Next came the class divisions. The entire first year was split into four classes. Class One was for assault and control system soul masters. Class Two was for defense and agility attack system soul masters. Class Three was for support-type battle soul masters. Class Four included all sorts of special-attribute battle soul masters and tool soul masters, such as food-type and healing-type.
Undoubtedly, Class One was the strongest overall. Xu Zihuang and Dai Huabin were both assigned there. The strongest of Class Two was, without question, Xie Huan Yue. His Pi Pi Elephant martial spirit's defensive power was astonishing—soul masters of the same level found it nearly impossible to break through.
Class Three consisted of support types, though not entirely. It included those who could directly assist in combat, whether battle or tool soul masters. For example, Ning Tian, who possessed the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial spirit.
As for Class Four, it contained students with relatively special martial spirits. It was called the mixed class. Though they lacked direct combat strength, in certain special aspects they possessed notable abilities. The main two categories were food and healing types.
Every grade was divided this way. But the higher the grade, the fewer the students in each class, due to Shrek Academy's harsh elimination system. Each year's promotion exam eliminated a large number of students. Even those who could successfully graduate from the Outer Court numbered only a few dozen per year.
In other words, among these more than three hundred students, if even twenty percent could make it to the end, it would be considered excellent.
Next came the introduction of each class's homeroom teachers. Worth mentioning was that Mu Jin became one of the homeroom teachers of Class One. Each class had two homeroom teachers. The other was Wang Yan, who had shown much interest in Xu Zihuang.
The experienced Wang Yan was the chief homeroom teacher, while Mu Jin was the assistant.
"All right, everyone follow your new class assignments back to the teaching building under your homeroom teachers' guidance. Yu Tianhuang, the three of you, come with me to receive your rewards."
After announcing this, Du Weilun led Xu Zihuang and his teammates toward the office area behind the upper-grade teaching building.
Du Weilun's office was much like Wang Yan's. Other than the desk and chairs, there were stacks of bookshelves and a sofa for guests.
Smiling, Du Weilun pointed to the sofa.
"Sit down. Tuoba Yu, Nanmen Yun'er, your martial spirits and abilities are quite good. But because of Yu Tianhuang, your brilliance was overshadowed. I hope that in next year's second-year promotion assessment, you can put on a dazzling performance. Then, the academy will consider officially promoting you to core disciples."
"Thank you, Director Du," Tuoba Yu and Nanmen Yun'er said respectfully.
The only official core disciples among the freshmen were the four who had already reached the level of Soul Elders, Xu Zihuang included. Tuoba Yu and Nanmen Yun'er had no complaints about this arrangement. After all, their victory in the freshman assessment owed entirely to Yu Tianhuang's individual strength.
Though Du Weilun had invited them to sit, the three stood quietly before the desk, out of respect for their elder and teacher.
Du Weilun was satisfied with their attitude. Nodding, his right-hand ruby ring flashed, and on the desk appeared three transparent jade bottles and a leather pouch.
Each delicate bottle contained a green pill, about the size of a walnut. Even sealed, they couldn't fully contain the faint fragrance that wafted out.
The pill's surface was emerald green, with faint light rippling within, crystal clear and brimming with vitality.
Xu Zihuang had already heard from Yan Shaozhe that the champions of this year's freshman assessment would receive three additional Soul Ascension Pills. So he wasn't surprised.
But Tuoba Yu and Nanmen Yun'er couldn't hide their excitement. Tuoba Yu's eyes nearly popped out.
With a wave of his hand, Du Weilun precisely guided the three jade bottles into their hands.
"These are Soul Ascension Pills. I won't explain their effects here. If you don't know, you can ask your homeroom teacher."
With that, he handed the leather pouch to Xu Zihuang.
The pouch seemed to be a soul tool. Its brown leather was inscribed with faint dark patterns, and a subtle soul power fluctuation lingered on it.
"In truth, this is the real reward I prepared for the champions of the freshman assessment. There is only one, and you three must decide who will take it. But know this: in nearly a thousand years, this is the most precious prize ever awarded in a freshman assessment. Open it and see."
As he spoke, Du Weilun's gaze never left Xu Zihuang. Yet Xu Zihuang remained calm.
Lowering his head, Xu Zihuang's slender white fingers untied the cord fastening the pouch.
A ball of yellow light floated out, rising gently into the air.
It was a triangular-shaped bone, resembling a skull, no larger than a palm. Snow-white in color, yet its sockets burned with two yellow flames. Staring into them for even a moment made one's head spin.
The thick soul power fluctuations made the air itself in the office heavy.
"A soul bone?!" Tuoba Yu was the most shocked. For Xu Zihuang, and even Nanmen Yun'er with her powerful family background, soul bones were not unfamiliar.
But Tuoba Yu was different. His family had long since declined. This was his first time seeing up close what he had only ever heard of.
Du Weilun explained, his gaze on Xu Zihuang's deep violet eyes:
"That's right. Your reward is a soul bone. You all know its importance. Let me introduce this one.
"This soul bone comes from a spirit-type sub-dragon soul beast known as the Terror Demon Dragon. You should have studied it in your freshman theory class. The Terror Demon Dragon's combat power is limited by its size, but it is a rare spirit-attribute dragon. This particular bone was taken from a thirty-thousand-year-old Terror Demon Dragon. After fusion, it grants a spirit-attribute attack skill and greatly enhances one's spiritual power."
A soul bone of this level would fetch at least a million gold soul coins at auction.
Among the six types of soul bones, trunk bones were the rarest, followed by head bones. And this was a head bone from a spirit-attribute soul beast.
The importance of spiritual power to a soul master needed no explanation.
Especially for Title Douluo, strong spiritual power could determine whether they broke through their bottleneck.
More importantly, a spirit-type head bone was suitable for any soul master.
A strange feeling stirred in Xu Zihuang's heart. He truly seemed fated with the Terror Demon Dragon.
Although Du Weilun hadn't said it outright, both Tuoba Yu and Nanmen Yun'er understood clearly: this soul bone had obviously been prepared especially for Xu Zihuang.
But what none of them knew was that Xu Zihuang didn't even care for this thirty-thousand-year Terror Demon Dragon head soul bone.
The more he experienced, the broader his vision became.
After all, even the twenty-thousand-year Evil Demon Orca right leg bone hadn't tempted him back then.
Though the Terror Demon Dragon was a strong sub-dragon soul beast, it couldn't compare to the Evil Demon Orca—the ocean's supreme overlord.
Given his talent, fusing this soul bone would be nothing but a waste.
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