The Test

Fan Yu quickly noticed the two little ones beside Zhou Yi. With tired steps, he soon made his way over to them.

"So these are the two children with Innate Full Soul Power you told me about?" Fan Yu crouched down in front of Huo Yuhao. He took one of Huo Yuhao's hands and felt his wrist while studying his face—or, more precisely, his eyes.

"That's right. And they were both registered as One-Ring Soul Masters when they enrolled. I figured they'd probably be fine, so I brought them straight here to take the test."

"This is the little boy with the Spirit Eye Martial Soul, right? His eyes really are quite unusual. They're like a vast sea reflecting the stars..." Fan Yu remarked, then turned to Dong'er.

"And this young lady... your Martial Soul is the Light Goddess Butterfly, right?"

Dong'er nodded.

"It really suits you. You've got such a pretty, adorable face. If only I had a daughter as lovely as you."

As he spoke, Fan Yu casually glanced in Zhou Yi's direction.

"Quit sweet-talking and get on with the test. I still have to prepare next week's lesson plans tonight. I've got a mountain of things to do." Zhou Yi flatly rejected Fan Yu's hint and swatted the hand he had placed on her shoulder away.

Fan Yu gave Zhou Yi a disappointed look, but said nothing more. He led the two children over to the machine he had just been adjusting.

The entire device looked like a throne made of steel. Once the person being tested sat in it and put on a specially made helmet, the tester could view all their test results on a nearby screen.

The two children only needed to take two simple tests: one to determine their physical age and another to measure their Soul Power Level.

Dong'er went first. Fan Yu placed the specially made helmet on her head and reminded her, "If you feel uncomfortable at all, tell me right away. I'll stop the test immediately."

Dong'er nodded. At the same time, Huo Yuhao stepped forward and gave her an encouraging look.

A moment later, after a few faint mechanical sounds, the machine slowly powered up. Several beams of light connected the inside of the helmet to Dong'er's head.

Watching this, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but feel a knot of tension in his stomach.

The reason was simple: there might be a seal left by Tang San inside Dong'er's head, one meant to lock away her memories. In his previous life, that seal had blocked any force trying to invade her mind and unleashed a powerful backlash.

If the machine's scanning mechanism involved the brain... it might trigger the seal.

But if everything went smoothly, perhaps that would prove the Dong'er before him really was just a girl who happened to have the same face as the one in his memories.

At the same time, Dong'er was nervous too. She had no idea whether anything was still hidden inside her head. When the beams of light connected her to the helmet, she seemed to feel a faint, indistinct ache inside her head.

But she soon realized that the ache was probably just her imagination. In truth, she felt nothing unusual throughout the test—at most, she felt a little... itchy.

"Hmm... this really is an astonishing result." Fan Yu looked at the results displayed on the control panel, then at Dong'er's harmless-looking face.

"Level thirteen... Little Dong'er, your First Soul Ring is no ordinary one. It must be at least five or six hundred years old."

"No... seven hundred years isn't out of the question for a level thirteen Soul Power. After all, it's the Light Goddess Butterfly."

Muttering to himself, Fan Yu exported the test data into a report and stapled it to her physical examination report.

"Come on, Huo Yuhao. Your turn."

"Oh, coming!"

Following Fan Yu's instructions, Huo Yuhao put on the helmet as well. When the beams connected, he felt a slight itch in his head, just like Dong'er had.

But right then, Tian Meng's voice suddenly rang out.

"Hmm... Yuhao, why does the Sea of Consciousness feel like it's shaking? Did somebody come over?"

Tian Meng rarely woke up inside Huo Yuhao's head. As the worm himself put it, Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness was simply too vast. Imprinting a million years' worth of Soul Power into it took too much out of him, so he needed to sleep often and for long stretches.

Most of the time, changes in the outside world didn't disturb Tian Meng's sleep. But whenever something unusual happened in the Sea of Consciousness, he noticed it at once and woke up.

Just like now. The moment the machine started, the scanning beams formed a subtle connection with the Sea of Consciousness, making Tian Meng feel it trembling again and again.

"It's fine. Someone's just testing my Soul Power."

"Is that so? That's strange. Why would a Soul Power test connect to the Sea of Consciousness..." Tian Meng scratched his head, but after probing with his spiritual power, he didn't find anything wrong.

Aside from the occasional shudder in the Sea of Consciousness, it didn't seem to affect his sleep at all.

"Forget it. Since nothing's wrong, I'll go back to sleep."

Just then, Tian Meng seemed to remember something and added a reminder:

"Oh, and when you reach level twenty, make sure to wake me up. I'll take you to get something really interesting."

With that, Tian Meng's voice fell silent once more.

Huo Yuhao knew exactly what Tian Meng meant by "something really interesting": the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, ranked second among the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North.

In his previous life, with Tian Meng's help, he had drawn the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion into his plan to become a god as well, making her one of his Second Martial Souls and Soul Spirits.

Back then, the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion had been one of the trump cards that let him join the ranks of the geniuses at Shrek Academy. But now, he no longer needed that extra card.

If he was only thinking about strengthening himself... Huo Yuhao actually had a better option.

But that was something to consider later... For now, he should finish the test.

Of course, Huo Yuhao had known his current Soul Power Level for a long time. But... when he learned what level it had reached after absorbing Tian Meng's Soul Ring, even he had been shocked. Until now, only Tian Meng and Huo Yuhao himself knew his Soul Power Level.

The Soul Power Level gradually appeared on the control panel. When Fan Yu saw the number, he froze in place.

Since Fan Yu's body blocked the view, Zhou Yi and Dong'er couldn't see Huo Yuhao's results directly.

"Why are you just standing there? Say something." Zhou Yi impatiently stepped forward, rudely shoved Fan Yu aside, and looked at the control panel.

Then, just as expected, she froze too.

She rubbed her eyes, her gaze darting between Huo Yuhao and the control panel in disbelief.