A United in Appearance, Divided at Heart

Hell White Tiger—any normal soul master had heard of this Martial Soul Fusion Skill. It was also renowned throughout the soul master world.

In the legends of the Shrek Seven Monsters from ten thousand years ago, White Tiger Douluo Dai Mubai and Netherworld Douluo Zhu Zhuqing possessed this Martial Soul Fusion Skill, and it had played no small role in those tales.

As one of the few Martial Soul Fusion Skills that could be produced relatively consistently, it was hard for the name Hell White Tiger to remain unknown.

The Martial Soul Fusion Skill unleashed by the two Soul Grandmasters of the Lan Sisters possessed the control strength of a high-level control-type Soul Elder. The Hell White Tiger before them, released by a Soul Grandmaster and a Soul Elder, was even more powerful.

Jiang Yue could sense the imposing aura radiating from the enormous white tiger before him. It was completely at the Soul Ancestor level. It could be said that no student in the entire Outer Court could guarantee that they could handle this Hell White Tiger.

Unfortunately, Jiang Yue happened to be one of the few who was confident he would not lose against a Hell White Tiger at this level.

"Tsk, it failed."

Jiang Yue was somewhat annoyed. The light from his third Soul Ring behind him had just faded, clearly showing that he had used his third soul skill while Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu were performing their Martial Soul Fusion.

Jiang Yue could not quite understand how his soul skill determined its target. Why did the Soul Power fusion produced when a Martial Soul Fusion Skill was unleashed not count as an enhancement soul skill? Why would it not work?

Still unwilling to give up, Jiang Yue had locked his third soul skill onto only one person this time. Next time, he would try locking onto both people and see whether that could activate it. After all, Soul Power blending involved two people. In a sense, it was a soul skill that could only be unleashed through the cooperation of both of them. Perhaps it needed to lock onto both people at once to work?

This had not been entirely fruitless. At the very least, Jiang Yue now knew that when Substitution was locked onto just one person, it could not change the target of the enhancement effect produced during Soul Power blending. Next time, he would try locking onto both of them.

That was a matter for later. For now, Jiang Yue still had to find a way to deal with this Hell White Tiger before him, which radiated Soul Power fluctuations at or above the Soul Ancestor level.

The Hell White Tiger crouched slightly. Ignoring Zuo Fan, who was closest to it, its enormous body stirred ripples through the air as it pounced directly at Jiang Yue.

Even Jiang Yue had to admire Dai Huabin's petty vindictiveness. In a situation like this, Dai Huabin still thought of taking him out first.

The Passionate Sword pointed diagonally at the ground. The Joy, Fury, and Sorrow Swords floated behind Jiang Yue. Facing the charging Hell White Tiger, Jiang Yue poured all his Soul Power into the Passionate Sword and stomped forward. The tips of the three emotion swords touched the Passionate Sword and revolved around it as their center. The sight could truly be called the union of four swords.

Those three emotion swords had originally been created from an innate ability of the Passionate Sword. Calling them part of the Passionate Sword was not wrong at all.

With such a relationship, the power contained within the Joy, Fury, and Sorrow Swords merged perfectly with the Passionate Sword. Even when the Hell White Tiger exerted all its strength, it still failed to break through the defense formed by Jiang Yue's swords immediately.

The muscles throughout Jiang Yue's body bulged. He silently clenched his teeth, while his feet had already left several clearly visible marks on the arena.

Although Jiang Yue's physical condition was now also at the Soul Ancestor level, that was equivalent to a weapon martial soul Soul Ancestor. Competing in physical strength against a beast martial soul Soul Elder would naturally be an easy victory—but this was the Hell White Tiger! A true beast! Jiang Yue was genuinely at a disadvantage when it came to raw strength.

Just as Jiang Yue was preparing for his next move, the force in the Hell White Tiger's paw suddenly weakened, and the entire tiger seemed to become far more transparent.

