The day of the freshman assessment arrived quickly.
The freshman assessment officially began that afternoon.
"Class monitor, how about we find an open space and practice a little?"
Beside her, Xiao Xiao spoke quietly to Wang Dong. The battle would begin that afternoon, so they could use this spare time to familiarize themselves with combat.
"Hm? Practice?"
Wang Dong froze for a moment. She had not considered that. She turned to look at Xiao Xiao, then glanced at Huo Yuhao beside them.
"Yeah. Yuhao and I are both control-type soul masters, so we can fight you and get a basic feel for each other's soul skills."
Xiao Xiao said this, though if possible, she wanted to team up with the handsome Wang Dong. But if she teamed up with Wang Dong, there would be no one left to fight them. They could not exactly throw Huo Yuhao alone onto the other side for a one-against-two battle, could they? That would be far too unfair.
"You and Yuhao..."
Wang Dong looked at Huo Yuhao. It was not that she did not want to practice, but she truly did not want to fight Huo Yuhao.
Over the past three months, the two of them had sparred before. At first, they had been more or less evenly matched, but later on, Huo Yuhao became stronger and stronger, until Wang Dong could barely hold her own.
In the end, Wang Dong had wanted to try the ability Huo Yuhao used when he entered that golden mode last time.
At the time, Wang Dong had thought, No matter what, Huo Yuhao and I should be evenly matched, right? I have hidden tricks too.
But the final result had been one to nine.
Huo Yuhao threw one punch, and Wang Dong was unconscious for nine seconds.
After that, their sparring matches had always stopped at the right point. Wang Dong had no desire to take another punch.
Huo Yuhao's growth had come through Xia Liang and Electrolux's training.
Electrolux had gathered the essence of the boxing techniques from his memories, stripped away the unnecessary complexity, and condensed them into the Thirteen Forms of Basic Boxing, all of which he taught Huo Yuhao.
The force application of every form, the transitions between footwork, the rhythm of breathing—Electrolux taught Huo Yuhao every detail without exception.
Then, Huo Yuhao improved his proficiency and combat techniques through nightly sparring sessions with monsters. He had no idea how many times he had been revived.
Under such combat intensity, his strength naturally improved much faster than Wang Dong's, who had lived a pampered life.
"I'm support."
Huo Yuhao answered. As for his combat strength, only Wang Dong knew about it now. Although Huo Yuhao had not intended to hide it, perhaps it would be useful to catch others off guard during battle?
"Then we can fight."
The moment Wang Dong heard Huo Yuhao say that, she knew they could do it. She was only afraid that he would join the battle too. If that happened, there would be no point in playing.
"Then let's give it a try."
The two of them found an open space, and Wang Dong spread the wings of her Light Goddess Butterfly and flew into the air.
A white Spirit Ring rose behind Huo Yuhao. Xiao Xiao, who was surrounded by two Spirit Rings, froze when she saw it. It really was a ten-year Spirit Ring?
People had been discussing it outside, but Xiao Xiao had not expected it to be true.
I need to protect Yuhao properly. I can't let Wang Dong bully him.
At that moment, Wang Dong saw Huo Yuhao's opening stance from across the field, and a phantom ache still lingered in her cheek.
You're support this time, so you can't hit me, okay?
Wang Dong snorted inwardly. Her wings trembled slightly, and a circle of pale-blue Soul Power ripples spread out from beneath her feet.
She planned to let Huo Yuhao see her dominance over other soul masters. Without Huo Yuhao's freakish close-combat ability, dealing with a two-ring soul master and a one-ring soul master was simply a dimensional strike.
The final result was naturally Wang Dong's victory. After all, even with Huo Yuhao's support, Xiao Xiao's strength could not surpass Wang Dong's.
However, throughout the entire battle, Wang Dong had not gone after Huo Yuhao, who was acting as support. This discovery left Xiao Xiao quite confused.
Didn't people usually attack the support first once a fight began?
While the three of them rested briefly, Xia Liang, within the Sea of Spirits, noticed something unusual about Xiao Xiao's Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron martial soul.
"This cauldron..."
What was wrong?
