The stands fell deathly silent.
Everyone stared blankly at the unconscious figure being carried away on a stretcher, their minds a complete void.
Another... another one-hit victory?
A level-25 Soul Grandmaster, a third-year student, ranked among the top fifty in his year—
Another one-hit knockout?
Someone instinctively swallowed, their throat so dry they couldn't make a sound.
Someone clutched their head in both hands, unable to believe their eyes.
Someone even wondered if they were dreaming and secretly pinched their thigh—ouch, it hurt. This was real.
It was all real.
That young man standing on the Soul Fighting Platform, the one who was only level 13, had really defeated a level-25 Soul Grandmaster with just one move.
And this was already the second one.
"Is this guy... really only level 13?"
Wang Dong murmured, her voice full of disbelief.
She sat among the crowd, both hands gripping her knees tightly, her knuckles white from the pressure.
A level-13 Soul Master had crushed two Soul Grandmasters in their twenties.
If someone had told her about this in the past, Wang Dong would have taken it for a joke. She might even have mocked them for it.
Even a made-up story needed to follow some basic rules. There was an entire major realm and one Soul Ring between level 13 and the twenties. How could he fight them? What could he possibly use?
But now, that "joke" was unfolding right before her eyes.
She had watched both battles clearly.
In the first, Liu Ping put everything into a slash, only for Huo Yuhao to catch it between two fingers and knock him out with a palm strike.
In the second, Zhou Yang wore him down from a distance, only for Huo Yuhao to catch his fireball barehanded and send it back twice as hard. Then he appeared behind him like a ghost and knocked him out with another palm strike.
The two battles together had lasted less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea.
Huo Yuhao hadn't even used a Soul Ring.
His Martial Soul had only possessed his body; he hadn't released a single Soul Skill.
He had won just like that, as casually as if it were nothing.
Wang Dong drew a deep breath, forcing herself to calm her roiling emotions.
She looked at that lean figure on the platform, and a thought suddenly rose in her mind—
If it were her, could she do it?
If it were a one-on-one fight against Liu Ping or Zhou Yang, of course she could win.
Her Martial Soul was of exceptional quality, and her Soul Rings far surpassed those of others at the same level. Even with less Soul Power than them, she could handle Soul Grandmasters in their twenties without difficulty.
But she couldn't do it so effortlessly.
She couldn't make it look so easy.
And she certainly couldn't... win both fights with just one move each.
"Hahaha, we've struck gold!"
Mu Jin was overjoyed, nearly laughing out loud.
She sat at the very front of Class Nine, her beautiful eyes shining and the smile at the corners of her mouth impossible to suppress.
If not for the occasion, she would have stood up and applauded Huo Yuhao.
All because of one impulsive act—or rather, because she couldn't stand Zhou Yi's smug face and had casually helped this young man out—
And what had come of it?
Not only had she thoroughly gotten under Zhou Yi's skin, but Class Nine had also gained a terrifying Soul Grandmaster!
No, not a Soul Grandmaster.
A level-13 Soul Master.
Level 13!
At level 13, he could knock out a level-25 Soul Grandmaster in one move. How strong would he be once he reached the twenties, or even the thirties?
The more Mu Jin thought about it, the more excited she became, her chest rising and falling.
Looking at that upright figure on the platform, she was already making plans. As soon as the wager ended, she would make sure to recruit Huo Yuhao immediately.
She had said that Class Nine wanted Huo Yuhao, but they hadn't gone through the proper process. He couldn't yet be counted as one of their students.
If another class snatched up such a promising talent, she would regret it to death.
And Zhou Yi?
Mu Jin glanced at Zhou Yi nearby, her face livid, and her smile grew even wider.
Serves her right.
She'd been so arrogant, so overbearing, expelling students at the drop of a hat.
Well, look at that. She'd kicked an iron plate.
Lin Yan slumped in his seat, his eyes vacant and his lips trembling faintly.
The same thought kept repeating in his mind—
This wasn't Huo Yuhao.
This wasn't the Huo Yuhao he remembered.
How could that insecure, sensitive, cowardly boy possibly possess such strength?
Lin Yan abruptly shut his eyes and clutched his hair with both hands.
No.
Something had to be wrong.
Either there was something wrong with his memories, or there was something wrong with this Huo Yuhao.
But either possibility sent a bone-deep chill through him.
If the Huo Yuhao in his memories was fake, then what could he trust about those memories?
If this Huo Yuhao was fake, then who was he really?
