Unrivaled Tang Sect: The Dragon King Guards the World!

Chapter 37 Reserve Team Selection
On the morning of the second day, the brilliant sunshine poured down early and the weather was still extremely clear. In this beautiful atmosphere, Shrek Academy had already started the teaching of the new school year in an orderly manner.

Students of each grade are under different pressures. Freshmen face challenging freshman assessments, while students of other grades also have heavy tasks. The upgrade assessment is like a mountain weighing on their hearts, and there are many complicated and important courses waiting for them to overcome.

"Bang, bang, bang." After working hard all night, Huo Yuhao knocked lightly on the closed door of the office with his slightly tired hands.

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

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong then carefully opened the door and slowly walked in.

The room was already crowded with people, all of whom were the core disciples of the first class. Of course, there were also Ye Qian and Gu Yuena, two disciples from the inner courtyard. In addition to Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, there were Xiao Xiao, Lan Susu, Lan Luoluo, Zhou Sichen, Cao Jinxuan, and Huang Chutian, who was officially promoted to a core disciple, a total of ten people.

Zhou Yi deliberately cast his gaze towards Huo Yuhao, coughed lightly, and said, "I called you here today because I have a special situation to inform you. Three days later, the outer courtyard will hold a core disciple selection competition. Normally, we second-year students would have nothing to do with it, but the academy suddenly decided to let our second-year core disciples participate 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 have to worry too much. There won't be any punishment even if you lose this selection. The participants are all core disciples under the age of fifteen from the outer courtyard, including the soul guide department. I roughly estimated that there are about thirty people. This selection will select seven people from them to participate in a difficult task."

"Alright, you guys go back to the classroom first. Ye Qian, Gu Yuena, Huo Yuhao, the three of you stay for a while. The rest of you go first."

"Yes." Everyone answered loudly in unison.

Wang Dong lowered his voice and said to Huo Yuhao: "Xiao Xiao and I will wait for you outside."

Zhou Yi looked at Huo Yuhao and said calmly, “I am just conveying a message from Dean Yan and Dean Xian. The two deans said that it is okay for others not to make the top seven. But if you don’t make the top seven, you will bear the consequences yourself.”

“Uh…” Huo Yuhao’s face instantly revealed an expression of mixed astonishment and helplessness.

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

“I…” Huo Yuhao’s face suddenly became filled with frustration and sorrow, as if a heavy stone was pressing on his heart.

"Huo Yuhao, please go out." Zhou Yi patted Huo Yuhao's shoulder gently and said.

Huo Yuhao slowly walked out of the office with a look of helplessness on his face.

After seeing Huo Yuhao leave, Zhou Yi turned her gaze to Ye Qian'an and Gu Yuena, and said slowly, "As inner court disciples, you two don't need to participate in this assessment, because you have already been designated as substitutes for the main players in this All-Continent High-level Spirit Master Competition. Huo Yuhao and the others are reserve players."

"I understand, Teacher Zhou." Ye Qian nodded solemnly.

Zhou Yi looked at the two with satisfaction: "Although the main players are strong, you may be rotated in at any time. As substitutes, you must also be able to fill in at any time. Go back and practice well."

"Yes, Teacher Zhou!"

.........

After Huo Yuhao walked out of the office, Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao immediately surrounded him anxiously.

"Yuhao, what did Teacher Zhou say to you?" Xiaoxiao asked anxiously, her eyes full of concern.

Huo Yuhao sighed helplessly: "The two deans said that it's okay for others not to make the top seven, but if I don't make it, I will bear the consequences myself."

Wang Dong patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder and consoled him, “Don’t worry, let’s work together to find a solution. If we train hard in the next three days, we will definitely have a chance.”

During the entire day of classes, Huo Yuhao was deeply immersed in sorrow. No matter how much he thought about it, he really didn't think he could stand out from a group of strong core disciples.

Ye Qian'an, who was standing beside him, was silently thinking about how to take advantage of the opportunity to transfer Alex's consciousness from Huo Yuhao to his own body during the next operation to wipe out the evil soul master's lair.

