Douluo Continent II: The Dragon King Suppresses the World!

Chapter 37 Reserve Team Selection

The next morning, the bright sunshine poured down early, and the weather remained exceptionally clear. Shrek Academy had already begun the new school year's teaching in an orderly manner in this wonderful atmosphere.

Students in each grade face different pressures. Freshmen are confronted with challenging freshman assessments, while students in other grades also have heavy workloads. The advancement assessment weighs heavily on their minds, and there are many complex and important courses waiting for them to conquer.

"Bang, bang, bang." Huo Yuhao, who had worked hard all night, gently knocked on the closed office door a few times with his slightly tired hand.

"Come in." Zhou Yi's always cold and serious voice came from inside the room.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong then carefully pushed open the door and slowly entered.

The room was already packed with people, all core disciples of Class One. Of course, Ye Qi'an and Gu Yuena, two disciples from the inner courtyard, were also among them. Besides Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, there were Xiao Xiao, Lan Susu, Lan Luoluo, Zhou Sichen, Cao Jinxuan, and Huang Chutian, who had officially been promoted to a core disciple, making a total of ten people.

Zhou Yi deliberately turned her gaze to Huo Yuhao, coughed lightly, and said, "I called you here today because there is a special situation I need to inform you of. In three days, the outer academy will be holding a core disciple selection competition. Normally, it wouldn't involve us second-year students, but the academy has suddenly decided to include us second-year core disciples in this selection. Therefore, you must all be fully prepared."

Zhou Sichen asked curiously, "Teacher Zhou, what exactly is this selection competition for?"

Zhou Yi patiently explained, "You don't need to worry too much. There won't be any punishment even if you lose this selection competition. All the participants are core disciples under the age of fifteen from the outer academy, including those from the Soul Guidance Department. I roughly estimate there are about thirty people. This selection will choose seven people from among them to participate in a difficult mission."

"Alright, you guys go back to the classroom first. Ye Qi'an, Gu Yuena, Huo Yuhao, you three stay behind. The rest of you, go ahead."

"Yes," everyone answered loudly in unison.

Wang Dong lowered his voice and said to Huo Yuhao, "Xiao Xiao and I are waiting for you outside."

Zhou Yi looked at Huo Yuhao and said calmly, "I'm just conveying a message from Dean Yan and Dean Xian. The two deans said that it's fine if others don't make it into the top seven. But if you don't make it into the top seven, you'll have to bear the consequences."

"Uh..." Huo Yuhao's face instantly showed a mixture of surprise and helplessness.

Zhou Yi stood up and said, "I have conveyed the message. If you have the guts, go and argue with Dean Yan and Dean Xian."

"I..." Huo Yuhao's face immediately turned dejected and sorrowful, as if a heavy stone had been placed on his heart.

"Huo Yuhao, you can go now," Zhou Yi said, gently patting Huo Yuhao's shoulder.

Huo Yuhao walked out of the office slowly with a helpless expression on his face.

After Huo Yuhao left, Zhou Yi turned her gaze to Ye Qi'an and Gu Yuena and said slowly, "As inner court disciples, you two do not need to participate in this assessment, because you have been internally selected as substitutes for the main team of this Continental Advanced Soul Master Competition. Huo Yuhao and the others are reserve team members."

"I understand, Teacher Zhou," Ye Qi'an nodded solemnly.

Zhou Yi looked at the two with satisfaction: "Although the main players are very strong, you may be rotated in at any time. As substitutes, you also need to be able to step in at any time. Go back and train hard."

"Yes, Teacher Zhou!"

.........

After Huo Yuhao left the office, Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao immediately surrounded him anxiously.

"Yuhao, what exactly did Teacher Zhou say to you?" Xiao Xiao asked anxiously, her eyes filled with concern.

Huo Yuhao sighed helplessly: "The two deans said that it's fine if others don't make it into the top seven, but if I don't, I'll have to bear the consequences."

Wang Dong patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder and comforted him, "Don't worry, we'll figure something out together. If we train hard these three days, we'll definitely have a chance."

For the rest of the day, Huo Yuhao was deeply immersed in his sorrow. No matter how much he pondered it, he really didn't believe he could stand out from a group of strong core disciples.

Meanwhile, Ye Qi'an, standing beside him, was silently plotting how to take advantage of the upcoming operation to wipe out the evil soul master's lair to transfer Ilex's consciousness from Huo Yuhao's body to his own.

