When Enemies Meet, Eyes Burn Red

Time flew by, and the day of the freshman assessment arrived.

"I'm sorry, Su Qing. I'm afraid we're going to hold you back."

Luo Luo and He Bin looked at Su Qing with apologetic, uneasy expressions. Ever since Su Qing had chosen them as teammates, Mu Jin had explained the situation to them. While they were naturally grateful for the teacher's arrangement, they were well aware that this was unfair to Su Qing.

"It's fine."

Facing their apologetic gazes, Su Qing roughly understood why Mu Jin had only provided these few candidates. She must have vetted their character beforehand. Since that was the case, he had no objections to carrying them through the assessment.

Moreover, the two teammates he had chosen could both assist him in battle to varying degrees; they weren't entirely useless. While the amplification ability of a one-ring Ruyi Disk was weak, it was better than nothing. As for the Sandalwood, being a plant-type Martial Soul, the first soul ring He Bin had attached was a group binding skill that could trap people's feet. When used to catch opponents off guard, it could still prove quite effective.

During the round-robin tournament, they encountered opponents who were mostly two-ringers with one-ringers, and sometimes even teams consisting entirely of one-ringers. Perhaps it was because the formidable enemies had all been funneled into the "insect-fighting" zones of Ning Tian, Dai Huabin, and Huo Yuhao, but Su Qing's side was exceptionally relaxed. Either the opponents surrendered the moment they stepped up, or they were swept off the stage by a single strike from his spear shaft.

With such high efficiency, they became the fastest team to achieve a perfect record in the round-robin. This made other participating teams look at Luo Luo and He Bin—who had latched onto Su Qing's thigh—with intense envy. However, most were simply relieved that Su Qing hadn't been assigned to their battle zone.

Perhaps because his appearance had disrupted the original team count, he ran into the Soul Elder Xie Huanyue in the first round of the knockout stage. Although in the original story, Xie Huanyue's Rubber Elephant Martial Soul had caused Huo Yuhao and his team quite a bit of trouble due to its outstanding defensive capabilities, he was facing Su Qing now.

Before both sides had even finished introducing themselves or calling out their soul skill names, Xie Huanyue realized two of his teammates were missing. He had already heard of Su Qing's fearsome reputation in the knockout rounds. Recalling that Su Qing had once sent a senior student flying with a single strike, the Rubber Elephant—who knew when to bend and when to stretch—chose to surrender voluntarily to avoid suffering.

"That kid certainly has some tricks, but facing Wang Dong and Huo Yuhao, who possess a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, no matter how strong he is, it's all talk if he can't release his Martial Soul. Once they are dealt with, the remaining two will be nothing to fear. The championship of this freshman assessment will still belong to Freshman Class One."

Zhou Yi watched Su Qing yawning on the arena stage, a flash of contempt in her eyes. A student with such a lack of fighting spirit would be expelled on the spot if he were in her class.

"Zhou Yi, how about we make a bet? Let's bet on who will ultimately take home the championship."

Catching sight of Zhou Yi's smug expression, Mu Jin frowned deeply. As a homeroom teacher, you don't even care about your own students, so why are you hovering by the Class Nine arena? And if you're going to watch the match, why put on that arrogant, nose-in-the-air look for everyone to see?

"Heh, Mu Jin, do you really think having two seeded teams in your class guarantees you the championship? Since you want to bet, how about we wager a soul bone?"

Zhou Yi gave a disdainful laugh. She and Mu Jin had been at odds for years, yet she had never lost a single bet to her. This Mu Jin really doesn't know when to give up. Does she really think having two Soul Elders can snatch the championship from my hands? She's severely underestimating my teaching ability.

"Fine, a soul bone it is. Don't you dare go back on your word."

Mu Jin said coldly, stamping her high-heeled foot with a sharp click before quickly returning to the viewing platform.

Su Qing's performance had indeed caught her eye, but she didn't regret her arrangement. After all, she wasn't the type to force the strongest students together just for a championship. The freshman assessment was meant to weed out unqualified students; under such a cruel system, she, Mu Jin, didn't believe she could abandon other students just for the sake of a title.

As for why she bet with Zhou Yi, it was simply to vent her frustration. She couldn't stand people looking down on her students. Her determined attitude would at least ensure Zhou Yi wouldn't sleep well for a couple of nights, and the thought of that made her feel incredibly satisfied.

After several days of knockout rounds, the sixty-four teams that had advanced from the round-robin were whittled down to just four: the Su Qing team, the Dai Huabin team, the Ning Tian team, and the Huo Yuhao team. Aside from the Huo Yuhao team, the other teams had experienced incredibly easy battles.

Whether it was some sort of alternative protagonist halo or not, Huo Yuhao and his friends seemed to have offended the heavens. Huang Chutian and the twins, Cao Jinxuan and Zhou Sichen's clock and codex—all these troublesome teams were matched against Huo Yuhao. It was truly an excellent matchmaking system; misfortune really did seek out the miserable. The teams with Soul Elders like them rarely even encountered full teams of two-ringers.

However, today, Huo Yuhao was truly grateful for the matchmaking system, because he had been paired against Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu. As for the Ning Tian team, they were on Su Qing's side.

Of course, this matchmaking was also related to the tournament structure. After all, Class Nine had two teams breaking through; if they didn't "fight the insects" against each other, it was highly likely that one class would sweep both the champion and runner-up spots, which would be unfair to the other classes.

Looking at Ning Tian opposite him, Su Qing gave a helpless smile: "Class Monitor, I really didn't want to run into you. I was hoping to see how much weight the famous Hell White Tiger really carried, but I didn't expect to be facing the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda instead."

"If you beat us, you can naturally have your wish."

Ning Tian smiled. She didn't actually believe Su Qing could defeat them. After all, she had one Soul Elder and two Soul Grand Masters on her side, while the opponent only had two one-ring Soul Masters. The gap in the lineup was a fatal flaw. Plus, with the amplification of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, and the coordination between Wu Feng and Nanmen Yun'er, beating Su Qing shouldn't be a problem.

"I don't think so. I feel that in the battle next door, the Huo Yuhao team has a better chance of winning."

Having read the original story, he knew full well that Huo Gua's Martial Soul Fusion Skill was stronger than the Hell White Tiger. Furthermore, Xiao Xiao was now two levels higher than in the original, so dealing with Cui Yajie would be a breeze.

"Enough talk. Win against us first before you say anything else."

Compared to Ning Tian's composure, Wu Feng was less polite. She immediately initiated Martial Soul Possession, looking as if she wanted to charge out and fight Su Qing right then and there.

"Fine."

Su Qing nodded. After the referee signaled the start of the match, he also proceeded with Martial Soul Possession...

Meanwhile, on the other side, seeing Dai Huabin across the arena, Huo Yuhao gritted his teeth, his entire body trembling. After waiting for so many years, he finally had a chance to defeat Dai Huabin.

Seeing that Huo Yuhao's emotions were unstable, Wang Dong immediately recalled his background. It was truly a case of enemies meeting with extra resentment. However, to prevent Huo Yuhao's emotions from affecting the subsequent battle, he took the initiative to hold his hand. Feeling the circulation of the Haodong Power within their bodies, Huo Yuhao's mind settled slightly.

"Dai Huabin, I will definitely defeat you!"