18 The 33rd Arena—3v3

Zhao Haochen, who was standing at the very back of his team, shouted, “Come quickly, my drumsticks!” The ripples of a yellow soul ring appeared from beneath his feet and rose up, causing two sparkling yellow lights to appear in his hands. Two braised chicken drumsticks suddenly appeared in his hands, which he quickly passed to the two people in front of him.

While releasing their martial souls, Ouyang Junyi and Chen Junfeng rapidly grabbed the drumsticks from Zhao Haochen and forcefully took large bites from them.

A food system martial soul? This was Huo Yuhao’s first time seeing a food system martial soul; he didn’t have any idea what the drumsticks that Zhao Haochen had summoned could do. Even though Zhao Haochen only had a single soul ring, it was still a hundred year one, so it’s strengthening effects were presumably good. However, Ouyang Junyi and Chen Junfeng’s respective appearances whilst eating the drumsticks that had been summoned were somewhat odd, to the extent that Xiao Xiao couldn’t help but laugh. The Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron still remained hovering above her head without any intention of making a move at all.

Ouyang Junyi and Chen Junfeng made their moves at the same time. Of the two, one of them had a beast martial soul, while the other had a tool martial soul. However they were both agility system soul masters.

Ouyang Junyi’s martial soul was the Sword-beak Hummingbird. When he released his martial soul, a sharp stinger rapidly appeared on his right forearm. His martial soul was a bird-type one, but he didn’t have wings due to his current cultivation level. This alone demonstrated the gap between his and Wang Dong’s martial souls. Wang Dong’s Radiant Butterfly Goddess innately had wings, which was the sign of a peak-level beast martial soul.

Chen Junfeng’s martial soul was a flexible sword, making all three of them one-ringed soul masters. However, they all possessed hundred year soul rings. Ouyang Junyi was the strongest of the three—his cultivation had already reached the nineteenth rank. Chen Junfeng, on the other hand, had reached the eighteenth rank. As for Zhao Haochen, considering the fact that he was a food system soul master, his cultivation speed was relatively slower. Hence, his cultivation had only reached the seventeenth rank.

As soon as the two agility system soul masters of the opposing team finished their drumsticks, they proceeded to pounce towards Wang Dong like arrows released from a bowstring; their speed was so quick that even Wang Dong was astonished. However, he instantly understood that the drumsticks they’d just finished were the cause for their increase their speed!

Zhou Yi wasn’t the only teacher who’d divided her students into teams; other teachers had also done it. With Zhao Haochen supporting Ouyang Junyi and Chen Junfeng, their advantage in terms of speed was undoubtedly unleashed to its fullest potential, allowing them to use speed alone to achieve victory.

Unfortunately for them, Huo Yuhao’s team of three feared speed-type opponents the least, as Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection Sharing could subdue them completely.

A faint golden light appeared within Huo Yuhao’s eyes, causing a three-dimensional image of the entire battlefield to appear in Wang Dong’s mind. Although Ouyang Junyi and Chen Junfeng were extremely quick, the trajectory of their movements, the rotation of their soulforce, the direction of their attacks, and even their flaws appeared simultaneously in Wang Dong’s mind.

Ouyang Junyi and Chen Junfeng were very well-versed towards focusing on a single target, so when Wang Dong charged towards them by himself, it was exactly what they wanted. With a sudden explosion in speed, they were extremely confident that neither Huo Yuhao nor Xiao Xiao would be able to rescue him in time. Taking care of Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao after defeating Wang Dong could also be considered a form of dividing and conquering.

Besides the sharp stinger on his forearm, Ouyang Junyi’s entire right arm had also been covered in a layer of feathers. His body became extremely lithe, and even though he and Chen Junfeng were both agility system soul masters, he was quicker than Chen Junfeng. The yellow soul ring below his body flashed, causing the stinger on his forearm to instantly turn into several tens of shadows that immediately rushed towards Wang Dong.

Although Chen Junfeng was a bit slower than Ouyang Junyi, this clearly wasn’t the first time that they’d teamed up. Before he even arrived, he swung the short-sword he was holding, causing his first soul ring to light up. A sword-beam shot out from his sword towards Wang Dong.

