Before Huo Yuhao could keep dwelling on these stray thoughts, Wang Yan spoke.
"Both sides, take your positions. You may begin once I announce the start. Remember to keep things within bounds."
No one answered Wang Yan aloud. They all silently walked toward opposite sides of the arena in the Assessment Area.
At this stage of the competition, their mindsets had changed again. Most had already won four or five of their ten matches, which meant they already had half a foot inside Shrek.
The real goal was to see how far that stepping stone could carry them—whether they would remain at the entrance or venture farther inside.
For the vast majority of the Outer Court's new students, this was the more important matter. They were all outstanding talents. What occupied their minds was how to go farther, not such a basic question as how to stay here.
Huang Chutian's team was particularly cautious, because they all knew Huo Yuhao's fearsome reputation. In little more than a day, his name had spread among all the new students.
Along with it, word of his confrontation with Zhou Yi had spread too.
No new student had so little to do that they would bitch about Huo Yuhao disrespecting his elders. What really had their balls in a knot was the appearance of a boss-level monster like him among the new students.
Huang Chutian and his two teammates watched Huo Yuhao, unable to hide the wariness in their eyes. Huo Yuhao kept watching the glances exchanged between Huang Chutian and the two girls, and couldn't help chuckling inwardly.
"Both sides, ready."
Wang Yan raised his hand as though this were some terribly formal competition, then abruptly dropped it while calling out the command to begin.
The next instant, both sides charged toward each other. As they moved, everyone except Huo Yuhao released their martial souls.
Huang Chutian slammed his fists together in front of his chest. Immediately afterward, his frame swelled, his bulging muscles bursting his school uniform apart.
Two Yellow Soul Rings rose beneath Huang Chutian's feet as he underwent Martial Soul Possession.
At the same time, the sisters Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo completed their martial soul possession as well, their hair shining with dazzling light.
Compared with the teams in the previous five matches, which generally had one two-ring soul master dragging along two one-ring teammates, a team of three two-ring soul masters was certainly a high-end lineup.
Still, having run into Huo Yuhao, this was simply their fate. Even so, there was a silver lining to their misfortune.
This was merely one game in their "Ten Games at Danghu." Although losing a round would have an impact, it was no great problem, nor was it irreparable.
Precisely because of that, most of the wariness in Huang Chutian and his teammates' eyes had faded by the time they charged toward Huo Yuhao's team.
During their advance, Lan Susu actually took the lead, reaching Huo Yuhao first.
She swept straight past Huang Chutian, who was plainly a close-range power attack system fighter. Just as Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao were about to close in beside Huo Yuhao, Lan Susu made her move.
She abruptly whipped her flowing hair toward Huo Yuhao, aiming straight for his eyes.
Huo Yuhao immediately turned sideways to dodge, but the hair swept toward him with tremendous speed, like a horsetail whisk. He instantly reached out to seize the strands.
Lan Susu had thrown herself into the game with this attack. The instant Huo Yuhao reached for her hair, she suddenly thrust out her leg, kicking toward his abdomen like a rabbit striking an eagle.
But she had overestimated herself and underestimated Huo Yuhao. Her kick did not disrupt him in the slightest. Instead, he followed the motion and got a hand behind her neck.
Alarm shot through Lan Susu's heart. Then Huo Yuhao caught the foot she had kicked at him, and she felt a scorching heat spread from her ankle, making her body go weak despite herself.
Huo Yuhao paid no attention to that. He lifted Lan Susu straight up and hurled her toward Lan Luoluo, who was also closing in. Seeing her older sister flying toward her, Lan Luoluo hurriedly reached out to catch her.
That effectively left Huang Chutian, who had been anchoring their formation, hung out to dry. He was instantly exposed to attacks from all three members of Huo Yuhao's team.
Seeing attacks coming from three directions, Huang Chutian hurriedly dodged to one side, prioritizing Huo Yuhao's heavy punch while doing his best to block the Soul-Suppressing Cauldron Xiao Xiao had hurled at him.
As for Wang Dong's Wing Guillotine, Huang Chutian freed one hand and smashed it straight toward the blade, striking forcefully as though to prove his pride as a power attack system soul master.
Huang Chutian did have some personal skill. Even under a three-sided assault like this, he could barely hold his own and still had enough strength to fight back.
Though that also had something to do with Huo Yuhao not using his martial soul.
But the instant his fists truly met the Wing Guillotine, a metallic clang rang out, and Huang Chutian's expression changed.
The strength of his Great Strength Divine Ape martial soul lay in his hands. Yet the moment he clashed with Wang Dong's Wing Guillotine, he could feel that continuing to meet it head-on would inevitably injure them.
Almost at the same instant Huang Chutian retreated, Wang Dong changed course and charged toward Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo.
While Wang Dong was flying toward them, Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo had already clasped hands. Although Huo Yuhao had restrained Lan Susu, he had not struck her hard, so the sisters could still fight.
A blue net of hair flew toward Wang Dong, trying to trap her like a butterfly in a net.
Wang Dong showed no fear. Instead, she swung her Wing Guillotine and swiftly shredded the hair net.
By then, Wang Dong had already flown right up to them, leaving them no time to launch another hair net.
This soul skill required a certain distance to unleash its greatest power. At this range, it was even less capable of stopping Wang Dong.
The sisters exchanged a glance, then embraced, much to the astonishment of everyone except Huo Yuhao—including Huang Chutian.
Although Wang Dong came from a distinguished background, her horizons were so limited that even a Soul Ascension Pill could send her over the moon. Naturally, recognizing a martial soul fusion skill was a stretch for her, and she looked at the Lan sisters in utter bewilderment.
It rather resembled a villainous boss watching the heroes leisurely switch to a flashback while charging up their move.
The next instant, a deep blue halo radiated from both sisters at once, enveloping their bodies and briefly obscuring them from view.
At that moment, Huo Yuhao concealed his presence and slipped out of sight behind the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron.
Meanwhile, the hair behind the sisters' heads rose together and turned a translucent, crystalline blue. A hair net resembling a crystal creation formed above them and swept toward Wang Dong.
Wang Dong slashed her Wing Guillotine at the hair net, but this time, it failed to cut cleanly through. Instead, it was as though she had struck an incredibly resilient rope, and her Wing Guillotine was instantly bounced away.
As the hair net enveloped her, Wang Dong found even breathing difficult. It was as though the net were some terrifying domain, and she felt the circulation of her soul power grow sluggish as well.
Just then, Wang Dong's eyes widened, and her body relaxed.
Behind Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo, Huo Yuhao had somehow crept up behind the two girls. Meanwhile, Huang Chutian was still busy playing with Xiao Xiao's three Soul-Suppressing Cauldrons.
Thanks to Huo Yuhao's "pointers," Xiao Xiao had not let her desire to win go to her head this time, and had not added a hundred-year soul ring to her Nine Phoenixes in Attendance Flute martial soul.
Otherwise, Huang Chutian would certainly have been in an even sorrier state. Still, this was enough.
Huo Yuhao lifted Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo, one in each hand. His fingers gripped the girls' Dazhui acupoints, instantly halting their soul power.
As the girls lost control of their soul power, their martial soul fusion skill vanished with it.
"You've lost."
Huo Yuhao spoke to the two girls, then tossed them toward the referee standing to one side.
Wang Dong gave Huo Yuhao a thumbs-up, then shouted at Huang Chutian.
"Just surrender, Huang Chutian! You're the only one left—what's the point of carrying on?"
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