The Academy Couldn't Allow Anyone This Badass to Exist!

Spiritual Detection couldn't lock onto your exact position?

Your vision would tell me the answer!

Not only that, Huo Yuhao activated his Telepathist abilities at the same time.

Simple-minded, low-level Soul Beasts couldn't hide their thoughts from him at all.

Combined, the three were practically cheating.

Huo Yuhao fired three consecutive Level 1 Soul Guidance Rays into the fog, their angles so casual they looked like probing shots. Feng Yu's eyelids twitched at the sight.

Within Spiritual Detection, the Shriek Demon Bats in the fog actually rammed their own heads into the Level 1 Soul Guidance Rays.

The demon bats squeaked mournfully, flapping their wings as they tumbled out of the fog.

Impossible!

Feng Yu's eyes widened. He had thought that even if Huo Yuhao passed this round, he would surely face a bitter struggle.

But in fact, these three hundred-year Shriek Demon Bats had drained him less than a single Level 2 Soul Engineer!

"You can actually do that?" Xiao Hongchen's eyes widened. "Our junior brother's spiritual power is that strong?"

"He locked on precisely, straight through the interference!"

A scene came to Xiao Hongchen's mind:

He stood on the Soul Fighting Platform, all his Soul Rings shining together.

With Spiritual Detection supporting him, he controlled over a thousand Soul Guidance Ray Guns as they took shape instantly, their rays all aimed at a single point.

He perfectly unleashed the destructive power of every last thread of Soul Power, defeating Ma Rulong fair and square.

No longer would he flood the field indiscriminately, his Soul Guidance Rays scouring the ground without inflicting effective damage.

He trembled all over with excitement, his face unnaturally flushed.

Cool!

So damn cool!

"Tingting, did you record that part? I need to watch it carefully!"

"Brother, you're still celebrating?"

Meng Hongchen covered her mouth and gleefully pointed out the crucial detail:

"Our junior brother has only lost five points over eight rounds!"

"His total score might beat yours!"

Meng Hongchen first savored Xiao Hongchen's frozen smile, then looked curiously at Huo Yuhao.

Did that fog really interfere so little with Spiritual Detection?

Meng Hongchen's blue eyes sparkled. Didn't that mean...

"Yuhao, when I gave you Spiritual Sharing, I thought it could only be used with Spiritual Detection, as its supplementary Soul Skill."

Inside the Sea of Consciousness, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm also looked utterly astonished. Spiritual Sharing could be used like this!

"How did you think of using Spiritual Sharing this way?"

Huo Yuhao chuckled. "Brother Sky Dream, do you remember that book, Logic Arrays and Interfaces?"

"Huh?"

Seeing the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's bewildered expression, Huo Yuhao explained:

"As I understand it, interfaces are to Core Arrays what Spiritual Sharing is to souls."

"My understanding of souls is still too shallow right now. I can only share vision by relying on the enormous gap in spiritual power."

"Once my cultivation grows stronger and I understand souls more deeply, combining it with the Spectator Sequence's abilities will definitely produce some very interesting applications."

"Our junior brother's ninth-round opponents are actually a Level 2 Soul Engineer squadron!"

Xiao Hongchen exclaimed in surprise as he watched five Level 2 Soul Engineers enter.

"A Level 2 Soul Engineer squadron?" Meng Hongchen suddenly understood why the three hundred-year Shriek Demon Bats had only ranked eighth.

This Level 2 Soul Engineer squadron had been the tenth round of her own Level 2 Soul Engineer examination.

Had she and Xiao Hongchen not relied on Soul Elder-level Soul Power and the effective coordination of their Martial Souls and Soul Tools, they would have lost long ago!

Then wouldn't his tenth-round opponents be them?

Surely not? Hadn't they said their coordination was too good and reassigned them to the Level 3 Soul Engineer certification examination?

As Meng Hongchen pondered this, the five-person Level 2 Soul Engineer squad entered the arena and assumed a standard iron-barrel formation:

Two Soul Engineers carrying Level 2 shields stood at the front, a spear-wielding melee fighter and a saber-wielding melee fighter guarded the flanks, and a ranged fighter anchored the rear.

This combination of Soul Tools was clearly aimed at Huo Yuhao.

Looking at his five opponents wearing sunglasses, Huo Yuhao couldn't help smiling.

"Round nine, Level 2 Soul Engineer squadron. Begin!"

The five Soul Engineers coordinated seamlessly, the shield bearers pouring Soul Power into their Level 2 shields without reservation.

They had no intention of giving Huo Yuhao any opening. After spotting his position, they hid behind their Level 2 shields and charged forward, protecting the melee fighters!

Huo Yuhao's response was to activate his second Soul Skill!

His second Soul Ring lit up, and his entire body vanished from the examination arena, Soul Rings and all.

