Cui Yajie and Xiao Xiao were tending to the unconscious Wang Dong'er on the other side.
Xiao Xiao held Wang Dong'er in her arms, tears still streaking her face. But after hearing the healing Soul Master say that neither of them was in any danger, she finally let out a breath of relief.
"Xiao Xiao, how's Dong'er?" Cui Yajie asked.
"She ran out of Soul Power too. The healing Soul Master said she'll be fine."
Cui Yajie nodded and walked to the middle of the arena. She looked at the crack in the ground, blasted open by the two attacks, then glanced back toward Zhu Lu.
The corner of her mouth twitched.
"Those two are seriously crazy."
Xiao Xiao muttered under her breath, "The class monitor's even crazier. Does he know he's bleeding? He's still smiling."
Cui Yajie flicked her long pink hair. "Of course he knows. He just doesn't want Lulu to worry."
Xiao Xiao froze for a moment. She looked down at the unconscious Wang Dong'er in her arms, then at Zhu Lu, who was crouched beside Dai Huabin in the distance without moving. She didn't say a word for a long while.
The referee walked to the center of the arena and cleared his throat.
"The final result: Dai Huabin's team wins!"
Cheers and applause erupted from the stands.
Zhou Yi stood in the farthest corner, her face dark as thunder.
She hadn't said a single word from beginning to end.
Three of the four semifinal spots belonged to Class Nine.
The champion was from Class Nine, the runner-up was from Class Nine, and the third-place team was from Class Nine too.
And what about her Class One?
Its best result was reaching the round of 32.
She had spent three months training her students, only for them to be ground to dust by Mu Jin, that "greenhouse gardener."
What made Zhou Yi's chest feel even tighter was that Wang Dong'er and Xiao Xiao should have been students in Class One.
The Light Goddess Butterfly, the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron, Twin Martial Souls—any one of them would have been a trump card for Class One.
Mu Jin had snatched them all away.
No, to be precise, that Dai Huabin had snatched them away.
Zhou Yi clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms.
Just then, Mu Jin walked by.
They met in the corridor.
Mu Jin didn't say anything. She only smiled faintly, stepped aside to let Zhou Yi pass, then led her students downstairs.
That smile stung more than any taunt could have.
Zhou Yi ground her teeth in fury.
"Teacher Zhou, are you all right?" one of the proctors asked cautiously behind her.
"I'm fine."
Zhou Yi turned and strode away.
The awards ceremony was simple.
With the healing Soul Master's emergency treatment, Dai Huabin managed to get back on his feet. His face was still pale, but at least he could walk.
Yan Shaozhe personally announced the final rankings.
Champion: Dai Huabin's team.
Runner-up: Cui Yajie's team.
Third place: Ning Tian's team.
All three teams came from Freshman Class 9.
People had already guessed this result when the brackets were announced, but now that it had been officially declared, a stir still swept through the stands.
Since Shrek Academy was founded, no single class had ever claimed all three top places in the Freshman Assessment.
Ning Tian walked up to Dai Huabin and handed him a bottle of medicine. "What exactly happened with that move of yours?"
Dai Huabin took the bottle and gulped it down. "I don't know either."
"You don't know?" Ning Tian raised an eyebrow.
"I really don't. It just happened halfway through the fight, then disappeared when the fight ended."
Ning Tian studied him for a few seconds, then decided not to press him further.
Wu Feng popped up behind them, hands on her hips. "You can't even figure out your own moves? Are you messing with us?"
"If I could use it whenever I wanted, would I have taken that slash?" Dai Huabin pointed to the bandaged wound on his chest.
Wu Feng tilted her head and thought it over. It made sense.
"Still, that was terrifying."
She muttered, "My legs went weak when I saw that light."
"Your legs went weak because you were tired from sparring earlier."
"Shut up!"
Nanmen Yun'er stood quietly nearby, though the corners of her mouth curled up a little.
Zhu Lu stayed at Dai Huabin's left side, one hand on his arm, ready to support him at any moment. She said nothing, but nobody was getting between them.
Xiao Xiao helped Wang Dong'er over. Wang Dong'er had regained consciousness, but her legs were still weak.
Her face was paler than paper, and she limped as she walked, but her spirits had returned.
She paused as she passed Dai Huabin.
"Next time, we'll fight again."
Dai Huabin tilted his head. "You want to get beaten up again?"
"Who got beaten up? I almost won!" Wang Dong'er said haughtily.
"Almost is still a loss."
Wang Dong'er was so angry she wanted to stomp her foot, but she couldn't keep her balance on one leg. Xiao Xiao hurriedly grabbed her.
Cui Yajie laughed behind them.
That evening, at the Sea God Pavilion.
Yan Shaozhe walked down a long corridor and stopped before the innermost meditation room.
He hesitated, then knocked.
"Come in."
The voice was old, but full of vigor.
Yan Shaozhe pushed open the door.
The meditation room was small and sparsely furnished, with a chair and a bookcase.
Mu En leaned back in the chair, resting with his eyes closed. A pot of tea that had gone completely cold sat on the small table before him.
"Teacher, sorry to disturb your rest."
Mu En opened one eye. "If you've come to see me, it can't be a trivial matter. Speak."
Yan Shaozhe didn't sit. He stood before Mu En, choosing his words for a few seconds.
"Something happened in today's Freshman Assessment final."
Mu En opened both eyes.
"A freshman with thirty-four levels of Soul Power, whose Martial Soul is the White Tiger, briefly reached a state of unity between essence, energy, and spirit while clashing with a classmate whose Martial Soul is the Light Goddess Butterfly."
