Simply Superhuman

"Phew... We lost, but that was within my expectations."

Xie Huanyue plopped down on the ground and rubbed the spots on his body that were still sending waves of stabbing pain through him. Touching those perfectly intact yet painful areas made him grimace.

In truth, Xie Huanyue's three-man team was not especially strong among the Freshman Assessment teams. To some extent, Xie Huanyue himself was not even as threatening as the Lan Sisters' Martial Soul Fusion Skill.

In the original story, Xie Huanyue had been stalled by Xiao Xiao while Wang Dong forcibly unleashed a charged version of Butterfly Goddess Light. If Xuan Zi had not stepped in and crushed that blade of light, Xie Huanyue would have been either dead or crippled.

Therefore, it was not wrong to say that he was less threatening than the Lan Sisters. The combat power of his team was practically all concentrated on Xie Huanyue alone.

Walking up to Xie Huanyue, Jiang Yue reached out and pulled him to his feet. The moment their bodies came into contact, Jiang Yue sent a thread of Soul Power into Xie Huanyue's body. Crack! The sound of chains snapping echoed in Xie Huanyue's mind. The pain that had been plaguing him vanished, replaced by the refreshing feeling of being uninjured.

Only the wound on his shoulder, where the Passionate Sword had cut him and which was still seeping blood, continued to ache faintly.

Luo Tianlong and Luo Tianba were the same. Their bodies still hurt a little, but that strange sensation of pain despite having no injuries had completely disappeared, making them breathe a sigh of relief.

"Doctor Jiang, you really didn't hold back at all. That hurt. Even my Pippi Elephant Martial Soul couldn't block your Martial Soul."

"I only managed it by concentrating force on a single point. Didn't my initial attack fail to break through your defense too? The Pippi Elephant Martial Soul's defense is still very strong. We'll spar again when we get the chance."

"Sure, we'll go again next time. Congratulations on reaching the quarterfinals. You have to carry my share of the burden and keep going. You have to win the championship. If I'm going to lose, I can only lose to the champion team."

"I will."

Xie Huanyue scratched the back of his head with an honest-looking expression, though his eyes gleamed brightly.

Dai Huabin was not familiar with Xie Huanyue. Since Dai Huabin had already been defeated, Xie Huanyue naturally hoped that his friend would win the championship. That way, he could blame his own defeat on having encountered Jiang Yue in the round of sixteen.

If he had only lost to the champions, Xie Huanyue would feel a little better about it.

Jiang Yue's match against Xie Huanyue's team had ended relatively quickly. At this time, most of the other teams taking the assessment were still locked in fierce battles.

There was not much worth watching in the other teams' matches. The Lan Sisters were not overpowered players like Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong in the original story. Their Martial Soul Fusion Skill could not be used again before its seven-day cooldown ended. Without it, neither they nor Huang Chutian's team had much worth noting.

The only other teams worth paying attention to were Ning Tian's team, Wang Dong's team, and Dai Huabin's team.

Four or five minutes after Jiang Yue's match ended, Dai Huabin also finished his battle. When he saw Jiang Yue, whose match had ended long ago, his face somehow looked rather gloomy.

After the proctor announced the end of the match, Dai Huabin snorted coldly and left the assessment area.

Ning Tian's team was facing Wang Dong's team today. This time, Huo Yuhao did not have Mental Detection Sharing, much less a Mental Shock soul skill to disrupt Ning Tian's auxiliary soul skills. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul's support abilities were fully unleashed.

Although the Distraction Control Technique could also be found among other Soul Master forces, the only sect that had studied it most deeply was the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Having grown up in the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect as its young sect master, Ning Tian had naturally begun practicing the Distraction Control Technique as soon as she awakened the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul. Without the interference of Mental Shock, her support abilities could be displayed to their fullest extent.

Even though her second soul skill was a special control-removal skill, Ning Tian still had two other enhancements she could use. With her three-ring cultivation, she could provide her teammates with two boosts as high as forty percent.

With such support abilities, Wu Feng and Nanmen Yun'er could display strength far beyond their normal level. To some extent, under Ning Tian's support, the two of them had at least reached the level of near-thirtieth-rank Soul Elders. Such a team was hard to match among all the freshmen.

So what if Wang Dong had a thousand-year second Soul Ring? Nanmen Yun'er could fly as well. Huo Yuhao had no offensive power at all and could only rely on the Tang Sect's Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and Mysterious Jade Hand to barely avoid elimination.

Whether facing Nanmen Yun'er or Wu Feng, Xiao Xiao could not hold out for long. Wang Dong's team losing was now only a matter of time.

