Of course, it wasn't that the Evil Eye White Tiger and the Dark Spirit Cat could use a Martial Soul Fusion Skill just by meeting, but almost every generation of the Zhu family and the Ducal Palace had one, or even two, pairs with a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. The most important condition for inheriting the title of White Tiger Duke's Palace was to be able to marry someone from the Zhu family, and Dai Huabin perfectly met all these conditions.
The Dark Nether White Tiger, formed by the fusion of the Evil Eye White Tiger and the Dark Spirit Cat, was now the focus of the entire arena.
The White Tiger was enormous yet incredibly ethereal. The figures of Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu had completely vanished. The White Tiger's massive body flickered, then transformed into a wave that shot straight towards Huo Yuhao's group with astonishing speed.
The White Tiger appeared, raising its head and roaring loudly, then lowered its head, displaying the ambition to dominate the world, the King of Beasts!
"Xiao Xiao, begin!"
Huo Yuhao shouted, then turned and spread his arms to embrace Wang Dong.
They didn't want to use this move. Huo Yuhao still wanted to bide his time and wait for an opportunity in the future, but now there was no other way. The opponent had used a Martial Soul Fusion Skill; they had no retreat. Huo Yuhao didn't want to lose this match. He wanted his mother's soul to see his efforts, to see how strong he had become, to see his revenge!
Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu had an ace up their sleeve, so how could Huo Yuhao's three not?
Wang Dong had already extended both hands. Seeing Huo Yuhao approach, Wang Dong's eyes suddenly lit up, revealing a gentle, comforting look. As soon as Huo Yuhao saw this glimmer, he immediately calmed down, his deep hatred also softened, a smile appeared on his lips, but his eyes remained firm and resolute.
Indeed, before the match began, they had tried to activate their Martial Soul Fusion Skill and succeeded, so both were able to confirm that after three days, their Martial Soul Fusion Skill would be ready to be unleashed.
At this moment, the teachers in the stands were almost holding their breath, and the supervising teacher was even more nervous, secretly preparing to intervene.
Almost all the teachers couldn't imagine that a mere New Student assessment match could feature a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, a Martial Soul Fusion Skill!
The supervising teacher had prepared to block the Dark Nether White Tiger. Although this Martial Soul Fusion Skill was powerful, it was still far inferior to the teacher's own cultivation. This teacher was confident that they could intervene at the critical moment to save Huo Yuhao's group of three. The supervising teacher had not yet intervened because they had noticed the strange actions of Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, along with the Martial Soul that Xiao Xiao had just unleashed.
The three great cauldrons around Xiao Xiao glowed brightly and then clashed together. The two auxiliary Soul Rings for the Three Lives Soul Suppressing Cauldron also lit up.
Black light ripples spread out from Xiao Xiao's body. At this moment, the black light column did not extinguish but instead merged into the Three Lives Soul Suppressing Cauldron.
The three cauldrons merged, a loud explosion rang out, and a great cauldron twice its original size appeared. Strange symbols appeared on the great cauldron, carrying an imposing aura and a resounding sound.
Xiao Xiao's face turned pale. She closed her eyes and extended her right hand forward. The great cauldron flashed and then dropped in front of the Dark Nether White Tiger with a deafening roar.
"National Heavy Weapon, Cauldron Tremor!"
This was Xiao Xiao's strongest ultimate move.
At this moment, Xiao Xiao also knew that her move could not restrain the opponent's Martial Soul Fusion Skill, so she decisively self-detonated her Soul Skill, unleashing all the Soul Power within it. Although this method consumed a lot of Soul Power in an instant, its power was truly great and did not cause Xiao Xiao to be depleted of Soul Power like last time.
The space around the great cauldron became distorted, and powerful sound waves spread out for more than ten meters, then, guided by Spiritual Detection, struck directly towards the approaching Netherworld White Tiger.
The Netherworld White Tiger's body was hit by the sound waves, then a light flashed, the White Tiger shivered once, and continued to move without any damage.
Xiao Xiao was terrified; she couldn't believe that her Cauldron Tremor was only enough to stop the White Tiger for one second.
But what followed was a scene that made Xiao Xiao even more frightened. A strange golden light group flashed beside her, and a pillar of light shot straight into the sky, making Xiao Xiao see only one thing in front of her eyes for an instant: jade light, jade light emanating from Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong!
Huo Yuhao's eyes glowed golden.
Wang Dong's beautiful and ethereal Radiant Goddess Butterfly.
