Chapter 306: Forming Groups

Xu Xiaoyan had a delicate appearance, like that of a frail flower. She was undoubtedly unrivalled among her peers. It didn't take much for a relatively large team to accept her, making them a team of five with her addition.

Ignoring her team's discussions, she glanced at Tang Wulin, completely pleased with herself.

Xie Xie also managed to join a team without a hitch. Agility-type soul masters excelled in chaotic battlefields, so he was easily able to recruit two other agility-type soul masters to form a team of three. He even came up with a name for his team, the Scavengers.

Someone spoke up while Tang Wulin was immersed in observing his fellow classmates.

"Hi, are you really a fourth-rank blacksmith?" It was that Yang Nianxia who had previously doubted him.

"Mn. I am." Tang Wulin took out his badge as proof. Considering Yang Nanxia's sturdy build, Tang Wulin was certain that he was a blacksmith as well. As fellow blacksmiths, they were bound to run into each other often in the future, so it was best to maintain a cordial relationship.

"Let's team up then. I'm a power-type soul master. My martial soul is the Duskgold Bear," Yang Nianxia said, cutting right to the chase.

The Duskgold Bear? Tang Wulin was startled.

The Duskgold Bear was a variant of the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear. In all of history, a soul master with the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear as martial soul had never appeared. Maybe it was just too overbearing for a human to contain.

The Duskgold Bear, however, was lauded as the most powerful bear-type martial soul. It possessed all the traits of the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, except for its famed claw. Both its strength and defense were tyrannical, making it an amazing meat shield.

Tang Wulin could be considered a sort of assault-type soul master. If he were to team up with such an amazing human shield, his survivability would soar to new heights.

Tang Wulin nodded without the slightest hesitation. "Sure! Welcome to the team! I'm Tang Wulin, and this here is my companion, Gu Yue. I'm a control-type soul master and Gu Yue is an elemental-type soul master that specializes in control, support, and ranged attacks."

"Hi." Yang Nianxia offered his hand to Gu Yue in greeting. However, she only gave him a nod. She never let anyone apart from Tang Wulin touch her.

Tang Wulin smiled sheepishly. "That's just the kind of person Gu Yue is. Don't mind it too much, Yang Nianxia."

Yang Nianxia chuckled and he rubbed the back of his head. "It's fine, it's fine. Oh, right, how old are you? It's amazing that you're a fourth-rank blacksmith at such a young age. We should compare notes sometime." "Sure. I'm thirteen. How about you?"

"I'm fourteen."

The two stared at each other in astonishment. Yang Nianxia's surprise stemmed from how young Tang Wulin was, while Tang Wulin found Yang Nianxia's enormous size shocking for someone at his age.

"The three of us make quite a good team. Do you have any idea what we should do later? I'm not very good at strategizing. What are your specialties?" Yang Nianxia asked, full of vigor.

All of the new students still weren't familiar with each other, so this battle royale served as the perfect stage to showcase their strengths. The more formidable one appeared, the easier it would be for them to form relationships with others. Furthermore, it would elevate one's status in the class. Everyone was eager to prove themselves.

Tang Wulin smiled wryly. "It's quite simple really. Isn't your martial soul the Duskgold Bear? The Duskgold Bear has amazing strength and defense. All you need to do is focus on displaying them and we'll be fine. Leave the rest to me and Gu Yue. I'll pull people to you, and you'll beat them up. Gu Yue will be in charge of ranged attacks and supporting us."

With the addition of Yang Nianxia, Tang Wulin was satisfied with the composition of their team. He had no doubts about Yang Nianxia's strength. He had passed Shrek's entrance exam too after all. At the very least, he had to have three soul rings. Those who had been admitted with only two soul rings like Tang Wulin were an oddity.

As this thought crossed Tang Wulin's mind, the image of that red-haired Fallen Angel girl popped into his head. Doesn't she only have two rings as well? And she has purple ones like mine. The same goes for Yue Zhengyu. He has three purple rings. It seems like both Holy Angels and Fallen Angels have the physical strength and spiritual power to support a powerful spirit soul.

Fifteen minutes soon passed. Shen Yi and Wu Zhangkong majestically led the 101 students of the first grade out of the classroom. They walked down a long hall, venturing into the depths of the school building.

The school building was simply enormous. It would take someone several years to become familiar with every nook and cranny of it.

They soon arrived in a large circular room.

Strangely enough, this room was barely large enough to fit all of the students, but nowhere near enough room for them to do battle.

"In just a moment, all of you will enter an illusory world. I believe everyone here has been in the spirit ascension platform before, so you can consider this world as something similar. Now, everyone move outside of the white circle on the floor," Shen Yi said.

The students did as Shen Yi ordered and withdrew from the center of the room, leaving a large empty space there.

Shen Yi walked over to the wall and operated some kind of mechanism. A series of soul circuits lit up in response, zig-zagging all over the room. A moment later, the floor of the center of the room opened up, and egg-shaped globes shot out.

Each globe was about 2.5 meters tall with a diameter of 1.2 meters. All of them split open to reveal a peculiar cockpit within.

"You may choose to enter whichever one you want. After entering, you will find yourselves in a forest. The boundaries of this forest are small, so you will quickly encounter each other. If you want to be near any companions, enter eggs that are near each other. You have three minutes to sort things out. Don't forget to buckle your seat belts once you've entered your cabin."

So high tech!

Tang Wulin stared at the oval cabins in admiration. They were clearly entering the same kind of world as the spirit ascension platform! Taking the world they entered during the entrance exam into consideration as well, he could barely even begin to imagine what technology Shrek Academy possessed. Perhaps he would no longer need to visit the spirit ascension platform and could just come here instead.

Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, and Yang Nianxia swiftly chose three cabins that were clustered together. After entering, they buckled their seat belts, and the opening of their cabins closed, leaving each of them in darkness.

Soon after that, specks of starlight twinkled into existence around Tang Wulin, as if he were floating amidst a sea of stars. Waves of energy began rippling around him, and the egg began to spin.

Dizziness struck him and left him dazed, but just as he was about to throw up from the nausea, his mind went blank.

His nausea completely vanished, and he could feel his feet planted firmly below him. He immediately dropped to the ground in a low crouch.

Crouching reduced how big of a target of he was and also gave him a chance to let his soul power and blood essence settle. It was essential for him to be in peak condition.

Tang Wulin had a clear view of his surroundings. Just as Shen Yi had said, he found himself in a lush forest. He couldn't see anyone else, but the dense flora severely limited his line of sight.

Now that he was in a forest, Tang Wulin felt like a fish back in water. Plant-type soul masters like him had a definite advantage in such an environment.

Tang Wulin dashed to the side and jumped into some shrubbery to hide himself. A moment later, purple eyes appeared within the shrubbery.

"Tang Wulin? Gu Yue? Where are you guys?" a voice roared nearby.

Tang Wulin was stunned, but his expression soon darkened. This guy...

The owner of that voice was clearly Yang Nianxia!