Zhou Yi suddenly sprang into action, her face twisted into a terrifying snarl. She glared viciously at Huo Yuhao, forcing icy words through clenched teeth. "Huo Yuhao, today, in front of everyone, I'll show you what happens when a mantis tries to stop a chariot!"
"How dare you disturb the earth above the Grand Duke's head? I'll make you pay for your arrogance!" Soul Power churned around her like boiling magma, and faint crackling explosions echoed through the air.
A deathly silence fell over Shrek Square. Everyone unconsciously slowed their breathing.
Countless gazes converged like searchlights on the two figures facing each other in the center. Everyone craned their necks, hearts in their throats, afraid of missing a single detail of this battle between an egg and a rock.
"Hmph, since you're a freshman, what if I let you have the first three moves?" Zhou Yi lifted her chin arrogantly, but before she had finished speaking, a cold light flashed in Huo Yuhao's eyes.
In an instant, Huo Yuhao activated his Spirit Eyes, and his First Soul Ring shone with dazzling light. "Spiritual Detection." To Huo Yuhao's eyes, everything in the space around him seemed to slow down.
The crowd saw only a blur, and Huo Yuhao vanished from where he stood. The next second, he appeared before Zhou Yi like a ghost, his right fist carrying a fierce gale as it shot straight for her face!
Zhou Yi's pupils contracted. Realizing something was wrong, she hurriedly circulated her Soul Power and twisted around, narrowly dodging the deadly blow. So fast! Shock surged through her, but before she could regain her footing, Huo Yuhao's attacks came one after another like a howling gale and driving rain. His right leg swept across with a piercing whistle. Zhou Yi crossed her arms to block, but the immense force left the skin between her thumbs and forefingers numb.
"Interesting. Looks like you know how to fight!" Zhou Yi sneered, her fighting spirit fully roused. The Soul Power around her surged, transforming into golden protective Qi, and she pounced on Huo Yuhao like an enraged lion.
Yet Huo Yuhao's figure darted nimbly through her attacks, every dodge perfectly precise.
In his previous life, Huo Yuhao might not have dared to accept Zhou Yi's challenge so readily. But now that he had been reborn, with nearly a hundred years of experience from his previous life, even relying on physical techniques alone, no one at the same level was his match. After all, he had completed the Ultimate Soldier Plan in his previous life.
Huo Yuhao kept dodging, looking for openings in Zhou Yi's defense and chances to attack, while controlling his Soul Power with precision. His approach was to strike later but arrive first, use his strengths against his opponent's weaknesses, and win every battle. He did not attack blindly now.
"This kid really is as nimble as a rabbit!" Zhou Yi's attacks missed again and again, and the veins on her forehead throbbed with anger.
The moment her move was spent, Huo Yuhao seized the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and drove his knee into her abdomen like an iron spike. Bang! Zhou Yi grunted and staggered back three steps. Gasps immediately rose and fell across the square.
"Heavens! He actually hurt Teacher Zhou!"
"Can a One-Ring Soul Master really do that?"
Someone in the crowd spoke up.
"Look, his Soul Ring seems to be a Ten-Year Soul Ring."
"Really?"
In the crowd, Wang Dong's expression was calm, though a trace of barely perceptible complexity flashed in her eyes. Xiao Xiao's eyes, meanwhile, were shining, her little face flushed red and her hands clenched into fists. She was so excited she almost jumped up.
"He's amazing," she muttered.
The pain completely enraged Zhou Yi, and her attacks grew even fiercer. Huo Yuhao knew he could not meet a Soul Emperor head-on. Relying on ghostlike footwork, he kept moving, precisely calculating the force and angle of every block.
As the battle continued, however, he gradually felt his Soul Power draining away rapidly.
I can't drag this out any longer! Huo Yuhao made up his mind and suddenly leaped into the air, rapidly chanting an incantation.
In an instant, a pulsating fireball formed in his palm, its searing heat distorting the air around it. "How is that possible?!" Zhou Yi's eyes widened. She had never seen such a bizarre Soul Skill-his was clearly a Body Martial Soul, so how could he produce flames?
Boom! The fireball fell like a meteor, and the violent explosion shook the ground.
The move caught Zhou Yi off guard. With no time to block or dodge, she could only take the blow head-on, then rolled out of the flames shooting into the sky, looking disheveled.
The commotion was so great that people from other classes turned to look at the disturbance in Shrek Square.
"What's happening downstairs? Why is it so noisy?" Classroom windows were pushed open one after another, and several heads poked out, frowning at the noisy crowd in Shrek Square.
"I heard a freshman's fighting 'Old Woman Zhou'! A show like this comes once in a hundred years. Hurry!" Someone shouted, and the students who had still been hesitating immediately shoved their way toward the stairs, knocking the potted plants beneath the corridor every which way.
"Zhou Yi? That devil of a teacher? Has that freshman gone mad?" A chorus of sharp intakes of breath erupted from the crowd, but their steps only grew faster, as though they would miss some earth-shattering secret if they were a moment late.
In the center of Shrek Square, Huo Yuhao braced himself on one knee, a lingering glow of Soul Power still clinging to his fingertips. He looked up at Zhou Yi, who was panting and disheveled a short distance away. "Teacher Zhou, you've lost this match." His voice was not loud, but it carried clearly through the whispers of the onlookers.
Zhou Yi's white hair was plastered to her temples with sweat, and a trace of blood still clung to the corner of her mouth. At his words, she suddenly sprang up. Losing to a freshman in front of all the academy's teachers and students? How could she hold her head up at Shrek afterward? "The fight isn't over!" she roared, striking out with her palm. A piercing sonic boom exploded through the air.
Huo Yuhao rolled aside, narrowly avoiding the blow. He cursed inwardly, You can't cheat this blatantly!
He sprang to his feet and activated Spiritual Detection to its fullest, a cold light flashing through his purple eyes. "Teacher Zhou, I don't know how I offended you, but if you want to crush someone with brute force-you picked the wrong person!"
Soul Power circulated around him as he assumed a fighting stance. "I'll see this fight through to the end today! But let me make this clear first-" He paused, his gaze sweeping over the boiling crowd around them. "If you lose again, please keep your promise."
Zhou Yi's attack abruptly stalled, complicated emotions churning in her eyes. A moment later, she suddenly threw back her head and laughed, a touch of madness in her voice. "Fine! If I lose, everyone in Class One passes the assessment today!"
Before the words had faded, six Soul Rings burst into light behind her, their brilliant radiance forcing the crowd's eyes shut. But the next second, the five uppermost Soul Rings receded like the tide, leaving only the yellow Hundred-Year Soul Ring at the bottom trembling faintly.
"I'll suppress my Soul Emperor cultivation to your level," she said, wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth, her eyes as fierce as a wolf's. "If I lose again, what of it if I, Zhou Yi, resign my position as a teacher?!"