Chapter 34: The Timid Shui Bing'er

The next day.

The entire Heaven Dou Imperial Academy was in an uproar.

From the three Education Committee Members to the Heaven Dou-level teachers, from the students to the quota recipients who had come from other academies, everyone had arrived in front of a large Mimicry Cultivation Ground within the academy.

Entering the Soul Hunting Ground was an opportunity that only came once every few years; otherwise, the farmed Soul Beasts would be wiped out in a few years.

Therefore, this opportunity was extremely rare. Aside from one quota for each of the Five Great Academies, the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy itself only had five quotas, but these few quotas were often transferred away by some members of the imperial family.

For one, they themselves did not necessarily have such strong talent, so taking the quota would be a waste; for another, such quotas were also a good opportunity to win over certain factions.

Just like Xue Qinghe, she had never used her own quota, but instead gave them all away, thereby gaining the goodwill of quite a few factions.

And as for her... with the secret support of the Spirit Hall, she simply didn't need such an opportunity, right...

At this moment, the over-Level 80 Spirit Douluo, Education Committee Member Meng Shenji, stood in front of everyone.

"Without further ado, I will now open the Mimicry Soul Hunting Ground. Will all students please prepare; you will enter one by one."

The eight Soul Rings on his body lit up with a boom, and his majestic soul power swept outward, causing the people around him to involuntarily step back a few paces.

"His martial soul is the Black Demon, which can pull people into an infinitely repeating dream."

Jian Douluo said: "It seems this Mimicry Soul Hunting should also be related to his ability, otherwise it would be impossible for a continuous stream of Soul Beasts to appear within the Mimicry Cultivation Ground."

Ning Fengzhi nodded slightly.

And at this time, under the continuous release of martial soul power by Meng Shenji, a rippling, water-like entrance slowly appeared before their eyes.

"Please, the first student, enter." His soul rings extinguished, and he spoke directly.

A Heaven Dou Imperial Academy student responded and entered.

"Hum!"

With just a hum, they disappeared from everyone's sight.

And the water-ripple entrance fluctuated again the next moment, slowly turning into a mirror surface, projecting every move the student made inside the cultivation ground.

This was a Level 30 student. When facing the challenges of the first few levels, their speed was extremely fast, and it was not until the appearance of the fifth-level difficulty Soul Beast that they began to get serious.

After all, opportunities were rare, and generally, no one could get two chances, so these few students were all Level 30.

"Hey! Qin Jian!"

And at this time, Huo Wu, who had had a small conflict the day before, walked over: "I am going to challenge the ninth-level difficulty, you'd better not fall too far behind."

"Brother Jian won't fall too far behind... no, I mean, Brother Jian will definitely beat you! Hmph!"

Qin Jian didn't need to face the sharp tongues himself; Ning Rongrong would naturally charge into the fray at this time.

"Boastful."

Huo Wu's personality was probably such that she would never be intimidated by anyone...

"Huo Wu, did you make a bet with someone?"

At this time, a youth dressed in light green, wearing a mask, approached.

Qin Jian saw his gaze fixed intently on Huo Wu and guessed his identity: Shenfeng Academy, Feng Xiaotian, right...

"I'm competing with him to see who can get first place." Huo Wu pointed at Qin Jian and said.

"First place?!"

Her voice was not small at all, and it immediately attracted the attention of the other participating students.

"First place belongs to me, Huyan Li, don't even think about it!"

At this time, the muscular Huyan Li of the Elephant Armored Sect roared.

Looking at his baring-teeth-and-brandishing-claws appearance, it probably meant that whoever wanted to compete with him for first place, he would eat them.

"Aside from brute force, what else do you have?"

Huo Wu crossed her arms with disdain and said: "This girl could defeat you with one hand!"

"Wow, Brother Jian, she's not just arrogant toward us..."

