Chapter 145: Wang Yan's Curiosity
Aside from Furina's performance, which could only be described as a full-scale "dimensional strike," Wang Yan's interest in the trio of Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao was growing ever keener.
This team was unquestionably one of the most elite powerhouses among this year's freshmen. They boasted the luxurious configuration of one three-ring Soul Elder and two two-ring Soul Grandmasters, and the soul ring arrangements of both Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong seemed exceptionally peculiar.
Wang Dong's one yellow, one purple—an over-spec configuration—was already striking enough. But Huo Yuhao's soul rings were even more baffling: one white, one purple, one black. That glaringly stark white ten-year soul ring, wedged between two high-year rings, appeared jarringly out of place.
As a teacher with a solid theoretical foundation, Wang Yan felt his intuition and his learned knowledge clashing. His intuition told him that this white soul ring of Huo Yuhao's was absolutely no simple matter—there had to be something more to it. Yet all established soul master theory emphasized that the ten-year soul ring was at the very bottom of the soul ring hierarchy, its energy weak, its effects limited. Nowadays, any soul master with even a modicum of resources would refuse to absorb one.
Could it be that Huo Yuhao came from an extremely impoverished background, and due to a lack of resources at the starting stage, had been forced to absorb a ten-year soul ring, thus hindering his early talent? But then how could one explain his subsequent ability to acquire a thousand-year and even a ten-thousand-year soul ring? The sheer gulf and contradiction between these steps were too difficult to explain through ordinary logic.
What left Wang Yan even more thoroughly perplexed was Huo Yuhao's conduct during the matches. Across five matches, he had only ever used that very first soul ring. The other two high-year rings had never once lit up. Although his martial soul, Spirit Eyes, was a Body Martial Soul, its specific activation displayed almost no external visible characteristics.
For the vast majority of the time, Huo Yuhao merely stood quietly at the edge of the field while Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao swept aside their opponents with devastating, unstoppable force. The opposing side often never even managed to brush the hems of their clothes.
Huo Yuhao resembled a commander who strategized from the rear, winning battles from afar—without ever needing to personally lift a finger, with just a single thought, the victory of the battle was already sealed. And yet the question was: Wang Yan had never once heard Huo Yuhao utter a single command during combat (aside from the customary pre-match courtesies).
Exactly how was he communicating with his teammates, and how was he controlling the entire situation with such precision?
The shroud of mystery enveloping these two students, Furina and Huo Yuhao, left Wang Yan—ever passionate about researching soul master theory and discovering talent—itching with insatiable curiosity.
Between matches, he had also pieced together scraps of information from the sporadic gossip and chatter among other teachers: Furina was indeed the Pope of that new and rising "Church of the Water God"—far too young for the role. She had once caused Teacher Zhou Yi to suffer a stinging defeat in the classroom, damaging her authority. But as for the specific effects of her first four soul skills, and the origin of her beyond-standard soul ring configuration—all of it remained a complete enigma.
As for Huo Yuhao, his Body Martial Soul, Spirit Eyes, had been confirmed. His first soul skill was rumored to be some form of powerful support-type skill involving prediction or insight. He was closely tied to Furina and was regarded as a core member of the Church of the Water God—practically Furina's most loyal follower.
Wang Yan couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret. That time Furina had temporarily taken over the class, he'd been tied up with other matters and had missed the opportunity to observe firsthand. Otherwise, he might have been able to unravel the special qualities of these "little monsters" much earlier. But he wasn't discouraged. He believed that as the competition deepened and stronger opponents emerged, they would eventually be forced to reveal more of their hidden cards and secrets.
Soon enough, the second day of the assessment arrived in rapid succession.
Counting the opening match from the afternoon of the first day, the second day's schedule packed two matches in the morning and two in the afternoon—a grueling total of five high-intensity confrontations.
The tactics of Huo Yuhao's team remained virtually unchanged from start to finish. Even when facing a formidable team that also fielded three two-ring Soul Grandmasters, they still dispatched them with nearly the same unreasonable, steamrolling speed, achieving a "clean sweep."
The situation on Furina's side, however, was somewhat different. The opponents she subsequently encountered were universally weaker than Jiang Xueqing's squad from the very first match—generally a configuration of one two-ring and two one-ring members.
Due to the second day's packed match schedule and the need for continuous combat, many teams, after drawing Furina as their opponent, weighed the pros and cons and simply chose to surrender outright, sparing themselves even the effort of stepping onto the field.