Lin Yan didn't dare think any further.
On the Soul Fighting Platform.
Huo Yuhao lowered his hand and stood at ease.
He watched the unconscious figure being carried away below, his gaze as still as water.
Zhou Yang was borne on a stretcher through the crowd and soon disappeared through the exit of the Soul Fighting Arena.
Then Huo Yuhao lifted his head and looked in Zhou Yi's direction.
The youth's face was calm, his expression indifferent. It was as if that palm strike had done no more than swat a fly away.
His hands remained in his pockets, his posture straight as a pine. Not a speck of dust had landed on his clothes.
He spoke slowly. His voice wasn't loud, but every person there heard him clearly—
"Next."
There was no pride in his voice, no mockery, no provocation.
Only indifference.
A quiet statement of fact.
Or perhaps a question—
How many more do you have? I'm in a hurry.
Down below, Zhou Yi's face was beyond mere ugliness.
Her face was as black as the bottom of a pot. The veins on her forehead bulged, her teeth ground together, and her hands clenched so tightly that her nails dug into her palms, drawing a thin line of blood.
Useless!
Every last one of them was useless!
The level-23 student had been knocked out in one move, and so had the level-25 student!
A level-13 brat had taken on two of her students in a row, and defeated both with a single move!
How was she, Zhou Yi, supposed to show her face after this?!
In all her years of teaching, she had never suffered such a humiliating defeat at the hands of a student.
And this student was only a new arrival, just level 13!
Zhou Yi took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
It was fine.
There were still a third, a fourth, a fifth...
Though she had been demoted to teach the new student class in recent years, she had taught over a hundred students.
Most of them were only in their twenties, but they made up for it in numbers.
A battle of attrition would eventually wear down Huo Yuhao's Soul Power and stamina.
No matter how strong he was, he was only level 13.
His reserves of Soul Power were limited, and even a strong body would grow tired.
She refused to believe that Huo Yuhao could keep winning forever.
She refused to believe that this level-13 brat was truly invincible.
Zhou Yi turned sharply, sweeping her gaze across the crowd before settling on one particular group—
There stood more than a dozen students she had once taught.
She had hurriedly summoned them from the third and second years.
"You, you, and you—take the platform in turn."
Zhou Yi pointed at several of them, her voice cold as ice.
"Yes, Teacher Zhou."
The students exchanged glances. Though apprehension filled their hearts, they still steeled themselves and stepped onto the Soul Fighting Platform.
Half an hour later.
"What number is this?"
A male student from Class One swallowed and asked his classmate in a trembling voice.
His voice was very soft, as if he were afraid of disturbing something.
"T-the seventy-first."
The other boy looked down at the densely packed record in his hands, his voice trembling just as much. His fingers quivered, and the tip of his pen drew a crooked line across the paper.
More than an hour had passed since it all began.
Huo Yuhao had challenged seventy-one Soul Grandmasters in total.
Seventy-one.
And he hadn't taken a break in between.
One bout after another, one opponent after another, as if he never got tired.
What was even more terrifying—
Huo Yuhao hadn't been injured once.
He hadn't even had the hem of his clothes touched.
Those who stepped onto the platform came in full of bluster, and all of them left unconscious.
Some had been knocked out by a palm strike, some by a punch, some by a kick, and some by their own Soul Skills rebounding and smashing into them...
But without exception, each had gone down in a single move.
One move to defeat his opponent.
One move to knock them out.
Seventy-one people, seventy-one moves.
On average, each opponent had spent no more than three minutes on the platform.
What did that even mean?
The male student looked at the record in his hands, then looked up at the still-upright figure on the platform, his mind completely blank.
Could a level-13 Soul Master really have this much Soul Power and such strength?
Even a level-30 Soul Elder wasn't this ridiculous!
Similar murmurs rose and fell through the crowd—
"Am I seeing things? He's fought more than seventy people. How is he still not tired?"
"You're asking me? Who should I ask? I want to know too!"
"Is he even human? A level-13 taking on more than seventy Soul Grandmasters, one after another, with a single move each—who would believe that?"
"I pinched myself three times just now. It hurt like hell. This isn't a dream."
"I'm done for! I bet he'd lose. I put down five hundred Gold Soul Coins... That's my living expenses at the academy!"
Some wailed, some gasped in amazement, some couldn't believe it, and some had already begun to question their entire existence.
But they all shared one conviction—
Huo Yuhao was practically a superhuman!
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