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Soon, Du Weilun finished roll call.
Next came the draw.
Since this was merely a freshman assessment, the process was straightforward. Each team captain drew a lot on behalf of their squad, dividing the 64 elimination-round teams into 32 matches.
During yesterday's rest day, the assessment zone had been reconfigured into 16 sectors—each now several times larger than before, granting competitors ample space to unleash their full potential.
The elimination schedule was simple:
- Today: 32 → 16 (morning and afternoon sessions)
- Tomorrow: 16 → 8 → 4
- Final day: Semifinals and finals to crown the top three.
(Translator's Note: The numbers represent the number of matches held. Since there are 64 teams, there is a total of 32 matches in the morning. In the afternoon there'll be 32 teams left therefore, holding 16 matches and so on. Hope this makes it clearer!)
This morning's matches would determine the Top 32.
As captain, Chen Junting stepped forward to draw.
He pulled Lot #7—and led his team to Sector Seven.
Their opponents?
Class One—again.
It was a mirror of their first round-robin match.
And Chen Junting recognized this team. At its head stood a petite, delicate girl with an innocent air—Xiao Xiao, Class One's monitor… and top-five on his Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect recruitment list.
"It's them!"
Xiao Xiao's face twisted in despair. Her teammates, Wu Yan and Xu Yue, looked equally stricken.
Before the eliminations, their homeroom teacher Zhou Yi had issued a brutal ultimatum:
"Secure a Top Four finish—or be expelled."
Their joy at passing the initial rounds evaporated. They didn't know if the academy would truly enforce expulsion—but none dared test Zhou Yi's "crazy old hag" wrath. Former students' fates were grim warnings enough.
"Xiao Xiao… what do we do?" Wu Yan, lean but wiry, whispered, eyes wide with fear. Xu Yue, broad-shouldered and sturdy, shared his dread.
"What can we do?" Xiao Xiao took deep breaths, forcing calm as her mind raced. But intel on Chen Junting's team was scarce.
She settled on the only plan left:
"I'll use everything to pin down their captain. You two take out the others. You're both Soul Grandmasters—one's even Support-type. Should be manageable, right?"
"We're fine—even I could handle them alone," Wu Yan said, then hit the core issue: "But you? Your gap with him is too wide."
What if she can't hold Chen Junting?
"Then we're truly doomed," Xiao Xiao admitted. "At most, Xu Yue joins me. You'll have to solo the other two."
"No choice," Xu Yue grunted.
Their eyes met—then flicked to the spectator stands.
There, Zhou Yi's face was thunderous.
Her most promising team might fall in the 64-to-32 round—to Class Nine's strongest squad, no less.
Beside her, Mujin beamed.
"Teacher Zhou Yi… looks like you'll lose your bet."
After observing Class One's round-robin matches, Mujin knew their strength.
What luck—her team blocks theirs right after our wager!
"Don't celebrate yet," Zhou Yi snapped, eyes fixed on the arena. "Even if I lose this, you haven't won. And my students might still pull through." Her voice rang with false confidence.
"Stubborn to the end," Mujin sneered, eyes glinting.
Let's see how long you can bluff.
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Sector Seven
"Are we really that terrifying?" Qin Lan muttered, watching Xiao Xiao's team tense up. Their panic mirrored Class One's round-robin squads—almost identical.
"Maybe it's not us they fear," Chen Junting said, glancing at the stands. He couldn't hear Mujin and Zhou Yi's exchange, but their hostile standoff told him everything.
"Class One's students… are truly pitiful."
Qin Lan and Gao Ming exchanged confused looks—but nodded in agreement.
They followed Chen Junting to the sector's center.
The proctor arrived.
"State your names."
"Freshman Class Nine—Chen Junting."
"Freshman Class Nine—Qin Lan."
"Freshman Class Nine—Gao Ming."
"Freshman Class One—Xiao Xiao."
"Freshman Class One—Xu Yue."
"Freshman Class One—Wu Yan."
"Begin!" the referee declared.
Xiao Xiao's two yellow soul rings blazed.
Without hesitation, she pointed at her Three Lives Soul-Sealing Cauldron.
The black cauldron trembled—then split into three, forming a triad that shot toward Chen Junting at blinding speed.
Her first soul ring lit up!
BOOM—!
Air within a 10-meter radius warped violently, aiming to trap Chen Junting in a vortex of disorientation.
"Going all out from the start?" Chen Junting mused.
The Seven Kill Sword hummed. A surge of piercing soul power flooded the arena. Chen Junting raised his blade—
Slash!
The distorted air cleaved apart like paper.
CLANG—!
Sword qi struck the lead cauldron—a white scar marked its surface. The force sent it skidding back meters. Though the triad formation held (thanks to the cauldrons' weight), Chen Junting staggered slightly from the concussive feedback.
Xiao Xiao felt no triumph.
Dread coiled in her gut.
"Xu Yue—now!"
The burly youth lunged. With his Heavy Armor Beetle martial soul, Xu Yue seized one cauldron mid-air and swung it like a club, smashing it toward Chen Junting's head!
Xiao Xiao's second soul ring flared—
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