As soon as they embraced, both immediately unleashed their Martial Souls. The surrounding ten-meter radius lit up with the unique light emanating from the two of them.
This radiance was incredibly strange; it was a mixture of purple, blue, and golden light streams. The dense aura of radiance, accompanied by a tremendous amount of mixed Soul Power, was fluctuating terrifyingly.
Behind Wang Dong, a perfect phantom of the Radiant Goddess Butterfly appeared.
Behind Huo Yuhao, a phantom of the Spirit Eye appeared. The Spirit Eye was enveloped in golden light, but deep within it, a purple hue was hidden.
In the air, two enormous phantoms were slowly approaching and constantly transforming. Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eye became clear and profound, almost completely enveloped by two shades of purple and blue, and the golden light had completely disappeared.
The Radiant Goddess Butterfly burned fiercely, continuously incinerating golden and blue light.
Just as the Netherworld White Tiger approached all three, the two enormous light phantoms began to merge.
The National Heavy Weapon, Cauldron Tremor, restrained the Netherworld White Tiger for just enough time for the Radiant Goddess Butterfly to spread its wings and embrace the Spirit Eye.
Immediately, the phantom of the Radiant Goddess Butterfly disappeared. At this moment, Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eye shone brightly.
Streams of magnificent blue-purple flames overflowed from the Spirit Eye, then gently descended to embrace Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong.
The enormous Spirit Eye was incredibly profound; looking at it from the outside, one could feel countless worlds within the Spirit Eye. Immediately afterward, a pillar of electric light, carrying streams of blue, purple, and golden light, shot out.
This stream of light swept across the arena like a comet, leaving behind faint, brilliant, long streaks of light wherever it passed.
Dean Yan Shaozhe stood up in astonishment at this moment, his eyes filled with disbelief. The stingy former dean sitting next to him was also startled.
Qian Duoduo was no less surprised and frightened than Yan Shaozhe. He truly did not know that Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong had this move, and he never imagined that such a thing could happen in a mere freshman assessment: a Martial Soul Fusion Skill against a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. This was something that rarely happened even in battles between high-level disciples in the outer court, or even in the inner court. At this moment, a pillar of light appeared before their eyes, shooting straight towards the Netherworld White Tiger.
At this moment, the supervising teacher also widened his eyes in confusion, unsure whether to intervene. Both teams were using Soul Fusion Skills; if they weren't allowed to fight, how could a victor be determined?
Just because this teacher didn't know didn't mean no one knew. From the stands, a figure flashed and appeared at the point where the two Soul Fusion Skills were about to collide. His back bore a full-power claw strike from the White Tiger, while his front body withstood the beam of light.
A beam of light shot straight up, transforming into a barrier that halted the two Soul Fusion Skills.
The Netherworld White Tiger, originally incredibly powerful, immediately exploded after striking the barrier. Following the explosion, the bodies of Zhu Lu and Dai Huabin were flung far away, unable to get up.
On the other side, the three-colored beam of light gradually faded, and the illusory Spiritual Eye slowly closed, revealing Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong embracing each other. Neither of them fell; instead, they both stared intently at where the Golden Road had been blocked.
The person who had just used his own Soul Power to block the full might of the two Soul Fusion Skills now revealed himself: Dean Du Weilun.
The white beam of light from before was the Soul Power emitted from Du Weilun's body. Just as it was about to collide with the two Soul Fusion Skills, the eight soul rings on Du Weilun's body simultaneously lit up.
Two yellow, two purple, and four black formed an extremely powerful soul ring combination.
This was the method to determine victory: using one's body to block the two Soul Fusion Skills and then comparing the strength of the two sides.
Both were Soul Fusion Skills, and the ultimate trump cards of both teams, so at this moment, both groups watched intently.
The teachers observing from the stands hadn't even reacted when Yan Shaozhe and Qian Duoduo were already utterly shocked. Du Weilun's front body seemed dyed golden, looking like a golden statue. Behind his back, a claw strike from the Netherworld White Tiger had torn his clothes, leaving five distinct, deep bloody marks.
A Soul Douluo could be injured? And by new students?
This was truly unbelievable. At this moment, the teachers had also reacted, all of them wide-eyed and agape.
Zhu Yi was also observing the battle, and this scene caused her eyes to darken. Although it was hard to believe, the Netherworld White Tiger had truly managed to injure Du Weilun. She understood Du Weilun's cultivation level well, and she was certain that Du Weilun hadn't intentionally faked the injury; that wound was caused by the true power of the Netherworld White Tiger.
