After being enveloped by the radiance from Huo Yuhao’s third soul ring, the Single-Horned Devilrhino’s speed was noticeably lessened, and its body began to tremble.
The Single-Horned Devilrhino jerked its body as Huo Yuhao lunged at it, attempting to impale Huo Yuhao with the drill-like horn on its head..
Huo Yuhao was prepared to dodge this attack, knowing full well that he couldn’t down this Devilrhino in a single strike. The Devilrhino’s head is its most vital area, and its most armored, not even the Darkgolden Terrorclaws have a good chance of penetrating it in one shot.
But a peculiar coincidence happened once more. . .
The Single-Horned Devilrhino’s body shook as it was running, so its front hoof stepped into a small hole formed during the previous battle, but the small hole was slanted.
The Devilrhino was more than four meters long. Its body was thick and burly, and it weighed more than three thousand kilos. Its front hoof suddenly twisted, and caused its entire body to slant along with it. The horn it stabbed at Huo Yuhao completely missed, and its head was critically exposed to him.
“Squelch—” Huo Yuhao wouldn’t be in the Shrek’s Seven Monster’s if he couldn’t capitalize on the mistakes of an enemy. The Darkgolden Terrorclaw’s five talons bunched together like a woodpecker’s sharp beak, and pierced through the Devilrhino’s eye when its head turned towards him.
The Single-Horned Devilrhino was taken by great surprise when its body slanted to one side, and it even forgot to close its eyes to protect them with its thick eyelids.
How soft and weak were one’s eyes? Furthermore, it was the Darkgolden Terrorclaw that stabbed into the eye. Huo Yuhao’s dark golden sharp blades jabbed into the Single-Horned Devilrhino’s head instantly, and its colossal body crashed to the ground with an agonizing howl.
The dark golden talons turned an icy-white, and Huo Yuhao’s right arm was covered in a diamond-like layer of crystals. The harrowing screams of a dying Devilrhino ceased, and its head was blanketed in a layer of frost.Its body was excessively huge, and even Huo Yuhao’s Ultimate Ice couldn’t freeze its entire body within a short period of time.
The strike was too fluid for that. His body sprung into the sky once more as the soul thruster on his back launched him with great might—at another Single-Horned Devilrhino.
All the other Single-Horned Devilrhino’s suddenly lost their footing at the same time. Even Huo Yuhao, agent of their demise, found this unbelievable. One of the Devilrhino’s collapsed, falling right onto the Golden Tiger’s corpse.
The corpse exploded from the Ice Explosion soul skill, and the enormous body of the Single-Horned Devilrhino was tossed into the air. The frightening power of the Ice Explosion soul skill made He Caitou think back to their encounter with the corpse explosion back with the evil soul masters inside the cave. The gigantic Single-Horned Devilrhino was blown to smithereens, and its horn was blasted from the explosive force, landing right on a vulnerable long-range soul beast’s head—and piercing right through it.
The four Single-Horned Devilrhinos were all locked onto Huo Yuhao, so they didn’t threaten He Caitou at all, who was currently attacking with all his might.
“Senior brother, try attacking those long-range soul beasts’ eyes. Fire in bursts, and conserve soul power!” Huo Yuhao yelled out while his Darkgolden Terrorclaw easily pierced through another Devilrhino’s eye. The incredibly strange thing was that this Single-Horned Devilrhino was also inexplicably incapable of closing its eyes in time.
The long-ranged attacking soul beasts were definitely not in normal condition. Their mobility was reduced, and even after waves of attacks being launched at Huo Yuhao and He Caitou, not a single attack hit. Their ability to lock onto targets had vanished, and their luck with it.
Aiming at the soul beasts wasn’t difficult for He Caitou, but soul beasts had very sensitive perceptions, and would swiftly dodge away when they felt something was off. Soul tools could lock on targets, but only one body at a time, and not onto a particularly small region. Still, He Caitou acted according to Huo Yuhao’s suggestions.
All these incredible, miraculous, and even insidious occurrences caused his confidence in Huo Yuhao to increase many times over.
The battlefield was already extremely chaotic. Two of the four Single-Horned Devilrhinos were eliminated by Huo Yuhao in a matter of seconds, and one was killed by the Ice Explosion. The remaining Devilrhino struggled back to its feet and continued charging towards Huo Yuhao. He Caitou managed to take out two long-range soul beasts, and another one was eliminated by the exploded Devilrhino’s flying horn. There were five more ranged soul beasts to kill, but skull projections still lingered over their head while they stumbled like before.