Mu En said nothing, but his fingers stopped tapping the armrest.
Yan Shaozhe continued, "And it wasn't just the three in one. In that state, I sensed a fourth element: conviction. He fused his conviction that he would win with the unity of his essence, energy, and spirit, forming a kind of force."
Silence stretched for a long time.
Mu En slowly sat upright.
"What's the student's name?"
"Dai Huabin. A direct descendant of the Dai Family of the Star Luo Empire, and the son of the White Tiger Duke. I saw him once when he enrolled. His talent was certainly good, but nothing particularly outstanding."
Mu En tapped the armrest twice with his fingers.
"I remember the boy. I ran into him outside the dormitory building on the day the freshmen arrived. I thought he had a solid foundation and showed promise, but that was all."
"Teacher, for a Soul Elder to touch upon the unity of essence, energy, and spirit, and even bring in the power of conviction..."
Yan Shaozhe lowered his voice.
"In all my years, I've seen something like this in only one person."
Mu En didn't respond.
He didn't need to.
The person Yan Shaozhe meant was Mu En himself.
Even his great-grandson, Bei Bei, hadn't reached that level.
"Reign Over the World," the ultimate technique Mu En had created over his lifetime, centered on bringing essence, energy, and spirit into perfect unity, then using the conviction of the Dragon God Douluo's lifetime as a catalyst to forge an absolute force that could suppress all things.
How many years had it taken him to comprehend that state?
Fifty-seven years.
He had been seventy, and his Soul Power had just broken through level 95, when he first truly achieved the fusion of essence, energy, and spirit.
And this boy, at thirty-four levels of Soul Power, had touched that very threshold in a freshman assessment.
Mu En's fingers remained still on the armrest for a long while.
"Does he know?"
"Probably not."
"Then that makes sense."
Mu En nodded and continued, "True enlightenment never comes by deliberate design. The more naturally it's triggered under extreme pressure, the more it shows that the seed was already there in the person's foundations."
Yan Shaozhe waited, but Mu En didn't seem inclined to say more. He ventured, "Teacher, do you mean...?"
Mu En spoke slowly.
"Keep an eye on him. If his talent really is as extraordinary as it seems, perhaps he could inherit Reign Over the World..."
Yan Shaozhe's heart jolted.
Mu En hadn't finished the sentence, but the meaning was clear.
Mu En, the Dragon God Douluo, former dean of Shrek Academy, and one of the few Limit Douluo on the continent, was considering taking a disciple.
"I understand, Teacher."
Yan Shaozhe bowed, then turned and left the meditation room.
Mu En leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
Dai Huabin.
A direct descendant of the White Tiger Dai Family.
Interesting.
Night deepened.
First floor, Freshman Dormitory Building.
Zhu Lu helped Dai Huabin back to his dorm room.
He had recovered some of his strength, but his spiritual power was still completely drained. He occasionally staggered as he walked.
Zhu Lu pushed him down onto the bed, then went to fetch a basin of hot water.
"You don't have to fuss over me. I'll be fine after some sleep."
Zhu Lu ignored him. She wrung out a warm towel and wiped the dried sweat and dust from his forehead. Her touch was gentle, careful not to brush his chest wound.
Dai Huabin leaned against the pillow and watched Zhu Lu bustle around.
"Lulu."
"Hmm?"
"Thanks."
Zhu Lu's hands paused for a moment, then she continued wiping.
"You don't have to thank me."
Her voice was soft, but steady.
Dai Huabin smiled and closed his eyes.
Sleep crashed over him like a landslide. He didn't even have the strength to resist. His consciousness sank, and he fell straight into a deep slumber.
Zhu Lu folded the towel and placed it beside the bed. She checked that the bandage on his chest hadn't come loose, and only after making sure everything was fine did she sit down in the chair nearby.
Leaning back, she watched Dai Huabin's profile for a long time.
Then she tilted her head to one side and fell asleep too.
Late that night.
Dai Huabin's consciousness sank into an endless darkness.
He knew this was his Spiritual Sea.
It was as still as a dead sea. That day's battle had wrung every last drop of spiritual power from him, leaving not even a ripple on the surface.
But his Spiritual Sea was slowly recovering on its own. Faint energy seeped in from all around, little by little replenishing what had been drained.
Dai Huabin's consciousness floated through the Spiritual Sea, half asleep and half awake.
Then he felt it.
In a corner of the Sea of Spirit, the gray orb of light that had been resting there quietly all this time moved.
It wasn't an illusion.
The orb trembled faintly, faster and faster, as though something inside were about to break out of its shell.
The gray light began to brighten.
Thin strands of pale silver light seeped out of the gray orb, drifting aimlessly across the surface of the Sea of Spirit.
Dai Huabin's consciousness snapped mostly awake.
Electrolux.
The Necromancy Holy Mage of old.
In the original story, Electrolux was an existence within Huo Yuhao's Sea of Spirit, and one of the key figures who helped him grow.
Dai Huabin had been waiting.
He had waited for more than three months.
The gray orb trembled more and more violently.
The silver strands no longer drifted aimlessly. Instead, they began to converge, forming a thin halo around the orb.
Then a voice sounded.
It was faint and distant, as though it had risen from beneath the water.
"I never expected to meet a child like this in this world."
Dai Huabin held his breath.
He waited a few seconds, making sure the voice wasn't an illusion.
Then he tentatively spoke into the Sea of Spirit.
"Senior, are you awake?"
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