Time flew by, and it was already the day of the freshman assessment.
"Which district are they in?" a nervous freshman asked.
He didn't mention any names, referring to them only as "they," but the person he asked understood exactly who he was talking about.
"Hehe, definitely not our district!"
With nearly a thousand freshmen, it was naturally impossible to hold the competition in a single venue. After all, it was common for soul masters to decide a match within half an hour. If all the matches were held in one place, how long would just the first round take?
Therefore, the freshmen were divided into multiple venues for the competition. Several elimination rounds would be held first, and then the outstanding students from each venue would compete for the championship.
Hearing this, the freshmen in the venue breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't in their district, it didn't matter where it was. This damn, ridiculously unfair matching system forced them to be on guard!
A freshman who could defeat a Soul Emperor? Wasn't that practically the undisputed first place?
Huo Yuhao, Hua Huo, and Nanmen Yun'er were assigned to District 33, the same district Huo Yuhao had been assigned to in the original timeline.
As the three of them entered District 33, the expressions of the freshmen in the district changed, as if they had eaten something disgusting.
"No!!" a student wailed to the sky, though unfortunately, there was no one to accompany him.
Snowflakes drifted, the north wind howled...
"Dammit! With Huo Yuhao and Hua Huo's strength, why aren't they directly admitted to the inner court? Why do they have to come and mess with us!"
"What on earth is the academy doing?"
The wails of the freshmen in District 33 made the elders twitch at the corners of their eyes.
Was it that they didn't want Huo Yuhao and Hua Huo to enter the inner court?
If it weren't for Elder Mu saying, "They need a normal growth environment; it's not suitable for them to enter the inner court too early..."
If it weren't for those words, Huo Yuhao and Hua Huo would have already entered the inner court!
"These youngsters need to be tempered. If they can't handle a little setback, how will they achieve greatness in the future?"
"Uh, Elder Xuan, if you were in this situation back then, you..."
"I would surrender!" Xuanzi said nonchalantly, crossing his arms.
Then what the hell are you talking about, old man?
Even Elder Mu back then would probably have had to surrender in tears if he faced such opponents.
This matching system was so absurd that even its "creators" felt it was outrageous!
Huo Yuhao's combat power simply couldn't be measured by common sense!
Without his second soul ring, he was only a quasi-Great Soul Master. Yet he possessed a golden-level secondary awakening and a self-created soul skill, and it was one of the top-tier self-created soul skills at that!
What was there even to fight?
Huo Yuhao glanced around, seeing that District 33 was filled with small fry... no, more like extras A, B, and C...
He shook his head in disappointment.
Among all the freshmen, the only one who could still stir his fighting spirit was probably Dai Huabin.
"The Netherworld White Tiger..."
The incident during freshman registration had caused some conflict between Zhu Lu and Dai Huabin, and even now, Dai Huabin hadn't managed to pacify Zhu Lu.
But this was a competition...
"If they can't be in sync, can the Netherworld White Tiger even fuse successfully? And even if it does, how much combat power would it have?"
Huo Yuhao pondered briefly before dismissing the thought.
They were just Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu. Even if their ancestors fused, he wouldn't care in the slightest.
Soon, the freshman assessment began.
"The first match of the first round, Class 9: Hua Huo, Huo Yuhao, Nanmen Yun'er."
"Class 3..."
Hearing this, the students of Class 3 in District 33 turned pale, their pupils shrinking.
No!!
Why did Class 3 have to be the first to suffer?
The students from the other classes finally breathed a sigh of relief. As long as they weren't the first to face these two demons, it was fine.
"Ouyang Junyi, Chen Junfeng, Zhao Haochen."
When the names were announced, the three of them twitched at the corners of their eyes.
Out of all the freshmen, why did they have to face Hua Huo and Huo Yuhao in the first round? Was this bad luck or some kind of twisted fortune?
"What do we do? Just surrender?" Zhao Haochen looked at the other two, confused.
"Sigh..." Ouyang Junyi sighed. "Let's go on stage first. Even if we lose, we should at least show a bit of our strength."
"This is the first round. If we just give up, the academy might give up on us too."
Everyone knew the freshman assessment was about showcasing their value so the academy could evaluate them and decide whether to invest in their training. If they had no value, they would be expelled.
Hearing this, the other two nodded, then stepped onto the stage with solemn expressions.
Once on the stage, their legs were trembling.
"These three kids have good character. Losing the first match isn't their fault; it's just bad luck."
Often, luck was part of one's strength. The fact that these three had such bad luck suggested their fate wasn't great. They were probably destined to be "extras."
As the referee teacher announced the start of the match, Zhao Haochen was the first to release his martial soul.
His martial soul was a chicken leg, making him a food-type soul master.
"Come, my big chicken leg!"
Most food-type soul masters had rather vulgar soul chants, and the more powerful they were, the worse it got.
Huo Yuhao crossed his arms, while Hua Huo stood with her hands on her hips, not bothering to stop the other two from eating the chicken leg.
After all, it was entirely possible to interrupt a food-type soul master while they were boosting their teammates. One could even snatch the food and eat it themselves.
The domain of food-type soul masters wasn't the arena; it was logistics and support.
"Just three soul masters. Yun'er, you should be able to handle this, right?" Huo Yuhao turned to Nanmen Yun'er.
Nanmen Yun'er was already a Great Soul Master, and she had consumed three Soul Ascension Pills and absorbed a thousand-year soul bone!
The thousand-year soul bone was something Nanmen Yun'er had obtained through a talent show.
Wasn't this an epic-level upgrade?
"Don't worry, Vice Monitor. Leave it to me!" Nanmen Yun'er patted her chest proudly.
"You and the Monitor can just watch me perform!"
With that, Nanmen Yun'er instantly activated her martial soul, and two yellow soul rings quickly rose from beneath her feet.
Her martial soul was a fire-attribute flying soul beast, and her strength was not to be underestimated.
Ouyang Junyi, Chen Junfeng, and Zhao Haochen weren't the least bit angry at Huo Yuhao and the others' dismissive attitude. Instead, they were deeply moved.
This was an opportunity for them to showcase themselves!
When the gap wasn't too big, such dismissiveness would provoke anger. But when the gap was this vast, it was a "blessing"!
"Thank you!"
Facing Nanmen Yun'er, the three of them didn't dare to be careless. Anyone who could team up with these two must be strong.
Three against one, and they were still at a disadvantage!
Class 9 was full of monsters!
Before long, the three extras were taken down by Nanmen Yun'er. Though they had given it their all and proven themselves, the outcome remained unchanged.
"Team Hua Huo wins!"