"Dai Huabin, didn't you hear me tell you to stop?" Du Weilun's angry voice echoed through the Soul Arena.
The death of a thousand-year soul beast was a significant loss for the Beast Battle Zone. Capturing a thousand-year soul beast and taming it was no easy task, and the old man guarding the Beast Battle Zone wasn't easy to deal with.
"Battles are a matter of life and death. It wanted to kill me, so I killed it. There's nothing more to say," Dai Huabin said calmly. "Besides, I couldn't hold back at that moment. If I had, it might have retaliated and injured me. To get a perfect score, I had to avoid making the same mistake Wang Dong did. I couldn't afford a 30% error rate. As for the academy's loss, I'll compensate for it."
"You..."
Du Weilun frowned deeply. Dai Huabin's character was too ruthless. Such an unyielding student would become even harder to control as his strength increased.
Du Weilun's thoughts weren't wrong, but he erred in viewing Shrek as a soul master force rather than an academy.
Both Dai Huabin and Huo Yuhao were at Shrek Academy to study and receive advanced soul master education. However, Du Weilun and other academy leaders saw these students as investments, expecting returns once their abilities reached a certain level.
In other words, Dai Huabin was the heir to the White Tiger Duke's mansion. How could Shrek Academy think they could control him? Who did they think they were?
Du Weilun sat down again, frowning as he said in a low voice, "Dai Huabin, your basic score for choosing a thousand-year soul beast in the advancement test is 100. You showcased the strengths of an assault-type battle soul master through head-on confrontation, but your battle technique lacked finesse, earning you a technique score of 45. Compensate the academy for the loss of the soul beast within ten days, or you'll lose your core disciple status."
"Yes!"
Dai Huabin had regained his composure after the frenzied state of the battle. Having achieved a satisfactory score, he naturally wouldn't defy Du Weilun further. He bowed slightly and then walked briskly towards his class.
One hundred and forty-five points! This was an almost perfect score, unprecedented in the second-year advancement tests.
Indeed, Dai Huabin's performance was nearly flawless. Although his hands were injured, he hadn't lost his combat ability. During the battle, he had ferociously killed a powerful tiger-type soul beast.
After all, Dai Huabin was only twelve years old and had reached near the Soul Elder level. Such a feat was rare even in Shrek Academy's history. The fact that he didn't receive a perfect score was due to Du Weilun's dissatisfaction with his defiance and deliberate nitpicking.
Zhu Lu's eyes sparkled. This kind of strength was what she admired most in Dai Huabin; he was the man she loved.
Seeing Dai Huabin, covered in blood, approaching, the class teacher of Class 2 couldn't help but frown. "Huabin, go clean yourself up first. You've passed your test."
Dai Huabin shook his head and turned to face Class 1, raising his right hand and pointing at Huo Yuhao.
However, Dai Huabin found that Huo Yuhao's gaze was calm, almost cold. Facing Dai Huabin's blood-soaked and fierce appearance, Huo Yuhao showed no fear, only indifference.
He didn't know he was facing one of the top assassins on the planet. Blood and slaughter wouldn't make Huo Yuhao retreat; instead, they evoked a familiar feeling in him.
"It's my turn." Huo Yuhao smiled slightly.
Clearing the field took a few minutes. The referee teacher first took Huo Yuhao's test form and handed it to the high platform.
"Second Year, Class 1, Huo Yuhao."
Hearing Huo Yuhao announce himself, not only Du Weilun but also the evaluating teachers sat up straight, ready to see what Huo Yuhao could do.
Last semester, Huo Yuhao had caused quite a stir at Shrek Academy. Even teachers who hadn't interacted with him had heard of his exploits. Now that it was his turn for the advancement test, these teachers naturally wanted to know what abilities had earned Huo Yuhao so many privileges from the Sea God Pavilion.
"I also choose a thousand-year soul beast," Huo Yuhao said with a smile. He looked more like he was at a cat café than about to battle a soul beast.
"A thousand years?"
The referee teacher was shocked. "Huo Yuhao, think carefully! You're only a two-ring Grandmaster. A thousand-year soul beast would be a lot of pressure for you. As you saw earlier, even if we wanted to save you, it would take time in a close battle."
"Thank you for your reminder, but I choose a thousand-year soul beast."
His voice was loud enough for everyone to hear clearly, including those on the high platform and the students waiting for their tests.
Du Weilun's eyes narrowed slightly, then he waved to the referee. He knew Huo Yuhao was always a cunning character; no one knew how much strength he was hiding.
According to his form, Huo Yuhao was at level 29. He had defeated Dai Huabin at level 19, so it wasn't unreasonable for him to fight a thousand-year soul beast at level 29.
Yes, that made sense.
"Huo Yuhao, are you ready?" the referee asked after receiving Du Weilun's permission.
Huo Yuhao smiled and nodded.
The referee gestured and reminded, "Be careful. If you find it overwhelming, protect yourself as best you can."
Colorful light shimmered as two soul rings rose from beneath Huo Yuhao's feet. One white and one yellow, a very standard but weak soul ring combination.
"Poof!"
Du Weilun almost choked on his tea. He had thought Huo Yuhao's rapid advancement was due to his soul rings.
A body spirit soul master could absorb soul rings with higher age limits due to their superior physical strength. But he hadn't expected Huo Yuhao's soul rings to be honestly one white and one yellow, making him feel like he'd punched air.
Good kid, I overestimated you!
As Huo Yuhao's opponent appeared, bringing with it a cold aura, a leopard covered in ice mist and snowflakes rushed out of the beast zone.
Indeed, the highest-level test opponents were not only thousand-year soul beasts but also powerful lions, tigers, leopards, and bears.
This soul beast was called an Ice Demon Leopard, a rare ice-attribute leopard soul beast. The Beast Battle Zone had spent a fortune to bring it from the Extreme North to familiarize students with fighting different attributes.
However, when Huo Yuhao saw the Ice Demon Leopard, he froze for a moment. His expression seemed somewhat amused, and he even glanced at Dai Huabin with pity.
Then he crouched down, extended his finger towards the Ice Demon Leopard, and made a series of rapid sounds.
"Zz zz zz, little Hakimi, come here, let uncle hug you."