Yan Shaozhe's expression was extremely grim. He turned to look at Qian Duoduo, only to find Qian Duoduo also staring at him with innocent, wide eyes.
"You didn't know about this?" Yan Shaozhe aggressively provoked.
Qian Duoduo gave a bitter laugh: "Do you think I would know? These are students from your Soul Master Department, how would I know? Old Yan, if you want to play dirty, just say it directly."
Yan Shaozhe snorted, his figure flashing and disappearing from everyone's sight.
Qian Duoduo smiled as he watched Yan Shaozhe leave. Though his smile was silent, his expression was incredibly smug.
"Dean Qian, why did Dean Yan...?" Fan Yu approached Qian Duoduo, asking in confusion. The situation in the arena clearly showed Dean Qian losing, could it be...?
Qian Duoduo chuckled: "It's nothing, it's just that our character is a bit better, so we got lucky. Fan Yu, you've found an excellent seed this time. I don't care what methods you use, but absolutely do not let that kid become a core disciple. You heard the bet Old Yan and I made just now."
Fan Yu whispered:
"Dean Qian, did we really win?"
Qian Duoduo chuckled, "Of course we won. That's all for now."
As soon as he finished speaking, his body flashed and disappeared.
At this moment, the golden arena in front of Du Weilun had dissipated, but his face was still filled with disbelief. He focused intently on Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, who were struggling to let go of each other, to confirm it once more. The waves of pain from the wound on his back told him: it was all real.
Dai Huabin reluctantly stood up and supported Zhu Lu. At this moment, Cui Yaxie excitedly jumped into the arena, cheering.
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong's expressions were extremely somber. Although they hadn't seen the wound on Du Weilun's back, the opponent's actions had proven that they had lost. They truly didn't know what the ability of Golden Light was, and they didn't understand why they had lost. Huo Yuhao was even more disappointed that he couldn't defeat Dai Huabin. He had poured all his strength into coordinating with Wang Dong for this final strike, yet he still couldn't win!
Du Weilun was only stunned for a moment before immediately regaining his composure. A bitter smile played at the corner of his mouth as he thought, "That was truly terrifying."
"Alright, you all did very well."
Du Weilun's voice rang out. At this moment, the members of both sides quietly focused on him.
Du Weilun spoke again, "You truly surprise people. To be mere new students and yet reach this level. Just now, I personally felt the power of your Martial Soul Fusion Skill."
At this point, he coldly glanced at the supervising teacher standing nearby. "This was supposed to be your job, yet you made me step in and even get injured." The teacher bowed his head in shame, not daring to meet Du Weilun's gaze.
Du Weilun said in a deep voice, "At this moment, I declare that the champion of this new student assessment is..."
He paused here, then raised his right hand and pointed towards the three people, Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao:
"Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, and Huo Yuhao's team."
"Huh?"
The entire audience erupted in an uproar.
Not to mention Dai Huabin's group of three, even the teachers sitting on the high platform were astonished, thinking they had misheard. When both sides' Martial Soul Fusion Skills concluded, everyone had assumed that Dai Huabin's side was the winner, after all, the Ghostly White Tiger had injured Du Weilun. Now, some wondered if the director was intentionally seeking revenge because he was injured, preventing his students from winning? This couldn't be. Just now, both deans were present; Du Weilun couldn't show favoritism. Moreover, Director Du had always been known for his impartiality and had never made a mistake.
Not only everyone else, but even Huo Yuhao's group couldn't believe that they were the winners. The three exchanged glances. Xiao Xiao looked at Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, then mumbled,
"Win, did we win?"
Wang Dong, however, was doubtful, "Did Director Du just say we were the champions or the runners-up?"
Huo Yuhao thought for a moment, then decisively said, "We really won!"
While the three were still discussing, on the other side, Dai Huabin's group was astonished. Zhu Lu, disregarding her weakened body, tried to stand straight and asked, unconvinced,
"Director Du, it was clearly our team that won, why are you declaring them the winners?"
Du Weilun turned and swept his gaze over the three, then said coldly, "Are you questioning my result?"
Zhu Lu was overwhelmed by his aura and dared not answer, but her eyes revealed her dissatisfaction. Although Dai Huabin didn't speak, he bit his lip tightly, staring intently at Du Weilun without any fear.
Du Weilun tried to suppress the indignation in his heart and told himself, it's over, this time I've really lost face, this girl is something else!