I Have to Win

Three days later, the Freshman Assessment officially began at Shrek Academy's Great Soul Arena.

The arena could hold tens of thousands of people, and every seat was filled. The crowd included not only the academy's teachers but also upperclassmen from the Inner Court.

The schedule for the preliminary rounds was packed. More than a hundred freshman teams had to battle it out for the top sixteen in just three days.

Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao's team had been named the Spirit Eye Team, and their very first match was scheduled for the main arena.

The moment the three of them stepped onto the field, a wave of murmurs swept through the stands.

"Look! That's Huo Yuhao—the genius with the Ultimate Mental Attribute! I heard he's Teacher Fan Yu's personal disciple, and his talent for soul tools is downright monstrous!"

"But he's only a level 25 Soul Grandmaster, right? The opposing team has two level 30 Soul Elders! Can they really win?"

"Hard to say. You can never judge someone with an Ultimate Mental Attribute by their Soul Power Level alone. Have you forgotten? In their last combat class, he controlled three Soul Elders all by himself!"

Across the arena, three tall youths looked at Huo Yuhao and the others with disdain.

Their captain even made a taunting gesture at the trio, his eyes brimming with confidence in his victory.

Wang Dong frowned at the sight and was about to go confront them, but Huo Yuhao pulled him back.

"Don't be rash." Huo Yuhao shook his head at her as his Spirit Eye quietly opened, pale blue light rippling in his eyes.

"Leave it to me."

At the referee's command, the match began!

The three opponents instantly released their Martial Souls and Soul Rings. Two were level 30 Soul Elders, and one was a level 29 Soul Grandmaster. Their optimal yellow, yellow, purple Soul Ring configurations lit up as they charged at the trio. The Power Attack System Soul Master led the way, the Control System Soul Master flanked him, and the Support System Soul Master hung back. Their coordination was exceptionally tight.

But the moment they moved, Huo Yuhao's voice rang clearly in Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao's ears. "Three meters to the front left: the opposing Power Attack System Soul Master is using his first Soul Skill, Powerful Strike. The Control System Soul Master on the right is using his second Soul Skill, Entangle. It'll reach us in three seconds! Xiao Xiao, Soul Suppressing to the front left. Wang Dong, break through on the right and target their Support System Soul Master!"

His spiritual power spread out in full, and Spiritual Detection Sharing instantly enveloped Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao.

Every movement of their opponents, every turn of their Soul Power, even the trajectory of each Soul Skill appeared clearly in the two girls' minds. Nothing escaped them.

Xiao Xiao reacted at once. The Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron appeared, and three black cauldrons crashed to the ground. Her first Soul Skill, Soul Suppressing, activated instantly, striking the opposing Power Attack System Soul Master at the front with pinpoint accuracy. His movements faltered, and his Soul Skill was interrupted.

Meanwhile, the wings of the Light Goddess Butterfly unfurled behind Wang Dong, their blue-violet radiance dazzling. Her yellow and purple Soul Rings lit up, and she unleashed her second Soul Skill, Light of the Butterfly God. Countless blue-violet blades of light rained down on the opposing Support System Soul Master.

The enemy Support System Soul Master had never expected his position to be exposed so completely. He didn't even have time to release a defensive Soul Skill before Light of the Butterfly God struck him head-on, blasting him out of the arena and eliminating him on the spot.

In barely ten seconds, the battle was decided.

The other two hadn't even reacted before Xiao Xiao's Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron trapped them. Wang Dong's Soul Skill followed right after, smashing through their defenses and leaving both of them unable to fight.

The referee's whistle rang out, and he announced loudly, "Spirit Eye Team wins!"

Thunderous applause erupted throughout the arena.

They had ended the match in ten seconds, winning outright with three Soul Grandmasters against a team with two Soul Elders. It was an unbelievable victory!

Wang Dong withdrew her Martial Soul and ran excitedly over to Huo Yuhao, throwing an arm around his shoulders and grinning from ear to ear. "Yuhao! You're amazing! Your Spiritual Detection is so accurate! I didn't have to think about anything—I just followed your instructions!"

