Three consecutive scores of one hundred and fifty.
The atmosphere of the entire Beast Fighting Arena was pushed to an unprecedented climax.
But any discerning person knew that even though they were all full marks, their true value was completely different.
While the performances of Ye Guyi and Gu Yuena were indeed brilliant and stunning, they were still within the realm of combat.
As for Caelus, he hadn't fought at all.
He simply raised his hand, and then, the assessment was over.
That kind of unreasonable absolute power was what inspired the most fear and awe.
Everyone believed that if the upper limit for scoring hadn't been only one hundred and fifty, Caelus's score would have been an even more inconceivable astronomical figure.
As student after student took the field, time slowly passed.
Finally, when the Referee Teacher called out a name, the gaze of everyone in the audience focused once again.
"Next, Huo Yuhao."
He was up.
Everyone held their breath, and even the teachers on the high platform sat up straight.
They hadn't forgotten the shocking bet concerning dignity between this youth and Dai Huabin just before the assessment began.
Under the gaze of hundreds of eyes, Huo Yuhao calmly walked into the arena.
Dai Huabin stared fixedly at his back.
Beside him, Zhu Lu's brows were tightly knit, an ominous premonition lingering in her heart.
Huo Yuhao walked up to the Referee Teacher and handed over his form.
"Huo Yuhao."
The Referee Teacher looked at him, knowing this assessment held great significance for him, and asked in a deep voice, "Choose your Soul Beast."
Under the spotlight of everyone's attention, Huo Yuhao looked up and made a choice that nearly made everyone's eyes pop out.
"Teacher, I choose... a hundred-year Soul Beast."
"What?!"
"Did I hear that right? A hundred-year?!"
"That's it? Did he... chicken out?"
"Hahahaha, this is killing me. I thought he had some backbone, but it turns out he was just bluffing and has given up already."
The crowd instantly erupted.
Doubts, ridicule, disdain, disappointment... various voices merged into a massive wave of sound.
After a moment of stunned silence, Dai Huabin burst into unrestrained laughter, filled with contempt and the pleasure of victory.
In his view, Huo Yuhao had already used his actions to declare his failure in advance.
The Referee Teacher also frowned, unable to believe his ears, and confirmed once more:
"Huo Yuhao, are you sure? This concerns your bet, you..."
He had heard the contents of that bet: kowtowing and admitting defeat, acknowledging oneself as trash.
For a Soul Master, what a massive humiliation that would be.
Had this youth actually backed down at the last minute?
"I'm sure."
Huo Yuhao nodded calmly, as if the tsunami of doubt and ridicule around him had nothing to do with him.
"...Alright."
Since this was Huo Yuhao's own choice, the Referee Teacher stopped meddling.
He sighed and immediately waved his hand, signaling for a hundred-year Soul Beast to be sent out from the back.
The iron gate opened, and this time, what leaped out was a small hundred-year Wind Spirit Wolf.
It was extremely fast, turning into a green shadow as it charged towards the frail-looking youth in the center of the arena.
At that very instant.
When the Wind Spirit Wolf was less than twenty meters away from him.
Huo Yuhao's eyes, which had been cast down, suddenly looked up.
In his eyes, there was no light from a Spirit Possession, nor any sign of a Spirit Ability being activated.
In the next moment, two rings that made the entire World lose its color slowly rose from beneath his feet.
They weren't yellow, they weren't purple, and they certainly weren't black.
They were two blood-red spirit rings, as if watered with the purest blood, radiating an ominous and terrifying aura.
The moment the spirit rings rose, an indescribable, terrifying aura originating from the very peak of the hierarchy of life swept through the entire Beast Fighting Arena like a tsunami.
The hundred-year Wind Spirit Wolf, which was charging forward, seemed to have its throat seized by an invisible hand. It let out a shrill, distorted wail and slammed on the brakes, its limbs carving four deep furrows into the sand.
Immediately after, its entire body went limp, and it whimpered as it prostrated itself on the ground, shivering uncontrollably; a large wet patch soon formed beneath it.
This pressure wasn't just directed at the Soul Beast.
Outside the arena, all the students watching felt as if their Souls were being gripped tightly by a cold, giant hand.
Those with weaker strength felt their legs go soft and collapsed directly to the ground.
Even a Soul Elder as strong as Xie Huanyue felt a surge of palpitations, his face turning pale.
"A h-hundred... hundred thousand year spirit ring!!"
"How is this possible?!!"
"You've got to be kidding me, how old is he?! Two of them, there are two!!"
On the high platform, Director Du Weilun sprang from his seat. Because the movement was so violent, he even knocked over the chair behind him.
He gripped the railing tightly, his eternally serious face filled with unprecedented shock.
On the other side of the arena, Dai Huabin's arrogant laughter came to an abrupt halt.
His face turned from flushed red to deathly pale in an instant, all blood draining away.
He looked at the figure in the arena shrouded by two blood-red rings in disbelief, his mouth hanging open wide enough to fit an egg, yet unable to make a sound.
Those two piercing red rings were seared into his retinas, incinerating all his pride, confidence, and hope.
Meanwhile, in the ranks of the Second Year, Class One, a clear female voice filled with shock also rang out in Caelus's mind.
"A-Tai's aura, this is A-Tai's aura! I really didn't sense it wrong, that kid has the Titan Snow Demon King's aura on him. Caelus, what on earth is going on?!"
Ice Empress's voice echoed in his spiritual world.
"I know, Ice Empress."
Caelus calmly soothed the Ice Empress, who was practically jumping up.
"In this World, I'm not the only one with opportunities."
"You mean... he's like you? A-Tai... chose this kid?"
Ice Empress's voice was full of suspicion and surprise.
"How is that possible? I chose you because that hundred thousand year snow lotus served as a vessel to preserve my Origin. What does he have?! Did that blockhead A-Tai... sacrifice himself?!"
"The World is vast, and there's no lack of wonders."
A mysterious smile curved at the corner of Caelus's mouth.
"The Titan Snow Demon King is in the same situation as you are now; he hasn't truly died, so you don't need to worry."
"How do you know?!"
Ice Empress reflexively questioned him at first, but then she felt relieved.
"Never mind... it's enough to know A-Tai is still alive."
She fell silent for a moment, her tone calming down.
Caelus was already mysterious and unpredictable, and with Istaroth, the Divinity of Time, inside him, it didn't seem too strange for him to know some secrets that she didn't.
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