Huo Yuhao stifled a smile. "Right, you're so hardworking. In fact, you're so hardworking that you cover your head with your blanket every day so as to not get up in the morning. I wonder who this 'hardworking person', the one who's asked me not to wake him up every morning, is."
"Humph!" Wang Dong snorted and pushed Huo Yuhao away as he took large strides towards the dorms. Huo Yuhao laughed as he hurried after him. When they arrived back at their dormitory, they greeted the old man who was reclining near the entrance, then headed to their room.
"Come here, let me take a look. Let me see just how much your cultivation's increased now that you've obtained your second soul ring and a second martial soul." Wang Dong said as he plopped himself down on his bed.
Huo Yuhao laughed. "You're so anxious. Could it be that you're trying to prepare for the bet that we have in the afternoon? Since it's a score-based test, I reckon that we'll add all of our scores together and compete against their combined score. Don't tell me that you're not confident in yourself?"
Wang Dong glanced at him. "Of course I'm confident in myself. I'm just not confident in a person who's holding us back like you."
Huo Yuhao was left speechless when he heard this. He immediately took off his shoes and sat down on Wang Dong's bed in a cross-legged position. "Here, I'll let you experience just how awesome this brother of yours really is." After hearing the Skydream Iceworm refer to himself as his brother everyday during their journey, Huo Yuhao had learned to use the phrase as well.
Wang Dong unhappily spat, "Didn't I give you a set of bedding? Why're you sitting on my bed?"
Huo Yuhao replied, "Come on, stop that bad habit of yours. Hurry up."
Wang Dong didn't press the issue. He turned to face Huo Yuhao, then pressed his palms against Huo Yuhao's. Immediately afterwards, a look of astonishment appeared on both of their faces.
They were both able to sense that their soul power fusion had formed a powerful soul power, which had in turn substantially increased both of their soul power. Furthermore, it wasn't a simple quantitative change; it was such a substantial improvement that it could be considered a qualitative change. When they'd separated one month ago, their Haodong Power could be described as a tiny brook. Their fused soul power now however, was practically akin to a small river. As the turbulent soul power flowed throughout their bodies, they both were able to clearly sense that their soul power was circulating at 150% its original speed.
The majority of what Huo Yuhao felt was the explosive increase in Wang Dong's soul power, but Wang Dong felt something different; he discovered that not only had Huo Yuhao's soul power increased by a substantial amount, but the width of his passageways had doubled as well. The amount of Haodong Power the two had created was relatively enormous, yet it wasn't inhibited at all when it circulated through Huo Yuhao's passageways. It managed to complete an entire revolution without any difficulty at all. In fact, Huo Yuhao's circulation speed even exceeded Wang Dong's. It was as if a heavenly treasure had been used on Huo Yuhao's body, causing an astonishing transformation to occur to it. When the Haodong Power had finished flowing through Huo Yuhao's body, Wang Dong sensed a formidable burst of power from his body.
Though the two felt astonished, they'd already started cultivating. As such, they didn't dare to be careless at all. They hurriedly guarded their minds and gradually entered a meditative state.
They cultivated all the way until lunchtime before stopping. When they finally slowly withdrew their palms and opened their eyes, both of them had a somewhat strange gaze in their eyes as they looked at one another.
They'd only cultivated for two hours, yet they both felt that their soul power had distinctly increased. With this sort of cultivation speed, they could potentially raise both of their soul powers by a single rank in less than a month! This cultivation speed was simply too astonishing.
"You're simply a freak!" Wang Dong couldn't help but blurt out.
Huo Yuhao unhappily retorted, "Then what about you? Aren't you one as well? This was a combination of me being well-prepared and my good fortune."
Wang Dong smiled mischievously. "It's no wonder that you were so confident when you made that bet with Dai Huabin. Don't worry, as long as your score in the advancement test is higher than Zhu Lu's or Cui Yajie's, our chances of winning will be extremely high. I'll definitely work hard in order to beat Dai Huabin's score."
Huo Yuhao nodded, then asked, "Are you saying that the proctor will be able to notice if we cheat?"
