Douluo Continent: I can overdraft the future in advance

That evening, the three found an open space on campus.

It's called an open space, but it's actually a lawn surrounded by trees by Poseidon Lake, and not many people come here at night.

"Let's share our secrets first." Luo Yun sat cross-legged on the grass. "We don't know what kind of teams we'll encounter during the assessment. Knowing each other's soul skills in advance will prevent us from being flustered when cooperating."

Chen Jiyong and Su Xiaowan nodded.

"I'll go first." Luo Yun activated his Martial Soul, and ice-blue feathers covered his arms, with two rings of spirit rings slowly rotating. The first ring was yellow, and the second ring had a deep yellow outer ring and a dark purple inner ring, gleaming faintly in the moonlight.

"First Soul Skill, Ice Mist. It spews out ice mist from the mouth, which can be used to target specific individuals. Those covered by it will have their speed reduced, and the duration is linked to the soul power consumed." He paused. "Second Soul Skill, Ice Thorns. Ice spikes grow from the ground, with a range of three meters and a straight-line distance of about seven meters. The direction can be controlled."

Chen Jiyong and Su Xiaowan stared at the near-millennium spirit ring for two seconds in silence. Although they already knew that their class monitor's second spirit ring was extraordinary, seeing it up close still seemed outrageous.

"My turn, my turn." Chen Jiyong stood up and patted the grass clippings off his backside. He activated his martial spirit, and a circle of earthen-yellow light shone beneath his feet. Chess-piece-shaped lights and shadows appeared around him, arranging themselves in an array on the ground. The chess pieces were small, about the size of a palm, with simple patterns engraved on their surfaces; there were twenty-three of them in total.

"My martial soul is the Earth Chessboard, a weapon-type martial soul, earth attribute." Chen Jiyong waved his hand, and a chess piece flew out, exploding in mid-air and transforming into an earthen wall, about half a foot thick, standing in front of him. "First Soul Skill, Earth Wall. The chess piece transforms into an earthen wall, which can block damage and also control direction."

Looking at the familiar skill, Luo Yun couldn't help but blurt out, "Earth Flow Wall?"

"Earth Flow Wall?" Chen Jiyong's eyes lit up. "That's a great name! From now on, it'll be called Earth Flow Wall! I've always felt that the name Earth Wall didn't sound very good."

Luo Yun's lips twitched slightly, but he didn't tell him the origin of the name.

"What about the second soul skill?" Su Xiaowan asked.

"Second Soul Skill, Earth and Stone Meteor." Chen Jiyong swung out several more chess pieces, which transformed into fist-sized clods of earth in mid-air. Their sharp edges gleamed a dark yellow under the moonlight, spinning in the air according to his will. "I can control the direction; it hurts quite a bit when it hits someone. However, my cultivation level isn't high enough right now, so I can only control a maximum of five at a time, and the distance can't be too far."

Luo Yun nodded. The Earthly Chess Martial Soul is both offensive and defensive, with great potential for development. Although Chen Jiyong's talent isn't top-tier, he's willing to practice and isn't unintelligent. With proper training, he could at least become a good controller in the future.

"And you?" Luo Yun asked Su Xiaowan.

Su Xiaowan activated her martial soul, orange-red down sprouted from her hands, her nails became sharp, her eyes turned into vertical pupils, and two soul rings lit up—both were yellow hundred-year soul rings.

"First Soul Skill, Blazing Claw. Flames envelop both hands, a melee attack; the flames are hot enough to melt ordinary metal." She raised her right hand, orange-red flames igniting on her five fingernails, distorting the surrounding air. "Second Soul Skill, Flame Ray. A ranged attack that spews a line of fire from her mouth, with a straight-line distance of about fifteen meters. However, the charging time is a bit long, about two seconds."

After listening, Luo Yun considered it in his mind.

Chen Jiyong is a control and defense specialist, using earthen walls to block damage and earth-stone meteors for harassment and damage output. Su Xiaowan is a melee attacker with ranged damage output, using blazing claws for close-range combat and fire rays for ranged attacks. He himself uses ice mist for crowd control and ice thorns for area restriction and damage.

