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

Chapter 94 The Gatekeeper

"So, what's your current strength?"

Hearing Luo Chen's words, Tai'an had no doubts. After all, Luo Chen's breakthrough to the fourth-ring Soul Master was entirely within his expectations. With Luo Chen's talent, Tai'an had been shocked countless times. It was not impossible for him to break through to the Soul Master first.

However, Tai'an was still somewhat surprised that Luo Chen was able to break through to the fourth-ring Soul Master level in his first year of the outer academy. After all, he and Luo Chen started school at the same time, and he had known Luo Chen for much longer than the other students.

Therefore, he was even more aware of how terrifying Luo Chen's progress was and how exaggerated his cultivation speed was!

Not long ago, when he sparred with Luo Chen, although he was defeated by Luo Chen, he was still able to suppress Luo Chen for a period of time by relying on the physical qualities given to him by the Titan Giant Ape.

Now, in his duel with Luo Chen, Luo Chen could defeat him in less than half a minute. No matter how hard Tai An tried, he couldn't budge Luo Chen in the slightest.

The gap between the two is so exaggerated. At first, Luo Chen was only one realm higher than him, and the gap between them was not big. But now, only two months have passed, and Luo Chen has left everyone else in the dust and directly broke through to the level of the fourth-ring Soul Master!

Let alone a four-ring Soul Master, when Luo Chen was only a two-ring Great Soul Master, his own strength was enough to make him invincible among the first-year students of the outer academy. After he broke through to the three-ring Soul Venerable, his strength increased explosively, and defeating ordinary three-ring Soul Venerables was effortless.

At this moment, he has already surpassed Tai'an by two whole major realms, reaching the realm of a four-ring Soul Master in one fell swoop. With such cultivation, the difference in soul power alone is enough to overwhelm the entire outer academy of Shrek Academy!

Just as there is a huge gap between a two-ring Great Soul Master and a three-ring Soul Venerable, there is also a considerable gap between a three-ring Soul Venerable and a four-ring Soul Master. It is not just a difference of one Soul Ring position, but also an overall difference in their spiritual power, soul power, and physical qualities.

Fighting opponents of a higher level is something only monsters with extremely abnormal martial spirits can do, or those whose overall abilities allow them to cross a major realm.

As for Luo Chen, a monster who not only progresses at an extremely fast pace but also possesses terrifying overall personal qualities, even though he has only just broken through to the fourth-ring Soul Master level, he is already able to overwhelm a group of inner court students!

Even among the inner academy, those few who possessed the cultivation level of a six-ring Soul Emperor and were selected by Shrek Academy as the main team members to compete were, in Luo Chen's eyes, only at the same level as Yao Haoxuan back then.

He is not incapable of defeating Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng, both six-ring Soul Emperors. He just doesn't want to stand out too much. After all, being one step ahead is genius, but being ten steps ahead is madness!

Only he himself knows how terrifying his strength is now. Even Mu En and Xuan Zi only have a superficial understanding of his strength.

Perhaps Luo Chen is not yet comparable to a top-tier expert like Zhang Lexuan who has already grown up, but defeating the group of "geniuses" who are currently cultivating in the inner courtyard would be quite easy for him.

"My current strength is above Soul King and below Soul Saint. Roughly speaking, there should be no one in the entire outer academy who can defeat me. However, there are quite a few strong people in the inner academy who can defeat me."

After thinking for a moment, Luo Chen smiled and spoke.

Even with his combat power when he first broke through to Soul Master and before he had absorbed any Soul Rings, he was able to easily kill ordinary ten-thousand-year-old Soul Beasts, and even defeat ordinary five-ring Soul Kings, just like Yao Haoxuan, a support-type Soul Master with a serious imbalance in his specialization.

Now that he has successfully absorbed his fourth spirit ring and become a true four-ring spirit master, when he goes all out, not to mention five-ring spirit kings, even six-ring spirit emperors would be crushed in front of him.

