Douluo ║ Vermilion Ice Harmony

Core Disciple

It was another bright and beautiful morning, and the air within Shrek Academy was both clean and extremely moist due to the presence of the Sea God’s Lake.

After a night of rest, Xue Rui seemed to be back to life. She was very excited when she thought of the rewards! From Xie Siran's tone, he must have said something to the teachers!

The Director of the Martial Soul Department—Du Weilun—quickly walked to the front of Shrek Plaza, alongside ten or so other teachers. Xue Rui only recognized two of the teachers who were following him. One of them was naturally their previous class’s teacher, Zhou Yi, while the other was Teacher Wang Yan. He only had a vague impression of the other teachers.

Du Weilun held a folder in his hands and swept his gaze over the small group of students with a smile on his face. “I’m sure that everyone already knows this, but the freshmen assessment’s knock-out tournament has now ended. I will now formally announce the top three teams and hand out their prizes. Third place in the freshmen's assessment goes to Team Huang Chutian. Team members: Huang Chutian, Lan Susu, and Lan Luoluo. Please step forward.”

Right, Team Huang Chutian, whom Huo Yuhao’s team had previously defeated, had obtained third place in the freshmen assessment. They’d lost to Dai Huabin’s team during the semifinals, but they’d been able to obtain third place by beating Zhou Sichen’s team.

“Second place goes to Team Dai Huabin. Team members: Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, and Cui Yajie. Step forward.”

Applause rang out yet again, but Dai Huabin’s team had no traces of excitement on their faces as they stepped forward. This was especially so for Dai Huabin; his expression was clouded, and his head was lowered slightly as if he had something else on his mind.

Du Weilun used a slightly louder voice to continue speaking, “Next, can everyone enthusiastically cheer for the first-place champions of the freshmen assessment? They are—Team Xue Rui! Team members: Xue Rui, Wang Dong, and Huo Yuhao.”

The crowd immediately burst into enthusiastic cheers, but Huo Yuhao’s trio was somewhat stunned when they heard Du Weilun’s announcement.

According to the plot, Yuhao's name would have been replaced with Wang Dong's. But now, Du Weilun didn’t follow the original path and called Xue Rui's name instead.

A smile appeared in Du Weilun’s eyes as he watched the three of them walk forward and said, “Alright, I will now announce the prizes for the top three teams of the freshmen assessment. First, each of the members of the top three teams will receive a prize from the Academy itself. All of them will be able to request assistance from the Academy to obtain a soul ring that he or she can withstand when the time arises. Furthermore, it will be a soul ring that is most suitable for them.”

Du Weilun continued, “In light of Team Xue Rui’s exceptional performance, the Academy has also decided to award them something special. However, this reward will be kept secret by the Academy. When the class division has been finished, the three of you can follow me to collect it.”

A special reward on top of what they’d already received? This really showcased the difference between the champion team and the second and third-place teams.

Du Weilun said, “Alright, you all can return.”

Xue Rui and the other eight students returned to their original positions.

Du Weilun then said, “The quality of this year’s students exceeds that of previous years, thus I hope that you all can continue to work hard. I hope that all of you will be able to smoothly graduate while obtaining excellent results. Now then, seeing that a few outstanding students have appeared in this year’s freshmen assessment, the Academy has decided to promote a few students to core disciples. I will now announce the names of the students that I’ve been promoted.”

Shrek Plaza immediately became completely silent. After all, core disciples didn’t only come from the top three teams! Du Weilun hadn’t said it outright, but who didn’t know that core disciples would receive a large amount of resources from the Academy?

Du Weilun opened the file he’d been carrying, then began to read through the names of the students who’d been promoted to core disciples, “In accordance with the performance of the students during the freshmen assessment, the Academy has decided to choose these following students as core disciples: Xue Rui, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, Zhou Sichen, Cao Jinxuan, Lan Susu, Lan Luoluo, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng.”

Xue Rui let out a breath. Thankfully Xiao Xiao made it to the core disciples. After all, if it weren’t for Xue Rui, she would've been on the winning team along with Hou Yuhao and Wang Dong.

Du Weilun continued, “However, although a few students are currently somewhat lacking in terms of their talent and ability, they still performed exceptionally well during the freshmen assessment. As such, the Academy has decided to temporarily let them enjoy the benefits of a core disciple until the school year finishes. If they’re able to make a breakthrough by next year’s promotion assessment, the Academy will consider making them formal core disciples. These students are as follows: Huo Yuhao, Cui Yajie, Huang Chutian, Long Xiangyue, and Nanmen Yun’er. The announcement is now finished.”

Xue Rui observed Huo Yuhao, who was indignant before slowly calming down. His gaze was somewhat vacant, but the anger in his heart gradually receded. Wang Dong comforted him. Soon the crowd dispersed.

"Xue Rui, you three follow me and claim your prize.” Director Du Weilun announced.

The three proceeded to follow Du Weilun to the teacher’s offices, which were located behind the higher year’s school buildings.

Du Weilun’s office was situated on the top floor, and his office was much bigger than Zhou Yi’s. Although it didn’t have any fanciful decorations, there were four bookcases inside, which were filled with an abundant number of books.

Du Weilun smiled and pointed towards the sofa. “Come, sit. Huo Yuhao, don’t let this burden you. You’ve seen it as well. It wasn’t just you; there were also a few students from the top three teams who weren’t able to become core disciples. You performed extremely well, especially considering the fact that you were able to help Wang Dong release a fusion skill. However, your individual ability still needs to be improved. When you need your second soul ring, you can request assistance from the Academy in order to ensure that you obtain an optimal soul ring. If you also manage to perform exceptionally well during your Year 2 promotion assessment, the Academy will consider formally accepting you as a core disciple.”

Wang Dong wanted to refute but Huo Yuhao tugged on Wang Dong’s sleeve, then replied respectfully to Du Weilun, “Director Du, I’ll definitely work hard. Thank you for your concern.”

Du Weilun was extremely pleased with Huo Yuhao’s attitude. Nodding his head, the large red gem on his right hand flashed, causing a leather bag to appear in his hands.

The leather bag seemed to be a soul tool, as there were a few dark-colored patterns inscribed on the brown bag, and there were some undulations of soul power from it.

Xue Rui knew it was a soul bone. And if she remembered it clearly this soul bone was specially prepared for Wang Dong with light attribute in it?

But she had a vague feeling that her cheap senior brother must have done something to destroy the plot again!

The Author has something to say:

Xue Rui: It's time to count the rewards accumulated in my inventory! Haha~

Xie Siran: I did such a huge contribution. But why is my screen time the lowest? Sigh.