A Mere Soul Elder? How Amusing!

As they walked and chatted along the way, the group arrived at the examination area for the fourth test.

"This fourth test is about actual combat..."

After Dai Mubai finished explaining, Zhang Tianyu spotted Zhao Wuji sitting in a chair.

"Teacher Zhao, I've brought them here for the fourth test."

"Hm? We have people making it to the fourth test this year? Five of them, no less? Not bad, not bad." Zhao Wuji's gaze swept over the group. "I heard a remarkable little fellow showed up this year, someone who became a Soul Elder at such a young age. Who is it?"

Whoosh!

Everyone's eyes turned to Zhang Tianyu.

Zhang Tianyu stepped forward. "That would be me."

Zhao Wuji looked him up and down, his eyes shining. "Mm-hmm! Not bad, not bad! A twelve-year-old Soul Elder—an unprecedented super-genius! Excellent! Simply excellent!"

"This is the last test, a practical combat trial. Since all five of you passed the previous tests directly, I'll personally spar with you. If you can last one incense stick against me, you pass."

Dai Mubai froze. "Uh, Teacher Zhao, isn't that a little..."

"What's wrong with it?" Zhao Wuji glared at him. "The dean isn't here, so I'm the one in charge of the academy! Besides, if I don't do it, you will? Can you handle it?"

Those words struck a chord deep in Dai Mubai's DNA!

Dai Mubai blurted out, "A man can never say he can't handle it!"

The next second, he immediately wilted. "Uh... but this time, I really can't handle it... Teacher Zhao, you do it."

"Then it's settled." Zhao Wuji chuckled. "Go tell them how strong I am, so they can prepare themselves."

Dai Mubai led the others to one side and said with a grave expression, "Tsk, this is a bit of a problem. I didn't expect Teacher Zhao to take the field himself."

"Is this teacher very strong? Is he a Soul Emperor, like the teacher outside?" Xiao Wu asked.

Dai Mubai shook his head. "He's not a Soul Emperor."

Xiao Wu smiled, looking unconcerned. "Then what's there to worry about? The few of us..."

Dai Mubai cut her off. "He's a Soul Saint."

Xiao Wu was immediately at a loss for words!

"Level seventy-six, Battle Soul Saint, Martial Soul: Vajra Bear. He has almost no weaknesses... The fourth test was supposed to be me fighting you while Teacher Zhao supervised, but now..."

Xiao Wu spoke without thinking. "No wonder you said you couldn't handle it. You really can't—you already lost to Tian Yu."

Dai Mubai wore an awkward expression and sneaked a glance at Zhu Zhuqing. "Ahem, I admit Tian Yu is very strong... So if all of you fought together, I'd definitely be no match for you."

Xiao Wu was about to say something, but Zhang Tianyu spoke up in time. "In that case, we'll need to come up with a proper battle plan to defeat Teacher Zhao."

Dai Mubai glanced gratefully at Zhang Tianyu. "Mm. The rest is up to you."

Xiao Wu and the others looked at Zhang Tianyu. "You're the strongest among the five of us. You tell us what to do."

Zhang Tianyu said, "Let's start with a brief introduction. Tell us about your Martial Souls and their characteristics."

After everyone introduced themselves, Tang San looked at Ning Rongrong in surprise. "Your Martial Soul is the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda? Are you from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?"

Ning Rongrong stuck out her little pink tongue. "I ran away from home. Don't stare—there's not much difference between me and an ordinary person..."

As she spoke, she glanced at Zhang Tianyu.

But when she saw that his expression hadn't changed in the slightest, a hint of disappointment flashed in her eyes.

Why doesn't he seem interested in who I am?

Is the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect not appealing to him? Or am I not appealing to him?

She didn't know...

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect really didn't appeal to Zhang Tianyu. What appealed to him was Ning Rongrong, of course.

More precisely, it was Ning Rongrong's silver tongue.

Ah, by that I mean how articulate Ning Rongrong was. Really!

Zhang Tianyu thought for a moment, then said, "In this situation, we can only use the simplest strategy. I'll attack head-on. Ah San, do your best to control Teacher Zhao's attacks. Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing, attack from the flanks. Ning Rongrong, stay at the back and support us."

Xiao Wu looked a little worried. "He's a Soul Saint. Are you sure it's okay for you to lead the attack alone?"

"Don't worry," Zhang Tianyu said. "It shouldn't be a problem."

Everyone nodded, and they settled on the plan.

Seeing that the five were ready, Zhao Wuji rose to his feet, his fighting spirit blazing.

An incense stick was lit.

Zhang Tianyu struck first. He swung his sword, and his First Soul Ring lit up. Three red fireballs howled toward Zhao Wuji!

His First Soul Ring came with two Soul Skills: Hell Flying Flame and Scorching Whip.

But because he'd disguised it as a Hundred-Year Soul Ring, Zhang Tianyu could only choose one Soul Skill to use.

[Hell Flying Flame] let him swing his sword and release fireballs that could track their targets.

Anyone struck by one would have their soul scorched by the flames and be poisoned.

[Scorching Whip] let him grow long, whip-like tentacles from his back. The more Soul Rings he had, the more tentacles he could grow.

He had only three Soul Rings right now, so he could only grow three tentacles.

Tentacles didn't quite suit the image of a young swordsman he was going for, and they weren't as practical as Hell Flying Flame anyway, so he chose Hell Flying Flame.

Seeing the incoming fireballs, Zhao Wuji's gaze sharpened, and he immediately completed Martial Soul Possession.

Zhang Tianyu stared, stunned.

Huh? You're not acting all high and mighty anymore? Not showing off?

In the original story, you were putting on quite a show at first—you didn't possess your Martial Soul at all!

Why did you do it right away this time?

System prompt: Because he recognized that this Soul Skill was no ordinary one. No wonder he was a man who had once lived by the blade; although this was a disguised Hundred Thousand Year Soul Skill, he still sensed its extraordinary power.

System prompt: Quest received: [Greetings from Slav]. Objective: Defeat Zhao Wuji. No restrictions on the method, means, or consequences. Quest reward: +500 reward points.

Zhang Tianyu realized something. His reward points had gone up, but why hadn't he received an upgrade reward?

But this wasn't the time to dwell on that.

After Zhao Wuji possessed his Martial Soul, his height shot up from his original five feet three inches to more than eight feet. Coarse bear fur sprouted all over his body, turning him into a Humanoid Giant Scar Bear!

But...

The fireballs still hit him.

When he realized he couldn't feel anything where the fireballs had struck, he laughed.

A mere Soul Elder? How amusing!

You may be a top-tier genius, but you're still too young. Now it's time for me to teach you a lesson!

The next second, he froze.

At some point, the sky had filled with countless red fireballs like those!

Howling, the fireballs all hurtled toward him!

At the same time, a sudden stinging pain flared where the fireballs had struck him!

And strangely, it wasn't a physical pain.

It seemed... to come from his very soul!

Zhao Wuji was stunned!

P.S. Ah! Having COVID is awful! I finally managed to squeeze out three updates! I hope you enjoy reading them!