Chapter 60

The following few days passed very quickly.

Even Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong, who were nearly out of soul power, could join forces to swiftly defeat Xie Hanyue; Tang Wulin's team, with full soul power and stamina, could easily overwhelm peers who didn't even have Soul Elder strength—it was practically unstoppable.

The average time these opponents lasted was less than half a minute, and they were eliminated one by one like cutting melons and vegetables.

Thus, time quickly arrived at the final match.

"Both sides, announce your names."

The judge had just said that when the student opposite Tang Wulin interrupted him.

"No need, we're already very familiar with each other; we don't need to introduce ourselves again, right, Wulin?"

"I guess so."

Tang Wulin looked gloomily at the familiar handsome boy opposite him and sighed.

"I didn't expect to end up facing you guys again, and in the finals, no less."

After all, they were friends; he still didn't really want to personally eliminate Wang Dong and the others.

But upon reflection, this was also inevitable.

He also knew the strength of Wang Dong's team: three exceptionally strong Soul Masters; to reliably defeat them, one basically needed to be a Soul Elder or possess a Soul Fusion Technique.

However, among the first-year Soul Elders, Dai Huabin had been expelled when school just started; Ning Tian's team was defeated by Xie Hanyue's team, and Xie Hanyue's team was then defeated by Tang Wulin's team—none of them ended up facing Wang Dong's team.

Furthermore, the team of Huang Chutian, which possessed a Soul Fusion Technique, was also eliminated early in the knockout stage; one could say that any team capable of threatening Wang Dong's team had basically been taken care of beforehand.

The result was that these two teams met in the final.

One can only say that sometimes luck really matters; if Wang Dong's team had met a Soul Elder in their first knockout round, they probably wouldn't have even made the top 32, let alone advanced to the finals as they have now.

Zhou Sichen asked proudly, "Is there even a need to fight this match? You guys should be the clearest about Wulin's strength, right?"

Xiao Xiao, beside Wang Dong, said gloomily:

"We also think there's no need to fight, but if we just forfeit, Old Lady Zhou might literally eat us."

Cao Jinxuan beside them nodded in agreement.

Because of the relationships between Tang Wulin and Wang Dong, and Huo Yutong and Xiao Xiao, these few people gradually became acquainted over the past three months without even realizing it.

Precisely for this reason, they know each other's strengths very well; just thinking about facing Tang Wulin's team as opponents makes them feel a pang of stomachache.

However, things have come to this point and they can't change it; under the judge's direction, both sides retreated to the edges of the competition platform, facing each other from afar.

With a cry of "Match begin!", the final battle of the freshman assessment finally opened its curtains.

Wang Dong immediately spread his wings, soaring high in the sky, and together with Xiao Xiao's Three Lives Soul-Sealing Cauldron, flew toward Tang Wulin and the others.

Hurry up and end this battle, take second place and leave—that's their unanimous thought right now.

But what struck them as strange was that Tang Wulin, unusually, did not rush at the enemy right away; instead, he took Huo Yutong's hand.

Wang Dong furrowed his brow.

"What is he doing? Showing off his love in broad daylight?"

He got his answer the very next second.

With a "plop", Cao Jinxuan beside Xiao Xiao suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.

Wang Dong's and Xiao Xiao's faces changed instantly.

The three of them knew Huo Yutong had mental attack methods, so since the match began they have all been using soul power to shield their heads.

Because, according to past experience, doing this can somewhat boost mental defense, preventing being sniped by Huo Yutong's headshot. Yet now Cao Jinxuan still collapsed instantly—did Huo Yutong eat some heavenly treasure, causing her strength to surge suddenly?

The two of them didn't know about the existence of Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong's martial soul fusion, so they naturally thought that.

Actually, after several days of experimentation, Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong discovered that their martial soul fusion can enhance both of them simultaneously; as long as their bodies are in contact, their combat power surges at the same time.

