The Rebirth of the Supreme King Dong'er

Once Du Weilun had taken his position, he first picked up the list in his hand and called out names according to it. After confirming that all the students had arrived, he cleared his throat twice and began a long-winded speech.

Wang Dong'er had despised such tedious formalities in her previous life, especially this sort of empty, repetitive rhetoric. It was neither informative nor worth the time, so she simply closed her eyes and began meditating, treating Du Weilun as though he did not exist.

Huo Yuhao glanced at Du Weilun, who had clearly noticed them and whose face had turned livid, and could not help giving Wang Dong'er a thumbs-up in his heart.

However, although Du Weilun had noticed, he did not publicly warn Wang Dong'er. He merely stewed in silence and ignored it.

Once the lengthy pep talk and brainwashing rhetoric finally ended, the draw for the round of thirty-two began.

There were no surprises. Once Xiao Xiao brought out her soul bone skill, the Nine Cauldrons Sealing Origin Array, no one could withstand it.

Even if it could not immobilize the opponent for three seconds, the control time provided by this soul skill was enough for Wang Dong'er to defeat them.

During the freshman assessment, not many people had truly paid attention to Wang Dong'er's team of three. Huang Chutian and the Lan sisters had only studied them because their assessment areas were close by, and they had played their trump card, the Martial Soul Fusion Skill, right from the start.

But now, Wang Dong'er's trio once again shocked the proctor in this assessment area with their dominance over the matches.

He had supervised several freshman assessments, yet he had never seen fights resolved so cleanly and decisively. Their opponents barely even had the ability to fight back.

This pattern of instant defeats the moment they met continued until the battle to advance from sixteen to eight, where it finally stopped against one team.

This was a team from Freshman Class Ten, and all of them were two-ring Soul Grandmasters.

Their captain was named Zhou Sichen, while the other two members were Long Xiangyue and Cao Jinxuan. The former was an Agility System soul master, while the latter was a Control System soul master.

The martial souls of all three were quite unusual as well.

Zhou Sichen, an Assault System soul master, had a martial soul that was unexpectedly a book called the Treasure Codex.

Generally speaking, book-type martial souls on the Douluo Continent had always been considered useless martial souls, just like Blue Silver Grass.

Yet Zhou Sichen's Treasure Codex martial soul had granted him level-seven Innate Soul Power, and there were no attribute restrictions on the soul rings he absorbed. His first soul ring could be Fire Attribute, while his second could become Ice Attribute.

When the Treasure Codex opened in Zhou Sichen's hands, it shot out two rays of light that transformed into a brown bear and a fierce tiger.

This was the effect of Zhou Sichen's soul skill: he could directly absorb slain soul beasts and turn them into abilities.

As for Cao Jinxuan, the Control System soul master, his martial soul was a Weapon Martial Soul called the Fleeting Time Clock. It was extremely rare even among Weapon Martial Souls and possessed abilities related to time.

This was the rule-based martial soul that Wang Dong'er had been curious about.

As for Long Xiangyue, there was not much to say. His was a boomerang martial soul, rather ordinary compared to Zhou Sichen and Cao Jinxuan.

The only reason they had not instantly defeated these three two-ring Soul Grandmasters was that Wang Dong'er wanted to personally experience what their abilities were like.

As for the outcome, once the novelty wore off, all that remained was a cold, swift defeat.

Although Zhou Sichen's martial soul and soul skills were unusual, they could still be restrained by Xiao Xiao's Nine Cauldrons Sealing Origin Array.

That was right—even the soul beasts summoned by those two soul skills could be restrained.

The sole exception was Cao Jinxuan. With that strange rule-based martial soul, he really could break free from the restraint of the Nine Cauldrons Sealing Origin Array.

This was the first time Xiao Xiao's ever-victorious Nine Cauldrons Sealing Origin Array had failed, and it made Xiao Xiao somewhat more vigilant.

Once the top eight had been decided, the assessment area was reduced from its original thirty-two sections to four large zones.

A spectator platform had also appeared along one side of the assessment area.

What was strange was that the platform seemed packed with people, yet the central area had been deliberately left empty.

