Zhou Yi stood by the side and watched the youthful and adolescent children. She had no intention of interrupting them, as she was acutely aware of what Huo Yuhao and the two others had done in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament. The contest they were about to partic.i.p.ate in was not a big deal to them at all. Mu Jin, heh heh.
"It"s about time. Let"s go." w.a.n.g Dong was overflowing with fighting spirit, and he bounced on the tips of his toes as he spoke.
The teachers from both cla.s.ses led their respective partic.i.p.ants into the Soul Dueling Area. The clamorous commotions on the spectator"s grandstand instantly quieted down.
There was no doubt that this contest represented a battle at the highest level amongst all of Year 2"s cla.s.ses. With the return of Huo Yuhao and the others, both cla.s.ses" standards didn"t appear all that different. Everybody wanted to see which cla.s.s had made faster progress after half a year of cultivation.
n.o.body noticed several people slinking into a dark corner inside the spectator"s grandstand - were they not the Martial Soul Department"s Dean, Yan Shaozhe, and the teaching director, Du Weilun?
Du Weilun knew about everything that went on within the Martial Soul Department. If Du Weilun knew about everything, that naturally meant that Yan Shaozhe was aware as well.
The reason why Yan Shaozhe had placed so much emphasis on the outer courtyard"s Cla.s.s 2 was undoubtedly because of Huo Yuhao, w.a.n.g Dong and Xiao Xiao. Dean Yan was here to witness the results of their closed-door cultivation.
Du Weilun whispered, "Dean, why don"t we just watch the battle from the podium?"
Yan Shaozhe shook his head and replied, "Forget it. The children may be spooked if we come out officially. I don"t want to affect Huo Yuhao and the others" daily training in the outer courtyard. I want to take them to the Great Star Dou Forest after this contest, and hopefully they will benefit from the expedition."
Du Weilun heaved a sigh and said, "I didn"t see that coming!"
Yan Shaozhe smiled. Yes! He had never expected Huo Yuhao to grow at such dazzling speed over the course of a little more than a year. He hadn"t thought much of Huo Yuhao before, but now even his own master held Huo Yuhao in high regard.
Both parties had arrived on stage at this point.
Mu Jin said, "Teacher Zhou, shall the two of us be the judges for this compet.i.tion? We will rescue our own students if something unfortunate happens during the contest."
Zhou Yi nodded and answered, "Okay."
Mu Jin"s eyes sparkled. "We are definitely going to win."
Zhou Yi said plainly, "I wonder if you will be personally present when we clean up the Year 2 teaching block."
"We shall see."
"Come."
These two compet.i.tive teachers ordered their students to retreat and distance themselves from each other.
Dai Huabin stood at the forefront of Cla.s.s 2"s seven partic.i.p.ants. His eyes were flaring with hysterical belligerence as he stared at Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao didn"t match his gaze. He closed his eyes, as if he were contemplating something.
The Soul Dueling Area"s arena was a lot bigger than the one in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament. The stage was circular, and this enabled the compet.i.tion to develop more smoothly.
The seven people from Cla.s.s 2 had clearly been through teamwork drills that boosted their chemistry. Dai Huabin stood at the very front, while Wu Feng was on his left side and Huang Chutian stood on his right. Three a.s.sault-type Soul Elders stood shoulder-to-shoulder, and created a powerful and invisible form of pressure.
Zhu Lu, Cui Yajie, and Long Xiangyue stood behind them, and they were all agility-type soul masters. Xie Huanyue, who was a defense-type soul master, was positioned at the back to anchor the lineup.
The formation was a little peculiar - a 3-3-1 formation was a rare sight. However, one couldn"t disregard their overall fighting strength.
Huo Yuhao and company walked back side by side as well. w.a.n.g Dong and Xiao Xiao stood beside Huo Yuhao, while the others calmly awaited Huo Yuhao"s orders.
Both parties retreated to the Soul Dueling Area"s borders.
Mu Jin and Zhou Yi raised their right hands at the same time. Their gazes met as they exclaimed in unison, "Begin!"
Seven people lunged forward from Cla.s.s 2. Dai Huabin was at the vanguard, and he released his martial soul as he pounced forward. White fur mixed with black patterns covered his entire body, and a black "King" character appeared on his forehead, making him unnaturally ferocious - he suddenly became a lot more intimidating and overbearing. One couldn"t fail to mention that he was the White Tiger Duke"s son, and he was an outstanding student in terms of both talent, fighting spirit and determination. Huo Yuhao had defeated him many times, but each defeat made him even more determined and resolute, as if defeat consistently fueled and triggered his fighting spirit.
Two yellow soul rings and one purple soul ring sparkled as soul power surged and rippled across his body. It felt as if his soul power could transform three soul rings into four at any time.
The dragon scales on Wu Feng"s body were conspicuously more numerous. Two yellow soul rings and a purple soul ring glowed as fire seemed to pour directly from her eyes, while dense and fiery-red soul power circled around her body and burned vigorously. The hate she harbored towards Huo Yuhao was second only to Dai Huabin. Of course, this hatred only came from her unconvinced att.i.tude and her unwillingness to submit, rather than Dai Huabin"s intense feeling of humiliation.
