First Battle of the Assessment

The next day, the First Year freshmen finally welcomed the assessment tournament. The entire Outer Court Soul Fighting Arena became exceptionally lively. After all, they were all youths, full of spirit and overflowing with the desire to fight.

The three hundred freshman teams were evenly divided into thirty zones, with ten teams in each zone.

Fortunately, Shrek Outer Court's Soul Fighting Arena was large enough and had enough battle stages. Otherwise, just lining up for matches would have wasted quite a bit of time.

Zhou Huan Team was assigned to Zone Twenty-Five.

Besides the ten freshman teams competing in Zone Twenty-Five, there were also two Outer Court teachers. One was Zhao Yan, a Soul Emperor serving as the Referee. The other was Li Lingling, also a Soul Emperor, though she was responsible for maintaining order and treating injuries after the matches.

On the stage, Zhao Yan spoke expressionlessly. "First match: Freshman Class One's Zhou Huan Team versus Freshman Class Six's Lan Rourou Team. Contestants, take the stage."

Immediately, Zhou Huan, Wen Xiaoshuai, and Wang Qingya leaped onto the stage together.

At the same time, the opposing three also walked onto the stage. Leading them was a delicate-looking blue-haired girl, followed by two youths who looked quite sturdy.

Zhao Yan continued, "State your names!"

"Freshman Class One, Zhou Huan," Zhou Huan said calmly.

"Freshman Class One, Wen Xiaoshuai." Wen Xiaoshuai's voice was not weak in the slightest at that moment. His eyes seemed filled with burning fighting spirit, making Zhou Huan sigh inwardly. Young people really did have fiery tempers. Old Wen was quite the unusual oddball.

"Freshman Class One, Wang Qingya." Wang Qingya still maintained her refined persona.

"Freshman Class Six, Lan Rourou." The blue-haired girl's voice was rather deep, completely mismatched with her delicate appearance.

"Freshman Class Six, Ma Xiong," the darker-skinned youth said next.

"Freshman Class Six, Li Renba." The rough-featured youth spoke in a steady voice.

Still, upon hearing those two names, Zhou Huan could not help making his usual snide remark. Put the two together, and they were practically Xiongba!

"Match begin!"

At Zhao Yan's command, the six people on the stage instantly unleashed their Martial Souls!

Zhou Huan and Wen Xiaoshuai were naturally Soul Grandmasters with two yellow Soul Rings. Wang Qingya had only one yellow Soul Ring, but her Soul Power had already reached Level 19. For a Food Type Soul Master, she was already considered outstanding.

However, the three from Freshman Class Six across from them revealed a total of six yellow Soul Rings!

All three were Soul Grandmasters with two Hundred-year Soul Rings!

Zhou Huan was not overly concerned. Judging by their auras, Lan Rourou was Level 22, while Ma Xiong and Li Renba were only Level 21.

Still, Zhou Huan could not help sighing. Soul Grandmasters among the freshmen were already rare, with most around Levels 18 or 19. Yet in their very first match, they had encountered three Soul Grandmasters. Their luck was truly something else.

But there was no time for Zhou Huan to dwell on it.

"Roar!"

Wen Xiaoshuai let out a thunderous roar as the Earth Battle Bear Martial Soul instantly possessed him. His entire body grew roughly twenty centimeters taller, while his hands especially became like bear claws. It was his first soul skill, Explosive Bear Claw!

In just a few breaths, Wen Xiaoshuai charged before Li Renba, who held twin hammers.

Do not misunderstand—those twin hammers were not Clear Sky Hammers, but two round, hefty Great Hammers.

For a moment, Zhou Huan felt as if he were seeing Li Yuanba rather than Li Renba.

Just as Wen Xiaoshuai recklessly rushed in to engage Li Renba in close combat, Zhou Huan activated the first soul skill of his Frost Spirit—Frost Fills the Sky!

It was a Control System soul skill.