Their minds were practically connected at this point, as Wang Dong naturally understood what he was thinking. "I'm afraid that it'll be extremely difficult. However, I can sense that your control has increased by a substantial amount, so it should be fine if you're careful. We have to make Dai Huabin and the rest kowtow before us. Let's see whether he'll dare to be so unbridled after that."
When he and Wang Dong reached the canteen, they learned that Huo Yuhao's lunch quality hadn't dropped, despite him being stripped of his privileges as a core disciple of the Martial Soul Department. A thirty-or-so-year-old chef was already waiting for them outside. When he saw Huo Yuhao, he immediately approached them.
"You're Huo Yuhao?"
"And you are?" Huo Yuhao could guarantee that this was his first time meeting this man.
The middle-aged man who was dressed as a chef smiled. "I'm Master Fan Yu's personal chef. From here on out, I'll personally be bringing you your food." Once he'd finished speaking, he handed Huo Yuhao the box of food he was holding.
Huo Yuhao stared blankly. Once he came back to his senses, a warm feeling immediately spread through his heart; his teacher was truly too thoughtful. He thanked the chef and accepted the box of food. Once he had, he and Wang Dong entered the canteen together.
Wang Dong said, "You're really great! You even have someone to deliver food to you. The core disciples of the Soul Tool Department are truly treated in an extraordinary manner."
Huo Yuhao chuckled. "Go and order your food."
When Huo Yuhao opened the box of food he'd received and saw the food inside of it, he couldn't help but feel astonished. This meal was simply too sumptuous!
To Huo Yuhao, the food that the core disciples of the Martial Soul Department had been able to eat had already been of the best quality. However, the food that Fan Yu's personal chef had given him exceeded that by more than a single level.
Inside of the box were two dishes, a bowl of soup, and large bowl of rice. They seemed extremely simple at a glance, but the ingredients that had been used to make them could be described as precious treasures.
There was a piece of paper that labeled the food inside of the box as well, with instructions written on it that detailed which food should be eaten in which order so as to obtain maximum efficacy from the ingredients as well.
Firstly, he needed to drink the soup that had been made from a hundred year jade ginseng stewed together with the essence of a gastrodia elata. Huo Yuhao was no longer the previously ignorant kid that he had been; after enjoying the benefits of a core disciple of the Martial Soul Department for an entire year, he had a certain level of understanding towards these top-level ingredients. He could also roughly calculate that the cost of this bowl of soup alone exceeded fifty gold soul coins.
The Martial Soul Department's canteen served a similar dish, but it contained a mere ten year jade ginseng instead of a hundred year ginseng. As such, its ingredients were very inferior when compared to the dish in front of him. This bowl of soup could nourish the brain and body, and was considered an exceptionally good type of nourishment.
Of the two dishes, one of them contained the simmered muscles of a hundred year Earth Dragon. These Earth Dragon muscles had been obtained from a genuine Earth Dragon. The combat strength of a hundred year Earth Dragon was absolutely at the pinnacle of hundred year soul beasts, as it was the representative of power-type soul beasts. Its muscles could nourish both the muscles and bones of a human being, thus its benefits were especially great for a teenager like Huo Yuhao.
When Huo Yuhao opened the dish, he found out that the Earth Dragon muscles had unexpectedly been turned into a soft stew. It would've had to have been cooked for at least three full days to reach this degree of softness! Not only was it incredibly delicious, it was also incredibly beneficial to eat.
The other dish contained the marrow of an Azure Bird, and was served with bean sauce. The Azure Bird supposedly had a trace of the Phoenix bloodline, and not only was its marrow delicious, it was also extremely nourishing to the bones of a human being.
These three dishes altogether could be referred to as the Dragon Muscle Phoenix Marrow Jade Ginseng, and regardless of if you were talking about its nourishing effects or its price, all three of them were first-class dishes.
Even the rice was special; it was known as Crystal White Jade Rice and it seemed to be filled with tiny pearls. It could replenish one's Qi and would nourish one's body, thus increasing one's physical strength.
