Yet the results proved that neither the lone Hundred-Year Wind Baboon in the fourth round nor the Level 2 Soul Engineer carrying a level 2 shield in the fifth could gain the slightest advantage against Huo Yuhao.
After making several completely ineffective evasive maneuvers, the Level 2 Soul Engineer gave up on dodging.
Instead, relying on his durability, he charged toward Huo Yuhao through the barrage of level 2 Soul Guidance Rays.
The Hundred-Year Wind Baboon had only withstood four shots, while this level 2 shield took six direct hits before breaking. The result was that the Level 2 Soul Engineer advanced barely a dozen meters.
Perfect scores for all five opening rounds.
Normally, the tactical analysts would not award full marks lightly, but Huo Yuhao was simply too monstrous.
Across five rounds, all twenty Soul Guidance Rays, ranging from level 1 to level 2, had struck vital spots.
It was as though the gun in Huo Yuhao's hands was not merely a gun, but the sharpest of daggers, always stabbing at the most vital, most vulnerable point.
Thus, the tactical analysts unanimously awarded him full marks.
After the fifth round ended, there was a fifteen-minute intermission for adjustments.
Huo Yuhao took out his Milk Bottle to replenish his Soul Power, of which only forty percent remained, glanced at the nearby examination arenas, then privately reviewed his performance.
He had only one impression of those five battles: this level 2 Soul Guidance Ray Gun was far too slow and barely scratched its targets.
It lacked speed, potentially giving stronger opponents time to react; it lacked power, making it difficult to instantly kill thick-skinned opponents even if he found their weak points.
Although he had added a level 2 "high-pressure" Core Array to the Soul Guidance Ray Gun, its power was still insufficient.
Once this examination ends, I can look into which high-level Soul Tools offer the greatest single-target burst damage.
No wonder the academy has nearly ten thousand students across its first six years, yet only the top three on the level 2 rankings cleared all ten rounds. So it really is this difficult.
I underestimated my senior schoolmates, but I haven't come unprepared either.
"The intermission is over. Candidates, please take your positions!"
Nearby, Feng Tingting checked the recording Soul Tool, while Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen both turned their attention to the arena.
Seeing Feng Yu clap his hands, Huo Yuhao put away his Milk Bottle and gently stroked the strange, pitch-black spear in his hands.
This spear had an Ironwood shaft and a black obsidian iron tip. The three level 2 planar Core Arrays covering its spearhead had nothing whatsoever to do with sharpness, penetration, or light blades.
They had only one function: flashing light!
And blinding bursts of it, at that!
"Round six: three Hundred-Year Wind Baboons. Begin!"
This time, Huo Yuhao did not choose to wear them down with his range advantage.
Instead, he did something no one present understood, pointing the muzzle of his Soul Guidance Ray Gun upward after switching it to level 1 rapid-fire mode.
What was he going to do?
The next second, Huo Yuhao provided the answer: a string of level 1 Soul Guidance Rays shot toward the dome.
Using the most Soul Power-efficient method, Huo Yuhao rapidly shot out every lighting Soul Tool surrounding his examination arena!
One corner of the entire combat area went dark, causing a slight commotion.
Fortunately, no examinations were underway beside Huo Yuhao's arena, and the students slightly farther away were not greatly affected.
This arena, however, had truly darkened, its brightness dropping several levels.
Seemingly little affected, the three Hundred-Year Wind Baboons locked onto Huo Yuhao's position and charged straight at him in a line, crossing twenty meters in the blink of an eye.
Huo Yuhao sneered, settled into a textbook horse stance, aimed the Blinding Flash Black Dragon Spear at the first Wind Baboon, and poured in Soul Power.
Activate!
In the three Wind Baboons' eyes, their entire field of vision became nothing but white light, only to turn completely black the next instant.
Although they were Hundred-Year Soul Beasts, their eyesight was fundamentally no different from that of Ten-Year Soul Beasts.
The high-intensity illumination Core Arrays, flashing at an extremely rapid frequency, instantly robbed them of their vision for a time.
With a simple thrust, flick, and sweep, Huo Yuhao struck their throats and eyes with every attack, leaving all three Hundred-Year Wind Baboons unable to move.
"Teacher, please hurry and start round seven."
Huo Yuhao looked at Feng Yu as he reminded him. If the lighting Soul Tools overhead were repaired too quickly, he would have to shoot them out again, wasting far too much Soul Power.
