Selection Begins, the First Elimination

Zhou Yi's grating voice cut off the others' discussion. "All right, this is different from before. Consider it an unexpected situation."

"You don't need to worry too much. There won't be any punishment if you lose the Selection Tournament. Besides you, there will also be third-, fourth-, and fifth-year students from the Soul Engineering Department and Martial Soul Department participating. As second-year students, just do your best."

"Even so, there are only a little over thirty people at most, and only seven will be selected from among them for a special mission. Make me proud, at least. Don't let every last one of you get wiped out."

"All right, return to your classroom. Study when it's time to study, attend class when it's time for class. Don't let this affect your condition."

With that, everyone left Zhou Yi's office one after another.

"Yuhao, what do you think this is all about? It looks like a huge affair. It's affecting second-, third-, fourth-, and fifth-years alike." Wang Dong spoke to her external brain.

Huo Yuhao shook his head. "No idea. Don't overthink it either. Just cultivate normally. At least us second-years have the advantage in numbers, right? There are over thirty people in total, and more than ten of them are from our year."

As he said this, Huo Yuhao found it rather amusing. No wonder Shrek Academy had lowered the standards for selecting Reserve Team members to the second year. After all, there might not be many capable students among the third-, fourth-, and fifth-years once the second-years were excluded.

Compared to the resources gathered from the three original nations of the Douluo Continent, Shrek Academy's recent generations of students could be said to be in a lull. Only the fresh blood of the second-years was worth looking forward to.

Of course, Xuan Zi had probably contributed to that as well. Under his leadership alone, a batch of Inner Court Disciples had inexplicably perished during what should have been a relatively safe soul beast hunting expedition.

Over the following days, Huo Yuhao continuously absorbed the medicinal power contained within the Demonic Potion and did nothing else, because he discovered that subtle changes seemed to be taking place in his body as he absorbed it.

Feeling the Bloodline Power steadily growing within his body, Huo Yuhao gradually began attempting some rather dangerous operations.

In the dormitory, Huo Yuhao sat cross-legged, his body submerged in a wooden barrel filled with a special medicinal solution.

Shrek Academy naturally had cultivation chambers prepared for its students, fully equipped with all kinds of facilities, but the Gold Soul Coin cost was far from small. Even Core Disciples could receive, at most, a fifty percent discount.

After all, Soul Masters' cultivation sometimes involved private matters, especially those who came from clans or sects. Such students naturally would not care about the minor expense of renting a cultivation chamber.

But it was still rather painful for Huo Yuhao. Fortunately, Wang Dong seemed to have some need in that regard and had taken leave to cultivate in seclusion these past few days.

Now, Huo Yuhao was the only one left in the dormitory, so there was naturally no need to rent any cultivation chamber.

Huo Yuhao had obtained these medicinal solutions by exchanging for ingredients at a Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect merchant association in Shrek City over the past few days, then blending them himself. He had also exchanged for a sum of Gold Soul Coins for his later plans.

Crimson Blood Vine, Bone Refining Wood, and Marrow Cleansing Grass were all relatively common medicinal herbs. They could temper the physical strength of low-level Soul Masters, but they had little effect on high-level Soul Masters.

Huo Yuhao needed to use these herbs to stimulate his body more quickly, allowing him to digest the Demonic Potion's medicinal power.

Throughout this process, Huo Yuhao's physical body would continually be damaged by external stimulation, only to be continuously repaired by the Demonic Potion's effects.

The Eye of Truth constantly recorded this process, allowing him to perceive every minute change occurring within his own body.

Although Soul Masters generally had similar bodily structures, there would be differences in the finer details due to their bloodlines, martial souls, growth environments, and cultivation methods.

Huo Yuhao was now trying to sort out these subtle differences. At the same time, he used the process of regeneration to gradually reshape any disharmonious areas according to his own needs.

Looking at his originally short black hair, which had grown down to his waist, Huo Yuhao controlled his Spiritual Power and turned it into a blade, swiftly cutting it back to its original state.

Hm, it can barely be considered a success. Elder Yi, you've worked hard keeping watch over me all this time. Go rest first.

