When Smiling Is All You Can Do

Break!

Five dark-golden beams erupted from the Darkgolden Terrorclaw, peerlessly sharp. Even Ye Chaoyuan had no choice but to avoid their edge.

Wang Dong'er unleashed Butterfly Goddess's Light, bombarding Ye Chaoyuan's retreat path. Ye Chaoyuan's first and second soul rings flashed in succession. A gauzy protective garment first appeared around him, then tentacles extended from the shadows to shield his body.

Hidden Cold Veil!

Abyssal Cold Touch!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Mu Ying's Lover's Bridge broke, then connected again. Taking advantage of the moment, Wang Qiu'er retrieved the Golden Dragon Spear and worked with Wang Dong'er to suppress Ye Chaoyuan with the Winged Guillotine.

Wang Qiu'er's main strength lay in her physical power, so she did not demand much Soul Power. Even with all her soul skills active, she could last a long time. However, Ye Chaoyuan could fight powerfully through sword techniques and moves alone without using soul skills. Only Wang Dong'er was depleting her power relatively quickly.

Ye Chaoyuan possessed greater Soul Power than the others and had the Lover's Bridge replenishing him, so he decided to wear them down.

Drag it out! Three rings against two rings—even if they had fused Soul Power, the advantage was mine!

Ye Chaoyuan continued clashing with the two of them using his blade techniques. Wang Dong'er had not used Butterfly Goddess's Light again and seemed to be conserving Soul Power as well. The battle briefly reached a stalemate...

...Or had it?

Yet as time passed, Ye Chaoyuan realized something was wrong.

Why did it feel like his Soul Power was being consumed faster?

He carefully sensed it and found that his Soul Power consumption had... increased severalfold?

How could that be?

The Lover's Bridge was clearly still replenishing his Soul Power!

Ye Chaoyuan's expression changed. Where had Huo Yuhao gone? He cleaved apart the cherry blossoms circling him and looked toward Lover's Bridge. Mu Ying had long since vanished, replaced by Huo Yuhao crouching there...

Damn it!

So you were the one stealing my Soul Power!

No wonder it was draining so quickly!

While the others had been keeping each other occupied, Huo Yuhao had activated Golden Dragon Body, slipped into the cherry blossoms, eliminated Mu Ying, and Imprinted her soul skill.

Huo Yuhao maintained countless cherry blossoms and Lover's Bridge at the same time. To drain even more of Ye Chaoyuan's Soul Power, he had even used those cherry blossoms to put on a stage play for the teachers in the stands.

"Hahahaha, what an interesting kid." Xuan Zi laughed.

"Hi..." Huo Yuhao greeted Ye Chaoyuan. Being discovered was still a little awkward. At a time like this, smiling was all he could do...

Ye Chaoyuan's aura rose, radiating a frightening presence, before returning to calmness once more.

"I concede." Ye Chaoyuan understood that even if he eliminated Huo Yuhao now, Wang Dong'er and Wang Qiu'er still had a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. It would be better to let them remain so they could deal with the others.

That little sister who used to follow behind me could stand on her own now too...

He gave Huo Yuhao a gentle look. Huo Yuhao immediately felt his backside clench as he watched Ye Chaoyuan turn and leave the examination area.

"Victory to Team Huo Yutong." With the proctor's announcement, Huo Yuhao's first elimination match came to an end.

Although Huo Yuhao had won, he felt as if he had lost everything. It was like eating a piece of chocolate—it was chocolate, but it tasted like shit...

I'm not Little Huo the maiden, damn it!

The three of them hurried to recover their Soul Power. Not a single one of their Martial Soul Fusion Skills had been forced out yet. After their previous experiments, they had identified five Martial Soul Fusion Skills.

The two fusion skills on Wang Dong'er's side that required the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion could not be used, and neither could Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu'er's Ice Flower Armor.

The rest could all be used. If they encountered someone difficult, they would immediately make them eat Martial Soul Fusion Skills until they were full.

In fact, they could instantly defeat many opponents by using Martial Soul Fusion Skills as soon as they met. Their opponents just now had once been classmates. As for the ones ahead... hehehe...

This was Team Huo Yuhao's greatest advantage: they could use Martial Soul Fusion Skills like firecrackers. And these were weakened versions at that. How was anyone supposed to fight that? Even these were weakened!

Still, Huo Yuhao was somewhat curious. Qiu'er had never linked attributes with him, so how could they have a Martial Soul Fusion Skill? And how had she become Wang Dong'er's appearance? Dong'er had Tang San no longer, while he himself lacked the Ice Empress. Their auras did not match, yet they could still fuse...

It seemed everyone had plenty of secrets...

"Xuan Zi, what do you think of them?" Wang Yan asked respectfully as he stood beside Xuan Zi.

"Not bad. Those two little ones are truly not bad," Xuan Zi said, using two "not bad"s to express his approval. "As for that little one with the Body Martial Soul, he is a little lacking. His control is excellent, and he used the Imprint soul skill wonderfully, but that is all."

Wang Yan grew somewhat anxious. He had come to know Huo Yuhao when confirming their Martial Soul Fusion, and he admired Huo Yuhao's diligence and hard work. He wanted to argue for Huo Yuhao.

"But, Xuan Zi, he has a Body Martial Soul!"

"Do you know what matters most for a Body Martial Soul? Potential—combat and mutation. I have heard the rumors about him. That miracle of one ring defeating six rings was most likely achieved through Imprint. Yet under that kind of pressure, he still did not mutate." Xuan Zi shook his head.

"Yes, his control is exquisite. If he can cultivate to a high level, he could indeed become someone worthwhile. But unfortunately..." Xuan Zi took a swig of wine.

"...His aptitude is too poor."

Huo Yuhao did not underestimate his opponent because of the morning's battle. His opponent had been able to trade blows with Wang Qiu'er while she had all her soul skills active, without using any soul skills himself. He had even been able to face Wang Dong'er in the air at the same time. If he had not conceded in the end, the victor would still have been uncertain.

There was still Xu Tianyao ahead. He did not know when they would encounter him, but surely it would not be that afternoon. How could his luck be that bad...

"Afternoon match, round of thirty-two to sixteen: Team Xu Tianyao versus Team Huo Yutong."

Damn it!

Spectator platform.

"I mainly came today to watch the other two. One is said to be a disciple taken in by Little Qian. Not bad, though unfortunately the Martial Soul Department cannot keep him. The other will be in the next match." Xuan Zi took another chicken wing from his Soul Tool. "This one is the truly impressive one. Your three little ones will probably lose this afternoon."

As an elder of Sea God Pavilion, Xuan Zi naturally sat in the best position to watch Huo Yuhao's match. Even Zhou Yi, their homeroom teacher, had to move aside.

"Teacher Zhou, your seeded team was eliminated—and by your own class, no less? What a coincidence." Mu Jin said with a soft laugh.

"Oh, there is an even greater coincidence. My students will actually face yours in the next match. It really is a little... hehehe."

Zhou Yi said nothing. Her expression was somewhat grim. She had not expected Ye Chaoyuan to be eliminated in the first match. He could originally have used the first soul skill's ability to erase his aura, together with Mu Ying and Wen Tianren's support, to produce unexpected results. Yet they had run into Huo Yuhao, someone familiar with their tactics. Combined with Ye Chaoyuan holding back, that had led to their defeat.

Zhou Yi did not particularly dislike Huo Yuhao as a student, but she could not say she liked him either. What teacher liked a student who constantly opposed her? Still, Huo Yuhao did possess certain qualities that moved her.

But today, Huo Yuhao was truly likely to lose.

Their opponents... had two Soul Elders.