"Tsk, tsk. It looks like Teacher Zhou, your students are about to lose. Don't forget our wager. Fan Yu has to craft a Close-Combat Soul Tool for me."

On the distant spectator stands, Stone, the homeroom teacher of Class Nine, looked smugly at Zhou Yi, who was disguised as an old woman.

Before Ning Tian's team and Wang Dong's team began their match, the two homeroom teachers, who had long held grudges against each other, had made a bet. Sure enough, Wang Dong's team's defeat was now only a matter of time.

Zhou Yi looked toward the arena with dissatisfaction. Fan Yu was her husband, while Stone harbored unusual feelings for him. Zhou Yi had also personally expelled Stone's younger brother from Shrek Academy. With all those factors combined, her relationship with Stone was far from good.

The thought of Fan Yu personally making a Close-Combat Soul Tool for Stone made Zhou Yi unhappy. But a bet was a bet, and she could not damage her reputation in front of so many people. Besides, Fan Yu was still her husband, a fact no one could change. It was only one Close-Combat Soul Tool.

Still, Zhou Yi was unhappy. She decided that if Wang Dong's team truly lost, she would drill the three of them mercilessly during the period before class assignments.

Class One had retained the most students and had the most students enter the elimination rounds, but most of its teams had been eliminated as soon as they entered those rounds.

The reason was that Class One's teams had been assigned by Zhou Yi, while the teams in other classes had formed themselves.

The teams assigned by Zhou Yi naturally raised each team's overall level and improved their odds of passing the Freshman Assessment round robin. However, that also restricted the strong students in the class.

In the other classes, the strong students teamed up with the strong, while the weak teamed up with the weak. The reason other classes had more students eliminated in the Freshman Assessment than Class One was precisely because their stronger students had not gone around carrying the weaker ones.

Now, only Wang Dong's three-person team had made it into the round of sixteen. If they lost this match, it would mean that not a single Class One team reached the quarterfinals.

Zhou Yi did not believe her class's seeded team should stop here. Forget the finals—at the very least, they should reach the semifinals, shouldn't they? So what if they encountered a Soul Elder team? Didn't Wang Dong have a thousand-year second Soul Ring? If she worked hard enough, fighting above her level should be possible.

Just when everyone else thought there was no suspense in the match and nothing worth watching, a series of melodious instrument notes rang out in the arena. They were not particularly pleasant, but wherever the sound passed, it carried a sticky, viscous quality that abruptly slowed Ning Tian and the others considerably.

Xiao Xiao, who had originally been lively and nimble, underwent a heaven-and-earth change in temperament. She became gentle and soft, her two yellow Soul Rings turned into one, and a jade-green flute carved with a phoenix appeared in her hand.

"Twin Martial Souls?! That student actually has Twin Martial Souls?!"

Other than Zhou Yi and the others who already knew Xiao Xiao's situation, everyone else froze when they saw the flute suddenly appear in Xiao Xiao's hand.

Twin Martial Souls—such talent was undoubtedly enviable. Even if Twin Martial Soul Masters could not fill all nine Soul Ring slots of both Martial Souls due to one problem or another, they could at least cultivate to five rings before switching to their second Martial Soul, allowing it to begin with Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings.

There were quite a few people who understood the advantages of Twin Martial Souls, especially in a Soul Master holy land like Shrek Academy. Sure enough, many teachers immediately understood upon seeing Xiao Xiao's Twin Martial Souls that she was almost certain to become an Inner Court disciple.

Wang Yan was incomparably excited. Twin Martial Souls—such outstanding talent was rare indeed. He had truly made the right choice in inviting Xuan Zi to watch the match. A student with this kind of talent naturally required special attention.

However, when Wang Yan saw the yellow Soul Ring on Xiao Xiao's body, his eyes widened to the size of eggs. His cheeks flushed visibly red, and the veins on the hands gripping the railing bulged.

"Zhou Yi! That student is from your class, isn't she? What exactly is going on with her?! Did you know all along that she had Twin Martial Souls? Did you make her attach a Soul Ring to her second Martial Soul ahead of time?! Do you know that you're harming her? You're destroying her future! Do you know what you've done?!"

"Teacher Wang, don't pin things on me without evidence. No matter what, I would never do something like that. I've never even seen Xiao Xiao release her second Martial Soul, much less known that she attached a Soul Ring to it."

"I would never force a student to give up her future for the sake of a Freshman Assessment. My goal has always been to send students into the Inner Court. Naturally, I would never encourage someone with Twin Martial Souls to do something like that."

Zhou Yi frowned, displeased by Wang Yan's questioning. Fan Yu, standing beside her, also frowned at Wang Yan, deeply dissatisfied with his words.