However, before the two even made their moves, the golden pattern imprinted on Wang Dong’s wings had already started to spread as he activated his first soul ring as well. His arms merged with his frontal wings, causing his Wing Guillotine skill that Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao had seen before to appear again.

Since he was in midair, Wang Dong was in a much better position than Ouyang Junyi and Chen Junfeng. A hint of arrogance appeared on his face—as if he were loftily looking down on the two of them. As he faced their attacks, Wang Dong swept his left wing out, directly meeting Ouyang Junyi’s Sword-beak Hummingbird. Whilst he was did this, his right wing directly slashed outwards, hitting Chen Junfeng’s sword light first, even though it was released second. Wang Dong’s positioning as he unleashed his attacks wasn’t lacking in the least.

“Chi chi chi chi chi…” A series of sounds rang out. To his astonishment, Ouyang Junyi discovered that his Sword-beak Hummingbird’s first soul skill—Hummingbird Flash-sting—had only been able to cause a few halos of light to appear on Wang Dong’s Radiant Butterfly Goddess’ front wings. Even with the level of sharpness that his Sword-beak Hummingbird possessed, it had actually been unable to break through the strength of Wang Dong’s wings. Following that, Wang Dong’s enormous wings swept straight towards his face.

Ouyang Junyi could be considered to have at least a little bit of combat experience. He instantly crouched downwards in an attempt to dodge Wang Dong’s hit from below. However, who could’ve guessed that Wang Dong would suddenly swing his wings directly downwards and make it seem as if Ouyang Junyi had specifically kneeled down in order to be slapped by Wang Dong. With a thump, Ouyang Junyi was slapped face-first into the ground. Furthermore, the enormous force that slammed into his back nearly caused him to vomit up some blood.

Chen Junfeng was inferior to Ouyang Junyi in strength as well. When the sword light he’d released collided with the sharp edge of Wang Dong’s Wing Guillotine, Chen Junfeng only saw a flash of gold before his sword light was crushed. Following that, a violent buzz echoed out from his short-sword as it shattered. He only saw a golden blue light flash in front of his eyes before he was sent flying with a speed even greater than the speed he’d had whilst running towards Wang Dong. Afterwards, he collided with Zhao Haochen, who was still nibbling on a drumstick, causing the two of them to instantly roll head-over-heels over the ground.

Wang Dong spread his wings out in midair, causing blue and violet lights to glitter back and forth across his wings. The golden pattern on his wings slowly vanished as he casually landed, and he maintained the arrogant look on his face that hadn’t disappeared since the battle started.

The onlooking teacher, Wang Yan, had a brilliant look in his eyes, while the faces of the other terms sank after watching the match. The entire 33rd Area was dead silent.

He was too strong; he was a terrifying assault system soul master!

Assault system soul masters could naturally suppress agility system soul masters to a certain extent, but everyone present was a new student! How large could the difference between them be? Wang Dong had actually been able to defeat two agility system soul masters by himself—and this was a food system soul master supporting them!

Although a two-ringed soul master had an enormous advantage over a one-ringed soul master, he had still been able to beat three opponents within mere seconds. From this alone, one could imagine how tyrannical this soul master—who possessed the Radiant Butterfly Goddess—was.

Furthermore, there was still another person who also possessed two soul rings just like Wang Dong in their team. This team had two soul masters that were above the twentieth rank! As for Huo Yuhao, he was completely overlooked by everyone present; only Teacher Wang Yan had faintly noticed the golden light that had flickered in his eyes.

In reality, even though there was a significant gap between Ouyang Junyi and Huo Yuhao’s team in terms of strength, Wang Dong shouldn’t have been able to achieve victory as quickly as he did just by himself. However, don’t forget that he had the assistance of Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection Sharing, which was equivalent to a six hundred year soul ring!

Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection Sharing wasn’t a single skill after all; it provided assistance equivalent to two six hundred year soul rings. The help that Wang Dong had received from Huo Yuhao vastly exceeded the support that his opponents had received from their food system soul master.

Furthermore, Wang Dong also had a hundred year soul ring as his first soul ring, while his soulforce had already reached the twenty-fourth rank; his cultivation tremendously outstripped that of his opponent’s.

