Chapter 17.3. First Time Cooperating; Two People Control the Battlefield

His front pair of wings turned completely azure, the golden patterns on them releasing a golden light that spread outward, instantly forming a three-inch wide sharp golden edge on his front wings.

The look on Xiao Xiao’s face changed slightly. Via Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection Sharing, she could clearly sense the astonishing destructive power that was currently contained within Wang Dong’s wings after he used this soul skill.

Wang Dong simultaneously raised his hands, grabbing the inner part of his front wings. With a sudden pull, his front pair of wings immediately unfurled, resembling two guillotines with golden edges. He then twisted his body, causing his right wing to slash towards the Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron. It was just as he’d said: If a soft method wouldn’t work, he’d have to use a hard one!

However, he’d still underestimated the level of coordination that Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao shared, who were both working together to control the battlefield. Xiao Xiao didn’t have her Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron forcefully take the hit that Wang Dong has sent at it, instead choosing to have it two metres. This allowed it to perfectly dodge the slash made by Wang Dong’s right wing, before suddenly ramming into his wing.

A loud ‘bang’ rang out from their collision, and Wang Dong’s body was sent flying several tens of metres away. On the other hand, Xiao Xiao’s Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron remained hovering in midair.

Wang Dong truly felt depressed by this. His strength absolutely exceeded Xiao Xiao’s, but he hadn’t been able to display any of it whilst facing the combined forces of Xiao Xiao and Huo Yuhao. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. This time, he decided to retreat instead of advancing. With a flash, he moved more than twenty-five metres away from Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao, naturally meaning that he’d escaped the range of Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection Sharing.

“Hehe, Huo Yuhao, I want see how you’ll detect the my body’s condition now. This brother has long-range attacks too.” As he spoke, his second soul ring lit up.

Huo Yuhao smiled slightly and said, “Have you forgotten? I can also manipulate the direction of my Spiritual Detection. As of right now, I can send it out around a hundred metres. If your attack can lock onto us from over a hundred metres away, you can try using it. And even if it can, there’ll still be enough time for me to help Xiao Xiao take it on when your attack enters the range of my Spiritual Detection, unless the strength of your attack can shatter Xiao Xiao’s Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron. And besides that, you shouldn’t forget that Xiao Xiao still has her second martial soul.”

Wang Dong was stunned. Right! Even though his second soul skill was a thousand year one, and was relatively strong compared, its might would still be greatly reduced after it had crossed a hundred metres. Besides, Huo Yuhao truly would have enough time to help Xiao Xiao take it on. However, he still wasn’t willing to concede to them. “My long-range attack is an AoE attack. Even if you can detect it, it won’t be of any use.”

Xiao Xiao smiled. “Wang Dong, don’t be so proud of yourself. Don’t forget, I still have multiple soul skills that I haven’t used. Would you like to know what soul skills my Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron has? To be honest, you might not be my match, even if this were a one-on-one fight. As for your long-range attack, it might have an extraordinary amount of strength, but all the class monitor and I need is enough time to dodge it. Just wait and see.”

Whilst speaking, she pointed at the Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron with her right hand, causing it to suddenly tremble slightly. Immediately after that, it unexpectedly split into three smaller cauldrons that surrounded her and Huo Yuhao, forming a tripartite formation. At the same time, Xiao Xiao’s first soul ring lit up.

A loud rumbling echoed out as the ten square metres of air above the two of them twisted due to a violent vibration.

The three cauldrons then merged back into one and quietly landed in front of Xiao Xiao.

Huo Yuhao’s and Wang Dong’s expressions changed. What a strong martial soul! When the Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron had split into three parts, that was an innate skill that belonged to it. However, that tremor was definitely its attack. Huo Yuhao had clearly been able to sense the terrifying might of that tremor via his Spiritual Sense.

Wang Dong quickly regained his composure. “I get it, I won’t fight anymore. If the two of you team up, it’s true that I can’t beat you. But Xiao Xiao, in the future, you’ll definitely learn that you’re not my match in a one-on-one fight. On the other hand, if two people around the same level of cultivation fight against one another, the side that has Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection will definitely win. That skill of his doesn’t give anyone a way out at all. You’ll be left in a passive state throughout the entire battle, unless someone with an exceedingly high cultivation uses absolute power to crush him.”

Although Xiao Xiao wasn’t willing to accept Wang Dong saying that he could beat her in a one-on-one fight, she had to acknowledge what else he’d said. She nodded and said, “Yeah! With the class monitor’s Spiritual Detection, fighting is as simple as just using my soul skills. Class monitor, your soul skill is super strong. It feels great teaming up with you! I even underestimated your ten year soul ring, sorry!” Xiao Xiao was a girl who had a very straightforward attitude; she said whatever she was thinking about without beating around the bush. Due to this, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong immediately had a favourable opinion of her.

Huo Yuhao extended his right hand horizontally towards Xiao Xiao, who responded with a sweet smile, before placing her right hand on top of his. Finally, Wang Dong walked over and placed his right hand on the very top.

Huo Yuhao then said, “From now on, we’re comrades on the same team. As for the freshmen examination, we want to be champions.”

“We want to be champions!” The three simultaneously shouted. At this moment, the relationship between them had deepened further. The happiest person of the three was naturally Xiao Xiao; she finally felt as if Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong had sincerely accepted her as one of their friends. Because of this, it was always said that, between soul masters, speaking with one’s fists was always the simplest, most direct, and most effective way to do things.

Shrek Academy’s assessment area was located at the north-central part of the Martial Soul Department, and was adjacent to the Soul Duelling Area. However, the Examination Area was much larger than the Soul Duelling Area. To the outer courtyard students, this was a paradise for outstanding students, where they could display their abilities, but was a nightmare for weaker students. There would always be a large number of students expelled after failing their assessment every year. A large majority of the assessments would be held in this Examination Area.

The Examination Area was oval-shaped. Unlike the Soul Duelling Area, which was enclosed, the Examination Area was basically an open field. It was only encircled by short walls, while inside it was separated into many small areas by partitions. These partitions could be moved at any time to alter the size of the Examination Area.

The Examination Area would always be divided the most whenever the freshman assessment happened. It wasn’t just because of the large number of new students, but also because there was still a limit to the destructive power and attack range that new students had. Because of this, they didn’t need too large of an area to allow them to fully display their abilities.

The Examination Area was roughly twenty-thousand square metres large, but was currently separated into fifty areas. Every single partitioned area was around four hundred square metres in size, and was a twenty by twenty metre square. This was already sufficient for new students, who generally only had one or two soul rings.

After the intense division of groups in the morning, the assessment formally started in the afternoon. Because this was the first day of the assessment, all of the teams could leave after finishing only one match. This was done for the sake of letting the new students adapt, at least somewhat, to the schedule. The academy had stationed a teacher in each of the fifty areas in order to complete the registration process for the assessment. The lot drawing for today’s matches had already been done that afternoon, and the academy did all they could to ensure that no teams from the same class would meet each other during the ten-match round robin tournament.