Battle Plans! The Freshman Assessment Approached

Fortunately, Cao Jinxuan's second Soul Skill could affect Lu Yi for only a limited time.

To everyone else, Lu Yi broke free of his frozen state after just three or four seconds.

To Lu Yi himself, it felt several times longer—more than ten seconds.

Yet those brief seconds were enough for him to realize something.

Every Soul Master had a trick up their sleeve. When a fight was unavoidable, his first priority was not to counter each move as it came.

It was to deny his opponent the chance to make a move at all.

That might be difficult, but now that he had a goal, Lu Yi laughed with delight.

"Good! That's great, Cao!"

Lu Yi stepped forward and threw an arm around Cao Jinxuan's shoulders. "Your Soul Skill gave me one hell of a surprise!"

Cao Jinxuan had no idea what Lu Yi was thinking. He took it as praise for his ability and smiled sincerely.

Next came Lu Yi's spar with Zhou Sichen.

Lu Yi and Zhou Sichen had spent two months together day and night. They got along well, had never had a serious clash, and certainly had never fought.

Now, facing Lu Yi for the first time, Zhou Sichen dropped his usual cheeky grin and grew uncharacteristically serious.

He had seen Lu Yi's growth more closely than anyone and knew how terrifyingly fast he trained.

After all, Lu Yi had been six levels behind him when they enrolled. Now the gap had narrowed to two or three levels. Zhou Sichen couldn't afford to take him lightly.

There was no need to introduce themselves. They stood some distance apart, summoned their Martial Souls, and readied themselves.

Having learned from Cao Jinxuan's defeat the day before, Zhou Sichen had no intention of standing still to release a Soul Skill at the start.

The moment Cao Jinxuan announced the start, Zhou Sichen shifted his feet and broke into a quick run.

As expected, he changed direction in time to dodge Lu Yi's first attack.

A triumphant grin spread across Zhou Sichen's face.

"My turn!"

The Tome in Zhou Sichen's hands opened. A faint glow seeped from its pages, and his second Soul Ring lit up.

"Second Soul Skill: Blazing Flame Tiger, Attack!"

The Tome suddenly blazed crimson, bathing his face in red light. On its pages, the enormous tiger wreathed in flames seemed to come alive.

Just as the Blazing Flame Tiger was about to emerge, Lu Yi cast another Spell: "LigatusLibri!"

Snap!

The open Tome slammed shut under the Spell's influence. The Blazing Flame Tiger had barely poked its head out when the pages closed around it. It dissolved into a wisp of red smoke, then vanished without a trace.

Having a Soul Skill interrupted felt like a gun exploding in his hands at the height of a fight.

Zhou Sichen's face flushed scarlet. The Tome in his hands seemed glued shut; no matter what he did, he couldn't open it.

When he saw Lu Yi raise his hand again, he hurriedly threw both hands up.

"Wait, wait! I'm done!"

Lu Yi stopped in time. Zhou Sichen wiped the cold sweat from his brow, his expression troubled.

"What kind of bizarre Soul Skill was that?"

Cao Jinxuan, standing nearby, wanted to ask the same thing.

After returning yesterday, he had carefully gone over his fight with Lu Yi. He'd decided the whole problem lay in that brief confusion at the start.

After that, Lu Yi had tossed him around like a rag doll. Now Zhou Sichen's Tome had suddenly snapped shut.

Had Lu Yi shown three Soul Skills?

But he only had two Soul Rings!

Questions flashed through Cao Jinxuan's mind. Combined with Lu Yi's rapid progress of late, only one explanation could account for all these oddities.

So he absorbed a Soul Bone! No wonder, no wonder!

Joy and sorrow were not shared equally.

Zhou Sichen had lost without warning, but Cao Jinxuan was secretly delighted.

His confidence had taken a blow, and now he finally regained his peace of mind.

It wasn't that I was no good. Lu Yi had just played his trump card.

In answer to Zhou Sichen's question, Lu Yi said it was an application of Soul Power outside the body. It was no different from making an object float, only it demanded greater precision.

He could hardly say that the Spell he had just used wasn't even an attack.

It was an obscure Spell that magic professors placed on forbidden books to keep young wizards from picking up bad habits.

That would hurt Zhou Sichen's pride too much!

Ever since his fight with Wang Dong had shown him that Spells could affect Martial Souls, Lu Yi had been considering something.

If Spells could affect tool-type Martial Souls, then those Martial Souls could be treated as physical objects.

The tool-type Martial Souls of Douluo Continent came in countless forms. The Wizarding World also had plenty of Spells shelved for being too specialized.

After Zhou Sichen became his roommate, Lu Yi had casually combed through miscellaneous books for a Spell that could counter his Tome Martial Soul, just in case they ever fell out and Lu Yi ended up at a disadvantage.

With Electrolux's help, he had finally found a Spell designed specifically to seal books.

But he and Zhou Sichen had always gotten along, so he'd never had a chance to use it.

Today's spar had confirmed his theory.

Looks like learning a little bit of everything isn't a bad thing!

As Lu Yi pondered this, he could no longer keep the corners of his mouth down.

If he knew enough Spells, there would always be one suited to even the most troublesome opponent.

Half a month passed in a flash. The freshman assessment, which would test what the students had learned, finally arrived.

Under the immense pressure, some were excited and some worried. Others knew they had no hope, gave up outright, and started enjoying life.

Lu Yi was none of the above. He carried on as usual: training, studying, and assigning points when he could.

[Name: Lu Yi]

[Title: Advanced Wizarding Apprentice]

[Exclusive Ability: Magic Library]

[Charms (Advanced Apprentice): Two Spells can be upgraded. Select to view mastered Spells.]

[Potions (Beginner): Select to view mastered Potions.]

[Dark Magic and Defense (Advanced Apprentice): Spells available for upgrade. Select to view mastered Spells.]

[Transfiguration (Beginner)]

[Magic Items: Wand (Soulbound)]

Since Lu Yi had begun studying fifth-year Spells, his title had changed to Advanced Wizarding Apprentice. His Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts had also reached Advanced Apprentice level.

During the frequent combat training of late, Lu Yi had cast several Spells perfectly.

He had upgraded the Spells whose paths were clear. With a few new ones, though, he had been unsure and had chosen to observe them longer.

Now that the assessment was close, Lu Yi fully understood the new Spells' properties and had found the paths with the most potential. It was time to upgrade them.

[Confundus Charm can be upgraded. Credits: 2]

[Additional Casting Speed: 0 (+0%)]

[Additional Suggestive Strength: 0 (+0%)]

[Additional Mental Confusion: 0 (+0%)]

Mental suggestion did exactly what its name implied: it could make a target follow his instructions, even turn them into a puppet.

Unlike the Imperius Curse, however, even a powerful Confundus Charm worked only briefly and did no harm to the soul. The stronger a target's mind, the less it affected them.

Mental confusion, meanwhile, left people unsure what they were doing and could even make them forget the most familiar things.

Cao Jinxuan had been so confused that he had even forgotten the incantation for his own Soul Skill.

Comparing the two, Lu Yi chose to strengthen suggestion, which had the higher potential.

[Strength of Mental Suggestion: 0 (+0%) → Strength of Mental Suggestion: 2 (+40%)]