The Maximum Score Is Only One Hundred Fifty

As the new semester began, Shrek Academy was filled with a tense atmosphere.

Because the upcoming advancement assessment would determine whether they would promote to a higher grade or be forced to pack their bags and leave.

The assessment was held in the Colosseum, and the rules were simple and brutal: students would face the ferocity of soul beasts head-on and fight them. The maximum score was one hundred and fifty points, with sixty being the passing grade.

The higher the age of the soul beast challenged, the higher the base score; for example, challenging a thousand-year soul beast granted a base score of one hundred, with the remaining fifty points based on combat technique.

The spectator stands were already packed with students waiting for their turn.

"Next, Dai Huabin!"

Following the referee's loud call, Dai Huabin walked into the arena with an arrogant expression.

After his special training during the break, he needed a resounding victory to wash away the humiliation of the freshman assessment.

"I choose a thousand-year soul beast!"

The iron cage opened, and a thousand-year Wind Tiger, three meters long with fangs bared, roared as it charged out.

A flash of brutality crossed Dai Huabin's eyes. His White Tiger martial soul manifested instantly, and instead of dodging, he chose the most primitive, blood-soaked method of a head-on collision.

"White Tiger Vajra Transformation!"

"White Tiger Intense Light Wave!"

The sounds of explosions and beast roars intertwined.

In just three minutes, the thousand-year Wind Tiger whimpered and collapsed under Dai Huabin's storm-like assault, its throat torn open and dripping with blood.

"Dai Huabin, base score one hundred, technique score forty-five, total score one hundred and forty-five!"

The referee's satisfied voice rang out. This score was far ahead of the students who had performed so far, nearly reaching a perfect score.

The entire arena was in an uproar, and many students cast looks of awe in his direction.

Dai Huabin basked in the surrounding gasps of amazement and walked straight up to Huo Yuhao, his chin held high and his eyes filled with provocation: "Huo Yuhao, do you dare to make a bet with me? Let's see who gets the higher score. The wager is a slap to the face!"

Huo Yuhao looked at him as if he were an idiot, a playful smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

He had never seen someone so eager to offer up their face to be slapped.

He turned to look at Wang Dong beside him and teased, "Wang Dong, look at him acting like a peacock trying to show off; doesn't he remind you of yourself yesterday?"

Wang Dong froze, immediately recalling how he had ambushed Huo Yuhao yesterday, only to be suppressed and pinned to the bed until his backside was swollen from being spanked.

"You're the one who's like that! I'm way more handsome than him, okay!" Wang Dong was instantly mortified and pinched Huo Yuhao hard.

"Are you too scared?" Seeing Huo Yuhao ignoring him, Dai Huabin's face flushed red as he stepped forward to press the issue.

Huo Yuhao finally looked him in the eye and chuckled, "Then you'd better wash your face clean; I don't want to dirty my hands."

With that, he walked past Dai Huabin and headed straight for the center of the Colosseum.

"Next, Huo Yuhao. Please select the age of the soul beast you wish to challenge," the referee said, holding the roster.

Huo Yuhao stood in the center of the arena, his posture straight, his calm voice echoing throughout the entire venue: "I choose a ten-thousand-year soul beast."

Silence.

The previously noisy Colosseum fell into a deathly hush.

The pen in the referee's hand nearly dropped to the ground.

He widened his eyes, thinking he had misheard: "What did you say? Ten-thousand-year? Student Huo Yuhao, the advancement assessment only provides up to thousand-year soul beasts! The danger of a ten-thousand-year soul beast is uncontrollable; if an accident occurs, we can hardly rescue you in time. This is playing with your life, don't be ridiculous!"

The students in the stands also exploded into chaos.

"Is he crazy? A second-year challenging a ten-thousand-year soul beast?"

"There are better ways to seek attention than this!"

Dai Huabin sneered repeatedly: "He has a death wish. Just to get one over on me, he's throwing his life away?"

Even the students of Class One felt that Huo Yuhao was being too impulsive.

"Is our class monitor really this reckless?"

Just as the referee was about to forcibly reject the request, a gentle voice drifted down from the high platform:

"Let him try."

Everyone looked up to see Dean Yan Shaozhe standing at the edge of the platform, his eyes burning as he watched Huo Yuhao below.