When he went to Siyuan Forging Shop to learn forging from Siyuan, he finally received some exciting news: Siyuan told him that he could finally do spirit forging. With the mastery of spirit forging, he would finally be able to forge one-word battle armor.

The next two days were undoubtedly tense and busy for Ye Qi'an. In addition to his normal cultivation and study, he devoted all his energy to his metal forging.

To ensure Ye Qi'an would have enough metal for forging in the future, Gu Yuena instructed Di Tian and the others to search for useful rare metals. At the same time, Gu Yuena also told Ye Qi'an that there was a large piece of green metal at the bottom of the Lake of Life, which radiated endless life power.

After hearing Gu Yuena's description of the rare metal that exuded life attributes, Ye Qi'an secretly speculated that, if he was not mistaken, Gu Yuena was probably talking about the Gold of Life, and according to his estimation, its reserves were also very abundant.

The life force contained in the Metal of Life has a strong attraction for Soul Masters or Soul Beasts. If a piece of Metal of Life is added to the forging metal, the forged One-Word Battle Armor will have a greater amplification effect.

The crisp sound of the bell signaling the end of a busy day of classes. Wang Yan methodically organized his lesson plan, then said with a serious expression, "Core disciples, please stay behind. We'll go to the Soul Battle Zone together later."

Upon hearing this, all the core disciples were invigorated, for they knew that the long-awaited selection competition was about to begin. Contrary to their initial expectations, this important assessment was not scheduled during class time, but rather after school in the afternoon.

Their graduating class indeed boasts a significantly larger number of core disciples compared to previous years, with as many as ten in Class One alone. Adding Dai Huabin, Xie Huanyue, Zhu Lu, and Wu Feng from Class Two, and Ning Tian from Class Three, the total reaches fourteen. Furthermore, during the freshman assessment, two were exceptionally admitted to the inner academy, a situation extremely rare in Shrek Academy's outer academy. Even combining the core disciples from the higher grades of third and fourth year, their numbers are roughly equivalent to theirs.

After leaving the classroom, Ye Qi'an immediately spotted Class Two, where Dai Huabin was walking out with Xie Huanyue, Zhu Lu, and Wu Feng. Dai Huabin naturally noticed Ye Qi'an as well, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes. Although his position as a core disciple remained unchanged, he had received an extremely stern warning from the academy due to previous incidents.

Moreover, the bodies of the six powerful members of the Duke's mansion who died in the conflict had all been sent back to the White Tiger Duke's mansion within just two days. Fortunately, the White Tiger Duke was not at the mansion at the time, and his mother, the Duchess, managed to suppress the matter. Otherwise, given the White Tiger Duke's upright and incorruptible nature, Dai Huabin would definitely have been in deep trouble.

Shrek Academy, lacking concrete evidence, had already shown Duke White Tiger considerable leniency. Otherwise, given the academy's consistently assertive style, what could they do even with insufficient evidence? At the very least, expelling Dai Huabin from the academy would have been no problem. Thinking of the potentially serious consequences, Dai Huabin was equally filled with fear. He knew he absolutely could not let this personal grudge jeopardize his future.

Soon, Ning Tian also came into everyone's view. When she slowly walked out of Class 3, she, like Dai Huabin, first looked at Ye Qi'an and the others.

Led by their three teachers, all twelve core disciples of the second-year outer academy marched out of the teaching building and headed straight for the Soul Battle Zone. Ye Qi'an and Gu Yuena, who did not need to participate in the assessment, went to sit in the first row of the stands as soon as they arrived at the Soul Battle Zone.

After a short wait, Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan appeared in everyone's sight one after another. They were all core disciples of the fifth grade.

Besides the three of them, there were no other fourth-ring level core disciples present today, except for the two in the stands. The third and fourth-year core disciples also arrived one after another. As for the Soul Guidance Department, as previously known, only He Caitou came. In the end, the total number of people settled at twenty-seven. Among them, second-year core disciples made up almost half.

Just then, a swaying figure slowly approached from afar. The person's steps were unsteady, and they staggered with every step, as if they might fall to the ground at any moment due to loss of balance.

Elder Xuan staggered over to the group of students, his bleary-eyed appearance making it difficult to discern his thoughts. He raised his head and called out, "Little Wang."

"Elder Xuan." Wang Yan hurriedly stepped forward, his face full of respect, and bowed deeply.

"Is everyone here?" Elder Xuan asked in a low voice.

