Shrek Academy.
After several days away, Su Yunlin finally returned to Shrek Academy.
With Elder Song leading the way, the journey back had been incredibly fast.
By the time Su Yunlin arrived, it was already deep into the night.
The academy grounds were exceptionally quiet. Most of the students were either asleep in their dormitories or cultivating quietly.
Elder Song dropped him off near the dormitory area. After speaking with Elder Mu for a bit, she immediately flew away.
"Elder Mu."
Su Yunlin gave Mu En a slight bow.
At least for now, the old man had helped him quite a lot. Whether he had ulterior motives or not didn't really matter—at the moment, Su Yunlin was clearly benefiting from it.
Mu En smiled faintly.
"Mm. Hurry back and get some rest. Your little girlfriend has been nagging me every day these past few days, asking when you'd return."
Su Yunlin chuckled helplessly.
"Alright. You should rest early too, Elder Mu."
After bidding farewell to Mu En, he headed back to his dormitory.
The moment he pushed open the door, he froze in surprise.
Wang Dong was cultivating.
Did the sun rise in the west today?
This little lazy bum actually knew how to cultivate diligently now?
Perhaps sensing the movement, Wang Dong slowly opened her eyes. The instant she saw Su Yunlin, she immediately threw herself into his arms.
"Alright, alright. It was just a spirit hunt. You're acting like we were separated by life and death."
Su Yunlin patted her back gently.
"Hmph! I'm not!"
Wang Dong's pretty face instantly flushed red as she pouted and turned her head away.
She looked adorable.
Su Yunlin pulled her over to sit on the bed beside him, preparing to cultivate together.
"Hm?"
He held Wang Dong's hand and sensed her Spirit Power.
"You broke through again?"
Wang Dong had already reached Rank 36.
Among the outer court core disciples, she was already considered one of the best.
"Hmph! Who do you think I am?"
"I was just too lazy to cultivate before. If this young lady actually puts in effort, those so-called geniuses won't even be able to see my shadow."
She crossed her arms proudly and lifted her chin like a victorious white goose.
Su Yunlin laughed softly.
"My Wu Tong is the best."
"Come on, let's cultivate. We'll strive to get you to Rank 40 before this semester ends."
"Okay~"
The two clasped hands and entered cultivation together.
As both their cultivation levels and attributes improved, the speed of their dual cultivation through merged Spirit Power became even faster.
...
The next day, after class—
"Core disciples, remain here for a moment. You will follow me to the Spirit Arena shortly."
Wang Yan spoke while organizing his lesson materials.
The core disciples of Class One instantly perked up.
This was the selection tournament for outer court core disciples.
Normally, only core disciples from the third year and above participated in this selection.
However, this year's second-year core disciples were unusually numerous.
Especially Su Yunlin, whose cultivation completely surpassed every previous outer court core disciple.
The second-year core disciples included:
Su Yunlin, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, Huo Yuhao, Xie Huanyue, Zhou Sichen, Cao Jinxuan, Lan Susu, Lan Luoluo, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng.
There were indeed quite a lot of second-year core disciples this year.
And this was after excluding Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu, who had already been expelled.
Under Wang Yan's lead, Su Yunlin arrived at the Spirit Arena area.
He spotted several familiar faces.
Bei Bei.
Xu Sanshi.
Jiang Nannan.
They were core disciples as well.
More than twenty core disciples had gathered for this selection tournament.
From the Soul Tool Department, only one person had come.
With dark skin and a bald head—it was obvious who it was.
Su Yunlin glanced at the petite Xiao Xiao beside him.
He remembered that Xiao Xiao was a hardcore appearance lover. She often wandered around him and had even tried inviting him to meals several times.
He had rejected every single attempt.
But how had she fallen for He Caitou?
The guy wasn't even handsome.
Strange.
"Class monitor, why are you staring at me like that?"
Xiao Xiao noticed Su Yunlin's gaze, and her heart immediately started pounding.
"Nothing. I remember you have twin Martial Souls, right?"
Xiao Xiao nodded.
Her twin Martial Souls were no longer a secret.
The only issue was that, in order to raise her cultivation faster, she had attached a hundred-year Spirit Ring to her second Martial Soul back then.
As a result, her homeroom teacher had thoroughly "lectured" her over it.
"If you get lucky later, I might carry you to victory."
"Huh?"
Xiao Xiao froze for a second before erupting in joy.
"Long live the class monitor!"