When he went to Siyuan Forge to learn forging from Siyuan, he finally got an exciting piece of good news. Siyuan told him that he could finally perform spiritual forging. After mastering spiritual forging, he would finally be able to forge the one-word battle armor.

The next two days were undoubtedly tense and busy for Ye Qian'an. In addition to normal practice and study every day, he put all his energy into his metal forging without reservation.

In order to make it easier for Ye Qian'an to forge metal in the future, Gu Yuena also ordered Di Tian and others to search everywhere for useful rare metals. At the same time, Gu Yuena also told Ye Qian'an that there was a large piece of green metal under the Lake of Life, which exuded endless life force.

After hearing Gu Yuena's description of the rare metal that exuded life attributes, Ye Qian'an secretly speculated in his heart that if he was not mistaken, what Gu Yuena was talking about might be the gold of life, and according to estimates, its reserves were also very abundant.

The vitality contained in the gold of life has a strong appeal to soul masters or soul beasts. As long as a piece of gold of life is added to the forged metal, the forged one-word battle armor will have a greater amplification effect.

The bell rang, announcing the end of a day of intense classes. Wang Yan organized his lesson plan in an orderly manner, and then said seriously: "Core disciples, please stay for a while and come with me to the fighting spirit area later."

All the core disciples were excited when they heard this, because they knew that the long-awaited selection competition was about to begin. Unlike what they had imagined, this important test did not take up class time, but was scheduled to be held after school in the afternoon. The number of core disciples in their class was indeed larger than in the past, with as many as ten in Class One alone. Together with Dai Huabin, Xie Huanyue, Zhu Lu, Wu Feng from Class Two, and Ning Tian from Class Three, the total number reached fourteen. Moreover, during the freshman assessment, two people were admitted to the inner courtyard by exception, which was extremely rare in the outer courtyard of Shrek Academy. The number of core disciples in the third and fourth grades, who were older than them, was only comparable to theirs.

After coming out of the classroom, Ye Qianan saw Dai Huabin, Xie Huanyue, Zhu Lu and Wu Feng walking out of the classroom in Class 2. Dai Huabin naturally noticed Ye Qianan, and a cold light flashed in his eyes. Although his position as a core disciple had not changed, he had received a very severe warning from the academy because of the previous incidents.

Moreover, the bodies of the six Duke's Palace warriors who died in the conflict were all sent back to the White Tiger Duke's Palace in just two days. Fortunately, the White Tiger Duke was not in the palace at the time, so his mother, the Duchess, managed to suppress the matter. Otherwise, with the White Tiger Duke's upright temper, Dai Huabin would definitely be in trouble.

In the absence of clear evidence, Shrek Academy has already given Duke White Tiger enough face. Otherwise, with the academy's consistent strong style, even if the evidence is not sufficient, what can be done? At least there is no problem in expelling Dai Huabin from the academy. Thinking of these possible serious consequences, Dai Huabin's heart was also filled with fear. He knew very well that he must not let this personal hatred affect his future.

Soon, Ning Tian also appeared in everyone's sight. When she slowly walked out of Class 3, she looked at Ye Qian'an and others first, just like Dai Huabin.

All twelve second-year core students from the outer courtyard, led by three teachers, walked out of the teaching building in a mighty procession and headed straight for the fighting spirit area. Since Ye Qian and Gu Yuena did not need to take the test, they went to the first row of the stands and sat down as soon as they arrived at the fighting spirit area.

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

Apart from the three of them, there were no more 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 we knew before, only He Caitou came. In the end, the total number of people was fixed at 27. Among them, the number of second-year core disciples accounted for almost half.

At this moment, a shaky figure slowly approached from a distance. The man's steps were unsteady, and he swayed with every step, as if he might fall to the ground at any time due to an unstable center of gravity.

Master Xuan staggered in front of the students. His drunken eyes made it hard to tell what he was thinking. He raised his head and called out, "Xiao Wang."

"Master Xuan." Wang Yan hurried forward, his face full of respect, and bowed deeply.

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

Wang Yan quickly replied, "They are all here. There are 26 core disciples from the second to fifth grade in the Wuhun Department. There is only one person from the Soul Guidance Department. The other two are inner court disciples who don't need to attend. They are now in the stands."