In an instant, countless tiny ice crystals filled the space around Lan Rourou, Ma Xiong, and Li Renba. Each crystal was only the size of a grain of rice, yet all radiated bone-chilling cold, as though they would freeze their entire bodies!

But Li Renba was a Power Attack System Soul Grandmaster with a Great Hammer Weapon Spirit. How could he be completely controlled so easily? He roared furiously and swept his Great Hammer sideways, smashing all the tiny ice crystals into vapor in an instant!

Even though Li Renba quickly broke free of Zhou Huan's control, the ice crystals still delayed him for one second. In that very second, Wen Xiaoshuai's Explosive Bear Claw had already slammed into Li Renba's chest!

"Pfft!!!"

Blood spilled from Li Renba's mouth as he was sent flying five or six meters away, though he did not fall off the stage.

By then, Ma Xiong had already broken free of Frost Fills the Sky as well. A bronze shield instantly appeared in his hand, and he lunged before Li Renba, blocking Wen Xiaoshuai's second Explosive Bear Claw strike for him!

"Boom!!!"

The bronze shield collided viciously with Explosive Bear Claw, producing a deafening crash!

At the same time, Lan Rourou, having broken free from Frost Fills the Sky, moved like flowing water as she rushed toward Wang Qingya with astonishing speed and ghostlike agility!

Lan Rourou had noticed that Wang Qingya was a Food Type Soul Master and had already made two Little Buns. Though she did not know exactly what those buns did, she knew that in a Team Battle, such a Food Type Soul Master had to be dealt with first.

Otherwise, if their opponents kept recovering or being strengthened, the Team Battle would become even harder!

But how could Zhou Huan, standing not far from Wang Qingya, fail to see through Lan Rourou's intentions?

Thus, frost instantly covered the soles of Zhou Huan's feet. With a sliding step, he appeared before Wang Qingya. At the same time, frost enveloped his right fist as he struck without hesitation at Lan Rourou, whose body moved like a snake!

Well, Zhou Huan's inspiration for this Frost Fist naturally came from Qin Shuang in Feng Yun.

On the other side, Lan Rourou was a twelve-year-old Agility Attack System two-ring Great Soul Master, so she was naturally not weak. Otherwise, she could not have become the team's Captain.

It was simply that Zhou Huan's timing was too perfect. He had first controlled Li Renba and seriously injured him, forcing Ma Xiong to block Wen Xiaoshuai's second wave of attacks.

Now, she wanted to deal with that Food Type Soul Master first, only for him to stop her again. She could not even directly take that frost-filled punch, because she could sense that the Soul Power behind it definitely exceeded her Level 22.

For an Agility Attack System soul master to withstand it head-on was simply not worth it!

But Zhou Huan was clearly a Control System soul master. Why did his punch strike like that of a Power Attack System soul master?

Frustrating!

Incredibly frustrating!

And humiliating!

Utterly humiliating!

Yet no matter how frustrated or humiliated she felt, the rational Lan Rourou did not try to take Zhou Huan's Frost Fist head-on. Instead, her body twisted into an exaggerated posture, like a boneless water snake, and she easily evaded Zhou Huan's punch.

This was precisely the second soul skill of Lan Rourou's Water Soft Snake Martial Soul—Water Soft Body!

Zhou Huan did not press the attack after she dodged. Instead, he stood where he was, taking the Little Bun Wang Qingya handed him and munching on it with relish, even making loud smacking sounds.

That demeanor, that expression—how could the word "shameless" possibly describe it?

Lan Rourou, three meters away, could not help twitching at the corner of her mouth. Damn it, she knew it. Food Type Soul Masters were so annoying. No, this Zhou Huan was too annoying!

Even Wang Qingya behind Zhou Huan blushed somewhat in embarrassment. It was unclear whether she was shy or simply felt ashamed.

Young girls were always rather thin-skinned.