Electrolux's aged voice carried a hint of helplessness. You really are fond of taking risks, kid. Directly using energy to interfere with the physical body outside the meridians and acupoints—one careless mistake could damage your flesh. And you're trying to alter it at the Origin.

How could that possibly be easy? How much strength do you even have right now? Even with those extraordinary eyes of yours, you can't just act so recklessly.

Hehe, didn't everything turn out fine? And it's more or less succeeded, hasn't it? Looking at the strands of hair in his Eye of Truth, which were structurally slightly tougher than ordinary people's hair, Huo Yuhao was extremely satisfied.

By using Spiritual Power to control his Soul Power and Bloodline Power, Huo Yuhao attempted to strengthen his body and make its structure denser and more resilient.

Naturally, Huo Yuhao would not touch any critical areas. That made his hair the best possible choice.

By imitating the martial soul structure of the Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo sisters, Huo Yuhao gradually modified his hair. It was still no match for a genuine hair martial soul, but it was already far more resilient than the bodies of ordinary Soul Masters.

And this resilience did not come from the reinforcement of Bloodline Power and Soul Power, but from changes to its fundamental structure.

If fundamental structure was the foundation, then Bloodline Power and Soul Power were additional multipliers applied to that foundation.

Why were Soul Masters of the same rank generally physically weaker than Soul Beasts? It was because Soul Beasts vastly surpassed Soul Masters in basic physical strength. Unless a Soul Master's martial soul was powerful enough and had exceptionally improved their innate foundation, the human body being inferior to the beast body was the norm in the Douluo World.

Even at the level of Deities, this remained true. Gods had divine power, but did Divine Beasts not have divine power as well?

Although Huo Yuhao could not yet bring about a qualitative transformation in his body, since he could modify his hair, gradually modifying other parts would naturally not be difficult.

As for why it could only barely be called a success, it was because Huo Yuhao currently possessed too little energy and Bloodline Power.

Relying solely on the Demonic Potion's power and his current Soul Power, he could at most complete the most basic reinforcement for an unimportant part like his hair. It could not even reach a martial soul-like level, much less be applied to other areas.

Huo Yuhao's goal, however, was a true Body Martial Soul—Original Self. Using his Eye of Truth as the foundation, he would gradually turn his entire body into part of his martial soul and strengthen his physical foundation.

Standing up and giving himself a simple wipe-down, Huo Yuhao's skin was now a faint red, looking as tender as a baby's skin, as though it could break with a breath.

That layer of skin was newly grown with the Demonic Potion's medicinal power. As for Huo Yuhao's original skin, it had been refined away by the Crimson Blood Vine's effects.

The formerly dark-red medicinal liquid had now turned black. Its medicinal power had been completely exhausted by Huo Yuhao.

I'm still too poor. If I could do this another hundred or so times, I should be able to completely absorb the Demonic Potion's medicinal power. After cleaning up and putting everything away, Huo Yuhao thought regretfully.

But there was no helping it. He still had to save some Gold Soul Coins to bid on the Spirit Devouring Blade, so he could not spend them all on medicinal herbs.

Still, Huo Yuhao's physique had now reached the level of a Soul Elder. Before long, his Soul Power should be able to rise another rank as well.

The next day, Wang Yan looked at the students below the platform and said, "The rest of you may leave after class. Core Disciples, stay behind. You'll come with me to the Battle Soul Arena shortly."

Because of Zhou Yi's advance notice, the Core Disciples were all present in the classroom. Huo Yuhao looked at Wang Dong. Within the Eye of Truth's vision, Wang Dong's other body parts appeared normal, but her hands seemed to have undergone considerable strengthening.

There was still quite a bit of accumulated energy within them that had not been fully absorbed, and they had taken on a faint jade-like color.

...At this rate, is she going to start swinging a giant hammer?

Wang Dong, however, had no idea what Huo Yuhao was thinking.

As the Core Disciples followed Wang Yan toward the Battle Soul Arena, Wang Dong moved closer to Huo Yuhao. "I wonder what format this Selection Tournament will use. If we can form teams again, should you, Xiao Xiao, and I stick together first?"

Huo Yuhao nodded but said nothing more. This Selection Tournament was being held by Xuan Zi, after all. It would not be as proper as Wang Dong imagined. Whether they could remain in the competition would depend on their individual fortunes.

