Xiao Xiao unleashed: if you burst, so will I

After the draw, Wang Dong'er and her teammates were matched against three boys from Freshman Class Two.

The three were opponents they had faced in their previous lives: Xie Huanyue, Luo Tianlong, and Luo Tianba.

Xie Huanyue was exceptionally tall, standing a full head above Wang Dong'er and the others. He was at least 1.7 meters tall.

He was also powerfully built, standing there like a mountain.

Wang Dong'er glanced at Huo Yuhao. They were both twelve, yet the difference was far too great.

"Both sides, get ready."

"Begin!"

The three opponents released their martial souls.

"You're kidding! Another three-ring Soul Master?" Xiao Xiao exclaimed.

There were only three three-ring Soul Elders in total, and they had already encountered two.

"We'd have to face them sooner or later anyway. No matter who our opponents are, we can win." Wang Dong'er was brimming with confidence.

If all else failed, they could use their Martial Soul Fusion Skill. Never mind a Soul Elder—even a Soul Ancestor would be brought to their knees.

After releasing his martial soul, Xie Huanyue's body swelled again, nearly reaching two meters in height.

Luo Tianlong and Luo Tianba hid behind Xie Huanyue, using his massive body to shield themselves.

It was a decent way to hide from sight, but it was useless against Wang Dong'er and her teammates.

Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection revealed their movements and positions with perfect clarity.

"I'll go first!"

Wang Dong'er spread her wings and charged straight at them.

Seeing this, Xie Huanyue's first soul ring lit up beside him.

He leaped into the air, his body turning into a gigantic ball of flesh that hurtled toward Huo Yuhao and the others.

Wang Dong'er chose to dodge rather than intercept him. Her targets were Luo Tianlong and Luo Tianba.

Xiao Xiao sent the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron forward while unleashing her second soul skill, Cauldron's Tremor, using all her strength to stop Xie Huanyue.

Wang Dong'er attacked the Luo brothers.

The two were quite fast and worked seamlessly together. Even with Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection supporting her, Wang Dong'er couldn't defeat them right away.

The Luo brothers' martial souls were mantises. In terms of martial soul types, they could be considered Wang Dong'er's natural enemies, but their martial souls were on completely different levels.

During the fight, Wang Dong'er seized an opening and unleashed Butterfly God's Light, knocking them to the ground.

The Luo brothers weren't as strong as she had imagined. After knocking them both down, Wang Dong'er turned back to attack Xie Huanyue.

Huo Yuhao had already used Spiritual Shock once to stop Xie Huanyue.

Perhaps because of his unusual martial soul, however, it hadn't been very effective against him.

The second soul ring behind Xie Huanyue lit up. His arm grew longer and larger, and he swung it at Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao hurriedly used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to dodge.

The fist smashed into the ground, making it shake several times.

"What terrifying strength!"

Xie Huanyue's body turned into a ball of flesh again, and he rolled toward Xiao Xiao.

He had already noticed that Xiao Xiao was the slowest of the three.

Xiao Xiao hurriedly split the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron into three to block him.

Yet Xie Huanyue knocked the three great cauldrons aside one after another.

Huo Yuhao had no choice but to use Spiritual Shock again, stopping Xie Huanyue for a brief moment.

Xiao Xiao also hurriedly switched to her Nine-Phoenix Ceremonial Flute martial soul and used a soul skill to slow Xie Huanyue down.

Their desperate efforts to hold him back finally bought Wang Dong'er enough time to fly back.

Wang Dong'er scooped Xiao Xiao up with one arm and carried her into the air.

"Xiao Xiao, can you hold him in place for a little while?"

"Yes. What are you planning to do?"

"As long as you can hold him down for me, I can finish him off."

"All right. Put me down."

Wang Dong'er set Xiao Xiao down beside Huo Yuhao.

"Yuhao, lend me your soul power."

"No problem."

Huo Yuhao took Wang Dong'er's hand.

Through their recent cultivation, Wang Dong'er had discovered another way to use their Haodong Power.

Huo Yuhao's soul power and hers could be lent to each other for a short time.

Huo Yuhao lent all his soul power to Wang Dong'er, then jumped off the Battle Platform of his own accord.

Without any soul power, he would only become a burden if he stayed on the platform.

At the same time, Xiao Xiao transformed the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron into one enormous cauldron and hurled it at Xie Huanyue.

Xie Huanyue raised both hands to hold off the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron.

"Nation's Heavy Treasure, Cauldron's Shockwave!"

Both of Xiao Xiao's soul rings lit up at once, allowing the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron to unleash unprecedented power.

Xie Huanyue was pinned beneath the enormous cauldron, unable to move.

"Hurry! I can only hold him for ten seconds!"

"That's enough!"

Wang Dong'er gathered all her own soul power and Huo Yuhao's together.

The two soul rings behind her also lit up simultaneously.

Wang Dong'er rose into the air, dazzling light radiating from her wings. She layered Butterfly God's Light onto Wing Guillotine.

"Wings of Light!"

Wang Dong'er shot toward Xie Huanyue at incredible speed. Before he could break free, she slashed her luminous wings into his body.

Xie Huanyue took a heavy blow. His body rapidly shrank as though it were leaking air, and he was sent flying.

The assessment teacher immediately intervened and caught Xie Huanyue.

This also meant that Xie Huanyue was no longer eligible to continue fighting.

"Huo Yuhao's team wins!"

"We won!"

The three gathered below the Battle Platform and hugged one another, overjoyed.

This battle had been far too grueling. A Soul Elder's power really was difficult to handle.

Of course, if Wang Dong'er and Huo Yuhao had used their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, that move alone could have defeated him instantly.

But their Martial Soul Fusion Skill was a trump card they couldn't use lightly.

If they used it today, they wouldn't be able to use it tomorrow.

"Wang Dong, Yuhao, I probably won't be much help in this afternoon's fight," Xiao Xiao said apologetically, her face deathly pale.

The Cauldron's Shockwave she had just used to restrain Xie Huanyue wasn't easy to execute. It had drained her almost as much as a Martial Soul Fusion Skill would have.

"All right. Leave this afternoon to Yuhao and me."

"Wang Dong, will you be okay? That last attack must have drained you quite a bit too," Huo Yuhao asked worriedly.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine. The two of us will spend the midday break cultivating properly."

Huo Yuhao nodded. With the aid of Haodong Power, their soul power could recover a little faster.

When it was time for the afternoon battle, Huo Yuhao went up to draw lots.

Their luck was fairly good this time. They hadn't drawn the team with the other Soul Elder, or this fight would probably have been very difficult.

Their opponents this time were a team from Freshman Class Nine, that class's last remaining team.

If they lost this match too, their entire class would be eliminated. Still, having one team reach the final eight was already quite an achievement.

Huo Yuhao devoted himself entirely to supporting Wang Dong'er, while Wang Dong'er went all out on the attack.

Through their seamless cooperation, they managed to eliminate all three opponents, though not without a few close calls.

Their team successfully advanced to the semifinals.

Wang Dong'er knew that Huo Yuhao was about to face an opponent he didn't want to face.