Sea God Pavilion Meeting!

She heard footsteps and turned. Her gaze swept over the newcomers, and her usually sharp eyes widened.

"Everyone, stop!"

Zhou Yi waved a hand and strode over, looking Huo Yutong up and down for a long moment.

"You broke through?"

"Mm!"

"Where's your Soul Ring? Show me."

Huo Yutong took a deep breath. A Soul Ring slowly rose beneath her feet.

The moment it appeared, the entire training ground fell silent.

It was a dazzling ring of red.

Red as fresh blood. A terrifying aura flowed across it, changing the faces of every freshman present. Several nearby went weak at the knees and nearly dropped to the ground.

"A hundred thousand years... That's a Soul Ring over a hundred thousand years old!!!!"

Zhou Yi had taught for years and thought she had seen every kind of genius.

But a twelve-year-old standing atop a red Soul Ring over a hundred thousand years old? She had never imagined such a sight, even in her dreams.

Then an icy blue mark suddenly lit up between Huo Yutong's brows.

A cold gleam burst forth!

A massive scorpion, several meters long and green from head to tail, appeared behind her.

Its phantom form loomed there, tail raised high, each segment encrusted with deep-blue ice crystals.

Its icy eyes swept across the training ground.

In that instant, the temperature plummeted. White frost spread rapidly across the ground, with Huo Yutong at its center.

Beside her, Wang Yan sucked in a sharp breath.

"A Second Martial Soul? Twin Martial Souls?!!"

"My Second Martial Soul is the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion."

"And I also obtained a Torso Bone."

Zhou Yi stared at Huo Yutong, unable to speak for a long while.

The news seemed to sprout wings and swept through the Outer Court in an instant. By the time Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao arrived, panting,

the training ground was packed so tightly that not even water could pass through.

"Huo Yutong! Ye Tianming!"

Wang Dong finally squeezed through the crowd and looked Huo Yutong and Ye Tianming up and down.

"You're finally back! I was worried sick. You... what's this?"

"I'll tell you everything once we get back."

Wang Dong's eyes curved as she spoke.

She stared at the red Soul Ring beneath Huo Yutong's feet, still reeling from what she had just seen. At last, she managed only one sentence.

"You've really done it, Huo Yutong. You kept that hidden well!"

Xiao Xiao threw herself forward, clung to Huo Yutong's arm, and peppered her with questions.

Surrounded by the crowd, Huo Yutong looked past them and found Ye Tianming standing behind her, watching her with a warm smile.

Their eyes met, and her cheeks quietly turned red.

Outside the crowd, Dai Huabin had arrived at some point.

He stood beneath a tree, glaring at the figure everyone surrounded in the middle of the training ground, then at the dazzling red Soul Ring beneath her feet. His face turned green, then pale.

Beside him, Zhu Lu and Cui Yajie were silent. Neither said a word.

"Level twenty-nine... Twin Martial Souls... a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring..."

Dai Huabin repeated the words in his mind again and again, an indescribable feeling lodged in his chest.

He had believed he lost the Freshman Assessment only because he had been careless.

He had trained desperately, waiting for the day he could settle the score.

But now he suddenly realized that the bastard he had always looked down on had climbed so high that even looking up at her felt difficult.

"Let's go!"

Dai Huabin gritted his teeth and turned away, his fist clenched inside his sleeve until his knuckles cracked.

He did not see that Huo Yutong, in the middle of the training ground, had not looked his way even once.

She no longer needed his resentment to prove herself.

That afternoon, word of Huo Yutong's transformation reached the highest ranks of Shrek Academy.

Yan Shaozhe, head of the Martial Soul Department, came to the Outer Court in person. The dean, who held such a lofty position at the academy, stood beside the training ground watching Huo Yutong summon her Second Martial Soul again and again, the light in his eyes growing brighter.

"Ice attribute... no, Ultimate Ice."

Yan Shaozhe murmured to himself.

"Twin Martial Souls. Her Second Martial Soul is a top-tier ice-type Beast Martial Soul, and her First Soul Ring is over a hundred thousand years old."

"Good. Excellent!!"

He was about to say more when a hearty laugh came from the distance.

"Dean Yan, it's been a long time."

Qian Duoduo, head of the Soul Tool Department, walked over with his hands behind his back and a broad smile on his face. Several teachers from his department followed him.

As he drew near, his gaze passed over Huo Yutong and Ye Tianming, and his smile widened.

"What brings you here too, Dean Qian?"

Yan Shaozhe frowned, a faint sense of foreboding rising in his heart.

"Why shouldn't I be here?"

Qian Duoduo laughed.

"Yutong and Tianming are both promising talents for our Soul Tool Department! They became Level 2 Soul Engineers in just eight months. Do you understand what kind of talent that takes, Dean Yan?"

"Level 2 Soul Engineers?"

Yan Shaozhe paused at the news.

Qian Duoduo immediately raised a finger and declared with certainty,

"Of course. With their talent, they'll become Level 9 Soul Engineers before they turn thirty!"

"Dean Yan, why don't you leave treasures like these to us instead of having your Martial Soul Department fight us for them?"

"Ridiculous!"

Yan Shaozhe's face darkened, and he gave a cold snort.

"Huo Yutong has Twin Martial Souls and Ultimate Ice. Her very first Soul Ring is a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, and she has a Torso Bone. She's a genius the Martial Soul Department might not see again in a thousand years!"

"Her battlefield should be the Soul Master arena, not inside those cold lumps of metal of yours."

"What's wrong with lumps of metal?"

Qian Duoduo's temper flared at once, and he spoke with open irritation.

"Without Soul Tools, how is the academy supposed to stand against the Sun Moon Empire?"

"I'm telling you, the Martial Soul Department is taking this child!"

The two deans argued until their faces were red in front of all the teachers and students. Neither would yield.

The teachers around them exchanged uneasy looks, but none dared step forward to intervene.

Huo Yutong was startled by the commotion too. She quietly edged closer to Ye Tianming.

"Brother Tianming, what... what's going on with them?"

Ye Tianming held back a laugh, leaned toward her ear, and lowered his voice.

"It's a good thing. The two deans are fighting over you."

"Fighting over me?"

Huo Yutong blinked, and her face flushed at once.

Neither side persuaded the other. That evening, a notice was delivered to both deans.

A Sea God Pavilion Meeting.

The Sea God Pavilion Meeting was held only twice a year, and each meeting concerned matters momentous enough to shake the academy.

This time, an exception had been made for a freshman who had been enrolled for less than a year.

The Sea God Pavilion stood atop the Golden Ancient Tree, deep within the academy.

Huo Yutong and Ye Tianming were brought there. Nearly every senior figure from both the Outer Court and the Inner Court had arrived.

Eight elders sat in a circle, with Qian Duoduo and Yan Shaozhe seated on either side. The atmosphere was solemn.

Yet an elderly man lay in the seat of honor.