Douluo: Iron-Eating Beast Martial Soul, Never a Slave

Only after quite a while did Meng Shenji say, "In a situation where enemies surround them on all sides, those students who usually aren't good at socializing are probably going to have a hard time."

"Not necessarily, right? Lingling seems quite popular! Quite a few people have already moved toward her, seemingly wanting to form a temporary alliance with her." Bai Baoshan said.

"After all, a Nine Heart Begonia Soul Master with no combat ability but extremely powerful healing abilities is the best possible alliance partner." Zhilin added.

Meng Shenji nodded, then swept his gaze around again before finally settling on someone who looked even younger, more handsome, and more poised amid the crowd.

"That's Dugu's sworn brother?"

Hearing this, Zhilin looked over as well and nodded. "That's what I heard. His name seems to be Zhao Mu. His Martial Soul is a pet bear, which should be that little fellow beside him."

"Hm? An External Beast Martial Soul?! The last Soul Master to possess an External Beast Martial Soul seemed to be..." After exchanging looks, the three instructors all revealed knowing expressions but chose not to say it aloud.

After all, that person seemed to have had some scandalous rumors with the Pope. It wasn't appropriate for them to gossip.

"But his registration form says his Soul Power Level is fifty, while he's only seven years old."

"Those figures are far too unbelievable. We'll see what he can really do." Meng Shenji said.

It wasn't just Meng Shenji. Bai Baoshan and Zhilin clearly doubted the information on Zhao Mu's registration form as well.

"Dugu's granddaughter seems a little different now." Since Meng Shenji had noticed Zhao Mu, he naturally also noticed Dugu Yan not far away from him.

Bai Baoshan chuckled. "You mean her hair? But that hair doesn't seem to have been caused by natural factors, and even her Soul Power aura has changed from before."

Zhilin added, "Dugu Yan took a long leave not long ago. Something major must have happened during that time. She's one of the candidate team members. As a Control System Soul Master, I'm rather looking forward to seeing what she can do in a situation like this."

While the three instructors chatted casually in the stands, Zhao Mu in the Soul Fighting Arena had fallen into a dilemma.

Zhao Mu's Soul Power Level had already reached fifty. Against this group, where barely anyone had broken through level thirty, he was completely crushing them from an entirely different level.

He had just arrived, so he shouldn't make his relationships with his classmates too awkward. Should he go easy on them?

But how was he supposed to go easy on them?

Zhao Mu counted through his skills. Skills like 100,000 Volts and 1,000,000 Volts could easily electrocute someone to death if he wasn't careful. Cases of death by electric shock and leakage were hardly uncommon.

Rocket Headbutt didn't seem suitable either. It used up one bamboo stalk every time, and with over two hundred people here, Zhao Mu didn't have that much bamboo for Heibai.

As for Ice-Fire Form... they said water and fire showed no mercy. The properties of water and fire attributes were still being researched, and one careless mistake could easily injure someone.

Lastly, there was his Fourth Soul Skill, Demon God Descent. What if it activated the Demonic Rhyme Seed and Heibai lost control? Zhao Mu still remembered the look in Heibai's eyes when it had wanted to swallow him. If it even wanted to eat him, the others would be even less safe.

And in the giant form granted by the Fourth Soul Skill, Heibai's size and strength were so immense that it might hurt someone. Then their parents might come looking for him...

Ugh, just thinking about it was troublesome!

Could a match really be this much trouble?

After calculating everything, it seemed Thunder Roar was the only thing left.

That old man Dugu Bo had also said Thunder Roar was pretty average. It was probably the weakest among Zhao Mu's skills.

After thinking it over, Zhao Mu finally made up his mind.

Thunder Roar, I choose you!

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I just overslept, which led to...

After making up his mind, Zhao Mu immediately began to act.

Unlike the other student contestants, Zhao Mu directly skipped the process of summoning his Martial Soul or entering Martial Soul Possession.

As Soul Power surged within him, four Soul Rings appeared beneath Zhao Mu's feet one after another.

Although everyone had summoned their Martial Souls, they were still watching and waiting. Attacking rashly would easily put them in danger and draw the hostility of the others.

Therefore, even Yu Tianheng and the others didn't dare casually use their Soul Skills. Though their Soul Power Levels had reached the strength of Soul Elders in their thirties, even Soul Elders couldn't withstand being ganged up on by over a hundred Soul Grandmasters.

But now, this delicate standoff was broken by Zhao Mu's move.

Watching Zhao Mu prepare to use a Soul Skill, Yu Tianheng couldn't help snorting. "Foolish! Trying to steal the spotlight and attack recklessly at a time like this will easily make you the target of everyone's concentrated attacks. Simply..."

Before Yu Tianheng could finish, his entire body froze.

It wasn't just Yu Tianheng. At that moment, it was as though every contestant had been afflicted with a stiffening buff. They stood dumbly in place, mouths agape as they stared foolishly at Zhao Mu.

As Zhao Mu used his Soul Skill, his four Soul Rings appeared in public view for the first time.

Purple-silver, purple, red-white, deep black!

Everyone stared in shock at the four Soul Rings, whose colors were utterly abnormal. Wasn't the normal optimal combination supposed to be yellow, yellow, purple, purple?