The Eye of Destiny judged them with the Light of Destiny. Combined with Huo Yuhao’s third soul skill, Enfeeblement, was the cause of everything that had just happened and was happening.
Huo Yuhao finally understood the true meaning of destiny’s judgement. A golden shadow glimmered behind his back, and there were wheels of light protecting it. This was the radiance and fortune bestowed upon him by destiny, while those soul beasts were abandoned by destiny’s judgment. Their bodies seemed to be plagued by the god of weakness. It was a pity that even though Huo Yuhao was the creator of their bad destiny, he couldn’t change his own destiny. If not, the situation would have been even more sinister.
And Enfeeblement? This was a domain-type soul skill, so it should rightfully be called Mass Enfeeblement. Those that were struck by Huo Yuhao’s spiritual fluctuations would find their central nervous system affected. Enfeeblement didn’t diminish the target’s soul power, but it would cause the target to experience dizziness and weakness in their lower limbs, among other things.
All these crippling effects weren’t conclusive. However, Huo Yuhao’s Mass Enfeeblement’s most potent effect, was that it could be extended for a long period of time. He had only absorbed six-thousand years out of the whole fifteen thousand in the soul ring, but he could still channel Mass Enfeeblement for an entire minute.
These twelve soul beasts were impeded by Mass Enfeeblement, and they were judged by destiny at the same time. One could only imagine their dire state. Huo Yuhao took this opportunity, and three Single-Horned Devilrhinos were felled, the tables had turned!
“Tch, tch, tch.” Three brilliant needle-like beams flashed by. Three long-range soul beast’s heads erupted in a cloud of blood mist simultaneously—all of them were attacked through their eyes, and their brains were vaporized instantly.
A long and thin soul tool could be seen on He Caitou’s shoulder. Its foremost point was shaped like a cone, and those thin light beams were fired from the cone-like tip of this soul tool.
His three simultaneous blasts could only be described as the work of a sharpshooter. While the distance between him and his targets wasn’t even a hundred meters, the souls beasts were dodging swiftly, without stopping. Not even Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection could help him aim at those soul beasts’ eyes.
He Caitou faintly felt as if there was an unknown force guiding him when he was firing these three shots. When the feeling peaked, he only aimed in roughly the right direction and fired.
Eight long-range soul beasts dwindled into two very quickly, while the last Single-Horned Devilrhino arrived before Huo Yuhao.
The Single-Horned Devilrhino had formidable defense and offense. However, it wasn’t agile enough in front of Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao used the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and brushed past the Devilrhino’s side. Even though the Single-Horned Devilrhino had already locked onto Huo Yuhao, it still needed time to turn its body.
Huo Yuhao grasped this opportunity, and his Darkgolden Terrorclaw slashed down ferociously—the sharp dark-golden blades slashing through the weak underbelly of the Devilrhino.
This Single-Horned Devilrhino was the most defensively capable foe Huo Yuhao had come across since obtaining the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Right Palm Bone. Even his Darkgolden Terrorclaw couldn’t stab all the way into the soft underbelly of the Devilrhino, only halfway through instead.
However, half was enough for Huo Yuhao. He bounced off the ground and plastered his entire body onto the Devilrhino’s side. Meanwhile his Darkgolden Terrorclaw turned an icy-blue—the Ice Empress’ Pincer!
The Ice Empress’ Pincer gave the Darkgolden Terrorclaw the Ultimate Ice element, and greatly boosted the strength of Huo Yuhao’s right hand.
“Squelch–” The Darkgolden Terrorclaw fully submerged itself into the Single-Horned Devilrhino’s body, and the Ultimate Ice’s formidable power was injected within with frightening speed.
However, Huo Yuhao immediately began to feel an obstruction from the muscles of the Devilrhino, which had clamped onto his Darkgolden Terrorclaw, and the Devilrhino used its soul power attempting to eject Huo Yuhao.
Time was not on his side—Huo Yuhao couldn’t conserve soul power anymore. His spiritual power had been thoroughly drained from the series of battle, to the point where he didn’t even attempt a simple Spiritual Shock.
Emerald green hues burst from Huo Yuhao’s body. The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion’s shadow shimmered for a second behind his back, and a blanket of icy-green light immediately expanded outwards in the next moment. The struggling Devilrhino froze in place, unable to shake off Huo Yuhao.