Ning Rongrong watched Huo Wu clash with Huyan Li again and couldn't help but feel a bit of schadenfreude: "She's offended so many people; she'll be miserable when it comes time to hunt Soul Beasts."

"That won't happen, she'll at least have that Feng Xiaotian to help her." Qin Jian shrugged and said.

"Brother Jian, they all seem to have Level 30 soul power; can you really win?" Ning Rongrong asked with some concern.

Qin Jian smiled casually.

Although the battlefield was not his main battlefield, his martial soul was, after all, the Sword of Slaughter; in terms of attack power, it might be more formidable than any other martial soul.

What's more, this competition was not asking them to hunt Soul Beasts of the same level, but an assessment based on soul power; therefore, the key point was not the level of soul power, but the magnitude of potential.

Here, Huo Wu and Huyan Li refused to yield to each other, and before long, even Yu Tianxin of the Thunder Academy walked over.

"Seeing that you are all so confident, why don't we decide the ranking of this year's Five Elements Academies based on the results of this assessment?" Yu Tianxin said with a smile.

"That works!"

Huyan Li bumped his two fists together: "Then the one who takes first place this time will definitely be our academy!"

Feng Xiaotian was indifferent; seeing Huo Wu nod, he followed suit.

Qin Jian laughed from the side: "It seems there's nothing for us to do; these few Element Academies have started bickering among themselves."

Ning Rongrong asked curiously: "Brother Jian, who do you think would win if they really fought?"

Qin Jian thought for a moment and said: "I guess it would mostly likely be Yu Tianxin. After all, he is from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family, and his individual combat power is indeed strong. There is also one other possibility..."

He looked around: "Huh? Where is she?"

Ning Rongrong asked curiously: "Who are you talking about?"

"That Shui Bing'er who possesses the Ice Phoenix Martial Soul..." Qin Jian said.

And at this time, Yu Tianxin and the others were also searching for Shui Bing'er's figure, only to find, to their amusement, that she was still hiding behind her teacher.

"Hey, what do you say, Tianshui Academy? Do you want to use the results of this competition to determine the ranking of this year's Five Great Academies?" Huo Wu stepped forward and asked directly.

The Tianshui Academy teacher pushed Shui Bing'er out: "You all discuss it among yourselves."

Who knew that Shui Bing'er would even shrink back, and only then slowly walk out.

Clearly possessing the most beautiful appearance, yet her eyes drifted, looking very unconfident.

"I think... this isn't very good..."

Shui Bing'er said in a low voice: "This ranking cannot be changed for five years; it must be decided by the academy's higher-ups. How can a private bet between us count?"

"Let's compete first and talk later. If the academy doesn't recognize it in the end, then we'll compete again then!" Huo Wu said with her hands on her hips.

Shui Bing'er still shook her head and said: "I won't participate, you all compete yourselves..."

That teacher from Tianshui Academy gave a wry smile; she had known Shui Bing'er would shrink back...

"Forget it, forget it, it's no fun if one person is missing." Yu Tianxin turned and left.

"What a killjoy!"

Huo Wu snorted unhappily and said: "I really don't know how your Tianshui Academy gave the spot to you this year. If you are the one appearing in the ranking tournament, I think Tianshui will definitely be last this time!"

"Oh..."

Shui Bing'er responded weakly, making the others watching couldn't help but chuckle.

Never expected that among this group of competitive youths, such an unambitious little girl would be mixed in...

Only Qin Jian felt it was very strange, not knowing if that mature-style Shui Bing'er would still appear in the future...

——

PS: I'd like to ask everyone a question. After a Humanoid Spirit Beast reaches Level 60 and completely turns into a human, can they still provide a Soul Ring or soul bone if they are hunted? The original work didn't seem to say whether A Yin was mature or not when she passed away. This relates to Qin Jian's later situation; I'm a bit confused writing the outline (_｀)

PPS: I had a brain fart today and dubbed all the previous chapters for Qin Jian, ahem...

(End of this chapter)