Tian Meng moved closer. He found Xia Liang rather strange now.
"Nothing."
Xia Liang shook his head, but he was still puzzled inwardly. He had actually sensed a trace of fate's fluctuations within the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron.
Was that why it was a national treasure?
In ancient legends, cauldrons symbolized the suppression of mountains and rivers and the gathering of fortune. Though the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron was still of low grade, its essence originated from this ancient type of tool martial soul, and it had thus been tainted by a trace of heaven and earth's destiny.
Xia Liang had read quite a few fanfictions as well. If not for Huo Yuhao's fate-based cheat, then Xiao Xiao would definitely have been the protagonist of this era.
All he could say was that the people around a protagonist would never have poor fortune.
That afternoon, Huo Yuhao's team began their first assessment in Area Thirty-Three.
As expected, Wang Dong easily defeated their first opponents.
"This Huo Yuhao team is quite strong. They should be able to take first place in this area, but I wonder how they will fare against Huang Chutian's team."
The assessment teacher, Wang Yan, watched Huo Yuhao and the others on the stage from not far away. He had already formed a partial estimate of the team's strength.
Several days passed in continuous assessments before Huo Yuhao and the others finally encountered something they had not expected.
Martial Soul Fusion Skill—Heavenly Net!
However, although the Martial Soul Fusion Skill was powerful, Huo Yuhao still defeated it instantly. With his current spiritual power, he could easily interrupt the Lan Sisters' Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
Just when everyone believed Huo Yuhao's team was about to lose, the Lan Sisters collapsed to the ground. In the end, Huo Yuhao's team won without much danger.
"Huo Yuhao's team wins!"
After the match, Huo Yuhao's team was asked to remain behind.
"Huo Yuhao, I want to ask you something. What is your martial soul?"
The person who kept Huo Yuhao's team behind was naturally Wang Yan. He could not help it; he was simply far too interested in Huo Yuhao's martial soul.
After observing Huo Yuhao's matches for so long, Wang Yan found that, despite his experience, he could not determine what Huo Yuhao's martial soul actually was.
Naturally, Huo Yuhao had no need to keep his martial soul secret.
"My martial soul is my eyes."
"Eyes?!"
Upon hearing the word "eyes," Wang Yan grabbed Huo Yuhao's shoulders tightly with both hands.
"Your martial soul is your eyes?"
"That's right."
Huo Yuhao was confused. Why did Teacher Wang Yan look so excited?
Wang Yan took a deep breath and asked a crucial question.
"Are you from the Body Sect?"
Hearing "Body Sect," Huo Yuhao shook his head blankly and asked in confusion, "Body Sect? Teacher Wang, I've never heard of it."
"That's good, that's good."
Hearing that Huo Yuhao was not from the Body Sect, Wang Yan became even happier.
"Wonderful, this is truly wonderful. No wonder you only have a ten-year Spirit Ring, yet the soul skill it grants is so powerful. So you have a Body Martial Soul. What a pity. If you had come to the academy earlier, I would have helped you obtain a first Spirit Ring at the maximum possible age."
After learning that Huo Yuhao possessed a Body Martial Soul, many of Wang Yan's questions were immediately answered.
"All right, go back and rest. Compete well!"
"Brother Xia Liang, what is the Body Sect?"
On the way back, Huo Yuhao asked Xia Liang.
The Body Sect—did it consist entirely of Body Martial Souls?
"A sect made entirely of soul masters with Body Martial Souls. Their creed is that all soul masters with Body Martial Souls under heaven are one family."
"However, they act tyrannically. Once, in order to hunt a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast and obtain a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, they went to the Star Dou Forest and triggered a beast tide."
The Body Sect truly treated its own people well, but it acted far too domineeringly and without regard for consequences. No one knew how many innocent civilians had died in the beast tide they caused.
"A beast tide?"
Although Huo Yuhao had no impression of the beast tide Xia Liang mentioned, since it involved a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, its brutality was already beyond his imagination.
"We need to visit the Body Sect someday."
Xia Liang spoke. The Body Sect's records on Body Martial Souls, their second awakening, and the secrets of the body were all things he wanted to study.
Before you continue