Brick?

"Mu Han, Martial Soul: Brick, Soul Power: eighteenth rank, offense-oriented, Control-Type Battle Spirit Master."

The moment the words "eighteenth rank" left his mouth, the entire class erupted in astonished gasps.

An eighteen-rank Soul Power at nine years old—he was a true genius!

Just two more ranks, and he would reach the Soul Grandmaster level.

Anyone who became a Soul Grandmaster before the age of twelve could be called a genius.

But his Martial Soul was a bit of a letdown. However you looked at it, a brick seemed like a Trash Martial Soul.

And what was that about being both offense-oriented and control-type? Wasn't that just being mediocre at everything?

Still, none of them were in any position to say anything.

After all, they were Grade 1 Class 5.

Most of them had only just reached the entry-level standard of eleven ranks, and their Martial Souls were a motley assortment.

Almost none had powerful Martial Souls. Most were Trash Martial Souls on the level of Blue Silver Grass.

What puzzled Mu Han, though, was that Xie Xie wasn't in Class 5.

In the original story, Tang Wulin's roommates had bullied him, only to get beaten up by Tang Wulin.

Xie Xie had also happened to step on the quilt Na'er had sewn for Tang Wulin, and Tang Wulin's fury had swept him up in it.

In the end, everyone in that dorm had been assigned to Class 5.

But the Xie family had also greased the wheels ahead of time.

They had asked Director Long Hengxu to put Xie Xie through some extra training.

On top of that, Long Hengxu had wanted to make the Class Promotion Tournament three months later more exciting.

That was why he had assigned Xie Xie to Class 5: to strengthen the class and put a little pressure on the others.

Now that Class 5 had Mu Han, an eighteen-rank "Trash Martial Soul" user, there was no need for Xie Xie.

Besides, Xie Xie hadn't gotten into a fight this time.

After all, this time, Tang Wulin hadn't had "the quilt Na'er had sewn for him" beside him.

So Xie Xie had been sent to Class 2 on the grounds that he "had failed to stop his roommates from fighting."

And to keep Xie Xie from being isolated in the dorm, Yun Xiao had been assigned to Class 4.

In the original story, Yun Xiao had been sent to Class 5 on the grounds that he "had failed to stop his roommates from fighting"!

This time, though, he had ended up in Class 4.

Of the roommates, only Zhou Changxi and Tang Wulin, the two who had fought, were assigned to Class 5.

Tang Wulin hadn't done anything wrong. It was just that his Martial Soul was too weak, so he could only go to Class 5.

Zhou Changxi's Martial Soul should have been good enough for Class 3, but his Soul Power rank was a little low.

Normally, he could at least have gotten into Class 4, but now he could only go to Class 5, just like in the original story.

The difference from the original story was that Tang Wulin was a little stronger now. He had already reached the thirteenth rank.

That was because Tang Wulin hadn't met Na'er this time.

His parents had still sent him to learn blacksmithing, hoping to cultivate his resolve and give him a skill to rely on.

But in the original story, Tang Wulin had begun learning blacksmithing at six. Now, he hadn't started until he was over seven.

And Tang Wulin didn't have a younger sister. He worked hard only for the sake of his own Soul Spirit.

So he devoted less effort to blacksmithing.

Instead, he spent more time cultivating his Soul Power.

Then, because of the butterfly effect, Tang Wulin also avoided drawing that defective Grass Snake trash Soul Spirit from the original story.

Actually, he hadn't drawn one at all this time.

In the original story, his parents had been raising two children, so the family was short on money.

Now that Na'er wasn't with them, the family was considerably better off.

They had still sent him to learn blacksmithing, but when it came time to buy a Soul Spirit, they were able to help him out.

They couldn't afford a hundred-year Soul Spirit that cost over a million Federation coins, but they did manage to buy a suitable ten-year Soul Spirit.

They even spent an extra ten thousand Federation coins to hire a Spirit Transmitter to help him pick one.

But a Trash Martial Soul was still a Trash Martial Soul.

Without a Second Awakening, Blue Silver Grass remained a Trash Martial Soul, no matter how well its Soul Spirit matched.

In fact, this Soul Spirit was even worse for Tang Wulin than the Grass Snake trash Soul Spirit in the original story.

After all, Tang Wulin had the Golden Dragon King Bloodline within him.

Even though its seal hadn't been broken yet, it was still improving his body. His innate strength was the best proof of that.

But this time, Tang Wulin had chosen a ten-year Ghost Vine Soul Spirit.

Ghost Vines possessed powerful neurotoxins and could also implant themselves through their seeds.

Two thousand years ago, the Second Soul Ring of Tang San's Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul had come from a six-hundred-year-old Ghost Vine.

Wu Zhangkong's first class began the next day. Just like in the original story, the students paired off to fight each other.

Even support-type Soul Masters had to fight. The main purpose was to test their combat experience.

It was also meant to spread the idea that physical fitness mattered, too.

After all, Mecha Masters were no longer exclusive to Soul Masters.

Even ordinary people could become Mecha Masters now, but a powerful physique was essential for the job.

Perhaps to prove that point, Wu Zhangkong paired Zhou Changxi and Mu Han for the first match.

Mu Han had the highest Soul Power rank in the class, while Zhou Changxi had low Soul Power but a Martial Soul that gave his body a considerable boost.

Wu Zhangkong directed the students to spread out and form a circle around them.

A white Soul Ring appeared beneath Zhou Changxi's feet and shone brightly.

At the same time, his already powerfully built frame swelled even larger.

First Soul Skill: Strength Amplification!

Zhou Changxi charged toward Mu Han in great strides, but soon came to a halt.

He had seen the purple Soul Ring.

A Thousand-Year Soul Ring? His First Soul Ring was a thousand years old?

The students of Class 5 were stunned. Wasn't this the worst class? How had a monster like this ended up here?

Even Wu Zhangkong's eyes flickered with surprise. Why would Long Hengxu assign such a promising student to him?

He would have to show Long Hengxu a little more consideration in the future.

Setting aside their mental strength, Zhou Changxi knew his physique was probably inferior to his opponent's.

At the very least, he wasn't confident he could withstand the power of a thousand-year Soul Ring.

If even a strength-type Soul Master was physically outmatched, there was no point continuing the fight.

But before he could concede, Mu Han had already made his move.

A hollow, white, typhoon-shaped vortex appeared beneath Zhou Changxi's feet, spinning continuously.

After rotating a certain number of times, the vortex released, erupting with a powerful suction force.

It dragged Zhou Changxi down so hard that he nearly fell to his knees.

He braced both hands against his thighs and only just managed to stay upright.

Sweat drenched him. His chest heaved, and it felt as if all the strength in his body was about to run out.

He had barely managed to hold on, but taking even one step forward seemed next to impossible.

The moment he lifted either foot, he would lose his balance and pitch headfirst to the ground.

But by then, Mu Han had already reached him.

He held a brick in his hand, blue all over with threads of gold running through it.

That was his Martial Soul, Gold-Water Mutual Containment.

But Mu Chen had said that this kind of metal was practically unknown outside the family.

Besides, the Spirit Pagoda had already registered his Martial Soul under the name Brick.

So they had simply gone with "Brick"—but it absolutely wasn't a Trash Martial Soul.

After all, where would Innate Full Soul Power come from if it were a Trash Martial Soul?