The freshman assessment knockout rounds had reached the round of thirty-two, and the arena was buzzing with excitement.
In the entrance corridor, Zhou Yi's trademark aged face wore a chilling sneer.
With her arms folded, she swept her gaze over the three students before her, then fixed it on Huo Yuhao.
"Listen up. Your opponents this round are Class Nine's seeded team. I made a bet with that old woman Mu Jin, Class Nine's homeroom teacher. The wager is a Soul Bone."
Zhou Yi's voice was soft, but it carried a bone-deep chill. "If you make me lose face and lose to that woman... you know perfectly well what will happen."
Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao shuddered in unison. The memory of those first days of school, when the iron suits had ruled their lives, flashed through their minds. Their little faces turned pale.
Huo Yuhao alone remained perfectly calm, even taking the time to straighten his collar.
What a joke. He'd just returned from the Extreme North, a forbidden land for humans! What had he faced there? A four-hundred-thousand-year-old Ice Jade Empress Scorpion and a seven-hundred-thousand-year-old Heavenly Snow Woman!
And now he was supposed to take part in a freshman assessment where a bunch of one- and two-ring Soul Master rookies fought each other?
It was like a max-level, fully geared expert suddenly returning to a newbie village full of giant slimes.
Pressure? There was none. He just wanted to finish the fight and be done with it.
"Let's go." Huo Yuhao waved a hand and led the way out of the corridor.
On the arena, Class Nine's seeded team was already waiting in formation.
Three girls, each with her own kind of beauty.
The one in front had a noble air about her. She was Ning Tian, wielder of the continent's premier support Martial Soul—the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda.
At her side stood Wu Feng, with a fiery figure and an arrogant gaze, and Nanmen Yun'er, lithe and agile.
When Huo Yuhao and the others stepped onto the arena, Wu Feng took a step forward, chin raised high. "Class Nine, Wu Feng, Level 25 Power Attack System Battle Soul Master!"
Nanmen Yun'er followed right after. "Class Nine, Nanmen Yun'er, Level 24 Agility Attack System Battle Soul Master."
Finally, Ning Tian spoke in a calm voice, brimming with confidence. "Class Nine, Ning Tian, Level 31 Support System Tool Soul Elder."
Her words sent a wave of commotion through the audience.
A Soul Elder had appeared in the freshman assessment! And a Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Elder, no less! In past years, a team like this would have been guaranteed the championship.
Wu Feng looked at the three silent students opposite her and curled her lip disdainfully. "What's wrong? Scared speechless? You don't even dare to tell us your levels?"
Huo Yuhao stopped Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao as they started forward. "Leave this match to me. You two rest."
Then he began walking alone toward the center of the Soul Fighting Arena.
Looking at the three arrogant girls opposite him, Huo Yuhao's lips curved slightly. Golden flames suddenly ignited in his pale-gold eyes.
"Class One, Huo Yuhao, Level 31 Control System Battle Soul Elder."
As his words fell, light shimmered beneath his feet.
The first Soul Ring to rise was a deep purple.
A thousand years! His First Soul Ring was a thousand years old!
The entire arena fell silent.
But the shock had only just begun.
The second and third Soul Rings rose one after another. Their ink-black sheen and terrifying, oppressive aura swept across the arena in an instant!
One purple, two black!
The three Soul Rings pulsed beneath Huo Yuhao's feet. His terrifying presence felt like an invisible hand clamping around everyone's throat.
"H-how is this possible?!"
Wu Feng's arrogant expression froze, replaced by utter terror and disbelief.
A thousand-year First Soul Ring? Ten-thousand-year second and third Soul Rings?
This defied every convention in the Soul Master World! Even in Shrek Academy's ten-thousand-year history, no such monstrous genius had ever appeared!
Wang Dong's yellow-and-purple Soul Ring Configuration had already been shocking enough to let her and Xiao Xiao fight two against three and make it to the round of thirty-two.
But Huo Yuhao, right now, was practically inhuman!
Even the referee rubbed his eyes, wondering if he hadn't slept well the night before and was seeing things.
Huo Yuhao paid no attention to the horrified stares around him. He looked at Ning Tian and the others, their faces pale, and said calmly, "Come on. Don't waste time."
"You're just putting on a show!" Wu Feng gritted her teeth, forcing down her fear. "It's definitely an illusion! How could anyone have a Soul Ring Configuration like that? Don't let him fool you. All together—take him down first!"
Ning Tian's eyes narrowed as the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda in her hands shone brilliantly. "Seven Treasures Have Names: First, Strength! Second, Speed! Third, Soul!"
With the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda's boosts, Wu Feng's courage surged. The left half of her body transformed into a dragon, and she charged at Huo Yuhao like a cannonball, trailing blazing dragon flames.
A pair of thin wings spread behind Nanmen Yun'er. Turning into a streak of jade-green light, she circled around from the flank.
Faced with their combined attack, Huo Yuhao stood motionless.
Just as Wu Feng's dragon claw was about to touch the tip of his nose—
Golden light blazed in Huo Yuhao's eyes. He spoke two words, his voice like a divine decree:
"Silence!"
Buzz—!
An invisible wave of Spirit Shock exploded outward from Huo Yuhao!
It was Soul Shock, one of the four Soul Skills granted by the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's million-year Soul Ring. Also known as Silence, it could plunge an opponent into brief terror and paralysis, even interrupting the use of a skill.
Of course, it only worked on Soul Masters with weaker spiritual power than Huo Yuhao.
After his journey to the Extreme North, Huo Yuhao's spiritual power was already comparable to that of a Spirit Emperor.
Wu Feng, leading the charge, felt as if a heavy hammer had smashed into her brain. Her mind went blank, her body stiffened, and the Soul Skill she had been preparing was forcibly interrupted. She froze in place like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
Nanmen Yun'er fared even worse. Her eyes rolled back as her body continued rushing forward on momentum, but her consciousness had already blanked out.
Even Ning Tian, in the rear, saw the light from the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda in her hands dim at once. She gave a muffled groan and froze.
The next second, Huo Yuhao moved.
There were no fancy moves, just an unadorned straight punch.
"Thump!"
His punch landed in Wu Feng's stomach.
"Thump!"
He followed with a palm strike, sending Nanmen Yun'er flying as she rushed toward him.
"Thump!"
Finally, he blurred forward and appeared in front of Ning Tian, striking her with a knife-hand blow.
He was knocking them down one after another, like kids.
The whole thing flowed as smoothly as water and took less than three seconds.
By the time the spectators came to their senses, the three genius girls of Class Nine's much-vaunted seeded team were already lying in a neat row beneath the arena.
The entire venue was silent.
What kind of match was this? It was a complete mismatch!
"This... this completely breaks the balance!"
"Cheating! This has to be cheating! How could a freshman have that kind of strength?!"
"Those Soul Rings—one purple and two black... Could they really be real? If they were fake, how could he instantly take down a Soul Elder team?"
In the audience, Mu Jin, Class Nine's homeroom teacher, looked ashen and swayed on her feet.
She looked at the boy on the arena, who seemed like a demon god, and felt utterly hopeless.
Her students, whom she was so proud of, her carefully cultivated trump card—hadn't even lasted a single move against him.
Not far away, Zhou Yi looked at Mu Jin's defeated expression and sneered. She didn't say a word, but her eyes clearly said, This is the monster I trained. What have you got to fight me with?
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