It had been three months since Wang Nan's first monitoring mission ended.
During these three months, he hadn't undertaken another mission.
Instead, he attended an extra class daily with other reservists, where they shared experiences from other monitoring teams.
Summarizing experiences and learning from mistakes proved to be quite fruitful.
At noon that day, as Wang Nan exited the cafeteria, he encountered Lin Xiao, who had come to find him.
Wang Nan had grown somewhat accustomed to this; over the past three months, Lin Xiao had made countless trips to the Martial Soul Department to help him adjust his spirit tool.
"This afternoon is when we test the results. Come with me to the spirit tool testing area now; I can still help you adjust anything that's not quite right."
As it concerned Lin Xiao's promotion assessment, Wang Nan naturally didn't refuse and went with her to the spirit tool testing area.
A stage had already been set up there, prepared for the afternoon's promotion assessment.
If he wasn't mistaken, the assessment content would likely be practical combat again.
"Come, let me fix it for you first."
Lin Xiao circled behind Wang Nan, securing the spirit tool thruster to his back, then took out four smaller components.
"Senior Sister Lin, shouldn't I do these?"
"Don't move, I'll help you. This afternoon is my promotion assessment; I'll only feel at ease if I personally help you install them."
As Lin Xiao spoke, she bent down and secured several accessories to Wang Nan's forearms and calves.
"Come, try it out."
Wang Nan injected spirit power into the spirit tool thruster, and a burst of light immediately illuminated his back, causing his body to rise sharply.
As spirit power continuously flowed in, the light on his back intensified, and he ascended higher and higher into the air.
"Try the other components," Lin Xiao called out, looking up at Wang Nan.
Wang Nan nodded and injected spirit power into his legs; two blue lights glowed from his ankles, and immediately, his body shot forward.
Because there was no obstruction in the air, this speed was even faster than on the ground.
After confirming that the leg components were functioning correctly, Wang Nan focused on his arms.
Blue lights glowed on his wrists, and as Wang Nan pushed his hands forward, his body leaned back, executing a full aerial flip.
After completing these movements, all the lights simultaneously illuminated, and Wang Nan's figure continuously advanced, turned, and hovered in the air.
After a while, he slowly descended to the ground.
"Junior Brother, you're becoming more and more proficient at controlling this spirit tool thruster."
Wang Nan had practiced with rods since childhood, so his body coordination was already excellent.
Coupled with the fantastic spirit tool made by Lin Xiao, he was now no less capable than a Spirit Master of the same Rank who used their Spirit to fly.
"Whether you pass this afternoon's assessment depends entirely on your performance," Lin Xiao said to Wang Nan while checking the spirit tool thruster for any issues after use.
"Senior Sister Lin's spirit tool is excellent; you will definitely pass smoothly."
Lin Xiao covered her face and smiled. "Then I'll take your auspicious words. If I can pass this assessment, you can come to me with any spirit tool-related questions in the future."
After they chatted for a while, it was time for the Spirit Guidance System's promotion assessment, and several other Core Disciples and Spirit Guidance System Disciples arrived at the testing area.
This was the first year the Academy had introduced the combination of Spirit Masters and Soul Masters.
Thanks to this plan, some of the Academy's resources had shifted from the Martial Soul Department to the Soul Guidance System.
Therefore, Qian Duoduo highly valued these students being trained as support system Soul Masters and personally attended the afternoon's assessment.
"Dean Qian."
"You don't need to be restrained; just proceed with the assessment according to the original plan."
Qian Duoduo's appearance was entirely inconsistent with his name.
He had short white hair, stood over two meters tall, and looked like a granite statue when standing there.
Only the slightly cunning smile on his face had a hint of "Qian Duoduo" about it.
Fan Yu stepped forward and, after seeing Qian Duoduo nod in acknowledgment, began, "Due to the adjustments in the Soul Guidance System, your promotion assessments have been postponed until today.
If any of you successfully pass this assessment, you will become the first batch of support system Soul Masters in the Academy."
As he spoke, Fan Yu stepped aside, revealing several Soul Masters behind him.
