Class Nine Claims Three of the Top Four, Mu Jin Teases Zhou Yi

Inside the arena, Xiao Xiao had already held off the Heavenly Net for a full minute.

Lan Luoluo was the first to falter.

Her Soul Power reserves had never matched her sister's, and the constant drain of the Martial Soul Fusion Skill had kept her nerves stretched taut.

Strands of her hair began snapping one by one.

A gap appeared in the Heavenly Net.

Wang Dong'er had been waiting for this moment.

"Xiao Xiao, open the cauldron!"

Xiao Xiao understood at once. The closed cauldron suddenly thrust upward as she unleashed her First Soul Skill, Cauldron Shock.

With the boost from Cauldron Defense, the power and range of Cauldron Shock doubled.

A visible shockwave spread from the cauldron's surface. The blue threads of the Heavenly Net trembled violently, and Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo both grunted, a sharp pain exploding across their scalps.

The Heavenly Net collapsed completely.

Wang Dong'er shot out from beneath the cauldron's shadow, her butterfly wings fully spread.

Second Soul Skill, Butterfly Goddess Light.

Her thousand-year purple Soul Ring flashed. The golden patterns on the Light Goddess Butterfly's wings fired dozens of tiny orange-red orbs of light, raining down upon the Lan sisters.

Lan Luoluo cried out and instinctively raised her remaining hair in front of herself. But it had already been badly damaged by the Cauldron Shock and could not withstand the bombardment of Butterfly Goddess Light.

Three light orbs struck Lan Luoluo and blasted her back three steps.

Lan Susu rushed forward to grab her sister, but Wang Dong'er's Wing Blade Guillotine had already come slashing down.

Its golden edge swept through the hastily raised wall of hair, slicing the entire barrier in two.

Lan Susu was shoved back by the blast wave and stumbled to the ground.

She struggled to get up, but the Soul Power in her body had already run dry.

The Martial Soul Fusion Skill had drained too much from her. She could barely even stand now.

Huang Chutian finally stopped dealing with Cui Yajie and turned to charge toward the Lan sisters.

"Move!"

He unleashed his Second Soul Skill, Power Cannon Hammer.

A golden ball of energy condensed around his right fist and shot toward Wang Dong'er.

Wang Dong'er did not take it head-on. With a flap of her butterfly wings, she flew into the air.

The energy sphere smashed into the ground, blasting out a fist-sized crater.

But Huang Chutian's back was already exposed.

Cui Yajie strolled over to Lan Luoluo's side and looked down at the girl, whose flushed little face was covered in sweat.

"Luoluo, concede. If this continues, you'll get hurt."

Lan Luoluo bit her lip. She looked at her sister, who was also lying on the ground, then at Huang Chutian fighting alone in the distance.

Her hand braced against the ground, trembling, yet she refused to raise it.

Cui Yajie sighed.

At that moment, one of Xiao Xiao's Soul-Suppressing Cauldrons slowly drifted above Lan Luoluo's head, casting a shadow over her.

Lan Luoluo looked up at the cauldron glowing with golden light and swallowed.

"I concede."

"Class Seven's Lan Luoluo, eliminated!" The referee raised a hand.

Hearing that, Lan Susu seemed to lose all her strength and lay motionless on the ground.

"I concede too."

"Class Seven's Lan Susu, eliminated!"

Huang Chutian stopped in the middle of the arena, his fists clenched tight.

Three against one.

He turned and looked at the three girls standing in a line across from him.

Cui Yajie stood in the middle with a slightly embarrassed smile at the corner of her lips. Wang Dong'er stood on the right, the golden patterns on her butterfly wings still faintly glowing.

Xiao Xiao stood on the left, three Soul-Suppressing Cauldrons slowly spinning before her.

Huang Chutian took a deep breath.

"I concede."

He said it decisively and turned to leave. After taking two steps, he looked back and shouted at Cui Yajie, "That Charm of yours is seriously annoying."

Cui Yajie waved at him. "Thanks for the compliment."

"Exam Hall Two, Class Nine's Cui Yajie team wins! They advance to the top four!"

The moment the referee announced the result, a stir broke out among the students watching around the arena.

"All three Class Nine teams made the top four?"

"No way. There are four spots, and Class Nine took three of them?"

