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On the forms indicating their cultivation direction:
Yuwen Tuo naturally wrote down "Power Attack Type." Both of his martial souls were geared toward offense—there was no doubt about it.
Xiao Xiao, on the other hand, chose a mix of control and support. Since Zhou Yi had already been informed about her twin martial souls beforehand, she didn't say anything further to Xiao Xiao.
Only Wang Dong, who was also a power attacker, stubbornly wrote "Control" in order not to be separated from Huo Yuhao, earning himself a stern scolding from Zhou Yi.
After class, many students gathered around them.
Yuwen Tuo and Xiao Xiao were only two people, but the freshman assessment required teams of three. Naturally, they needed a third teammate.
It was well-known that Yuwen Tuo currently shared the top rank with Wang Dong in terms of cultivation level. However, when it came to actual combat experience, Yuwen Tuo's record of defeating three-ring opponents as a single-ring fighter made many believe he was stronger than Wang Dong in real battles.
Following these two, Xiao Xiao ranked third in the class.
If anyone wanted to achieve good results in the freshmen tournament, teaming up with the first- and third-ranked individuals seemed like the obvious choice.
Although Zhou Yi had assigned groups earlier, both Yuwen Tuo and Xiao Xiao had expressed that those assignments could still change. While others might not have dared to openly defy Zhou Yi during class, swapping teammates afterward remained an option.
"Thank you all for your interest," Yuwen Tuo said humbly. "However, Xiao Xiao and I have already taken the Power Attack and Control roles respectively. We don't need anyone else filling overlapping positions. If there are auxiliary-type soul masters skilled in amplification or defensive-type soul masters with high durability, we'd welcome them wholeheartedly."
Yuwen Tuo wasn't putting on airs. Though he harbored some resentment toward certain higher-ups at Shrek Academy, he held no ill will toward his fellow freshmen.
He wasn't someone who hated by association.
Hearing this, several disappointed students turned away. They understood that Yuwen Tuo was right—a three-person team shouldn't have redundant roles.
"Um... Can I join your group? I'm an auxiliary-type soul master specializing in amplification, though my amplification isn't particularly strong. Please don't reject me," a timid female student approached them hesitantly.
Her appearance was plain, exuding little confidence. She was likely destined to become one of the background characters who would eventually be eliminated.
This girl was well aware of her situation, which is why she sought out stronger teammates to latch onto. Her courage to approach stemmed from her connection to Xiao Xiao.
"Lian Yue!" Xiao Xiao called out her name.
Yuwen Tuo asked, "Xiao Xiao, do you know her?"
Xiao Xiao nodded. "Yes, she's my roommate."
Unlike Yuwen Tuo, who enjoyed special treatment such as having a private room, Xiao Xiao lived in a standard double occupancy dormitory.
"Since she's your roommate, we should give her some face," Yuwen Tuo smiled. "Classmate, could you tell us your level and martial soul?"
"Mm, my name is Lian Yue. My weapon martial soul is the Ruyi Disk. I'm an 18th-level auxiliary-type weapon soul master with one yellow spirit ring. My skill creates an attack aura that boosts attack power by ten percent. While the boost isn't very significant, its unique feature is that it can coexist with other amplification skills and stacks multiplicatively rather than additively."
Lian Yue eagerly highlighted her strengths since she only had one spirit ring.
Ten percent did seem underwhelming.
A seven-treasure spirit pagoda of the same level could surpass her by twice as much.
However, her next statement caught Yuwen Tuo's attention.
The fact that her amplification could stack alongside other amplification abilities was valuable enough. More importantly, her boosts multiplied instead of simply adding together.
For example, if another amplification skill increased someone's base attribute by twenty percent and another by thirty percent, the total would normally just add up to fifty percent. But with Lian Yue's ability, the multiplication meant that a fifty percent increase combined with her ten percent boost resulted in a sixty-five percent increase instead of sixty.
In essence, Lian Yue possessed a specialized auxiliary amplification skill. The stronger the existing buffs on the target, the more potent her own amplification became.
If she reached higher levels and gained crucial attribute boosts, even though she wouldn't rival the seven-treasure spirit pagoda, she'd still be a uniquely valuable auxiliary soul master—one that could complement the pagoda exceptionally well.
"You're in! Great, you'll do perfectly!" Yuwen Tuo decided immediately.
Coincidentally, he himself was a soul master with innate attack amplification.
In low-level duels among novice soul masters, a sixty-five percent boost in attack power was quite impressive.
"Thank you, Yuwen, and thank you, Xiao Xiao!" Lian Yue expressed her gratitude joyfully.
She knew her own abilities weren't outstanding and assumed Yuwen Tuo accepted her due to Xiao Xiao's influence. Grateful to Xiao Xiao, she now felt confident about achieving good results in the freshmen assessment and staying at Shrek Academy.
Seeing Yuwen Tuo finalize their last teammate, the remaining students dispersed reluctantly.
"Great! From now on, we're officially teammates. For this freshmen assessment, we must win the championship!" Xiao Xiao declared boldly.
True to her passionate and outgoing nature, she unabashedly proclaimed her ambition in public.
Several days later, the day of the freshmen assessment finally arrived.
The assessment area of Shrek Academy was located in the central-northern part of the campus, adjacent to the Soul Battle Zone.
Compared to the Soul Battle Zone, this area was significantly larger. Among Shrek Academy's outer court students, opinions about this place were polarized. Outstanding students loved it because it was where they showcased their abilities. However, weaker students dreaded it, as every year, numerous students failed the assessments here and were subsequently expelled.
The assessment zone was elliptical, divided into sections by low walls to allow multiple groups of students to compete simultaneously.
During the freshmen assessment period, the zones were divided extensively, but each section didn't need to be large. Given the limited strength and range of novice soul masters' techniques, smaller areas sufficed for their battles.
After the intense grouping process in the morning, the assessments were set to begin in the afternoon.
Today marked the first day of the assessment. To help the freshmen acclimate, each group would only participate in one match today.
Fifty teachers were dispatched across various zones to oversee and record the assessments.
The draw for matches had been carefully organized to ensure that teams from the same class wouldn't face each other within the initial ten rounds of the round-robin stage.
Thus, Yuwen Tuo and Huo Yuhao wouldn't encounter each other until at least the elimination rounds.