"In that case, how about letting that Lu Yuan go to Heaven Dou City with Xiao Xue?"
Qian Daoliu seemed to discover a hint of a clue from Bibi Dong's reaction, and he wanted to probe Lu Yuan's true capabilities and whether there was something he did not know about.
Bibi Dong recovered her senses.
It seems this old fellow still doesn't know Lu Yuan's current Soul Power Level training progress, nor does he understand that he has accepted a deity's inheritance.
In deep thought, Bibi Dong thought, No, I cannot let Lu Yuan's identity as a deity's inheritor be exposed.
"Fine, we will do as you say." Bibi Dong agreed to Qian Daoliu's request.
"Anyway, there is still a long time before that little fellow becomes a deity, and at worst, I will just let Nana interact with him more in the future."
As Bibi Dong finished speaking, she saw that Qian Daoliu lingered without leaving.
"I wonder if the Great Enshrined has any other business staying here. If there is nothing, please return."
Qian Daoliu stared fixedly at Bibi Dong, wanting to find a few more traces of panic from her face, but he never found any other clues.
Could it really be that this old man was overthinking it?
Qian Daoliu thought to himself.
"Fine, this old man will leave right now, you continue to manage Spirit Hall well."
With those words, Qian Daoliu left the Pope Palace, and Bibi Dong clenched both hands tightly.
Originally, she had some dissatisfaction with Qian Daoliu letting her become the pontiff, thinking that he wanted to continue exploiting her. If it were not for her rapid growth relying on the Rakshasa God and twin martial souls, she was afraid she really would have fallen for Qian Daoliu's scheme.
Hearing Qian Daoliu's final words, Bibi Dong almost felt anger flare up in her heart once again.
A few days later, at the Spirit Hall Academy in Spirit City, the mid-term examinations were underway. Aside from the basic soul power test, the main assessment content was soul master duels.
The examination procedure was fast. After all, students in the same grade, especially in elite classes like the one Lu Yuan and the Golden Generation were in, frequently sparred with one another.
They knew each other's strengths inside and out, and whether they could win or not, everyone had a good idea in their minds.
Except for a few instances where the opponent's strength was unknown, or when the two dueling contestants were truly evenly matched, would a fight last for quite a while.
Otherwise, sparring matches always ended with one side surrendering quickly.
Yet duels between soul masters of comparable strength were often extremely exciting, always able to win thunderous applause and cheers from the audience.
Soon, the final four of Lu Yuan's age group were decided, naturally consisting of Lu Yuan plus the other three.
Lu Yuan's first opponent was precisely Hu Liena, who had just obtained her third soul ring.
The two stood on opposite sides of the arena. Today, Hu Liena wore a brand-new pink outfit, extraordinarily bright and dazzling, drawing a wave of cheers from the male students in the audience.
"Xiaoyuan, although you have already defeated Yan, I will not give up, and..."
"My martial soul is the Demon Fox, a top-tier control-system beast martial soul. Unlike Yan's power-attack-system martial soul, the Flame Lord, you were able to defeat him, but that doesn't necessarily mean you can beat me, yo~"
Hu Liena smiled, throwing a wink at Lu Yuan that made the hearts of the muscular hunks on stage melt.
"Elder Sister Nana, I am ready."
Lu Yuan put on an expression of treating the matter seriously, prompting Hu Liena to sigh inwardly.
As expected, intimidation and pleasantries are both useless against Xiaoyuan.
At this point, a spar between the two was inevitable. Hu Liena immediately released her martial soul, the Demon Fox.
A martial soul with brown-and-white fur, and with flame-bright patterns on its ears, claws, and tail appeared behind Hu Liena-it was precisely the martial soul that brought her pride and fame, the Demon Fox.
"Hu Liena, Demon Fox martial soul, level-31 control-system soul master."
"Meow~"
Beside Lu Yuan, a green light flashed, and Meowmeow's figure appeared, before evolving into the stronger Meowth amidst a burst of green light.