Huh?

When the two Soul Engineers carrying Level 2 shields reached Huo Yuhao's original position, both lunged sideways, blocking his escape routes while allowing the melee fighters to seize the initiative.

But no one was there!

By the time they realized something was wrong and looked back at their ranged attacker, he had already been picked off by a Level 2 Soul Guidance Ray that appeared out of thin air.

The saber fighter said warily, "Damn it, he actually has an invisibility Soul Skill. Let's form a circle and wear him down!"

"Right!"

The two spear fighters and two shield-bearing Soul Engineers answered in unison.

The saber fighter had only just relaxed when his expression abruptly changed:

Where did two spear fighters come from???

Huo Yuhao had achieved his goal. His spear shot out like a dragon as he suddenly erupted into action. One thrust struck the saber fighter between the brows, eliminating him.

With this sudden upheaval, the iron-barrel formation collapsed. Huo Yuhao executed a somewhat unpolished returning-horse thrust, stabbing his spear at the spear fighter.

The spear fighter wasn't afraid in the slightest. The blinding flash was useless, countered by his sunglasses.

He was certain that in a fair contest of spearmanship, he would utterly crush this outstanding student of the Imperial Soul Engineer Academy!

Yet when he looked closely, he saw only a shaft without a spearhead. The shaft stopped before his left chest, but real pain came from within it.

After eliminating the two melee fighters, Huo Yuhao simply kited the two shield bearers to defeat using Level 1 rapid-fire mode.

Everything happened in a flash. Before Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, and Feng Tingting could fully make out what had happened, Huo Yuhao had won.

The tactical analyst gave the score: round nine, full marks!

The result made even Feng Yu swallow:

"Junior brother, if you perform well enough in the next round, you'll break the record!"

Across nine rounds of combat, Huo Yuhao had moved without the slightest hesitation or wasted motion, displaying a fighting style consistent with his Soul Tool crafting.

But Feng Yu still found it somewhat unbelievable. Was the current Offering Hall master's record really so easy to break?

He didn't deliberately stall to give Huo Yuhao time to recover, instead announcing directly:

"Round ten, a pack of seven hundred-year Silvermoon Wolves."

After announcing it, he couldn't help feeling expectant again. This tenth round was also the tenth round Kong Deming had faced a hundred and fifty years ago.

Even the Soul Beasts hadn't changed. No, their ages had increased by a hundred and fifty years, making them stronger!

Although Kong Deming had come from the Sun Moon Empire Royal Soul Engineer Academy, he hadn't entered the Illustrious Virtue Hall.

Instead, before he even graduated, the Offering Hall master of the time had taken him as his final disciple.

Under Kong Deming's leadership, the Offering Hall competed with the Illustrious Virtue Hall for internal resources and influence.

If his teacher's disciple now broke the record Kong Deming had left at the academy, his teacher would surely be delighted, wouldn't he?

"The old seniors are here," Xiao Hongchen remarked with a wry smile, watching the large iron cage open.

Although he hadn't figured out how Huo Yuhao's second Soul Skill worked, he didn't believe it could fool these seven wolves.

Had he encountered them during his own Level 2 Soul Engineer examination, with only Level 2 Soul Tools permitted at most, he would have had almost no chance of winning.

These seven hundred-year Silvermoon Wolves had been at the academy for over two hundred years. Even Feng Yu could call them his old seniors.

Their coordination surpassed that of ordinary wild Silvermoon Wolves, quickly setting them apart from the Soul Beasts used as examination fodder.

They received meticulous care from the academy, and every one was well-fed and robust.

The leading Silvermoon Wolf was a wolf king nearing a thousand years old.

Two meters long, it was slender and powerfully built, with a crescent-shaped tuft of silvery-white fur on its forehead.

It lacked the hundred-year Wind Baboon's savage agitation. All Huo Yuhao read in its silver eyes was composure and calm.

The other six Silvermoon Wolves stayed a step behind it. After glancing at Huo Yuhao, they all watched Feng Yu's expression.

This was the confidence and understanding of examination rules they had developed by eliminating countless Imperial Soul Engineer Academy students.

Looking at these seven Silvermoon Wolves, Huo Yuhao actually felt as though he were facing a well-trained team of Level 2 Soul Engineers.

"Round ten, begin!"

Huo Yuhao repeated his old trick, immediately turning invisible.

The six wolves slowly advanced toward Huo Yuhao's original position in unison. Their muscles tensed, their noses twitching as they sniffed the scent molecules in the air.

The wolf king followed at a slow pace, its wary gaze sweeping its surroundings as it continued its gradual approach, seemingly without having lost its target.

Simulation could distort light, change his presence, and even imitate auras, but scent was not its forte.

The Silvermoon Wolves happened to counter that weakness perfectly.

