Chapter 23: The Decline of Splendor, The Road of Gold (Three)

  "Report!" Huo Yu Hao and Wang Dong rushed to the position between the teachers and students, shouting loudly at the same time.

  The teacher who was called out immediately stopped, this teacher was about fifty years old, tall and large in stature, with a dark face and no beard, his expression cold and stern.

  "Which class are you two from? What's going on?"

  Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong both knew this teacher, whose name was Du Weilun. He was the Dean of the Martial Soul Department at Shrek Academy and held immense authority within the academy.

  "Huo Yu Hao reported loudly: 'Reporting to Teacher Du, new students in Class 1, Huo Yu Hao and Wang Dong, are late due to delayed cultivation.'"

  Du Weilun's face sank, "You're all late for the assessment, do you still have a sense of time? Punish you two to clean the floors of all corridors in the freshman teaching building after today's match. Dismissed."

  "Yes." Huo Yu Hao and Wang Dong hastily responded, both of whom were relieved in their hearts. As long as they weren't penalized to the point of losing their assessment qualifications, it was fine. The two of them hurriedly jogged back to the New Student Class 1 group and stood together with Xiao Xiao.

  Du Weilun glanced at Zhou Wei standing not far away, then picked up the list and continued to read on. With his temper, if it were another student, they would probably have been disqualified from the assessment directly, after all, they had already passed the freshman assessment. But what made Ho Yuhao and Wang Dong special was that they performed exceptionally well in the loop competition, achieving a perfect score, which allowed this iron-faced instructor to show some mercy.

  At Shrek Academy, although it's not entirely a meritocracy, those with strong abilities and good grades will certainly receive some preferential treatment. This is the case in any academy.

  "What are you two doing? You're just waiting for the match to end today and then Old Lady Zhou will deal with you. Look at her eyes, they're like knives. If looks could kill, you two would be dead." Xiao Xiao said irritably.

  Wang Dong said with a gloomy face: "You'd better stop chattering, it's all because of Huo Yu Hao, if he hadn't insisted on dragging me out to spar, and miscalculated the time, could we have arrived late?"

  Huoyu Hao and Wang Dong had already discussed it on their way back, they would keep the matter of Wu Soul Fusion Technique a secret for the time being, after all, they didn't plan to use it in the new student assessment yet. They unanimously decided to only tell this good news to Zhou teacher, to calm her Thunder Fury. At the same time, let her guide them in their cultivation. When they were proficient in using it, they would show it off in future assessments.

  Very soon, the director of Wuhun Department of Foreign Language Institute, Du Weilun, had finished calling the roll, and then it was time for drawing lots. It was just a new student assessment, without too many complicated rituals. Huo Yuhao represented their team to draw the lottery. All 64 students who participated in the knockout tournament were divided into 32 matches, competing against each other.

  Yesterday, the students had a day of rest and recovery. The assessment area has also been improved. It only needs to adjust the position of the isolation board. It was re-divided into sixteen areas. This time, the area of each area has increased several times, and the students participating in the elimination match will also have a more spacious space to play.

  The rules during the elimination period are simple, with one match in the morning and one in the afternoon. The eliminated teams go back to class directly, while the winning teams stay for further competition. It takes three days to decide the final top three.

  After the draw, the 64-to-32 matches started immediately, with all 32 matches held simultaneously. This will shorten the examination time as much as possible and give the winning students sufficient rest time for the afternoon match.

  Huo Yu Hao and his group were assigned to the 15th district this time, and the invigilating teacher was also changed. This time it was a female teacher in her thirties who looked very kind.

  When drawing lots, there were only numbers, and they didn't know who their opponents would be. When they arrived at the venue, they couldn't help but feel a bit helpless. The people they drew in the first round turned out to be their own classmates from Class 1 of the freshman year, and this knockout match had become an internal struggle.

  The other side's three apprentices, Huo Yu and Hao, all knew each other. One of them had even tried to compare strength with Wang Dong before. According to Wang Dong himself, the guy was beaten by him in private and became honest afterwards.

  Zhou Wei's judgment was accurate, as she had set Hou Yu Hao and his three teammates as the seed team for Class 1. Their strength was naturally unmatched by other teams. The match didn't last long, although their opponents were very resilient. With Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao working together and Hou Yu Hao's spiritual probe sharing assistance, they solved the battle in less than ten minutes. They smoothly advanced to the top 32.

  However, when Huo Yu Hao and the other two walked out of the assessment area, the joy of their victory instantly vanished. Because right at the entrance of the assessment area, Old Lady Zhou was waiting there with a gloomy face.

  "Xiao Xiao, you go back and rest first. You two, come with me." Zhou Wei said this, hummed coldly, and turned to leave.

  Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong simultaneously felt a chill on their backs, fortunately the two had long been prepared, after exchanging a glance, they followed Zhou Wei. Xiao Xiao could only give them a "good luck" look.

  Zhou Wei surprisingly took them directly to her own office. As the head teacher of Class 1, Freshman Year, her office was also located in the north of the dormitory area, outside the high-rise teaching building behind Buildings Black and Purple, on the first floor of the teachers' office area, where she worked alone.

  Following Zhou Wei into the office, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong couldn't help but be surprised.

  This strict and severe Mr. Zhou's office is actually decorated very elegantly. The entire wall of the office was painted a light pink color, the desk was made of a special type of wood with a pale red color, there was also a large red-colored sofa for receiving guests as well as some other decorations, inside there was also a small door that seemed to be used specifically for resting in a rest room. It has to be said, Shrek Academy's treatment of teachers is quite good. Even the head teacher of the freshman class can have their own independent office.

  Huo Yu Hao was the last to enter, carefully closing the door behind him. Zhou Wei was already seated on the large red sofa in the reception room, her arms crossed over her chest, and said coldly: "Speak up, what's going on with you two? You're late for the second day in a row, do you think that just because you passed the new student assessment, you can fly high and I won't be able to control you anymore? Let me tell you, as long as I want to, expelling you from the academy is just a matter of saying one word. In this world, there's never a shortage of geniuses, and the number of geniuses who have been expelled by me is countless. The reason is only one - their character is not suitable for becoming a strong person. Give me a reason why I shouldn't punish you two."

  Huo Yu Hao and Wang Dong exchanged a glance, and Wang Dong nudged him, indicating that he should explain.

  Huō Yǔhào could only force himself to say, "Sorry, Teacher Zhōu, it was our mistake." In the more than three months they had been familiar with Zhōu Wèi's temper, stubbornly resisting would have no good outcome and would only further infuriate this old lady Zhōu. The better their attitude, the smaller the punishment they might receive.