Huang Chutian"s soul power was black. The Herculean Ape martial soul made his body extremely strong. He wasn"t inferior to Dai Huabin in terms of size and volume, and three soul rings sparkled at the same time. Unlike the others, he shot a ferocious gaze towards Zhou Yi. Never in his life would he forget the time when Zhou Yi had chased him from the cla.s.s, and it was because of this that he cultivated as much as he could inside Cla.s.s 2, and finally broke through Rank 30. From his perspective, his opportunity for vengeance was here, and he wanted Zhou Yi to see that expelling him from her cla.s.s back then had been a dreadful decision.
The seven partic.i.p.ants from Cla.s.s 1 released their respective martial souls as Huo Yuhao roared, "Go!"
Cla.s.s 2"s students felt a chill run down their spines as they watched Huo Yuhao"s two white soul rings glow. Ten year soul rings represented weakness on other people, but were Huo Yuhao"s white soul rings really ten year soul rings?
Cla.s.s 1 was originally formed up in one row, but their formation started to change in the blink of an eye. Huo Yuhao was a control-type soul master, but he led the entire pack with w.a.n.g Dong while the other five instantly experienced the wonders of Spiritual Detection Sharing.
n.o.body needed Huo Yuhao to give out instructions - everybody"s positions were already in place.
Huo Yuhao and w.a.n.g Dong stood in front of everyone. Zhou Sichen, Cao Jinxuan and Xiao Xiao formed the second row, while Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo were at the back; it was a 2-3-2 formation.
Cla.s.s 2"s overall strength was formidable, but they had an obvious weakness - they didn"t have a control-type soul master. Huo Yuhao"s party had four control-type soul masters, and that was excluding Xiao Xiao.
Mu Jin and Zhou Yi didn"t sit around idly. They released their respective martial souls and followed their students closely. Their students were extraordinary prodigies, and most of them were the outer courtyard"s core disciples. How could they answer to their superiors if something happened to these children? Mu Jin was a six-ringed Soul Emperor, just like Zhou Yi.
Both parties retreated at a normal pace, but their forward movement was as quick as lightning. Huo Yuhao and w.a.n.g Dong pushed forth side by side, while his left hand grabbed onto w.a.n.g Dong"s right hand right before their opponents" watchful eyes. Thick and violent soul energy instantly rippled from their bodies.
Both sides were within fifty meters of each other at this point. Huo Yuhao swung his left hand, and w.a.n.g Dong"s body flew into the air with the force of his toss. The Radiant b.u.t.terfly G.o.ddess" wings closed inwards, and he immediately hugged Huo Yuhao.
Brilliant radiance exploded within a sphere of five meters in diameter with the two of them as the center. Their bodies released a unique glow, and it was a peculiar l.u.s.ter that phased between blue, purple and gold.
An enormous light appeared behind w.a.n.g Dong. It was a complete, elegant and impeccable Radiant b.u.t.terfly G.o.ddess.
A large shadow of a vertical eye s.h.i.+mmered behind Huo Yuhao. The vertical eye"s entire body was golden, but its pupils emanated a plain purple hue.
Two gigantic lights glimmered at the same time and lunged forward.
"Move away!" Dai Huabin howled without hesitation, and his forward movement immediately transformed into a flank.
This wasn"t the first time such a peculiar transformation had occurred with Huo Yuhao and w.a.n.g Dong. They had relied on this transformation during the freshman"s a.s.sessment back then to defeat Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, and Cui Yajie with this single strike, and eventually became the ultimate freshman champions. It was natural that Dai Huabin reacted like he did when the two of them used the same technique once again.
However, just as he was feeling astonished, Dai Huabin felt that Huo Yuhao was insane. The compet.i.tion had only just begun, and Huo Yuhao and w.a.n.g Dong had already unleashed their martial soul fusion skill. Furthermore, Huo Yuhao and w.a.n.g Dong"s Golden Road fusion skill was formidable, but it was only one strike, and it only attacked in a straight line, and most of their soul power would be consumed afterwards. Who fought like that? Was he insane? Did he really think that they would maintain their original positions for him to hit us?
Dai Huabin"s movement was swift, but Cla.s.s 2"s partic.i.p.ants weren"t slow either. Seven figures darted to the side almost at the same time, and everyone gave up their central positions. Everyone was afraid to be hit by that radiant Golden Road.
The l.u.s.trous three-colored golden light had appeared, but it only surged out for two meters before it dissipated in midair.
Huo Yuhao and w.a.n.g Dong returned to their original form. They weren"t using a martial soul fusion skill at all, and both of them didn"t even connect to each other to channel the Haodong power. They blitzed past half the entire arena within that tiny period of time, and his team"s current position was where Dai Huabin and the others had quickly dispersed and before they leapt towards different spots.
It was a perfect Imitation. Huo Yuhao had become much more adept with Spirit Eyes" functions and applications as his spiritual power increased. He completely understood his soul skills" powers after they were boosted beyond their maximal year after his closed-door cultivation, and his Imitation"s area of effect was increased from a diameter of three meters to five meters.