She hadn't expected she'd actually get the chance to freeload her way to victory.
"Wang Dong, if you run into Xiao Xiao later, take care of her a bit."
"Since only seven people can remain, I need to think carefully about who to eliminate."
Naturally, Su Yunlin knew these final seven would become Shrek's reserve team for the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Tournament.
He and Wang Dong would definitely remain.
Huo Yuhao, as the Child of Destiny, probably couldn't be eliminated either. His Spirit Abilities were genuinely useful, and Bei Bei would likely protect him as well.
Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan were all Spirit Ancestors with decent strength.
As for He Caitou...
Forget it.
His soul tool engineering skills weren't useful enough. At best, he was only around a Class 5 soul engineer.
Not worth much.
As for Xiao Xiao and Ning Tian...
Su Yunlin felt conflicted.
Xiao Xiao possessed twin Martial Souls, but she was still only a two-ring Spirit Grand Master. Her strength was somewhat lacking.
Still, she could at least serve as a mascot.
Ning Tian, on the other hand, had the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, which provided excellent support abilities.
But if Su Yunlin remembered correctly, the official team already had a support-type Spirit Master—someone with a Rainbow Dragon Martial Soul whose support effects were similar to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.
A difficult choice.
One was a lively little mascot who could brighten the atmosphere.
The other was a support Spirit Master with some practical value.
Wang Dong poked him.
"What exactly are you trying to do?"
Su Yunlin rubbed his chin.
"You know what this selection tournament is for. I'm picking teammates."
Wang Dong glanced at Xiao Xiao.
"Why are you looking at Xiao Xiao like that? Don't tell me you…"
"Mascot."
"Huh?"
Both Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao were stunned.
Xiao Xiao had originally thought Su Yunlin had finally opened his heart—that she could save him from Wang Dong's great demoness influence and restore his proper orientation.
Su Yunlin spoke seriously.
"I think Xiao Xiao is the cutest person in the whole grade. She's perfect as a mascot."
"And she's pretty lively too. She'd make a good atmosphere booster."
Xiao Xiao puffed up her cheeks.
"Class monitor, I thought your iron tree had finally blossomed."
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
"If you keep talking nonsense, you'll be the first one I kick out."
Xiao Xiao immediately covered her mouth and looked at him resentfully.
Su Yunlin nudged Wang Dong again.
"Between Xiao Xiao and Ning Tian, who would you choose?"
"Huh?"
Wang Dong instantly glared at him.
"What are you doing? Picking concubines? And you're even asking me to choose? Don't go too far!"
Her jealousy instantly exploded.
Su Yunlin rolled his eyes.
"Why are you getting jealous over nonsense?"
"I'm choosing teammates."
"You and I are obviously tied together."
"Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan are all familiar with us and strong enough to make good teammates."
"Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection Sharing provides large-scale support. That's useful to me. Plus, Bei Bei will probably pull him in too."
"So there's only one slot left."
"Xiao Xiao can serve as the mascot. She does have twin Martial Souls, after all."
"Ning Tian's Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda provides excellent support."
"So I'm struggling to decide."
Wang Dong thought for a moment.
"Xiao Xiao."
"I'm not familiar with Ning Tian."
"Alright."
Just as Su Yunlin and Wang Dong finished talking, a swaying figure walked over.
His clothes were filthy, making him look like a beggar.
In one hand he held a wine gourd, and in the other, a chicken leg.
In all of Shrek Academy, there was probably only one person who looked like this.
Taotie Douluo, Xuan Zi.
Wang Yan stepped forward and reported the number of core disciples to Elder Xuan.
Afterward, Elder Xuan announced the rules of the assessment.
A chaotic free-for-all battle.
No rules.
Anyone who surrendered or was rescued from the arena would be eliminated.
The final seven remaining would be the winners.
"Elder Xuan!"
Su Yunlin raised his hand, causing Elder Xuan to arch a brow.
"What is it?"
Su Yunlin smiled faintly.
"Elder Xuan, if I manage to eliminate all of them myself, can I choose the team members personally?"
Everyone present froze.
Then fury erupted across the faces of the core disciples.
What did Su Yunlin mean by this?
Did he not even consider them people?
Bei Bei's expression tightened instantly.
Without hesitation, he quietly retreated behind Xu Sanshi.
"Oh?"
Elder Xuan grinned.
"If you can actually do it, then of course you can."
"Begin!"
...
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