The material price along for this meal surpassed a hundred and fifty gold soul coins!
When Wang Dong returned from ordering his food, he took a look at his own food, then looked back at Huo Yuhao's. A strange light appeared in his eyes once he did so. "Yuhao, I'm jealous now. I want to go to the Soul Tool Department as well. When did the Soul Tool Department's food become that good? I heard that the food that their core disciples eat in their canteen is far inferior to what we of the Martial Soul Department get! However, it seems like the Martial Soul Department needs more nutritious food."
Wang Dong's information wasn't wrong, but that only applied to ordinary core disciples of the Soul Tool Department. Was Huo Yuhao ordinary? Not only was he Fan Yu's direct disciple, he was also the Soul Tool Department's first-ever core disciple with twin martial souls. The Soul Tool Department had placed all of their hope on him, but even Huo Yuhao didn't know this.
Huo Yuhao chuckled, then pushed some of his food towards Wang Dong. "Here, we'll split it fifty-fifty. Give me half of your food. We can taste many different things this way." He didn't even wait for Wang Dong to reply before he impolitely shoved a large amount of Wang Dong's food onto his plate and began to eat it with large mouthfuls.
Wang Dong silently gazed at him when he saw this. However, in the end, he didn't refuse Huo Yuhao's offer. Thus, he and Huo Yuhao ate the two different dishes available for the core disciples of the Martial Soul Department and the Soul Tool Department together.
——
The Beast Duelling Area.
As the largest specialised area within Shrek Academy, it was also the largest building within Shrek Academy. The space that the Beast Duelling Area occupied was as large as all of the buildings and dorms within the Martial Soul Department, including Shrek Plaza, combined.
Within the entire Douluo Continent, academies that could use their power to actually capture and raise soul beasts were as few and far between as phoenix feathers and qilin horns. Of them, Shrek Academy was the one and only academy that could achieve such a scale as the Beast Duelling Area; even the royal families of the various empires were unable to do something create something like it. Capturing and raising soul beasts wasn't easy. One had to maintain the wild nature of a soul beast whilst keeping track of the different diets and habits different soul beasts had. At the same time, one also had to ensure their own safety whilst ordering them about. Investing in something this huge was something that ordinary soul master academies simply wouldn't dare to even dream of.
The taxes obtained from Shrek City every year all went to Shrek Academy. And of this enormous sum of money, an entire third of it went into the Beast Duelling Area. It was obvious what sort of investment the Beast Duelling Area needed.
Students who'd just entered the academy would generally feel that the school fees alone were expensive, but students who managed to enter the Beast Duelling Area wouldn't have this feeling. The amount of money they paid as school fees compared to the investments that Shrek Academy made was akin to comparing the glow of a firefly to the radiance of the moon.
Other than the taxes received from Shrek City, another form of income that Shrek Academy received came from the Soul Tool Department. Every year, the soul tools created by the Soul Tool Department would be sold outside of the academy. However, these sales were limited to the Heavenly Soul Empire, the Dou Ling Empire, and the Star Luo Empire; they didn't include the Sun Moon Empire. This was also the reason that Yan Shaozhe had said that Qian Duoduo was rich.
The Beast Duelling Area also had an underground portion. Originally, right after it had been built, there were also more than a hundred soul engineers helping the artisans and smiths. Thanks to various powerful Soul Tools, they were able to restrict the various soul beasts inside cages. However, powerful soul masters and soul engineers were required to guard the place year-round. According to the rumors, there were even some ten thousand year soul beasts imprisoned as well. However, there weren't any hundred thousand year soul beasts captured. Although capturing a hundred thousand year soul beast alive was extremely difficult, it wasn't impossible. However, a hundred thousand year soul beast was equivalent to an unimaginable amount of wealth to any soul master. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that just one hundred thousand year soul beast could instantly cause a soul master to soar into the sky. A hundred thousand year soul ring and soul bone would provide four soul skills together! Just how terrifying was that?