After withdrawing his wings, Wang Dong walked back to Xiao Xiao and Huo Yuhao and high-fived them in celebration. Xiao Xiao smiled. “Our class monitor is awesome. Wang Dong, how about you let me enjoy myself next time?” She was confident that, if she was the one who’d gone out, she would’ve also been able to defeat her opponents. The more she felt that Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection was magical, the more she found herself entranced by it. Thus, the person she praised wasn’t Wang Dong, but Huo Yuhao.

Wang Dong chortled. “Don’t! Keep your strength hidden. These ten matches are merely appetisers to the three of us. It’s enough for just me to show off. We can’t let the other teams get a feel for our strength.”

Huo Yuhao chuckled. “Wang Dong makes a good point. Xiao Xiao, you’ll be our trump card.”

Xiao Xiao also laughed when she heard their words and nodded in agreement.

“Class 1’s ‘Team Huo Yuhao’ wins their first match.” After Wang Yan had announced the results of the match, he noted it down on the previous sheet of paper he’d pulled out.

On the other side, Ouyang Junyi’s team of three had already managed to crawl back to their feet. Wang Dong had been lenient on them, so they hadn’t suffered any real injuries. However, they had a look of embarrassment on their faces. They didn’t want to remain for even one more second after letting everyone see how easily they’d been defeated. Hence, they quickly ran away.

After Wang Yan had recorded the results of the match, he glanced back towards Huo Yuhao’s team of three. He inwardly thought,I reckon that this is Class 1’s trump card. The students that Teacher Zhou Yi has taught are extraordinary, as expected!

However, he still couldn’t figure out Huo Yuhao. Unlike the students, he was clearly able to understand the subtleties behind each team when they registered.

The name of this team from Class 1 was ‘Team Huo Yuhao’. In other words, Huo Yuhao was the leader of this team. However, if you looked at it from the perspective of their cultivation levels, Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao both outstripped him. To put it bluntly, with Huo Yuhao’s soul ring that was only of the ten year rank, as well as his cultivation that hadn’t yet broken through to the twentieth rank, he shouldn’t even have the qualifications to enter Shrek Academy.

Despite all of this, he was the leader of their team. That is to say, this student—who had a ten year soul ring—was the core of this team. Just why was this the case?

Wang Yan was a representative from the moderate faction of Shrek Academy’s theoretical school of thought. He had a large amount of knowledge on theory, while his ability to teach was extremely strong. Even though he was only forty or so years old, he was a highly ranked teacher that was second to none in the outer courtyard.

Obtaining a promotion as a teacher within Shrek Academy was even more difficult than obtaining one as a student. This was extremely obvious, as shown by Zhou Yi only being a middle-ranked teacher. This was naturally related to her terrifying teaching methods. On the other hand, Wang Yan was someone who could become a high-ranked teacher, and was someone who had the qualifications to teach inner courtyard students. From this, it could clearly be seen how strong he was in the field of theoretical knowledge. However, even he couldn’t understand what was going on with Huo Yuhao’s team, so much so that he couldn’t even tell what kind of soul master Huo Yuhao was.

Although they’d finished their assessment for the day, Huo Yuhao’s team of three didn’t leave. Instead, they stayed behind to observe the other two matches. They waited until the other matches had finished before bidding farewell to Wang Yan.

Wang Yan didn’t ask Huo Yuhao anything in the end. He believed that he’d definitely see Huo Yuhao’s abilities in the following matches.

The first round of the freshmen assessment quickly finished. The purpose of today’s assessment was more or less to allow the participating students to adapt to the assessment. However, tomorrow’s assessment would be much more challenging. The students would have to undergo two rounds of assessments in both the morning and the afternoon, totalling four rounds for the day. The third day, on the other hand, would be even more terrifying: All of the teams that were left would have to undergo five rounds that day, as the duration of the freshmen assessment was only three days long.

This assessment didn’t just train students in combat, but also in their ability to fight a prolonged battle.

When the second day of the assessment started, the students from Class 1 began to feel grateful for Teacher Zhou Yi. Fighting four matches in a single day wasn’t just a problem of soulforce consumption; the drain on their physical strength was extremely serious as well. After undergoing Zhou Yi’s hell-like training, the students from Class 1 clearly had a better ability to endure the physical drain from the constant battling than the students from the other classes.

After the match they’d fought on the first day, as well as the observations they’d made afterwards, Huo Yuhao was one-hundred percent certain that there were no opponents in their group capable of threatening them. Other than them, there was only a single student above the twentieth rank of soulforce.

