Chapter 98: It was you who tipped Yuhao off

Assessment Area.

"Xiaotao."

Following the direction of the voice, Ma Xiaotao instinctively turned her head, her tone tinged with excitement: "Teacher, you're here too?"

"You should address me by my title in public. Call me the Dean."

Yan Shaozhe wore a faint smile on his face. "I made time to come and watch Yuhao's performance. It's only been three months since we last met, but I didn't expect Yuhao to give us such a tremendous surprise. He truly lives up to being the once-in-a-century genius of Shrek Academy."

"Indeed, Yuhao is now a Soul Elder, and his strength has grown significantly compared to before," Ma Xiaotao affirmed, her voice carrying a note of pride.

When the two of them had previously dealt with the evil fire, Huo Yuhao had clearly been much faster than when he was still a Soul Grandmaster. Moreover, in their recent interactions, she had found herself at a slight disadvantage, despite initially holding the upper hand.

The thought caused a faint blush to spread across her cheeks.

Yan Shaozhe raised an eyebrow, glancing at his disciple. "It seems things are progressing well between you two?"

"How could that be..." Ma Xiaotao quickly averted her gaze, abruptly changing the subject. "Let's not talk about that. Teacher, didn't you say that if Yuhao wins the final championship, there would be a special reward? What is it?"

Yan Shaozhe chuckled at Ma Xiaotao's reaction.

The natural development of their relationship pleased him, and he was more than happy to see it unfold. "I won't spoil the surprise just yet. But don't think I don't know—last time, it was you who tipped Yuhao off about the separate team, wasn't it?"

"If you don't want to tell me, then don't. Let's just watch the match..." Ma Xiaotao replied, her tone slightly pouting.

As the four participants slowly entered the arena and took their positions, the referee, a teacher, began to speak. "Both sides, introduce yourselves."

"Ning Tian, Class 9, Level 32 Auxiliary Tool Soul Master."

"Wu Feng, Class 9, Level 26 Strong Attack Battle Soul Master."

"Nanmen Yun'er, Class 9, Level 24 Agile Attack Battle Soul Master."

This time, Ning Tian took the initiative to speak first. She openly disclosed her soul power level, hoping to exchange information about their opponents.

Despite having trained in the same class as Huo Yuhao for three months, they still knew little about his exact capabilities.

Ning Tian only knew that Huo Yuhao's cultivation speed was astonishingly fast, though she wasn't sure if he had used external resources to accelerate his progress.

In just one month, he had increased his soul power by two levels, and two months ago, he had taken leave to obtain his third soul ring. This meant that Huo Yuhao now possessed at least two thousand-year soul rings.

Coupled with the strength he had displayed in his previous soul fight against Xu Sanshi, Ning Tian had already formed a rough estimate of Huo Yuhao's combat power—at least at the level of a four-ring Soul Master.

Ning Tian herself was also at the Soul Elder level. Although the Seven Treasure Glazed Pagoda had no inherent combat power, its terrifying amplification effects could temporarily elevate her two Soul Grandmaster teammates to the level of Soul Elders. Even with their team configuration, facing Huo Yuhao would be a significant challenge.

However, she was determined to win. She wanted to prove her strength in front of Huo Yuhao.

Wu Feng, though facing a formidable opponent, couldn't hide her excitement. A blazing fire ignited in her heart. Under Huo Yuhao's influence, Wu Feng and the others had also improved their strength.

Especially Wu Feng herself—after consecutive losses to Huo Yuhao, she had turned her shame into motivation, breaking through two levels in just three months.

Now, with Ning Tian's assistance, Wu Feng was confident. She believed she could compete head-on even against Soul Elder.

Nanmen Yun'er, on the other hand, widened her eyes in disbelief. She couldn't help but sigh at the irony of fate—she had ended up facing the class monitor. She would have rather fought Dai Huabin from Class 5 than Huo Yuhao.

The person involved might be confused, but the bystanders saw things clearly. Over the past three months, Nanmen Yun'er had often witnessed Wu Feng challenging Huo Yuhao, only to be utterly defeated. Especially after Huo Yuhao advanced to Soul Elder, the gap in their strength had grown even wider.

Huo Yuhao remained calm. He had guessed some of their thoughts, but it didn't matter to him. "Freshman Class 9, Huo Yuhao, Level 35 Strong Assault System Battle Soul Master."

His plain declaration echoed like thunder, shocking everyone present.

Especially Yan Shaozhe, who stood on the viewing platform. His pupils contracted, and an expression of disbelief spread across his face. As a Super Douluo, even at this distance, he could clearly hear the self-introductions of the participants.

If he remembered correctly, Huo Yuhao had only broken through to Soul Elder two months ago, right? And now he was already at Level 35? A Level 35 Soul Elder under the age of 12 was terrifying!

In the history of Shrek Academy, such a feat was rare even in the past thousand years. Even his teacher, Mu En, hadn't reached such a high soul power level at Huo Yuhao's age.

