The First Soul Tool Proving Ground was alive with excitement.
On the Battle Arena, Huo Yuhao and Xu Hu stood facing each other.
One was a plainly dressed newcomer with only two rings of cultivation.
The other was a young royal lord dressed in fine clothes, with four rings of cultivation.
The enormous gap in their levels set the stands buzzing.
"Do they even need to fight? There's a twenty-level gap in Soul Power. Even if Huo Yuhao is the director's apprentice, there's no way he can challenge someone two ranks above him, is there?"
"Exactly. Xu Hu may be a rotten person, but his Mutated Purple Blazing Sky Dragon Martial Soul is a top-tier Power Attack System martial soul. Once he activates his Level 4 Soul Tool, even a Soul King would have to give way."
"I think this match is a toss-up. Huo Yuhao's probably going to get thrashed."
As the crowd debated, several figures quietly appeared on one side of the stands' upper-tier seating.
Jing Hongchen accompanied Xu Tianran and Xu Tianzhen, and they watched the arena with interest.
"Your Highness, do you think Huo Yuhao can win?" Jing Hongchen asked with a beaming smile.
Xu Tianran turned the ring on his thumb, a glint flashing in his eyes. "Since Gu Yuejin dared to send him out, he must be confident. I'm rather looking forward to seeing what makes this boy, who survived the Extreme North, so special."
On the arena.
At Gu Yuejin's command, "Begin."
Boom—!
Xu Hu struck first.
The shame of being frightened unconscious by Gu Yuejin moments earlier had now turned entirely into rage, which he unleashed on Huo Yuhao.
"Kid! Blame your teacher for choosing the wrong side!"
"Purple Blazing Dragon Claw!"
Four Soul Rings, two yellow and two purple, rose into view. Xu Hu's right hand was instantly covered in purple dragon scales, transforming into a massive claw that swept toward Huo Yuhao with the force of a thunderbolt.
At the same time, blue light blasted from the Level 3 Propulsion Soul Tool on his back. He shot forward at lightning speed, reaching Huo Yuhao in the blink of an eye.
Pairing a Power Attack System martial soul with a Soul Tool propulsion device was the Sun Moon Empire Soul Engineers' most classic style of brute-force fighting.
"Die!"
Yet in the face of this heavy blow, Huo Yuhao's expression didn't waver.
In his purple-gold Double Pupils, the world seemed to slow down.
Xu Hu's seemingly swift movements played out in slow motion before his eyes. Every shift in Soul Power, every flaw in his stance, was crystal clear.
That was the transformation brought by the Immortal Herb Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew—insight!
Whoosh!
Huo Yuhao shifted his footing and slid to the side at an extraordinarily strange angle.
He didn't meet the attack head-on. He simply dodged like a phantom.
Xu Hu's dragon claw skimmed past the tip of his nose and slammed into empty space, kicking up a spray of shattered stone.
"Dodging? Let's see how many times you can do that!"
His first attack had missed. With a roar, Xu Hu unleashed several more claw strikes in quick succession, Soul Power blades sealing off every avenue of retreat.
But Huo Yuhao was as slippery as an eel.
With Spiritual Detection fully activated, he had a bird's-eye view of the entire arena.
Every time, he found the one gap just before the attack landed and slipped through it with ease.
He even had enough time to switch martial souls between dodges.
"Extreme Ice, freeze!"
Huo Yuhao lightly tapped with a fingertip, sending a wisp of emerald-green cold into Xu Hu's joints without a sound.
It didn't do much damage, but the Extreme Cold made Xu Hu's movements lock up for a split second.
One moment of stiffness was all it took to break his rhythm.
To the audience, it looked like a bizarre game of "playing with his opponent."
Xu Hu was clearly stronger and his attacks fiercer, yet he couldn't even touch the hem of Huo Yuhao's clothes. Instead, he was tiring himself out, panting like a monkey being led around by the nose.
"Damn it! Damn it! Can you do anything but run?!"
After failing to land a hit for so long, Xu Hu lost control of himself.
He was a royal, a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor. How could he fail to take down a two-ring Soul Grandmaster?