Soon, the dozen or so official second-year Core Disciples arrived at the Battle Soul Arena under their homeroom teacher's lead. Core Disciples from the other years also gradually arrived.

Seeing Ning Tian, Huo Yuhao politely nodded. He still remembered the agreement he had made with her.

At the same time, he recalled the message Ning Tian had asked a manager to pass along to him at a Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect shop. She hoped he would do everything in his power to help her stand out in this selection.

Maybe she's already guessed something? Then again, seven students, the official competition isn't far away, and there are age requirements for the participants. Anyone with half a brain could figure it out after a little investigation.

Although the age range this time was rather broad, Huo Yuhao did not think the strength gap between everyone was particularly large. Other than the four Four-Ring Soul Ancestors—Beibei, Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nannan, and He Caitou—most of the upper-year students only had three rings.

The second-year students were a mix of two- and three-ring Soul Masters. Judging solely by their apparent strength, the difference in Soul Power was not all that great.

Once everyone had arrived, an old man finally staggered over with a gourd in his left hand and a chicken leg in his right. That combination alone revealed his identity. Who else could it be but Xuan Zi?

With bleary drunken eyes, Xuan Zi asked Wang Yan, "Little Wang, is everyone here?"

"Everyone is present. There are twenty-six Core Disciples from the Martial Soul Department, from second year through fifth year. However, only one person came from the Soul Engineering Department. According to the report they submitted, everyone else was screened out."

Shrek Academy had reserved the Battle Soul Arena in advance today. All other teachers and students had already been cleared out.

Xuan Zi led everyone to the center of the arena, then looked at them and said, "The content of this Core Disciple assessment is very simple."

"I call it a free-for-all. Within the Battle Soul Arena, attack however you like. There are no rules. Anyone who surrenders or is carried out will be eliminated. The last seven standing will be the winners."

"All right, teachers, get out. Once this old man calls for the start, you can begin fighting."

"What the hell, seriously?" Wang Dong instinctively moved closer to Huo Yuhao, while Xiao Xiao, upon hearing this, also stood at Huo Yuhao's side without much thought.

Not far from Huo Yuhao stood Ning Tian and Wu Feng. Wu Feng still had not quite grasped the situation, while Ning Tian understood immediately and hurriedly grabbed Wu Feng's hand, running toward Huo Yuhao.

Several teachers quickly withdrew from the Battle Soul Arena. Then Xuan Zi raised the wine gourd in his hand and shouted, "Begin!"

He vanished immediately afterward, leaving only the twenty-seven Outer Court Core Disciples in the Battle Soul Arena.

Huo Yuhao swept his gaze across the crowd, then immediately fired a full-power Mental Shock at He Caitou.

Don't ask. You always take out the troublemaker first.

Right now, the strongest Soul Masters present only had four rings, and He Caitou was both a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor and a Soul Engineer.

Soul Tools were already terrifyingly destructive in the early stages, let alone when wielded by an expert like He Caitou.

Moreover, Huo Yuhao had no connection with the sole Core Disciple sent by the Soul Engineering Department. He had no intention of inexplicably taking a Soul Cannon blast, nor did he want to test whether hidden weapons could contend with Soul Tools.

Clutching his head, He Caitou did not fall, but the attack he had been preparing was interrupted.

The sudden Mental Shock caused the Soul Power he had already poured into his Soul Cannon to flow backward, throwing his Soul Power into temporary disarray.

When they saw the four Soul Rings beneath his feet, the others, who had still been stunned, showed surprise in their eyes.

After all, no one had known that this quiet, burly man from the Soul Engineering Department was also a formidable Four-Ring Soul Ancestor.

Seeing that he was clutching his head and apparently affected by some Soul Skill, several quick-reacting Core Disciples nearby naturally would not miss the opportunity. They immediately used Martial Soul Possession and attacked He Caitou.

After all, he was the only one from the Soul Engineering Department and was unfamiliar with everyone else. If they did not attack him first, who would they attack?

Thus, poor He Caitou instead became the first Core Disciple to be eliminated, falling as the target of everyone's attacks.

He had not accomplished anything at all in the Core Disciple selection. This would undoubtedly be another considerable blow to the Soul Engineering Department's standing within Shrek Academy.