a Level 41 Soul Master as a new student! With the new student competition in two months, her Ninth Class could directly reserve the championship!
That Zhou Yi used to be so lucky, always receiving talented students, which gave her some achievements, but Zhou Yi always took credit for these as her own accomplishments, which was simply shameless.
She had always been very jealous before.
Today, Lady Luck finally favored her, assigning a super monster to her class!
"What?! A Level 41 Soul Master...!"
"He must be over 12 years old, otherwise how could he be a Soul Master!"
"Even if he's over 12, it can't be by much. Where did this monster come from...?"
The entire Ninth Class instantly erupted upon hearing this, everyone discussing animatedly, most of the boys disbelieving and questioning.
In contrast, the female students all believed in Ye Chen without a doubt, their eyes sparkling.
So young, with such strong talent, and he's so handsome, looking easy to get along with—who wouldn't like that?
"Student Ye Chen is about the same age as you. You should all learn from him. I hope you can get along well in the coming time and strive for good results in the freshman competition..."
As a teacher, Mu Jin was naturally eloquent, rattling off a long string of encouraging words that made many students feel a surge of excitement.
However, some of those words were also specifically for Ye Chen.
Shrek's current curriculum only consisted of three types: theoretical classes, combat classes, and physical training classes.
Among them, physical training and combat classes accounted for the largest proportion.
Physical training was considered a tradition at Shrek; every class required physical training.
Ye Chen listened to Mu Jin's explanation, feeling somewhat speechless.
In Ye Chen's opinion, these three months of teaching were useless.
Because cultivation still depended on resources and talent.
During the Douluo I era, cultivation resources were scarce, but in this era, cultivation resources were not lacking.
For example, Huo Yuhao consumed Xuan Water Pill and Soul Ascension Pill, directly increasing his cultivation by 5 levels.
Without resources, which student could increase their cultivation by 5 levels in 3 months through self-cultivation?
Even the original Shrek couldn't do it.
Just like a famous saying from his previous life—"Why do you think your ten years of hard study can compare to my three generations of business?"
Why should Shrek's three months of cultivation be able to compare to six years of arduous cultivation before someone was 12 years old?
What can be done in 3 months?
Absolutely nothing.
Even the heaven-defying Huo Yuhao could only increase by 6 levels, with Xuan Water Pill adding 2 levels, Soul Ascension Pill adding 3 levels, and Huo Yuhao himself cultivating diligently 24 hours a day to increase by 1 level.
Even with cheats, 3 months only yielded 6 levels; others without cheats couldn't gain anything significant.
Shrek's elimination process not only eliminated students with insufficient talent but also students with weak backgrounds, because these students lacked sufficient support in cultivation resources, and thus were destined to achieve little in the future.
Those who barely met the passing grade to enter were already from less affluent families with average talent. Forget three months of cultivation, even if they were given an extra year, they would still be eliminated.
Out of over 1000 new students, 50% were eliminated. These 50% were destined to be eliminated from the moment they entered.
Of course, there might be one or two exceptions, like Huo Yuhao, who could win in team battles, but the proportion would never be too high.
Such anomalies were also what Shrek hoped to see. If they truly had potential, resources could be invested in their cultivation.
If it was just luck, they would eventually be dismissed. Shrek would not waste time on ordinary people.
Of course, these were Ye Chen's views.
Shrek was still a sacred place for new students.
They looked forward to soaring in the freshman competition after three months of training.
...
...
Mu Jin explained for a while, then beckoned, "Alright, let's go to the training ground. Today we'll have combat training."
"Yay!"
Upon hearing this, the students cheered.
All Soul Masters were warlike. Although combat classes were sometimes more tiring than physical training, they were the most favorite classes of all students.