"Third Soul Skill, Purple Blazing Annihilation Wave!"
Xu Hu roared as his Third Soul Ring suddenly lit up.
He wasn't going to play cat and mouse anymore. He would use a wide-area Soul Skill to bombard the entire arena and force Huo Yuhao to fight him head-on!
But the impatience he showed at that moment was exactly the opportunity Huo Yuhao had been waiting for.
"Now."
Purple-Gold Light flashed in Huo Yuhao's eyes.
Soul Impact!
An invisible spike of spiritual power stabbed into Xu Hu's mind, left undefended in his fury.
"Ah—!"
Xu Hu was in the middle of gathering strength to release his Soul Skill when he let out a scream. A sharp pain tore through his mind, his Soul Power instantly scattered, and his body locked up in a fatal moment of paralysis.
In that split second—
Huo Yuhao moved.
Instead of retreating, he sprang forward like a leopard.
A flash of cold light gleamed in his hand. A dagger formed from Extreme Ice was already pressed firmly against Xu Hu's throat.
The icy cold stopped Xu Hu's scream in an instant.
The whole arena fell silent.
Only a few seconds had passed from Xu Hu's first attack to Huo Yuhao turning the tables on him.
"You fought well."
Huo Yuhao spoke two calm words, but didn't withdraw the blade of ice from his hand.
Xu Hu's eyes widened, disbelief filling his pupils.
Lost?
I lost?
I didn't even see how he got over here!
"I refuse to accept this! You caught me off guard—"
Xu Hu had just started shouting when the corner of his eye caught sight of the stands.
Crown Prince Xu Tianran was looking at him with a cold expression, disappointment in his eyes.
That look doused Xu Hu's fury like a bucket of cold water.
He trembled. He knew that if he made a scene now, the Crown Prince would truly think him useless.
"I... lost."
Xu Hu gritted his teeth and lowered his head like a defeated rooster.
After a brief silence, thunderous applause erupted from the stands.
They might not have understood the details of the fight, but a two-ring fighter had truly defeated a four-ring fighter!
Huo Yuhao put away the blade of ice but didn't immediately leave the arena.
He turned to face the crowd, took a deep breath, and spoke in a clear, ringing voice:
"Everyone, I may not be very strong."
"But I won entirely because of my teacher, Gu Yuejin!"
"He taught me that rank isn't the only measure of strength!"
"Under his guidance, challenging those above your level is just an everyday occurrence! As long as you follow in my teacher's footsteps, even the so-called royal geniuses are nothing but chickens and dogs!"
"My teacher is the truth! My teacher is invincible!"
Gu Yuejin's mouth twitched violently. He couldn't help raising a hand to his forehead.
This silly apprentice...
How had he developed more and more potential as a cult leader?
I asked you to give a speech, not run a scam!
"Interesting."
In the stands, Xu Tianran watched the scene and instead wore an amused smile.
The farce was over.
Gu Yuejin stepped onto the Battle Arena, kicked Xu Hu, who was still dazed, aside, and then surveyed the crowd.
"Ahem. My apprentice may have exaggerated a little, but he's not wrong."
"In my Martial Soul Department, only ability matters. Background doesn't."
At that, Gu Yuejin paused before dropping a bombshell.
"I know many of you don't think much of the Martial Soul Department."
"But I think you'll be interested in the news I'm about to share."
He raised one finger, his eyes turning sharp.
"The All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Competition is about to begin."
"As Martial Soul Department Director, I have seven places in the 'Reserve Team'."
"I'll personally lead the team and put them through hellish training."
"Whether you're a Soul Engineer or a Soul Master, whatever year you're in, as long as you pass my test..."
Gu Yuejin grinned, showing a row of white teeth:
"I'll take you to the competition and crush those so-called 'monsters' from Shrek Academy underfoot!"
"Want to make a name for yourself?"
"Then come challenge me!"
Boom—!
Those words set the entire crowd ablaze.
Crush Shrek Academy?
It was the lifelong dream of every Soul Master in the Sun Moon Empire!
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