The students from the other teams weren’t idiots either. Being under such intense conditions, they directly forfeited when they faced Huo Yuhao’s team in order to achieve better results later on.

Huo Yuhao’s team was in much better condition compared to the exhausted students of the other teams. Huo Yuhao’s team of three easily managed to achieve victory in all four of their matches, thereby obtaining a perfect result of five victories in five matches. With these results as a ‘safety net’, they’d basically passed the freshmen assessment already. Furthermore, these five victories caused them to be filled with confidence.

On the other hand, Wang Yan felt somewhat depressed as the proctor of the 33rd arena. Five matches had passed, yet Huo Yuhao’s team had fought in the exact same way in every match—Wang Dong would make move on his own, while Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao would simply sit back and watch. The match would end in a short period of time, causing him to remain mystified as to what abilities Huo Yuhao possessed. As a theory-based teacher, how could he not feel depressed?

“Huo Yuhao, you three come over here for a moment.” When the second day’s matches had concluded, Wang Yan called Huo Yuhao’s team of three over.

“Teacher Wang.” Huo Yuhao walked in front, with Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao flanking him.

As I thought. Wang Yan inwardly thought to himself. This Huo Yuhao truly is the core of their team!

“You three have obtained an excellent result of five victories in five matches. You must continue to work hard in your future matches, so that you can participate in the ranking tournament for the top sixty-four teams. However, tomorrow’s five matches won’t be nearly as easy as today’s were. After today’s matches have concluded, we’ll be drawing lots again, while teams who’ve lost all of their matches will be eliminated. When we draw lots, we’ll make sure that students from the same class won’t meet each other, but your previous results will also be brought into consideration. Tomorrow, you’ll definitely remain in the 33rd arena, but there’s a very high chance that you’ll meet a strong team, or even two, that are capable of challenging you.”

Huo Yuhao nodded and replied, “Thank you, Teacher Wang. We’ll definitely work hard.”

Wang Yan smiled. “That’s good. Go back and get some rest.” He still held himself back from asking Huo Yuhao about his martial soul, as he still had some pride in himself. He believed that Huo Yuhao wouldn’t be able to hide his martial soul from him once they met a strong opponent.

“How relaxing! Winning against them was as easy as chopping vegetables.” Wang Dong said with excited look on their way back. He was extremely satisfied with how they’d done today.

Xiao Xiao said, “It should be my turn to go out tomorrow. Wang Dong, you’ve only used your first soul skill so far. If the opponents we meet tomorrow are even stronger than today’s, I’m afraid that you might have to use your second soul skill. However, your second soul skill was created from a thousand year soul ring, so it’s the strongest attack technique we have on our team. We shouldn’t let other people see it easily; we should only use it during the ranking tournament. If we meet any strong opponents tomorrow, I’ll help you out. We should try our best to only use our first soul skills. Even if we do meet an extremely strong opponent, I’ll be the one to use their second soul skill, so that we can keep yours hidden. This way, we’ll have two trump cards. How about it?”

Wang Dong laughed. “Xiao Xiao, you’ve said all this, but it’s really just because your hands are itchy, isn’t it? Fine, we’ll do it your way. I’ve already been satisfied, so I’ll let you pleasure yourself for a bit.”

Fortunately, there weren’t any adults walking near them while they were speaking. If there had been, Wang Dong’s words could have been interpreted very differently.

Huo Yuhao chuckled. “Let’s go, I’ll treat you two to some roasted fish. I ordered some extra yesterday.”

As the three of them left the Examination Area, they bumped into two people. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong couldn’t help but be stunned when they saw who the people they’d bumped into were.

The people they’d bumped into weren’t random people; it was the red-clothed disciple from the inner courtyard, Ma Xiaotao, and the person she’d dragged away a few days ago, Xu Sanshi.

Compared to his usual high-spirited self, the current Xu Sanshi had an ashen look on his face, as if all the energy had been drained from his body. He looked listless, and his clothes were crumpled. His current appearance was extremely dispirited.

Ma Xiaotao was still as beautiful as ever, although there was an abnormal flush on her charming face, and the pinkness of her eyes had darkened a bit.

