As Shrek Academy’s largest exclusive region, the Beast Dueling Area was easily the largest building in the academy. It covered an area greater than all the Martial Soul Department classroom blocks, the dormitories and Shrek Plaza combined. Huo Yuhao and He Caitou jogged over there.
“Greetings to Dean Xian, Dean Qian and Teacher Gong. Teacher.” The two of them greeted everyone, including Fan Yu.
Gong Changlong had a deep impression of Huo Yuhao. Once, when Huo Yuhao imitated the aura of a hundred thousand year soul beast, he had caused widespread fear among the soul beasts in the Beast Dueling Area, and they literally shit and pissed themselves in terror. It took a lot of time to clean all that up.
Gong Changlong furrowed his brows and he asked, “Dean Xian, Old Qian, are the two of you both certain that you want to do this? How old are these kids? What if something happens to them?”
Xian Lin’er said in a deep voice, “Elder Gong, how can we test their limits if we don’t? Their full potential and abilities can only be unleashed in a life or death situation.”
Huo Yuhao and He Caitou were stunned as they heard Dean Xian. Wasn’t this just a test? Why did it involve a life or death situation?
Gong Changlong said, “I hope that the Soul Tool Department doesn’t cause any trouble. I don’t agree with this. I need to be responsible for these students’ safety.”
Xian Lin’er took out a token of made of some unknown material. The token was lush blue, and contained a spinning blue halo.
“Elder Gong, the Sea God’s Pavilion has already given approval for the Soul Tool Department to begin the Ultimate Soldier Plan. All resources in the academy will be duly allocated according to their wishes. Please begin with what we agreed upon just now.”
Xian Lin’er was one of the most authoritative deans in Shrek Academy. Her words carried great weight.
Elder Gong’s expression changed greatly when he saw the lush blue token. He didn’t speak any further, and he turned around before leaving. The Sea God's Writ was Shrek Academy’s highest-ranked token. It could only be given out during the conference held within Sea God’s Pavilion. It could only be used temporarily, and had to be returned to the Pavilion afterward.
Someone who held the Sea God's Writ could move all Shrek Academy’s resources, which included recalling graduated students or re-allocating Shrek City’s human, material and financial resources. Apart from Elder Mu, everyone had to listen once the Sea God's Writ was revealed. Elder Xuan was no exception. If something special happened, only Elder Mu could retrieve the token before the user completed his mission.
Huo Yuhao and He Caitou didn’t know the significance of the Sea God's Writ. They were a little nervous now. What exactly was the test about?
Xian Lin’er nodded at Fan Yu, “Fan Yu, tell them the details regarding this test.”
Fan Yu said, “Caitou, Yuhao, we’ll test the limits of your abilities today. The two of you must not hold anything back in this test. During it, I will keep adding soul beasts to deplete all your powers. The test will only be over when you lose all ability to fight any further. The soul beasts will not be merciful to you. We’ll be ready to step in anytime, but we can’t guarantee that no accidents will happen.”
“That’s why you must try your best to protect yourselves during the test. The longer you persist, the more soul beasts you’ll battle. This will also enhance your scores in the test. You can kill soul beasts during this test; do not have any misgivings. Besides a restriction on Yuhao’s Imitation, which will be that he is not allowed to imitate any hundred thousand year soul beast’s aura, and Caitou’s use of stationary soul tools, both of you can use whatever abilities you have. The first requirement of the Ultimate Soldier is to be able to protect themselves under all sorts of conditions. You must keep this in mind. Go into the center. The soul beasts will appear from all sides, and there’ll be no start signal. Let me see how good you are.”
“Yes.” Huo Yuhao acknowledged resolutely just as He Caitou was feeling anxious. Huo Yuhao was filled with fighting will when he thought of Elder Mu’s expectations, Teacher Fan Yu’s hopes for both of them and Senior He Caitou’s sacrifice. He wanted to work hard, fight and give his all to improve himself.
He Caitou also gathered his emotions and walked towards the center of the Beast Dueling Area with Huo Yuhao.
As he walked, He Caitou said softly, “Little junior, what’s our plan?”
Huo Yuhao pondered for a while before saying, “Senior, I’ll mainly fight while you cover me. You’ll attack based on the directions given by Spiritual Detection. Control your own attacks and try to retreat after each strike. I believe that we won’t be facing just one soul beast at any point in this test. We need to conserve our energy and soul power.”
He Caitou answered readily, “Alright, I’ll follow your instructions.” As the test was about to start, they started to become excited. They had managed to survive the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament. How difficult could this test be in comparison?
