The Eight-Way Melee: Heaven-Slaying Sword-Draw Technique and Green Snake from Both Sleeves!

"Hmm, Huo Yuhao, eleven years old..."

"Soul Power Level fifteen?"

The teacher administering the test looked even more sympathetic.

He looked at Huo Yuhao as though the boy's doomed ending had already been written.

"Kid, I'll warn you one last time."

"There's no stopping short in Shrek Academy's entrance test."

"If you want to withdraw, say it loud and clear."

"Otherwise, if help arrives too late and you're injured—or even killed—the academy bears no responsibility!"

Huo Yuhao nodded quickly, but inwardly he grumbled.

Shrek Academy's one-sided rules really have been passed down unchanged for ten thousand years!

Ten thousand years ago, Shrek Academy had been dirt poor. It lured commoner soul masters into applying, then took their ten-Gold-Soul-Coin application fees.

Now it was even better. The combat round of its entrance test came with a liability waiver covering life and death.

And every year, countless soul masters still scrambled to get through Shrek's doors.

Good thing the Douluo Continent doesn't have insurance companies. With Shrek Academy's claim rate, even a mountain of gold wouldn't cover the payouts!

Just as the teacher administering the test read out the name "Huo Yuhao"...

Among the seven boys and girls standing nearby, a few showed subtle changes in expression.

Huo Yuhao quietly took it all in.

Chen Jue went without saying.

The moment he heard "Huo Yuhao," the swordsman in white narrowed his eyes.

His sharp gaze swept Huo Yuhao up and down, as if he could see right through him.

Two of the other six were watching Huo Yuhao too.

One was a boy named Lan Sheng, dressed in a coarse blue robe.

His face was so ordinary he would vanish in a crowd.

The other was Wu Shi, a black-haired girl in round glasses who looked quiet and studious.

Their gazes landed on Huo Yuhao almost simultaneously, and a strange light flickered in their eyes.

No doubt about it. Those two must be transmigrators too!

Otherwise, who would give a second glance to an eleven-year-old nobody whose Soul Power Level was only fifteen?

"All right, that makes eight."

The teacher clapped his hands and pointed toward the open ground beside the field.

"Get in there. I don't need to repeat the rules, do I?"

"Only two of you eight will pass. The other six can go back where they came from."

"Begin!"

At the teacher's wave, all eight spread out and entered the combat area.

Huo Yuhao smiled faintly, kept everyone else between himself and the fighting, and tucked himself into a corner at the edge of the field.

And sure enough, none of the other seven paid him any attention.

Why would anyone bother with a weakling at level fifteen?

"Seven Killing Sword, appear!"

Chen Jue called out. A silver longsword materialized in his hand.

Three soul rings—one yellow and two purple—pulsed faintly around the blade.

Like searchlights in the dark, those three rings instantly made him everyone's target!

"Team up and eliminate him first!"

Someone shouted.

The next instant, the other six summoned their martial souls in unison, their soul rings blazing.

Their attacks poured toward Chen Jue like a tidal wave!

Fireballs, ice spikes, wind blades... all manner of soul skills filled the air.

They had one goal: take out the only Soul Elder on the field first!

At the edge of the field, the teacher folded his arms and smiled.

These youngsters were clever enough to join forces.

Then his gaze fell on the edge of the combat area.

Huo Yuhao stood there with his arms folded, watching the show without a care in the world.

The teacher's expression turned strange.

The kid was hopelessly weak, but his composure was remarkable.

Couldn't he see that once Chen Jue was eliminated, he would be the easiest target on the field—and the next one they all attacked?

Yet Huo Yuhao really was watching the show.

Or rather, he was sizing up the three transmigrators.

Lan Sheng's martial soul was all too familiar to Huo Yuhao.

Blue Silver Grass!

A perennial fixture on lists of the most useless martial souls, famous throughout the soul master world for being hopeless in a fight!

But Lan Sheng's Blue Silver Grass clearly followed a different path from Tang God-King's.

Its leaves were broad, its vines thick, and a faint green glow surrounded it.

