Huo Yuhao showed no expression. These three weren't even worth noting. Ning Tian had decent talent, but a support-type was still just a support-type. In Huo Yuhao's eyes, her threat level didn't even compare to Liang Jingjing's. Take now for instance — without any other soul masters accompanying her, if Ning Tian ran into someone with bad intentions outside, it would be extremely dangerous.
Even though she had three soul rings, as a support-type she had no combat strength at all. If she ran into even a slightly stronger ordinary person, she'd be at their mercy. But if it were Liang Jingjing, it would be a whole different story. No matter how tough an ordinary person was, they were still just an ordinary person — Liang Jingjing's strength could beat them until they crapped themselves.
Cultivation was about constantly improving oneself — not about serving others or becoming someone else's appendage.
Some might think pursuing power alone is wrong. But the truth is: only violence is the most reliable way to protect your own interests.
So-called laws are just tail-wagging obedience under someone else's rules. If people had any choice, who would ever want to pin their hopes on others?
"Freshman Class 9, Ning Tian, Level 31 Support-type Tool Soul Master."
"Freshman Class 9, Wu Feng, Level 25 Assault-type Soul Grandmaster."
"Freshman Class 9, Nanmen Yun'er, Level 24 Agility-type Soul Grandmaster."
"Freshman Class 1, Huo Yuhao, Level 29 Assault-type Soul Grandmaster."
"Freshman Class 1, Xiao Xiao, Level 23 Control-type Soul Grandmaster. Dong Xinyi, Level 21 Agility-type Soul Grandmaster."
Both sides introduced themselves. Worth mentioning — Xiao Xiao had made progress overnight and had already broken through to level 23.
"Begin the match," said Zhou Yi simply, stepping aside to give the students enough room to go all out. Before leaving, she gave Huo Yuhao a meaningful look. Huo Yuhao happened to notice and chuckled to himself — clearly, she saw Ning Ruoxue and the others getting bullied and sent him to make a comeback. So petty, picking grudges even at her age.
"Seven Treasures Glorious — First, eh—!"Ning Tian, knowing the opponents were tough, went straight for a big move. But just as her incantation reached halfway, her head was suddenly struck by a violent pain, cutting off her soul skill activation.
"Miss!"Nanmen Yun'er cried out and quickly rushed to support Ning Tian.
"Miss, you… you sneak attacked—"Wu Feng, having identified Huo Yuhao as the culprit, was just about to scold him for being despicable, when she suddenly choked on her words. Not from an attack — but because she was stunned by what she saw.
Around Huo Yuhao floated two brilliant soul rings. What shocked her most was that the second one was a millennium purple ring. A two-ring soul master could already absorb a millennium soul ring? Wu Feng was deeply shaken, unable to recover from the shock.
Everyone else was equally dumbfounded. The arena fell silent. Only Huo Yuhao's teammates, Zhou Yi, and spectators Beibei and Tang Ya remained relatively calm.
"You little brat, I really underestimated you,"Zhou Yi muttered to herself. It wasn't just her students in Class 1 — even she had occasionally compared Wang Dong and Huo Yuhao. Before, due to differences in martial souls and soul rings, she thought Wang Dong had more potential. But now… who could say?
"Now you know why I told you not to mess with him, right?"Beibei said to the nearby Xu Sanshi.
Beibei and Tang Ya had always followed the matches involving Class 1 and Huo Yuhao, so they were present. With them was Jiang Nannan, who was good friends with Tang Ya. Out of boredom, she tagged along. As for Xu Sanshi, almost everyone in the academy knew him — Jiang Nannan's number-one simp and professional follower. Like a boomerang you couldn't throw away.
This guy had confessed to Jiang Nannan once, got rejected and laughed at by other students, but didn't care — came back the next day with full licking energy.
Heaven may not have given birth to me, Xu Sanshi, but without me, simping would be endless night.
At the moment, Xu Sanshi's face was dark. All he'd wanted was to score points with Jiang Nannan. Not only did his goddess ignore him, but now he'd stirred up a genius with unknown background.
Though uneasy, Xu Sanshi couldn't say anything soft — not with Jiang Nannan right there. He couldn't lose face in front of his goddess.
Beibei saw that Xu Sanshi didn't react and figured out what was on his mind, so he didn't say more. In the end, this was between Xu Sanshi and Huo Yuhao — not his business. Meddling too much would only annoy people.
"Feng'er, what are you waiting for?" Suddenly, a loud shout snapped everyone back to their senses. It was Ning Tian. She had just been hit by a mental attack from Huo Yuhao, which left her mind blank for a moment. When she recovered, she saw the scene that had shocked everyone.
Though filled with curiosity and questions, now was not the time. Ning Tian forced herself to focus, ready to boost her teammates again.
"Miss Ning, wouldn't it be better to just watch the match with me?"
"Hmm?"Ning Tian looked up and saw that it was none other than Huo Yuhao, the boy who had shocked the entire field.
"I won't participate. You don't boost your teammates. How's that sound?"
Looking at Huo Yuhao's smiling face, Ning Tian understood his intention — he was planning to let Wu Feng and Nanmen Yun'er serve as whetstones for Xiao Xiao and Dong Xinyi.
"Hmph. Not happening."Ning Tian sneered. Huo Yuhao's words were cleverly phrased — he said he wouldn't join the fight and asked her not to boost her team, but he didn't promise anything else. Meaning, if Xiao Xiao and Dong Xinyi couldn't hold out, he'd still jump in.
In Ning Tian's eyes, Xiao Xiao and Dong Xinyi's soul power levels clearly weren't a match for her team. In that case, might as well go all out from the start while everyone's still in peak condition.
"Seven Treasures Glorious — Fir—argh!"
Just as Ning Tian began her chant again, she groaned in pain. The same splitting headache struck her again — just like before. Of course she knew Huo Yuhao was behind it. What she didn't expect was that he could use the same move again so quickly. Normally, soul skills had cooldowns.
Looking up at the grinning Huo Yuhao, Ning Tian was grinding her teeth in rage. This was obviously him toying with them. And the worst part? Huo Yuhao's attack was too strange — none of them had any mental defense skills.
But no matter — if she lacked skills, she still had soul tools. With a flash of white light from the storage ring on her finger, a bracelet appeared in Ning Tian's hand.
She slipped it on and immediately felt her soul power being drained. This was a mental defense-type soul tool, something her family had prepared for her before she entered Shrek — and not just this one. She had several other defense soul tools as well.
She hadn't wanted to use them in matches, since at Shrek Academy, both teachers and students generally viewed soul tools as a dishonorable shortcut.
But damn it — Huo Yuhao's tricks were just too annoying. Never a heavy hit, but always perfectly timed to interrupt her soul skills. So damn irritating.
Meanwhile, aside from Huo Yuhao and Ning Tian, the two teams had already clashed. Wu Feng immediately went after the stronger Xiao Xiao, her left claw engulfed in dark red flame, striking repeatedly at the Three Lives Soul Suppression Cauldron. Though she hadn't inflicted real damage, she was clearly gaining the upper hand.
(End of Chapter)