Douluo Continent: I, an evil soul master, work nine-to-five in the Tang Sect.

Chapter 91 Freshman Assessment

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it's time for the Shrek Academy's new student assessment.

Three months is neither a long nor a short time. For most students in the outer academy, these three months are crucial, as they determine whether they can avoid being eliminated and continue studying at Shrek Academy.

Shrek Academy recruits thousands of new students every year, but these students are of mixed quality, so the academy added a "new student assessment" competition format to select them.

Teams that successfully pass the assessment in the competition based on their own strength or the strength of the team as a whole will be able to continue their studies at Shrek Academy and become true Shrek Academy students.

If one fails to meet the assessment requirements set by the academy, it means that one cannot pass the Shrek Academy's assessment. Failing the freshman assessment means being eliminated and unable to continue studying at Shrek Academy.

Although the elimination rate for this freshman assessment was not high, it was still able to filter out the vast majority of students with poor overall qualities who were either trying to get in by taking advantage of others' backgrounds or relying on their connections to gain admission to Shrek Academy.

After all, Shrek Academy has a limited number of resources to allocate to its new students in the outer academy. If there are a thousand students, each student will receive fewer resources. However, if the students with lower quality are filtered out, then the overall student body will have more cultivation resources.

Some truly talented students are able to use these cultivation resources to become stronger, improve themselves step by step, pass the rigorous tests set by Shrek Academy, and successfully graduate from Shrek Academy.

Even to the point of being promoted to the inner court!

However, all of this is based on a prerequisite: successfully passing the freshman assessment set up by Shrek Academy. The freshman assessment is not only about individual qualities, but also about the cooperation and tacit understanding between teammates in actual combat.

Therefore, the new student assessment also carries a certain risk of elimination for some students with high overall quality. After all, whether you are highly talented or not, the situation in actual combat can change in an instant.

If you cannot cooperate well to counter the opponent's strategy, you will be defeated one by one and lose the game.

However, the academy has taken the assessment standards and rules for freshmen very seriously. Freshmen are not allowed to have three offensive-type Soul Masters or three support-type Soul Masters in a team.

The most basic setup consists of one offensive Soul Master, one support Soul Master, and one agile attack Soul Master. Control Soul Masters are relatively rare because of the unique nature of their respective Martial Souls. Unless a control Soul Master's own Soul Skill is extremely powerful, they cannot forcibly control the entire field.

Otherwise, it can easily affect one's teammates. After all, the control range of a control-type soul skill depends on the soul master himself. If a control-type soul master cannot control his own control soul skill, then it will only do more harm than good.

The impact on the entire match is enormous. What may have been an advantage can turn into a disadvantage under the influence of a control-type Soul Master, or even give the opponent an opportunity and jeopardize the victory.

Therefore, if there is no qualified control-type soul skill, the competition will generally not be dominated by control-type soul masters. Instead, two combat-type soul masters will take the field, such as the power attack type and the agility attack type, so as to crush the opponent with their superior combat power.

As for support-type Soul Masters, they are indispensable to every team. The role of support-type Soul Masters in the battle is even more important than that of offensive-type Soul Masters. Without good support, a team may be at a disadvantage from the very beginning of the duel.

The enhancement of a support-type Soul Master to the entire team is not just limited to one person. If their support-type Soul Skills are used well, they can even make the combined effect of a power-attack Soul Master and an agility-attack Soul Master greater than the sum of its parts, giving their team a greater advantage.

Compared to control-type Soul Masters, support-type Soul Masters are actually more effective. If a control-type Soul Master cannot get their teammates to eliminate a support-type Soul Master in the first instance, the match will fall into a stalemate once the opponent applies their support-type Soul Master skill.

However, the freshman assessment is ultimately a real battle. Each Soul Master has a different Martial Soul and Soul Skill, which means that there will be many changes in the competition. It may be a rebound from rock bottom, or it may be a one-against-three situation. These are all unpredictable.

Among the thousands of freshmen at Shrek Academy, there will eventually be a few geniuses whose talents surpass all others and stand out from the crowd. These geniuses are often able to end the entire competition with their own strength, making the freshman assessment a foregone conclusion.

Therefore, a major reason for the academy to establish freshman assessments is to select geniuses whose talents surpass those of their peers. After all, if an academy wants to gain a more solid foothold, it must continuously cultivate geniuses with outstanding talents.

Only when these talented students grow up and become independent in their own region on the continent, or even become famous throughout the world, can the reputation of the academy be spread far and wide, and even make the academy's foundation become more profound!

Shrek Academy has created the "core disciple" status specifically for these talented geniuses to distinguish them from ordinary students. After all, in the outer academy, genius students and ordinary students study in the same class.

To allow the genius students to better utilize their talents, the academy provides them with different treatment. For example, in terms of basic meals and cultivation, the academy will specially provide some nutritious ingredients that can even enhance the speed of soul power cultivation, so as to improve these genius students. And all of this is free!

In other words, any student who is granted the status of "core disciple" by Shrek Academy will have an advantage over ordinary students in terms of cultivation environment, and will also have an advantage over ordinary students in various matters of the academy.

For example, teachers at Shrek Academy have the power to expel students at will, but this "power" only applies to ordinary students. For core disciples, most of this power can be ignored.

The word "core" is exactly what it sounds like. Being a core disciple of Shrek Academy means that one's talent is valued by the academy, so teachers are not allowed to expel them at will. If a student makes a mistake, the decision will be made by the Dean of Teaching Affairs of Shrek Academy.

This clearly demonstrates just how much better the resources and treatment core disciples of Shrek Academy receive compared to ordinary students.

