The coordination between the two of them had even made Su Boren, who had originally been expressionless, start to frown.
Within Huo Yuxi's control range, Soul Power was already being consumed quickly, and Luo Ling's Soul Skill forced them to use their own Soul Skills as well.
This meant that during the thirty seconds Huo Yuxi's second soul skill lasted, their Soul Power was very likely to be completely drained.
There was no other choice.
"Jiajiao, Shaoxuan, stay where you are. Don't move, and don't circulate your Soul Power." Knowing that Su Boren's physical strength was also being drained at double speed, he quickly told his two teammates not to act rashly while controlling the book pages to shield them.
Huo Yuxi's second soul ring was over two thousand years old. Combined with Luo Ling's second soul skill attack, a Soul Skill from Su Boren's four-hundred-year soul ring simply could not hold out for long.
Before the Soul Skill even ended, Su Boren collapsed. In an environment where his mental strength, physical strength, and Soul Power were all being consumed at double speed, using three book pages at once for twenty seconds was already his limit.
Watching their captain being carried away with a pale face, Chi Shaoxuan and Chen Jiaojiao's eyes reddened. But this was not the time to be upset. They were on the battlefield, and they had to show sportsmanship!
Chen Jiaojiao turned her gaze toward Lu Wanwan. A one-on-one restraint was clearly unrealistic now, so Chi Shaoxuan could only hold off Luo Ling and Huo Yuxi.
She would eliminate Lu Wanwan first, then support Chi Shaoxuan in restraining Huo Yuxi, eliminate Luo Ling, and finally face Huo Yuxi together. Only then would they have a chance of winning this match.
With a determined look, she raised her entirely black spiked club and charged toward Lu Wanwan.
There appeared to be no change in the spiked club's appearance, but everyone could clearly sense that its aura had grown stronger, as had Chen Jiaojiao's imposing presence.
Seeing what was happening there, Huo Yuxi tried to shake off Chi Shaoxuan and help Lu Wanwan.
But Chi Shaoxuan seemed to have suddenly unlocked his potential. Despite the enormous gap in strength, he stubbornly held the two of them back until Chen Jiaojiao successfully eliminated Lu Wanwan.
Chen Jiaojiao quickly joined the fight to help Chi Shaoxuan bear Huo Yuxi's assault. Yet the disparity in strength was still there, and they had consumed far more Soul Power than Huo Yuxi's group in the first half of the match.
If they wanted to win, they could only end the fight quickly.
Chi Shaoxuan's attacks gradually became fiercer, their angles increasingly tricky. As a control-system Soul Master, Luo Ling was simply not skilled at close combat compared to him, and she was beginning to struggle to hold on.
She had been injured, blood seeping from her wounds and staining her white academy uniform red.
On the other side, Chen Jiaojiao sensed that her Soul Power was about to run out and grew increasingly anxious.
At a time like this, her mind went blank, allowing Huo Yuxi to spot an opening. With a flick of her wrist, several Tang Sect hidden weapons shot toward her at once.
Caught off guard, Chen Jiaojiao's rhythm was disrupted, and she began losing ground step by step.
In the end, Huo Yuxi knocked her off the stage with a punch.
With the match at this point, there was no suspense left in continuing. Chi Shaoxuan raised both hands, turned around, and jumped off the stage himself. "I concede."
The proctor stepped onto the stage and announced the result. "First match of Zone Twenty-One: Huo Yuxi's team wins!"
"Next match..."
After Luo Ling left the stage, Lu Wanwan immediately came to her side. "Luo Ling, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. They're just superficial wounds."
Luo Ling's injuries were lighter than those of the three opponents, so the healing teacher treated them first.
Lu Wanwan was still worried about her injuries. "Xixi, we want to go to the infirmary. Are you staying here to watch, or going back to the dorm first?"
The first match had ended quickly, and not much time had passed. Since she did not know when Xiao Xiao's group would take the stage, Huo Yuxi figured she might as well wait until everything was over before going to find them.
"I'll stay and watch."
"Alright, we'll head off first." After saying that, Lu Wanwan supported Luo Ling as they walked out.
Huo Yuxi sat upright in her seat and watched the matches. After a while, Su Boren arrived with his two teammates and sat in the seats beside her. "Hello, Huo Yuxi!"
"Hello." Huo Yuxi turned toward him, nodded, and greeted him.
All three of them were much taller than she was, and the difference was especially obvious while sitting down. Huo Yuxi's desire to grow taller surged up again.
Su Boren kept his eyes on the arena, but from the corner of his eye, he was actually watching Huo Yuxi. Honestly, if he had not looked into Huo Yuxi's background, then judging solely from her manners and posture, he would truly have thought she was some family's young lady.
Huo Yuxi had no time to care what he was thinking. This match was quite interesting, with neither side much stronger than the other and the battle going back and forth. She watched with great interest.
Since it was everyone's first match, most teams chose to conceal their strength. Moreover, today's matches were mainly meant to help the students adapt to this style of combat. The first round of the freshman assessment soon came to an end.
The assessment was limited to three days. Only one match had been held on the first day, so they naturally had to make up for it over the next two days. There would be four rounds on the second day, two in the morning and two in the afternoon, while the remaining five rounds would be compressed into the third day.
The purpose of this format was also to train the students' endurance in prolonged battles.
In order to preserve enough energy for the assessment, Huo Yuhao decided not to sell grilled fish for the next two days and devote all his time to cultivation.
Huo Yuxi did the same, even eating twice as fast as usual.
After the first day's matches, the students of Zone Twenty-One had roughly assessed the other teams' strength. Aside from Huo Yuxi's team and Su Boren's team, all the other students had Soul Power Levels below level 20.
During the second day's matches, every team that faced those two groups gave up struggling and conserved their strength for the next opponents.
After the matches ended, the proctor stepped onto the stage. "Today's matches are over. As everyone knows, teams that lose all five of their previous matches will be eliminated. Fortunately, there are none in Zone Twenty-One."
"Tomorrow's matches will be redrawn. This time, aside from ensuring you do not face classmates from the same class, your previous records will also be taken into account. Therefore, some teams among you will definitely be transferred to other zones. I hope everyone will keep up the good work in the remaining matches and achieve victory from the start."
"That's all. Go back and get some proper rest!"
After they were dismissed, Luo Ling and Lu Wanwan went off to take care of something. Huo Yuxi returned to the dormitory building alone and happened to run into Huo Yuhao and the other two just as they were preparing to head out. "Brother."
Huo Yuhao took two steps forward. "Xixi, you're back! I was just about to look for you. How was today's assessment?"
"Mm, it was alright." Huo Yuxi nodded. "In our assessment zone, I was the only one whose Soul Power Level was above level 30. Besides my two teammates, there were only two others above level 20. Whenever the other teams faced us, they deliberately went easy on us. We won very easily."
Huo Yuhao reached over and smoothed down the stray lock of hair on top of her head. "That's good. Tomorrow's matches will be redrawn, so you may very well face stronger opponents."
"But don't worry too much. I asked Teacher Zhou about it. Among the freshmen this year, there are very few Soul Masters comparable to you in strength. Besides, your team composition is strong. Reaching the top sixty-four definitely won't be a problem."
After a pause, he added, "That said, your brother still hopes you'll put yourself first. It's alright if you lose. You're more important."
"Mm."
Before you continue