Under everyone's gaze, a massive dark-red figure, enveloped in endless raging flames, instantly burst forth from within the fire.
When they saw the full appearance of that figure, almost all the students couldn't help but gasp.
It was an incredibly massive lion, over five meters long and nearly four meters tall at the shoulder, looking like a moving small mountain.
Its entire body was covered in dark-red mane, and every strand of hair burned with a raging demonic flame that seemed as if it would never go out.
Its thick limbs stepped on the sandy ground, leaving behind charred imprints.
On that massive head, within eyes like lanterns, burned the purest desire for tyranny and destruction.
Thousand-Year Spirit Beast—Blazing Flame Demon Lion.
Among fire-attribute Soul Beasts, this was a powerful existence known for its violence and destructive power.
Facing this roaring Blazing Flame Demon Lion charging with the force of ten thousand catties, Caelus, standing in the center of the field, didn't even blink.
Just as the demonic lion was dozens of meters away from him, opening its bloody maw and preparing to spit out a destructive tornado of flames, Caelus finally moved.
He didn't even release his Martial Soul or spirit rings; he simply raised his right hand.
It was such a simple movement.
In the next instant, an extremely terrifying cold air, as if coming from the depths of the Nine Sereneries, erupted violently with his body as the center.
"Crack—Snap—Snap—"
The sound of the air freezing was so crisp it made one's teeth ache.
Starting from Caelus, within a broad fan-shaped range of dozens of meters in front of him, whether it was the dark yellow sand on the ground, the hot air currents flowing in the atmosphere, or the raging demonic flames burning on the Blazing Flame Demon Lion... everything was covered by a layer of grim ice in less than a second.
That thousand-year Blazing Flame Demon Lion, which had been maintaining a pouncing posture with overwhelming power, couldn't even let out a scream before it abruptly froze in mid-air.
The violent flames in its eyes were replaced by eternal frost.
Finally, under hundreds of pairs of eyes as dull as if they had seen a ghost, a living Thousand-Year Spirit Beast, along with the vast space around it, was completely frozen into a crystal-clear small iceberg emanating terrifying cold air.
"Ice...?"
Upon the high platform, Wang Yan suddenly stood up from his seat, his face filled with unbelievable shock.
Beside him, Han Ruoruo also showed a look of surprise.
The two of them, and all the teachers and students below who knew Caelus and understood him, had overwhelming waves surging in their minds.
They all remembered very clearly that Caelus's Martial Soul was of the mysterious and unpredictable Time attribute. Since when could he manipulate ice?!
Moreover, this was no longer ordinary ice.
How terrifying was this cold air?!
With just a lift of his hand, in an instant, a Thousand-Year Spirit Beast known for fire and violence, along with the demonic flames it took pride in, was frozen into an ice sculpture.
This kind of ultimate, unreasonably domineering ice had completely exceeded their scope of understanding.
Is it a Second Martial Soul? But he's only twelve, how could it be... While most people were caught in a massive shock they couldn't pull themselves out of, only Gu Yuena's beautiful purple eyes didn't show much shock; instead, a thoughtful look flashed through them.
She seemed... to have understood something.
And at this moment, in the ranks of Second Year, Class One, Huo Yuhao's body was also trembling slightly.
But his trembling didn't come from the external cold, but originated from his Sea of Consciousness.
"Bingbing, it's Bingbing's aura!!"
Heavenly Dream Ice Worm's sharp shouting almost pierced Huo Yuhao's eardrums.
Its spiritual body rolled and crashed wildly within Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness, kicking up waves of spiritual storms.
"How is it possible?! Why is it here?! How could Bingbing's aura appear on this kid?! What on earth is going on, aaaaahhhhh—!!!"
Heavenly Dream Ice Worm's voice was full of anxiety, unease, and a kind of panic.
That aura was too familiar to him; it was the aura belonging to one of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North, the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion—the Ice Empress, whom he had adored for countless years but could never attain.
Moreover, it was so pure, so powerful.
"Brother Tianmeng, Brother Tianmeng, don't be in a hurry first."
Huo Yuhao endured the turbulence in his Sea of Consciousness, doing his best to soothe the almost out-of-control Heavenly Dream Ice Worm in his consciousness.
"Calm down a bit. When the assessment is over, I... I'll find a way to help you test the class monitor."
After this life-and-death journey to the Extreme North Land, Huo Yuhao finally knew Heavenly Dream Ice Worm's original plan—which was to find the Ice Empress, then trick her into becoming his Second Martial Soul.
He also knew that his Brother Tianmeng seemed... to have always deeply loved that Ice Empress.
However, due to some accidents, they didn't find the Ice Empress; instead, they encountered another Vicious Beast by chance and reached a cooperation.
But now, that aura of the Ice Empress, which should have been sought in vain, appeared on his own class monitor.
What exactly happened behind this?
That iceberg formed by the frozen Thousand-Year Blazing Flame Demon Lion stood quietly in the center of the Beast Fighting Arena, emitting a faint glow.
The ultimate low temperature seemed like an invisible Domain, rapidly spreading out, causing the temperature of the entire massive Beast Fighting Arena to drop by several degrees.
The students outside the arena could even see their own white breath. They hugged their arms one after another; that chill seemed not to act on the flesh, but directly froze the Soul.
All was silent.
Before that ice sculpture symbolizing absolute power, Caelus slowly lowered his arm.
He didn't look at that masterpiece which could be called a work of art, but turned his calm gaze toward the already dumbfounded referee teacher.
"Teacher."
His voice broke this dead silence.
"My assessment is over."
Yes, it was already over.
Caelus's heart was unperturbed.
A mere Thousand-Year Spirit Beast couldn't pose much of a threat to a four-ring Spirit Ancestor in the first place.
Not to mention, what he used was the Ultimate Ice from a four-hundred-thousand-year Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, which reigned supreme over ordinary ice and snow.
To him, this assessment was just going through the motions from the very beginning; there was no pressure to speak of.
The academy's Promotion Assessment, in its essence, was never meant to test students like them who already stood at the top of their peers.
Its true purpose was like a sieve, to filter out those students whose courage, strength, or Mind and nature were unqualified, to ensure the quality of Shrek's golden brand.
If even he, the publicly recognized ceiling of the new generation, needed to go through great lengths to pass a lower-grade Promotion Assessment, then probably few people in this grade could successfully promote.
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