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Wu Siduo looked at Xu Yuan in surprise.
"Class President, why do you seem so experienced?"
Xu Yuan wiped the sweat from his brow.
He didn't respond to Wu Siduo but instead spread his spiritual power outward to scan the surroundings.
"There's a four-thousand-year-old Earth Demon Ape nearby."
Xu Yuan was quite astonished.
He hadn't expected there to be a four-thousand-year-old soul beast so close by.
Four thousand years?
Damn!
Xu Yuan had only given instructions based on experience. Among the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform's soul beasts, three-thousand-year-old ones were the most common and offered the best cost-to-benefit ratio for hunting. However, if they encountered a higher-level target, it was natural to take action.
"Earth Demon Ape?" Wu Siduo and the other two were startled, looking toward the direction Xu Yuan pointed.
"Let's go."
Leading the group, Xu Yuan rushed toward the Earth Demon Ape's habitat.
Just half an hour later, a cluster of spirit energy hovered above Xu Yuan's head among the four of them.
---
Outside
Wu Zhangkong watched this scene with a sense of helplessness.
"Xu Yuan is too powerful. He can practically walk through the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform without any challenge. This assessment barely serves as training for him."
Shen Yi smiled and said, "This assessment wasn't designed primarily for training. For Xu Yuan, as long as he can absorb enough spirit power during this trip to the Spirit Ascension Platform, it'll already be considered a success."
Wu Zhangkong couldn't help but nod.
Last year's assessment was truly grueling, with strict conditions. But this year was different, especially for the first semester's final exam—it was meant to be a reward.
Of course, the pressure wasn't negligible. Surviving for a day in the turbulent period of the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform and hunting soul beasts with a total age exceeding ten thousand years—accumulating at least one thousand years of spirit power—was no easy task. Even if hunted in stages, avoiding accidents required swift action, and each hunt would yield at least several hundred years' worth of spirit power hovering above their heads.
For weaker Soul Elders, this was already a decent bounty and would definitely attract competition. For stronger Soul Kings or even Soul Emperors, though it might be insignificant, it was still effortless to claim and wouldn't be refused.
However, the so-called pressure was set to eliminate weaker participants. Overall, the purpose of this assessment was to elevate the students' soul ring levels.
Such assessments would continue into the second year of the third grade.
In other words, every three years, Shrek Academy would secure a large number of slots during the turbulent periods of the Spirit Ascension Platforms.
And during these corresponding turbulent periods every three years, careful statistics would reveal that Shrek Academy accounted for nearly half of all available spots!
In summary, this amounted to Shrek monopolizing one-sixth of all the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform's turbulent period slots.
As a result, almost all of Shrek's students appeared in the outside world with top-tier soul rings.
Even if their first soul ring was white, as long as their abilities stood out and their talent was exceptional enough, Shrek would theoretically accept them.
Leng Yaozhu was also watching Xu Yuan's assessment footage.
She stared at the boy on the screen, took a deep breath, and her heart was far from calm.
The Spirit Pagoda had intelligence on Xu Yuan all along, but due to information lockdown issues, these records had never reached the higher-ups.
Previously, after Xu Yuan's dazzling performance in Mingdu, the Spirit Pagoda took notice and uncovered his identity.
Only then did Qiangu Dongfeng and Leng Yaozhu learn about Xu Yuan's true identity.
"Xu Zhi… What a pity."
If Xu Yuan had shown this level of talent back in Xu Zhi's time…
Thinking of Xu Zhi, Leng Yaozhu's gaze turned regretful before hardening once more with coldness.
"Qiangu Dongfeng, what exactly did Xu Zhi uncover that made you so desperate to silence him?"
From what she knew, before Xu Zhi's untimely demise, there were rumors that he had been gathering evidence of Qiangu Dongfeng colluding with evil soul masters.
Qiangu Dongfeng's immediate silencing of Xu Zhi spoke volumes about what could be inferred.
There was no doubt that Qiangu Dongfeng had cooperated with the Holy Spirit Sect, but the extent of that cooperation remained unknown to Leng Yaozhu.
---
On this matter, the other high-ranking officials of the Spirit Pagoda chose to turn a blind eye.
Without concrete evidence, they simply pretended not to see.
Everyone has skeletons in their closet. Let's just say the Tower Master was accidentally deceived by the Holy Spirit Sect's evil soul masters in the past.
As for the Federation, they had indeed taken note of the matter, but ultimately, it was swept under the rug.
Leng Yaozhu took another deep breath and continued to focus on the screen.
Inside the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform, Xu Yuan and his team were hunting soul beasts in a sweeping manner.
The four of them rotated their attacks, maintaining their main force while keeping their soul power consumption within manageable limits. After resting briefly, they quickly recovered their strength and continued searching for soul beasts to hunt.
While other students were still struggling to survive, the four of them had already completed their basic goal—each of them had personally delivered the final blow to soul beasts with a combined age exceeding ten thousand years.
Among them, the total age of the soul beasts Xu Yuan hunted had reached thirty thousand years.
And this was only halfway through the assessment.
"Hmm?"
Xu Yuan sensed a familiar fluctuation of soul power.
"Follow me."
He swiftly led Wu Siduo and the others through the forest.
Yuanen Yehui was sitting cross-legged in a clearing, meditating to recover her soul power.
She maintained her martial soul's embodiment, releasing the aura of the Titan Ape, which deterred ordinary soul beasts from approaching.
Suddenly, she opened her eyes and looked in a specific direction.
Someone was rapidly approaching.
She stood up, readying her soul power and preparing to fight at any moment.
As the person drew closer, she sensed familiarity. Carefully analyzing the soul power fluctuations, she relaxed slightly.
It was someone she knew.
Xu Yuan and the other three openly revealed themselves.
"Yuanen? What are you doing here?" Wu Siduo exclaimed in surprise.
She had trained with Yuanen Yehui before and had gotten along well with her.
"I'm here to increase my soul spirit's age. You guys must be here for the final exam, right?" Yuanen Yehui's expression remained calm as she glanced over Xu Yuan and the others.
Frowning slightly, she added in a somewhat unexpected tone, "I didn't expect that your Class One's assessment would take place in Shrek City's Spirit Ascension Platform."
In previous years, neither the first nor third grades conducted their assessments in Shrek City but instead went to other cities. Each grade's five classes were divided accordingly: the first grade was split between two cities, while the third grade, having fewer students, was evenly distributed across the remaining eight cities out of eighteen.
Aside from the Spirit Pagoda headquarters in Shrek City, there were a total of eighteen Spirit Ascension Platforms, located only in major cities.
This meant that every three years, there would be a period when Shrek's Outer Court students participated in assessments across eighteen major cities on the continent. During this time, Shrek's teachers would accompany them.
Was it just an assessment?
No. They would simultaneously scout for talented individuals in those cities, preparing for recruitment two years later.
Participating in such an assessment for the first time, Wu Siduo naturally didn't know the specifics of the Spirit Ascension Platform assessment.
"Yuanen, are you also here for the assessment?"
Yuanen Yehui shook her head.
"No, I secured the qualification on my own."
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