Huo Yuhao blushed as she held him and scratched his head, a little embarrassed. "You and Xiao Xiao were the amazing ones. I just provided the detection."

Xiao Xiao ran over too, smiling with excitement. "Yuhao, don't be modest! We couldn't have won so easily without your Spiritual Detection! With you on our team, we really can make it to the finals!"

The three exchanged smiles, their faces alight with joy.

In the front row of the stands, Gu Yuan and the others watched the trio embracing on the field. Jin Ruiqiu swung her legs and said with a grin, "Yuhao's amazing! He won in one go!"

"This is only the beginning." Gu Yuan smiled faintly, his gaze resting on Huo Yuhao as approval flickered in his eyes.

"He's getting more and more skilled at controlling his spiritual power."

Over the next three days, the Spirit Eye Team swept through their opponents, charging ahead like a breaking tide.

Huo Yuhao's spiritual power became every opponent's nightmare. No matter how ingenious their tactics or how tight their teamwork, they were as transparent as glass before his all-encompassing Spiritual Detection. Every hidden card and every movement was laid bare.

With Wang Dong's Light Goddess Butterfly leading the assault and Xiao Xiao's Twin Martial Souls providing precise control, the trio grew more and more coordinated and practiced. They finished nearly every match within a minute and easily stormed into the top sixteen with a flawless record.

Over those three days, Huo Yuhao's name resounded throughout Shrek Academy. Everyone knew that among the freshmen was a genius with an Ultimate Mental Attribute, leading his team on a dark-horse run through the competition and into the top sixteen.

And with each battle fought side by side, Wang Dong's feelings for Huo Yuhao grew more and more complicated.

She relied more and more on Huo Yuhao's instructions, grew more and more used to fighting under his Spiritual Detection, and loved watching his astonishingly bright eyes whenever he gave orders with complete focus.

Every time they won a match, she would instinctively hug Huo Yuhao and couldn't help sharing her joy with him. When night fell and everything was quiet, she would think of the way he smiled, and her heart would race beyond her control.

She hadn't even realized that the way she looked at Huo Yuhao was already filled with a concern she herself had yet to notice.

On the night the round of sixteen matches ended, Shrek Academy announced the draw for the quarterfinals.

The moment Huo Yuhao saw the results, the smile on his face froze.

The Spirit Eye Team's quarterfinal opponent was the White Tiger Team.

Its captain was named Dai Huabin.

Those three characters were like a poison-coated dagger, stabbing straight into Huo Yuhao's heart. His blood surged to his head, then chilled to the bone in an instant.

Dai Huabin, the eldest legitimate son of the White Tiger Duke, Dai Hao—and Huo Yuhao's half-brother, born of the same father.

The man who had brought the young masters and young ladies of the Duke Mansion along to bully him time and again, stomping him into the mud and calling him a bastard and a useless piece of trash.

The man who had watched his mother suffer the Duchess's spite and humiliation, clapping from the sidelines and even joining in the torment.

The man he had hated for ten whole years.

Huo Yuhao stood before the announcement board, trembling uncontrollably. His hands clenched into fists, his nails digging deep into his palms and drawing blood, but he didn't notice at all.

The calm in his eyes shattered completely. A raging hatred roiled through his chest like a volcano, threatening to burst through the dam of his reason.

Ten years.

He had escaped the Duke Mansion and trained himself to the brink, desperate to grow stronger. All so that one day he could stand before Dai Huabin with his head held high, demand justice for himself and his dead mother, and avenge the deep-seated blood feud of those ten years.

He had thought he would have to wait a long time for this day. He never expected to run into Dai Huabin so soon, on the field of the Freshman Assessment.

"Yuhao? What's wrong?"

Wang Dong was the first to notice that something was off.

Seeing Huo Yuhao trembling and deathly pale, she felt her heart tighten and hurried over to support him. Her voice was full of concern. "Yuhao? Are you okay? Your hand's bleeding!"

Xiao Xiao hurried over too. She looked at Huo Yuhao's devastated expression, worry filling her eyes.

Only after Wang Dong caught him did Huo Yuhao slowly come back to himself. He raised his head. The hatred hadn't yet faded from his eyes, and the red rims made Wang Dong's heart ache for some reason.

