First Battle of the Freshman Assessment

At this moment, besides the ten competing freshman teams, Area One also had an Outer Court teacher serving as referee and several Healing System Soul Masters.

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

On the platform, the referee spoke expressionlessly. "First match: Lin Chen's team from Freshman Class One versus Zhou Yuan's team from Freshman Class Nine. Competitors, take the stage."

Lin Chen, Zhou Mingxing, and Lin Xiaolei stepped onto the platform at the same time.

At the same time, three students from the opposing side also stepped onto the platform. All three were boys.

The referee continued, "State your names!"

"Freshman Class One, Lin Chen."

"Freshman Class One, Zhou Mingxing."

"Freshman Class One, Lin Xiaolei."

"Freshman Class Nine, Zhou Yuan."

"Freshman Class Nine, Ma Yun."

"Freshman Class Nine, Ma Lin."

Wait, Ma Yun?

"Begin!"

At the referee's command, all six people on the field instantly unleashed their Martial Souls.

Among them, Lin Chen's Soul Ring configuration of one yellow and one purple, surpassing the limits, was undoubtedly the most eye-catching.

"What kind of Soul Ring configuration is that?" Zhou Yuan exclaimed.

Lin Chen and Lin Xiaolei were naturally both Soul Grandmasters with two Soul Rings. Zhou Mingxing only had one yellow Soul Ring, but his Soul Power had already reached Rank Eighteen. For a Food System Soul Master, he was already considered outstanding.

The three opponents, however, revealed six gleaming yellow Soul Rings.

All three of them were Soul Grandmasters with two Hundred Year Soul Rings!

There was no time to think. Holding the Seven Kill Sword, Lin Chen charged toward Zhou Yuan at incredible speed. Zhou Yuan immediately roared, "War Bear, possess!"

In an instant, Zhou Yuan's muscles swelled, and his entire body grew a size larger.

The other two Soul Masters did not remain idle either. They summoned their Martial Souls and rushed toward Lin Xiaolei and Zhou Mingxing. Their Martial Souls were Silver Shields, whose defensive power was considered formidable among those of the same rank. Lin Chen was currently fighting the opposing captain, while Zhou Mingxing was a Food System Soul Master, so Lin Xiaolei naturally ended up facing two opponents alone. Fortunately, she had Zhou Mingxing's dumplings to support her, and the opponents were Defense System Soul Masters, so she was not under too much pressure.

Zhou Yi stood in the stands, watching the six people below who had summoned their Martial Souls.

As two of the few Soul Grandmasters in the class, Lin Chen and Lin Xiaolei naturally drew Zhou Yi's attention. Although all her attention was on Huo Yuhao, Lin Chen's one-yellow, one-purple Soul Ring configuration that surpassed the limits still surprised her somewhat.

Just as Zhou Yi continued watching the match, Mu Jin's voice suddenly sounded beside her ear.

"Zhou Yi, I didn't expect your class to produce a student with the Seven Kill Sword Martial Soul. You really are lucky," Mu Jin said to Zhou Yi in a strange, mocking tone.

"You're not doing badly either. Doesn't your class have a student with the Earth War Bear Martial Soul? Among bear-type Martial Souls, the Earth War Bear is second only to the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear."

Head-on? Lin Chen thought.

"First Soul Skill, Earth Bear Claw!"

"First Soul Skill, Long Sword Peaks!"

The Seven Kill Sword collided with the Earth Bear Claw. Zhou Yuan retreated several meters, blood flowing from both his hands and the corner of his mouth. However, Lin Chen had no intention of giving him time to catch his breath. He wanted to defeat his opponent as quickly as possible.

Thus, before Zhou Yuan could even recover, he saw Lin Chen charging straight at him.

Without hesitation, Zhou Yuan activated his Second Soul Skill, Earth Battle Intent.

Earth Battle Intent increased his Soul Power by ten percent while doubling his physical abilities.

"Take this!" Zhou Yuan roared as a massive bear paw shot toward Lin Chen.

Lin Chen neither dodged nor evaded. His forward momentum did not weaken in the slightest. Even Zhou Yi in the stands broke into a cold sweat for Lin Chen, while Mu Jin's lips curled upward.

"Little Earth!"

"Brother Lin!"

Lin Xiaolei, who was protecting Zhou Mingxing, and Zhou Mingxing, who was being protected, both cried out anxiously at the sight.

Lin Xiaolei was already struggling against the two Defense System Soul Masters with Silver Shield Martial Souls. Distracted by Lin Chen's situation, she was struck on the arm by one of the shields.

"Sister Xiaolei! Dumplings, dumplings, my Mango Dumplings!" Zhou Mingxing used his First Soul Skill. As he adjusted his position, he tossed dumplings toward Lin Xiaolei.

After eating the Mango Dumpling, Lin Xiaolei's condition improved considerably, but she still watched Lin Chen's side of the battle. The two Silver Shield Soul Masters also stopped in unspoken agreement, wanting to see how their captain would defeat the enemy.

Unfortunately, they did not get their wish.

Just as the bear paw was about to strike Lin Chen's chest, Lin Chen dodged with an unbelievable footwork technique.