"Our setup has melee and ranged fighters, as well as defense and control," Luo Yun said. "They can complement each other, so we should be quite competitive."

"I wonder if there are any Soul Masters among this year's freshmen," Su Xiaowan said.

"A three-ring Soul Master?" Chen Jiyong's eyes widened. "No way? We're all just freshmen—"

"Shrek Academy has never lacked geniuses," Luo Yun interrupted him. "There are twelve-year-old Soul Masters, and if you encounter one, it will indeed be difficult to fight them."

He paused, glancing at Chen Jiyong and Su Xiaowan.

"But even if we do, we're not without a chance. A third-ringed soul skill is one more than a second-ringed soul skill, but the difference in soul power isn't that significant. If we coordinate well, we can fight."

Chen Jiyong clenched his fist, and Su Xiaowan nodded.

"Our goal is to secure a spot in the top four and compete for the championship." Luo Yun extended his hand.

Chen Jiyong put his hand on hers, and Su Xiaowan did the same.

Luo Yun was secretly thinking to himself, "Only success is allowed; failure is not an option."

---

A week later, the new student assessment officially began.

The assessment area is located on the north side of the teaching building. It is an oval-shaped field of approximately 20,000 square meters, divided into fifty zones. Each zone is marked with white lines, and metal pillars with defensive arrays engraved on them stand along the edges to prevent soul skills from harming the audience and examiners.

A makeshift blewstand was set up next to each area, where several examiners and recorders sat. The examiners held rosters and scoreboards, and were responsible for supervising the competition and determining the winners and losers.

Luo Yun, Chen Jiyong, and Su Xiaowan were assigned to District 27.

There are six teams in this area. Each team will play one match against each of the other five teams. After the five matches are completed, the opponents will be reassigned, and this process will continue until all ten matches are played. One point is awarded for each win and zero points for each loss. After all the freshmen have played, the bottom half of the teams in terms of points will be eliminated. The top sixty-four teams will advance to the knockout stage.

"The use of soul tools is prohibited during the assessment." Luo Yun glanced at the rules and frowned. He was used to carrying a few soul tools with him for self-defense. Although he didn't rely on them, being suddenly forbidden from using them still made him feel a little uncomfortable.

"I've hardly ever used a combat soul tool," Chen Jiyong shrugged.

"Me too," Su Xiaowan said.

The examiner for District 27 was a male teacher in his thirties, wearing glasses, with a thin face, and dressed in a white teacher's uniform. His nameplate on his chest read "Wang Yan".

Luo Yun's heart skipped a beat when he saw the name. Wang Yan was a character who appeared in the original work and was considered a rare good teacher at Shrek Academy.

"District 27, Match 1," Wang Yan announced, flipping through the roster. "Class 3, Luo Yun's team, versus Class 1, Liu Yue's team. Both teams, enter the field."

Luo Yun led Chen Jiyong and Su Xiaowan into the assessment area. Three more people, two men and one woman, walked in from the opposite direction.

The leader was a tall boy with dark skin, long arms, and large knuckles. Behind him stood a chubby boy with broad shoulders, like a human shield. Last was a petite girl standing at the very back, with lively eyes.

"Class One, Liu Yue, Zhao Lei, Sun He," the tall boy announced their names.

Luo Yun nodded without saying anything more.

"Both sides, prepare!" Wang Yan raised his hand.

Luo Yun took a deep breath and activated his Martial Soul. Ice-blue light surged from his body, covering his arms and upper body.

Chess pieces appeared beneath Chen Jiyong's feet, their earthen-yellow light swirling around him. Su Xiaowan's hands ignited with orange-red flames, and her eyes transformed into vertical pupils.

Opposite them, Liu Yue held a longbow in his hand. The bow was dark green, the bowstring glowed with a pale blue light, and a yellow spirit ring lit up. Zhao Lei's body suddenly grew taller, a layer of grayish-brown keratin appeared on his skin, and two yellow spirit rings lit up. Sun Xiaohe's hands transformed into sharp claws, her body became more slender, and she felt light as a feather.

Wang Yan's gaze swept over both of them, and his raised hand slowly fell.

"start."