"Lu Yuan, Meowmeow martial soul, level-30 control-system soul master."
"What!"
After Lu Yuan stated his level, not only Hu Liena on stage, but the Golden Generation and everyone else off stage were dumbfounded.
Although soul masters on the Douluo Continent generally matured somewhat early, completing their development at twelve or thirteen-much like the seventeen- or eighteen-year-old youths and blooming maidens in the prime of their youth on the Blue Star-
Take thirteen-year-old Hu Liena before Lu Yuan, for instance; she was already like a mature honey peach, just like Zhu Zhuqing when she first appeared in the original work.
Moreover, because Lu Yuan had consumed whale rubber, his physical development after strengthening his body was even earlier and more mature than genius soul masters of the same age, yet he still looked at most eight or nine years old, a point that everyone present could see.
The three members of the Golden Generation were even more aware that Lu Yuan's true age was only eight and a half.
This fucking guy was cheating.
Yan and Xie Yue could not help but want to ask, "Could it be that the Innate Soul Power of your Lu Yuan martial soul is level twenty?"
Yan looked at Xie Yue, and puzzledly said,
"Xie Yue, that brat who snatched away Nana, how has he cultivated two levels in just half a year? Compared to you and me, why is his speed so much faster?"
"Perhaps this is the true advantage of an external martial soul. Both the martial soul and the soul master can cultivate, directly doubling the speed." Xie Yue lowered his head to comfort himself.
If he did not think this way, would that not mean their eight years of cultivation since becoming soul masters had all gone to waste?
"Hey, between that newcomer and the holy maiden, who do you guys think will win?"
Yan's ears twitched, and he immediately heard the students nearby discussing the victory or defeat of this soul master duel between Lu Yuan and Hu Liena.
The red-haired little simper shouted directly at the two of them,
"Of course it's Nana. Her charm control is invincible throughout the world."
If Lu Yuan's attention had been on Xie Yue's side and he had heard Yan's words, he undoubtedly would have followed up with a sarcastic remark.
"Hu Liena's charm is indeed invincible in the world as far as you, Xie Yue, are concerned, seeing as you are a..."
On the arena, Lu Yuan and Hu Liena were currently confronting each other.
As the referee soul master blew the whistle and announced the official start of the match, Lu Yuan and Hu Liena released their respective soul skills almost simultaneously.
Naturally, Lu Yuan first released his second soul skill, Photosynthesis, attaching the Photosynthesis Mark to himself, which could provide long-term soul power support to ensure combat endurance.
Meanwhile, Hu Liena did not hesitate, immediately triggering her third purple soul ring right from the start to release her thousand-year soul skill.
"Third Soul Skill, Demon Fox Transformation!"
After Demon Fox Transformation was released, it could substantially increase Hu Liena's spiritual power, attack power, and speed. It counted as an auxiliary-type soul skill with moderate amplification strength, but because it could amplify multiple attributes, it was considered a leader among thousand-year soul skills.
Especially when paired with Hu Liena's martial soul, the Demon Fox, which was already adept at spiritual control, it could be said that among soul masters of the same tier-barring martial souls specialized in purifying abnormal states-almost all proud heaven-chosen soul masters would be controlled by Hu Liena.
"Meowth, use Vi..."
"Fox Charm!"
Just as Lu Yuan was about to command Meowth to release its soul skill, Hu Liena's control skill struck a step faster.
Most control-system skills belonged to ranged control, and Hu Liena's second soul skill, Fox Charm, was an outstanding leader among them.
Although this move was merely a hundred-year soul skill, it could either single-control an enemy soul master or perform group control on enemies.
Lu Yuan's Vine Strangle and other elemental control-system soul skills all required condensing with soul power or summoning corresponding attribute carriers in order to inflict them upon the enemy. Compared to those soul skills, the most crucial aspect of this move was its extremely short spell-casting prelude.
This martial soul only required looking at the enemy to activate, and an unprepared enemy like Lu Yuan fell victim to it all at once.