Elimination Tournament I

"Xu Jie."

"Present."

"Huo Yuhao."

"Present."

"Xiao Xiao."

"Present."

As the roll call rang out, Dai Huabin showed no change in expression upon hearing Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao's names. To him, Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao were merely two ordinary students at the academy.

Huo Yuhao noticed that Dai Huabin's expression had not changed, and his relaxed fist clenched tighter.

Xu Jie said nothing when he saw this, but another way for Dai Huabin to die had been added in his mind.

Soon, after Du Weilun finished calling roll, the drawing for the elimination rounds began. Huo Yuhao stepped forward and casually reached into the drawing box. Number thirteen. Mm, the first match in Assessment Area Thirteen.

The drawing only had numbers, so no one knew who their opponents would be. Zhou Yi stood in the spectator stands and watched Huo Yuhao's team and Wang Dong's team head in different directions, unable to stop herself from sighing in relief. Fortunately, the class's two seeded teams had not drawn each other in the first round. Otherwise, eliminating one of them so early would have been far too disappointing.

In their first match, Huo Yuhao's group faced three Soul Grand Masters from Freshman Class One.

Once the teams entered the assessment area, the referee standing in the center announced, "Begin."

"Class Ten, Zhou Sichen, Assault System Soul Grandmaster."

"Class Ten, Long Xiangyue, Agility Attack System Soul Grandmaster."

"Class Ten, Cao Jingxuan, Control System Soul Grandmaster."

Three forceful voices rang out. Two yellow soul rings rose beneath each of their feet. White light surged, and a white book appeared in Zhou Sichen's hand, a massive boomerang appeared in Long Xiangyue's hand, and an exquisite white bell appeared above Cao Jingxuan's head.

Xu Jie's group of three also summoned their martial souls.

"Class One, Xu Jie, Assault System Soul Elder."

"Class One, Xiao Xiao, Control System Soul Grandmaster."

"Class One, Huo Yuhao, Support System Soul Master."

As soon as he finished speaking, the first soul ring of Xu Jie, who stood at the front, pulsed. Two volleyball-sized fireballs immediately shot toward Cao Jingxuan and Long Xiangyue, who stood at the front of the opposing team.

Whoosh!

The fireballs flew at tremendous speed, and the two opponents immediately sent their martial souls forward.

Bang!

The fireballs exploded.

Behind Xu Jie, the great cauldron in Xiao Xiao's hand split into three. Her first soul ring pulsed, and two small black cauldrons flew swiftly toward the backs of Long Xiangyue and Cao Jingxuan's heads.

Long Xiangyue and Cao Jingxuan, whose backs were unguarded, did not seem worried. Just as they expected, the tome in Zhou Sichen's hand flipped open. A bear glowing with golden light and a fierce tiger wreathed in flames appeared behind Long Xiangyue and Cao Jingxuan respectively, blocking the small cauldrons for them.

"Oh, a summoner!" Xu Jie exclaimed as he looked at Zhou Sichen, who had summoned soul beasts.

While Xu Jie was marveling, Long Xiangyue's boomerang suddenly returned to his hand. He paused slightly, twisted around, and threw it with a raised hand. The two soul rings beneath his feet immediately lit up.

Whoosh!

The boomerang shot toward Xu Jie like a meteor.

Smack!

Xu Jie stepped half a pace to the right, and the boomerang brushed past his shoulder. His yellow soul ring pulsed, and he raised his hand again, sending two fireballs at the pair. Xiao Xiao followed closely behind.

Seeing Zhou Sichen have the two summoned beasts block Xiao Xiao's Three-Life Soul Suppressing Cauldron, Xu Jie's second soul ring lit up. He extended his right hand, clenched it into a fist, then pointed his index finger and thumb at Zhou Sichen.

"Bang!" he shouted softly.

With Xu Jie's soft shout, Zhou Sichen, standing at the rear, suddenly let out a muffled groan and collapsed unconscious. The two beasts he had summoned also turned into specks of fluorescent light and vanished with his loss of consciousness.

Long Xiangyue and Cao Jingxuan stared in shock at Zhou Sichen, who had suddenly collapsed behind them. Cao Jingxuan in particular had been about to unleash a soul skill, but the interruption caused the skill to fail.

Fortunately, as Class Ten's seeded competitors, the two reacted quickly and immediately summoned their martial souls in front of themselves.

Bang!

An explosion rang out. Although they had reacted swiftly and used their martial souls to block Xu Jie's attack in time, with Zhou Sichen no longer helping them, their backs were completely undefended and fully exposed to Xiao Xiao.

Clang!

A crisp sound rang out. What nice heads. Long Xiangyue and Cao Jingxuan followed in Zhou Sichen's footsteps and collapsed to the ground. The Three-Life Soul Suppressing Cauldron enhanced by the first soul skill—Cauldron's Quake—was not so easy to withstand.

"Huo Yuhao's team wins," the assessment teacher announced as he looked at Zhou Sichen's fallen team.

It had to be said that Huo Yuhao's group had fought this battle quite easily. They had continued using their previous hit-and-run tactic, but their opponents had begun looking for flaws in it. Just like Zhou Sichen's team just now, they had placed Zhou Sichen, with his special martial soul, at the rear specifically to prevent Xiao Xiao's sneak attacks.

Unexpectedly, Huo Yuhao's Soul Shock caught them off guard. Xu Jie had put on that act to trick them into believing that his second soul skill was that bizarre, thereby making them lower their guard against Huo Yuhao. Xu Jie firing only two fireballs at a time was also part of the deception. Otherwise, if he fired three fireballs at once and coordinated with Xiao Xiao's Three-Life Soul Suppressing Cauldron, the fight would have been even easier.

In the following matches, from the round of thirty-two to the round of sixteen and from the round of sixteen to the quarterfinals, Huo Yuhao's team still won with ease. They continued using their hit-and-run tactic, with only minor differences in the details.

The following afternoon, Xu Jie's group, having entered the quarterfinals, arrived early at the assessment area to wait for the drawing.

After the draw ended, the quarterfinal match to advance from eight to four officially began. The competition area had doubled in size again, and this time, Huo Yuhao's team's opponents looked rather strange.

The person walking at the very front was likely one meter seventy in both height and waist circumference, looking extremely square. The two behind him, meanwhile, were each slimmer than the last, with long arms.

"Class Two, Xie Huanyue."

"Class Two, Luo Tianlong."

"Class Two, Luo Tianba."

"Class One, Xu Jie."

"Class One, Xiao Xiao."

"Class One, Huo Yuhao."

"Begin," the assessment teacher said when he saw that both sides had taken the field.

As the assessment teacher's voice fell, all six people swiftly summoned their martial souls.

As Xie Huanyue's three soul rings in the optimal configuration rose beneath his feet, his already massive body swelled. His height shot up from one meter seventy to one meter ninety, and the skin all over his body turned dark.

As for Luo Tianba and Luo Tianlong, hiding behind Xie Huanyue, Huo Yuhao's group only saw two soul rings rise. They could not make out what the two men's martial souls were.

Bang!

Xu Jie's first soul ring lit up, and a fireball struck Xie Huanyue's body, kicking up a large cloud of smoke.

Swish!

Something like a whip lashed through the smoke and straight toward Xu Jie.

Clang!

The sound of impact rang out. Xiao Xiao's Three-Life Soul Suppressing Cauldron had already merged into one, easily blocking the blow for Xu Jie.