However, while Zhou Huan was blocking Lan Rourou, Wang Qingya had seized the opportunity to throw the other bun from afar to Wen Xiaoshuai, who was engaged in a savage close-quarters fight.

This bun was called the Cabbage Bun. It was Wang Qingya's first soul skill and could restore sixty percent of one's expended Soul Power for three minutes.

For example, if you had expended 100 units of Soul Power in battle, after eating a Cabbage Bun, you could recover 60 units of Soul Power—but only for three minutes. After three minutes, however much Soul Power you had expended before would still count as expended.

Of course, to receive the full sixty percent recovery effect, the soul master's level could not exceed Wang Qingya's by more than eight levels. If it exceeded that limit, the recovery effect would gradually decrease based on the difference in levels.

Neither of those conditions posed any problem for Wen Xiaoshuai at that moment.

Wen Xiaoshuai had charged in recklessly from the very beginning. Such close combat consumed Soul Power tremendously, though his opponents were certainly in worse shape than he was!

Li Renba was seriously injured at this point. That Explosive Bear Claw strike had not been easy to endure, so he had become a burden.

Ma Xiong was a Defense System soul master. His Soul Power Level was already lower than Wen Xiaoshuai's, and his Martial Soul was not as powerful either, so he could only be suppressed and beaten by Wen Xiaoshuai.

Now that Wen Xiaoshuai had received the Cabbage Bun and recovered a large portion of his Soul Power, his fighting spirit surged even higher. The Earth Battle Bear looked even more terrifying!

The outcome was obvious. Under the barrage of Explosive Bear Claw, Ma Xiong and his shield were blasted off the stage, while Li Renba had long since lost his ability to fight and was dragged down by the Referee.

All of this had happened in just three short minutes.

On one side of the stage stood the mighty and imposing Wen Xiaoshuai, the calm-faced Zhou Huan, and Wang Qingya, who had nothing to do after making two Cabbage Buns.

On the other side stood only Lan Rourou. She looked weak, pitiful, and helpless.

Lan Rourou was furious inside. She had not even had the chance to show what she could do!

Yet from the very beginning, this match seemed to have fallen under someone else's control. One teammate had been precisely controlled and severely injured right away, while the other had spent the entire match getting beaten up.

As for herself, she simply could not defeat Zhou Huan. He kept tangling with her in battle. It looked as though they were evenly matched, but only she knew that she was being controlled and could not break away from the fight.

Agility Attack System against Control System was simply too disadvantageous.

Moreover, Lan Rourou instinctively felt that Zhou Huan was definitely a scheming bastard.

The more Lan Rourou thought about it, the angrier she became, but the more helpless she felt as well, because the overall situation had already been decided.

"Lan, concede," Zhou Huan said. "This is only the first match. There are still nine matches over the next few days. If all of you end up seriously injured, it will not be worth it."

Lan Rourou frowned, then gritted her teeth. In the end, she sighed and said, "This match... we concede."

"The first match is over. Freshman Class One's Zhou Huan Team wins," Referee Zhao Yan announced. At the same time, he could not help taking another look at Zhou Huan. This fellow felt far too calm, not at all like a youth.

Throughout the entire match, Wen Xiaoshuai's violently powerful Earth Battle Bear had naturally been the most dazzling and eye-catching presence. But Zhao Yan knew that Zhou Huan, the Control System soul master, had controlled the battle's overall flow exceptionally well. His contribution was undoubtedly greater.

Still, that was all for the moment.

After all, in Zhao Yan's view, Zhou Huan's Frost Spirit was merely an ordinary high-grade Martial Soul. In that regard, it truly could not compare to a top-tier Martial Soul like the Earth Battle Bear.

Without paying further attention to Zhou Huan and the other two, Zhao Yan began announcing the next match. "Second match: Freshman Class Seven's Yang Lin Team versus Freshman Class Five's Zhao Daqiang Team. Contestants, take the stage..."

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