Preliminary Team Selection Match

Chapter: Reserve Team Selection Tournament

During this period, Huo Yuhao's academy life had officially entered a steady rhythm, and he suddenly found himself quite busy.

Not only did he have to complete the regular curriculum of the academy, but he also had to balance the research projects assigned to him by Xuan Ziwen. Furthermore, after Yu Rufeng had strengthened his Spirit Eye, he began daily specialized training to master his spiritual power.

As for his Ice Empress martial soul, he did not have Teacher Yu strengthen it. After all, it was a living martial soul, and it was impossible to predict what kind of mutation might occur if it came into contact with the strange sixth soul skill of Teacher Yu. The worst-case scenario, naturally, would be exposing the fact that this martial soul was not an ordinary Ice Jade Scorpion, but the manifestation of the Ice Empress herself.

In the past few days, he had also begun preparing for another matter—his second-level soul engineer examination.

At the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, the soul engineer examination included not only practical operations but also written tests. Although the written tests were not difficult for Huo Yuhao, who possessed a powerful memory, he still had to spend time briefly reviewing past exam papers to understand the question types; it would be embarrassing to fail the written portion due to overconfidence.

As for the practical portion, it had long since ceased to be a problem for Huo Yuhao.

As the start of the semester faded into the past, the temperature gradually turned cold. On this day, just as Huo Yuhao finished packing up his notes from the last class and was planning to treat himself to a rare afternoon of rest by returning to his dormitory to meditate, the teacher's voice rang out from the podium:

"Huo Yuhao, please stay behind."

He was now a second-year student and was no longer in the same class as Chi Qiu and Wang Dong, so he naturally had a different instructor. Although this teacher was not yet very familiar with him, he knew a bit about his situation and treated him quite well.

"Teacher." Huo Yuhao immediately turned and walked to the podium, nodding at the teacher.

A second before the referee waved his hand, Huo Yuhao smiled in the direction of Chi Qiu.

"I am very happy to be teammates with Brother Xiao."

Just hearing these two names caused most of the audience in the Soul Fighting Area to perk up. They had, of course, heard the great name of Huo Yuhao, who had achieved the rank of first-level soul engineer in just one month. As for this Xu Feng, he was a genuine fifth-level soul engineer; the reason he hadn't been selected for the main team was simply that his abilities were indeed inferior to those of the batch including Ma Rulong and Mi Jia.

"In a month and a half, the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament will begin. Although you and your two friends are basically confirmed as reserve members, internal appointments are never ideal. The three of you must still participate in the selection tournament. I believe Teacher Yu is informing those two female students right now."

"Next group, prepare." The referee shouted, "Area A, Xu Feng; Area B, Huo Yuhao."

Three days later, the soul fighting arena.

Quickly confirming his strategy in his mind, Huo Yuhao followed the referee's instructions and arrived at his position. Across the arena, the young man named Xu Feng also stood firm, assuming a combat stance as a soul engineer.

"How have your studies been lately? Can you keep up with the progress?" the opponent asked as a greeting.

This time, Huo Yuhao understood the subtext of the teacher's words. If they couldn't win, it would prove that they were truly unable to secure these spots, and it would also prove that they weren't as genius as they were made out to be.

Huo Yuhao had already investigated Xu Feng's specialization as a soul engineer; he was a mid-to-long-range combatant. After the teacher warned him that his opponent was a five-ring soul king, he had immediately conducted a quiet investigation. Knowing oneself and the enemy is the only way to ensure victory in every battle.

"In terms of strength, I should be on the main team, but in terms of seniority, that makes me the reserve team." Xiao Hongchen said this vaguely, paused for a moment, and then clarified, "I am the captain of the reserve team. Meng and my positions are confirmed; we don't need to participate in the selection, and no one has any objections."

"Yo, Yuhao, haven't seen you in half a month, you seem to have grown taller." Huo Yuhao felt his shoulder being slapped hard by someone. He turned his head and saw the face of Xiao Hongchen.

Even if Huo Yuhao was a genius, the audience still didn't hold much hope for him facing a fifth-level soul engineer head-on. Some kind-hearted students who couldn't bear to see a junior being bullied were already complaining about who had arranged this schedule.

