"Are you saying Wang Dong and I also have a Martial Soul Fusion Skill?" Huo Yuhao asked in confusion.
"That's not quite how it works." Wang Yan rubbed his chin in frustration. "Generally speaking, complete compatibility between martial souls is directly related to their inherent nature, such as identical martial souls or two martial souls with deep-rooted ties."
"But Spirit Eyes and the Light Goddess Butterfly... you couldn't connect those two with an eight-foot pole."
"Teacher Wang, you're saying Huo Yuhao's martial soul and mine are completely compatible?" Wang Dong placed particular emphasis on "completely."
"I've never seen two martial souls with such good compatibility as yours. Even between relatives, soul power becomes sluggish when circulating outside its owner's body. But yours flows without any obstruction, as though you were one person."
"In any case, anything that speeds up your cultivation is a good thing. If you notice anything else unusual later, report it to me promptly."
Huo Yuhao looked very excited. This meant his cultivation could progress even faster. Wang Dong, however, seemed unenthusiastic and went back alone without even eating dinner.
"Idiot, do you know what complete compatibility means?" A lazy voice rang out in his mind.
"Brother Sky Dream." Huo Yuhao was delighted. "Isn't this a good thing?"
"Let me ask you: what's your martial soul?"
"Spirit Eyes." Huo Yuhao had no idea what he meant.
Tian Meng nearly choked. "You really have forgotten about me! I've already bestowed an ice soul upon your second martial soul. It's only missing an outward manifestation. You genuinely have two martial souls."
"Ah..." Huo Yuhao realized something.
"What does complete compatibility mean? How could one martial soul be compatible with two martial souls at once? That little girl clearly has two martial souls as well!"
"Ah!" Huo Yuhao was astonished. So Wang Dong had been hiding a secret like that. Didn't that mean their team had three people with twin martial souls?
With that, Huo Yuhao asked eagerly, "Then Brother Xuan..."
"He only has one martial soul," Tian Meng said ruefully. "That kid is downright uncanny, though, and there's a very good chance it'll develop into ultimate lightning. In terms of potential alone, he's more or less on par with you two."
"Ultimate lightning?" Huo Yuhao had encountered another unfamiliar term.
"All right, all right, you'll find out when the time comes. I'm going to get some sleep." Tian Meng couldn't be bothered to explain and returned to dreaming through the ages in Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness.
The next day, the Freshmen Assessment Tournament reached the semifinals.
Qi Xuan's team vs. Xie Huanyue's team.
Wang Dong seemed to have returned to normal, even finding the mood to joke around with them.
They had encountered their strongest opponents since entering the tournament.
Xie Huanyue, defense system martial soul: Rubber Elephant, level thirty-one Soul Elder.
Cui Yajie, control system martial soul: Nine-Tailed Fox, level twenty-eight Soul Grandmaster.
Zhou Sichen, power attack system martial soul: Tome, level twenty-seven Soul Grandmaster.
Cao Jinxuan, control system martial soul: Time Fleeting Bell, level twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster.
This was also their first time facing an opponent whose level exceeded Qi Xuan's and had reached the Soul Elder rank.
Huo Yuhao secretly clenched his fists. He had only been level fifteen three months ago, while Xie Huanyue's soul power level was already a full twice that!
In truth, Xie Huanyue's side was under considerable pressure too. Thanks to Qi Xuan's absurd performance in the previous matches, quite a few people were already discussing whether Xie Huanyue, the strongest defense system Soul Master among the freshmen, could withstand him.
Huo Yuhao had already quietly activated Spiritual Detection, but to his surprise, when his spiritual power reached the area around Xie Huanyue, it couldn't penetrate even an inch farther.
It was as though his fat had blocked it outside.
A top-tier defense system martial soul truly lived up to its name.
Though both were defense system Soul Masters, Xie Huanyue gave Qi Xuan the impression that he was even stronger than Shi Meng.
After all, Xie Huanyue was a genuine genius.