“Here they come.” Huo Yuhao shouted and turned around. He shifted his feet two steps and blocked He Caitou.
A wolf-like soul beast covered in black fur had leapt towards them quietly. It even seemed a little illusory as it leaped.
It was a Spectral Wolf, a lightning-quick soul beast with extreme dodging abilities. This Spectral Wolf’s forehead had a lock of golden hair, which signified that its cultivation was beyond a thousand years.
3 white soul rings rose from Huo Yuhao’s feet. His eyes lit up, and a dim golden light flashed. Spiritual Detection Sharing was initiated, covering 100 meters around him. A very clear blueprint appeared in He Caitou’s head. Huo Yuhao immediately reduced the area of his Spiritual Detection to save soul power.
He had no Wang Dong, or Golden Light to aid his recovery. He had to depend on himself and He Caitou.
The Spectral Wolf had already burst in front of them in this short period of time. He Caitou’s body rang with clanging noises, and 12 small soul tool cannons appeared on his body. He immediately chose his soul tools based on his experience and Huo Yuhao’s advice to retreat after attacking.
The thousand year Spectral Wolf didn’t leap at them directly. Once it realized that it was less than 10 meters away from Huo Yuhao, its body shook a little, and two other Spectral Wolves appeared on its left and right. There were now 3 of them coming from different directions. Some of them went for Huo Yuhao, while the remaining Spectral Wolf went for He Caitou.
This was the Spectral Doppelganger, an innate soul skill of the Spectral Wolf. Only one of the doppelgangers was real. The other two didn’t have any offensive abilities. Not only was this innate skill useful, but it was also quite effective. If not for the fact that soul masters couldn’t unleash their soul skills with this skill active, the Spectral Wolf would’ve already been extinct. Even so, thousand year Spectral Wolves were soul beasts that many beast soul masters liked to choose.
Huo Yuhao also moved as the Spectral Wolf turned into 3 different figures. He used the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to turn illusory as well.
His abilities had benefited from an all-round increase as his cultivation went above three rings. His speed became extremely fluid. Along with the changes to his body by the Life Guardian, he was like a cornered panther escaping quickly as he burst out.
His figure flashed, and he reached the Spectral Wolf on the left. His right hand slapped the head of the Spectral Wolf directly.
He struck at a very opportune time. It was in exactly the same moment that the Spectral Wolf jumped out. It couldn’t change direction anymore, and only lifted both its front legs to claw at Huo Yuhao. At the same time, it tried to bite his right hand.
However, it was doing this based on its calculation of Huo Yuhao’s arm length and the speed of his strike. Unfortunatly, 5 long dark golden blades suddenly appeared at the tips of Huo Yuhao’s fingers.
They increased in length until they were a foot long, meaning that Huo Yuhao’s reach had also increased by a foot. His strike landed on the Spectral Wolf’s head, and the sharp, dark golden blades stabbed into its forehead. Huo Yuhao exploited its momentum to lift its body until it was almost perpendicular to the ground. The Spectral Wolf’s claws didn’t manage to land on him. Huo Yuhao used his right arm’s strength to propel his body into the air and suppress the Spectral Wolf.
The Spectral Wolf screamed pathetically and was immediately killed by the dark golden blades that had piercing its skull.
He Caitou didn’t move from his position while the other two Spectral Wolves leapt towards him and Huo Yuhao. Mid-lunge they were turned into balls of grey fog and they disappeared.
The Spectral Doppelganger innate ability was a joke in front of Spiritual Detection. How could Huo Yuhao be tricked?
Huo Yuhao used his left hand to hit the Spectral Wolf’s head and flip himself over. The Spectral Wolf’s body was struck to the ground and remained motionless. Not even a single drop of blood flowed out from the wolf. There was only a purple soul ring.
“Fan Yu, you’ve developed a new close-combat soul tool?” Qian Duoduo was stunned. He had already ascended to the viewing platform with Xian Lin’er and Fan Yu to watch the battle in the Beast Dueling Area.
Fan Yu was also puzzled. “No! I don’t even know what that dark golden blade is. Did he develop it himself?”
Qian Duoduo said, “That’s impossible. Wolves are like dogs. Their heads are very tough, although their bodies are very weak. The skull of the Spectral Wolf is the toughest part of its body. Although this thousand year Spectral Wolf isn’t defensively sound, its skull is still quite strong. But it was pierced so easily by Yuhao. I’m afraid even a Class 5 or 6 close-combat soul tool wouldn’t be able to do that. How would it be possible for him to even create one, much less use it?”