Feng Yu had taught at the academy for over a decade and proctored plenty of rank examinations, but this truly broadened his horizons.
So when you asked whether you needed to hold back, you weren't just talking about your opponents, but the examination facilities too?
Yet this counted as reasonable use of his surroundings, and he had not borrowed any other Soul Tools. Everything was within the rules, and even the dean would have had difficulty arguing otherwise.
No score came through on the metal display for quite some time, either. Apparently, the tactical analysts were also arguing fiercely.
At last, they awarded him a high score of 95.
Huo Yuhao let out a slight breath of relief at the sight.
"Round seven: a squad of Level 2 Soul Engineers."
Once again, it was the standard lineup of one shield bearer, one melee fighter, and one ranged fighter.
But under Huo Yuhao's Blinding Flash Black Dragon Spear, they could barely take a step.
You can't hit me from range, and if you brave the hail of gunfire to charge over, the glare leaves you unable to open your eyes. Under Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection, the information gap widened without limit.
Even though all three were seasoned veterans of the examination arena, they were utterly helpless!
After just a few simple exchanges in close combat, all three had been beaten out of the fight.
"Damn it! In surroundings this dark, that lousy spear of his is too dazzling!"
"This is so unfair, so frustrating!"
"I demand a card check. No, we demand sunglasses!"
Huo Yuhao scratched his head. He had thought these three Level 2 Soul Engineers in work uniforms had such strict professional standards that they never spoke.
Feng Yu had just frowned when a staff member approached and said:
"Teacher Feng, Director Lin Jiayi, who is overseeing the examinations, has agreed to the combatants' request as a counterbalance to student Huo Yuhao's damage to the examination facilities."
"Starting next round, the tactical analysts may not lower his score on the grounds of damage to the examination facilities."
Feng Yu stared at him speechlessly-or, more precisely, at Lin Jiayi, who stood in the distance watching this examination arena.
Will sunglasses help?
Open your eyes wide and take a good look at what Huo Yuhao's spearhead is made of!
That's black obsidian iron!
With sunglasses on, they'll block the flashing lighting Soul Tools, but they won't be able to see the spearhead either.
But since Lin Jiayi had spoken, he went along with it:
"We'll follow the dean of students' instructions."
At that moment, the tactical analysts' score arrived as well: 95 points!
"Round eight: three Hundred-Year Shriek Demon Bats."
"Shriek Demon Bats in round eight already?" Xiao Hongchen's expression shifted slightly. "The year Little Meng and I enrolled, those were the lineup for round nine."
Meng Hongchen was somewhat surprised as well:
"Hundred-Year Shriek Demon Bats just happen not to rely on sight to fight, and their innate Soul Skill lets them spew black mist that repels spiritual power. They can also dive into the mist!"
"That especially counters our junior brother's Spiritual Detection."
"Most importantly, they can fly. Their agility is nothing like that of his previous opponents."
"If they're appearing in round eight, what will the lineups for the last two rounds be?"
Feng Tingting shook her head as well. "This year's students are far too unlucky. Who knows how many will be eliminated in this round?"
Xiao Hongchen concluded, "If our junior brother stops at round seven, he won't even make the top twenty on the level 2 rankings."
Feng Bujue announced, "Round eight, begin."
Squeak, squeak, squeak!
The moment the Hundred-Year Shriek Demon Bats, whose wingspans reached a full meter, left their cage, a bank of mist rapidly enveloped half the arena.
Huo Yuhao tried using Spiritual Detection to lock onto the Hundred-Year Shriek Demon Bats within the mist and discovered that it indeed had the ability to repel spiritual power.
The gap between Huo Yuhao's spiritual power and theirs was like a vast chasm, and their approximate positions remained locked onto at all times.
But there was interference, after all, and Spiritual Detection's feedback was not as precise.
Huo Yuhao already had a countermeasure. He calmly put away the Blinding Flash Black Dragon Spear and switched his Soul Guidance Ray Gun to level 1 rapid-fire mode.
As troublesome as the Shriek Demon Bats were, they were also fragile.
Spiritual Sharing, activate!
This time, he was not sharing Spiritual Detection with others, but using his overwhelming spiritual power to forcibly share the Shriek Demon Bats' own field of vision.
Forced head lock!
Before you continue