The next day, Wu Zhangkong once again took Xiao Mu and the others to a practical combat class.
"Because you absorbed too much spiritual power on the Spirit Ascension Platform, the academy is arranging Soul Ring age tests and physical examinations for you over the next few days. Given your current condition, the Spirit Ascension Platform isn't suitable for you to enter for the time being, and we'll have to make some changes to your practical combat classes as well."
As he spoke, Wu Zhangkong led them to the Academy Trial Hall.
This place was specially designed for students to practice their Soul Skills in combat. Since Soul Skills could be destructive, it was equipped with Soul Tool shields for defense, so it was difficult to cause damage.
The important thing was that damage was difficult to cause. An attack that was powerful enough could still break things.
They entered the third floor of the Trial Hall. The arena was very spacious, with a diameter of fifty meters.
Xie Xie was already itching to try. "Teacher Wu, is it the six of us against Xiao Mu and Na'er?"
"All six of you together wouldn't be a match for me." Xiao Mu was speechless. "Face reality."
Wu Zhangkong fell silent. Xiao Mu's strength truly left everyone else in the dust. He could easily suppress a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, though Wu Zhangkong couldn't tell how Xiao Mu had managed to kill it outright.
Even if the other seven teamed up, they still didn't seem like they'd be a match for Xiao Mu.
Although that move seemed to take a lot out of Xiao Mu, it could still easily kill these children.
This wasn't the Spirit Ascension Platform. They wouldn't get a chance to come back to life.
And if they fought Wu Zhangkong, he might not be able to hold back once he used his Martial Soul.
So it was still Xiao Mu and Na'er against the six.
The two sides took their places at opposite ends of the arena. Xiao Mu and Na'er stood on one side; Gu Yue, Xie Xie, Tang Wulin, Wang Jinxi, Zhang Yangzi, and Wei Xiaofeng stood on the other.
Gu Yue stood among her teammates and looked up at Xiao Mu. The meaning in her gaze was clear—show them what you can do.
Xiao Mu met her gaze and spread out his force field.
"Na'er, step back. I'll take on all six."
"Brother, I don't need to fight."
"Then you can go stand with the other side."
"Forget it. I'll just lie back and take the easy win."
Na'er giggled. She'd never dare imagine fighting Xiao Mu in this lifetime. She could still vividly remember how the Earth King had died.
Xie Xie was the first to charge. The Light Dragon Dagger spun between his fingers as his figure split into three afterimages, stabbing from three directions at once. Tang Wulin followed close behind, his right arm swelling into a Golden Dragon Claw as he charged straight ahead.
"Boss, go easy on us."
As Wei Xiaofeng spoke, he activated Green Shadow Overlap. Several afterimages swept in from the flank.
Every attack missed.
Xiao Mu's force field was like an open eye. It deflected the attacks—the moment they entered its range, their trajectories changed.
Xie Xie's Light Dragon Dagger brushed past Xiao Mu's ear and stabbed into the empty air to his left. A gentle force redirected Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon Claw, turning aside its enormous strength. The claw slammed into the ground, shattering two stone slabs.
Wei Xiaofeng's afterimages fared even worse. It was as if they'd crashed into a wall, and they rolled straight across the ground.
"What kind of attack is this? Why is it so powerful?" Xie Xie hadn't even finished speaking when Xiao Mu raised a hand.
The molecules shifted downward, doubling the force of gravity!
All six of them bent at the knees almost simultaneously. It wasn't a gradual press downward. Gravity had suddenly tripled, as if an invisible giant hand had dropped onto each of their shoulders.
Gu Yue was shocked. Earth, water, fire, and wind—four elements combined into one and shot toward Xiao Mu.
But all that terrifying energy was converted by Xiao Mu's power until it vanished without a trace.
At that moment, every struggle from the six, every Soul Skill they released, even the air currents stirred by their breathing, was caught by the force field and layered on top of one another.
When they saw Xiao Mu raise his fist, they all sensed that something was wrong. They absolutely couldn't let him keep gathering power.
"Zhang Yangzi!" Wang Jinxi gritted his teeth and growled. "Martial Soul Fusion!"
Zhang Yangzi nodded frantically. The two struggled toward each other under the pressure of Gravity Suppression. Zhang Yangzi's Dark Phantom Eagle Martial Soul and Wang Jinxi's Bone Dragon King Martial Soul surged out of their bodies at the same time, trying to intertwine in midair.
The two forces, which should have fused into one, collided and repelled each other. The pair were sent tumbling away.
Their Martial Soul Fusion had failed.
But Xiao Mu's charged-up punch could no longer be stopped. He had already thrown it.
All the energy accumulated in the force field exploded along his fist.
The air compressed to its limit. The ground burst apart in a fan-shaped path stretching from beneath Xiao Mu's feet, and the shield flickered wildly.
The shock wave slammed into the shield, and every pane of glass on the Trial Hall's third floor shattered at once.
Fortunately, all six were skilled at dispersing force. Their feet left the ground, and they rode the wind, easily shedding most of the impact.
They were like six fallen leaves swept away by a gust, smashing into the shield at the edge of the arena before bouncing back to the ground.
Dust and broken stones rained down.
Seeing this, Xiao Mu breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, he had some knowledge of the Way of Wind too, so he hadn't caused much damage.
Before the dust had even settled, Wang Jinxi climbed to his feet, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and glared at Zhang Yangzi.
"What happened? Your Martial Soul... why did it...?"
Zhang Yangzi sat on the ground with his head lowered. His eyes were red, and he clutched his pants so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
"I don't know. You were the one rejecting me."
It hadn't been like this before. Their Martial Souls had fused several times. They hadn't been able to fully control it, but it had never been like this.
Wu Zhangkong walked over, the soles of his boots crunching on the broken glass. "All of you, calm down."
His gaze swept between Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi. "You two, come to my office first."
He paused and looked at the others. "Training is over for today."
Wang Jinxi said nothing. He gave Zhang Yangzi one last look, his expression complicated.
Zhang Yangzi stood up and followed him with his head lowered.
Xiao Mu knew perfectly well that the two of them were about to transfer schools. He thought for a while about the so-called Martial Soul Mutation. How to put it? It was like a genome being rearranged.
The Federation's blood-testing technology was quite good. He had analyzed the differences between Martial Souls before and after a mutation.
There were few cases, but the Federation could still provide some.
He didn't have enough knowledge about genetics. He'd have to find Mendel.
That man had created the field of genetics through more than twenty-eight thousand experiments, with nothing but his own two hands and a patch of land.
No, if that great man came here, he'd probably be able to develop the study of mutations on Douluo Continent.
In the future, people could even get married and learn their chances of having a beneficial Martial Soul mutation or something.
What the Farting Grandmaster had spent his whole life failing to understand would be a trifling matter to that man.
He could start a research project in the Ming Capital someday. He wouldn't bother studying it himself.
Xiao Mu had just led Na'er out the door when he saw someone standing at the school gate.
The man wore a white chef's uniform, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, exposing two thick forearms.
He stood there at the school gate as if waiting for someone.
Xiao Mu stopped and paused for a moment. As far as he remembered, there was only one notable person in the original story who dressed like that.
Mu Ye, the sect master of the Body Sect.