At the same, there was still the Beast Dueling Arena. It was specially provided to the students of Shrek Academy in order to allow them to conduct combat training, as well as to assess their abilities. Currently, the Year 1 students had just entered the Beast Dueling Arena in order to take their final test.
The Beast Dueling Arena was an oval-shaped building; its longest side had a diameter of roughly 190 meters, its shortest side had a diameter of roughly 160 meters, and it was approximately 60 meters tall. If one were to look at it from the outside, they would see that it was divided into four layers. The first three layers were built in a multi-arched style, and every single arched entryway had stone columns on both sides that acted as supports. On the other hand, the fourth layer had a decorated rampart that faced four narrow paths with four great arched entrances, which led directly to the spectator's stand inside of the Beast Dueling Arena. The spectator's stand inside of the Beast Dueling Arena was also divided up into four sections, and under special circumstances, Shrek Academy could conduct special area differentiations. The building looked extremely grand, and could be described as both glorious and magnificent.
The enormous Beast Dueling Arena was capable of accommodating up to ten thousand spectators, though a large part of its enormous space was taken up by the interior of the Beast Dueling Arena. Like the Soul Dueling Area, one could both fight against a single soul beast or against several soul beasts simultaneously. Senior students of the Martial Soul Department were definitely familiar with the Beast Dueling Arena, as students with a higher cultivation base would often come to it in order to hone their combat skills. At the same time, it was a nightmare to those with lower cultivation bases.
After the fourth year, every single class would come to the Beast Dueling Stage once a week for a lesson, the cumulative results of which would influence the score of the students' final test.
When Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao walked into the great Beast Dueling Arena together, they almost couldn't believe their eyes. Despite whatever background they had, the building in front of them was definitely the most magnificent construction they'd ever seen.
"Yuhao." The Skydream Iceworm's voice suddenly echoed inside of Huo Yuhao's mind. Even though Huo Yuhao had become used to Brother Skydream appearing and disappearing on a whim, he was still nearly frightened to death by his sudden appearance.
"What's the matter, Brother Skydream?"
The Skydream Iceworm said, "You want that boy to kowtow in front of you and admit that he was wrong, right? I'll teach you the easiest way to do so. This will also become one of your future fighting styles."
When he heard this, Huo Yuhao became very happy. "Tell me," he replied.
The Skydream Iceworm began to explain, "Alright, you have to…"
——-
All of the Year 1 students needed to retrieve their forms for their final test first, which would in turn tell them the order they'd need to follow to go on stage. Places for their scores and their rank were also on the form they received.
Everyone lined up to receive their form. While they were doing so, Wang Dong looked around for Dai Huabin, until he noticed him standing a short ways away from them. He nudged Huo Yuhao with his elbow and said, "Look, Dai Huabin and the others are here."
Huo Yuhao nodded, then walked over to where Dai Huabin was currently standing.
Wang Dong was dumbfounded. What is Yuhao trying to pull? How could he be so impulsive? However, he and Xiao Xiao didn't waste any time trying to guess Huo Yuhao's motive; they both immediately followed behind him.
Dai Huabin had also been paying attention to them, thus he naturally noticed when Huo Yuhao suddenly approached them. He didn't reveal any weaknesses as he simply gave Huo Yuhao a cold look as he approached.
The other students that were in line didn't know about the bet between them, but they did know that these two groups had were the final contenders during the freshmen test. At the same time, Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu's expulsion was already widespread. It was clear that the two groups held a grudge against one another. Thus, the six of them had become the focus of every single student.
Huo Yuhao stopped around three meters from Dai Huabin, and after pausing briefly, he said, "Dai Huabin, today is the day of our bet. I want to know, do you regret making the bet?"
Dai Huabin instantly became speechless when he heard this, then thought, This Huo Yuhao must have gone crazy… After thinking this, he coldly replied, "I, Dai Huabin, have never gone back on my word. Today, our two parties of three will participate in the several phases of the final test; the party that has the lowest cumulative score will kowtow and admit their fault to the other."
Huo Yuhao nodded and said, "Good, then I ask everyone present to act as a witness for today's bet. What do you think, Dai Huabin?"