Even when Chen Jue cut it apart with the Seven Killing Sword, it regenerated in the blink of an eye.

Wildfire could not burn it all away; the spring wind brought it back again!

Clearly, Lan Sheng had taken the so-called ultimate-life path found in countless clichéd fanfics!

Wu Shi's martial soul, on the other hand, surprised Huo Yuhao.

A Wand!

Yes, a wizard's Wand straight out of Harry Potter!

Her special advantage was clearly magic-based, and it was far from weak.

"Protego!"

Wu Shi swept her Wand forward. A silvery-white shield appeared out of thin air and blocked Chen Jue's thrust.

"Stupefy!"

With a flick of her Wand, a red beam shot straight at Chen Jue.

He had to block it with the Seven Killing Sword. If Stupefy hit him, the six of them would surely finish him off together.

Lan Sheng and Wu Shi were only two-ring Soul Grandmasters, below Chen Jue in Soul Power Level.

But both wielded their martial souls with exceptional control, and their teamwork was seamless.

The other four natives of the Douluo Continent kept him occupied from the sides.

For a time, Chen Jue—the only Soul Elder on the field—was forced into a hard fight!

"Now!"

Lan Sheng's eyes lit up as he caught an opening while Chen Jue blocked another soul skill.

"Second soul skill: Blue Silver Binding!"

His second soul ring flared. Blue Silver Grass grew wildly, weaving a thick net around Chen Jue in the blink of an eye!

Chen Jue struck repeatedly with the Seven Killing Sword, but each layer he cut was replaced by two more.

When he cut through two, four more wound around him!

Endless growth, boundless vitality!

In moments, Chen Jue was wrapped up like a giant rice dumpling, with only his head exposed.

"Hahahaha!"

Lan Sheng threw back his head and laughed, his voice brimming with triumph.

"So much for a Soul Elder!"

"Keep it up! Knock him out of the test!"

Wu Shi raised her Wand as well. Her second soul ring lit up, and a piercing radiance gathered at the Wand's tip.

"Second soul skill: Sectumsempra!"

A razor-sharp beam shot out, cutting through the air with a shrill crack!

Sectumsempra left its victim bleeding without end, with no cure to be found!

The strike was terrifyingly powerful. If it hit, Chen Jue would be gravely wounded on the spot!

At the edge of the field, the teacher's face changed. Soul Power gathered throughout his body as he prepared to intervene.

He might have said that life and death didn't matter, but that only applied to commoner soul masters.

Who was Chen Jue?

Before turning twelve, he had reached the three-ring Soul Elder rank and acquired soul rings beyond the theoretical age limits. He had to be a prodigy nurtured with all the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's resources!

If a peerless talent like him fell during Shrek Academy's entrance test, no one could bear the responsibility!

A thousand—ten thousand—ordinary commoner soul masters could die, and their lives still wouldn't be worth a single hair on Chen Jue's head!

But just as the teacher was about to act...

Chen Jue, still bound, suddenly chuckled.

"Heh..."

"We've fought this long, and I haven't used a single soul skill."

"What makes you so confident?"

The next instant, the bright yellow first soul ring on the Seven Killing Sword flared!

"First soul skill: Heaven-Slaying Sword-Draw Technique!"

A silver sword arc flashed, as round as a full moon!

It was keen to the extreme—and utterly domineering!

Before that sword arc, the layered net of Blue Silver Grass was no sturdier than paper. It was severed clean through!

The razor-sharp beam of Sectumsempra shattered instantly against the moonlike arc!

The sword arc swept onward without slowing, a sweeping ribbon of silver light!

"Oh no!"

"I surrender! Help!"

"Teacher, save me!"

The teacher flashed forward and hauled the four natives off the field before the sword arc could hit them.

With one strike, Chen Jue had halved the number of people on the field.

Lan Sheng and Wu Shi's faces turned grim.

They were transmigrators too, and neither had thought their special advantages lacking. Yet Chen Jue's strength was more terrifying than they had imagined!

Before either could recover from the shock, the Seven Killing Sword moved again!

"Second soul skill: Green Snake from Both Sleeves!"