The following afternoon, after tense group assessments, the examination finally began. Of the 310 teams, only 150 would remain; all the rest would be eliminated.
Huo Yuhao, assigned to Area Forty, did not feel much pressure. But through Spiritual Detection, he saw that Wang Dong in neighboring Area Thirty-Three seemed to have been ignited by the tense atmosphere, rubbing her hands together eagerly, ready to make a big splash.
After a brief glance, Huo Yuhao withdrew his gaze and looked at Wu Feng, who was chattering beside him.
"Huo Yuhao, do you really not need me to make a move?"
"Huo Yuhao, if you can't hold on, remember to use Spiritual Detection to warn me."
"Huo Yuhao..."
Ning Tian looked embarrassed. "Yuhao, um, Xiao Tian is just worried something might go wrong."
The icy light at Huo Yuhao's fingertips swayed gently as it swept past the fluttering battle flags at the edge of the arena. He smiled casually. "Relax. If I really can't handle it, I'll withdraw myself. I won't need you to step in."
"You!" Wu Feng choked, loosening her clenched fist slightly as her ears reddened. "Who's worried about you? I mean... I'm an assault-type Soul Master, after all. I can't let a control-type Soul Master charge ahead."
Ning Tian coughed softly and tugged Wu Feng's sleeve. "She just has a bad temper. Don't take it to heart. We've worked together a few times. Your Spiritual Detection can precisely pinpoint our opponents' weaknesses. Xiao Tian and I just need to keep up with your pace."
Huo Yuhao nodded, his gaze sweeping toward Area Thirty-Three. Through Spiritual Detection, Wang Dong was waving her hands and saying something to Zhou Ming and Xiao Xiao. Judging from her lips, she seemed to be shouting, "Good luck." When he looked away, a faint smile lingered at the corner of his lips.
"They're here," Ning Tian suddenly said.
At the entrance to Area Forty, the referee raised a command token high. "Area Forty, first match! Huo Yuhao Team versus Iron Bull Team! Both sides, enter the arena!"
The three members of the Iron Bull Team were all strength-type Soul Masters. The burly leader possessed the Black Fiend Bull Martial Soul, his body packed with knotted muscles. As he activated Martial Soul Possession, two yellow soul rings rose around him, clearly marking him as above Rank Twenty.
Wu Feng immediately activated her Martial Soul, and Fire Dragon claws appeared over her hands. But Huo Yuhao pressed down on her hand.
"Did you forget our original plan? We're going to defeat them with an overwhelming advantage."
"Ning Tian, it's up to you."
Ning Tian's Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda appeared in her hand. She immediately cast two boosting soul skills on Huo Yuhao, while Wu Feng retreated to Ning Tian's side.
Du Weilun's gaze snapped toward them from the stands. "The Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda? So this is the team Mu Jin recently claimed could win the championship for her class. But what's with that Fire Dragon Soul Master? Why isn't an assault-type Soul Master standing in front?"
If Du Weilun remembered correctly, Huo Yuhao Team had the standard formation of one control-type, one support-type, and one assault-type Soul Master. Yet the assault-type Soul Master was standing in the back to protect the support-type Soul Master. Was a control-type Soul Master supposed to fight three alone?
With that thought in mind, Du Weilun watched Huo Yuhao's group with a measure of anticipation.
Facing the three opponents whose soul rings had lit up, Huo Yuhao silently said, Sorry, then stepped forward.
A terrifying aura emerged from Huo Yuhao's body and swept across the entire arena in an instant. Nearly every ice-type and fire-type Soul Master felt as though they had encountered their natural enemy. Even the Soul Power within their bodies became sluggish as a wave of chill surged from Huo Yuhao and engulfed the whole venue.
Ice crystal lotus flowers bloomed beneath Huo Yuhao's feet. His hair rapidly grew longer, and a trace of red stained his blue Spirit Eyes.
A biting chill spread across the arena. The temperature in the plaza plummeted, and a layer of white frost appeared.
