The Preliminary Team Selection Trials

It had been a while since Huo Yuhao's life at the academy had settled into a proper routine, and he had suddenly become much busier.

He not only had to keep up with his regular coursework, but also work on the projects Xuan Ziwen had assigned him. And after Yu Rufeng had strengthened his Spirit Eye, he had also begun daily training to improve his control over his spiritual power.

He hadn't let Teacher Yu strengthen his Ice Empress Martial Soul. After all, it was a living Martial Soul, and no one knew what kind of changes might occur if it came into contact with Teacher Yu's peculiar sixth Soul Skill. The worst-case scenario was that people would discover this wasn't an ordinary Ice Jade Scorpion Martial Soul, but one transformed from the Ice Empress.

Over the past few days, he had also begun preparing for something else: his Level 2 Soul Engineer examination.

At the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, the Soul Engineer examination included both practical and written tests. The written test wasn't difficult for Huo Yuhao, given his exceptional memory, but he still needed to spend some time reviewing past papers and familiarizing himself with the question formats. It would be no fun to get overconfident and mess up the written test.

The practical test, meanwhile, was no longer a problem for Huo Yuhao.

As the start-of-term bustle faded, the weather gradually turned colder. That day, Huo Yuhao had just put away his notes from the last class and was planning to give himself a rare afternoon off and return to his dorm to meditate for a while, when the teacher called out from the podium:

"Huo Yuhao, stay behind for a moment."

He was now a second-year student, and since he wasn't in the same class as Chi Qiu and Wang Dong, he had a different teacher. Though the teacher wasn't particularly familiar with him yet, he knew a little about Huo Yuhao's circumstances and treated him quite well.

"Teacher." Huo Yuhao immediately walked to the podium and nodded.

A second before the referee's hand came down, Huo Yuhao smiled in Chi Qiu's direction.

"I'm really happy to be teammates with Big Brother Xiao."

Just hearing those two names perked up most of the spectators in the Soul Fighting Area. Of course they had heard of Huo Yuhao, who had become a Level 1 Soul Engineer in a month. Xu Feng, meanwhile, was a bona fide Level 5 Soul Engineer. He hadn't made the starting lineup because he was simply less capable than Ma Rulong, Mi Jia, and the others in their year.

"The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament begins in a month and a half. You and your two friends are more or less confirmed as substitutes, but it wouldn't be right to simply appoint you. The three of you still have to take part in the selection trials. I'm sure Teacher Yu is telling those two female students the same thing right now."

"Next pair, get ready," the referee called. "Area A, Xu Feng; Area B, Huo Yuhao."

Three days later, at the Soul Fighting Arena.

After quickly settling on a strategy, Huo Yuhao followed the referee's directions and took his place. Across the arena, a young man named Xu Feng also stepped forward and assumed a Soul Engineer's battle stance.

"How have you been doing with your studies? Keeping up with the pace?" the other man asked first.

This time, Huo Yuhao understood the teacher's unspoken meaning. If they couldn't win, it would show that they truly weren't capable of taking those spots—and that they weren't quite as talented as people thought.

Huo Yuhao had already looked into Xu Feng's specialization. He was a mid- to long-range Soul Engineer. After the teacher told him that his opponent was a Five-Ring Soul King, Huo Yuhao had quietly investigated at once. Knowing yourself and your enemy was the key to winning every battle.

"By strength, I should be a starter. By seniority, I'm on the preliminary team," Xiao Hongchen said vaguely. He paused, then clarified, "I'm the preliminary team captain. Meng and I have secured our spots, so we don't have to take part in the trials. Does anyone object?"

"Hey, Yuhao! It's been half a month. You look like you've grown taller." Someone suddenly clapped Huo Yuhao on the shoulder. He turned around and saw Xiao Hongchen's face.

Even though Huo Yuhao was a genius, the spectators still weren't optimistic about his chances against a Level 5 Soul Engineer in a head-on fight. Some kind-hearted students who couldn't bear to see a junior get bullied were already complaining about whoever had arranged the matchups.

"So the three of you have to beat them and prove that they really are outmatched by you."

"That's good." The teacher nodded, then added, "I heard your schedule is already packed. I wanted to tell you that you'll have another item to add to it."