Of course. How long could a Martial Soul Fusion Skill formed by a Soul Elder and a Soul Grandmaster last? Not to mention that Zhu Lu was still affected by Jiang Yue's soul skill. This time, it was already a miracle that their Hell White Tiger had fused successfully at all, let alone displayed its full strength.

Having understood this, the three emotion swords vanished. At the same time, Jiang Yue held the Passionate Sword horizontally before his chest. The tiger paw struck the Passionate Sword, and the tremendous force sent Jiang Yue flying. Even the left hand gripping the Passionate Sword began to tremble under that immense power.

After adjusting his posture in midair and rolling onto the ground to disperse most of the force, Jiang Yue immediately gripped the Passionate Sword tightly again. At the same time, his third Soul Ring flashed behind him. Soul Power surged wildly from his entire body into the thousand-year Soul Ring as he activated his third soul skill with all his strength.

"Third Soul Skill, Substitution!"

The Hell White Tiger, which had intended to press its advantage, paused. Its enormous tiger head tilted slightly as a special layer of spiritual power clouded its eyes. Before everyone's gaze, it turned around and charged toward Cui Yajie, who believed she had already won and was watching the show from the side.

This sudden reversal caught Cui Yajie completely off guard. By the time she reacted and tried to defend herself or flee, the Hell White Tiger was already extremely close.

"Hey! I'm Cui Yajie! Your teammate! Not your enemy! The enemy is over there! What are you trying to do?!"

Killing intent. Cui Yajie could tell that the Hell White Tiger had locked onto her as its target. Panic unlike anything she had ever known overwhelmed her. She knew her own strength well. If the Hell White Tiger struck her with one paw, even if she did not die, she would be crippled!

Unfortunately, no matter how she shouted, the Hell White Tiger seemed to have fixed on her. Its advance did not pause in the slightest. As it leaped forward, it opened its bloody maw, intending to swallow Cui Yajie whole.

Boom!

The tiger's paws stomped two huge pits into the arena floor. The Hell White Tiger shook its head, scattering the dust from its body. Yet where was Cui Yajie beside it now?

"S-Saved..."

Cui Yajie knelt on the ground, supporting herself with her arms so she would not collapse outright. Just a moment ago, she had truly felt death approaching.

Fortunately, the referee teacher had been watching and rescued Cui Yajie from beneath the Hell White Tiger's paws in time. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable. This also meant that Cui Yajie had been eliminated—not by her enemies, but by her own teammates. It was certainly an extraordinarily novel experience.

Looking back at the arena, after this incident, the Hell White Tiger's aura had weakened considerably. It panted heavily and turned toward the culprit responsible for eliminating its teammate.

The fierce, unstoppable feeling it had possessed earlier had vanished completely. Jiang Yue's second soul skill was still in effect, after all. Once their attack ended, Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu personally experienced the fear Cui Yajie had felt because of the Hell White Tiger.

"Roar!"

The tiger's roar carried vicious energy in every direction, venting the incomparable fury in its heart. Its vertical pupils were icy cold as the Hell White Tiger glared ferociously at Jiang Yue, who held the Passionate Sword pointed toward it.

White light flared across the Hell White Tiger's body as it pounced toward Jiang Yue. Its limbs kicked off the ground, launching it into the air. Its claws tore through the air, determined to shred Jiang Yue before the Martial Soul Fusion Skill ended.

Jiang Yue stood still, his gaze fixed firmly on the Hell White Tiger. His first Soul Ring behind him began to pulse as streams of Soul Power entered the Passionate Sword.

"First Soul Skill, Emotion Thread Sword Attachment!"

From Jiang Yue's perspective, the thoughts and emotions intermingled within the Hell White Tiger had already developed an enormous rift. The only reason they could still maintain the Hell White Tiger was that the two of them were forcing themselves to hold on.

The yellow Soul Ring activated, and the soul skill contained within it attached itself to the silver-white blade of the Passionate Sword.

Jiang Yue spread his legs and advanced instead of retreating, charging straight at the Hell White Tiger.

