Yuhao, Don't Blame Your Big Brother

Xiao Xiao: "..."

She secretly rolled her eyes.

After making sure no one was eavesdropping nearby, she said in a voice only the three of them could hear, "I actually have another Martial Soul."

Twin Martial Souls?!

Huo Yuhao's pupils constricted.

"Quiet!"

Just then, Tian Ning's voice came from outside the classroom.

It not only interrupted their thoughts,

but also plunged the entire classroom into silence.

Tian Ning swept his gaze around the room, his eyes first landing on the anxious students. He held a thick stack of forms and placed them separately on the desks of the students in the first row.

"Pass them down."

"Rustle, rustle, rustle—"

Once everyone had received a form,

Tian Ning continued speaking, briefly explaining how the classes would be assigned after they passed the assessment.

Seeing that everyone had more or less understood, his previously calm gaze turned sharp, and his tone shifted accordingly.

"But the prerequisite for being assigned to a class is passing the New Student Assessment! I told you about this three months ago, so I won't repeat myself. As for those among you who think you can't pass, there's nothing I can do. Maybe it isn't that you haven't worked hard enough—perhaps your talent simply isn't good enough. Even if you barely pass the New Student Assessment, you may still fail the annual assessments in the future."

"So, everyone, do your best."

After that, Tian Ning said nothing more.

However, he did point those students toward another path.

The Soul Guidance Department.

As for whether they looked down on it or were willing to go...

Tian Ning's stance was simple: he respected others' fates.

Thus, after everyone in Class Five had chosen their cultivation directions, he divided them into groups for the New Student Assessment.

As expected,

Liu Yuan, Huo Yuhao, and Xiao Xiao were assigned to the same group.

"That's great."

After class, Xiao Xiao beamed with delight.

"This time, our goal is the championship!"

"That confident?"

Liu Yuan chuckled.

"Of course!"

Xiao Xiao held her head high.

Having watched Liu Yuan and Di Qiu'er's spirit battle, she was completely confident. Among all the new students, at most only the team led by Di Qiu'er would be a formidable rival.

"Heh, don't talk too big."

At that moment, Dai Huabin walked over with his two teammates, Cui Yajie and Zhu Lu.

He ignored Xiao Xiao and Huo Yuhao,

and stared fixedly at Liu Yuan, who seemed to be looking down on him.

Seeing this, Liu Yuan spoke in a slightly teasing tone.

"Oh? The defeated loser is willing to speak to me now?"

You bastard!

The moment he heard those four words, Dai Huabin reacted as if he had been triggered.

His fists clenched and his eyes widened in fury, but he forcibly suppressed his anger. "Liu Yuan, don't get too smug! If we meet in the New Student Assessment, I'll show you what we're capable of!"

"Based on what?"

Liu Yuan raised an eyebrow and pointed at Zhu Lu.

"Your Martial Soul Fusion Skill?"

"How did you know?!"

Having been exposed, Dai Huabin's eyes flew open.

But his reaction nearly made Liu Yuan laugh.

"How surprising."

"One from the Dai Family, one from the Zhu Family, with the White Tiger and Hell Spirit Cat Martial Souls, one man and one woman. It'd be hard not to know."

"What?" He deliberately bent down slightly.

Looking at Dai Huabin, who was a little shorter than him,

"Do you think a Hell White Tiger is enough to take me down?"

"Just you wait and see!"

His trump card had been exposed all at once,

so Dai Huabin couldn't be bothered to argue any further.

He waved a hand and turned to leave.

"Let's go."

"Hehe—"

Watching the three of them leave, with Cui Yajie even turning back and clasping her hands together in apology, Liu Yuan wanted to laugh.

A team whose members weren't even united at heart

wanted to contend for supremacy with nothing but a Hell White Tiger?

What a joke!

That kind of Martial Soul Fusion Skill would be nothing against his Wood Dragon or Wood Man. Even Di Qiu'er could easily subdue the tiger with a single punch.

"Big Brother, that's still the Hell White Tiger."

Only after the three of them had disappeared from view did Huo Yuhao speak.

As an illegitimate son of the Dai Family, his impression of the Hell White Tiger ran deep. Its immense power had been etched into his mind alongside the White Tiger Duke Mansion's proclaimed glory of ten thousand years.

"What? You don't have faith in me?"

Huo Yuhao: "..."

"No! I have complete faith in you!"

As Big Brother's number-one admirer, could he possibly think his big brother would lose?

What a joke!

So what had he even been thinking just now?!

"Exactly."

With that, Liu Yuan put Dai Huabin out of his mind. He turned to Xiao Xiao and brought up another matter.

"Xiao Xiao, there were too many people earlier, so it wasn't convenient to ask. Now I want to ask you something. One of the reasons you chose the Control System was because of your second Martial Soul, right?"

The words "one of the reasons" made Xiao Xiao blush slightly.

"Y-Yes."

A jade-green xiao flute immediately appeared in her hand, its nine lifelike phoenix carvings displaying an air of magnificence.

Liu Yuan glanced at it and quietly gasped in surprise.

"You haven't added any Soul Rings to it?"

"No. I was originally planning to..."

Asked that question, Xiao Xiao's voice weakened somewhat.

"That's good. Otherwise, it would have been wasted."

Though he didn't know why she had been in such a hurry to add Soul Rings to her second Martial Soul, since she had not done so yet, there was still time.

"The advantage of Twin Martial Souls is that once you become strong enough, you can add to your second Martial Soul Soul Rings up to the maximum your body can bear. In theory, even the worst outcome would be every ring being ten thousand years old."

Holding the Nine Phoenixes Coming-to-Court Flute, Xiao Xiao silently lowered her head.

The more Liu Yuan spoke, the weaker her bearing became.

After all, she had nearly done something foolish and added Soul Rings to it before.

"Xiao Xiao..."

"Big Brother, go ahead."

Hearing his voice, Xiao Xiao blurted it out.

Hearing her address him that way,

Liu Yuan was nearly rendered speechless.

How had she suddenly changed the way she addressed him?

She was even calling him Big Brother now?

But after glancing at Huo Yuhao, he reconsidered.

Hey! It wasn't a loss.

So he gladly accepted it.

"I'll give you a suggestion. Just a personal opinion."

After seeing Xiao Xiao nod and listen attentively, Liu Yuan pointed at her Nine Phoenixes Coming-to-Court Flute and said, "You have two Martial Souls, so you should naturally develop in two directions. But you said the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron would follow an assault and defense path, while the Nine Phoenixes Coming-to-Court Flute would follow a control and support path. That plan isn't good. It's too evenly spread across too many directions."

"In my opinion, the ideal arrangement would be for the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron to focus on assault, because a cauldron is a heavy weapon. A graze can injure, and a direct hit can inflict serious wounds. You need to make use of that trait. Then use the Nine Phoenixes Coming-to-Court Flute for support. Once you grow stronger, first enhance yourself, then smash people with the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron. The result..."

Liu Yuan did not need to say another word. Xiao Xiao, who had just been lowering her head in embarrassment over her foolishness, now had eyes that lit up completely!

That's right!

How had she not thought of that?!

Just imagining the effect,

Xiao Xiao was already eager to try it.

Seeing her expression, Liu Yuan then glanced at Huo Yuhao, who was proud of his big brother and happy for Xiao Xiao.

Yuhao, if a violent little loli really emerges someday, don't blame your big brother!