Spiritual Annihilation

Huo Yuhao shook his head and did not pursue the matter further. With the current capabilities of his Eye of Truth, he still could not completely see through the Soul Bone within Wang Dong's body.

Aside from the passive physical enhancement it had already displayed, he could not discern the Soul Bone's specific effects or other abilities. As for asking Electrolux, it could not be explained clearly in just a few words.

"Alright, stop fooling around." Huo Yuhao suppressed Wang Dong beside him with one hand. "Don't forget that Du Weilun just deducted ten points from your technique score."

Wang Dong looked unconvinced. "What do you mean my technique was lacking? He told me to fight that Bloodthirsty Demonic Bear with hit-and-run tactics. He's not me, so how does he know I hadn't considered it?"

"Besides, my Butterfly God Slash could clearly have severely injured that big guy. Even if I fought it up close, I'd have been fine!" Wang Dong said proudly, then drooped dejectedly.

"Yeah, yeah, sure." Huo Yuhao nodded. This time, however, he was not brushing her off. He genuinely believed Wang Dong's tactics had been correct.

After getting close, the power of Wang Dong's Third Soul Skill, Butterfly God Slash, had completely disemboweled that Bloodthirsty Demonic Bear. Though it still had the strength to fight, Wang Dong had clearly handled it with ease.

Compared to this point in the original story, Wang Dong's physical fitness and Soul Power reserves had both improved greatly under the enhancement of that unknown torso bone.

Moreover, Wang Dong's tactical thinking had improved somewhat under Huo Yuhao's guidance, though not by much.

Huo Yuhao did not think Wang Dong's words were groundless. Du Weilun had probably found an excuse to deduct points simply to temper Wang Dong's personality.

As the students took the field one after another, Huo Yuhao found that most of their performances were not especially outstanding. Few could fully exploit the advantages of their Martial Souls or Soul Skills to target the weaknesses of the examination Soul Beasts.

Naturally, their combat performances were not particularly impressive, and their scores were not very high either.

Other than Wang Dong, the highest score belonged to Dai Huabin. Like Wang Dong, he had scored one hundred and forty-five points, brutally tearing apart his Thousand-Year Soul Beast opponent. However, Huo Yuhao believed this was the result of Du Weilun's deliberation.

After all, Wang Dong was still the class monitor of Class One. Although Dai Huabin's cultivation and talent were greater, making him more valued by the Martial Soul Department—

—and because of his personality, it was not easy to keep Dai Huabin in check through suppression—they still would not allow him to surpass Wang Dong, the class monitor, on the surface.

Wang Dong's previous combat performance had been nearly flawless as well. Since both were core disciples of the Martial Soul Department, they naturally had to be treated fairly.

"Next, Class One of Year Two, Huo Yuhao." The referee teacher took Huo Yuhao's examination form, then nodded at him.

"Mm. What level of Soul Beast will you choose as your examination target?"

"Thousand-Year."

"Mm? Thousand-Year? Have you thought this through? You're only a two-ring Soul Grandmaster. I hope you'll take the strength of a Thousand-Year Soul Beast seriously. Although teachers will be responsible for rescuing you, accidents are still possible."

"Mm, Thousand-Year."

Seeing this, the referee teacher did not continue trying to persuade him.

This also piqued the interest of the other teachers. For second-year students, Thousand-Year Soul Beasts were still quite formidable. This was already the third Thousand-Year Soul Beast in this examination.

I wonder whether a Thousand-Year Soul Beast's Spiritual Power and intelligence can withstand it.

After entering the beast arena, Huo Yuhao's examination—or rather, experiment—finally began once the referee had finished explaining the various safety precautions.

As his Soul Rings flashed, one yellow and one purple, a Soul Ring configuration beyond what ordinary Soul Masters understood appeared before them, startling everyone.

At the same time, an elderly man hidden from everyone's sight was also surprised: the Dragon God Douluo, Mu En.

That was right, Mu En had also come to watch the second-year students' Promotion Assessment. After all, he really had nothing better to do in his daily life.

Besides, he was curious. Huo Yuhao had holed himself up in the dormitory for more than half a month. Who knew what new trick the boy had come up with this time?

Compared to Huo Yuhao's unusual ideas, what truly determined one's standing for Soul Masters—and in this world—was strength and talent in battle.

Mu En had come this time precisely to verify Huo Yuhao's combat talent.