"I'm fine." Huo Yuhao gritted his teeth, his voice so hoarse it was barely recognizable.

"Dai Huabin is my enemy."

He said the word "enemy" with such force that ten years of bitterness and hatred seemed to spill from it. Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao both felt a shock in their hearts.

Just then, a voice dripping with arrogance came from behind them.

"Well, well. Who do we have here? If it isn't my useless little brother, Huo Yuhao?"

Huo Yuhao stiffened and spun around.

Three youths in fitted martial outfits stood not far away. The one in front was tall and handsome, his face radiating undisguised arrogance.

His tiger-like eyes were fixed on Huo Yuhao, full of mockery and disdain.

Two youths from equally prestigious families stood beside him. Both were famous prodigies among the freshmen, and now they looked Huo Yuhao up and down with contempt, as if he were an ant.

Dai Huabin strolled over and looked down at Huo Yuhao, a malicious smile curling his lips. "I never thought a bastard who crawled out of the Duke Mansion would actually make it into Shrek Academy."

His voice wasn't loud, but every freshman nearby could hear him clearly. Countless curious, inquisitive eyes immediately turned toward Huo Yuhao.

Wang Dong was instantly enraged. She stepped forward to shield Huo Yuhao, glaring at Dai Huabin. "Watch your mouth! Who do you think you are, talking about him like that?"

"And who are you?" Dai Huabin raised an eyebrow and glanced at Wang Dong with disdain.

"I'm disciplining someone from my Duke Mansion. What's that got to do with you? If you know what's good for you, stay out of this. Otherwise, I'll deal with you too."

"You!" Wang Dong was about to release her Martial Soul, but Huo Yuhao stopped her.

Huo Yuhao slowly stepped out from behind Wang Dong. He had already quelled the turmoil inside him, forcing his hatred deep down until all that remained was icy calm.

He looked Dai Huabin in the eye and said, word by word, "Dai Huabin, we'll settle this on the field. In the quarterfinals, I'll show you who the real useless piece of trash is."

"You?" Dai Huabin laughed as if he'd just heard the funniest joke in the world, his eyes full of scorn.

"A level 25 Soul Grandmaster dares to run his mouth to me? Huo Yuhao, I'll show you on the field just how vast the gulf between us is. I'll remind you that in front of me, you'll always be that useless piece of trash who can only crawl on the ground."

With that, he turned and left with the two youths behind him, laughing loudly and leaving mockery in their wake.

As Huo Yuhao watched him walk away, his clenched fists tightened until his knuckles turned white.

"Yuhao..." Wang Dong looked at him, her heart aching even more. She wanted to say something, but had no idea what.

"I'm fine." Huo Yuhao took a deep breath and lifted his head. He looked at Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao, the ice in his eyes transforming into a light of determination.

"In the quarterfinals, I have to win. I'll defeat him fair and square, in front of everyone."

Wang Dong met his gaze and nodded firmly. "All right! We'll be with you! The three of us can definitely beat him!"

"Yeah! We'll win for sure!" Xiao Xiao agreed at once, her eyes filled with determination.

The three exchanged glances, the flames of victory burning in each of their eyes.

Not far away, Gu Yuan and the others had quietly watched everything unfold.

Jin Ruiqiu furrowed her small brows and said indignantly, "That Dai Huabin is awful! He's bullying Yuhao like that! Your Excellency, can I go teach him a lesson?"

"No." Gu Yuan shook his head, his gaze on Huo Yuhao's straight back, his voice calm.

"This is a hurdle he has to cross, a grievance he has to settle with his own hands. Only by defeating Dai Huabin himself can he truly pull out the thorn in his heart."

Gu Yuena gave a slight nod. A trace of coolness flashed in her clear eyes. "Dai Huabin is a level 32 Soul Elder, and he has two level 31 Soul Elders with him. They're certainly strong. But for Yuhao, this may be the best trial of all."

Gu Yuan smiled faintly and turned his gaze toward the arena at the Great Soul Arena, a trace of deeper meaning flickering in his eyes.