It was clear that Huo Yuhao had used the Darkgolden Terrorclaw that was impaled into the Devilrhino’s body as the center of his attack when ice crystals quickly spread all over the body of the Single-Horned Devilrhino. Before long, the entire body was coated in a layer of sparkling and translucent ice crystals, the Devilrhino was motionless, like an ice statue.
“Tch—” Huo Yuhao pulled out his hand as he leapt up and landed on the back of the Devilrhino. He was supporting himself against the back with his hands as he panted with deep and heavy breaths—his face as pale as a ghost.
Using the Domain of Perpetual Ice without the support of Haodong power simply took too much out of him. He felt like he’d been hit with his own Enfeeblement as his body fell into a crippling state of weakness, while his spiritual power and soul power were spent The Domain of Perpetual Ice infiltrated through the open wound caused by the Darkgolden Terrorclaw and stopped the beast’s heart, instantly turning it into an ice sculpture..
Huo Yuhao couldn’t be bothered with the other two long-range soul beasts anymore. He quickly took out another thick and thin cigar and stuffed them into his mouth, before he lit them and sucked on them as hard as he could. He took out the Milk Bottle at the same time, and restored his soul power.
He Caitou did not disappoint, and even though it was less than a hundred percent accuracy rating like before, he still got in six more missiles under the Light of Destiny’s blessing. The two remaining soul beasts still recovering from Enfeeblement—decapitated.
While the battle seemed like it took a lon
Gong Changlong no longer felt his heart ache. Instead, he had already become numb. Even though there were many mystical beasts inside the Beast Dueling Area, a third of their thousand year soul beasts had already been eliminated in just this one battle. The color on his face turned blue with a green tinge before it turned black altogether… How could Xian Lin’er, Qian Duoduo and Fan Yu have expected such a result from the spectator’s grandstand?
Huo Yuhao surveyed his surroundings warily and awaited the next wave of soul beasts that could appear at any time. This Single-Horned Devilrhino was the most important weapon in his arsenal for the subsequent battle. He couldn’t help but think, “If only big brother Xu were here. He could concentrate all the soul beasts together, then use the Mysterious Underworld Displacement to swap over this Single-Horned Devilrhino and I would detonate it – I would be able to destroy an entire wave!”
“That’s it! Why are we still testing? If this assessment continues, all the Beast Dueling Area’s properties will be gone.” Gong Changlong walked out with a glowering look on his face. He shouted towards the spectator’s grandstand, “Dean Xian, I am also a reserve Elder of the Sea God’s Pavilion, and I am worthy enough to question the Sea God’s Pavilion, and to question the decision you guys have made using the Sea God’s Writ’s authority. Every one of you saw it – twenty thousand-year soul beasts of mine perished just like that, and all of you should know these soul beasts’ value. Take a look, how many soul rings has this wasted? The Soul Tool Department has to be responsible for capturing another batch for me. I will take this up to the Sea God’s Island right now.”
Gong Changlong spun around furiously as he spoke and was about to leave.
Xian Lin’er, Qian Duoduo and Fan Yu hurriedly leapt down from the spectator’s grandstand and arrived before Gong Changlong in a flash.
Xian Lin’er wore an apologetic face as she said, “Don’t be angry, Elder Gong. We will stop here for today. I never imagined that such a situation would happen, and it’s all because our judgment of these two students’ abilities was inadequate – so it’s all our fault. We will explain things to the Sea God’s Pavilion ourselves. Duoduo and I will be responsible for capturing another batch of soul beasts when we come back.”
Gong Changlong’s face softened a little as he said, “That will do. Don’t pull this kind of assessment anymore – if not, how can my Beast Dueling Area endure? Leave, all of you. These two fellas are no longer welcome inside the Beast Dueling Area.” Elder Gong huffed and puffed at his beard while he glared at three of them as he spoke, before he turned around and walked out, leaving Xian Lin’er and the others laughing bitterly at each other.
Huo Yuhao had rendezvoused with He Caitou by now. They both heaved a sigh of relief when they saw Elder Gong’s furious look, and it seemed like today’s assessment was over.
The two of them felt as if they were in a dream as they watched the corpses scattered all over the ground. There were eighteen thousand-year soul beasts, and four of them were three thousand year soul beasts! Yet, they massacred every single one within fifteen minutes. Even a Soul King from the inner courtyard probably wouldn’t be able to accomplish this.