Among Wang Dong's team, what Tang Wulin fears most is not Wang Dong's strongest frontal combat ability, nor Xiao Xiao's twin martial soul, but Cao Jinxuan, who possesses the top-tier tool martial soul Time Flies Clock and serves as the team's brain.

His time-based ability is extremely nasty; if used well, it can turn the tide of battle. Therefore, facing him, Tang Wulin unhesitatingly used the martial soul fusion to assist Huo Yutong, letting her unleash a soul impact that sent him out of the match.

After confirming Cao Jinxuan had been defeated, Tang Wulin finally let go of Huo Yutong's hand and shot forward like a cannonball.

"Tsk."

Faced with the oncoming Tang Wulin, Wang Dong dared not be the slightest bit careless; his purple soul rings lit up, and the dazzling Butterfly God's Light prepared to shoot toward Tang Wulin.

But who would have known that, just before he fired the Butterfly God's Light, his spirit suddenly became dazed, and the direction of the light's emission instantly shifted dramatically.

"Boom!"

Tang Wulin didn't even glance at the Butterfly God's Light exploding beside him; under his control, countless blue-gold plants burst from the ground and swiftly wrapped around the airborne Wang Dong.

"!"

Wang Dong hurriedly used the Butterfly Wing Slash, spinning rapidly in midair, cutting all the Blue Silver Emperor plants near him to pieces.

But this was merely a drop in the bucket; with Tang Wulin pouring in soul power without regard for consumption, more and more Blue Silver Emperor vines coiled around Wang Dong, greatly restricting his range of movement.

Xiao Xiao wanted to help, but Zhou Sichen's two summoned beasts, aided by Huo Yutong's mental probing, stubbornly entangled the three great cauldrons, leaving her only able to watch helplessly as Tang Wulin closed in on Wang Dong at high speed.

You should know that in this freshman assessment, aside from Xie Hanyue, not a single person could withstand three punches from Tang Wulin.

Then came the standard procedure: Tang Wulin leapt high and slammed his fist toward Wang Dong.

In his panic, Wang Dong used his wings to shield himself, but he still couldn't resist Tang Wulin's monstrous strength and was heavily smashed to the ground.

Seeing Tang Wulin raise his fist again, Wang Dong had no choice but to shout helplessly:

"I surrender!"

As soon as those words left his mouth, Tang Wulin instantly lost interest in him, rose, and ran toward Xiao Xiao's direction.

Xiao Xiao's face turned pale, yet she still had to control the Three Lives Soul-Sealing Cauldron to try to block.

Zhou Yi ordered that even if their team had only one person left, they must not surrender lightly; they must fight to the very last moment.

The problem is Xiao Xiao can't even handle Zhou Sichen, let alone cope with Zhou Sichen and Tang Wulin teaming up; in less than five seconds, Tang Wulin pressed Xiao Xiao to the ground as well, eliminating the last member of Wang Dong's team.

This meant Wang Dong's team's defeat, and also signified the formal end of this freshman assessment.

The champion was precisely Tang Wulin's team.

Off‑topic about the Shilake Second Team: most people think they're pretty weak.

That's only natural, since during the second tournament there were already four Soul Saints, and Soul Emperors were as plentiful as wholesale items; the Shilake Second Team, with every member a Soul King, is simply unbearable to watch.

But while they're weak, we mustn't forget one premise: all these people are from the same cohort as Luo Huo.

I don't get why Shilake would be so clueless as to send a group of seventeen‑year‑olds to a competition capped at twenty, but even Xiao Xiao, who shares their cohort and has a Twin Soul, already has five rings, showing their talent isn't actually lacking.

This wave is a Shilake decision‑making blunder in‑story, and outside the story it's the Buddha's laziness (not wanting to devise new characters); anyway, I think the blame can't fall on the Second Team.

Of course, it's also possible that Shilake Academy truly has no talent left; even among twenty‑year‑old trainees there isn't a single one who can surpass these seventeen‑year‑olds, so I can only sigh at Shilake's "abundance of talent".

(End of chapter)