Dai Huabin subconsciously replied, "That's fine. However, if you regret decision, you and Wang Dong better kowtow and admit your mistakes right now. Xiao Xiao's a girl however, so I can make an exception for her."
Huo Yuhao sneered and said, "I'll wait for you here once the test is over." He turned around as soon as he'd finished speaking and left.
The conversation between them attracted the attention of the students from both the first and second classes of Year 1, who were in the process of receiving their final test forms. They immediately began to gossip in low voices, which caused Dai Huabin's complexion to became uglier and uglier, until he coldly stated, "You only have yourself to blame for invoking this disaster. Since you want to lose even more face, I'll be more than happy to help you do so." The way he saw it, Huo Yuhao had purposely said those words in front of so many people simply because he'd wanted the entirety of Year 1 to know about the bet between them. Now that he'd done so, the loser of the bet would forever be unable to lift their head inside of the academy. Where did his confidence come from? Even though he knew that Huo Yuhao probably had a few tricks up his sleeve, Dai Huabin had complete confidence in his own abilities. He'd trained extremely hard over the past year!
Once everyone had received their forms, the students followed their respective teachers into the great Beast Dueling Arena one after another.
Since they had to take the final test, they didn't head towards the spectator's stands. Instead, they lined up inside of the Great Beast Dueling Arena's Beast Dueling Arena in an orderly fashion as they waited for their turn to take their test.
The total number of Year 1 students that were present to take the test equaled over a hundred. Furthermore, as it was their first time taking a test in the Great Beast Dueling Arena, the academy had attached a lot of importance to their safety. As such, twenty teachers were waiting for the students when they arrived. They were in charge of taking care of the soul beasts, protecting the students, and assessing their abilities. The number of participants was quite high, but in the interest of letting everyone familiarize themselves with the way that things were done, the Great Beast Dueling Arena hadn't been divided into separate arenas; the students would take the test one at a time. Doing it this way would allow the teachers to see things more clearly, and in turn would let them assign grades more accurately.
Du Weilun had also come, and would be the head examiner today. He, along with the other four teachers in charge of grading the students, were all sitting atop a tall platform that they could clearly observe the Beast Dueling Arena from.
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, as Class 1's two well-known leaders, naturally stood in the front, while in Class 2's group, the ones standing in front were Dai Huabin and Xie Hanyue. There wasn't much of a difference between Xie Hanyue and Dai Huabin's cultivations, but the former's defensive ability was extremely strong—it was at the point where Huo Yuhao and the others could only take notes.
As Mu Jin stood beside Dai Huabin, she gazed towards Zhou Yi with an icy gaze full of evil intentions.
Zhou Yi whispered, "Yuhao, you've already been accepted as a core disciple of the Soul Tool Department. Just try your best here. Make sure not to choose a soul beast that's too strong to be your opponent; you should simply maximize your chance of victory. However, you also don't need to hold back. You've already seen the order in which you'll participate. In order to give the students some encouragement, the academy has decided to have the leaders of the two classes be the first to go on stage. Once our class has sent a person to take the test, Class 2 will send their leader to take the test. Wang Dong, it will be your turn in a short while. You absolutely have to be successful. If you're confident, I advise you to choose the soul beast with the highest rank. This way, even if you lose, as long as you manage to resist for a long enough period of time, your score won't be terrible."
"I understand. You don't need to worry, teacher." Wang Dong made a gesture with his somewhat delicate fist.
"Hold on, Teacher Zhou. Let me go first," Huo Yuhao suddenly said.
"Hm? Yuhao… This will affect the reputation of our class." Zhou Yi said after a pause.
Huo Yuhao nodded. "Teacher Zhou, I won't disappoint you."
When she saw the resolute look in Huo Yuhao's eyes, she hesitated for a moment, then gritted her teeth and nodded. "Good, you can go first." Even though she wanted to exceed Mu Jin, she still wasn't willing to extinguish the enthusiasm of her disciples.