"Next, the Martial Soul Department Disciples assisting with the assessment will engage in one-on-one combat with the Soul Masters behind me.
The assessment results will be determined by performance in combat; winning or losing does not represent the final outcome."
"Furthermore, during the assessment, only one spirit tool provided by the assessing Disciple can be used.
Using any other spirit tool will result in assessment failure, understood?"
"Understood."
"Good, first up, assessing student Lin Xiao, assisting student Wang Nan, using a Rank 3 spirit tool thruster."
For some reason, Wang Nan was scheduled first, but he didn't mind and stepped forward to stand before Fan Yu.
Qian Duoduo, standing nearby, frowned slightly.
He remembered that ordinary spirit tool thrusters were only Rank 2 spirit tools; even with improvements, they shouldn't be able to boost a Spirit Elder's combat power by twenty percent, right?
"Ye Xiaosheng, you will be his opponent."
"Yes, Teacher Fan."
A male student, wearing a Rank 3 Soul Master badge on his chest, stepped out from behind Fan Yu.
"Prepare, assessment begins!"
Wang Nan and Ye Xiaosheng stood on opposite sides of the stage.
As soon as Fan Yu's words fell, several metal pipes extended from Ye Xiaosheng's arms.
This was a common type of long-range spirit tool: the Spirit Light Ray.
As Ye Xiaosheng's spirit ring rose, the front ends of the metal pipes also glowed white, clearly about to activate.
Blue light illuminated Wang Nan's back, and his figure quickly began to move left and right.
Although he didn't understand Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, he knew how to use spirit tools.
Leveraging the powerful physique of a Spirit Master, he continuously activated the spirit tool thruster, swaying left and right in a "Z" shape, rapidly approaching Ye Xiaosheng.
Ye Xiaosheng had no skills like spiritual detection.
Seeing Wang Nan constantly changing positions, he couldn't aim for a moment and could only simultaneously fire six Spirit Light Rays, attempting to hit Wang Nan with sheer volume.
Then, to Ye Xiaosheng's surprise, Wang Nan "flew" up.
Ye Xiaosheng's attacks were all aimed at the ground.
With Wang Nan now "flying," there were no more obstacles in front of him.
He immediately unleashed his full spirit power, instantly crossing the entire stage and arriving before Ye Xiaosheng.
Ye Xiaosheng activated the spirit tool shield on his body while trying to escape.
However, someone running on the ground could not compare to someone flying in the air.
Wang Nan quickly caught up to Ye Xiaosheng, and his Coiling Dragon Rod was already descending.
"Alright, you can stop."
Fan Yu called a halt to the match.
Low-Rank Soul Masters had no resistance once a Spirit Master got close, especially since Wang Nan was a Core Disciple of the Martial Soul Department.
Fan Yu turned to look at Qian Duoduo.
"Excellent," Qian Duoduo slowly applauded.
"It seems our Soul Guidance System's assessment standards have some issues.
Our goal is to train Soul Masters similar to support system Spirit Masters, so the assessment targets align with support system Spirit Masters."
"But this match provided a new concept.
We Soul Masters are completely different from support system Spirit Masters.
We can completely rely on spirit tools to provide more flexible and diverse assistance to Spirit Masters.
After all, I have never heard of any support system Spirit that could grant a Spirit Master the ability to fly."
Saying this, Qian Duoduo looked at Lin Xiao, "Your assessment is passed.
Also, did you propose this idea?"
"No, Junior Brother Wang thought of it first."
"Is that so?"
Qian Duoduo looked at Wang Nan, his eyes full of affection.
He was about to try to poach him from the Martial Soul Department, but then thought better of it and held back, "Student Wang Nan, feel free to visit the Soul Guidance System more often when you have time."
"Thank you, Dean Qian, I will."
Qian Duoduo nodded and looked at the next student about to be assessed.
The assessments for the subsequent students also went smoothly.
Although they weren't as simple and direct as the spirit tool thruster, they were all excellent Soul Masters with various imaginative ideas.
Qian Duoduo immediately made the decision to keep all these students.
A promotion assessment with a hundred percent pass rate was unprecedented in the history of Shrek Academy.