The Art of Playing Weak

How could anyone expect Ning Tian, whose Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul was a support type, to duel the examiner? Throw that little tower at someone when it had barely any attack power?

Team assessments were also divided by size. For one-on-one duels, the examiner would be a senior student from the outer court whose Soul Power was roughly comparable. For teams of two or three, the examiner would be a level-thirty Soul Elder. For teams of five, the examiner would be a Soul King. For teams of up to seven, the examiner would definitely be a Soul Emperor.

If they were defeated by the examiner, they could earn ten to twenty points based on their performance. If they could hold the examiner at a stalemate, they could earn a strong score of twenty to forty points. If they could suppress or even defeat the examiner, they would certainly receive more than forty points.

If they could defeat the examiner in seconds, they would receive full marks directly.

Freshmen who completed and passed the freshman assessment would receive different treatment and class assignments according to their total scores.

Having witnessed Huo Yuhao's terrifying Spiritual Power, Ning Tian did not hesitate to make the call for the three of them to register as a team, which was exactly what Huo Yuhao wanted.

Only by serving as support in a team battle would his true strength avoid drawing attention.

While the assessment group was selecting a suitable examiner for Huo Yuhao's team, Mujin received Huo Yuhao's physical fitness assessment results backstage.

In the score column were five huge sixes. Six, six, six, six, six!

That brat was definitely hiding his strength! Mujin was so angry she nearly ground her silver teeth to dust. If she gave him another physical fitness test, would he give the assessment office six sixes in a row?

After obtaining their first Soul Ring, every Soul Master generally began planning their future development path: assault type, control type, agility attack type, support type, food type. Hexagonal warriors were rarely seen—except for cases like Tang Wulin, a Battle Soul Master originally positioned as a control type who later personally charged in and smashed a whole group of assault types to pieces.

Huo Yuhao had no idea Mujin had set her sights on him. By the time he and Wu Feng arrived at the training grounds, a level-thirty-nine Soul Elder examiner was already waiting for them.

"State your level, name, and development direction."

Wu Feng reported loudly, "Wu Feng. Level twenty-five Assault System Battle Soul Master."

Ning Tian was much calmer. "Ning Tian, level thirty-one support-type Tool Soul Elder."

Finally came Huo Yuhao's lazy voice. "Huo Yuhao, uh, level twenty-nine support-type Soul Grandmaster."

Wasn't that awkward? Huo Yuhao grumbled inwardly.

Two support types? The examiner frowned slightly. It seemed that only the red-haired girl before him, the one with the lowest Soul Power, could trade blows with him. He would first see how much of a boost those two support types could give her.

"Make your move." The examiner activated his Martial Soul: the Great Strength Demonic Bear, a Beast Martial Soul renowned for its power.

Wu Feng gave a sharp cry, and her delicate body sprang into the air. A thick wave of heat surged from her body, accompanied by a faint dragon's roar. Her body abruptly became more slender and elongated. While suspended in the air, she already looked like a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girl whose development had just finished. Her elongated body directly tore through her outer clothing.

She had clearly come prepared. Beneath it was a highly elastic leather bodysuit, exposing a pair of smooth, fleshy thighs. The leather suit clung tightly upward in one piece, and Huo Yuhao could not help secretly praising it. Wasn't she far sexier than Ning Tian?

A faint red glow rippled over Wu Feng's skin. Starting from the left side of her face, a layer of fine dragon scales appeared, extending down her neck, over her shoulder, and all the way across her entire left arm and hand.

Wu Feng looked slender and gorgeous, yet she also gave off a sense of explosive power. With a flicker of her body, she arrived before the examiner. Her left arm swept out, lashing directly toward his body.

Facing her fierce attack, the examiner did not immediately use a Soul Skill either. His body half-turned in midair, and his right leg shot out like lightning, colliding with Wu Feng's left arm.

With a dull bang, the examiner's body swayed in midair and shifted back half a step. Wu Feng, meanwhile, dropped to the ground and staggered back several steps. In that first clash, Wu Feng had clearly drawn the short straw. Though both were Assault System Battle Soul Masters, their Soul Power Levels differed.

At the same time, Ning Tian, standing in the distance, raised her right hand and called clearly, "Seven Treasures Manifest Glazed Light." Her body gracefully spun once in place, and dazzling seven-colored light immediately burst from within her. In the place where that rainbow light gathered, a seven-colored treasure pagoda over a foot tall had appeared in Ning Tian's right palm.

The pagoda shimmered with flowing, radiant light everywhere, seemingly embedded with countless gems. The instant it appeared, it drew the attention of the assessment staff.

Two yellow and one purple Soul Rings rose from Ning Tian's palm, rhythmically circling the seven-story pagoda in her hand.

On the elevated viewing platform, Mujin revealed a delighted expression. "The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect!"

Ning Tian's clear voice rang out as the pagoda appeared:

"The Seven Treasures have a name. First: Speed." The pagoda's first Soul Ring lit up. Rich yellow light made the pagoda appear even more magnificent, and a brilliant beam instantly shot from it, landing on Wu Feng as she fought the examiner.