Du Weilun's pupils abruptly contracted. The hand holding his teacup paused slightly. That chill was not the sharp cold of an ordinary ice-type Soul Master. It carried a suppressive force that seemed to originate from one's bloodline—as if the freezing winds of the Far North Icefield had suddenly poured into the arena. Even a Soul Douluo like him could feel a trace of sluggishness in his Soul Power, let alone the low-ranked Soul Masters below.
"This is... Ultimate Ice?" Du Weilun set down his teacup, his gaze locked tightly on Huo Yuhao. Ice crystal lotus flowers bloomed layer upon layer beneath the youth's feet, every petal flowing with an almost transparent radiance. Wherever the cold passed, even the barrier at the edge of the arena formed a thin layer of frost. More astonishing still were his Spirit Eyes. Within the intertwined red and blue light surged waves of spiritual power, forming a strange resonance with his ice-type Soul Power. It not only slowed his opponents' Soul Power, but even caused their minds to grow hazy.
The three opponents across from him turned pale. The leading Soul Master in yellow possessed the Blazing Sun Grass Martial Soul. Its leaves had curled up as if frozen stiff, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead. "Y-you... what Martial Soul do you have?!"
Huo Yuhao did not answer. He merely took another step forward. As that step fell, the ice crystal lotus flowers instantly spread to his opponents' feet, and icy patterns crawled up their trousers like spiderwebs. Wu Feng watched from behind in astonishment. Even the flames on her dragon claws dimmed slightly—Huo Yuhao was not even targeting her, yet her Martial Soul had already wilted beneath that aura.
Ning Tian's Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda had long since lit up, but she did not rush to boost him further. She merely said softly to Wu Feng, "Don't interfere. Watch him." She could feel Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection covering the entire arena like an invisible net, clearly marking even the slightest flaws in the flow of his opponents' Soul Power. This level of control had long surpassed that of an ordinary control-type Soul Master.
"How is this a control-type..." the teacher beside Du Weilun muttered. "That presence... he's clearly an assault-type Soul Master. Isn't his Martial Soul a spiritual-type eye Martial Soul? Could he have Twin Martial Souls?"
Du Weilun did not answer, lightly tapping the armrest with his fingers. He finally understood why the assault-type Soul Master stood in the back—it was not nonsense. It simply was not necessary. The suppressive force Huo Yuhao created alone already rivaled a combination of an assault-type and a control-type Soul Master. The spiritual power hidden within those red-and-blue Spirit Eyes, combined with Ultimate Ice Soul Power, was practically the nightmare of all elemental Soul Masters.
At last, Huo Yuhao's voice rang out from the arena, calm as a frozen lake. "It's over."
Before his words had faded, his eyes suddenly flared. That ultimate chill instantly surged toward the three Soul Masters opposite him. In a single moment, three ice sculptures appeared where they had been standing.
The referee's voice rang out. The chill around Huo Yuhao immediately receded, and the ice crystal lotus flowers quietly melted away. Only his lengthened hair still carried a cool, damp sheen. He turned toward Wu Feng and Ning Tian. The red in his Spirit Eyes faded, returning them to clear blue. "Ready for the next match?"
Wu Feng scratched her head. For once, she did not argue. "You... hid yourself well."
Ning Tian put away her Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, smiling faintly. "It seems we really don't need to worry too much."
In the stands, Du Weilun lifted his teacup and took a sip, but the warmth of the tea did nothing to dispel his astonishment. He looked toward Mu Jin and saw the female teacher proudly raising her chin in the distance. He could not help but laugh.
Seeing the entire plaza coated in a layer of frost by that ultimate chill, Du Weilun fell into deep thought for the first time.
"Twin Martial Souls, Ultimate Ice..." Rubbing the storage Soul Tool on his finger, Du Weilun gave an instruction to the teacher behind him. "Keep watch here for now. I have to tell Dean Yan about this."
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