Sitting in that central space was an elderly man with disheveled hair, dressed like a beggar.

He held a wine gourd in one hand and a chicken leg in the other. His bare, dark feet rested directly on the platform, and he showed no concern whatsoever for his appearance.

"Elder Xuan." Wang Yan respectfully greeted the old man.

"Where are those three you mentioned?" Xuan Zi asked.

"Elder Xuan, look, they're right over there. They're easy to identify. Their distinguishing traits are..."

"Enough, enough. I can see for myself." Xuan Zi waved the chicken leg in his hand, nearly splattering Wang Yan's face with grease.

"Yes." Wang Yan did not dare say anything more and could only step aside to watch.

This was the quarterfinal match to determine the top four. After the draw, Wang Dong'er's trio was matched against one of the three Soul Elder teams.

Unlike the other teams, their opponents formed a line as soon as they entered. In the center stood a fatty nearly 1.7 meters tall, but his waist was absurdly wide as well, making him look like a gigantic ball of flesh.

The teammates on either side of him were skinny as bamboo poles and a head shorter, though their arms were unusually long.

Under the proctor's guidance, both sides introduced themselves and began preparing for the match.

The three were from Freshman Class Two. The ball-like fatty was the three-ring Soul Elder, Xie Huanyue.

The other two were brothers, one named Luo Tianlong and the other Luo Tianba.

The moment the match began, Xie Huanyue underwent an even more exaggerated transformation.

As his two yellow and one purple soul rings appeared, his already larger-than-average body swelled further, and his dark skin seemed to become thicker as well.

The brothers Luo Tianlong and Luo Tianba did not release their martial souls. Instead, as Xie Huanyue strode forward with footsteps like muffled thunder, they hid behind his body.

Ever since the freshman assessment began, the three of them had fought using this method. It often gave them a solid advantage at the outset. Though they did not instantly defeat opponents in nearly every match like Wang Dong'er's trio, they still won quite easily.

Unfortunately, Huo Yuhao's Mental Detection was innately suited to counter this style of combat.

Even if the two brothers hid themselves as stealthily as possible behind Xie Huanyue, a sweep from Huo Yuhao's Mental Detection immediately presented every detail of the entire arena in Wang Dong'er's and Xiao Xiao's minds through Mental Sharing.

Seeing Luo Tianlong and Luo Tianba sneaking around behind Xie Huanyue, Xiao Xiao nearly burst out laughing.

This time, she did not use the Nine Cauldrons Sealing Origin Array. Xie Huanyue was, after all, a three-ringed Soul Elder, and his resistance to the Nine Cauldrons Sealing Origin Array was far greater than that of a two-ringed Soul Grandmaster.

This was only a match. There was no need to be like when they faced Ma Xiaotao, where they had to use every possible method to stall for time even at the cost of severe backlash.

Moreover, Wang Dong'er could not instantly defeat her opponent this time with only her first soul skill as she had before. Even if Xiao Xiao used the Nine Cauldrons Sealing Origin Array, it would have been pointless, so she might as well save it as a backup.

The Light Goddess Butterfly's sheer beauty remained just as potent. Most people seeing Wang Donger's butterfly wings fully spread for the first time would be briefly stunned rigid.

Xie Huanyue, however, possessed firm resolve. He snapped out of it in an instant and launched himself from the ground like a cannonball, leaping a full ten meters into the air. Midair, he curled into a genuine ball of flesh and came spinning down toward Wang Dong'er's group.

Though Xie Huanyue looked like a plump little meatball, this move was just like Wrecking Ball Hammond's, and Wang Dong'er instinctively began making fine adjustments.

With a beat of her butterfly wings, Wang Dong'er retreated, her first soul skill primed and ready.

She, Xiao Xiao, and Huo Yuhao had always stood in a front-middle-rear formation. Since Xie Huanyue was charging at Wang Dong'er, Xiao Xiao and Huo Yuhao did not remain where they were. Instead, they moved toward opposite sides, their targets directly set on the Luo Tianlong and Luo Tianba brothers.

By now, Luo Tianlong and Luo Tianba had also released their martial souls. Both their arms transformed into enormous mantis blades, while their footwork was incredibly nimble. They were clearly Agility System soul masters.