As the future successor of the Soul Guidance Department, Fan Yu naturally knew who stood behind Wang Yan and what kind of future Wang Yan would have.

To put it bluntly, whether Fan Yu could become an elder of the Sea God Pavilion in the future was still uncertain. But Wang Yan, as one of Shrek Academy's rare theoretical talents, had practically already secured the special elder position in the Sea God Pavilion reserved for researchers.

Coupled with Wang Yan's connections, even though Fan Yu was a Soul Douluo and held a distinctive position in Shrek Academy's Soul Guidance Department, he still had to treat Wang Yan cautiously.

"Teacher Wang, I believe Zhou Yi is not someone who cannot distinguish priorities. She would never do something like that. We should wait until the match ends and ask that student."

"I hope so. As long as I confirm that someone induced that student to attach a Soul Ring to her second Martial Soul, I will pursue this matter to the end."

"Do as you please, Teacher Wang. I, Zhou Yi, may be strict, but I do not believe I would ever do something like that. It would not benefit me in the slightest."

Wang Yan adjusted his glasses, his eyes filled with anger, and silently watched the changes in the arena. He had already resolved to investigate the matter to the very end.

Within the assessment area, the sudden slowing soul skill Xiao Xiao used only made Wu Feng and Nanmen Yun'er slightly uncomfortable. It did not have any outrageous substantive effect on them.

Ning Tian made a prompt decision. Two beams of light shot from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda and entered Wu Feng and Nanmen Yun'er's bodies, causing their speed to surge sharply.

"Feng, Yun'er, don't give them any more chances. End the match!"

Wu Feng listened to Ning Tian well. Upon receiving the order, she immediately charged toward Wang Dong. Nanmen Yun'er also immediately attacked Xiao Xiao and soon successfully eliminated her.

After taking down Xiao Xiao and Huo Yuhao in succession, Nanmen Yun'er immediately rushed toward Wang Dong, who was locked in close combat with Wu Feng. No matter how formidable Wang Dong was among those of the same level, she had no way to deal with two Soul Grandmasters enhanced by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul. In the end, she lost regretfully.

"Round of sixteen, Ning Tian's team wins!"

Jiang Yue was not surprised when he heard the referee's verdict.

If the three members of Wang Dong's team had coordinated better and gotten along slightly better, allowing Xiao Xiao to buy time for Wang Dong, perhaps the result would have been different.

But ifs were only ifs. Because of the butterfly effect, Wang Dong's relationship with the others was not particularly good. Calling them familiar strangers would be more appropriate. Besides, this was only a Freshman Assessment, so Wang Dong had no reason to use a charged skill that could take lives.

"Looks like Xie Huanyue, your team became the first Soul Elder team to be eliminated."

"Can't be helped. Bad luck. Come on, Doctor Jiang. Tonight, I'm going to eat my fill. My dinner budget is doubled!"

"Fine. You're the one paying, so do whatever you like."

On the stage, Wang Dong's three-person team, having just lost, looked completely out of place among the surrounding crowd. For the first time, they experienced the treatment of losers: no one cared, and no one paid them any attention.

Wang Dong's eyes were red as she held back the tears threatening to fall, refusing to embarrass herself in public. Her resentment toward Huo Yuhao and Zhou Yi had reached its peak.

Wang Dong believed that her strength was not inferior to some Soul Elders. Once she became a Soul Elder herself, she would definitely be the strongest one. She had originally been full of confidence in the Freshman Assessment, believing that under her leadership, they could at least reach the semifinals.

Yet they had encountered a powerful opponent in the round of sixteen and suffered the first major defeat of her life.

After glaring fiercely at Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong quickly left the assessment area.

Huo Yuhao's Soul Power Level was only fifteen. Wang Dong believed that if he, a Soul Master, had been replaced with a Soul Grandmaster, the outcome of the previous match would have been different.

Even now, neither Xiao Xiao nor Wang Dong could understand why Zhou Yi had placed Huo Yuhao in the same team as them, especially when she knew Wang Dong and Huo Yuhao did not get along.

Outside Jiang Yue's psychological counseling office in Shrek City, he had just arrived with his teammates and Xie Huanyue's three-man team when he saw an unfamiliar person standing at the entrance.

The moment Jiang Yue spotted the figure from afar, he sensed incredibly intense emotional fluctuations coming from them. Conflict, sorrow, worry, and countless other emotions were tangled together into one enormous ball of yarn.

Jiang Yue was starting to wonder whether the figure standing by the door was even human. It was the first time he had seen someone with such complicated emotions.

So one bug was a bug, but a whole pile of bugs somehow worked? There were so many mixed emotions, all of them so intense, yet this person hadn't suffered an emotional breakdown and gone insane. They were simply superhuman!