Fan Yu forced a laugh and said, “What shall we do about today’s assessment, Deans?”
Xian Lin’er expression also seemed a little sullen. She replied, “Go to the Martial Soul Department and fetch Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan. The assessment will continue; let them battle the others from the Shrek’s Seven Monsters. I want to see how long they can last.”
She deliberately raised her voice when she spoke the last sentence so that both Huo Yuhao and He Caitou could hear her. The two of them glanced at each other exasperatedly and swiftly sat down on the ground. They restored their soul power through Milk Bottles while they started to meditate to recover the energy they had previously expended.
Huo Yuhao realized that his spiritual power’s recovery speed inside his spiritual sea was relatively impressive. However, his second mental sea’s spiritual power recuperated incredibly slowly – as a slow as a snail sliding across the ground. He would probably need an entire day to completely recover the spiritual power he had expended – that meant his Eye of Destiny could only be used once per day.
Fan Yu was highly efficient. He had no problem extracting the several students from the Martial Soul Department, as he had Xian Lin’er’s orders. Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan arrived at the Beast Dueling Area within fifteen minutes.
Xu Sanshi looked like he was in a good mood, and he looked like he couldn’t wait to get it on while he wore a mischievous and wry smile on his face. Jiang Nannan was calm and composed, and even though she maintained a distance between Xu Sanshi and herself, they were no longer as distant as before. This was probably the reason why Xu Sanshi was in a good mood – at least there was progress.
Bei Bei was as elegant and refined as always. However, he no longer had that faint smile on his face ever since Tang Ya had left. He couldn’t wait for the holidays so he could go to Heaven Dou City to find Tang Ya. He had no clue why he felt as if his hair had been standing on end recently, and he grew even more worried about Tang Ya venturing towards Heaven Dou City all by herself. He had had his own revelations after the grand competition, and he had also reached a crucial point in his cultivation, while the academy had also ordered him not to leave. He was also about to face the immense pressure of the examination to enter the inner courtyard during his graduation.
“Senior brother, big brother Xu, sister Nannan.” Huo Yuhao stepped forward elatedly. He hadn’t seen Bei Bei and the others ever since their closed-door cultivation after they returned.
However, Bei Bei and the others were as astonished as ever. The Beast Dueling Area was incredibly messy – there was a giant crater from the Ice Explosion, there were soul beasts’ severed limbs, and there was a multitude of corpses strewn all over the place.
“Little junior brother – what’s all this?” Bei Bei asked with a face full of doubt.
Before Huo Yuhao could explain, Xian Lin’er lowered her voice and said, “Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nannan – I have an immediate assessment task for you guys: take down Huo Yuhao and He Caitou. The battle will start immediately. If the three of you lose the fight, then I will ask the Martial Soul Department to increase the difficulty of your assessments to enter the inner courtyard next year.”
“Ah?” Bei Bei and the other two were immediately shell-shocked.
Fan Yu chimed in. “This is also an assessment for Huo Yuhao and He Caitou. Look at the corpses of soul beasts around you – they were the ones that killed them all. The battle will start immediately.”
Bei Bei’s eyes sparkled. There seemed to be blue lightning flickering within his eyes when he turned back toward Huo Yuhao, and he was the first to mentally prepare himself. The academy had their reasons for arranging something like this, and he knew that it wouldn’t be bad for Huo Yuhao and He Caitou if he followed his teacher’s instructions.
“Watch out, junior brother.” A crackling lightning strike burst from within his body as he spoke, and his right arm swiftly transformed. Bluish-purple dragon scales began to spread, first towards his chest then all the way to his hips. He lunged towards Huo Yuhao in a flash.
Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan were a beat slower, but they immediately realized what was happening and released their respective martial souls before they launched their own attacks. Xu Sanshi went for He Caitou, while Jiang Nannan hid herself behind him. With the Shield of the Xuanwu Turtle defending them, there were no cracks or loopholes for soul tools in front of them to exploit.
Even though this battle was incredibly rushed and hasty, Bei Bei and the others’ experience and discipline in battle were quickly put on the display, and everyone went for their most suitable targets.
Huo Yuhao laughed bitterly inside. He felt a little stifled facing off against his eldest senior brother, and this wasn’t just because his soul power had only been restored to about fifty percent, his spiritual power had only recovered to about thirty to forty percent, and his second mental sea wasn’t operational at all. This was also because of his relationship with Bei Bei.