However, the status of "core disciple" is not something one can enjoy forever. Shrek Academy sets up a basic assessment for outer court students every year. Only those who can stand out in these assessments can obtain the status of "core disciple," and it is only valid for one year.

If someone obtains the status of "core disciple" in the previous year due to their outstanding strength, but their strength stagnates or falls behind others in the following year and fails to meet the academy's expectations, then the academy will revoke their status as a "core disciple".

This identity will be given to other more talented students!

This is also a rule established by Shrek Academy: only genius students who can consistently outperform other students can continue to enjoy reasonable treatment within the academy. If they do not work hard and fall behind other students, they will not be able to enjoy such treatment.

It has to be said that Shrek Academy is quite adept at handling its students. Those who can stand out from the crowd are often geniuses with extremely high talent. Allocating resources to these geniuses maximizes their benefits and ensures that resources are used effectively!

However, this year's freshman assessment is different from the past. In the past, although the college had a general understanding of each student, the final assessment results were still unpredictable.

However, even before the assessment for this year's freshmen began, Shrek Academy's senior management, including the teachers of each class in the first year of the various foreign departments, had already received the news.

The final results of this year's freshman assessment have been determined. This is not a result of any behind-the-scenes manipulation, but rather a result based on absolute merit.

In response, the higher-ups at Shrek Academy are paying more attention to this freshman assessment than ever before, and both the outer and inner students of Shrek Academy are placing greater emphasis on it.

Because in this freshman assessment, an unimaginable monster will appear!

At this moment, on the rooftop of Shrek Academy's classroom and office building, two figures stood side by side, looking down at the group of first-year students who were waiting for the assessment to begin. Both of them wore undisguised smiles.

These two powerful figures were none other than the two highest-ranking individuals in Shrek Academy's outer courtyard: Yan Shaozhe, the dean of Shrek Academy, and Du Weilun, the director of teaching at Shrek Academy's outer courtyard.

"Finally, this day has come. These past two months have been agonizing. I've never looked forward to the freshman assessment so much before."

Yan Shaozhe spoke first, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

Du Weiren, standing to the side, nodded in agreement, a broad smile on his face.

"When that little guy Luo Chen broke through to the fourth-ring Soul Master not long ago, it really startled me. Only two months have passed, and that little guy has broken through from Great Soul Master to Soul Master in one fell swoop. This kind of terrifying cultivation speed is something that even Yao Haoxuan can't match."

"I have no idea how that little monster managed to achieve such a terrifying burst of speed in cultivating soul power. If it weren't for Elder Mu constantly guiding him, I would have suspected that the little monster was a soul beast in human form..."

As Du Weilun spoke, his gaze also turned to a handsome figure a few hundred meters away, separated from the group, sitting cross-legged in the square, chatting and laughing with a few people beside him.

In his view, it was almost impossible to cross two major realms in two months, from a second-ring Great Soul Master to a fourth-ring Soul Grandmaster. Yet, this seemingly impossible thing actually happened.

Not to mention Du Weilun, even Yan Shaozhe, who had a broader perspective and more extensive knowledge than Du Weilun, nodded silently in agreement with his words.

Even he, who had already reached the level of a ninety-sixth-level Super Douluo, was shocked by the terrifying progress Luo Chen had made.

From the very beginning, when Luo Chen entered Seagod Island and sparred with a group of inner court students from Shrek Academy, something was already amiss. After all, it was illogical for a first-year student to defeat a group of inner court students who were at least in their early twenties!

However, when Yan Shaozhe thought about the relationship between Luo Chen and Elder Mu, he didn't find it strange. After all, as Elder Mu's personal disciple, he naturally knew Elder Mu better than others.

Therefore, it was not surprising that Luo Chen could make such a terrifying improvement. After all, with Elder Mu, who had the cultivation level of Limit Douluo, personally guiding him, it would be strange if he did not make much progress.

In his view, Luo Chen's ability to easily defeat inner court students was enough to qualify him as Elder Mu's disciple and also his junior brother.

However, he felt increasingly uneasy at the moment. If Luo Chen was able to defeat an inner court student with the cultivation of a five-ring Soul King with the cultivation of a three-ring Soul Venerable, he could understand it.

At this point, Luo Chen was even able to compete against the Shrek Academy's regular members who were tentatively selected by Shrek Academy for the next Elite Soul Master Competition, which was already beyond Luo Chen's comprehension.

It's important to know that although Yao Haoxuan was among them, his role was merely that of a support-type Soul Master, and his talent wasn't as terrifying as that of the other regular team members.

However, Luo Chen, who had already broken through to the fourth level of Soul Master, was able to defeat many of the regular team members on his own, which was what truly alarmed him.

He knew the strength of these inner court team members whom he had personally selected better than anyone else. Not to mention the younger Yao Haoxuan, those five-ring Soul Kings alone had the strength to challenge six-ring Soul Emperors!

However, Luo Chen defeated these regular team members whose combat strength surpassed that of a Soul King without any suspense, as easily as cutting melons and vegetables. Among them were not only Yao Haoxuan, but also Ling Luochen, Gongyang Mo, Xixi and other inner court students with extremely strong personal strength!

Currently, apart from his disciple Ma Xiaotao, who has already reached the sixth-ring Soul Emperor realm, and Dai Yueheng, the successor of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, who also possesses the sixth-ring Soul Emperor level cultivation, no one in the entire Shrek Academy team is a match for Luo Chen!

Even Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng, who had already reached the Soul Emperor level, suffered considerable losses at Luo Chen's hands!

(End of this chapter)