Wang Yan hurriedly replied, "Everyone has arrived. There are 26 core disciples from the second to fifth year of the Martial Soul Department. Only one person from the Soul Guidance Department came, and two other inner court disciples do not need to participate. They are currently in the stands."

"Then let's go in." With that, Elder Xuan turned around unsteadily and took the lead into the Soul Battle Zone.

Everything in the Soul Battle Zone remained the same, yet it was unusually deserted today. There seemed to be no teachers providing guidance, nor any other students engaging in Soul Battles. Elder Xuan walked all the way to the center of the Soul Battle Zone before stopping. The core disciples, led by their teachers, also took their designated positions.

"Listen up, you little ones. The core disciple assessment you're about to undergo is very simple; I call it a free-for-all. The last seven remaining will be the winners. Alright, teachers, all of you, leave. I'll say 'start,' and you can begin your battle," Elder Xuan said in a booming voice.

"This works?" Hearing Elder Xuan's simple and brutal assessment method, the students' eyes widened, and they looked at each other in disbelief. But the teachers naturally wouldn't disobey Elder Xuan's orders and all left the Soul Battle Zone.

Before the students in the Soul Battle Zone could react to this sudden rule change, Elder Xuan suddenly raised his wine gourd and shouted, "Begin!"

With a "whoosh," Elder Xuan's figure vanished instantly.

At this moment, only twenty-seven core disciples from the outer academy remained in the arena. This change was so sudden that all the students were momentarily stunned when Elder Xuan shouted "Begin!" Then, each person quickly made a different choice.

After Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, He Caitou, Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan successfully reunited, the seemingly chaotic free-for-all was actually nearing its end. What was initially expected to be a grueling battle turned into a fierce struggle. Under Huo Yuhao's precise command through powerful mental detection, and with He Caitou's overwhelming firepower, the scattered opponents were completely suppressed. They even recklessly charged forward in a line, only to be swiftly defeated by Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong's devastating Golden Path attack. In just ten minutes, only Huo Yuhao and his seven companions remained on the field!

Elder Xuan didn't need to examine them closely; with his profound cultivation, he could clearly sense the condition of each student. Seeing that no one was seriously injured, he was relieved and waved to the sidelines. Wang Yan, Mu Jin, and several other teachers rushed over upon seeing this.

The teachers had witnessed the entire battle. They were astonished to find that just two students at the second level of cultivation had almost instantly rendered twelve opponents, whose cultivation was no weaker than theirs, powerless to fight.

"Those who are eliminated, go back. You seven stay. The two in the stands, you don't need to leave. You two come here." Old Xuan took a bite of his chicken leg and said slowly.

Just after Huo Yuhao and his team successfully ended the battle, Ye Qi'an was about to leave with Gu Yuena when Elder Xuan called them back. Without hesitation, the two immediately headed towards the Soul Battle Zone.

At this moment, only Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, Bei Bei, He Caitou, Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nannan, and Ye Qi'an and Gu Yuena who came from the stands remained in the Soul Fighting Zone, a total of nine people.

Elder Xuan slowly said, "The seven of you were chosen for two reasons: one as a reserve team, and the other as substitutes for the main participants. Although the chances of you playing are extremely slim, only as substitutes will you have the right to go to the competition and watch the matches. Ye Qi'an and Gu Yuena have been judged by the academy's higher-ups to be strong enough to be admitted to the inner academy, and they will also be official team members for this year's competition."

Upon hearing these words, Bei Bei and the other fifth-grade students looked at Ye Qian and Gu Yuena with strange expressions. They thought to themselves, "So, the end point for all of us who work so hard is just the starting point for these two?" Sometimes, people really can't be compared; ordinary players and cheaters are worlds apart.

Elder Xuan continued, "Your selection as part of the reserve team is a secret of the academy; no one is allowed to divulge it. Otherwise, you will be disqualified. From now on, you will train with me one day a week. There is still one month until the upcoming Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament. I will train with the seven of you alongside the participating teams. I hope you will seize this precious opportunity and improve yourselves as much as possible. Alright, you may disperse..."

After becoming prospective members of the Shrek Seven Devils, Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao's academic life at the academy became much more colorful. Besides their regular classes, they made the most of every spare moment for cultivation.

Being on the reserve team is undoubtedly a great honor for them, but at the same time, it also brings them greater pressure. This honor is something they must do everything in their power to maintain, especially the three younger ones. Only by putting in more effort can they ensure that they retain their reserve team status.

.........

(End of this chapter)