“We’ve found them, right? Sister Xiaotao, can I go now?” Xu Sanshi had a bitter smile on his face as he spoke. After being tormented by an intense amount of pain for a few days, he’d finally managed to endure the last of it. However, the drain on his energy, physical strength, and soulforce was too severe. Right now, all he wanted to do was return to his room and sleep.

Ma Xiaotao nodded. “Okay, you can go.”

Xu Sanshi glanced at Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong with a look that said ‘you can fend for yourselves’ before he left. His disloyal appearance caused the two to feel nervous. Just why had Ma Xiaotao been looking for them?

Ma Xiaotao indifferently said, “You two, follow me. Junior classmate, you can return by yourself.”

Xiao Xiao was just about to say something, but Huo Yuhao immediately shook his head, indicating that she should leave, and that nothing would happen to them.

Seeing that Ma Xiaotao probably hadn’t come with good intentions, he didn’t want to drag Xiao Xiao into this. Furthermore, this was still the academy; Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong both believed that she wouldn’t do anything to bad to them.

Xiao Xiao felt somewhat unresigned, but she left unwillingly in the end. Following Ma Xiaotao’s lead, the two walked towards the lakeside path. After walking for a little while, they arrived at the lakeside where they’d first been attacked by her.

Ma Xiaotao only stopped when she was right in front of the Sea God’s Lake. However, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong both kept their distance from her. Wang Dong had a vigilant look on his face, while Huo Yuhao’s heart was thumping.

“Senior sister Ma, why did you call us over?” Huo Yuhao asked probingly.

With her back to them, Ma Xiaotao said, “You should’ve guessed it by now. You’re right; I was the student who burst out from the inner courtyard—the student who almost harmed you two that time. At the time, I truly had no choice. Now then, I’d first like to apologize to you two.”

Wang Dong curled his lips, inwardly thinking, This is apologizing? There’s no sincerity in your actions at all!

The two glanced at each other, then Huo Yuhao said, “Senior sister Ma, let’s let bygones be bygones. The school’s already compensated us anyway.”

Ma Xiaotao suddenly turned around, the shades of pink in her eyes suddenly darkening further. An ineffable pressure suddenly appeared on Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’s bodies.

“In my opinion, this matter isn’t over yet.” Ma Xiaotao growled.

“That day, there should’ve been an ice-type soul master that stopped me. That was what stopped me from harming you two. That person is extremely important to me. Tell me everything you know. Perhaps it was one of your protectors. Either way, I must find them.”

Wang Dong had a blank look on his face. “Senior sister Ma, I don’t know what you’re talking about. When you attacked us that day, we both fainted from the high temperatures your body was emitting! We don’t know anything about what happened after that! As for this ice-type soul master you’re talking about, we don’t have any way of knowing who he is.”

Huo Yuhao followed Wang Dong’s lead and nodded his head. No matter what, he couldn’t divulge his secrets regarding the Skydream Iceworm.

Seeing that they didn’t seem to be lying, a trace of hesitation appeared in Ma Xiaotao’s eyes.

The reason that she’d gone looking for the two of them was because, after returning that day, she’d suddenly thought about why they’d felt familiar to her: It was because she’d seen some information regarding Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong in the inner courtyard.

Three months ago, she’d relied on the Skydream Iceworm’s cold energy to suppress the demonic fire within her body, which had let her cultivation speed greatly increase while it was suppressed. When the cold energy vanished, she was only able to rely on Xu Sanshi. However, she discovered that although his Mysterious Underworld Turtle was a peak-ranked martial soul, it was still just a water-type martial soul, not an ice-type martial soul. Hence, the help that it brought her had gradually decreased.

If she wasn’t able to suppress the demonic fire in her body, she’d have to stop cultivating. Moreover, that demonic fire in her body could explode at any time, causing her to lose her consciousness.

After thinking it over for a while, she’d decided to look for Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong. If she was able to find the person that had previously used that ice-type martial soul to stop her, her problems could easily be solved.

“You really don’t know?” Ma Xiaotao asked in a low voice.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong simultaneously shook their heads.

Ma Xiaotao’s expression suddenly changed as she spoke in a chilly voice, “Then don’t blame me for being impolite. If you really don’t know, I’ll have to force him out.” As she spoke, a strong wave of heat was erupted outwards as a volcano-like scarlet flame shot out from Ma Xiaotao’s body.