Then he deserved the respect due to a genius.
For the first time, Qi Xuan unleashed his soul skill with such solemn focus.
Five Thunders Orthodox Method · Crimson Palace Thunder Transformation · Lightning Cascade!
This was another way to use Crimson Palace Thunder. It abandoned explosive attacks in favor of a dense web of lightning, dealing damage while also inflicting a paralyzing control effect.
When Qi Xuan's punch came hurtling toward him, Xie Huanyue didn't dare take it lightly. He unleashed his first soul skill, and his already enormous body expanded further. This time, he became perfectly round, like an inflating balloon.
Thanks to his thick fat and the tremendous defense his martial soul granted him, he could neutralize most physical attacks by dispersing their force.
Under normal circumstances, there were only two ways to break through his defenses-ultimate sharpness ("ultimate" here was an adjective, not the ultimate metal attribute), or extremely high or low temperatures.
Wang Dong did have a way, but her finishing move took forever to prepare and would drain all her soul power, so Qi Xuan remained responsible for the main attack.
When Qi Xuan's fist struck Xie Huanyue's body, he felt a strange vibration pass through it.
The muscles across Xie Huanyue's body rippled in overlapping waves, forcibly redirecting the force elsewhere and reducing the damage from Qi Xuan's punch.
It was force dissipation, force dissipation of the utmost purity.
Xie Huanyue's technique had something of overcoming hardness with softness about it, indirectly demonstrating where the Rubber Elephant surpassed the Rock Rhino.
Excessive rigidity invited fracture; the harder an object was, the more completely it shattered when broken.
This was also the first time anyone had taken Qi Xuan's punch head-on.
After his thick, plump body bounced across the ground, Xie Huanyue sprang back up and beckoned to Qi Xuan:
"Everyone says you're the strongest power attack system Soul Master among the freshmen, but you didn't even break through my defenses just now. Haven't you eaten?"
Qi Xuan ignored the taunt. Instead, an excited smile spread across his face. "It's wonderful that you can take such a beating. After all these years, I can finally..."
"...fight to my heart's content."
Elsewhere.
Zhou Sichen's martial soul, the Tome, was very unusual. In theory, it could absorb any soul skill, but he dreamed of becoming a power attacker, so both his soul skills were power attack types.
He was also a rare summoning-type power attack Soul Master.
As his soul rings flashed, a bear and a tiger appeared in front of him and lunged toward Huo Yuhao and the other two.
After Cui Yajie released her martial soul, she looked as though she had aged three or four years. Two tails appeared behind her, and every movement brimmed with alluring charm.
She even cast Huo Yuhao a flirtatious glance.
But concealed within it was her first soul skill, Charm!
Huo Yuhao was already sensitive to spiritual attacks. With the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm presiding over his Sea of Consciousness as well, he immediately mobilized his spiritual power and blocked the attack.
An illusory silver clock appeared above Cao Jinxuan's head. It stood roughly half a meter tall, with a round clock face inside and a pendulum engraved with golden patterns swaying gently below.
Huo Yuhao stepped forward and whispered into Wang Dong's ear, "Work with me. Let's take Zhou Sichen out in one hit first."
His breath tickled Wang Dong, and she raised her shoulder to rub against her neck. "Keep your distance."
Nevertheless, she held out her hand to Huo Yuhao.
Holding Wang Dong's fair, soft hand, Huo Yuhao cleared his mind of distractions and circulated Haodong Power at full strength.
Soul Impact!
Huo Yuhao held nothing back. This move drained well over half his spiritual power.
"Pfft." Zhou Sichen felt as though a massive hammer had struck his head. Blood flowed from his mouth and nose, and with a muffled groan, he began to topple to the ground.
Just as they were about to eliminate one opponent, Cao Jinxuan, who seemed to have been prepared all along, suddenly lit up his second soul ring.
Then, before the astonished eyes of Huo Yuhao and his two teammates, Zhou Sichen, who had already collapsed unconscious, slowly stood back up.
Before you continue