"Wait... are you really just a Spirit Elder?"
Ning Cong vomited for a long while before realizing something was wrong. Earlier, when Lu Cheng carried him during high-altitude flight, the speed had made his feet go numb. Even now, that was definitely not a level a Spirit Elder should possess.
"Class 2-1, Xue Linger!"
On the judge's stand, Du Weilun's heavy voice rang out.
It interrupted their conversation.
"Present!"
The young girl following closely behind gave Ning Cong a slight nod. Her seemingly slender and petite frame carried a hint of density and composure as she headed towards the center of the arena.
"Linger, good luck!!" Ning Cong cheered for her.
The Great Spirit Arena covered an area of several square kilometers, and this training field alone was nearly a thousand meters in diameter. It was covered in grass, looking as vast and boundless as a prairie.
Originally, the Class 1 monitor Ning Cong should have gone up, but because he was from the support system and lacked the strength to even truss a chicken, he was skipped over, and it was Xue Linger's turn.
To play it safe, she chose a five-hundred-year spirit beast.
Relying on the freakish defense unique to her mutated Earth Dragon martial soul, she stubbornly stalled until the spirit beast exhausted its strength and collapsed on the ground. Her score was naturally mediocre: 110 points.
Soon, many students went down to participate in the assessment. Some chose spirit beasts with too low an age, resulting in low scores and elimination; others were nearly killed by spirit beasts and were eliminated after being saved by teachers.
However, most students passed. This assessment was much easier than the New Student Assessment.
"The last one... Lu Cheng!"
When these words were spoken, even Du Weilun gritted his teeth slightly. He had been on edge these past few days, fearing this guy would drop out. After all, taking a half-year leave without a word would make anyone think...
"Where is Lu Cheng? Lu Cheng?"
Du Weilun's mood grew worse. Seeing that the guy was slow to come down, he thought he hadn't even come to participate in the assessment.
He looked around, but only an exceptionally handsome youth walked over; Lu Cheng's figure was still nowhere to be seen.
"Director Du, I'm here," the youth, who was impossibly handsome, spoke helplessly, having appeared beside him at some unknown moment.
Du Weilun: "..."
"You are Lu Cheng?"
"Yes." Lu Cheng nodded slightly.
"..." Du Weilun's pupils suddenly constricted. Unlike other teachers, he was the director of the Martial Soul Department and naturally had some skill, knowing some secrets about body spirits or martial souls in general.
"Your blood pupils... they had a second awakening?" he asked with a trembling voice.
"Indeed..." Lu Cheng nodded slightly.
He didn't hide it.
Although his appearance was disguised with a transfiguration technique, in front of top powerhouses like Mu En and Xuan Zi, it could be seen through at a glance. Disguise would instead prove one's guilt and indicate "rejection" and "distrust" toward Shrek's academy, and they might even harbor ill intentions toward him.
After all, he didn't want to experience the events from the simulator again.
"Good, good..." Du Weilun's face flushed, his previous annoyance vanishing into thin air.
With such a genius, Shrek Academy is truly blessed by heaven.
"Let the assessment begin," Du Weilun said with a smile.
"What age spirit beast do you choose?"
"ten thousand years."
Lu Cheng said softly.
"How many?!" Du Weilun, who had just turned around to instruct the deputy referee, snapped his head back, looking at Lu Cheng in shock.
The surroundings fell into a dead silence.
"Ten thousand years," Lu Cheng said with a smile. "Does the Great Spirit Arena not have spirit beasts of this level?"
"Are you sure?" Du Weilun frowned slightly.
"I'm sure!" Lu Cheng nodded seriously.
"Then send out a ten-thousand-year Blazing Rhinoceros," Du Weilun said, his eyes narrowing as he waved to the deputy referee nearby.
"This..." The deputy referee hesitated.
"Go! Find Elder Gong and say I said so..." Du Weilun glared. This was a great opportunity to test the depths of Lu Cheng's strength. Anyway, with Dean Yan here, he could surely ensure Lu Cheng wouldn't die. Encountering a ten-thousand-year spirit beast should be enough to force out all of this kid's secrets, right?
"Yes!"
...
On the judge's stand.
Yan Shaozhe's figure also slowly appeared. He had been summoned by Du Weilun via a communication spirit tool, and he examined the tall, slender youth below with a complex gaze.
"He actually had a second awakening."
"It's said that kid is quite close to Xiaotao. It looks promising. In that case, I'll use Xiaotao to tie him down and slowly cultivate his feelings for the academy..." Yan Shaozhe's eyes narrowed slightly.
"But if he shows any disloyalty to Shrek, hmph, don't blame this old man for being heartless."
...
In the spectator stands.
Class 2 rest area.
"The champion of this assessment will definitely be Brother Linglong."
"A thousand-year spirit beast—it's unique! Only a Spirit Elder would dare to try. Right now, in the entire second grade, only Senior Linglong is a Spirit Elder."
"That battle scene... was indeed elegant and handsome. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon is truly the number one beast-type Martial Soul on the continent..."
Many students looked with either burning or envious eyes at the boy sitting in the core of Class 2. The latter had long light-blue hair and eyes that also shimmered with blue. Although the flattery made him a bit impatient, the corners of his mouth still curled up slightly.
During youth, it is best to compete for superiority.
It is also the time of greatest high martial souls.
"It's hateful that I haven't seen that guy for half a year. I don't know where he shrunk off to..." Yu Linglong frowned slightly, glancing casually at the stage. Is that handsome youth who even makes him a bit envious a transfer student? Why has he never seen him before?
Since being defeated by Lu Cheng in the New Student Assessment, that guy had seemingly become his heart demon, his indomitable martial soul thwarted. He later cultivated desperately and tried to find the other party in Class 1 several times but was always told he was on leave.
"That guy is probably just a hollow shell. I even suspect he took drugs before going on stage. Hiding from Brother Linglong all these years is because he knows he's guilty and no match, and he's afraid his myth will be shattered, so..." a male student nearby sneered.
"Exactly. Otherwise, why would the academy only give such a meager reward? Not even a tenth of the champion's reward from previous years. Director Du must have used his Wisdom Eye to see through his little tricks long ago and was just generous enough not to expose him."
"Hmph, maybe..." Yu Linglong snorted coldly, considering it an excuse for his defeat back then.
After all, only he himself knew the feeling of powerlessness when facing that guy.
...
Ang—!
As the distant metal gate slowly rose, a giant rhino nearly fifty meters long and about thirty meters high, with muscles bulging like small mountains, emitting a crimson glow as hot as fire, slowly appeared before everyone.
Until this moment, countless second-year students truly realized what the concept of a ten-thousand-year spirit beast was.
It was completely different from the hundred-year or even thousand-year spirit beasts they fought. Just this pressure alone was enough to make a Spirit Grandmaster or even a Spirit Elder faint completely.
"Is he crazy?!" Yu Linglong's face turned pale as he watched this scene.
Many students involuntarily clenched their fists.
Even Du Weilun hesitated, making preparations for a rescue...
Yet the impossibly handsome youth still stood quietly in place, looking up at the giant rhino in the distance, his figure as steady as a mountain.
Notes:
ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧
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