Du Weilun's voice suddenly echoed from the tall platform, "The test is starting. Year 1 Class 1 will send its student out first. Afterwards, Class 2 will send out a student from their class."
Huo Yuhao grasped his test form as he entered the Beast Dueling Area with long strides. He immediately got an indescribable feeling—as if all the blood in his body had suddenly begun to seeth from excitement. Maybe it was because there had been many, many battles in this place. Coming here produced an intense fighting desire in every student of Shrek Academy. Only by fighting could one truly understand what they'd studied. This was also why the Beast Dueling Arena existed, and was also why the students that had graduated from Shrek Academy would become outstanding soul masters that every great empire would fight over.
Once Huo Yuhao had handed his form over to the teacher in charge, the teacher placed it atop the ascending platform right below the Judge's Stand. Huo Yuhao's assessment form almost immediately arrived in Director Du Weilun's hands.
The first examinee that Du Weilun had to assess was exactly Huo Yuhao. Du Weilun immediately focused; he was impatient to see how outstanding this student—someone who the Soul Tool Department hadn't been able to wait to take under their banner—was. Fighting soul beasts and fighting other students from the academy were two completely different things. Soul beasts were innately hostile towards human beings; they wouldn't show any mercy when they fought. As such, this would give the students the feeling of a life and death crisis. Huo Yuhao was only 12 years old. Would he really be able to go all-out?
Huo Yuhao arrived in the middle of the stage. Two teachers would act as referees here, in order to assure the complete safety of the students.
The referee on the left asked him, "What do you cultivate in?"
Huo Yuhao respectfully replied, "The Control System."
The referee continued, "Choose the soul beast that you would like to take the test with. Remember, a Control System Soul Master has to do their best to focus on the word 'control'. You'll only have a single chance to assess your abilities. Don't waste it. Soul beasts are divided into hundred year intervals, ranging from a hundred year soul beast to a thousand year soul beast." The students from both Class 1 and Class 2 were focused on Huo Yuhao, who would be fighting a soul beast alone. For most of them, it would be their first time fighting a soul beast on their own, thus they would be lying if they said they weren't nervous. Of course, they all hoped to gain some valuable experience from those who would be taking the test before them. This final test would decide whether or not they could keep studying at the academy!
A ray of light flashed through Huo Yuhao's eyes as he said in a low voice, "I choose a hundred year soul beast."
"A hundred year soul beast? Are you sure?" The teacher in charge of assessing his skills thought he had misheard him; the first students to go on stage were usually the most outstanding of the bunch, but choosing a mere hundred year soul beast… this was a bit too strange. Even if he was a control-type soul master, he shouldn't have made a choice like this!
Huo Yuhao nodded and said, "Yes, I choose a hundred year soul beast." His voice was very loud; all the teachers and students, even the ones standing far away, could hear him.
Zhou Yi felt everything in front of her going black, and wondered in her heart, 'What is Huo Yuhao trying to do?'
On the other hand, Mu Jin had the look of someone taking pleasure in another's misfortune. Dai Huabin, who was at first taken aback, immediately regained his senses, showing a disdaining look.
Under Huo Yuhao's insistence, the referee nodded and said, "Then we'll choose a hundred year soul beast to conduct your test. Are you ready?"
"I'm ready," Huo Yuhao replied without the tiniest bit of hesitation.
"The test will now commence." The referee gestured toward a distant place, immediately giving rise to a mechanical sound. In the distance, a huge hydraulic gate was slowly opening, and the sound of something dashing about madly could be heard from the pitch-black corridor behind it. All the students that were busy laughing at Huo Yuhao immediately went silent. It was their first time being in this kind of situation, and they started to feel an indescribable pressure weighing down on them.
A streak of green light burst out from the depths of the corridor. Its speed was incredibly fast, and it traveled dozens of meters in an instant, directly pouncing toward Huo Yuhao.
Its body was two meters long and one meter tall. It had green fur that swayed in the wind, and a pair of pale-brown eyes that were full of excitement. This was a very common agility-type soul beast, the Wind Spiritwolf.
