Examination Begins

The academy's examination area was enormous. After all, thousands of students took their assessments simultaneously at the end of every term.

There were simply too many freshmen. Even if their destructive power and attack range were limited, the area occupied by so many freshmen was still terrifying.

The examination grounds had been divided into fifty equally sized sections. Each section had to hold at least six battles, and the next few days would be much the same as today.

Xu Jie and the other two arrived at their assigned area early and sat in the waiting area, awaiting the competition.

Seeing the nervous expressions on Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao's faces, Xu Jie could not help but say, "What are you nervous about? Relax. We'll definitely win."

Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao nodded at his words. Huo Yuhao was genuinely nervous, while Xiao Xiao had been thinking about the tactic Xu Jie had suggested. She felt that Xu Jie's strategy was rather underhanded.

"Attention, all freshmen. Attention, all freshmen. The assessment is about to begin. All candidates who have not yet entered their examination areas, please hurry to your assigned areas. You have ten minutes to enter. Once the assessment begins, any candidate who has not entered will be considered to have forfeited."

The announcement echoed throughout the Outer Court three times. Some freshmen who had yet to enter their examination areas involuntarily quickened their pace.

The nervous expressions on Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao's faces deepened.

Ten minutes passed quickly. A teacher who appeared to be around thirty years old stepped onto the examination platform for Area Thirty-Three. He looked completely ordinary and possessed no imposing aura. After looking over the people in the waiting area and confirming that everyone was present, he said, "First, let me introduce myself. My name is Wang Yan, and I will be your examination teacher for the next three days."

"Hello, Teacher Wang." The voices below the platform were somewhat uneven.

Wang Yan did not mind. Taking out a folder, he said to the students below, "Let's begin the assessment. First round, first match: Freshman Class One, Huo Yuhao, Xu Jie, and Xiao Xiao, versus Freshman Class Three, Ouyang Junyi, Cheng Junfeng, and Zhao Haocheng. Enter the arena. You may only summon your martial souls after I announce the start of the assessment."

The six students immediately stepped onto the battle platform. Xu Jie's group stood in a rather strange formation. Xu Jie and Xiao Xiao stood in front, while Huo Yuhao stood behind them. All three were positioned in the southeastern corner of the examination arena, close to the edge. Huo Yuhao, in particular, was standing so close to the boundary that he was nearly out of bounds.

The other three stood in the southwestern corner, directly opposite Xu Jie's group.

Seeing that both teams had chosen their positions, Wang Yan said, "The assessment begins."

Other than Xu Jie, everyone on both sides instantly summoned their martial souls. Yellow soul rings rose beneath all five people on the field except Huo Yuhao. When the fat boy among the opposing trio shouted, "Come on, my big chicken legs!"

Only then did three soul rings—yellow, purple, and purple—slowly rise beneath Xu Jie's feet. A martial soul resembling a football-sized fireball gradually condensed above his head.

The three opponents froze, especially Zhao Haocheng, who had summoned the chicken legs. The yellow soul ring beneath his feet trembled, and his soul skill nearly failed. Fortunately, he snapped back to his senses at the last moment and handed two large chicken legs to his teammates.

Although Xu Jie was a Soul Elder whose second soul ring was thousand-year, they had no intention of giving up.

The other two took the chicken legs and quickly began gnawing on them.

Watching the two of them, Xu Jie could not help but feel a trace of admiration. Not bad.

Logically speaking, no matter how well three one-ring Soul Masters coordinated, they were nowhere near a Soul Elder's match. Not to mention that this Soul Elder's second soul ring was already thousand-year, and he had two teammates as well.

As Xu Jie sighed inwardly, the two opponents finished their chicken legs and charged toward him at high speed.

The two were Agility-Attack Battle Soul Masters to begin with, so they were already fast. With the support of that food-type auxiliary Soul Master, their speed rose to an even greater level.

Xu Jie's first soul ring suddenly shone with a bright yellow light. Two fireballs rapidly formed and shot toward the pair in an instant.

Bang!!!

The fireballs were not especially powerful, but they were incredibly accurate. They reached the two men in an instant, and the explosion blasted them backward. At that very moment, Xiao Xiao's Soul Suppressing Cauldron suddenly appeared behind their heads.

With a crisp crack, the two one-ring Soul Masters were struck in the back of the head and instantly passed out.

Xu Jie and the other two stared at the chubby boy who was still holding a chicken leg. Looking at his teammates sprawled on the ground, the chubby boy swallowed hard and very consciously jumped off the battle platform.

Seeing this, Wang Yan immediately announced, "Class One's Huo Yuhao team wins." As Wang Yan looked at Xu Jie, confusion arose in his heart. He was not surprised at all by the accuracy of Xu Jie's Fireball Spell, since he knew about Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection Sharing. However, the Soul Power contained in Xu Jie's soul skill was far too weak.

It did not resemble Ultimate Fire at all. Its power was even inferior to ordinary flames. If it had truly been Ultimate Fire, Wang Yan would definitely have intervened just before Xu Jie's soul skill struck. But its power had simply been too low.

After hearing about the flaw in Xu Jie's martial soul, Wang Yan had been one of the elderly teachers who had gone to experiment on Xu Jie. However, at the time, he had paid no attention at all to the strength of Xu Jie's martial soul. His attention had been entirely focused on its flaw.

As an academic teacher who specialized in researching all kinds of martial souls, he had been unable to find a solution to the flaw in Xu Jie's martial soul.

After thinking about it for a while and still failing to understand, he simply stopped dwelling on it. He arranged for healing Soul Masters to carry the two unconscious students off the platform for treatment. Wang Yan could tell that Xu Jie's fireballs had not caused much damage. Xiao Xiao's Soul Suppressing Cauldron had been the main source of injury.

The two had not been badly hurt. Once they woke up, they could continue taking the assessment, and it would not affect the subsequent matches.

The freshmen below the platform did not share Wang Yan's thoughts. Watching the battle end so quickly, they felt only bewilderment, along with a hint of nausea.

But despite that discomfort, the freshmen still hoped to face Xu Jie's group.

After several battles, the freshmen discovered that Xu Jie's group had an excellent grasp of their strength. With Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection Sharing, Xiao Xiao controlled her power with extraordinary precision. The Soul Masters she struck merely fainted, and after waking up, they could continue fighting.

It did not affect their subsequent battles at all.

Over the following days, Huo Yuhao's group continued the style of their first match, sweeping through ten battles in a row and successfully advancing.

With Huo Yuhao's support, both Xu Jie and Xiao Xiao attacked with incredible precision. Xiao Xiao in particular—even without using a soul skill—the vibration force inherent in the Three-Life Soul Suppressing Cauldron was enough to knock people out with a single strike when it hit the most vulnerable part of the body, the back of the head.

Over ten battles, not a single person could withstand one strike from Xiao Xiao.