"Ah?" Huo Yuhao wasn't afraid of teachers putting pressure on him, but at the thought of his already packed schedule, he couldn't help feeling a little miserable. "What is it?"

"You've got to show them you're worthy of those spots."

Xiao Hongchen folded his arms and nodded. "Mm-hmm. Put on a good show later, and you'll be teammates with me soon."

"Confident?" Xiao Hongchen raised an eyebrow as Huo Yuhao stood up.

Since this battle would determine the academy's plans for their future training, Huo Yuhao would use the Ice Empress Martial Soul if the situation called for it.

"Among the students you'll be taking the spots from, quite a few are Five-Ring Soul Kings. But the academy still hopes you'll find a way to beat them. This isn't just about whether the three of you can actually take part in the Soul Fighting Tournament. It'll also affect the academy's plans for your future training."

"Is Big Brother Xiao one of the starters this time?" Huo Yuhao asked.

By contrast, if the three of them could defeat even Five-Ring Soul Kings, that would be proof of their potential, and the academy would invest even more resources in them from then on.

"No problem."

"Senior Meng is on the preliminary team too." Huo Yuhao remarked, looking toward the Soul Fighting Arena. The match was nearly over. One competitor had lost the ability to fight and was just waiting for his opponent to force him out of the arena.

It was certainly an uneven match, a lower-ranked fighter challenging someone stronger. But Huo Yuhao knew where his advantages lay. Soul Engineers all trained their spiritual power to some degree, but compared with a Spirit Eye dedicated to spiritual cultivation, most Soul Engineers' spiritual power was nothing special. And then there was his Second Martial Soul.

Before he and Wang Dong arrived, the Sun Moon Empire had never heard of anyone with Twin Martial Souls.

Suddenly, Huo Yuhao felt something and looked toward the stands on his left. Chi Qiu and Wang Dong were watching him. That mysterious sense of connection came from the resonance between him and Chi Qiu after their bond had been established.

"Big Brother Xiao's grown taller too," he replied.

"You haven't been going hungry these past two weeks, have you? The academy's allowances are pretty decent." Xiao Hongchen sat down right beside him and looked toward the match in the Soul Fighting Arena. "When are you up?"

"I understand." Huo Yuhao nodded. "Thanks for the warning, Teacher. We definitely won't let the academy down."

"Uh?" Huo Yuhao wasn't afraid of the teachers putting pressure on him, but with his schedule already full, he still felt a little dismayed. "What is it?"

His schedule really was about to get another item added to it: preparing for the academy's preliminary team selection trials with Qiu'er and Wang Dong!

Huo Yuhao understood and immediately nodded. "We'll give it everything we've got."

After saying this, Huo Yuhao made his way through the stands and entered the arena.

Huo Yuhao glanced around. The other students didn't seem to like Xiao Hongchen very much... He cleared his throat. "Probably in a moment. I'll go up when they call my name."

Then two Soul Rings rose beneath his feet, and his First Soul Ring suddenly lit up. Across from him, Xu Feng had already drawn his Soul Guidance Gun and cannon, preparing to blanket Huo Yuhao with long-range fire.

Huo Yuhao was momentarily confused. They'd said the three of them were confirmed, but they'd also said they had to take part in the trials. What did that mean?

The teacher seemed to notice Huo Yuhao's confusion and explained, "We need to give the contestants who didn't make the team a reason to accept the decision. A lot of people already had their own ideas about who belonged on the preliminary team. The three of you showing up was a complete surprise."

Everything now was pretty much as he had expected. Huo Yuhao touched the Storage Soul Tool at his waist, and a long, blue-green blade appeared in his hand. Its light was dazzling; it had clearly been fully charged beforehand.

This was the melee Soul Tool he had made for himself for the time being. He had named it the Spirit Slashing Blade. He had left room for a future Core Array, so as his abilities improved, this Level 3 Soul Tool had the potential to be upgraded into a Level 9 Soul Tool.

Spiritual Detection was already active. Huo Yuhao gripped the Spirit Slashing Blade, glanced at the seemingly inescapable storm of artillery fire, and charged straight toward Xu Feng, who was hidden behind it.