At this moment, Huo Yuhao's body had a sudden change. Under the astonished gazes of the surrounding people, two blood-red rings of light suddenly emerged from under his feet, both with four pale-gold glittering lines on them. When they appeared, even Huo Yuhao's eyes changed to a crimson red.
It seemed as if a terrifying aura from ancient times had suddenly appeared. Everyone around him saw a blood-red light spreading from the center of Huo Yuhao's body. At this moment, they found his small body to be as frightening as a demon from ancient times.
"Awoo–––" The Wind Spiritwolf called out pitifully; that body that was dashing about madly suddenly stopped in midair. After that, it rolled on the ground like a gourd, lying weakly on the floor. Even excrement and urine could be seen here and there.
At the same time, a large number of yells could be heard from that faraway cave inside the great Beast Dueling Arena.
What did a red soul ring represent? It represented a hundred thousand year soul beast, it was the soul ring of a first-class soul beast. Every hundred thousand year soul ring was a rare existence; forget the students, even the teachers present on the scene didn't have one.
And at this moment, Huo Yuhao had not only displayed a red soul ring, but two of them. No matter if it was the visual impact or the terrifying aura, under that oppressive power, every part of the great Beast Dueling Arena was shrouded in a deadly silence.
But those caged soul beasts inside the great Beast Dueling Arena were not the only one to be affected. Even the students and the teachers were greatly affected. It was as if they were facing a terrifying wild beast that had no equal. Under this fearful aura, they unconsciously released their martial souls, immediately assuming a defensive posture.
A certain number of not-so-courageous female students started to cry copiously, and even the teachers' faces went pale from fright when they saw that silhouette in the middle of the stage that was neither big nor tall.
Du Weilun had stood up from his seat long ago, the radiance of eight soul rings emanating from his body. Facing the aura of a hundred thousand year soul beast, he was no exception to the crowd; he had immediately released his martial soul.
"I… Impossible. He's just 12 years old, how can he have a hundred thousand year soul ring? But this aura… is precisely that of a hundred thousand year soul beast! Moreover, that burst of aura just now… was much stronger than that of the hundred thousand year soul beasts I've seen in the past. Just how did he do it?"
The red light slowly started to disappear. First it was the red color in his eyes, then the two red soul rings on his body. Then, the terrifying aura also slowly disappeared without a trace, and everything finally returned to normal. The oppressive aura emanating from Huo Yuhao's body hadn't spread too far; it had only affected those inside the great Beast Dueling Arena.
A bad smell started to spread in every direction from that faraway dark cave, a stench that got stronger as time passed.
Huo Yuhao turned toward the two teachers that were still dumbfounded, and said while respectfully bowing, "Teachers, I've finished my test."
Indeed, the test had concluded. That Wind Spiritwolf was nothing but a hundred year soul beast, and it had taken the terrifying presence of a hundred thousand year soul beast head-on, while being the sole target of its wrath. Therefore, it was not only so scared that it had wet itself, but it was also lying on the ground, twitching, with foam coming out of its mouth. What fighting spirit would it even have left?
"T-this…" The referee was speechless. He had assessed the abilities of god-knew-how many students in this final test in the arena, but this was his first time dealing with something like this.
Although Shrek Academy was famous for producing monsters, they still shouldn't be this monstrous! A Year 2 student with a hundred thousand year soul ring? And two of them to boot?
After the initial great shock had passed, everybody's first thought was clearly, 'What had happened?' The only exceptions were Zhou Yi and Wang Dong, because they had already been shocked last night, but last night's shock was nowhere near comparable to the impact created by the scene just now.
Although Zhou Yi had heard Fan Yu saying that Huo Yuhao's imitation skill could do wonders… never would she have expected it to have such a terrifying effect. He hadn't even had to use his twin martial souls to win this battle.
That's right, Huo Yuhao's opponent was a soul beast that had cultivated for merely a hundred years. However, he hadn't moved from start to end, and had won this battle just by releasing his martial soul. How could this result be considered bad? This was simply the pinnacle of control! Now, Zhou Yi was finally clear on why Huo Yuhao had selected a hundred year soul beast instead of a stronger one. He wanted to have complete assurance. Had that soul beast been stronger, would he have been able to make it lose its fighting capacity with just the aura of a hundred thousand year soul ring? Even if he could, it wouldn't have had as great of a reaction as the hundred year soul beast before them.
