Punching Bag Xu Sanshi

On the raised platform, Mu Jin was watching Assessment Area Eight when heavy footsteps sounded behind him.

He turned and found himself facing Zhou Yi's ice-cold expression.

Huo Yuhao and his two teammates had already entered the arena and stood opposite Ning Tian's team.

"Of course I'm happy to see my students compete," Mu Jin said, raising an eyebrow. Pride colored his voice.

"It's too early to say who'll win." Zhou Yi snorted and glanced at Ning Tian's team below.

Mu Jin rolled his eyes.

He knew Zhou Yi well. If the old battle-axe had come over on her own, she was looking for trouble.

Sure enough, Zhou Yi stepped forward. "Care to make a bet?"

Mu Jin paused. "On what?"

"Who wins this match." Zhou Yi tipped up her chin toward Assessment Area Eight.

Mu Jin studied the two teams for a moment, then shook his head. "Betting on one match is no fun. If we're going to bet, let's bet on this year's freshman champion."

Surprise flickered through Zhou Yi's eyes. "That Gu Mingyuan from your class gives you that much confidence?"

"What, doesn't Huo Yuhao give you plenty of confidence despite having only one Soul Ring?" Mu Jin shot back.

Zhou Yi fell silent.

Of course she was confident.

No one in the outer academy understood Huo Yuhao's team's true strength better than she did. There was his astonishing Spiritual Detection Sharing, Xiao Xiao's hidden Twin Martial Souls, Wang Dong's thousand-year second Soul Ring, and even the Martial Soul Fusion Skill Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong had only just begun to develop.

To her, that lineup was unbeatable.

"Fine." A cold smile touched Zhou Yi's lips. "What's the wager?"

"A Soul Bone," Mu Jin said.

Zhou Yi's eyelid twitched. The stakes were high, but her faith in Huo Yuhao's team did not waver. "Deal. I hope you can still smile at the end."

With that, Zhou Yi turned and left.

Mu Jin watched her go with a cold laugh to himself.

Zhou Yi, Zhou Yi. Whatever those three can really do, Freshman Class One has only one seeded team at most. My Class Nine has two.

In Assessment Area Eight, the battle had begun.

Ning Tian immediately released her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, its radiance rippling outward.

After the "beating" Gu Mingyuan had given her with that punch three months ago, Wu Feng fought differently. She no longer charged ahead in pursuit of glory. Calm-eyed and methodical, she followed Ning Tian's tactics to the letter and stuck to Wang Dong like a shadow.

The fight was fiercely contested. With Ning Tian's powerful boosts, Huo Yuhao's team soon found itself struggling.

With no other choice, Xiao Xiao finally revealed her trump card. The appearance of her Nine Phoenix Coming Ceremony Flute Martial Soul sent a stir through the crowd.

But the real finishing blow came from Huo Yuhao.

He and Wang Dong clasped hands. Hao-Dong Power flowed through them both, golden light flared in Huo Yuhao's eyes, and an enhanced Soul Shock drove into Ning Tian's spiritual sea like an invisible spike.

Ning Tian's mind went blank. She swayed and collapsed to the ground.

The instant Ning Tian fell, Wu Feng lunged. Her claw swept across Huo Yuhao's chest, tearing a bloody gash.

A heartbeat later,

the referee intervened and ended the match. Huo Yuhao's team from Freshman Class One had won.

Wang Dong stared at the blood staining Huo Yuhao's school uniform, her face livid and her gaze at Ning Tian and Wu Feng burning with anger. But the match was already decided. Ning Tian and Wu Feng had the powerful Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect behind them, and the referee ruled it an ordinary battle injury. A healing-type soul master was summoned, and the matter went no further.

At the edge of the crowd,

Xu Sanshi leaned against a stone pillar, pale-faced, with deep shadows beneath his eyes. He looked utterly drained.

Ma Xiaotao had needed help suppressing her evil fire more and more often lately. As the owner of the Xuanming Turtle Shell Shield Martial Soul, he had been turned into her personal fire extinguisher and had not slept well in days. A few days earlier, she had even dragged him out to find Huo Yuhao, only to come back empty-handed.

"When is this going to end..." Xu Sanshi rubbed his brow and let out a long sigh.

He had only meant to watch a few matches, but his gaze gradually fixed on Huo Yuhao in the arena.

The timing was too perfect.

Every dodge and counterattack Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao made looked as though they had rehearsed it countless times. Somehow, they always found a blind spot an instant before Wu Feng or Nanmen Yun'er made their move.

That absurd anticipation brought back an unpleasant memory for Xu Sanshi.

He knew the feeling all too well.

When he and Bei Bei had wagered a Blackwater Pill in the Soul Dueling Arena, Bei Bei had fought exactly like that! Every move had caught Xu Sanshi at the moment he exerted his strength. It had felt like punching cotton every time, and it had been infuriating.

"Figured it out?"

A calm voice sounded beside him. Gu Mingyuan had appeared at Xu Sanshi's side without him noticing and was also watching Huo Yuhao, who had just stepped off the stage.

Xu Sanshi narrowed his eyes at Gu Mingyuan. "Bei Bei reacted the same way when he fought me."

Gu Mingyuan did not answer. He flicked his wrist, sending a recording Soul Tool arcing toward Xu Sanshi.

Xu Sanshi caught it.

He did not immediately channel Soul Power into it to check. After what Gu Mingyuan had just said, he could guess what it contained with his eyes closed.

Xu Sanshi closed his fingers around the recording Soul Tool and turned to Gu Mingyuan, his gaze cooling. "You gave me this because you want me to turn against Bei Bei?"

"Of course not," Gu Mingyuan said lightly. "Senior Bei helped me, and I haven't forgotten it. What you do with that is up to you."

After all, Xu Sanshi had also discovered Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection Sharing after experiencing it in the original story, and nothing had come of it.

This alone would never make him turn on Bei Bei.

Rather than relaxing, Xu Sanshi grew even more wary.

No one gives a gift for nothing.

"Then what are you after?" Xu Sanshi frowned.

Gu Mingyuan turned away. "There aren't many soul masters in Shrek's outer academy I can punch without holding back."

Xu Sanshi froze, then laughed in exasperation and pointed at his own nose. "You want to use me as a punching bag?"

"Both ways," Gu Mingyuan corrected him.

Gu Mingyuan's team swept through the following elimination rounds.

In the quarterfinals, they faced Huan Xieyue and the brothers Luo Tianlong and Luo Tianba. The result, however, held no surprises.

Cao Jinxuan's Passage of Time Clock broke the Luo brothers' rhythm, while Zhou Sichen's Summoned Beast cut off their routes along both sides. Gu Mingyuan then knocked Huan Xieyue off the stage to seal the win.

With that, the freshman assessment's final four were set.

From the raised platform, the semifinal draw was announced, and the crowd erupted:

Gu Mingyuan's team would face the hot favorites for the championship: Dai Huabin's team! Huo Yuhao's team, meanwhile, would take on the other seeded team.

Huo Yuhao looked at the matchups with a twinge of regret. So close...