Suicide Skill

The next day, Huo Yuxi and Xiao Xiao arrived early to line up outside the assessment area.

More than thirty academy teachers stood on the platform, with Zhou Yi conspicuously among them. Her brows were tightly furrowed, making her already wrinkled face look even more terrifying.

Her gaze swept over the more than two hundred students below. When she confirmed that the people she was looking for were late again, her expression immediately darkened further.

Huo Yuxi searched twice but could not find Huo Yuhao or Wang Dong. One look at Zhou Yi's expression told her that the two of them really had not arrived yet.

Roll call was conducted by class order, and it had already begun. If they still had not arrived by the end of roll call, they would be treated as having forfeited.

Class One had the most students entering the finals, so their roll call took the longest. Huo Yuhao's group was farther down the list.

It was not until nearly all of Class One had been called that their names came up, yet Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong still had not arrived.

The crowd below clicked their tongues in disbelief. Such a situation was exceedingly rare. No matter how urgent someone's business was, they would usually postpone it for the elimination matches.

Being late for something this important would definitely leave the teachers with an awful impression. They might even have their eligibility revoked.

Zhou Yi stood on the platform, grinding her back teeth so hard they nearly shattered. Those two brats—she had clearly been too gentle with them, letting them think they could treat her words as though they were nothing.

The roll call sped up, but there was still no sign of the two. Huo Yuxi began to worry that something might have happened to them.

Given Huo Yuhao's personality, the odds of this happening were practically zero. She could not help but overthink it. But within the academy, she could not imagine what could have happened.

"Don't worry. They're here," Luo Ling said coolly.

Huo Yuxi looked at her in confusion. She had been too preoccupied with Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong to hear clearly.

"They've already arrived." Luo Ling pointed her chin toward the teacher conducting roll call.

At eleven or twelve, there was not much difference in height between boys and girls. Luo Ling's frame was slightly larger than that of most girls, and she stood half a head taller than the crowd.

Huo Yuxi, however, was completely the opposite. She was half a head shorter than ordinary children her age. Even standing on tiptoe, she could barely catch a glimpse of anything.

But that was enough. Once she knew they had arrived, Huo Yuxi relaxed and began carefully considering the upcoming match.

The elimination rounds lasted three days, with one match in the morning and one in the afternoon. Eliminated teams returned to class, while winning teams continued competing.

On the first day, the first round narrowed sixty-four teams to thirty-two, and the second narrowed thirty-two to sixteen. On the second day, sixteen became eight, then eight became four. On the third day, four became two, then two became one.

The draw was systematically assigned through a Soul Tool. Huo Yuxi's group had fairly good luck; their opponents' Martial Souls happened to be countered by Luo Ling's Martial Soul.

They won in less than fifteen minutes.

What surprised everyone else was Huo Yuhao's group. A team led by a Soul Master with a ten-year soul ring had actually advanced into the top thirty-two.

When Huo Yuxi's group reached the entrance, they saw Zhou Yi standing there with a grim expression, her sharp eyes fixed on them. More precisely, on the people behind them.

The three girls walked up to her. "Teacher Zhou."

"Mm." Zhou Yi answered, then shouted toward the entrance of the assessment area, "You two, get over here right now!"

Huo Yuxi turned her head and, unsurprisingly, saw her brother and Wang Dong walking over guiltily. Xiao Xiao followed behind them, trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible.

"Teacher Zhou," the three of them called in unison.

"Xiao Xiao, go rest first. The five of you, follow me." Zhou Yi turned and left after saying that.

Xiao Xiao gave Wang Dong and Huo Yuxi a look that said, Good luck, then turned and left.

When they arrived at the office, Luo Ling, Lu Wanwan, and Huo Yuxi stood in a row. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong stood behind them with their heads lowered.

"Do you think hiding will help? You'd better give me a reason that can convince me. Yesterday's lateness was one thing, but what was today about?"

Huo Yuhao stepped forward with his head lowered, with Wang Dong following behind him as they listened to Zhou Yi's scolding.

"Do you think that just because you passed the freshman assessment and can remain at the academy, nothing else matters? Let me tell you, if I want to, even if you win the elimination rounds, expelling you would only take a word from me."

"There is never a shortage of geniuses in this world, especially at Shrek Academy. Go ask around—who here isn't a genius among geniuses?"

Wang Dong and Huo Yuhao exchanged a glance. Wang Dong secretly reached out and tugged at Huo Yuhao's hem, urging him to explain quickly.

Huo Yuhao braced himself and took a step forward. "I'm sorry, Teacher. We were wrong. These past two days, we really were late because we got too absorbed in cultivation. It isn't an excuse."

Zhou Yi glanced at him, signaling for him to continue.

"It's like this. Do you remember the Huang Chutian team we encountered two days ago? Among them, the sisters Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo used a Martial Soul Fusion Skill."

"Wang Dong and I were both very envious of the power of a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. So after we went back, we decided to try it ourselves and see whether our Martial Souls could fuse."

"The academy never specifically taught us about this sort of thing, so we could only figure it out ourselves. Who knew that the first time we tried, the night before last, we passed out during the fusion? When we woke up, we found that we were already late."

"We didn't know whether we had succeeded the day before yesterday, so yesterday, we agreed to try again in the small woods over there. This time, we really succeeded, and the attack power seemed extremely strong."

"As expected, our Soul Power was depleted, and we passed out again. When we woke up today, we were late again."

Huo Yuhao secretly glanced at Zhou Yi and promised, "Teacher Zhou, those two times really were accidents. We promise there won't be a next time."

"A Martial Soul Fusion Skill?" Zhou Yi's expression remained fairly calm, but the other three could not stay calm.

What had he just said? They had envied someone else's Martial Soul Fusion Skill, then successfully copied it?

Huo Yuxi was even more shaken. She and Huo Yuhao were fraternal twins. Logically, the chances of them developing a Martial Soul Fusion Skill should have been much higher, yet Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong had actually cultivated one first.

But their mother had also said that this depended on many factors. Even Martial Souls resonating with each other was rare, let alone cultivating a fusion skill.

"Come on, show it to me."

Zhou Yi also found it hard to believe that two of her students had cultivated a Martial Soul Fusion Skill for such a hasty reason, but she trusted Huo Yuhao's character.

She planned to first see their fusion skill, then visit the library to learn more about it.

Huo Yuxi also wanted to know what their Martial Soul Fusion Skill looked like. She had never seen one in reality before.

"Teacher Zhou, using a Martial Soul Fusion Skill will exhaust all our Soul Power. We still have a match this afternoon." When Wang Dong heard Zhou Yi tell them to use it, her heartbeat quickened.

They had passed out every time they attempted it. She did not want to embarrass herself in front of so many people.

"Idiot. The first use of a Martial Soul Fusion Skill consumes the most; after that, the consumption will gradually decrease." Zhou Yi naturally knew what she was thinking and said irritably, "If you pass out every time you use it, why call it a Martial Soul Fusion Skill? You might as well rename it the Suicide Skill."