Boom—

Xiao Xiao's Three Lives Soul Suppressing Cauldron split into three, then into nine cauldrons. She finally unleashed the Nine Cauldrons Sealing Origin Array, completely ignoring Xie Huanyue as it headed straight for Luo Tianlong and Luo Tianba.

Faced with the encirclement that Xiao Xiao's Nine Cauldrons Sealing Origin Array was about to form, the two made a prompt decision. They fully unleashed their speed advantage and ran in opposite directions, trying to escape its range before the nine cauldrons closed in.

On the other side, Wang Dong'er's first soul skill had already been unleashed. Brilliant golden light flashed along the edges of her butterfly wings as they swept upward to meet the meatball-like Xie Huanyue.

Though he had curled up, Xie Huanyue seemingly still had a way to observe the outside world. The moment Wang Dong'er came at him, his first soul ring lit up, and his body swelled once more, ballooning like an inflated rubber ball.

Wang Donger's Winged Scythe Blade should have been able to slice through human skin with ease, but countless folds were hidden within Xie Huanyue's thick flesh. Before the butterfly wings could cut through his skin, they were already clamped in place. An unusual ripple even spread out, neutralizing the sharpness of the Winged Scythe Blade.

Xie Huanyue's martial soul was unlike Xu Shishi's, which possessed an extremely hard turtle shell capable of blocking sharp weapons. He could only rely on soul skills or his body to withstand attacks head-on.

This proctor did not recognize Xie Huanyue's martial soul, so he did not know its characteristics.

He had been prepared to step in and save someone at any moment. Seeing Xie Huanyue successfully stop Wang Dong'er, he finally relaxed slightly.

To Wang Dong'er, it felt as though she had run into a non-Newtonian fluid—viscous and difficult to cut through.

Still, difficult to cut through only meant that her first soul skill was not sharp enough or fast enough.

Wang Dong'er suddenly pulled back her butterfly wings and shifted aside. Xie Huanyue fell straight from the air.

However, the moment Xie Huanyue hit the ground, his swollen body bounced back up like a rubber ball. Immediately afterward, his third and second soul rings lit up in succession. In an instant, Xie Huanyue, who had been some distance from Wang Dong'er, appeared right beside her.

Xie Huanyue fiercely swung his right arm. It stretched out like a noodle and lashed toward Wang Dong'er, looking as if it could pursue her no matter where she flew.

"It's over." Wang Dong'er blinked. Xie Huanyue immediately sensed that something was wrong, but then a clang rang out from below. Unable to help himself, he looked down.

Xiao Xiao's second soul ring had lit up. While the Nine Cauldrons Sealing Origin Array restrained Luo Tianlong and Luo Tianba, all nine cauldrons simultaneously rippled.

Under the black ripples, Luo Tianlong and Luo Tianba's expressions changed. They spat out mouthfuls of blood and were sent flying by the nine cauldrons, hurled straight out of the arena.

It was only after Luo Tianlong and Luo Tianba had been flung away that the proctor came to his senses. He hurriedly sprinted over and caught the two of them.

Fortunately, Xiao Xiao had held back. The brothers had merely coughed up some blood and looked somewhat listless; they had not suffered any serious internal injuries.

In midair, Xie Huanyue's right arm swept sideways like an octopus tentacle. Luo Tianlong and Luo Tianba's defeat had been within his expectations—he simply had not expected it to happen so quickly.

But none of that mattered. As long as he could force Wang Dong'er out of the match, a mere two-ringed soul master and one-ringed soul master would have no chance of defeating him.

After the earlier probing, Xie Huanyue was already certain that although Wang Donger's soul skill threatened him, it could not kill him in a single strike. As long as it could not one-shot all this fat of his, he could sound the horn for a counterattack.

However, Xie Huanyue had forgotten that from the very beginning of this battle, Wang Dong'er had never revealed her second or third soul skill.

After dealing with Luo Tianlong and Luo Tianba, Xiao Xiao and Huo Yuhao immediately retreated to the edge of the arena, leaving the center of the battlefield to Wang Dong'er and Xie Huanyue.

