"My name is Huang Chutian. The one on the left is Blue Susu, and the one on the right is Blue Luoluo. Please go easy on us."
"Yue Hongchen," Yue said coolly.
Wang Yan announced in a deep voice, "The evaluation begins."
Both sides quickly summoned their Martial Souls. Huang Chutian let out a roar and pounded his fists against his chest. His original height of five feet instantly shot up to around six feet. His black eyes turned yellow, and two canine teeth poked out from beneath his thickened lips. Two yellow Soul Rings rose beneath his feet.
Two yellow Soul Rings also rose beneath the twin sisters behind him. At the same time, their hair rapidly grew longer and fluttered in the air. The instant they summoned their Martial Souls, they embraced, and their Soul Power fused together without the slightest resistance.
"A Martial Soul Fusion Skill! And they both have Body Martial Souls!" Below the platform, Wang Yan's eyes widened with delight. Almost every Body Martial Soul in the world had been claimed by the Body Sect. He never expected to meet two Body Martial Soul possessors today—and see them use a Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
Yue watched the twins behind Huang Chutian with interest. This was his first time encountering a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. His initial plan to end the fight quickly gave way to a desire to test it out.
At the thought, Yue's fighting spirit ignited. He summoned his Martial Soul and pointed his sword at Huang Chutian.
At the same time, the first Soul Ring he had never used in his previous five matches blazed with light.
"Ocean vast, keep me in my place."
Yue once again grew to a height of six feet, and his entire presence surged.
"I'm not interested in you. You can leave."
As he spoke, Yue took one step forward. In the next instant, he appeared before Huang Chutian as if he had teleported, and casually smacked him with the flat of his sword.
Huang Chutian was sent flying like a cannonball, crashing heavily outside the arena and kicking up billowing clouds of dust.
With the irrelevant opponent taken care of, the twins, Blue Susu and Blue Luoluo, who were still fusing their powers, panicked and prepared to give up on their Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
At Yue's speed, he could defeat them before they completed it.
Noticing their movements, Yue plunged the Blood Oath Pact in his hand into the ground. "Let me see how powerful your Martial Soul Fusion Skill is."
In other words, he intended to face their Martial Soul Fusion Skill head-on.
Blue Susu and Blue Luoluo could perform a Martial Soul Fusion, and as twins, they were naturally in sync. After a brief hesitation, they sped up the fusion.
Wang Yan didn't look at Blue Susu and Blue Luoluo. Instead, he stared fixedly at the sword Yue Hongchen had plunged into the arena.
"His Martial Soul is even stronger than I thought," Wang Yan mused, raising the rank of Yue Hongchen's never-before-seen Martial Soul in his estimation.
The arena was strong enough to withstand a full-force blow from a Soul King. Yet Yue Hongchen had casually driven his Martial Soul into it.
On the arena, Blue Susu and Blue Luoluo completed their Martial Soul Fusion Skill. Their hair shot toward Yue Hongchen in a vast torrent, wrapping around him to form a ball that continued to shrink.
Yue Hongchen waited until he was completely enclosed, with not even the slightest glimmer of light in his field of vision, before drawing his sword. He didn't use Soul Power, relying only on his Martial Soul's natural sharpness as he slashed at the hair.
"Quite resilient." Gathering Soul Power in his eyes, Yue Hongchen clearly saw that his sword had left only a mark on the hair. It showed no sign of breaking.
Outside, the ball of hair enclosing him grew smaller and smaller, and Wang Yan grew more and more tense. If Yue Hongchen still couldn't break free after a little longer, he would stop the match.
He couldn't see what was happening inside at all. To ensure none of the students faced any danger, he would declare Blue Susu and Blue Luoluo the winners without hesitation if Yue Hongchen hadn't gotten out by the time his own limit was reached—even if Yue Hongchen was capable of escaping.
Inside, Yue Hongchen raised his sword again. This time, he thrust it instead. The Blood Oath Pact jabbed into the web of hair, pushing it outward into a bulge, but couldn't pierce it. Yue Hongchen relaxed his force, and the web immediately returned to its original shape.
"It's a decent Martial Soul Fusion Skill, but its weaknesses are obvious. It's vulnerable to fire—and to sword-type Martial Souls with greater Soul Power than theirs." As he spoke, Soul Power surged through the Blood Oath Pact. With a wave of his hand, he sent out several sword blasts, shattering the seemingly indestructible web of hair into countless pieces that drifted through the air.
Yue Hongchen stood with his sword in hand, letting the broken strands fall over him.
Yue Hongchen looked coldly at the twins, who had fallen to their knees in a weakened state after their Martial Soul Fusion Skill was broken. "You lose."
After saying this, he recalled his Martial Soul. A flash of white light passed over him, and he returned to his original appearance.
Kindly, he helped the two sisters up and sent some of his Soul Power into their bodies, improving their condition a little.
"Your Martial Soul Fusion Skill is very good, but the weakness of using hair is obvious. That doesn't mean you can't become powerful Soul Masters, though. Keep it up."
After he said this, thunderous applause rang out below the platform. Wang Yan also looked at Yue Hongchen with approval. His calm composure was a perfect match for his strength. And, really, it was just as you'd expect from a sword cultivator—someone who valued clarity of thought.
"Thirty-third Arena, Round Six, Match One: Yue Hongchen's team from Freshman Class Nine wins!"
Wang Yan spoke as he recorded the match results.
Yue Hongchen also channeled his Soul Power to support Blue Susu and Blue Luoluo as he led them off the arena and let them rest below.
"Not bad, kid! You did great!" Wang Yan came over to Yue Hongchen and patted him on the shoulder.
Yue Hongchen had truly put friendship first and competition second.
The next four matches fell back into the same old cycle. After seeing the strength Yue Hongchen had displayed, all four groups forfeited without hesitation.
After the matches ended, Yue Hongchen left the Thirty-third Arena.
As soon as he came out, he saw Meng Hongchen, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng waiting for him.
"Done so early today?" Yue Hongchen said as he walked over to them.
Ning Tian smiled and rested a hand on Meng Hongchen's shoulder. "We have Meng to thank. Once word got around about her extreme poison, our opponents all surrendered one after another. We finished without much of a fight."
Yue reached the three of them just then. Hearing how their matches had gone, he pretended to be surprised and praised her. "Our Meng is that strong, huh?"
Meng basked in Yue's praise, looking utterly pleased—but then she suddenly sensed something was off.
She twitched her little nose, leaned closer to Yue Hongchen, and sniffed him. At once, she gave him a "kind" smile.
"Brother, why do you smell like two women? And it's not Sister's scent." From Meng's tone, it was clear she was struggling to contain her anger. If Yue's explanation didn't satisfy her...
As she spoke, she plucked a strand of hair from the twins off Yue Hongchen's head and stared at him, as if to say, Give me a reasonable explanation.
Ning Tian and Wu Feng both took a few steps back in perfect unison, settling in to enjoy the show.
"Listen, it's not what you think." Yue Hongchen was clearly getting flustered, but to the three of them, it sounded like something else entirely.
Meng Hongchen was still considerate. She reached out and brushed off the hairs that didn't belong to him, one by one, then nodded. "Go on."
Before you continue