Only a seven-ring Soul Saint level expert could suppress Luo Chen. After all, a seven-ring Soul Saint is different from a five-ring Soul King or a six-ring Soul Emperor. They can release their Martial Soul True Body and truly unleash the power of their Martial Soul.

Therefore, even though Luo Chen possesses many debuff skills and strange abilities such as strong control and strong attack, he cannot gain much advantage in the face of absolute power. The difference between the two is just like the difference between him and Tai An now.

Soul Saint-level soul power, mental strength, and physical qualities are all far beyond what Luo Chen can currently achieve. Only if Luo Chen unleashes all his abilities without reservation, such as Death Authority and Death Puppet, will he have any chance of winning.

Therefore, Luo Chen said those words just now. With his current strength, ordinary Soul King level Soul Masters are no longer worth his attention. Only a six-ring Soul Emperor level expert can put some pressure on him.

Just like monsters like Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng, either of them could briefly unleash the strength of a seven-ring Soul Saint, causing Luo Chen considerable trouble. Therefore, Luo Chen did not persist and voluntarily admitted defeat.

After all, his position in the inner academy is already quite secure. If he weren't just a core disciple in the first year of the outer academy and not a student in the inner academy, he would already be a member of Shrek Academy's team and compete in the All-Continent Elite Soul Master Tournament.

"Soul Saint... You've reached this level already? Well, with your talent, let alone in the outer academy, even in the inner academy, there are probably few who could rival you."

"But you wait, I'll catch up with you sooner or later. In two years at most, I'll definitely go to the inner courtyard of Shrek Academy. Then we'll meet again in the inner courtyard."

Tai'an was not shocked by Luo Chen's strength; he felt it was all to be expected, since he had already felt Luo Chen's formidable power during their first sparring session.

It was an irresistible sense of oppression. Even though he was also considered a monster by others, a top figure among his peers, and able to suppress a Soul Master of the fourth ring with his second-ring cultivation, the gap between him and Luo Chen was not just a little bit.

However, he was not discouraged. Luo Chen's talent was strong, which gave him the motivation to improve. As the saying goes, pressure is the source of motivation. If it weren't for a terrifying monster like Luo Chen, he might still be stuck at the first level.

"Haha, then I'll wait for you in the inner courtyard. I believe this inner courtyard assessment won't be much of a problem for you, but we might have to compete for the freshman assessment."

Seeing that Tai'an was not discouraged by his strength at all, but instead became even more motivated, Luo Chen couldn't help but smile.

If it were an ordinary person, they might not even have the courage to chase after Luo Chen, after all, the gap between the two is like heaven and earth, they are not even on the same level.

Tai'an, however, was able to withstand the pressure and made continuous progress under the pressure from Luo Chen, desperately trying to narrow the gap between him and Luo Chen little by little, which made Luo Chen very gratified.

If a person loses their fighting spirit, then no matter how strong their talent is, they will not be able to stand at the peak. Mindset is the most important thing.

"The new student assessment—no, are you participating too?"

When Luo Chen suddenly mentioned the freshman assessment, Tai An was truly surprised. He hadn't expected that Luo Chen would also want to get involved in the assessment.

Although he, like Luo Chen, possesses strength that is unmatched by his peers, with his current cultivation level as a second-ring Great Soul Master, participating in this freshman assessment is not a big deal, after all, he is only a second-ring Great Soul Master.

But Luo Chen is already a four-ring Soul Master. A four-ring Soul Master is enough to overwhelm the entire outer academy. Tai An really can't imagine how badly the freshmen participating in the freshman assessment would be crushed if Luo Chen participated with such strength!

For a moment, Tai'an's eyes twitched. Let alone the freshmen, even he himself would not fare well if he fell into Luo Chen's hands. A true four-ring Soul Master, even without releasing his own Soul Skills, is no match for a two-ring Great Soul Master or a three-ring Soul Venerable.

