With Du Weilun, their superior, absent, the freshman homeroom teachers all relaxed considerably.
The homeroom teacher of Class Ten, who was on friendly terms with Mu Jin, glanced at the statistical report and smiled brightly at her.
"Congratulations, Teacher Mu. Out of the five teams that achieved a perfect record this year, two of them are from your Class Nine. Surely both are aiming straight for the championship?"
"We can only say we'll do our best. Teacher Luo's Class Two and Teacher Jiang's Class Five also have very strong seed teams. The outcome is still uncertain." Mu Jin answered with a smile. Though she downplayed it, everyone could see her delight.
Teachers Luo of Class Two and Jiang of Class Five politely offered compliments.
"Teacher Mu, you flatter us."
"If you had put both of your Soul Elder students on the same team from the start, the championship would already belong to Class Nine. Splitting them must have been your way of giving us a fair chance, right?"
Just then, the homeroom teacher of Class Eight let out a surprised sound.
"Teacher Zhou's Class One has a promotion rate over ninety percent?"
This was a new hire at Shrek Academy that year.
At his words, all the teachers present cast odd looks at Zhou Yi, who walked cold-faced at the front.
The Class Eight teacher immediately realized he had said something wrong.
As if responding to his thoughts, Mu Jin curled her lip in disdain.
"She expelled all the students who couldn't pass the assessment. Of course the promotion rate is high."
"Mu Jin, since when is my teaching for you to criticize?"
Zhou Yi stopped in her tracks, her eyes turning cold.
"Mu Jin, do you think the freshman championship already belongs to Class Nine?"
"Not necessarily. Nothing is absolute. But I haven't heard of anyone outstanding in your class this time." Mu Jin smiled, stepped closer, and her expression suddenly hardened.
"Zhou Yi, you'd better pray your seed team doesn't face ours. Otherwise, being eliminated in the very first round—how shameful would that be for you as their teacher?"
With that, Mu Jin strode off cheerfully, leaving Zhou Yi's face dark and stormy.
That day, with more than half the freshmen eliminated, the academy felt much quieter.
But by the next morning, the assessment grounds were livelier than ever. Many upper-year students with no morning classes gathered to spectate, surrounding the area.
Outside the grounds, a row of nearly thirty academy teachers stood watching.
The nearly two hundred freshmen who had advanced to the top sixty-four teams stood in the open, awaiting roll call.
As a team, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, and Huo Yuhao stood together, speaking in low voices.
Noticing Xiao Xiao's worried expression, Wang Dong asked dismissively, "What's wrong? Even our twin martial soul genius is lacking confidence? That can't be."
Xiao Xiao pouted. "Of course I'm confident. But still, there are people with better talent than us. I came early and heard from Teacher Zhou that five teams finished the round-robin undefeated. Three of those even had Soul Elders. How confident are you against a third ring?"
After all, their team's record was only nine wins out of ten.
"Soul Elders?" Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong exclaimed in disbelief.
Xiao Xiao gave a bitter smile. "Exactly. Why else do you think I'm worried?"
Wang Dong quickly composed himself, snorting. "So what if they're Soul Elders? They're not invincible. We have our advantages—your twin martial souls, my strength not yet fully displayed, and Yuhao's spiritual martial soul. Together, we're not guaranteed to lose. We only lost to the Lan sisters' martial soul fusion skill because I didn't use my thousand-year second skill beforehand. Otherwise, the result might've been different."
"A loss is a loss. No excuses."
That familiar cold voice made the three straighten instinctively.
It was Zhou Yi, their homeroom teacher. After three months of strict training, their reflex was automatic.
The white-haired old woman walked up steadily.
"I can allow you to lose, but only after giving your all. If I find you making the same mistakes in the ranking matches, you know the consequences."
"Yes, Teacher Zhou!" the three answered in unison.
Not long after Zhou Yi left, a clear voice rang out from beyond the grounds.
"Yuhao, your senior brother and I skipped class just to cheer you on!"
Huo Yuhao instinctively turned his head and quickly found the source.
Two figures in purple fourth-year uniforms approached: a cute young girl on the left, and a gentle young man on the right.
They were Tang Ya and Beibei.
Tang Ya clenched a fist playfully toward Huo Yuhao.
"Teacher Xiaoya, Senior Brother."
At her voice, Huo Yuhao's nose stung with emotion.
Unlike the others, Tang Ya and Beibei had never scorned him. On the contrary, they had comforted him when he was at his lowest. It was he who had shut himself off.
The recent string of victories in the round-robin had eased his bottled-up feelings somewhat.
There were still people in this world who cared about him.
At that moment, a tall, stern middle-aged teacher approached. Tang Ya stuck out her tongue, then quickly composed herself.
"Why is Director Du here so soon? Isn't it still a while before the elimination matches begin?"
As head of instruction, Du Weilun wielded great authority and was notoriously strict. If he found they were skipping class, they would be in trouble.
"Do your best, junior brother."
Beibei smiled warmly and sent his words directly to Huo Yuhao with spirit power.
Hearing him, Huo Yuhao trembled, then clenched his fists.
"I will, senior brother."
At the northern end of the grounds stood a high platform, twenty meters tall, supported by six metal pillars. From below, it was impossible to see how many stood upon it, but shadowy figures could be glimpsed, overlooking the entire area. From such a height, every match could be seen clearly.
Strangely, however, in the center of the platform, a three-square-meter space was left clear. An old man with disheveled hair and tattered clothes sat there barefoot, legs dangling over the edge. In his hands were several large purple-red gourds of wine and a roasted chicken leg, which he alternated between biting and drinking. More chicken legs lay on oiled paper beside him.
All those allowed on the platform were teachers of Shrek Academy, yet none went near him, nor did anyone question him.
"Elder Xuan, the student I told you about—the one with the body martial soul—is right there…" Wang Yan stood respectfully beside the sloppy old man, pointing below.
But before he finished, Elder Xuan waved his chicken leg impatiently.
"I'll see for myself."
"Yes." Wang Yan dared say no more and stepped back.