A Huge Surprise

Du Weilun practically shot out of the stands. The storage Soul Tool in his sleeve was faintly warm—the files of the academy's core disciples were inside, yet at this moment, they mattered less than a young man who had only just begun to reveal his brilliance. The golden light of the setting sun 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 bell tower. When Du Weilun pushed open the door, the scents of sandalwood and ink rushed toward him. Yan Shaozhe was reviewing documents by the window, his wolf-hair brush gliding across the paper and leaving steady strokes behind. Hearing the movement, 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 happened!"

Yan Shaozhe finally put down his brush and looked up at him. The eyes of the usually composed director of the Martial Soul Department were actually stirred with shock. He tapped the desk with his fingertips. "Take it slow. It is hardly dignified for a Soul Douluo to lose his composure."

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

The wolf-hair brush fell onto the rice paper with a snap, 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 moment of silence did he slowly speak. "Are you certain? Ultimate Ice... that is an ultimate attribute seen perhaps once in ten thousand years, and it is paired with twin Martial Souls?"

"Absolutely!" Du Weilun walked to the window and pointed toward the arena. "He fought the Iron Bull Team just now. The moment he struck, the entire field froze. Even I could feel the sluggish suppression of his ice-element soul power. It is definitely no ordinary Ice Martial Soul. His Spirit Eye's spiritual power is terrifyingly precise as well. With his ice soul power, three level-twenty Soul Masters could not even withstand half a move before they were frozen into ice sculptures. If the referee had not stopped it in time, someone 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 plus Ultimate Ice." What did an ultimate attribute signify? It signified the potential to be invincible among those of the same rank, and a path that might one day reach the pinnacle of Soul Masters.

"Have you looked into his background?" Yan Shaozhe asked, his voice deepening.

"I have." Du Weilun took out a file from his storage Soul Tool. "He was born in the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, but he is... an illegitimate son from a collateral branch. His early years in the mansion were not pleasant. When his Martial Soul awakened, the Spirit Eye was identified as a useless Martial Soul. Later, he somehow received some kind of opportunity and awakened a second Martial Soul—Ultimate Ice, no less."

Yan Shaozhe accepted the file. His fingertip passed over the three characters of "Huo Yuhao," and his gaze settled on the notes reading "Spirit Eye (spiritual type)" and "unknown Ice Martial Soul (ultimate attribute)." Then he suddenly chuckled. "Interesting. The White Tiger Duke's Mansion let such a treasure slip away, only for Shrek Academy to pick up the bargain."

Yan Shaozhe made a broad gesture. "Look into his character. The White Tiger Duke's Mansion probably has not reacted because they do not even know he exists. It seems he has no intention of returning to the duke's mansion either. He is practically one of our own by nature!"

"He is more than just a treasure," Du Weilun added. "His Spiritual Detection is exceptionally sharp. When he coordinated with his teammates just now, 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 watched the distant cheers rising from the arena. A sharp gleam flashed through his eyes. "Twin Martial Souls, Ultimate Ice, and he understands teamwork... This child has hidden himself well." He turned to Du Weilun. "Keep watching his matches. Do not alert anyone. An ultimate attribute needs tempering to grow. Revealing it 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 Academy's arena is meant to sift gold from sand. If he is real gold, then he should shine on his own."

As Du Weilun acknowledged the order and withdrew, he heard the soft rustle of paper behind him. Dean Yan had picked up Huo Yuhao's file again, his gaze as intent as though he were studying a rare treasure.

Back at the arena, the second battle in Area Forty was already nearing its end. The moment Huo Yuhao unleashed 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. It took the academy's healing-type Soul Masters to pull them back from the brink.

When the healing-type Soul Masters announced that those who had been thawed would be unable to use soul power for at least three days, every competitor in Area Forty stared at Huo Yuhao in horror. Being unable to use soul power for three days practically meant forfeiting the entire Freshman Assessment.

Wu Feng had no such concern. Instead, she strode over and casually slapped Huo Yuhao on the shoulder. "Say, could you hold back a little with that Ice Martial Soul? The moment you released it, I even felt like I could barely summon my Martial Soul."

Ning Tian suppressed a laugh. "He was not holding back at all. He clearly went all out. Being unable to use soul power for three days basically means they have already been eliminated from Shrek Academy. There probably will not be any blind fools left who dare provoke us."

Huo Yuhao rubbed his brow, and the blue light in his Spirit Eye softened somewhat. "Hard to say. But soldiers come against soldiers, water against earth. I swept the area with Spiritual Detection. There is no one in this division who can threaten us."

"With you here, what is there to fear?" Wu Feng raised her chin, the disdain in her eyes long since replaced by conviction. "Come on. Let's see whether Area Thirty-Three has finished yet. I am rather curious about how strong that Light Goddess Butterfly really is."

As the three headed toward Area Thirty-Three, the setting sun stretched their shadows long behind them. A chill from his ice soul power still lingered on Huo Yuhao's fingertips, but he knew clearly that from the moment he revealed Ultimate Ice, this assessment might no longer be merely about advancing.

He could not become too deeply entangled with Shrek Academy, but he had to make Shrek Academy view him favorably. At the very least, Shrek Academy had to regard him as one of its own.

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

A large crowd had gathered around the arena in Area Thirty-Three, and the cheers there were even louder than those in Area Forty. When Huo Yuhao and the other two squeezed through, they saw Wang Dong's Light Goddess Butterfly wings carve a pinkish-blue arc through the air. The final guillotine-like butterfly wing descended, striking precisely at her opponent's Martial Soul—a defensive Soul Master's shield, which was now letting out an overwhelmed hum.

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

Wang Dong withdrew her wings. A cloud of dust rose as she landed. A thin sheen of sweat covered her forehead, but she held her chin high, her eyes shining as though stars had fallen into them. Xiao Xiao hurried over and offered her a waterskin as if presenting a treasure. "Wang Dong, that move was amazing! When your 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 retracted. "Brother Wang Dong's timing was perfect. I deliberately left a gap in that vine net for her to slip through."

"Of course." Wang Dong took the waterskin and drank, then caught sight of Huo Yuhao among the crowd. Her tone instantly hardened. "Why are you here? Did Area Forty finish already?"

"It just ended." Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection had already swept the entire field, so he knew they had won cleanly. A faint smile curled at his lips. "I came to see whether someone really won as easily as she claimed, like drinking water."