The girls watching were shocked by Su Ming's actions. Is he really going to crush Teacher Zhao's head with that wood dragon? At first, Zhao Wuji was only startled by the shaking, but as he reassured himself of his near-invincible defense among his peers, he grew confident that Su Ming's wood dragon couldn't hurt him, especially with most of his soul power concentrated on protecting his head.
However, just as he relaxed, he realized something was wrong. Wait... why does it feel like my soul power is draining so fast?
What the—! It wasn't that his soul power was depleting quickly; the wood dragon was actually absorbing it! Zhao Wuji began to panic. At this rate, his soul power wouldn't last long, and when it ran out, his head would be defenseless!
Zhao Wuji was in a bind. Should he use his Martial Soul True Body to break free of Su Ming's control? But if he did, his dignity as a teacher would be in tatters!
"Hey, Su Ming, let me go! If you don't, I'll stop playing fair!" Zhao Wuji called out.
Su Ming didn't respond, maintaining a steady control over the wood dragon, neither speeding up nor slowing down, allowing Zhao Wuji to experience a slow, creeping sense of danger. Zhao Wuji's body was already affected by the Dragon Beard Needle and poison that Tang San had shot into him, and now his mind was struggling with the decision of whether to use his Martial Soul True Body.
Su Ming, meanwhile, remained calm. He knew that if Zhao Wuji used his True Body, his dignity as a teacher would be shattered, and students like Ning Rongrong and the others might not want to stay at the academy. After all, who would want to enroll in a school with such undignified teachers?
Just as Zhao Wuji was about to run out of soul power, the wood dragon loosened its grip and disappeared, along with the wooden hands that had restrained him.
Su Ming smiled and said, "Teacher Zhao, the incense has burned out. We've passed the test."
Zhao Wuji looked down and saw that the incense stick had indeed burned to the end.
With a sigh, he said, "You little brat, couldn't you have shown a bit of mercy?"
Then, he turned to glare at Tang San. "And you, too!"
Su Ming calmly replied, "Teacher Zhao, you're a Soul Saint, after all. Your defense is incredibly strong. We had to go all out if we wanted any chance of victory. Since we couldn't break through your defenses, the only option was to drain your soul power. Luckily, my third soul skill allows me to absorb my opponent's soul power. But to be honest, if you had used your Martial Soul True Body earlier, we would've lost."
Zhao Wuji retorted angrily, "If I had to use my True Body against a bunch of kids, I wouldn't be able to show my face in the Soul Master world anymore!"
He then waved his hand and said, "Alright, the incense has burned out, and you've passed the fourth test. You're all admitted to the academy."
Though Zhao Wuji tried to sound casual, deep down, he was frustrated. How had he, the famous Immovable King, lost to a bunch of kids? He had wanted to show off and put on a show, but instead, he'd lost face in front of everyone.
The others, now that the test was over, withdrew their martial souls. Su Ming, seeing that Ning Rongrong had kept her Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda active throughout, used his third and fourth soul skills to help restore her soul power. Thanks to the wood dragon's absorption of Zhao Wuji's energy and Su Ming's natural recovery speed, his soul power was already fully replenished.
Ning Rongrong felt her soul power rapidly recovering and gave Su Ming a sweet smile in gratitude.
Tang San approached Zhao Wuji with an apologetic look and said, "Teacher Zhao, let me remove the needles from your body. It's not good for your health to leave them there."
With that, Tang San used a special technique to extract the Dragon Beard Needles, making Zhao Wuji wince in pain.
Zhao Wuji turned to Dai Mubai and barked, "What are you standing around for? Go get Oscar!"
"Oh, right! I'll go call him now," Dai Mubai said hurriedly.
He shouted, "Oscar, we've got business! Hurry up!"
"Business? Where? Where's the business?" Oscar's distinctively soft voice rang out, filled with excitement. He quickly appeared before the group.
Dai Mubai waved him over. "Little Ao, come here!"
Oscar rushed over, "Boss Dai, you called for me?"
Dai Mubai nodded. "Teacher Zhao needs you."
Oscar looked around, confused. "Where? Where is Teacher Zhao?"
Zhao Wuji's face darkened, and he slapped Oscar on the head. "Right here! Stop pretending you didn't see me!"
Oscar rubbed his head in pain and laughed awkwardly. "I was just trying to lighten the mood, Teacher Zhao."
Zhao Wuji, still in a foul mood, didn't want to waste time. "Hurry up and give me some of your big sausage and little sausage."
Dai Mubai, meanwhile, explained to the group, "Oscar's martial soul is sausage. He's a food-type soul master. His first soul skill, Big Recovery Sausage, accelerates the healing of physical injuries, and his second soul skill, Small Detoxifying Sausage, removes poison. The only downside is that the incantation is a bit… odd. You'll see what I mean."
Dai Mubai then turned to Su Ming and asked, "Wait, Su Ming, doesn't your fourth soul skill also have healing properties? Couldn't you just heal Teacher Zhao?"
Su Ming feigned innocence. "Teacher Zhao didn't ask me to heal him, and besides, after all that fighting, I don't have enough soul power left to use my fourth skill."
Dai Mubai nodded in understanding. Su Ming had used all four of his soul skills multiple times during the battle, so it made sense that his soul power would be depleted. After all, using a fourth soul skill at his level required a lot of energy.
What Dai Mubai didn't know was that Su Ming was actually fully recovered, but he had no intention of healing Zhao Wuji. Serves him right for bullying us kids. Su Ming had never particularly liked Zhao Wuji anyway.
Oscar, realizing that only Teacher Zhao needed his sausages, pouted. "Boss Dai, you tricked me! There's no real business here."
Oscar glanced around at the group, noticing that no one else was injured and seemed to be in good shape. Looks like I won't be selling many sausages today…
Zhao Wuji, irritated, flicked Oscar's head again. "Less talking, more sausages!"