"Then let's go in." As he said that, Old Xuan turned around shakily and walked into the fighting spirit area first.

Everything in the fighting spirit area remained the same, but today it seemed particularly deserted. It seemed that there were no teachers here to instruct, and no other students came here to fight spirits. Elder Xuan walked all the way to the center of the fighting spirit area, and then stopped. The core disciples, led by the teachers, also stood in the designated positions.

"Listen carefully, little guys. The core disciple assessment you are about to take is very simple. I call it a collective brawl. The last seven people remaining will be the winners. Okay, teachers, please go out. When I say start, you can start fighting." Old Xuan said in a loud voice.

"Is this okay?" Hearing Master Xuan's simple and crude assessment method, the students couldn't help but widen their eyes and looked at each other with disbelief on their faces. But the teachers would naturally not disobey Master Xuan's order and left the fighting spirit area one after another.

Before the students in the fighting spirit area could react to the sudden change in rules, Elder Xuan suddenly raised the wine gourd in his hand and shouted, "Begin."

With a "whoosh", Old Xuan's figure disappeared in an instant.

At this time, there were only 27 core disciples from the outer courtyard left in the fighting arena. All these changes were so sudden that the moment Master Xuan shouted to start, all the students were briefly stunned. Then, everyone quickly made different choices.

After Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, Xiaoxiao, He Caitou, Beibei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan successfully joined forces, this seemingly chaotic fight was actually coming to an end. It was originally thought to be an arduous battle, but under the precise command of Huo Yuhao's powerful mental detection and the fierce firepower coverage of He Caitou, those opponents who were like a pile of loose sand were completely suppressed. They even lined up and rushed forward on their own initiative, but were directly defeated by Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong's powerful Golden Road. In just ten minutes, only Huo Yuhao and the other seven were left on the field!

Master Xuan didn't need to check carefully. With his profound cultivation, he could clearly feel the condition of each student. Seeing that there were no serious injuries, he was relieved and waved to the sidelines. Wang Yan, Mu Jin and other teachers saw this and quickly rushed over.

The teachers had all seen the battle just now. They were surprised to find that only two students with the second-ring cultivation level had almost instantly made twelve opponents with cultivation levels no weaker than theirs lose their fighting power.

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

After Huo Yuhao and his team successfully resolved the battle, Ye Qian was about to leave with Gu Yuena, but they were stopped by Master Xuan. Without any hesitation, the two of them immediately headed towards the fighting spirit area.

At this time, there were only nine people left in the fighting spirit area: Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, Bei Bei, He Cai Tou, Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nannan, as well as Ye Qian and Gu Yuena who walked over from the stands.

Elder Xuan said slowly, "We have selected the seven of you to serve as a reserve team and as substitutes for the main contestants. Although the possibility of you playing is very small, only as substitutes will you have the qualifications to participate in the competition. Ye Qian'an and Gu Yuena have been judged by the academy's top management to be strong enough to enter the inner courtyard, and they will also serve as official members of this competition."

When Beibei and other fifth-year students heard this, they looked at Ye Qian'an and Gu Yuena with strange eyes. They thought to themselves, is it possible that the end point of those who work so hard is the starting point of these two people? Sometimes people are really incomparable, and ordinary players are not comparable to cheating players.

Elder Xuan continued, "Your membership in the reserve team is a secret of the academy, and no one is allowed to tell anyone. Otherwise, you will be disqualified. From now on, you will practice with me for one day a week. There is still one month left before this year's All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Competition. I will take the seven of you to practice with the participating teams. I hope you will seize this precious opportunity and improve yourself as much as possible. Okay, let's disperse..."

After becoming a reserve member of the Shrek Seven Devils, Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao and their study life in the academy became more colorful. In addition to their normal classes every day, they made the most of their time to practice.

The status of the reserve team is undoubtedly a great honor for them, but at the same time, they also bear greater pressure. They must do everything they can to maintain this honor, especially the three younger ones. Only by making more efforts can they ensure that they can always retain the qualification of the reserve team.

.........

(End of this chapter)