Even an ordinary four-ring Soul Master is enough to overwhelm the entire first-year students of the outer academy, let alone a monster with astonishing strength like Luo Chen. If Luo Chen really makes a move, then Tai An feels that there is no need to compete in this freshman assessment.

This essentially means the final results of the new student assessment have already been announced in advance.

"Haha, of course. Since I'm also a first-year student in the School of Foreign Languages, why can't I participate in this freshman assessment? If I can participate, of course I will. However, I will participate individually, without any teammates."

Seeing Tai'an's strange expression, Luo Chen couldn't help but explain to him.

"Huh? Participating in the freshman assessment individually, what does that mean?"

Tai'an was a little confused. Wasn't the freshman assessment supposed to be a battle between classes? He and Luo Chen were both students in Freshman Class 9, so no matter who won, Freshman Class 9 should have won in the end.

"That means that in this freshman assessment, the three of you will compete against each other, but when it comes to the final battle, I will step in and the two teams in the final battle will each play against me."

"The team that can hold out the longest under my control will be the winner of this freshman assessment and the champion team."

As Luo Chen spoke, he recalled the words Yan Shaozhe had said to him at the beginning.

Even before the freshman assessment began, Yan Shaozhe had specifically approached him to inform him of the changes made to the assessment.

Although Luo Chen is also a first-year student of the outer academy, his strength has far exceeded the range that the competition can withstand. Let alone being able to defeat a six-ring Soul Emperor, even defeating a five-ring Soul King is something that the first-year students simply cannot contend with.

Therefore, in order to prevent any cheating or trickery, the academy leadership has specifically imposed restrictions on Luo Chen. He will no longer represent any class in the competition, but will instead serve as the gatekeeper in the final freshman assessment to judge the champion team.

Luo Chen readily accepted this decision, as it would allow him to spend less time on the freshman assessment and also give him a sense of participation in the assessment process.

Moreover, he was well aware of his own strength and how terrifying he was among the first-year students in the outer academy. If he were to form a team of three like the other students and participate in the assessment competition, it would undoubtedly be a huge disaster for the other students.

Moreover, it was inevitably too easy on the two trainees in his own team, which completely failed to achieve the purpose set at the beginning of the freshman assessment.

The purpose of the freshman assessment is to eliminate a group of students with lower overall quality and select truly talented geniuses. This is the purpose of Shrek Academy's leadership in establishing the freshman assessment.

If a student as powerful as Luo Chen were to enter the freshman assessment and compete against other students, then no matter how talented they were, none of them would be able to pass Luo Chen's test.

Therefore, the academy changed the rules of the freshman assessment specifically for Luo Chen; otherwise, it would have been too much for both the students in Class 9 and the students in other classes.

For now, Luo Chen is being treated differently from ordinary students, and is being used as the gatekeeper for the freshman assessment champions to judge the strength of the freshman teams.

Having the most talented students among the new students compete against him will not affect the balance of this new student assessment too much, and at the same time, it will allow the students from the outer academy to truly realize the gap between themselves and Luo Chen!

This shows the great care and effort put into Shrek Academy's leadership.

However, regardless of which team ultimately wins and lasts the longest in their sparring match with Luo Chen, thus securing the championship title, it will not affect the academy's final actions.

That is to use the two most outstanding teams in this freshman assessment to elevate Luo Chen to the highest position, and then announce him as an inner disciple of Shrek Academy in front of everyone!

Yan Shaozhe had already discussed these matters with Luo Chen, and Luo Chen naturally had no objections. After all, bullying a group of second- and third-ring students would not be of any benefit to his cultivation.

Moreover, given Luo Chen's current strength, the status of a core disciple of the outer academy is clearly not enough for him. Therefore, the academy is planning to announce his becoming an inner disciple of Shrek Academy ahead of schedule!

(End of this chapter)