"Dean..." the referee hesitated.

"If something happens, I will take responsibility. Arrange a ten-thousand-year Bloodthirsty Demon Bear for him," Yan Shaozhe commanded with a wave of his hand.

Since the Dean had spoken, the referee said no more, though the look he gave Huo Yuhao was as if he were looking at a dead man.

"ROAR--!!!"

As the massive iron gate slowly rose, a suffocating, terrifying aura of ferocity instantly swept across the entire arena.

A black giant bear, standing over five meters tall and reeking of thick, bloody malice, charged out.

A ten-thousand-year Bloodthirsty Demon Bear!

With every step that massive body took, the ground seemed to tremble.

The students in the stands turned pale; even through the protective barrier, they could feel a tremor that reached their very souls.

However, Huo Yuhao, standing at the center of the storm, did not even lift an eyelid.

He did not release his Martial Soul, nor did he reveal any Spirit Rings.

Only those calm eyes of his ignited with a scorching golden flame.

Just as the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear opened its blood-red maw and was about to pounce right in front of him—

"Hum!"

Nine silver streaks of light rose from behind Huo Yuhao without the slightest struggle.

They were nine flying knives, thin as cicada wings and exquisitely crafted! Each one radiated a heart-stopping fluctuation of spirit power—they were Level 5 Soul Tools!

"Go!"

Huo Yuhao stood with his hands behind his back, uttering only a single word.

The next moment, the nine flying knives seemed to come alive, tracing nine eerie yet graceful arcs through the air.

There were no earth-shattering explosions, no dazzling special effects from spirit skills.

There was only a speed that reached the absolute limit—a line!

This was the manifestation of Psychic Power controlled to its zenith!

Under the control of Huo Yuhao's vast, sea-like Psychic Power, these nine flying knives danced around the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear like nine butterflies weaving through flowers.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

The muffled sounds of blades slicing into flesh merged into a single continuous stream.

The Bloodthirsty Demon Bear's pride—its ten-thousand-year-level defense—was as fragile as tofu before the Level 5 soul-tool flying knives.

It roared in fury, swinging its massive bear paws in an attempt to swat these annoying "flies," but the flying knives were impossibly agile, always dodging the attacks by a hair's breadth before viciously slicing into its joints, tendons, and soft spots.

An ordinary Level 5 melee Soul Tool would naturally struggle to truly wound a ten-thousand-year Bloodthirsty Demon Bear, but bolstered by Huo Yuhao's Psychic Power, these knives cut through iron like mud, as if enchanted, becoming truly indestructible.

This was a one-sided slow execution.

Huo Yuhao stood where he was, not moving a single step, not even a speck of dust touching the hem of his clothes.

His gaze was as calm as water, as if he were conducting a grand symphony rather than engaging in a life-or-death struggle.

This style of combat was something he had honed through countless real-world battles with Ma Xiaotao; with his current terrifying level of mental power, wielding these nine flying knives was as natural as moving his own arms!

"Roar..."

In less than a minute, the once arrogant ten-thousand-year Bloodthirsty Demon Bear let out a cry of unwilling despair, its massive body collapsing with a thunderous crash.

The tendons in its four limbs had been completely severed, leaving it unable to move, capable only of twitching helplessly on the ground.

The entire arena fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone had their mouths agape, as if their jaws had been dislocated.

The sneer on Dai Huabin's face froze, replaced by deep fear and disbelief.

What was this?

No Martial Soul? No spirit skills? He hadn't even moved his hands?

With just a few knives, he had crippled a ten-thousand-year Spirit Beast?!

Huo Yuhao's thoughts shifted, and the nine flying knives instantly flew back, arranging themselves neatly behind him before being stored away into his storage Soul Tool.

He looked up toward Yan Shaozhe on the high platform and bowed slightly.

Yan Shaozhe took a deep breath, unable to hide the look of astonishment in his eyes.

"Huo Yuhao, upgrade assessment, challenge against a ten-thousand-year Spirit Beast: success."

"Base score: one hundred. Technique score: fifty."

"Total score: one hundred and fifty!"

Having said this, Yan Shaozhe paused, adding a remark that sent the entire arena into an uproar:

"I am giving him one hundred and fifty points only because the maximum possible score is one hundred and fifty."