Amid the terrifying crash, the massive Netherworld White Tiger hit the ground, breaking apart into two battered figures—and flying out of the arena along with them was the blasted-away Xu Sanshi.
"Holy— this— hiss, that hurts."
An Wen stared at the battlefield where Huo Yuqing stood, unable to stop a shiver from running down her spine. She bared her teeth and clutched her backside.
As a feline-type soul beast, the moment she saw that scene, a fierce phantom pain shot straight up her tailbone.
The smoke lingering after the explosion was scattered by the Flame Dragon King's wings. Wang Rui landed beside Huo Yuqing, instantly grabbing her wrist and pouring the remaining soul power in his body into her almost-dried meridians.
He looked rather disheveled himself. Beibei and Xu Sanshi were Soul Ancestors far above average level, and together with that group of three-ringed students, even with the dual advantage of martial soul and attribute, Wang Rui's attempt at a quick victory had cost him dearly.
As the fused soul power slowly flowed through their meridians, Huo Yuqing's legs softened instead of holding her upright. If Wang Rui hadn't been holding her, she would have collapsed to her knees on the ground.
Just now, she had completely exhausted her soul power, and both her body and spirit had been drained to the limit—only sheer will kept her standing.
"I won, Wang Rui… I won…" she murmured weakly. But her face showed no joy—only blank shock.
"Yes, you won," Wang Rui said quietly.
"It wasn't… as hard… as I thought…" Huo Yuqing forced out a bitter smile. "Mom… I did it…"
The moment the words left her mouth, she lost consciousness.
Wang Rui held her firmly, letting her lean against him.
The girl who moments ago had been violently smashing the Netherworld White Tiger was now pale and senseless, resting weakly against him. Her faint breath brushed against his neck—clearly the girl's attribute was ice, yet her exhale felt warm. Wang Rui felt heat spreading from his cheek down to his neck.
He shifted uncomfortably, but he still didn't loosen his hold on Huo Yuqing.
Silence blanketed the arena.
A single Spiritual-type Grand Soul Master had picked up a Soul King-level martial soul fusion—the Netherworld White Tiger—and hurled it off the stage like trash. This result was just too…
Bro, who's going to believe this if you tell them?
"Hey, pinch me."
The first to break the silence was Wang Dong, flapping his wings above. He tapped An Wen's shoulder with his toe.
"I'm starting to think I'm still asleep in my dorm."
An Wen rolled her eyes, grabbed the tender spot behind his knee, and twisted brutally—her grip carrying all her personal resentment.
Wang Dong shot upward with a pained hiss, wanting to demand why Huo Yuqing had never said she had twin martial souls, why she never treated him like a friend—but after thinking about it, he felt guilty and swallowed the words.
Who here isn't a twin-martial-soul user, hahaha…
And the other twin martial soul user—
"So cool!!"Xiao Xiao's eyes were literally sparkling.
Standing behind her, Ning Tian remained silent, already reevaluating the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's ten-year development plan.
Only now did the referee—who had been "dutifully committed" to his job—come back to his senses and swallow the chicken wing in his mouth.
The Sea God Pavilion had already suspected Huo Yuqing might be hiding strength.
According to Shrek's research, before secondary awakening, the innate martial soul was weaker than an Ultimate-attribute martial soul. Martial souls of unequal quality should not be able to produce a fusion technique. Therefore, Mu En speculated that Huo Yuqing might be hiding an Ultimate Ice martial soul equal in grade to the Sun-flame Dragon, forming a yin-yang-style balance between fire and ice. Ling-Gaze martial soul would then harmonize attributes and spiritual power, enabling a stable fusion technique between the two.
And to be fair, Mu En's hypothesis sounded very reasonable.
But what was that martial soul just now?
Old Xuan recalled the phantom he'd seen.
He guessed that due to Huo Yuqing's cultivation, the summoned figure was mostly ill-defined, only partially solid—he could only make out the silhouette of a massive cyan six-legged scorpion… and among scorpions associated with ice, the most famous would be the Ice Jade Scorpion.
But that tail didn't look like one.
Xuan assumed the external soul bone was part of her martial soul—which wasn't unreasonable. That scorpion tail had completely fused with the Ice Emperor's power. Its aura no longer differed from the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, as if it were a natural extension of her martial soul.
The Gluttony Douluo wiped the oil from his hands on his stained robe, frowning.
"Maybe it's another mutated martial soul, same as that Sun-flame Dragon?"