Huo Yuhao wasn't surprised. Instead, using the absolute initiative granted by his invisibility, he threw a Milk Bottle at the Silvermoon Wolf King.

The four foremost Silvermoon Wolves opened their mouths and each fired their innate Soul Skill, Moon Blade, while the other two remained on guard.

Swish, swish, swish, swish!

The Level 2 Milk Bottle struck by the Moon Blades exploded instantly.

Boom!

The shock wave swept across the entire arena with tiny metal fragments in its wake, immediately disrupting the Silvermoon Wolves' advance.

Restoring Soul Power wasn't the only purpose behind designing the Level 2 Milk Bottle. There was this moment, too!

Huo Yuhao maintained his simulated invisibility as dazzling crystals appeared over his arms. Ice Empress's Pincer blocked the shock wave and the metal fragments within it.

First, he rapidly fired six Level 1 Soul Guidance Rays at tricky angles, holding back the two watchful Silvermoon Wolves and the wolf king.

Then he charged against the oncoming force, spear in hand, targeting the four Silvermoon Wolves whose old strength was spent and whose new strength had yet to gather.

In a few strides, he rushed before the four Silvermoon Wolves. One standard forward thrust robbed a wolf of its ability to move.

Then, however, something suddenly changed.

Awooo!

The wolf king let out an urgent howl. As though obeying a command, the other five wolves, their formation already disrupted, seized the opening when he attacked and launched six Moon Blades at him in unison.

Huo Yuhao rolled like a carp, dodging every Moon Blade.

Boom!

Cold sweat poured down Huo Yuhao's back. Even a Level 2 shield couldn't withstand concentrated fire like that!

Awooo!

Another howl rang out. Finally recognizing how troublesome this student was, the wolf king chose to recall the other Silvermoon Wolves first and restore their formation.

Huo Yuhao didn't pause in the slightest.

He took advantage of the moment when the metal-laden shock wave swept the arena, leaving metal particles drifting through the air and the smell of metal everywhere.

Simulating a Silvermoon Wolf's appearance, he followed the wolves into their midst, then activated Spiritual Detection, mind reading, and Spiritual Sharing all at once.

His brain rapidly processed the vast, complicated visual feeds and all sorts of information.

Then he erupted!

Thrusts, jabs, sweeps, parries, flicks, smashes...

He executed the basic spear techniques precisely, one by one, yet at this crucial time and crucial position, they produced terrifying results!

Caught unprepared, three Silvermoon Wolves were skewered clean through, instantly losing their ability to fight.

Blood seeped through the snowy fur of the remaining two Silvermoon Wolves, their mouths looking as though they had eaten dragon fruit.

The wolf king was slightly better off, but its aura was also extremely weak.

Huo Yuhao's expression remained calm. Victory was already in his grasp. Rather than continue fighting up close, he swiftly retreated a few steps and fired precise shots to finish them off.

A few breaths later, the wolf king collapsed before Huo Yuhao.

Round ten, passed with full marks!

Huo Yuhao's taut nerves slowly relaxed, and he exhaled.

He lowered his head to inspect his tattered uniform. Although he had only suffered minor injuries, his Soul Power had run dry.

Those few high-intensity bursts made him feel as though he had given back everything he had eaten at the academy.

"Yuhao, you've set a record that's almost impossible to break!"

Feng Yu excitedly announced his scores:

"Three Soul Tools, 440 points. Ten combat rounds, 995 points. Total score, 1,435 points. First place, a new record!"

Meanwhile, Meng Hongchen poked Xiao Hongchen:

"Brother, you've been surpassed!"

Xiao Hongchen protested, "I cleared every round back then too. He's no stronger than me!"

"Brother, you've been surpassed!"

Xiao Hongchen stubbornly insisted, "The opponent lists were different. You can't compare them!"

"Brother, you've been surpassed!"

Xiao Hongchen completely lost his composure. "I don't accept it! I cleared ten rounds too!"

Meng Hongchen said, "You cleared ten rounds because your ability only reached ten rounds. Our junior brother cleared ten rounds because there were only ten rounds."

"Spiritual Detection! It was definitely the support from Spiritual Detection!"

Xiao Hongchen found the key point:

"The academy can't allow anyone this badass to exist!"

"If I had Spiritual Detection, I'd definitely be better than him!"

"Tingting, give me a copy of the recording. I have to analyze it frame by frame! Spiritual Detection can actually be used in such an ingenious way?!"

After dealing Xiao Hongchen a harsh blow, Meng Hongchen recovered considerably from the blow to her own spirits. She stared intently at Huo Yuhao.

Her junior brother's second Soul Skill seemed capable of distorting space through spiritual fluctuations and using himself as the foundation to simulate various forms.

Junior brother, just how much more is there about you that we don't know?