Increasing soul power by four levels in two months? That was an average of two levels per month, and this was despite the fact that cultivating an Ultimate Martial Soul was supposed to slow down progress significantly.

According to common sense, even with the help of Soul Nourishing Pills, such rapid advancement was impossible.

Yan Shaozhe couldn't comprehend it. How could someone's cultivation speed accelerate like this? If he didn't know better, he might have thought Huo Yuhao was an evil Soul Master...

It seemed that plans would have to be adjusted. Originally, Yan Shaozhe had thought it would take some time before Huo Yuhao could fully realize the potential of his twin martial souls and ultimate ice. Unexpectedly, Huo Yuhao had been holding back a major breakthrough.

Ning Tian and the other two were equally shocked. Especially Ning Tian, who was also a Soul Elder.

Over the past three months, she had worked tirelessly to improve her soul power, managing to advance just one level. Therefore, she understood better than anyone how difficult it was to increase soul power!

As for Huo Yuhao, his soul power was increasing faster as a Soul Elder than it had as a Soul Grandmaster, which was simply outrageous! If anything, she had thought she still stood a chance against him. Now, Ning Tian only felt a sense of powerlessness spreading through her heart.

Ning Tian, who was the first to recover, took a deep breath and patted her teammates' shoulders, comforting them in a low voice. "Just do your best. This is our final match."

Stopping in the top eight could only be attributed to bad luck, not a lack of effort.

"Um." Both of them understood the implication of Ning Tian's words.

Originally, Teacher Mu Jin had expected their team to secure a spot in the top four. But encountering an unreasonable existence like Huo Yuhao this early in the competition left them with no choice but to give it their all and hope to earn the status of core disciples.

At that moment, the invigilator shouted, "The competition begins!"

Ning Tian immediately extended her right hand and called out, "Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda!"

Dazzling seven-colored rays of light burst forth from Ning Tian's body. Where the light condensed, a seven-colored pagoda, over a foot tall and shimmering with brilliance, appeared in the palm of her right hand. Two yellow and one purple soul rings rose from her palm, rhythmically circling the seven-story pagoda.

"Give it your all," Ning Tian urged as she chanted the soul incantation as quickly as she could. "Seven Treasures have names. One is called Speed, and the third is called Power."

Without hesitation, Ning Tian unleashed her full strength. Under her control, two soul rings—one yellow and one purple—lit up on the pagoda. Four dazzling rays of light shot out from the pagoda, landing on Wu Feng and Nanmen Yun'er.

Among Ning Tian's three soul skills, the first and third enhanced speed and strength, respectively. The second soul skill removed negative effects and seals, allowing her teammates to return to their peak fighting condition.

The reason the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda was considered the world's number one auxiliary weapon spirit, despite its limitation of only being able to advance to the seventh ring, was due to its incredibly powerful amplification effects.

Ordinary martial souls could amplify abilities by 5%-10%, depending on the age of the soul ring, which was already impressive. However, the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda's amplification effect increased by 10% plus an additional 10% for each soul ring.

This meant that with Ning Tian's full assistance, Wu Feng and Nanmen Yun'er's speed and strength increased by 40%, granting them combat power comparable to that of a Soul Elder.

Wu Feng and Nanmen Yun'er, now boosted, sprang into action. Nanmen Yun'er's back sprouted a pair of green wings, and her hands turned a jade-like green.

As her two soul rings lit up, the green light on her hands intensified. She clasped her hands above her head, and the green light condensed into a crescent-shaped blade, which she sent slashing toward Huo Yuhao.

Her martial soul was the Jasper Bluebird. Her first soul skill, Jasper Blade, transformed her arms into swords, while her second soul skill, Jasper Slash, combined with the first to create a powerful attack.

Wu Feng also activated his full strength. His body glowed red as his two soul rings shone. The rising dragon fire on his body turned dark red, the scales on his half-dragon form thickened, and his left hand transformed into a dragon claw.

If it were anyone else, they would have avoided their attacker and targeted Ning Tian first. But Huo Yuhao was different. Out of respect for their friendship as classmates, he gave the three of them a chance to showcase their abilities head-on.

Huo Yuhao flashed forward, appearing not far from Wu Feng. As for the Jasper Slash? Because it had a locking effect, the turquoise light blade arced through the air and rushed toward Huo Yuhao once more.

Combined with Wu Feng's full-powered attack, Huo Yuhao found himself flanked from both sides.

Seeing that Huo Yuhao didn't dodge but instead chose to attack, Wu Feng's eyes lit up with excitement. She swung her dragon claw at Huo Yuhao with all her might. It seemed she had forgotten the painful lessons of the past.

[Wu Feng]

[Relationship: Friend]

[Achievement Mission: The Sky Cleared and the Rain Stopped, and the Witchcraft Can Be Done Again] 

It's fine. He would hold back a little this time.

Huo Yuhao clenched his fist and struck toward Wu Feng without hesitation.

 "Deliberate Punch!"

…

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