Just as the Hell White Tiger's paw was about to strike Jiang Yue's body, the Sorrow Sword suddenly appeared and merged into the Passionate Sword. Incomparably intense spiritual power spread outward from the Passionate Sword.

Being so close to Jiang Yue, the Hell White Tiger was obviously deeply affected. Under this specific spiritual power, the emotions of the two people within it underwent a drastic change, turning into targeted sorrow.

Their thoughts went awry, affecting the entire Hell White Tiger. Thus, the Hell White Tiger inevitably suffered a brief but fatal pause.

At that very moment, Jiang Yue swept up the Passionate Sword. The silver-white blade left an afterimage through the air, tracing a gentle arc upward across the Hell White Tiger's body.

Screech—!

There was no earth-shattering clash of metal. There was only the sound of a sharp blade slicing open cloth.

It had been split open! The Hell White Tiger, famed throughout the continent, had actually been forcibly cleaved apart by Jiang Yue's single sword strike!

The Hell White Tiger's massive body completely collapsed, turning into particles of light that rapidly faded away. Two figures, their auras utterly chaotic and their appearances miserable, fell onto the ground. Sweat drenched their faces as their chests heaved, expelling hot breaths.

Dai Huabin refused to accept defeat. Just as he wanted to stand and continue fighting Jiang Yue, he discovered that barely any Soul Power remained in his body. The moment he raised his head, he saw a cold point of light only a few centimeters from his brow. For the first time, he truly felt how close death was.

"Looks like your Martial Soul Fusion Skill lost too."

Tilting his head, Jiang Yue spoke in the calmest tone possible, saying the reality Dai Huabin found hardest to accept.

The Martial Soul Fusion Skill had been broken, so as its users, Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu naturally suffered backlash as well.

Emotion Thread Sword Attachment could indeed only spread through charging and continuous soul skills, but who said a Martial Soul Fusion Skill was not continuous? Look at how long the Hell White Tiger had lasted. Naturally, it was a continuous soul skill in the form of a special state.

"Alright, I won't play with you anymore."

Invisible spiritual power surged from his body and slammed viciously into the Sea of Spirit of Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu. Already weakened, both rolled their eyes back and fainted instantly from the blow.

"I announce that the champions of the Freshman Assessment are Team Jiang Yue!"

"Yeah! We won! Though... it feels like we were just accessories hanging off you, Brother Jiang!"

"Yeah. Other than crushing some weak opponents at the beginning, it feels like we didn't do anything at all."

"Don't say that. If it weren't for you, I might have had to fight three against one from the start. Your contributions were obvious."

"Thanks for the comfort. Forget it, we got the championship spots and the rewards anyway. Accessories it is. If possible, please let opportunities like this come around a few more times!"

"Nice dream. It's just a pity that there probably won't be any more competitions like the Freshman Assessment in the academy, so we likely won't receive any worthwhile rewards."

Just as Jiang Yue had said, aside from the Freshman Assessment, Shrek Academy basically had no other internal competitions with rewards. Even if one scored highly in subsequent advancement assessments, there would be no rewards.

After all, the status of a core disciple was already the highest one could attain in the Outer Court. Beyond that were Inner Court students.

Once they received the Void Demon Leopard Left Leg Bone, everything would be settled. The next matter to focus on would be the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament.

Right, classes would be reassigned after the Freshman Assessment. Not a single student from Zhou Yi's Class One had entered the top four this time. Shrek Academy would not let that woman Zhou Yi manage Class One together with Wang Yan again, would they?

No one could say for certain. At least on paper, Class One had a one hundred percent pass rate in the Freshman Assessment. Those students who had no hope of passing had long since been expelled in advance by Zhou Yi.

It was another sunny morning. At Shrek Square, all the students who had successfully passed the Freshman Assessment and remained at Shrek Academy had gathered together.

Only after passing the Freshman Assessment did they truly count as first-year students. Next came the rewards for the top three teams in the Freshman Assessment, followed by the final class reassignment.

Very soon, Du Weilun stood before the students with a folder in hand, followed by the teachers of every freshman class.