Isn't this little fellow from a commoner background? Without Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to build a solid foundation for his body, he can actually absorb a Thousand-Year Soul Ring at two rings?

Perhaps it's the effect of his Body Martial Soul combined with the Tang Sect's Mysterious Heaven Skill. After all, ancestor Tang San once absorbed a Third Soul Ring beyond his level, though no one from the Tang Sect tried it afterward.

Huo Yuhao's opponent emerged from the beast enclosure, and Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow. He had not expected that his opponent this time would not be the Blazing Lion King, but it did not matter.

"A Thousand-Year Mutated Mighty Ape, an Assault Type Soul Beast. This opponent is somewhat ill-suited to that kid," Du Weilun commented from the raised platform.

Mighty Apes were renowned among Soul Beasts for their strength. It was said that they possessed the bloodline of Titan Giant Apes, though it was exceedingly thin. Yet that thin bloodline alone was enough to let them look down upon low- and mid-level Soul Beasts.

Especially at the hundred-year and thousand-year levels, physical strength might be crude, but it was the most practical. Compared to elemental Soul Beasts, strength-type Soul Beasts often held a greater advantage in the early stages.

Furthermore, this Mighty Ape seemed to have awakened another bloodline. Unlike ordinary Mighty Apes, which were entirely dark red, faint black metallic gleams shimmered through its dark-red fur.

Everyone had learned something about Huo Yuhao's combat style before. The hidden weapons he relied upon were basically of little use against Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, much less this Mighty Ape, whose mutation seemed to lean toward defense.

The two-meter-tall giant ape stepped out of the beast enclosure. Its grotesquely oversized arms hammered against its chest, producing deep, muffled booms. Fear appeared on the faces of several weaker or less resolute students.

Is that an Intimidation Aura? Through the Eye of Truth, Huo Yuhao sharply caught the Spiritual Power fluctuations mixed within the Soul Power waves emanating from the Mutated Mighty Ape.

Frightening Radiance could make Soul Masters with weaker Spiritual Power grow fearful before even fighting, causing their strength to decline and their will to fight to vanish.

But such a method was not worth noticing to Huo Yuhao. Looks like a hybrid of a Mighty Ape and an Iron Arm Ape, one that inherited the strengths of both bloodlines.

Based on the ability it had used, Huo Yuhao had already inferred the origins of its bloodline. He had also figured out how to defeat it through conventional means.

Mighty Apes excel in strength and have excellent explosive power, while Iron Arm Apes possess bodies as hard as steel. Combined with the Intimidation Aura it constantly emits, it can hold its own in prolonged battles as well.

Its weaknesses are speed and endurance. Though this Mutated Mighty Ape's defense and attack are both outstanding, that's all there is to it.

In Huo Yuhao's Eye of Truth, the Mutated Mighty Ape, seemingly covered in blackish-red metallic luster and blessed with formidable defense, was actually riddled with flaws. Every weakness it had was exposed before Huo Yuhao's eyes. If he wished, he could easily pierce them at any time.

Yet Huo Yuhao did not take out hidden weapons to end the battle. Instead, he activated his Soul Skills. Yellow and purple light alternated across the Soul Rings beneath his feet.

The Mutated Mighty Ape, which had been displaying its might and preparing to charge Huo Yuhao, suddenly froze in place for no apparent reason, completely motionless.

Huo Yuhao, on the other hand, strolled over at an unhurried pace and inspected the Mutated Mighty Ape from top to bottom.

The First Soul Ring and Second Soul Ring beneath his feet continued to gleam.

Spiritual Detection Sharing at maximum intensity combined with Spiritual Erosion. Mm, just as I expected. Huo Yuhao looked satisfied as the Mutated Mighty Ape remained utterly motionless, no matter how close he got—even when he directly reached out and tugged at its fur.

Huo Yuhao then moved farther away from the Mutated Mighty Ape. Immediately afterward, it began punching its own chest again and again.

It did not stop until its ribs broke, its heart was injured, and its massive body could no longer be sustained by the blood pumped from its heart.

Huo Yuhao then nodded toward the referee teacher beside him. "Teacher, I believe this examination is over."

Although the referee teacher was equally baffled, he hurriedly turned his gaze toward Du Weilun on the raised platform, who was in charge of scoring.

