Winning streak

"You three really do play dirty! You could have settled it with a couple of punches, but you just had to be this nasty about it. Aren't you afraid of leaving those kids scarred for life?" The crowd parted on its own, and a stunning woman in red walked up behind Jiang Hai and his two friends. She patted Jiang Hai on the shoulder and gave him a disdainful look.

"Xiaotao!" Chen Yong and Sun Yunhai greeted her obediently when they saw her.

They had no choice but to behave. The woman in red was none other than Ma Xiaotao. Since she relied on Jiang Hai's martial soul to suppress her evil fire, she naturally had plenty of contact with his friends. Both Chen Yong and Sun Yunhai had witnessed how terrifying she could be.

Ma Xiaotao nodded, then looked at Sun Yunhai. "Little Yunhai, I didn't expect those soft, fluffy clouds of yours to perform so well. But today's devious ideas definitely weren't yours, were they? You're such an honest boy!"

As she spoke, Ma Xiaotao glanced at Jiang Hai. The answer went without saying.

"Senior, that's slander!" Jiang Hai protested.

Ma Xiaotao glared at Jiang Hai. "Do you dare say you weren't the one who came up with today's devious ideas?"

Jiang Hai laughed awkwardly. "That's called tactics. How can you call a scholar's work devious? The highest form of warfare is to defeat the enemy's plans!"

"The highest form of warfare is to defeat the enemy's plans? You know military strategy too?" A trace of curiosity appeared on Ma Xiaotao's face. Then she shook her head. "Never mind. Today's matches are over, so come with me. Little Yunhai, Little Dumb Bear, you two can go on ahead!"

"Okay! See you, Boss! See you, Xiaotao!" Chen Yong and Sun Yunhai said at once.

Little Dumb Bear referred to Chen Yong. The big, strapping boy had gained that nickname after a single sparring match with Ma Xiaotao!

"Let's begin!" The two of them reached the shore of Sea God Lake, where a breeze carrying moist air brushed over them, and Ma Xiaotao spoke.

"Senior, didn't you say you wouldn't come looking for me for the next few days?" Jiang Hai asked curiously.

"But I can't live without you anymore. What am I supposed to do?" Ma Xiaotao looked utterly pitiful, her clear, autumn-water eyes brimming with moisture like a young maiden who had fallen in love. Resting a hand on Jiang Hai's shoulder, she asked plaintively, "Don't you like me anymore?"

If not for the steadily increasing pressure on his shoulder, Jiang Hai might actually have felt like a heartless lover. He said helplessly, "All right, all right. Stop acting, Senior. You think I don't know you? Let's begin!"

As he spoke, Jiang Hai summoned his Bronze Coffin martial soul. Its lid opened, revealing the Golden Coffin inside!

Ma Xiaotao threw herself into her performance and said with a beaming smile, "I knew my dear junior wouldn't let me down!"

Ma Xiaotao stepped into the Bronze Coffin. Patterns appeared across its surface, and the evil fire within her seemed to have encountered its natural predator, slowly being purified by the coffin. The sensation was truly comfortable.

Ever since her martial soul awakening, Ma Xiaotao had suffered constant torment from her evil fire. Only inside Jiang Hai's Bronze Coffin was she free of that feeling, and she had come to enjoy cultivating inside it.

Originally, Ma Xiaotao had not intended to interrupt Jiang Hai during his freshman assessment. But that afternoon, she had seen him barely lift a finger while Sun Yunhai alone dealt with every opponent. The others had scarcely expended anything, so she could no longer resist.

The Golden Coffin sealed shut, and the Bronze Coffin sank to the bottom of Sea God Lake. There was no more secluded place to cultivate. Jiang Hai also sat cross-legged inside the Bronze Coffin and began cultivating his soul power.

Although his soul power had reached level 20 long ago, that did not prevent his current cultivation from furthering his progress. Once he obtained his second soul ring, all the soul power he had accumulated would become part of his cultivation.

Ma Xiaotao was already a Soul Sage. With her help, Jiang Hai's strength and intelligence were growing rapidly, and his soul power cultivation was advancing a thousand miles a day, at an unimaginably swift pace.

Even an Evil Soul Master probably couldn't cultivate any faster than this!

If the abilities of my Bronze Coffin martial soul ever leaked out, everyone would probably take me for an Evil Soul Master! Jiang Hai thought.

But Jiang Hai did not care. The evil of an Evil Soul Master lay not in the martial soul, but in the heart. An upright heart made one righteous; an evil heart made one wicked.

So what if it's an Evil Soul Master's martial soul? As long as my conscience is clear, that's enough!

The second day of the assessment began. The teams in the Forty-Ninth District were not particularly strong. Almost everyone was merely a Soul Master, without a single Soul Grandmaster above level 20 among them. Jun Jian's team had already been one of the strongest teams they had faced.

Moreover, perhaps because all three of them had registered as support system Soul Masters, nearly every team they faced included a support system Soul Master.