Bei Bei had always been like a mentor and a big brother to him. It could be said that without Bei Bei’s care and help, Huo Yuhao wouldn’t have been able to stand his ground when he first came to Shrek Academy. He was already disadvantaged in terms of his mentality even though this was only a friendly battle.
Huo Yuhao unleashed the Spiritual Detection as fast as he could as Bei Bei lunged directly at him. He connected himself to He Caitou while he used the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to make a swift retreat in an attempt to distance himself from Bei Bei.
Bei Bei’s experience in battle was as rich as it could be. He was the Tang Sect’s eldest senior brother, and he was simply too familiar with the Tang Sect’s Six Great Secret Techniques.
The Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track’s most prominent point was that it was mutable and unpredictable. There wasn’t a rhythm or pattern to take advantage of. However, Bei Bei was familiar with this technique, and as such was acutely aware of its speed.
“Crackle!” A thunderous boom could be heard as a colossal Thunderous Dragon Claw slashed out through the sky and went directly for Huo Yuhao’s body. The lightning bolts had yet to reach him, but Huo Yuhao could already feel his entire body starting to go numb. There was no doubt that Bei Bei’s cultivation had grown exponentially again. The Thunderous Dragon Claw’s ferocity was augmented, and its area of effect was much wider than before.
Huo Yuhao placed his hands in a circle before him, and his Spirit Eyes began to glow. His Spiritual Detection found the Thunderous Dragon Claw’s weakest spot, and his left hand formed the Controlling Crane while his right hand formed the Capturing Dragon. With a single pushing and pulling action, he pushed the Thunderous Dragon Claw to one side.
“Eh?” Bei Bei glanced at Huo Yuhao with a surprised look on his face. However, he took the time that Huo Yuhao needed to stop and block the Thunderous Dragon Claw to swiftly close the distance between him and his junior brother. He made a grab at Huo Yuhao’s shoulder as he bent the center of his palms inwards – he was also using the Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon technique.
Bei Bei was more than ten ranks above Huo Yuhao in cultivation, and formidable suction power immediately pulled at Huo Yuhao till he stumbled. It wouldn’t be easy for Huo Yuhao to defend against Bei Bei’s Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon even at his peak, and he was no match Bei Bei in cultivation. This was the reason why it was challenging for him to evade this attack even though his Spiritual Detection could predict and detect it.
He Caitou finally displayed his fearsome and ferocious side. His consumption from the previous battle was far smaller than Huo Yuhao, since he hadn’t needed to expend much energy with Huo Yuhao’s spiritual guidance. His soul power had been restored to more than eighty percent, and his soul tool fort asserted its dominance in all directions. He managed to suppress both Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan so that they couldn’t come near – instead, they were gradually forced back.
He Caitou’s soul tool fortress was a great counter to Jiang Nannan’s abilities, and it was hard to throw him out when he was solidly rooted to the ground. However, the destiny’s blessing from before when he was facing the soul beasts was completely gone. The Eye of Destiny’s powers had a limited duration, and Huo Yuhao could only maintain it for about three minutes with his current strength.
The Darkgolden Terrorclaw sprung out once more, and he clashed against Bei Bei’s Thunderous Dragon Claw head-on.
“Clang!” A metal clanging sound boomed, and Bei Bei felt as if five streaks of intense chill shot through his arm from five incredibly sharp talons, and they were drilling deep into him with hysterical speed. He was taken by surprise, and he unleashed his Vigorous Thunderbolt in an instant. Huo Yuhao also released his own Class 2 soul barrier at the same time.
His soul barrier was immediately shattered to pieces, but he managed to block the Vigorous Thunderbolt’s immense power of paralysis. The Ice Empress’ Armor released diamond-like ice crystals that blanketed his entire body and resisted the Vigorous Thunderbolt. Huo Yuhao was pushed back several meters, but he wasn’t injured.
Bei Bei looked down at his dragon claw and realized, to his intense bewilderment, that the sharp tips of his talons each had a thin crack. Even though these cracks weren’t that big, his right arm’s dragon claw was the toughest spot on his entire body. His gaze was immediately attracted to the Darkgolden Terrorclaw on Huo Yuhao’s right hand.
“Junior brother, is that the Darkgolden Terrorclaw soul bone from the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear?” Bei Bei asked in astonishment.
Huo Yuhao chuckled and said, “Very discerning, senior brother.”