"That little girl with the cauldron is incredible. She even held off a Martial Soul Fusion Skill..."

"I think the scariest one is that Nine-Tailed Fox. She didn't take a single hit from beginning to end."

On the elevated platform, Yan Shaozhe leaned back in his chair, lightly tapping the armrest with his fingers.

"The coordination among these three girls is highly structured. The Nine-Tailed Fox handles the strongest opponent, the Soul-Suppressing Cauldron takes the core pressure, and the Light Goddess Butterfly handles the finishing.

Their roles are clear, and they execute decisively."

Cai Mei'er added,

"The key is that Nine-Tailed Fox's command ability. She hardly fought head-on throughout the match, but she called every critical moment."

Du Weilun stroked his chin.

"The way these three coordinate follows the same tactical line as that brat Dai Huabin. Containment, defense, explosive offense—the division of labor is extremely clear."

Yan Shaozhe did not respond. He was thinking about something else.

A nine-hundred-and-ninety-year Second Soul Ring. A level twenty-one Soul Master absorbing a Soul Ring just shy of the thousand-year threshold despite the gap in rank.

Even in Shrek's history, that was rare.

More importantly, Xiao Xiao had Twin Martial Souls. If her Second Martial Soul also obtained Soul Rings according to this approach...

"This Dai Huabin has a sharp eye," Yan Shaozhe muttered to himself.

In a corner, Xuan Zi took a bite of his chicken leg and mumbled indistinctly,

"These little brats are pretty good. Interesting."

In the spectator area below the platform.

Mu Jin stood amid the crowd, watching Cui Yajie and the others walk off the arena. She could not help clenching her fists.

Excellent.

Of the top four, Class Nine occupied three spots.

Dai Huabin's team, Cui Yajie's team, and Ning Tian's team.

Among the top four teams in the entire Freshman Assessment, only one was not from Class Nine.

Mu Jin swept her gaze across the viewing area and soon found the person she was looking for at the edge of the crowd.

Zhou Yi.

Class One's homeroom teacher, Zhou Yi, stood in a corner in a dark gray teacher's robe with her arms folded. Her wrinkled mask gave her an imposing presence, and no one dared approach within three paces of her.

Mu Jin smoothed her skirt and walked over with light steps.

"Teacher Zhou."

Zhou Yi glanced sideways at her.

Mu Jin stopped beside her, her tone carrying just the right amount of surprise.

"Oh my, Class Nine really is impressive. Three of the top four teams are from Class Nine. Three whole teams."

She held up three fingers and waved them in front of Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi's temple twitched.

"I really didn't expect the children in our class to be such capable fighters," Mu Jin continued with a smile.

"Especially Xiao Xiao. The way she held off that Martial Soul Fusion Skill just now was truly something to be proud of."

Zhou Yi snorted coldly, the sound squeezed from her nose.

"They're only relying on Wang Dong'er and Xiao Xiao, the deserters from my Class One."

Mu Jin's smile did not change in the slightest.

"And Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu, the deserters from Class Five," Zhou Yi added viciously.

"How many people in your Class Nine did you raise from the very beginning?"

Mu Jin tilted her head, looking as though she were seriously considering it.

"Hmm, let me think. Oh, that's right, they were indeed assigned to Class One before. But Teacher Zhou, they applied to transfer classes themselves. They said they admired my teaching methods."

Zhou Yi's expression became even uglier.

"If you hadn't used underhanded tricks!"

"Teacher Zhou." Mu Jin interrupted her, her smile still gentle.

"Director Du Weilun approved those transfers. I didn't use any tricks. But I did hear that several students from Class One have dropped out recently?"

Zhou Yi's breathing noticeably grew heavier.

Mu Jin stepped half a pace closer and lowered her voice.

"Teacher Zhou, raising students cannot rely solely on beatings and scoldings.

You have to make the children willing to follow you. Don't you agree?"

With that, she gave Zhou Yi a slight smile, turned, and walked away.

Zhou Yi remained where she was, her chest heaving violently several times.

A young teacher nearby who did not know what was happening leaned over and quietly asked,

"Teacher Zhou, are you all right? You don't look so well."

Zhou Yi turned and glared at him.

The young teacher immediately shut his mouth and slipped away.

The young teacher had left, but the anger in Zhou Yi's eyes was difficult to dispel.