"Oh no!"
The proctor darted into the arena, but he was still too late. Xie Huanyue had already fallen unconscious from his injuries, and judging by the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, they were far from light.
Up on the viewing platform, the teachers fell silent. They had completely forgotten the other matches, whether finished or still underway.
The individual strength of everyone on Huo Yuhao's and Xie Huanyue's teams amounted to little in their eyes. Anyone qualified to teach at Shrek Academy had to be at least a Six-Ring Soul Emperor.
What baffled them, however, was that none of them could tell how Xie Huanyue had been injured.
A greasy hand helped lift Xie Huanyue's unconscious body off the ground. It belonged to Xuan Zi, who had somehow appeared in the arena after watching from the stands.
After checking Xie Huanyue's condition, Xuan Zi took a bite of the chicken leg in his hand and said calmly, "Nothing serious. This boy knew exactly how far to go. Xie Huanyue's internal organs merely suffered a little shock."
Xuan Zi handed Xie Huanyue over to the homeroom teacher of Freshman Class Two, then gave Huo Yuhao a meaningful look.
"A move hidden within a move, victory through Hidden Force. Not bad. You won this match."
With that, Xuan Zi walked straight out of the assessment grounds.
Huo Yuhao thought he faintly heard Xuan Zi murmur two words.
"What a shame..."
With Xuan Zi's approval, the referee awarded the victory to Huo Yuhao's team, even though Huo Yuhao had somewhat violated the rules by injuring Xie Huanyue.
Meanwhile, on the viewing platform, Du Weilun, the dean of the Outer Academy's Martial Soul Department, approached Mu Jin, whose face was filled with satisfaction. "Teacher Mu Jin, your teaching has produced excellent results. Submit those two girls' names. I believe they qualify to become core disciples of the Outer Academy."
Mu Jin froze at his words and hastily asked, "Director Du, why only two? Could it be..."
Looking down at Huo Yuhao, Du Weilun shook his head regretfully. "His combat ability certainly exceeded my expectations, but his soul power cultivation is still too weak. He must be one of those rare mental-attribute Soul Masters, right? Have you considered how few mental-attribute soul beasts there are? How much effort would we have to expend to nurture him?"
As dean of the Martial Soul Department, he possessed not only formidable strength but also an exceptionally seasoned eye. Even teachers like them could only marvel at Huo Yuhao's close-combat techniques, but those were not enough to compensate for his poor cultivation talent.
Moreover, mental-attribute soul beasts were exceedingly rare, and powerful ones rarer still. Under such circumstances, Huo Yuhao's chances of becoming a powerful Soul Master were naturally even slimmer.
Sea God Island, beside the lake.
"Xuan Zi, what did you think of Huo Yuhao's performance in today's battle?" Wang Yan stood beside Xuan Zi and asked quietly.
Xuan Zi truly lived up to his reputation as the number-one hater. Who knew whose chicken coop he had raided? After polishing off his chicken leg, he now had a chicken wing dangling from his mouth.
At Wang Yan's question, Xuan Zi pondered briefly before shaking his head again.
"Those two youngsters from the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect are promising. As for the youngster with the body martial soul you mentioned... I cannot deny that his combat ability surprised me, even causing me to misjudge the situation. Unfortunately, his first soul ring is only ten-year level. That is a flaw nothing can remedy."
Wang Yan froze, then hurriedly said, "But Xuan Zi, he has a body martial soul!"
Xuan Zi shook his head once more and said evenly, "You should know what matters most for a body martial soul: mutation, or rather, a second awakening. Yet during today's match, when he faced a Soul Elder whose cultivation far surpassed his own, his martial soul showed no sign of mutation. In other words, he lacks the very advantage a body martial soul should provide."
"Besides, he is on the older side, his soul power is insufficient, and his first soul ring is only ten-year level. Even if he has some insights into close combat, he still isn't what I'm looking for. Do you understand?"
Still unwilling to give up, Wang Yan said, "But..."
"Enough. No more buts. My mind is made up. Those two youngsters from the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect can be considered as candidates. As for Huo Yuhao, forget him. He isn't worth nurturing as a core disciple."
With that, Xuan Zi stood up and staggered toward the Inner Academy in a drunken haze, alternating between mouthfuls of wine and meat.
Wang Yan could not help sighing as he remained where he was. Although he understood Huo Yuhao's shortcomings too, still...
"I have a feeling that the Martial Soul Department will eventually regret not accepting Huo Yuhao as a core disciple..."
The first day of competition alone had eliminated most of the freshmen. Those who remained to continue the elimination rounds on the second day were the top sixteen teams in this year's Freshman Assessment, totaling forty-eight students.
They could all be called the cream of the freshman crop, even some of the most outstanding Soul Masters of their age across the entire continent.
Of course, that did not include the Sun Moon Empire.
The next few matches would all be head-on clashes of sheer strength.
Learning that Huo Yuhao's team had managed to chew through Xie Huanyue's team from Freshman Class Two, despite its having a Soul Elder, had prompted the other classes to analyze Huo Yuhao again yesterday.
Yet the situation remained unchanged. Huo Yuhao's team had revealed only three soul skills so far. The others did not even know what the remaining two soul skills of Ning Tian's Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul were.
As for Huo Yuhao, although his soul ring lit up like an oversized soul guidance light bulb in every match, no one knew what his soul skill actually did. Even after his head-on confrontation with Xie Huanyue, his true strength remained a mystery.
There were far more people on the viewing platform today than yesterday. Before the matches had even begun, it was already packed. Xuan Zi had come to watch again, and Wang Yan sat beside him.
When he noticed Huo Yuhao looking their way, Wang Yan even waved to him in greeting.
For the customary drawing of lots, Huo Yuhao once again stepped up himself. For some inexplicable reason, he had a vague feeling that this time, he would reel in a big fish.
No way. I wanted to settle things with Dai Huabin in the finals. We haven't even reached the semifinals yet. Surely we can't run into each other this soon?
Feeling somewhat apprehensive, Huo Yuhao drew his team's lot from the tube.
"Freshman Class Nine, Huo Yuhao's team. Draw number: four."
Immediately afterward, Wang Dong also stepped onto the platform. She reached into the tube and drew out a lot. After one glance, her expression stiffened.
"Freshman Class One, Wang Dong's team. Draw number: four."
Below the platform, Zhou Yi's face instantly drained of color. She swayed twice and nearly fell. Although she had known this battle would come eventually, she had never expected it to arrive so soon.
Huo Yuhao's tightly furrowed brows, on the other hand, suddenly relaxed, and his spirits soared.
Every wrong avenged, every grudge settled-it looked as though he was going to run wild in this Freshman Assessment!
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