Wang Yan shouted, "The assessment begins."
Both sides quickly released their Martial Souls. Huang Chutian tipped his head back and roared, fists clenched as he pounded his chest again and again.
Huang Chutian was not yet twelve, but already stood over 1.5 meters tall. After releasing his Martial Soul, he surged to around 1.8 meters. His bulging muscles burst straight through his fitted school uniform, and his exposed bronze skin darkened to a deep black.
His pupils abruptly turned copper-yellow, and two sharp canine teeth protruded from his broad lips. His limbs were exceptionally thick, his blocky muscles sharply defined, like forged steel. Two Yellow Soul Rings rose slowly. Huang Chutian was unmistakably a Soul Grandmaster above level twenty, from the Power Attack System.
The twin girls released their Martial Souls at the same time. Four Yellow Soul Rings rose, and their long blue hair fluttered like a field of blooming forget-me-nots.
On the other side, dazzling scaled wings unfurled. The Light Goddess Butterfly possessed Wang Dong, who beat her wings lightly and quickly soared into the air.
A three-legged cauldron with two ears instantly took shape and charged fiercely toward the twins. Xiao Xiao stood in front of Bai Cai, blocking their line of sight.
The little fellow with blue hair covering her eyes sat on Bai Cai's left shoulder. Confusion surged out from her, filling the battlefield.
Huang Chutian growled and abruptly attacked Xiao Xiao and Bai Cai. Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo clasped hands, and a violent wave of Soul Power swept across the battlefield. Their blue strands of hair twisted into a sturdy net, attempting to ensnare Wang Dong.
The twins' sudden burst of Soul Power left Huang Chutian with no reservations. His First Soul Ring abruptly lit up, and his wok-sized fists instantly doubled in size, gleaming with a brilliant metallic sheen.
With strength enough to uproot mountains and an aura that could cover the world, Huang Chutian roared. His fists swung like flails, crashing down heavily toward Xiao Xiao and Bai Cai.
Huang Chutian's battle plan was crystal clear: Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo would tie up Wang Dong while he quickly cut down the opposing back line. Then the three of them would gang up on Wang Dong.
Bai Cai smiled. Huang Chutian had taken the bait.
Normally, tactics would change on a dime. Huang Chutian was attacking Xiao Xiao and him, so Wang Dong would naturally target Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo. The fighting styles of a frontline warrior and a roaming assassin were worlds apart. If Wang Dong went head-to-head with Huang Chutian, she would be at a disadvantage instead.
"Xiao Xiao, clear the field." Bai Cai and Ralts were of one mind. Confusion gathered, instantly locking Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo's limbs and major joints in place.
"Cauldron Shock!" Xiao Xiao's expression was grave. The Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron split into three, and her First Soul Ring flashed in an instant. The three Soul-Suppressing Cauldrons were like black meteors, crashing toward Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo.
"Heaven's on my side!" Huang Chutian was overjoyed. He accelerated toward Xiao Xiao and Bai Cai. The Soul-Suppressing Cauldrons would break apart on their own, and he would take out the opposing back line for sure. Victory was within reach!
Wang Dong sneered and caught up with Huang Chutian in a few flashes. Her First Soul Ring lit up, and her dazzling butterfly wings transformed into a guillotine blade. They swept through an elegant arc, poised to slash Huang Chutian's upper body.
With nowhere to dodge, Huang Chutian turned his iron fists to meet the blade edge of the butterfly wings. Blood streaked down the outsides of his knuckles.
The strike knocked Huang Chutian back. Wang Dong said coolly, "The Hercules Ape is nothing special."
Huang Chutian's face darkened. He was slower than Wang Dong. Unless he used his Second Soul Skill to overpower her with brute force, he could only go straight for the girl on the other side and...
"Imprison." The Yellow Soul Ring above Ralts's head abruptly flashed. A surging torrent of spiritual power locked onto Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo, and gray-white rapidly spread across the twins' bright yellow First Soul Rings.