In their view, fighting a food-type Soul King with a heaven-defying soul ring configuration and soul power at rank fifty-two was a pure waste of soul power and energy. Worse, there was a high probability of getting injured, which would compromise their subsequent matches. Better to conserve their strength and go all-out in the next round.
This left Furina feeling quite helpless—and even a touch of the lonely isolation that came with "cold on the mountain top."
The inner theater of her mind had already started playing the BGM of "How Lonely It Is to Be Invincible." Or perhaps she'd mimic a certain male protagonist and declare: "When my enemies see me, they either flee for the hills or suffer crushing defeat."
Though she knew that protagonist's story usually ended with him either getting beaten or being on his way to get beaten, for the moment, it seemed a fitting flourish to adorn her current "lonesome at the summit, seeking a worthy foe" state of mind.
Surveying all the matches, the secret of Huo Yuhao's soul skill—the one Wang Yan most desperately wanted to understand—remained as shrouded in fog as ever.
Huo Yuhao had, from beginning to end, only ever used his first soul skill, and the method of its operation was concealed to the extreme. This seemed to indirectly corroborate the speculations of the other teachers: that it was very likely some form of overwhelmingly powerful battlefield perception or predictive support-type skill, granting him a virtual "God's-eye view" to command the entire situation with unshakable calm.
In comparison, Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao's soul skills had been thoroughly displayed in combat, and Wang Yan had largely grasped the characteristics of their abilities and their combat styles.
In this year's freshman cohort, aside from Huo Yuhao's team, there were three other teams that fielded three-ring soul masters, and they too had achieved perfect five-match winning streaks.
However, the process of their victories was far from the effortless, breezy, "every match a clean sweep" style of Huo Yuhao's team. Among them, there had been no shortage of bitter struggles or deadlocked seesaws. The sheer dominance displayed by Huo Yuhao's team was clearly on a higher tier.
As for Furina, with opponents all "surrendering at the mere sight of her," Wang Yan hadn't even managed to glimpse her using her first four soul skills—let alone probe whether she possessed a second martial soul or other combat capabilities.
On this matter, he couldn't really reproach those freshmen who chose to surrender either. After all, this was an assessment for eleven- and twelve-year-old freshmen, not an elite high-level soul master tournament. Faced with an opponent who brutally surpassed them in soul power levels, whose soul ring years were terrifying, who was roughly their age yet suspiciously appeared to be "cheating," choosing rationally to avoid battle and preserve strength was perfectly logical.
To be perfectly honest, even Wang Yan himself was barely restraining the urge to step onto the field personally and have a "spar," just to force out every last ounce of Furina's true strength and see it all clearly.
"Student Furina. And Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao—you four. Could you come over here for a moment?"
When the dust of the final match had settled, Wang Yan could finally no longer suppress the curiosity in his heart and his sense of duty as a teacher. He called these four most attention-grabbing students before him.
The four approached as instructed. Furina was composed and unruffled; Huo Yuhao, steady and calm; Wang Dong carried a faint trace of fatigue but still had bright, alert eyes; and Xiao Xiao wore an expression of relaxed cheer.
Wang Yan first offered a warm smile and affirmed: "First of all, allow me to congratulate you on achieving the outstanding result of five consecutive victories in the round-robin stage. Among all participating teams—aside from the special circumstances of Student Furina—only four teams currently have a three-ring soul master anchoring them. With the strength you've displayed, advancing into the top sixty-four in the elimination round is practically a foregone conclusion."
He shifted his tone, turning serious and solemn: "However, as your assessment instructor, I must remind you: in soul master duels, the situation can shift in the blink of an eye. You absolutely must not let your strength advantage breed complacency or cause you to underestimate any opponent. Pride goes before a fall—it has been so since ancient times. In the upcoming elimination rounds, every opponent you face will be a powerhouse who has been filtered through layer upon layer of selection. The battles will only grow more intense. At no time can you afford to be careless."
He paused briefly and continued to explain the tournament structure: "Shortly, all participating teams will redraw their lots. Those teams that have lost all five matches will be directly eliminated and will be unable to remain at the academy. As for you all, you will likely still be assigned to Area 33 for matches tomorrow, but the opponents you face then will be fellow strong contenders who have clawed their way up through seas of blood and mountains of corpses."
Wang Yan's gaze swept across the four one by one, lingering especially on Furina and Huo Yuhao for an extra beat. His words were weighty with meaning: "Do not assume that mere advantages in soul power level or soul ring years will cause all your opponents to surrender without a fight. In the elimination stage, for the sake of advancement and for honor, everyone is capable of bursting forth with potential far beyond their usual limits and bringing out their most desperate, hidden trump cards. The real battle... is only just beginning now."