"Looking closely, those Soul Rings are actually pretty beautiful. Anyway, I don't like yellow. I just feel that yellow isn't good for the body..."

Outside the Soul Fighting Arena, the spectator stands also fell silent. Only after quite some time did someone finally speak slowly.

"Bro, is the color really the point? The point is why does he have four Soul Rings?"

Four Soul Rings represented the strength of a level-forty Soul Ancestor.

In the entire Heaven Dou Royal Academy, even Yu Tianheng and the others possessed only the strength of Soul Elders in their thirties. Now that a strange level-forty Soul Ancestor had appeared, how could they not be shocked?

In the stands, Meng Shenji, Bai Baoshan, and Zhilin were also stunned, their eyes wide.

After a long while, Meng Shenji slowly said, "See? He only has four Soul Rings. I told you the information on his registration form wasn't quite real."

"Could his Soul Power Level really be fifty, and he simply hasn't obtained his fifth Soul Ring yet?" Zhilin's Martial Soul was Azure Vine, making him especially sensitive to Soul Power. Only when Zhao Mu used his Soul Power did Zhilin sense the rich Soul Power fluctuations within him. Level fifty might not have been false.

No, level forty was already outrageous enough, and now you're saying level fifty? Were they supposed to let anyone else play?

"Also, while his Soul Rings' colors are a little strange, every one of them carries an incredibly powerful pressure. They're definitely no ordinary items. He's simply a little monster!" Zhilin continued in disbelief.

Bai Baoshan took a deep breath in shock as well. "No wonder he could become sworn brothers with Dugu."

"Sworn brothers? Right, he merely became sworn brothers with Dugu. He didn't take Dugu as his teacher..."

"In that case..."

"We still have a chance!"

Meng Shenji, Bai Baoshan, and Zhilin exchanged glances, all revealing crafty smiles.

Back in the Soul Fighting Arena.

Zhao Mu, having released his Soul Rings, did not stop. He immediately activated his First Soul Skill.

"First Soul Skill, Xiongba Tianxia, Thunder Roar!"

Crackle, crackle~

Boom~

Amid the crackling and roaring of lightning, Heibai, who had been lying beside Zhao Mu and overlooked because of its cute pet-like appearance, transformed into Thunder Form.

It slapped its paws together as electric arcs continuously spilled from its body.

Then it lunged forward, landed on all fours, raised its head, and let out a roar at the crowd.

Rumble~

Enhanced by lightning, the sound rolled toward everyone.

The many contestants, already shocked by Zhao Mu's Soul Rings, had no time to react. The tremendous roar mixed with rolling thunder struck them, blackening their vision and knocking them unconscious on the spot.

After Heibai's roar ended, the entire Soul Fighting Arena was filled with contestants lying sprawled across the ground. Other than Zhao Mu, every single one of them had completely lost consciousness.

This included Yu Tianheng and the others.

You were all merely Soul Elders in your thirties. If you didn't fall, who would? What made you think you could withstand an attack from a level-fifty Quasi-Soul King? What, did you think everyone had protagonist plot armor?

Dugu Yan's collapse was rather baffling, though. She couldn't even endure one roar from Heibai. What was she good for, then?

Zhao Mu stood alone on the stage, looking at all the students who had been knocked down around him. He was puzzled too.

I haven't even used any force yet, and you're already down?

I've already gone easy on you. What more do you want?

Was I supposed to just stand there and not move?

Then it would've become a rigged match. That'd be way too obvious.

Besides, they couldn't break through his defenses anyway.

Hadn't that old man Dugu Bo said this move of his was pretty average?

The only people Zhao Mu had fought seemed to be his father, Zhao Santai, and his big brother, Dugu Bo. He had only barely managed to exchange blows with them. As for anyone else, he had never fought them. Because of Poison Immunity, Dugu Yan had directly refused to spar with him. Thus, Zhao Mu clearly had no proper understanding of his own strength.

As for Dugu Bo calling it average, putting aside Dugu Bo's own strength, his Jade Phosphorous Profound Dragon had undergone the baptism of Heavenly Lightning during its evolution. While it couldn't be said to possess complete lightning immunity, it at least had extremely high lightning resistance. Naturally, it wasn't afraid of Zhao Mu's lightning-attribute attacks.

In the stands, Meng Shenji and the other two were once again stunned by Zhao Mu's move. After a long while, once they regained their senses, they sighed.

"Both are External Beast Martial Souls, yet the gap between them is anything but small..."

Bai Baoshan nodded in strong agreement. "Indeed. Both merely make noise, but roaring has far more promise than farting."

After calming down, Zhilin said flatly, "Shouldn't we be considering how to wrap this up now? Don't tell me you really think it's simply over and we can clock out? What happened to developing the students' practical combat experience and teamwork, testing their on-the-spot performance and adaptability? And since the team members were supposed to be determined based on the students who remained standing in the arena at the end, there's only Zhao Mu now. How are we supposed to choose anyone else?"

Bai Baoshan stroked his beard. After pondering for a moment, he slowly said, "Hmm... Zhao Mu will definitely take one of the team spots, but choosing the others will be difficult. Should we hold another round and select several more people to form a team with Zhao Mu?"