That's right: the hair net was a sustained channeling-type Soul Skill. Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo had to keep supplying Soul Power to reinforce it, making it the perfect counter to Ralts's Imprison.
The blue net that filled the sky lost its Soul Skill's enhancement, and its strength plummeted. It could no longer stop the three Soul-Suppressing Cauldrons from charging through.
Ralts had timed her Soul Skill perfectly. By the time the three cauldrons reached them, Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo no longer had time to use their Second Soul Skill. They were blasted out of the arena in an instant.
Huang Chutian was facing down Wang Dong and was about to break through to Xiao Xiao and Bai Cai. If Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo could have followed up with control and added their attacks, this would have been a decisive strike.
Unfortunately, Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo had been blasted out of the arena and couldn't get back up. Huang Chutian was instantly trapped in an irredeemable disadvantage.
The other side was at full strength, his teammates were all gone. How was he supposed to fight that?
Wang Dong landed and asked eagerly, "Are you going to leave on your own, or should we send you out?"
"..."
Huang Chutian fell silent, turned around, and left the assessment arena. He had lost completely; stalling was pointless.
"With strength enough to uproot mountains and an aura that could cover the world, yet fate was against him and his steed would not charge. What could he do when his steed would not charge? Yu, oh Yu, what could he do?"
Huang Chutian had thought he was no weaker than Wang Dong. But Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo secretly liked Wang Dong, and they had lost their fighting spirit. The assessment arena allowed flight, and they had lost their support advantage. The other side had foiled their plan to trade back lines, and they had lost the tempo. Looking back on the whole fight, his side had been riddled with openings at every turn.
The Huang Chutian Team surrendered. Wang Yan announced, "The Bai Cai Team wins!"
They had decisively defeated the Huang Chutian Team, a team of Soul Grandmasters that included twin control-system Soul Masters, without even revealing their Second Soul Skills. The Bai Cai Team's performance had been impeccable; both their tactical execution and strategic decisions had been top-notch.
After the match results were recorded, Wang Yan glanced at Bai Cai, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao, deep in thought. Freshman Class One—was that the class Zhou Yi was in charge of?
Wang Yan was a theorist at Shrek Academy and a representative of the mild-mannered faction. His theoretical knowledge was solid, and his teaching ability exceptional. Though only in his forties, he had already become one of the senior teachers in the outer courtyard.
Yet Wang Yan, whose theoretical expertise was enough to teach inner-courtyard students, couldn't even identify Bai Cai's Martial Soul or the effects of his Soul Skills. He had only sensed the sudden eruption of tangible spiritual power on the assessment arena.
The academy's upper echelons intended to keep it secret and would never reveal what made Bai Cai special. Spiritual-type Martial Souls were relatively rare, and externalized Martial Souls were exceedingly uncommon. Given both facts, Wang Yan would hardly even consider the possibility that an externalized spiritual-type Martial Soul existed.
The first day of fighting ended. Xiao Xiao was a little excited and returned to the dormitory first, while Bai Cai remained in the assessment arena, carefully watching the remaining two fights and recording information about both teams' battles.
Of course, among the 310 teams, only a few dozen were made up entirely of Soul Grandmasters. In a round-robin match, the odds of encountering two or more seeded teams in ten battles were low—unless the Bai Cai Team was especially unlucky.
After carefully watching the remaining two fights, Bai Cai concluded that the teams left in Arena 33 were all pushovers.
The other four teams were inferior in both Soul Power and Soul Rings. Either they were all reckless brawlers or their tactics changed on a dime. Their threat level was close to zero.
The first round of the freshman assessment ended quickly. It was a brawl between amateurs, not worth wasting ink on. Bai Cai put away his notebook and left the assessment arena.
At the exit of the Open Assessment Area, Wang Dong sat cross-legged atop a thick low wall, looking bored.
The instant Bai Cai appeared, her large pinkish-blue eyes lit up. Wang Dong smiled.
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