Bei Bei gave Huo Yuhao a thumbs-up with his left hand and said, “Great job. However, I’m going to give everything I have.” He had already noticed that Huo Yuhao had three soul rings on him, and he had never underestimated or looked down on his little junior brother.
He howled into the sky, and Bei Bei’s entire skeleton crackled with a series of explosive popping sounds. His frame grew in size as he became taller by an entire head, while the flesh on his body was conspicuously more bulging than before. His eyes sparkled with bluish-purple lightning, and snake-like streaks of lightning webbed all over his body like a net of lightning.
His third soul skill, Thunderous Fury, had also evolved. Huo Yuhao could feel a tremendous gravitational energy emanating from Bei Bei. The fine and complex bluish-purple net of lightning seemed like it wanted to suck everything into itself, and subsequently tear it apart. The Ultimate Ice energy that he had injected into Bei Bei’s body through the Ice Empress’ Pincer and his Darkgolden Terrorclaw were instantly dispelled after the Thunderous Fury’s explosive release.
Bei Bei’s prowess was worthy of his status as the leader of the new generation of Shrek’s Seven Monsters. He made a grab through the air at Huo Yuhao. This was another Thunderous Dragon Claw, but the force of this attack was vastly different from before.
An enormous streak of bluish-purple lightning formed a lightning claw with three meters wide that lashed at Huo Yuhao. This lightning claw was infused with vigorous suction power, as if Bei Bei had incorporated the Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon’s effects into his soul skill.
Huo Yuhao couldn’t struggle out from this formidable suction power with his current cultivation, so he could only face it head-on.
Two purplish-golden beams of light burst from Huo Yuhao’s eyes – Spiritual Shock!
Bei Bei’s eyes sparkled at the same time. Purple light flashed across his eyes, but the difference was that Bei Bei’s eyes seemed to contain two lightning whirlpools. Invisible spiritual power clashed violently, and Bei Bei’s head was forced backwards slightly while his forward movement was halted. However, he wasn’t injured in any substantial way. He also knew how to use the Purple Demon Eyes, and he was also incredibly familiar with Huo Yuhao’s abilities. How could he not be prepared for his little junior brother’s signature move?
However, the power of Huo Yuhao’s spiritual shock took Bei Bei by surprise. His forward momentum was hampered, but his Thunderous Fury wasn’t over yet.
His Thunderous Dragon Claw had arrived before Huo Yuhao, and the immense suction power already caused Huo Yuhao to lose his balance slightly. The monumental expenditure during his battle against the soul beasts before this was starting to show. Huo Yuhao didn’t have enough soul power, so formidable abilities such as the Domain of Perpetual Ice and the Ice Empress’ Wrath were out of the question. The Eye of Destiny was similarly unusable. His third soul skill, Mass Enfeeblement, was incredibly powerful, but it was a ten thousand year soul skill, and consumed a lot of his soul power. He had looked very glorious and spectacular before, but there weren’t that many soul skills that he could still use at this point.
Huo Yuhao took a deep breath, and he exceeded everyone’s expectations when he decided to take this hit. Yes, he didn’t any soul skills to defend himself as he curled his body as much as he could before he took a direct hit from the Thunderous Dragon Claw.
Bei Bei couldn’t prolong his control over this soul skill due to the Spiritual Shock’s effects, so Huo Yuhao only took a direct hit from the Thunderous Dragon Claw’s original power after it was amplified by Thunderous Fury.
The gigantic lightning claw swiftly closed up and trapped Huo Yuhao’s body in a vice-grip. Huo Yuhao’s soul barrier was activated, but it immediately shattered into pieces, and even the original item broke apart.
Huo Yuhao’s own body was in a dire state. Streaks of lightning surged all over his body, and the ice crystals formed by his Ice Empress’ Armor exploded into a layer of icy mist that permeated the sky. His own body wasn’t electrocuted by the lightning streaks, but his body quivered, twisted, and contorted as he collapsed onto the ground. This strike’s power did what it meant to do, and Huo Yuhao’s defenses were completely overcome.
He Caitou wasn’t having a good time on the other side either. His soul tool fortress managed to hold Jiang Nannan back, but Xu Sanshi’s defensive abilities countered his as well. Repeated bombardment meant Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan couldn’t advance, but using the soul tool fortress consumed a lot of soul power.
Xu Sanshi darted forward with Jiang Nannan in between He Caitou’s intermittent attacks, and he finally found an opportunity and slammed into He Caitou’s body.