With the boost, Wu Feng's movements became much faster than before. A fierce diagonal kick nearly caught the examiner off guard, forcing him back several steps.

"First Soul Skill, Air Cannon!" The part-time staff who could work at Shrek were clearly no pushovers either. His yellow Hundred-Year Soul Ring lit up. He clenched his right fist, wildly compressing the air around it before throwing a punch.

Seeing this, Ning Tian immediately chanted her Soul Incantation again. "The Seven Treasures have a name. Third: Strength." Her purple Soul Ring swiftly lit up, and the strength boost brought by the Thousand-Year Soul Skill directly raised Wu Feng's attack power to that of a Battle Soul Elder.

"First Soul Skill, Dragon's Fire!"

"Second Soul Skill, Dragon's Wrath!"

Ning Tian and Wu Feng worked together with perfect coordination. The moment Ning Tian activated her skill, blazing red light burst from Wu Feng's body. Her second Soul Ring shone brightly, and the Dragon's Fire rising from her body abruptly turned dark red. Her original half-body scale armor suddenly became thicker, while her eyes glowed fiercely red and her left hand completely transformed into a dragon claw.

In the Dragon's Wrath state, her offensive and defensive abilities instantly soared, while all her other Soul Skills were enhanced as well. The heat of Dragon's Fire rose by nearly a hundred degrees in an instant, violently distorting the surrounding air.

Seeing this explosive assault arrive so fiercely, the examiner stopped holding back. He unleashed his second and third Soul Skills simultaneously: Berserk and Bloodlust, granting his First Soul Skill greater attack power.

Just as Wu Feng's flaming dragon claw was about to collide head-on with the examiner's extremely compressed Air Cannon, Huo Yuhao finally made his move. He used the other two abilities of his million-year first Soul Ring: Spiritual Interference and Soul Shock.

Under the Spiritual Interference, the Soul Elder examiner felt his vision blur. The Air Cannon lost its aim and brushed past Wu Feng. Then Soul Shock made his mind go completely blank.

Not good! The examiner was battle-hardened. As his fist cannon missed, his body instinctively rolled to the side. Yet he had not expected Wu Feng's flaming fist to cling to him like a stubborn plaster, still smashing heavily into his chest and sending his entire body tumbling through the air.

Wu Feng had ultimately held back some of her strength when she struck. Otherwise, she would have broken at least a few of the examiner's ribs.

Both girls looked toward Huo Yuhao, their estimation of him rising once again. From the very start of the battle, they had been under Spiritual Detection Sharing. Every action let them anticipate the enemy's movements and remain invincible. As for why the examiner had missed later, they could only assume it was related to Huo Yuhao's second skill.

From beginning to end, Huo Yuhao had merely used Simulation to maintain the color and brightness of his Soul Rings, making it seem as though he had not used any Soul Skills at all and had simply stood stupidly at the back.

The entire venue fell silent.

"We won!" Wu Feng leaped up and threw her arms around Ning Tian, unable to conceal her excitement.

"Yes, we won..." Ning Tian had not expected victory to come so easily. Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection Sharing was simply too convenient. Throughout the battle, they only needed to follow his mental instructions to use their Soul Skills.

But to outsiders, Huo Yuhao was merely a lucky fellow who hid at the back and happened to share in the victory. As for whether he had contributed anything, only the unconscious examiner knew.

"Defeating the examiner. Team Ning Tian's scores: Ning Tian, fifty points. Wu Feng, fifty-five points. Huo Yuhao, forty points!"

Since the chief examiner had fainted, another assessment official watching from the side had to announce the results.

Upon hearing the scores, Ning Tian and Wu Feng were just about to cheer when they froze at Huo Yuhao's final score.

That was right. Huo Yuhao, who had clearly contributed the most, had only received the minimum score of forty points. Had the other assessment staff failed to notice his abilities?

"That isn't fair!" Wu Feng was hot-tempered and immediately wanted to rush over to argue with the assessment staff, but Ning Tian grabbed her. After all, Huo Yuhao, who had suffered the greatest injustice, had not said anything yet. Who knew what he was thinking?

Sure enough, after the scores were announced, Wu Feng saw Huo Yuhao behind them wearing a miserable expression and muttering to himself, looking utterly dejected. Her heart softened, and she moved closer to comfort him, only to hear him muttering—

"Why did they give me forty points? It would've been so much better if they gave me thirty and let me barely scrape through..."

This was infuriating. This guy definitely had masochistic tendencies! Wu Feng turned away in a huff, no longer wanting to pay him any attention.

Just then, a refreshing fragrant breeze drifted toward them. Wu Feng and Ning Tian looked up to see Mujin, smiling, walking toward Huo Yuhao.

"How did you do? You passed, right?"

"Mmm... smells... so good..." The despondent Huo Yuhao walked straight into Mujin's embrace, caught in a double-sided squeeze. He sharply sucked in a breath from the pain and groaned.

Wu Feng and Ning Tian's faces twitched violently, their mouths twitching as well.

Second update after staying up all night. I'll see if I can write more during the day. It's almost dawn, so I'm going to get some sleep.