"One, two, three…" Wang Dong hovered above them, counting heads. He looked at Old Xuan."
Uh… referee teacher, so we won… right?"
The Gluttony Douluo suddenly realized something was wrong.
He hadn't expected that innate-martial-soul boy to defeat the Netherworld White Tiger alone. So removing Xu Sanshi, who was blasted offstage by Wang Rui, and Huo Yuqing who foolishly challenged the fusion technique 1-on-1, there should have been seven students left…
But instead, the ones thrown off were the Netherworld White Tiger itself. Meaning only six remained.
And the one predetermined in the Sea God Pavilion meeting to become one of the next-generation Shrek Seven Devils—the undisputed top senior student expected to win the next tournament—was not standing on stage. Instead, several unexpected second-years remained…
No matter what, those kids were too young. Five years later, their cultivation wouldn't hold up. Reporting back to Elder Mu would be difficult.
Old Xuan shook his wine gourd, listening to the liquid slosh inside, and quickly came up with a way out.
He never explicitly said that today's free-for-all was to choose the next Seven Devils, right?
"You all did well. This assessment is rated excellent. For this year's annual evaluation, points will be added according to your performance." He smiled kindly at the six on stage, then straightened his face. "As for the ten who were eliminated first—start worrying. I will be discussing your core-disciple positions with the Martial Soul department. You must work twice as hard. Understood?"
Several students below lowered their heads miserably and muttered agreement.
Wang Rui raised an eyebrow.
The students knew nothing about the real purpose of today's battle, but the teachers understood perfectly. When Mu Jin heard that five of her class's core disciples remained on stage, she was so delighted she nearly flew. Under the envious stares of the other teachers, she immediately granted everyone a full extra day off.
After dismissal, everyone naturally went back to rest.
…
"Regarding the reserve team members—how do you think they should be arranged?" Mu En asked.
They were back in the largest conference room on Sea God Island—same place, same old men and women. Hai Ling was absent.
"These kids… are truly too young." Old Xuan frowned. "The Beast Sect's three students all possess Ultimate attributes. And regardless of where Beast Sect found them, the flaw of Ultimate attributes is extremely slow cultivation. For Wang Rui to reach Soul Ancestor at his age, he must have received massive resources—his foundation may be unstable. Whether he can break through to Soul King in five years is uncertain. As for Huo Yuhao and An Wen, whether they can reach Soul Ancestor in five years is also questionable. Ultimate attribute users may be unmatched at the same level, but low cultivation is still a fatal weakness."
"As for Wang Dong, Ning Tian, and Xiao Xiao… five years later they will only be sixteen or seventeen—maybe just above level fifty. The official Shrek team can't possibly go without at least Soul Emperors. The reserve team must include at least two seniors able to reliably break through to Soul Emperor within five years. The strongest in the Outer Court are Xu Sanshi and Beibei."
Xuan-lao looked sloppy but calculated cleanly. Descendants of Shrek's founders, relatives of the Sea God Pavilion Master—elite talent that couldn't be omitted—how could they be left out?
One alone would be too suspicious, so add Xu Sanshi. With his background, giving him the Seven Devils designation would only benefit Shrek.
But he could say this—Mu En absolutely could not.
The elders nodded in agreement.
"But now that six have already been chosen, who should we remove?" Mu En asked quietly.
"This…" Xuan scratched his head.
"Xiao Xiao, I guess. She's a twin-martial-soul user, but her performance was quite mediocre."
Mu En shook his head, sighed, and looked toward Yan Shaozhe.
"Xiao Xiao should instead be one of the Academy's key nurtured internal students," Yan Shaozhe said. "Her background is ordinary, so she has more reason to side with the Academy. In contrast, the others do not need the Academy. And for a reserve lineup, a three-ring Seven Treasure Glazed Tile support is… not necessary."
"Given the deep history between the Glazed Tile Sect and the Academy, isn't that inappropriate?" Xian Lin'er frowned.
"Even the Tang Sect once had deep ties with the Academy," Yan Shaozhe said meaningfully.
Ten thousand years have passed, soul masters continued evolving, and powerful mutant martial souls formed new families. The status of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda was no longer what it once was. And if the Seven Treasure Pagoda still could not break its seven-ring limit…
"The long river of time eliminated Tang Sect's hidden weapons—and it will eliminate the Seven Treasure Pagoda if it remains unchanged," Mu En's voice was calm and icy. "But Shrek Academy cannot and will not be the thing eliminated."
"For the next ten thousand years of glory, everyone."