A Huge Surprise

Du Weilun practically flew from the stands, the storage Soul Tool in his sleeve faintly warm—the files of the academy's Core Disciples were stored within, yet at this moment, they seemed less important than a young man who had only just begun to emerge. The golden glow of sunset slanted across Shrek Academy's bluestone paths. The fluctuations of Soul Power beneath his feet had nearly solidified, and even passing students could sense the urgency of this Soul Douluo.

Dean Yan's office stood beside the academy's tallest clock tower. When Du Weilun pushed open the door, the scent of sandalwood mingled with ink greeted him. Yan Shaozhe was reviewing documents by the window, his writing brush moving steadily across the paper and leaving composed strokes behind. Hearing the sound, he did not even look up. "Weilun? Why aren't you watching the matches at this hour? What are you doing here?"

Du Weilun shut the door behind him, his voice still carrying unsteady breaths. "Dean Yan, something happened—no, a huge surprise appeared!"

Yan Shaozhe finally set down his brush and looked at him. The usually composed head of the Martial Soul Department had a storm of shock in his eyes. His fingers tapped the desk. "Take your time. It isn't very dignified for a Soul Douluo to lose his composure."

"Twin Martial Souls." Du Weilun drew a deep breath and spoke each word clearly. "That freshman named Huo Yuhao in Area Forty has a second Martial Soul besides his Spirit Eye—Ultimate Ice."

The writing brush snapped down onto the rice paper, spreading a small blot of ink. Yan Shaozhe's pupils narrowed slightly. His fingers unconsciously rubbed the edge of the document, and only after a brief silence did he slowly speak. "Are you certain? Ultimate Ice... that is an ultimate attribute seen once in ten thousand years, and it is combined with Twin Martial Souls?"

"Absolutely!" Du Weilun walked to the window and pointed toward the arena. "Just now, when he fought the Iron Bull Team, he froze the entire field the moment he acted. Even I could feel the suppression of that ice-element Soul Power slowing me down. It definitely was not an ordinary Ice Martial Soul. His Spirit Eye's spiritual power was also terrifyingly precise. With his Ice Soul Power, three level-twenty Soul Masters could not even withstand half a move before being frozen into ice sculptures. If the referee had not stopped it in time, people might have died."

Yan Shaozhe rose to his feet as the wind outside lifted his robes. As the dean of Shrek Academy, he had seen countless geniuses, yet even he could not help being stirred by the words "Twin Martial Souls" and "Ultimate Ice." What did an ultimate attribute mean? It meant the potential to be invincible among those of the same rank. It meant a future path that might reach the pinnacle of Soul Masters.

"Have you investigated his background?" Yan Shaozhe asked, his voice growing deeper.

"I have." Du Weilun took out a file from his storage Soul Tool. "He came from the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, but he is... an illegitimate son from a branch family. He did not have an easy time in the mansion when he was young. When his Martial Soul awakened, he was found to possess the Spirit Eye and was considered to have a useless Martial Soul. Later, he somehow encountered an opportunity and awakened a second Martial Soul—Ultimate Ice, no less."

Yan Shaozhe took the file, his fingers brushing over the three characters of Huo Yuhao's name. His gaze landed on the notes, "Spirit Eye (spiritual type)" and "Unknown Ice Martial Soul (ultimate attribute)," and he suddenly chuckled. "Interesting. The White Tiger Duke's Mansion let such a treasure slip away, and Shrek Academy gets to benefit from it."

Yan Shaozhe waved a hand. "Find out what his character is like. The White Tiger Duke's Mansion probably has no reaction because they do not even know such a person exists. It looks like he will not return to the duke's mansion either. He is naturally one of our own!"

"More than just a treasure," Du Weilun added. "His Spiritual Detection is incredibly sharp. When he coordinated with his teammates earlier, his commands were so precise that he did not seem like a freshman at all. And... do you remember the team Teacher Mu Jin mentioned? The group she swore would win the championship? Huo Yuhao is their core."

