Seven Monsters Selection Melee

The moment those words fell, the vast Soul Dueling Arena erupted. Everyone searched for familiar teammates and quickly formed several makeshift groups.

Gu Mingyuan's trio naturally stuck together.

Huo Yuhao formed a four-person team with Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, and He Caitou from the Soul Tool Department.

Not far away, Xu Sanshi shamelessly hovered near Jiang Nannan. Though her face was grim and she had not asked for his protection, she did not drive him off at a time like this.

Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng quickly banded together as well.

Boom!

The melee had barely begun when He Caitou struck first.

Thick soul-tool cannon barrels unfolded from his body, pouring dense volleys of energy beams and shells into the most crowded part of the arena.

Explosions rang out in rapid succession. Several hastily assembled pairs were blasted off their feet, and two support-type students were even knocked out of bounds.

Gu Mingyuan did not dodge. He stepped in front of Cao Jinxuan and Zhou Sichen.

Golden Jade Body enveloped him, and his first two Soul Rings lit up.

As the attacks kept coming, the golden patterns across Gu Mingyuan's body grew brighter and brighter.

Xu Sanshi saw it from afar and sighed helplessly. He had sparred with Gu Mingyuan more than once, so he knew exactly what it meant. He wanted a Soul Skill like that too!

Just then, Gu Mingyuan looked across the chaotic battlefield at Xu Sanshi.

"Senior Xu," Gu Mingyuan said with a smile, "want to team up?"

Xu Sanshi wanted to agree, but he instinctively glanced at Jiang Nannan beside him. "Sure, but I'm bringing someone."

Jiang Nannan was about to refuse. Then she noticed that every core disciple with any real strength had already joined a group. As an agility-type fighter, she would gain nothing by going it alone and might instead become a target for concentrated attacks.

After weighing her options, Jiang Nannan did not object. She moved toward Gu Mingyuan's group with Xu Sanshi.

The two sides had now formed a temporary five-person team.

Their coordination was far from flawless, but each of them knew their role.

On the other side, Huo Yuhao's group of four was steadily gaining a foothold.

Spiritual Detection Sharing let He Caitou make full use of his suppressive soul-tool firepower. Wang Dong used her ability to fly to intercept attacks from above, while Xiao Xiao used the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron to fend off assaults from all sides.

Anyone who tried to get close enough to interrupt He Caitou's barrage had their route predicted by Huo Yuhao and was promptly met with a merciless concentrated attack from the other three.

After half an hour of fighting, the number of people in the arena had plummeted. Xu Sanshi caught Dai Huabin's group off guard with his Mysterious Underworld Displacement. Gu Mingyuan then shattered their formation with a punch, and they were eliminated one after another.

In the end, only nine people remained.

On one side stood Gu Mingyuan, Cao Jinxuan, Zhou Sichen, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan. On the other were He Caitou, Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao.

The two teams faced each other across a floor scarred and blackened by battle.

Neither Huo Yuhao nor Wang Dong looked pleased.

Gu Mingyuan had absorbed who knew how many impacts over the past half hour. If they clashed head-on now, no one present could withstand one of his punches.

Caught between them, Xiao Xiao looked the most conflicted. Across from her stood Gu Mingyuan, her current class monitor. Beside her were Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, her former teammates.

Gu Mingyuan took a step forward, golden patterns flowing beneath his jade-like skin.

"Are two of you going to leave on your own, or do I have to send you out myself?"

Wang Dong shot back at once. "In your dreams!"

As soon as she spoke, every cannon barrel on He Caitou's body roared, weaving a dense net of fire in an attempt to restrict Gu Mingyuan's charge.

But Gu Mingyuan was ready.

He channeled a wisp of stored Jade-Shaking Force into his legs.

Using Ghostly Shadow Trace, he tore through the barrage in the blink of an eye and charged straight at Huo Yuhao's group.

"Sorry, Class Monitor!"

Xiao Xiao gritted her teeth and rushed to meet him. Three pitch-black cauldrons dropped from the sky in a triangular formation, crashing down to seal off every path forward.

Gu Mingyuan raised his right leg and kicked the wall of the foremost cauldron.

Clang!

Jade-Shaking Force erupted through his leg. The cauldron hummed as the sheer force sent it flying backward, knocking the other two out of formation.

Xiao Xiao grunted. But in the brief instant it took Gu Mingyuan to break through her defense, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong had already wrapped their arms around each other.

Using their Martial Soul Fusion Skill directly on Gu Mingyuan would be pointless.

He had already endured the Golden Road head-on during the freshman finals. Now his Soul Power was higher and his defense even more monstrous. A direct hit would, at most, seal his Soul Skills. It would never eliminate him.

Huo Yuhao's real targets were Cao Jinxuan and Zhou Sichen, standing behind Gu Mingyuan!

Huo Yuhao closed his eyes, spreading Spiritual Detection like a spiderweb.

"Splendor in Decay—Golden Road!"

A brilliant golden beam shot skyward, skimmed past Gu Mingyuan's side, and pierced the entire battlefield behind him from a tricky angle.

Cao Jinxuan reacted instantly and started to dodge, but He Caitou's soul-tool shells blocked that half-step of movement.

That half-step made all the difference.

Just as the golden light was about to engulf Cao Jinxuan, Zhou Sichen gritted his teeth. His Summoned Beast, the Earth Bear, roared, scooped Cao Jinxuan into its arms, and charged out of the Golden Road's path.

But Zhou Sichen missed his own chance to escape.

The golden light pierced him.

Zhou Sichen turned gold and visibly lost the ability to move. Xuan Zi, watching from outside the arena, casually waved a hand and pulled him off the field.

After landing, Zhou Sichen shouted into the arena despite his stiffened body, "Old Cao, you owe me a meal!"

Cao Jinxuan looked at Zhou Sichen outside the arena, his feelings in turmoil.

By then, Gu Mingyuan had reached Huo Yuhao.

With Spiritual Detection, Huo Yuhao could track every one of Gu Mingyuan's movements clearly in his mind. But his body simply could not keep up with his thoughts.

There was nowhere to retreat. Huo Yuhao could only switch to his Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion martial soul. Diamond-like ice crystals covered his hands as he tried to withstand the blow.

Gu Mingyuan raised his hand and struck with his palm.

The bone-chilling cold of Ultimate Ice invaded Gu Mingyuan's hand, only for his purple talent, [Strictest Father of the Elements], to ruthlessly strip away most of its damage the next instant.

Crack.

The ice crystals on Huo Yuhao's arms shattered. Force surged through both arms, lifting him clean off his feet and sending him flying backward out of the arena.