Morning arrived, bright and sunny.
All the freshmen who had passed the assessment gathered at Shrek Plaza, waiting for the imminent class assignments.
Feng Piaoling swept a casual glance across the plaza and noticed that almost everyone remaining was of noble birth. Including his own roommate, the commoner soul masters among the Shrek freshmen had essentially all been filtered out and expelled.
Feng Piaoling wasn't particularly surprised by this. On the contrary, he had already prepared a fallback path for that roommate of his quite early on.
Soon, Du Weilun, the Director of the Martial Soul Department, arrived in front of the students with a dozen or so outer court teachers. Among these teachers, Feng Piaoling recognized two: one was Zhou Yi, and the other was Mu Jin.
Seeing Zhou Yi's arrogant expression, looking like a victorious general, contrasted with Mu Jin's look of defeat and resentment, Feng Piaoling knew roughly what had transpired.
Holding a folder and wearing a smile, Du Weilun surveyed the crowd before speaking in a loud, clear voice. "I presume everyone is already aware that the freshman assessments have concluded. I now officially announce the top three teams of the assessment. When I call your names, please step forward."
"Third Place: The team of Huang Chutian, Lan Susu, and Lan Lulu."
Thanks to Lan Susu and Lan Lulu's martial soul fusion skill, this trio secured third place, just as they had in the original story.
However, it was worth noting that in order to witness their fusion skill and provide a reference for his own future cultivation of a self-martial soul fusion technique, Feng Piaoling had chosen to let himself be voluntarily ensnared by their "Heavenly Net." He then used ten Fire Bullet Talismans in a continuous, localized bombardment to blast their fusion skill apart.
Amidst thunderous applause from the students, Huang Chutian's team walked out with faces full of excitement. Coming in third had clearly exceeded their expectations, given that this year's freshmen included quite a few experts. There were as many as four Soul Elders among them.
"Second Place: The team of Dai Huabin, Wang Dong'er, and Huo Yuhao."
When it was time for Dai Huabin's team to take the stage, the applause was sparse. Even those who did clap seemed to be doing it only for Wang Dong'er. In fact, many people wore expressions of disdain and disgust—sentiments directed at Dai Huabin and Huo Yuhao.
After a day of rumors spreading, the nature of their martial soul fusion skill had already become common knowledge throughout the academy.
On this Douluo Continent, where love was held above all else, there might be some who felt repulsed by romance between girls, but there were plenty of people willing to accept it—those who understood, understood.
However, if it involved two men, that was considered an unforgivable sin by most.
Clearly, Dai Huabin and Huo Yuhao fell into the latter category. The fact that they were holding hands even while walking up to receive their award was truly something else.
When Du Weilun saw this, his brow furrowed instantly, only smoothing out again once he looked toward Feng Piaoling's trio.
He paused slightly and raised his voice. "Next, please welcome our freshman assessment overall champions with a warm round of applause: the team of Feng Piaoling, Nanmen Yun'er, and Zhu Lu!"
Because Nanmen Yun'er's soul power was higher than Zhu Lu's, her name was placed before Zhu Lu's. This did nothing to dampen the enthusiastic cheers that erupted from the crowd.
Upon hearing Du Weilun's announcement, Huo Yuhao and Dai Huabin's brows knit tightly together, their expressions turning overcast. However, they then remembered Zhou Yi saying she would keep them in Class 1 and that Feng Piaoling would be assigned to the same class.
Their expressions instantly shifted to schadenfreude. They seemed to already see the image of Feng Piaoling being taught by Zhou Yi, reduced to a state of miserable groveling.
Wang Dong looked at them and sneered inwardly. These two likely didn't know that Feng Piaoling was about to leave. And as for that old hag Zhou Yi, once she drove away a genius like Feng Piaoling, she would have to see how she'd explain herself to the Shrek Academy higher-ups.
Amidst the cheers of the first-year students, Feng Piaoling's trio walked out unhurriedly. Feng Piaoling led the way, with Zhu Lu and Nanmen Yun'er intentionally staying half a step behind him.
Geniuses were given preferential treatment no matter where they went, especially a student like Feng Piaoling, who had broken a Shrek Academy record that had stood for nearly ten thousand years with his Rank 34 soul power and a ring configuration of Yellow, Purple, Purple.
Yan Shaozhe, the Dean of the Martial Soul Department, had already decided to focus on his development.
Seeing the trio, Du Weilun, who was privy to the internal arrangements, wore a gentle smile and gestured for them to stand in the center.
While looking at Feng Piaoling, Huo Yuhao's gaze also fell upon Nanmen Yun'er, who had stabbed him in the chest. Dai Huabin, meanwhile, looked at Zhu Lu—the fiancée who had cuckolded him and relied on another man to defeat him. Both of them were gnashing their teeth.
Clearly, while they detested Feng Piaoling, they hated the two girls by association as well. They would never forget the scene of the two girls helping Feng Piaoling kick and punch them during that brutal beating.
Nanmen Yun'er and Zhu Lu didn't give them a single glance, their eyes remaining fixed on Feng Piaoling. Feng Piaoling, however, was watching Wang Dong'er.
In the moment he had passed by Wang Dong'er, Electrolux had warned him that the mysterious, unfathomable aura inside Wang Dong'er's body had vanished. Furthermore, her soul—which had previously felt somewhat strange—had become pure.
This instantly piqued Feng Piaoling's interest. He asked in his mind, "Senior, do you know where that aura went?"
"It is on that little fellow named Dai Huabin," Electrolux replied.
Ugh—. Feng Piaoling was speechless. The Tang God King's mind had truly deteriorated to a pathological state. It was one thing to divide his daughter into three parts. Now, to achieve his goals, he actually intended to shove Dai Huabin, a man, into that "fusion monster" daughter?
Just how abnormal did one's brain have to be, how devoid of conscience, to commit such an act? Truly, he would stop at nothing to reach his ends.
Then again, after spending time together on several occasions, Wang Dong'er had essentially become one of his few friends. Now that the Tang God King had stuffed that wisp of divine sense into Dai Huabin, it was no surprise that the other portion of the soul hidden within Wang Dong'er had been stuffed in there as well.
It was even highly likely that right now, while Dai Huabin and Huo Yuhao were practicing their "Power of Hao-Bin," that soul had already infiltrated Huo Yuhao's body, merely waiting for him to encounter the Imperial Auspicious Beast to transfer that soul onto it.
Since the Tang God King's attention was focused on Dai Huabin, it seemed necessary for him to take action. Feng Piaoling thought to himself.
Wang Dong'er had no idea what Feng Piaoling was thinking. Seeing him looking at her so intently, she misinterpreted his gaze, and her heart began to race.
She hurriedly looked away in a panic. Her left hand instinctively smoothed her pinkish-blue hair, which wasn't messy to begin with, while her right hand lightly brushed her chest, trying to calm her nervous and fluttering thoughts.
"Why is this guy looking at me like that? Is he plotting another way to blackmail me?"
Wang Dong'er stole a glance at Feng Piaoling. She didn't know if it was just her imagination, but she—who used to be dismissive of Feng Piaoling's title as the "Outer Court's Number One Handsome Guy"—was starting to feel that he really was quite handsome.
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