Lingbo Weibu! A martial art created by Master Jin, a movement technique that combined evasion and maneuvering, now displayed by Lin Chen.

Ever since he began cultivating, Lin Chen had already figured it out. Since he had no cheat ability, he would create his own "cheat ability"—the memories of Blue Star! Looking back at his previous life, Lin Chen had been someone who enjoyed reading novels, covering all kinds of genres, including wuxia, fantasy, and cultivation stories.

Relying on his memories, Lin Chen had "found" several suitable skills from them to practice, including Lingbo Weibu. This was also why he was only Rank Twenty-Four. Otherwise, with Lin Chen's talent, his Soul Power Level could not possibly have fallen behind that of Tang San back then.

Lin Chen knew that Lingbo Weibu could not be inferior to Tang Sect's Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. So, one month after he began cultivating, Lin Chen started practicing Lingbo Weibu. By now, he had mastered its use to perfection.

"What kind of movement technique is that?" Mu Jin asked in surprise.

Zhou Yi also looked puzzled. It seemed that no one on Douluo Continent had ever used this kind of footwork in the past ten thousand years. Could it be a Self-Created Soul Skill?

If Lin Chen knew what Zhou Yi was thinking, he would definitely tell her, "No, no, no. I'm not that talented. I could 'steal' a whole bunch of the Self-Created Soul Skills you mentioned."

On the platform

Seeing Lin Chen narrowly dodge Zhou Yuan's attack, Lin Xiaolei and Zhou Mingxing both let out sighs of relief.

But while Zhou Yuan was surprised, he immediately charged at Lin Chen again. His enhanced state would not last long. Once the time ran out, he would immediately enter a weakened state, which was no different from being eliminated. Therefore, he had to deal with the opposing three before his berserk state ended. At the very least, he needed to take down that sword-wielding Soul Master. He did not know what kind of sword Lin Chen's Martial Soul was, but judging from how that previous strike had made him bleed, it was definitely no ordinary Martial Soul. The Earth War Bear Martial Soul was an exceptionally powerful bear-type Martial Soul, with both attack and defense considered strong among those of the same rank. At equal cultivation levels, ordinary swords could not break the defenses of this kind of soul beast. But the Seven Kill Sword had been renowned across the continent as the number one offensive Tool Martial Soul ten thousand years ago, so it was perfectly normal for Lin Chen to injure Zhou Yuan.

Lin Chen had clearly realized that Zhou Yuan's state would not last long either. Thus, he had no intention of confronting him head-on. He continuously moved around with Lingbo Weibu, slashing out streams of Sword Qi.

Zhou Yuan was not having an easy time either. Not only could he not attack Lin Chen, but every stream of Sword Qi Lin Chen released carried tremendous attack power and penetration. Even with berserk mode active, he still had to use a small portion of his Soul Power to neutralize them.

As a result, Zhou Yuan's Soul Power was quickly exhausted, and he exited his berserk state.

Seeing this, Lin Chen gripped the Seven Kill Sword and charged toward Zhou Yuan. The two Silver Shield Soul Masters tried to rush over and support Zhou Yuan.

"First Soul Skill, Lingering Qin Sound!" Lin Xiaolei unleashed her First Soul Skill.

The two Silver Shield Soul Masters did not possess much Spiritual Power to begin with. Under the effects of Lin Xiaolei's Soul Skill, they immediately fell into a stunned state.

Just as the Seven Kill Sword was about to slash down in front of Zhou Yuan, the referee suddenly appeared and blocked the strike for him. At the same time, he announced, "Zhou Yuan of Freshman Class Two, eliminated!"

Looking at the bedraggled Zhou Yuan, Lin Chen thought for a moment before saying, "Zhou, concede. It's three against two now, and we also have a Food System Soul Master. It wouldn't be good if we accidentally injured your teammates."

Zhou Yuan thought for a moment, then said bitterly, "We concede this match."

"Freshman Class One, Lin Chen's team wins!" the referee announced the result.

"Sister Xiaolei!" Zhou Mingxing hurriedly ran over to support Lin Xiaolei. That Silver Shield Soul Master's earlier attack had not been light.

Lin Xiaolei's face was somewhat pale now, so Zhou Mingxing immediately made another Mango Dumpling.

"Xiaolei, I'm sorry. If this happens again, I'll hold those two off by myself." Lin Chen also felt somewhat guilty. As the team's Attack System Soul Master, he had actually let a girl fight two Battle Soul Masters from the opposing side.

"It's fine, just a minor injury. I'll be better after resting for a while." Lin Xiaolei smiled at the two of them.

After receiving treatment from a Healing System Soul Master, Lin Chen and Zhou Mingxing escorted Lin Xiaolei back to the Dormitory so she could recover in peace. Then, the two returned beneath the platform to continue watching the other students' matches.

"Do you feel like you held Xiaolei back?" Lin Chen saw Zhou Mingxing's dejected expression as he sat beside him, guessed roughly what was on his mind, and asked.

"Yeah. Brother Lin, am I useless? Sister Xiaolei only got hurt because she was protecting me..."

Lin Chen raised a hand to interrupt Zhou Mingxing and said, "Actually, I have an idea. Do you want to hear it?"