When the two had been called over by Ma Xiaotao, they’d already felt that something wasn’t right. Hence, they’d maintained their vigilance at all times. After the loss that they’d suffered last time, the two immediately reacted the instant that Ma Xiaotao made her move! They couldn’t just sit and wait for their deaths!

The wings of the Radiant Butterfly Goddess instantly shot out from Wang Dong’s back. As they unfurled, they were already filled with golden patterns; Wang Dong’s Wing Guillotine had instantly been activated.

At the same time, Huo Yuhao released both his Spiritual Detection Sharing and his Spirit Shock.

Although only three months had passed, their cultivations had increased by a large amount. In addition to that, they had a tacit understanding of each other. Hence, when they suddenly released their skills, Wang Dong grabbed Huo Yuhao from behind and quickly flew backwards.

Ma Xiaotao was clearly careless. There was no way that she’d even pay attention to a one and two-ringed soul master! As she released her martial soul, dazzling fire-red feathers covered her entire body. However, Wang Dong had already begun to rapidly fly away with Huo Yuhao in tow.

Following that, Ma Xiaotao saw a purple light flicker in Huo Yuhao’s eyes. In that instant, she felt as if Huo Yuhao’s gaze had become akin to two sharp needles piercing towards her, which made her subconsciously shut her eyes. Furthermore, her brain felt dizzy for a moment.

The strength of Huo Yuhao’s Spirit Shock had increased in power when his Purple Demon Eyes had broken through. Even with her six-ringed level of cultivation, Ma Xiaotao hadn’t been able to take it on directly.

Although it only stopped Ma Xiaotao for a moment, Wang Dong had already managed to charge out of the forest with Huo Yuhao in tow, returning to the lakeside path.

“Head back towards the school buildings!” Huo Yuhao shouted. At the same time, he swung his hand in Ma Xiaotao’s direction, causing a few icy lights to fly directly towards her. They were the hidden weapons that Tang Ya had given him. He’d used the most basic, albeit fastest, throwing technique when he threw them.

An intense stream of air simultaneously erupted from the golden patterns on Wang Dong’s wings, rapidly pushing him into the distance.

But how could Ma Xiaotao be willing to let the two of them escape? She simply ignored Huo Yuhao’s hidden weapons and rushed towards them with a flash. An enormous pair of fiery wings unfurled, causing all of the metallic hidden weapons in front of her to instantly melt into a liquid that fell to the ground. The terrifying heat that was emanated from her was akin to a huge hand trying to smother Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong from behind.

Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection was an extremely strong skill that could reverse the outcome of a battle, but that was only when both parties were at around the same rank. When they were facing an opponent like Ma Xiaotao, it was simply too flimsy a skill. Even if they could accurately predict her movements, what could they do? Even if they knew everything about her, they still couldn’t stop her!

Wang Dong was already doing his utmost to fly as best as he could, but the heatwave swallowed the two of them in what was practically an instant. If one was to look at it with a bird’s-eye view, they would’ve discovered that Ma Xiaotao’s figure had caught up to the two in basically an instant. Afterwards, her enormous pair of fiery wings had expanded, before suddenly folding inward, trapping Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong within them.

Ma Xiaotao grabbed the two of them by their collars. Her terrifying soulforce undulations caused the two of them to immediately lose their ability to resist. Fire surrounded them, causing them to be entirely unable to see the outside world at all. Even speaking was an impossible task.

Ma Xiaotao silently waited there with a serious look on her face. After half an hour passed, she her brow furrowed. “Was it really a coincidence last time?”

She only had one objective from making a move against the two—to force out the ice-type soul master that had previously suppressed her. However, things weren’t going as she wished. If you looked at the situation from the outside, she’d already swallowed Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong within her flames. However, that soul master still hadn’t appeared.

The fiery light withdrew, causing the surrounding flames to fade away. Ma Xiaotao had also regained her composure. She relaxed her grip on Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, causing them to stumble and fall to the ground.

Ma Xiaotao indifferently said, “Since this is unrelated to you two, so be it. I know that you two won’t accept this, so work hard and cultivate. If you can enter the inner courtyard one day, I’ll give you the chance to challenge me.” When she finished speaking, she turned around and left. She completely ignored the two of them, who were filled with indignation.