Without question, Jiang Hai's team won all four matches that day, bringing their record to five wins in five matches.

That day, Jiang Hai and his friends also demonstrated the art of combat to Fu Chunfeng, the proctor of the Forty-Ninth District, and its contestants, teaching them just how treacherous the human heart could be.

Fu Chunfeng had never seen anyone actually impersonate a proctor before. However wary the contestants might be, a proctor represented Shrek Academy, after all. Unless something unusual happened, who would question a proctor's decision?

And that was only one of their outrageous tricks. They used illusions to alter the arena's boundaries, spoke not a single truthful word, and rolled out one scheme after another.

Over the course of the day's matches, aside from testing the limits of what their teacher and fellow contestants could endure, the three barely revealed any of their actual strength.

This also left Luo Hong, who was observing their performance, deeply frustrated. All day, aside from seeing Sun Yunhai's Cloud Illusion Technique become increasingly masterful and impossible to trace, she had not even seen the other two boys' martial souls. How was she supposed to report to her superiors?

After looking over the list of teams competing in the Forty-Ninth District, Luo Hong shook her head. The teams in this district did seem a little weak.

But that was normal. The allocation of areas for Shrek Academy's freshman assessment appeared random, yet there was actually a degree of grouping involved. Generally, teams with more support system Soul Masters mostly faced other support system teams, while those with more control system members faced teams with a similar composition. Only this way could they more fairly select students with greater talent and strength.

Forcing teams composed mainly of power attack system students to fight teams composed mainly of support system students would not be fair either!

Still, things would improve tomorrow!

Luo Hong glanced at a dispirited team nearby. The Forty-Ninth District really was a little weak; one team had failed to win even a single match. With today's matches over, they would be eliminated outright. Tomorrow, stronger teams would face Jiang Hai and his friends. Hopefully, those opponents would force them to reveal their true strength!

After the matches ended, all three were in good spirits. Ma Xiaotao also appeared outside the competition grounds right on time. Curling her lip, she said, "You three really keep lowering the bottom line of what I expect from you. Keep this up, and sooner or later you're going to get beaten up!"

Ma Xiaotao had been following their matches throughout, so she knew everything that had happened. "Tomorrow, all teams with five consecutive losses will be eliminated, and the remaining teams will draw lots again. You might run into some strong teams. I asked around, and this year's freshmen are quite impressive. Aside from you freaks, three students reached Soul Elder before turning twelve. One of them is even on a support system Soul Master team. You might well run into them tomorrow, so be careful. Don't capsize in a gutter."

For boys like Chen Yong and Sun Yunhai, obtaining a second soul ring before turning twelve already placed them among the finest geniuses. Reaching above level 30 before twelve meant their talent was no worse than that of the legendary Shrek Seven Devils. Of course, their circumstances differed. The Shrek Seven Devils had initially cultivated through their own talent, whereas the current students from noble families had access to all manner of heavenly treasures from childhood, which naturally accelerated their soul power cultivation. Items such as Soul Ascension Pills and Mystic Water Pills were expensive, but obtaining them was not beyond some of the greatest families.

Regardless, there was an enormous difference in strength between three rings and two. Advancing from Soul Grandmaster to Soul Elder also brought a small leap in a Soul Master's strength.

In a one-on-one fight, a Soul Elder with a thousand-year third soul ring rarely lost to a Soul Master with only one or two rings.

Jiang Hai smiled calmly. "Even if we lose, it's no big deal. We'll just win it back later. Not many teams can stay undefeated in this group round-robin anyway. Eight or nine wins should be enough to get us into the next round. Who knows? When the ranking matches come around, the teams with Soul Elders might run into each other, batter each other senseless, and let someone else reap the rewards. We'll leave it to fate. Besides, Senior, we're undefeated in our group, right? And a team with a Soul Elder definitely won't finish second in its group. So there shouldn't be any chance of us meeting them during the round-robin stage!"

"I'm not lying to you," Ma Xiaotao said. "Some areas will be dissolved during the freshman assessment. Since yours is the weakest, there's a good chance it'll be dissolved. So they won't be coming to your area to challenge you. You'll be reassigned to other areas!"

Ma Xiaotao's information was certainly accurate. Indeed, in the Forty-Ninth District, only their team and Jun Jian's team were somewhat strong. The other teams really were a little weak. One unlucky team had even suffered five straight losses and was headed straight home. There would be no more easy pickings for their bounty!

Although Jiang Hai was not afraid of a bunch of youngsters who had only just reached Soul Elder, running into them so early was still rather annoying. He had wanted to slack off a little longer and coast into a high ranking.

"All right, Yunhai. You've used up quite a bit today. Go back and get some proper rest so you're ready for tomorrow's matches. Soul Elders or not, they're still just a bunch of little kids. You'll still be the one putting on the show tomorrow!" Jiang Hai said with a smile.

Ma Xiaotao gave Jiang Hai a peculiar look. "You're not planning more outrageous tricks tomorrow, are you?"

"Those are called tactics!" Jiang Hai said solemnly.