"Ahem! The Freshman Assessment came to a perfect conclusion yesterday. Here, I congratulate all of you on successfully passing the Freshman Assessment. The list of core disciples is in my hands and will be announced shortly."

"Next, I will announce the top three teams of this Freshman Assessment and present them with the rewards decided by the academy."

"Third place in the Freshman Assessment: Team Ning Tian. Team members: Ning Tian, Wu Feng, and Nanmen Yun'er!"

"Second place in the Freshman Assessment: Team Dai Huabin. Team members: Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, and Cui Yajie!"

"First place in the Freshman Assessment: Team Jiang Yue. Team members: Jiang Yue, Lu Bei, and Zuo Fan. The above students, please step forward!"

Upon hearing this list, nearly everyone's gaze focused on those people in an instant. If anyone was happiest, it was definitely not the nine of them, but the homeroom teacher of Class Five. Both the champions and runners-up were Class Five teams. Even for Class Five's homeroom teacher, this felt somewhat unreal.

As the nine stepped out of formation, Dai Huabin and his two teammates did not look pleased. They even appeared somewhat gloomy, completely out of place among the other six.

Seeing Dai Huabin's expression, Wu Feng pursed her lips indignantly. She did not believe that Dai Huabin's group was stronger than her and Ning Tian. If they had not faced Jiang Yue in the semifinals, it was uncertain who would have taken second place.

"Alright, I will now announce the rewards for the top three teams. The academy has decided that each of them may submit an application to the academy when they require a Soul Ring. The academy will assist them in obtaining one Soul Ring at the limit their physical condition can endure, and with the attribute most compatible with them."

"At the same time, considering Team Jiang Yue's outstanding performance during the Freshman Assessment and their perfect record, the academy has decided to grant them an additional special reward. After the class reassignment is complete, you three will come with me to collect it."

"After the academy's final review based on the freshmen's performance in the assessment, the approved core disciples are Jiang Yue, Zuo Fan, Lu Bei, Dai Huabin..."

Jiang Yue paid little attention to the rest of the list. His name was certainly on it anyway. Right now, he was thinking about how he could turn that Soul Bone into a warm one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins as quickly as possible once he received it.

Soul Rings were things that formed after every soul beast died, but Soul Bones were different. The chance of a Soul Bone appearing could be said to be one in ten thousand. The older the soul beast, the greater the chance that it would drop a Soul Bone, yet only one-hundred-thousand-year soul beasts would reliably produce one.

No matter the era, country, or faction, Soul Bones were hard currency whose value could not be measured with a specific amount of money. They were generally traded through barter.

As long as it was a normal Soul Bone, if one truly wanted to sell it, it could easily fetch one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

In other words, Jiang Yue would be able to head to the Starlight Auction House and obtain the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife by the end of this school year at the latest. The treasure vault that was Electrolux, who possessed a complete spiritual power cultivation method from the Holy Magic Continent, could finally be opened.

After the other students followed their new teachers to the teaching building, the three of Jiang Yue's group followed behind Du Weilun to the top floor of the teachers' office building.

As the director of instruction for the Martial Soul Department, Du Weilun naturally had his own private office. The room had no elaborate decorations and was extremely simple. Combined with the various books stored there, it gave off a distinctive atmosphere.

"Sit. Congratulations on winning the Freshman Assessment."

Du Weilun pointed toward the sofa to one side. Jiang Yue and the other two did not stand on ceremony in the slightest, sitting down neatly and looking at Du Weilun.

Du Weilun brushed the ruby-studded ring on his hand, and a brown leather pouch engraved with intricate patterns appeared in his grasp.

"You are not only the champions of this year's Freshman Assessment, but you also defeated three other Soul Elder teams in succession. You have proven your talent and strength. Therefore, the academy has decided to give you this special and valuable reward."

"I can assure you that this prize is the most valuable reward awarded in the three-hundred-year history of the Freshman Assessment. There is only one of it. How you divide it is up to you."

"But before you open it and decide how to distribute it, Jiang Yue, there are some things I need to say to you."