Yan Shaozhe walked to the window and looked toward the faint cheers from the arena, a sharp glint flashing through his eyes. "Twin Martial Souls, Ultimate Ice, and he knows how to cooperate... this child has hidden himself well." He turned to Du Weilun. "Keep watching his matches, but do not alert anyone. Ultimate attributes need tempering to grow. Being exposed too early may not be a good thing."

"I understand." Du Weilun nodded. "Then afterward..."

"Let him fight." Yan Shaozhe's tone carried unquestionable certainty. "Shrek's arena exists to sift gold from sand. If he is real gold, he should shine on his own."

As Du Weilun withdrew, he heard the soft rustle of paper behind him—Dean Yan had picked up Huo Yuhao's file again, his gaze as focused as though he were studying an incomparable treasure.

Back at the arena, the second battle in Area Forty was already nearing its end. The moment Huo Yuhao used his Ice Martial Soul, his opponents were almost instantly frozen stiff.

Even after Huo Yuhao thawed them, those who had been frozen could not move. Only after the academy's healing-type Soul Masters stepped in were they pulled back from the brink.

When the healing-type Soul Masters announced that anyone thawed out would be unable to use Soul Power for at least three days, every contestant in Area Forty stared at Huo Yuhao in horror. Being unable to use Soul Power for three days was practically the same as giving up the entire Freshman Assessment.

Wu Feng did not have that concern. Instead, she walked over and gave Huo Yuhao a hearty slap on the shoulder. "Hey, can't you hold back a little with that Ice Martial Soul? The moment you unleashed it, I felt like I could barely even summon my Martial Soul."

Ning Tian held back a laugh. "He wasn't holding back at all. He clearly went all out. Being unable to use Soul Power for three days basically means they can be declared eliminated from Shrek Academy already. There probably will not be any blind fools coming to provoke us later."

Huo Yuhao rubbed his brow, and the blue light in his Spirit Eye softened. "Hard to say. But soldiers come, generals stop them; water comes, earth dams it. I swept the area with Spiritual Detection. There is no one in this section who can threaten us."

"With you here, what is there to fear?" Wu Feng lifted her chin, the contempt in her eyes long replaced by trust. "Come on, let's see if Area Thirty-Three is done. I'm really curious how strong that Light Goddess Butterfly is."

As the three of them headed toward Area Thirty-Three, the setting sun stretched their shadows long behind them. Huo Yuhao's fingertips still carried the chill of Ice Soul Power, but he understood that this assessment might have become about more than simply advancing from the instant he revealed Ultimate Ice.

He could not become too deeply tied to Shrek Academy, but he had to make Shrek friendly toward him. At the very least, he had to make Shrek Academy regard him as one of its own.

Otherwise, when he moved against the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, Shrek Academy might not refrain from stopping him.

Quite a few people had gathered around the edge of Area Thirty-Three's arena, and the waves of cheering were even louder than in Area Forty. When Huo Yuhao and the others squeezed through the crowd, they saw Wang Dong's Light Goddess Butterfly wings draw a pinkish-blue arc through the air. The final wing-blade descended, striking precisely against her opponent's Martial Soul—a defensive Soul Master's shield, which now emitted a strained hum.

"We surrender! We surrender!" the opposing support-type Soul Master hurriedly called out, her face deathly pale.

Wang Dong withdrew her wings. A small cloud of dust rose as she landed. A thin sheen of sweat covered her brow, but she held her chin high, her eyes bright as though stars had fallen into them. Xiao Xiao hurried over and offered her a water skin like she was presenting a treasure. "Wang Dong, that move just now was so cool! When the wind blades cut through the vines, I thought you were going to crash into Brother Zhou Ming's vine net!"

Zhou Ming scratched his head and laughed as the vines behind him slowly withdrew. "Brother Wang Dong's timing was perfect. I deliberately left a gap in that vine net for her to pass through."

"Of course." Wang Dong took the water skin and drank from it. Catching sight of Huo Yuhao in the crowd from the corner of her eye, her tone immediately hardened. "Why are you here? Are you done in Area Forty?"

"Just finished." Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection had already swept the entire arena, and he knew they had won cleanly. A faint smile rested on his lips. "I came to see whether someone really wins as easily as she said she would."