"Therefore, the three of you must defeat them to let them know that there is indeed a gap between them and you."

"That's good." The teacher nodded and added, "I heard your schedule is very tight, but I wanted to tell you today that your schedule is about to have another item added to it."

"Uh-huh." Xiao Hongchen crossed his arms and nodded, "Perform well later; you'll be my teammate soon enough."

"Are you confident?" Xiao Hongchen raised an eyebrow as he watched Huo Yuhao stand up.

Since this was a battle that would determine his future training plan, he would use the Ice Empress martial soul when necessary.

"Among the students whose positions you are taking, there is no shortage of five-ring soul kings. However, judging by the academy's intentions, they still hope you can find a way to win. This matter not only concerns whether the three of you can truly participate in the Soul Fighting Tournament, but it also affects your future training plans."

"Is Brother Xiao a member of the main team this time?" Huo Yuhao asked.

Conversely, if the three of them could even defeat a five-ring soul king, it would be enough to prove their potential, and the academy would invest more resources into them in the future.

"No problem."

"Senior Sister Meng is also on the reserve team." Huo Yuhao sighed and looked into the soul fighting arena. The match was nearing its end; one person had already lost the ability to resist, waiting only for his opponent to clear him from the arena.

This was indeed a cross-level challenge with a disparity in strength, but Huo Yuhao was clear about his advantages. Although soul engineers all practiced spiritual power to some extent, compared to the Spirit Eye, which specialized in the spiritual system, the spiritual power of most soul engineers was not worth mentioning. Beyond that, there was his second martial soul.

And before he and Wang Dong arrived, the Sun Moon Empire had never heard of a twin martial soul.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, Huo Yuhao looked up at the spectator stands on the left. Chi Qiu and Wang Dong were watching him there, and this mysterious connection was naturally the resonance after Chi Qiu had guided him.

"Brother Xiao has grown taller, too." He replied.

"You haven't been going hungry these past two weeks, have you? The academy's subsidy is actually quite decent." Xiao Hongchen sat down right next to him and looked at the match in progress. "When are you going to fight?"

"I understand." Huo Yuhao said, "Thank you for the reminder, Teacher. We certainly won't let the academy down."

"Ah?" Although Huo Yuhao wasn't afraid of pressure from the teachers, the thought of his already packed schedule made him feel a bit uncomfortable at first. "What is it?"

His schedule was indeed about to have another item added—preparing for the academy's reserve team selection tournament together with Qiu'er and Wang Dong!

Huo Yuhao understood the meaning and immediately nodded. "We will give it our all."

Leaving those words behind, Huo Yuhao walked through the spectator stands and entered the competition arena.

Huo Yuhao glanced to the side; the other students didn't seem to like Xiao Hongchen very much... He cleared his throat: "Probably in a while; I'll go up when my name is called."

Subsequently, two soul rings rose from beneath his feet, and the first soul ring suddenly shone brightly. Across from him, Xu Feng had already drawn his soul gun and cannon, preparing to carpet-bomb Huo Yuhao from a distance.

Huo Yuhao was a bit confused for a moment. They said they were confirmed, yet they had to participate in the selection tournament—what did this mean?

The teacher seemed to see through Huo Yuhao's confusion and explained: "We need to provide a reason that will convince the eliminated students, as many people already had their own ideas about who would be on the reserve team. The existence of the three of you is truly an unexpected surprise."

Now, everything was largely consistent with his investigation. Huo Yuhao touched the storage soul tool at his waist, and a cyan-green long blade appeared in his hand. The blade's light was extremely intense; it was clearly pre-charged.

This was the close-combat soul tool he had temporarily crafted for himself, which he named the Spirit Slashing Blade. He had reserved space for future core arrays; as his abilities improved, this third-level soul tool had the potential to be upgraded into a ninth-level soul tool.

Spiritual Detection was already activated. Huo Yuhao gripped the Spirit Slashing Blade and glanced coldly at the sky-filling artillery fire that seemed to leave him no retreat, then charged directly toward Xu Feng, who was hiding behind the barrage.