“This madwoman!” Wang Dong shouted angrily.

Huo Yuhao climbed to his feet, then pulled Wang Dong up. “Let it go. If you still have the strength to curse at her, use it to cultivate when you get back. She’s not wrong; whose fault is it that we’re not stronger than her? Let’s head back.” Previously, when Ma Xiaotao had been forced back by the Skydream Iceworm’s finger, Huo Yuhao had seen everything. Because of this, he’d faintly guessed what Ma Xiaotao was talking about.

There was practically no chance of a clear-headed Ma Xiaotao killing them; she just wanted to force the Skydream Iceworm out. However, Huo Yuhao had already deduced her objective, but even if he hadn’t, the Skydream Iceworm still couldn’t even come out! The old man was sleeping soundly; he’d already said that he wouldn’t be able to help Huo Yuhao for another year.

When Xiao Xiao saw the two the day after, she couldn’t help a hint of astonishment from appearing on her charming face. “What happened to you two? Why do the two of you have such ugly looks on your faces? Did that senior sister from the inner courtyard do something to you?”

Wang Dong answered first, “Obviously not. She just wanted to ask us a few question. Don’t worry about it, let’s hurry up and head to the assessment.” He was obviously unwilling to speak about such an embarrassing matter.

Since they were the team that had achieved the best results during the previous five-round tournament, they were able to remain in the 33rd arena. After lots were redrawn, they were paired with another five teams in order to continue their assessment.

These students definitely weren’t first-rankers from the other arenas, as such they certainly wouldn’t meet any amazingly strong opponents during their next five rounds. However, it still wouldn’t be as easy for them as their previous matches.

Teacher Wang Yan glanced at Huo Yuhao’s team of three with a deep look in his eyes, then proceeded to make an announcement, “Alright, everyone’s present. Since Class 1’s ‘Team Huo Yuhao’ was able to obtain the best results in this arena during their previous five matches, they’re the seeded team of this arena. As for the order of the matches, the first match of the 33rd arena’s sixth round will be: Class 1’s Team Huo Yuhao versus Class 7’s Team Huang Chutian. Begin the assessment.”

When the two sides entered the arena, Huo Yuhao’s team of three was immediately astonished by the fact that there was an identical pair of female students on the opposing team.

The two female students had blue hair, and their small, delicate faces were rosy. They looked extremely cute, and even seemed to be slightly younger than them.

A pair of twins?

A tall and sturdy male student stood in front of the two girls; he was clearly Huang Chutian, their team leader.

“I’m Huang Chutian. The girl on my left is Lan Susu, while the girl on my right is Lan Luoluo. Please advise us.”

“Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao. Please advise us.” Huo Yuhao replied.

Both parties took their positions. Huo Yuhao’s side followed their original formation, with Wang Dong in front, Xiao Xiao in the middle, and Huo Yuhao in the corner of the arena.

On the other side, Huang Chutian stood in front, while Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo stood behind him. Teams could only have one assault system soul master, and it was extremely obvious that one of the twins couldn’t possibly be their team’s assault system soul master. Hence, it was extremely possible that they were both auxiliary system soul masters, or even both control system soul masters like Huo Yuhao’s team.

Teacher Wang Yan let out a low shout, “Let the assessment begin!”

Both sides quickly released their martial souls. Huang Chutian let out a roar and used both hands to forcefully beat on his chest. He hadn’t even reached the age of twelve, yet he was already 1.5 metres tall. After releasing his martial soul, his stature instantly shot up to 1.8 metres or so, whilst his bulging muscles directly ripped the school uniform that he was wearing apart, exposing his muscles, which had turned metallic black.

His originally black eyes had turned yellow, and two canine teeth were now protruding from his thickened lips. His four limbs were become thick and solid, while his muscles looked as tough as steel.

Two yellow soul rings simultaneously rose up from his feet. Impressively, he was an assault system Soul Grandmaster.

The pair of twins behind Huang Chutian also released their martial souls, which, unexpectedly, turned out to be their hair…

Two soul rings unexpectedly also appeared below Lan Luoluo and Lan Susu’s feet, all four yellow. With a swing of their heads, their long, blue hair immediately rose into the air, rapidly spreading out in midair. It quickly reached ten or so metres in length as it floated in midair.