He Caitou’s choice was a little comical. He realized that he was about to crumble, so he released his Class 4 soul barrier while he withdrew his soul tool fortress. His soul tools were extremely weak, and if the Shield of the Xuanwu Turtle directly clashed against them, most of them would probably be damaged – how could he bear to let that happen? This was just an assessment, after all.
Jiang Nannan finally leapt into action, and when she stepped on He Caitou’s shoulders, He Caitou raised both his hands in the air to signal that he wanted to surrender.
Xian Lin’er’s expression was a little sullen. She understood that her impromptu assessment didn’t achieve the best results. Soul masters were soul masters after all, and the Shrek’s Seven Monsters were best buddies from the beginning, so it was impossible for them to fight with everything they had. However, this meant that she hadn’t seen Huo Yuhao and He Caitou’s real limits yet.
“Are you alright, junior brother?” Bei Bei swiftly came before Huo Yuhao and wanted to help him up, but Huo Yuhao flipped around on the ground and launched a Darkgolden Terrorclaw with his right hand. This attack wasn’t aimed at Bei Bei, but rather it slashed to another side. The Darkgolden Terrorclaw erupted with a colossal wave of dark golden light, and a giant claw that was three meters long surged across the sky and violently slammed against the ground, leaving five deep grooves.
“You can’t be so careless, senior brother.” Huo Yuhao smiled as he got to his feet. Even though he appeared terribly unkempt and wretched from the lightning strike, he didn’t seem like he was substantially injured. The Ice Empress’ Armor’s defensive capabilities were still relatively formidable, and the Thunderous Dragon Claw that was no longer under Bei Bei’s control could only make him numb. Bei Bei didn’t follow up on his assault, so he wasn’t considerably injured.
Of course, Huo Yuhao still lost the battle. If Bei Bei had followed up with another strike, then his life would have been in danger. However, he used actions to tell his senior brother that he couldn’t be careless no matter what.
Bei Bei wore a look of amazement. “This… this must be the Darkgolden Terrorclaw’s complete version. You are so fortunate, junior brother!”
Bei Bei was familiar with the Darkgolden Terrorclaw, as he favored soul bones that were related to claws. He had always wanted to attach a suitable right arm soul bone to himself, but hadn’t been able to.
Huo Yuhao chuckled and said, “Senior brother, this is one of my takeaways from our expedition into the Great Star Dou Forest. My expenditure during the soul beast assessment was a little too great – if not, I would have let you have a taste of my third soul skill.”
The assessment was over. Even though it was a little anticlimactic, Xian Lin’er, Qian Duouo, and Fan Yu still admired Huo Yuhao.
The Ultimate Soldier Plan had been suggested for a long time, but this was the first experiment. Even though the assessment’s results were a little below expectations, Xian Lin’er’s mood was still pretty good after she frowned momentarily. Huo Yuhao’s display of well-rounded prowess and mighty fighting strength would undoubtedly have a catalyzing effect on the entire Ultimate Solder Plan.
“Alright, the three of you can go back.” Xian Lin’er said to Bei Bei and the two others with an expressionless look on her face.
Xu Sanshi snickered and said, “Dean Xian, about reducing the difficulty of our inner courtyard assessment… What do you think…?”
Xian Lin’er snapped, “Reduce what? Did you guys give your all? You call this an assessment? It was clearly an artificial performance for us to see. Scram, and don’t make me angry.”
“Uh…” Xu Sanshi glanced at Bei Bei, but Bei Bei looked like he didn’t see Xu Sanshi’s expression. Who would choose such a time to invite a snub?
“We should catch up at night when we have time, junior brother.” Bei Bei greeted Huo Yuhao and He Caitou before he hurriedly departed with Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan.
Xian Lin’er’s mouth twitched and she said, “When you have time? Let me tell you the truth – when the Ultimate Soldier Plan has officially begun, you guys will no longer have time to yourselves. From now on, your lives will be incredibly rich!” She deliberately placed emphasis on the last word, and both Huo Yuhao and He Caitou could feel their hearts beating out of their chests as they listened.
Reality proved that Xian Lin’er wasn’t lying. Once the assessment was over, the two Deans and Fan Yu immediately took them both back to the Soul Tool Testing Area.
They didn’t give Huo Yuhao or He Caitou time to meditate so that they could speedily restore their soul power, and a new teacher appeared before them.