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Xu Yuan thrust his spear forward.
A beam of light pierced through the arena, heading straight for the Ice Goddess.
The Ice Goddess sensed the movement, turned around, and her expression shifted slightly. She swung her icy sword, releasing a chilling blade of qi.
On the arena, the icy aura converged, and the ice-attribute soul power surged. A cold, gleaming sword qi condensed on the icy sword.
The surrounding temperature plummeted again, reaching a point where water would freeze instantly.
However, compared to the radiant heat of Xu Yuan's fiery flames, it still fell short.
Under the burning of the Flame of Life and his blood essence, Xu Yuan radiated light and heat, as if capable of melting everything.
The two forces collided.
The clash of sword qi and spear aura, fire and ice.
It unleashed a blinding brilliance.
Xu Yuan landed on the ground, and behind him, the Ice Goddess's body was pierced through by his spear.
The Ice Goddess slowly dissipated.
Instant kill.
Turning around, Xu Yuan looked at Long Chen.
Do you still want to struggle?
Long Chen let out a bitter smile and raised his hand in surrender.
This battle was won by Shrek.
The class monitor of Shrek's first-year, first-class was simply monstrous.
His strength had already reached the peak for a thirteen-year-old, likely breaking numerous records in the history of the continent.
On the side of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, the instructors fell silent.
Even the school leaders who had been silently observing the match were quiet.
They seemed to recall the last time they felt this helpless.
The last time, wasn't it during the era of Pavilion Master Yun Ming?
Was he, back then, as overwhelmingly powerful as Xu Yuan is now?
Is Shrek about to produce another peerless existence of this generation?
The exchange match concluded.
Shrek emerged victorious.
Whether it was the three one-on-one matches, the two two-on-two matches, or the final seven-on-seven team battle, Shrek indisputably claimed victory in all of them.
The Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy believed that their two Spirit Fusion Techniques combined with Long Chen's Soul Ancestor-level Holy Light Dragon martial soul represented the absolute pinnacle among their peers and age group.
Thus, in the earlier two-on-two matches, they hadn't even deployed both Spirit Fusion Techniques, fearing they might be weakened.
However, this also cost them the only two chances they might have had to secure a victory.
With the conclusion of the exchange match, Xu Yuan and the others' final-term assessment finally came to an end.
Leaving Mingdu, they boarded the soul-guided train and returned to Shrek Academy.
---
Three days later
Shrek Academy
In the entire first-year, first-class, only three students scored below sixty points—and even those three had scores above fifty-five.
Xu Yuan allocated a total of ten extra points to these three, bringing their scores up to sixty.
With this, the entire first-year, first-class passed the assessment.
"To the three of you, in the next assessment, you must make up the ten points I gave you. That means scoring at least sixty-five points. Any points exceeding that don't need to be returned to me—you can use them to help other classmates meet the passing score."
"Thank you, Class Monitor!"
"Class Monitor is amazing!"
The first-year, first-class erupted in cheers.
During the match in Mingdu, over a hundred students from the first-year watched the live broadcast, while the remaining forty-plus went to the scene to watch.
After all, it was during the normal assessment period in Mingdu, so almost everyone had arrived in Mingdu to begin their tasks.
Moreover, the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy had conducted extensive promotions a day in advance. Any students within Mingdu knew about the event and naturally set aside time to watch.
Because of this, they realized just how powerful their class monitor was.
Compared to half a year ago, their class monitor's growth was visible to the naked eye.
In just half a year, he underwent a shocking transformation.
Wu Zhangkong looked at Xu Yuan, unable to suppress his admiration.
No wonder he could repeatedly ace the biannual assessments required for the Inner Court, earning reward after reward from the academy.
In just half a year, a qualitative leap was indeed possible.
Xu Yuan demonstrated this with his actions—it could be done.
Who knows what kind of astonishing progress he'll make in the next half year?
Wu Zhangkong sighed, watching the lively classroom without interrupting. He quietly left the room and returned to his office.
"Senior Brother, impressive progress from Xiao Yuan, right?" Shen Yi smiled.
She had been equally shocked before.
Even this time, she was still astounded.
Though she had anticipated Xu Yuan's progress, her estimation had still been too low.
"It's just that I'm worried about the life force he burned during the match—how severe the toll might be," Wu Zhangkong frowned, showing slight concern.
Shen Yi paused.
"Don't worry. Didn't you feel it? That kid's vitality is incredibly robust. I'm not sure how he does it, but it's probably related to his soul skill."
"Soul skill?"
"Of course. Burning life force isn't some secret technique exclusive to the Angel Family. Who knows? His soul skill might even have the ability to restore life force," Shen Yi explained.
Wu Zhangkong nodded in understanding, feeling reassured.
"Come to think of it, there's something unusual about his soul rings. I didn't think much of it at the time, especially after his explosive display when the Flame of Life and blood flames intertwined. I overlooked the azure and crimson patterns and the twinkling stars on his soul rings."
Black soul rings interwoven with patterns—this was different from ordinary soul rings.
However, this difference wasn't particularly unique.
Because the black base color remained dominant, and the azure and crimson patterns didn't overshadow the black but instead blended seamlessly into the black soul rings, not drawing attention to themselves.
Such variations in soul rings had appeared many times in history since the emergence of spirit souls.
Though rare, examples could still be found in the past ten thousand years.
What hadn't appeared in ten thousand years were mutations involving the overall color of the soul ring, such as golden colors or entirely new base colors unlike any existing soul rings.
Xu Yuan's four soul rings clearly didn't fall into that category.
Compared to Xu Yuan, Tang Wulin's pure golden bloodline soul ring was far more eye-catching.
---
Returning to the academy, Xu Yuan resumed his normal cultivation routine.
Third-year, first-class.
Mo Jue stepped out of the classroom, frowning as she approached Xu Yuan waiting at the door.
"Junior, what brings you here?"
No matter how hard she thought, Mo Jue couldn't figure out why this junior was looking for her.
"Senior, did you break through?" Xu Yuan feigned surprise and congratulated her.
"Congratulations, Senior! You're one step closer to becoming a Battle Armorer."
After breaking through to level fifty, one could truly endure the intensity of a one-word battle armor and complete the final pieces, fully integrating them into a complete battle armor.
Thus, it wouldn't be long before Mo Jue became a true Battle Armorer.
Moreover, given their progress, it was likely that their cultivation levels were limiting the completion of their battle armor, rather than the other way around.
The moment their soul power broke through to level fifty would mark the completion of their final battle armor.
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