Spar

This additional practical assessment came as a complete surprise to everyone. Some were full of confidence, while others wore worried expressions, resulting in a variety of reactions.

Among them, the ones who were the most distressed were the new students who had crafted life-support soul devices.

This additional assessment was like a bolt from the blue for them.

As previously thought, their soul devices were practically useless in combat. Given that their soul power levels were roughly the same, the strength of their soul devices would undoubtedly determine the outcome of the match.

Now, they were starting with one less soul device compared to others. How could they possibly compete?

They wore expressions of regret.

Had they known about this additional assessment earlier, they would have crafted combat soul devices. They wouldn't have ended up in such a predicament now!

Why didn't they inform them sooner?

However, on the other hand, even if they had made combat soul devices, there was no guarantee they would have succeeded.

...

...

Regardless of how everyone felt, the additional assessment was bound to proceed.

There were a total of ten arenas in the testing area, and eighteen new students remained, which meant there were enough arenas for all of them to begin their matches simultaneously.

"Now, pair up in groups of two. When I call your name, please step onto the arena."

"Lan Wu, Qu Yu, First Arena."

"Wu Xi, Quan Ou, Second Arena."

"…"

"Su Luoheng, Wen Qu, Ninth Arena."

Ran Ruobing assigned opponents to all the new students. Except for Su Luoheng and his opponent, the others were indeed randomly paired.

Her purpose in doing so was certainly not to target Su Luoheng.

She mainly wanted to assess his practical combat abilities, so she chose Wen Qu, whose strength was close to his, as his opponent.

Wen Qu was eleven years old, with a soul power level of seventeen.

Su Luoheng did have some impression of him.

First, because he was ranked relatively high; second, because he was the first new student to test a greatsword-type soul device.

This opponent had been carefully chosen by Ran Ruobing.

Among this batch of new students, he ranked third in soul power and had also forged a melee sword-type soul device, making him the most suitable opponent for Su Luoheng.

"…"

Very soon, under Ran Ruobing's arrangements, the remaining new students were already paired up and standing on their respective arenas.

Before stepping onto the arena, they also received their defensive soul devices, which were all second-level devices capable of withstanding attacks from a Great Soul Master.

Su Luoheng's arena was the last one.

His opponent, Wen Qu, was half a head taller than him, with a tall and strong build, skin of a typical Sun-Moon Empire complexion, and slightly bulging muscles on his arms. Judging from his appearance, he was clearly not someone to be taken lightly.

At this moment, Wen Qu had already raised the heavy sword soul device he crafted, his legs slightly bent in a stance to build up strength.

Seeing this, Su Luoheng grew more serious.

One must never let their guard down in a confrontation, always maintaining the necessary vigilance.

This was his first time battling a soul master of the same level, and Su Luoheng felt a surge of excitement coursing through him. He bent his knees slightly, gripping his long sword, ready to strike at any moment.

Wen Qu, on the opposite side, felt the same. He believed in his own strength.

Although his opponent was no weakling, he was confident that he was stronger. A powerful fighting spirit began to fill the space between the two.

"Su Luoheng."

"Wen Qu."

After exchanging names, the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

"The duel will end when one side concedes or when a defensive soul device is triggered. This match is mainly for practice; no malicious injuries are allowed. Violators will receive a severe penalty."

"Do you understand?"

"Understood."

Ran Ruobing reiterated the rules of the match and asked everyone to check their defensive soul devices again to ensure they were functioning properly. After all, these new students were the future of the Sun-Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, and any accidents would be a significant loss.

"Begin!"

With Ran Ruobing's command, the matches officially began!

As soon as the words were spoken, battles erupted almost simultaneously across all the arenas.

Ran Ruobing stepped aside, keeping a close eye on the matches. While she occasionally glanced around, most of her attention was fixed on the ninth arena, eager to see Su Luoheng's performance in real combat.

Both fighters moved almost at the same time, their swords clashing with a loud crash!

'Clang!'

A thunderous sound reverberated as the two swords collided.

Sparks flew in all directions.

The Ice Rain Sword and the heavy sword clashed again. In the brief deadlock, neither gained an advantage. Both took a step back to create some distance.

They had roughly gauged each other's strength.

The next moment, Wen Qu gripped his heavy sword tighter and charged at Su Luoheng once more.

"Come on!"

With a shout, his speed suddenly increased.

Simultaneously, the first soul ring at his feet released a yellowish-brown glow. As soul power flowed into his greatsword, it darkened and grew even heavier. A faint yellow halo, about half a meter wide, enveloped the area around him.

'Swish!'

The heavy sword cut through the air with a whistling sound, moving at an astonishing speed!

In the blink of an eye, it was upon him.

As Su Luoheng was preparing to retreat to temporarily avoid the strike, he suddenly felt his body become heavier, as if an invisible force had imposed a gravitational pull on him, drastically limiting his speed.

This significantly impacted his agility, and he could no longer dodge the incoming attack.

Faced with Wen Qu's heavy sword, he had no choice but to meet the blow head-on.

Meanwhile, outside the arena, Ran Ruobing observed the situation.

She shook her head slightly, and a hint of disappointment flickered in her beautiful eyes.

The special ability of Wen Qu's heavy sword soul device was a gravity field.

Once activated with soul power, it intermittently triggered within a half-meter radius, affecting everyone within its range.

Although this ability did not distinguish between friend and foe, as the wielder, Wen Qu had certainly adapted to the added gravity, and its impact on him was negligible.

In contrast, Su Luoheng was caught off guard and greatly affected.

From her perspective, being enveloped by the gravity field of the heavy sword meant that Su Luoheng's defeat was only a matter of time. Despite his exceptional talent in creating soul devices, his combat experience was quite lacking.

Unaware of his opponent's soul device's abilities, Su Luoheng had carelessly fallen prey to the gravity field.

Maybe she had set her expectations for him too high...

Still, for a nine-year-old, achieving this much was already quite impressive.

With that thought, she was about to announce the result.

However—

What Su Luoheng did next completely defied Ran Ruobing's expectations.

Or rather, it surprised her!

She watched as Su Luoheng suddenly stepped back with his right foot, bending his left leg slightly. At the same time, he twisted his wrist and held the Ice Rain Sword, infused with soul power, horizontally in front of his chest. A cold aura emanated from the blade, and Wen Qu, confident in his absolute advantage and anticipating his victory, failed to notice that his speed was gradually being affected.

With a sharp clang, the sound of metal colliding filled the air.

The Ice Rain Sword clashed once more with the heavy sword, sparks flying at the point of contact.

At that moment, Wen Qu should have seized the opportunity to press down with a heavy strike.

However, affected by the cold, Wen Qu did not immediately swing his heavy sword to finish the fight.

This few seconds of hesitation gave Su Luoheng the chance he needed to escape.