Then, Xie Huanyue saw Wang Donger's first and second soul rings light up at the same time.

A dazzling gold shimmer appeared around Wang Dong'er, and her pair of butterfly wings turned completely brilliant gold.

"This is..." Quite a few teachers watching from the elevated platform were leaning over the railing, their eyes wide as they stared at Wang Dong'er.

Generally speaking, a soul master only possessed nine soul ring skills. However, some exceptionally talented soul masters could link their soul skills together in rapid, stable combinations.

Often, while their opponent had only just released one soul skill, such a soul master could fire off two soul skills in succession and seize the initiative.

But what Wang Dong'er had unleashed was not as simple as a combination of soul skills. If it had to be described, it was more like a fusion of soul skills.

She had fused two different soul skills together, forming a new soul skill to unleash.

It was effectively a Martial Soul Fusion Skill at the level of soul skills.

Throughout the history of the soul master world, not many soul masters had been capable of such a feat. Sometimes it was not entirely tied to the soul master's talent either—perhaps with a sudden flash of insight, they could figure it out.

Xiao Xiao and Huo Yuhao had known Wang Donger's planned strategy before the battle, but they had never expected that the "I'm going to unleash one hell of an attack" Wang Dong'er mentioned would mean this.

Xie Huanyue did not feel nearly as good about it.

He vaguely felt as though this attack had locked onto him—and that he absolutely could not block it.

"I surrender!" Xie Huanyue shouted, rapidly retracting the right arm he had lashed out.

Hearing Xie Huanyue surrender, the proctor who had just run off immediately returned, preparing to step in and block Wang Donger's fused soul skill.

But before he could make a move, Wang Dong'er's attack transformed into a crescent-shaped golden blade of light and shot toward the sky.

Xuan Zi, seated on the high platform with a mouthful of wine and a bite of meat, nodded. "This one's not bad. As for the other two, the one using the cauldron is acceptable, but the one with the ten-year soul ring is somewhat lacking. She isn't suited to be granted core disciple status directly."

"Freshman Class One, Wang Dong'er's team wins!" Only after Xie Huanyue stepped down from the stage did the proctor announce the result.

The eight-to-four matches had ended. Only the final four teams remained in the ranking tournament, and two of them were teams with three-ringed Soul Elders.

According to the draw, Wang Dong'er's group of three would face one of the Soul Elder teams in the semifinals: Dai Huabin's team.

Upon hearing Dai Huabin's name, Huo Yuhao could barely suppress his emotions. It took him quite a while to calm down.

"Dai Huabin? Isn't he your enemy, Huo Yuhao?" Xiao Xiao said. "When we face them this afternoon, let's hit them hard!"

Huo Yuhao shook his head. "You may not know this, but the White Tiger Duke's Mansion has intermarried with the Star Luo Empire's Nether Duke's Mansion ever since ten thousand years ago. Nearly every generation has produced a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. I think Dai Huabin might not be an exception."

"A Martial Soul Fusion Skill?" Xiao Xiao froze. "Dai Huabin is a Soul Elder. If he has a Martial Soul Fusion Skill with someone else, wouldn't that mean he could at least contend with a Soul Ancestor-level Soul Master?"

The combat power of a Soul Ancestor could play a decisive role in a competition like this.

Wang Dong'er smiled. "Then we just won't let them fuse their Martial Souls."

Unless Dai Huabin used his Martial Soul Fusion Skill right from the start, just as the sisters Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo had done.

But it was almost impossible for Dai Huabin to do that.

Someone like him valued a Soul Master's pride above all else. If he used a Martial Soul Fusion Skill right away, then from his perspective, it would amount to admitting that he was no match for Wang Dong'er and could only use a Martial Soul Fusion Skill to resist her.

His pride would never allow it.

"My first and second soul skills can be used together as well. Maybe I can hold him off for a while," Xiao Xiao said.

"Mm, just adapt as the situation demands." Wang Dong'er nodded. "Let's eat first."

Soon, afternoon arrived. The assessment area had now been divided into two large sections, each far bigger than the previous arena and better suited for Soul Masters to display their abilities.