Du Weilun frowned tightly as well, unable to see what had happened. Still, he nodded and said, "After deliberation, Huo Yuhao has completed the highest-level Thousand-Year Soul Beast assessment. Base score: one hundred."

"By using Control Type Soul Skills, he affected the Mighty Ape from the very beginning of the battle, ultimately causing it to severely injure itself. His performance was perfect, and he receives the full fifty points for combat technique."

"However, there were too many unnecessary movements. As a Soul Master, one must prioritize caution in battle. As a Control Type Soul Master, you failed to seize the opportunity immediately and instead stepped forward to make unnecessary actions, creating needless variables. Therefore, twenty points will be deducted from your final score as a warning."

"Huo Yuhao, your final examination score is one hundred and thirty points. You have passed the Promotion Assessment."

Huo Yuhao shrugged and did not care much. He had chosen a Thousand-Year Soul Beast only to test his Soul Skills. Otherwise, he could not be bothered to compete for examination points that meant little to him.

"Wow, what Soul Skill did you use just now?" The moment Huo Yuhao left the arena, Wang Dong hurried over.

"How did that Mighty Ape knock itself down? Was that your Second Soul Skill? Isn't that way too insane?"

"What, do you want to try it?" Huo Yuhao smiled slightly. "I only came up with it during the break. I haven't used it on a Soul Master yet."

Wang Dong quickly shook her head. "No way. But isn't the academy's point deduction too harsh? Your performance was clearly perfect. Why did they directly deduct twenty points?"

"Who cares? I don't care anyway. Even if they deducted enough to expel me, so what? Scoring twenty more points won't earn me another Gold Soul Coin." Huo Yuhao yawned. "It's finally over. I'm going back to sleep."

With that, Huo Yuhao turned and left the Great Beast Arena. Wang Dong naturally followed him, since she had nothing else to do there.

Along the way, Huo Yuhao thought over his battle with that Mutated Mighty Ape.

Through the combination of Spiritual Detection Sharing and Spiritual Erosion, Huo Yuhao had first infiltrated the Mutated Mighty Ape's Spiritual Sea without leaving a trace. He then affected its pitifully small Spiritual Sea with deep-level Spiritual Detection.

Because its Spiritual Power had been occupied by the massive amount of information retrieved by Spiritual Detection, the Mutated Mighty Ape's spiritual consciousness instinctively gathered all of its Spiritual Power back into its Spiritual Sea to avoid being overwhelmed.

It used all its Spiritual Power to sort through the immense amount of useless information gained through Spiritual Detection, while Huo Yuhao directly blocked the effects of Spiritual Detection on himself and observed through the Eye of Truth.

After all of the Mutated Mighty Ape's Spiritual Power had been gathered back into its Spiritual Sea, its Spiritual Sea gradually shrank and closed off due to the erosive effects of Spiritual Erosion. Huo Yuhao had thus separated the Mutated Mighty Ape's spiritual consciousness from its body.

Within its mental world, because the Mutated Mighty Ape could not free its Spiritual Power, it naturally had no way to retake control of its body.

The reason the Mutated Mighty Ape could ultimately defy its body's self-preservation mechanisms and beat itself into severe injury was entirely because Huo Yuhao had directly controlled its body with his own Spiritual Power.

A body without spiritual consciousness was nothing more than an empty shell. To Huo Yuhao, controlling it could not have been easier.

Furthermore, under the continued effects of Spiritual Erosion, the Mutated Mighty Ape might appear as though it could still be saved, but its spiritual consciousness had already almost completely become part of Spiritual Erosion.

Once its Spiritual Power was completely devoured by Spiritual Erosion, the Mutated Mighty Ape would lose all self-awareness forever. Moreover, because of Spiritual Erosion, its Spiritual Power could no longer regenerate.

In that case, even if vast resources were spent to heal it, its body would ultimately lose the control of spiritual will and meet death and decay.

This move truly gives Soul Beasts no real way to resist. Ordinary Soul Masters of the same level should fare about the same. A Thousand-Year Soul Beast's Spiritual Power should be roughly comparable to that of a four-ring Soul Master.

It's a pity that the Spiritual Power devoured by Spiritual Erosion cannot be recovered. Otherwise, the pure Spiritual Power that makes up Spiritual Erosion would make quite a good supplement. Perhaps I can try constructing a method to reclaim it later.

Huo Yuhao currently named this technique Spiritual Annihilation. Although this technique would very likely be upgraded before long.