The visual and mental impact of Huo Yuhao's display had really been too strong. As a result, not only were the two classes shocked, even all of the teachers were shocked! At this moment, everyone in the Beast Duelling Arena was dead silent, looking stupidly at Huo Yuhao, who was returning to his place with the other Class 1 students.
Zhou Sichen swallowed a mouthful of saliva and whispered, "Old Huo, that isn't the reincarnation of some hundred thousand year soul beast or something, right? That was just too terrifying. I almost wet myself."
Cao Jinxuan said, ill-humored, "I almost shat myself too."
After that short moment of surprise, the referee in the middle of the arena, as well as the other members of the committee on the tall platform, all looked toward Director Du Weilun. The meaning of their looks was very clear: 'What should we do now?'
Exactly! What should they do now? This situation was out of the ordinary, to say the least. How should they proceed? No matter how unbelievable it seemed, a student had used two hundred thousand year soul rings to scare a hundred year soul beast to death. Huo Yuhao had naturally passed the test, but how should they decide the score?
But right at this moment, several forms suddenly emerged from the side door of the great Beast Dueling Arena's beast cage. In front of them was an old man with a red face, a tall stature and an even more eye-catching head of red hair. Rushing forward, he howled, "What happened? Who the hell did it? All soul beasts under ten thousand years were so scared that they shat themselves, and all of them are incredibly weak right now. Du Weilun, was this your doing?"
Du Weilun forced a smile and said, "Old Gong, it wasn't me." While speaking, he descended from the tall platform, landing near that old man and explaining what had just happened to him in a low voice.
This old man with red hair was named Gong Changlong, and he was the person in charge of this great Beast Dueling Arena. He had a high status inside Shrek Academy, and his research regarding soul beasts was very thorough. Even Du Weilun had to be polite to someone like him.
"Hm? Something like that happened? Impossible. Absolutely impossible. No matter what kind of natural talent he has, or how many heavenly treasures he relies on, it's impossible for a 12-year-old to assimilate a hundred thousand year soul ring. Which boy did you say it was? Call him and bring him here, I need to take a look at him." Gong Changlong was a hot-tempered guy, and he immediately started shouting out loud.
Somewhat embarrassed, Du Weilun said, "Old Gong, we're in the middle of the final test, I was wondering if you could wait for the test to be over to…"
Gong Changlong interrupted him with ill-humor and said, "Test, my ass. Were you even listening to me? All the soul beasts under ten thousand years old shat themselves from fright, and all those under a thousand years shared the same fate. How exactly are you planning to continue your test? These soul beasts need at least two or three days of rest to recover. Do you have any idea how long it will take for my men to clean up this awful stench? It was so difficult for us to train them to not shit wherever they wanted to, but now, all our efforts have been wasted."
Even Du Weilun hadn't expected things to become serious to this degree. Right now, they were unable to continue the final test. This seemingly unimportant affair would actually have an impact on the students' studies.
"Fine, old Gong. I'll give everyone a short explanation. Wait a moment."
Du Weilun turned around and arrived near the students of the two classes. After pausing for a moment, he said, "Due to certain circumstances, today's final test will be suspended. The teachers will now bring the students back to their classrooms to take lessons."
Zhou Yi quickly asked, "Chairman Du, what about Huo Yuhao's test?"
Du Weilun frowned and said, "Let's say that he passed. Huo Yuhao, come with me." After finishing his sentence, he turned and returned to old Gong.
However, Huo Yuhao didn't immediately follow behind him. Instead, he went toward the front of Class 2, looked coldly toward Dai Huabin and said, "Remember to wait for me outside. If I'm not mistaken, according to our bet, the one with the higher score will be the winner. You've lost, I'll be waiting for you to kowtow and admit that you were wrong!"