"There's another one?" Zhao Wuji was genuinely surprised this time. Were this year's students really that impressive?
Getting four at once had already been good enough. Now another one had shown up at the last minute. Had he hit the jackpot today?
"Hey, aren't you that pervy tiger from yesterday?" Xiao Wu exclaimed when the newcomer drew near.
She hadn't expected that pervy tiger to be a student at this academy too. What a coincidence.
Dai Mubai said helplessly, "Could you stop calling me a pervy tiger? I have a name. Call me Dai Mubai, you brat!"
"Bleh!" Xiao Wu stuck out her tongue.
Seeing that they were about to start bickering, Zhao Wuji couldn't take it anymore and cut in. "Enough, Xiao Bai. Since you brought her here, go stand off to the side. Don't interfere with my test."
"Fine, all right."
Since the teacher had said so, Dai Mubai had no choice but to keep quiet, though he had still wanted to say something. He obediently went to the side to watch.
Meanwhile, Zhao Wuji looked at the pink-haired girl who had just arrived, folding his arms.
"I've already explained the rules to those people over there. Just have them fill you in."
"Okay." The girl in a plain-colored dress nodded obediently.
She immediately skipped over to Du Hao and the others, waving cheerfully as she introduced herself.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Ning Rongrong. I'm at rank 27 Soul Power, and my Martial Soul is the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. I hope we get along."
Looking at the Little Demoness, who hadn't yet shown her true colors, Du Hao nodded with interest.
The group then introduced themselves to one another.
"You're all rank 29 Soul Grandmasters!" Ning Rongrong exclaimed after learning about their situation.
"What's so strange about that?" Xiao Wu asked, as though rank 29 were perfectly ordinary.
Tang San and Zhu Zhuqing seemed to feel the same way.
Of the four present, only Du Hao knew just how abnormal their cultivation speed was.
For years, they'd often used Soul Power Control: From 'Beginner' to 'Buried' to force their way through brain-melting study sessions.
As a result, their control over Soul Power had reached a baffling level, which in turn had made their cultivation speed abnormally fast.
And that was despite their constantly refining their Soul Power.
"What kind of monsters are you people?" Feeling thoroughly discouraged, Ning Rongrong started to shut herself away.
She was the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's prodigy, born with rank nine Soul Power, yet even her strength hadn't improved that quickly.
And compared with these people?
Side by side, she seemed like a total weakling...
"Enough. You weren't here earlier, so I'll explain the rules to you again." Afraid Ning Rongrong had taken too much of a hit, Du Hao hurriedly stepped in to change the subject.
He couldn't keep discouraging this Little Demoness, or she might show her true colors. That would ruin the fun.
And if the Little Demoness asked how they'd cultivated, how was he, the one ultimately responsible, supposed to explain?
Should he just say they'd cheated?
Seeing that enough time had passed, Zhao Wuji called out to the group, "Hey, you little brats! Are you done chatting?"
"Not yet, Teacher Zhao! Give us a little longer to discuss it!" Du Hao called back over his shoulder.
"Are you ever going to finish? Hurry up! I'm waiting to eat!" Zhao Wuji urged them impatiently.
"Right away, right away!" The group continued to humor him.
"Ugh. Xiao Bai, go hurry them along."
"Huh? Do I have to?" Dai Mubai looked extremely reluctant.
Zhao Wuji said nothing. He simply raised his fist in silence.
"Okay, okay! I'm going!" Dai Mubai hurriedly waved his hands, then took off.
As he walked, he muttered, "All you do every day is threaten me with your fists. What the hell was the point of adding that Judgment Society? The sky was always going to turn dark in the end."
Meanwhile, the others were still chattering away, discussing tactics.
Suddenly, Xiao Wu spotted Dai Mubai heading their way and immediately stepped forward.
"Hey, pervy tiger! What are you coming over here for?"
Dai Mubai didn't get upset at being spotted. He merely shrugged and said frankly, "Teacher Zhao saw that you still hadn't come to a decision, so he sent me to hurry you along. Are you done discussing things?"
"We don't know anything about Teacher Zhao, so we can only take our time figuring it out," Tang San said with a shrug, sounding unconcerned.
"Oh, is that all?" Dai Mubai said, suddenly understanding. So that was what this was about.
He'd thought it was some difficult problem.
"Since you don't know, I'll tell you about him. Consider it an apology for how rude I was yesterday."
Dai Mubai immediately began telling them a few things about Zhao Wuji.
"Our Teacher Zhao's Martial Soul is the Vajra Bear. It's one of the stronger Beast Martial Souls, and its defining feature is that it has almost no weaknesses."
"Teacher Zhao is most proud of his defense, but his offensive power shouldn't be underestimated either. His only weakness is that he's relatively slow."
Dai Mubai shook his head, then continued, "Unfortunately, at the same rank, Teacher Zhao's defense is invincible. You might not be able to break through it at all."
What Dai Mubai also wanted to say was that a Soul Saint could beat Soul Grandmasters like naughty children. It hardly mattered whether he shared this information or not.
They'd still end up getting beaten either way.
He'd gone through the same thing himself back then. These people probably wouldn't escape a beating either...
"The Vajra Bear? Could he be Zhao Wuji from back then? The Immovable Wisdom King?" Ning Rongrong suddenly asked.
"That's right. That's our Teacher Zhao," Dai Mubai replied frankly.
"That's trouble." Ning Rongrong frowned. "I heard from my father that ten years ago, when Zhao Wuji was still a Soul Emperor, he escaped from sixteen Spirit Hall bishops."
"Now he's a Soul Saint. His strength must be even more terrifying!"
Everyone was astonished by what they heard, except Du Hao, who already knew about it.
After all, taking on sixteen opponents at once was impressive. Zhao Wuji had certainly been formidable back then; most people couldn't pull off something like that.
"It's fine. With everything we've built up over the years, we should still be able to hold out for a while.
"Besides, we've still got Brother Hao, don't we?" Xiao Wu said, puffing out her little chest as if she had absolute confidence in Du Hao's strength.
Even Tang San nodded.
"That's right. With Brother Hao here, we should be able to hold out for the time it takes an incense stick to burn."
"Is he really as amazing as you say?" Seeing even the usually aloof Zhu Zhuqing nod in agreement, Ning Rongrong asked doubtfully.
"Of course..." Xiao Wu was just about to praise Du Hao a little when—
Du Hao immediately pressed his Demon Suppressing Hand down on her rabbit head. "All right, that's enough."
"It's getting late. Since we know what we're up against, let's discuss tactics first."
"Ning Rongrong, stay in the rear and support us. Tang San, control and harass him. Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu, support me..."
Before you continue