Chapter 18.4: The 33rd Arena—3v3
Although only three months had passed, their cultivations had increased by a large amount. In addition to that, they had a tacit understanding of each other. Hence, when they suddenly released their skills, Wang Dong grabbed Huo Yuhao from behind and quickly flew backwards.
Ma Xiaotao was clearly careless. There was no way that she’d even pay attention to a one and two-ringed soul master! As she released her martial soul, dazzling fire-red feathers covered her entire body. However, Wang Dong had already begun to rapidly fly away with Huo Yuhao in tow.
Following that, Ma Xiaotao saw a purple light flicker in Huo Yuhao’s eyes. In that instant, she felt as if Huo Yuhao’s gaze had become akin to two sharp needles piercing towards her, which made her subconsciously shut her eyes. Furthermore, her brain felt dizzy for a moment.
The strength of Huo Yuhao’s Spirit Shock had increased in power when his Purple Demon Eyes had broken through. Even with her six-ringed level of cultivation, Ma Xiaotao hadn’t been able to take it on directly.
Although it only stopped Ma Xiaotao for a moment, Wang Dong had already managed to charge out of the forest with Huo Yuhao in tow, returning to the lakeside path.
“Head back towards the school buildings!” Huo Yuhao shouted. At the same time, he swung his hand in Ma Xiaotao’s direction, causing a few icy lights to fly directly towards her. They were the hidden weapons that Tang Ya had given him. He’d used the most basic, albeit fastest, throwing technique when he threw them.
An intense stream of air simultaneously erupted from the golden patterns on Wang Dong’s wings, rapidly pushing him into the distance.
But how could Ma Xiaotao be willing to let the two of them escape? She simply ignored Huo Yuhao’s hidden weapons and rushed towards them with a flash. An enormous pair of fiery wings unfurled, causing all of the metallic hidden weapons in front of her to instantly melt into a liquid that fell to the ground. The terrifying heat that was emanated from her was akin to a huge hand trying to smother Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong from behind.
Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection was an extremely strong skill that could reverse the outcome of a battle, but that was only when both parties were at around the same rank. When they were facing an opponent like Ma Xiaotao, it was simply too flimsy a skill. Even if they could accurately predict her movements, what could they do? Even if they knew everything about her, they still couldn’t stop her!
Wang Dong was already doing his utmost to fly as best as he could, but the heatwave swallowed the two of them in what was practically an instant. If one was to look at it with a bird’s-eye view, they would’ve discovered that Ma Xiaotao’s figure had caught up to the two in basically an instant. Afterwards, her enormous pair of fiery wings had expanded, before suddenly folding inward, trapping Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong within them.
Ma Xiaotao grabbed the two of them by their collars. Her terrifying soulforce undulations caused the two of them to immediately lose their ability to resist. Fire surrounded them, causing them to be entirely unable to see the outside world at all. Even speaking was an impossible task.
Ma Xiaotao silently waited there with a serious look on her face. After half an hour passed, she her brow furrowed. “Was it really a coincidence last time?”
She only had one objective from making a move against the two—to force out the ice-type soul master that had previously suppressed her. However, things weren’t going as she wished. If you looked at the situation from the outside, she’d already swallowed Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong within her flames. However, that soul master still hadn’t appeared.
The fiery light withdrew, causing the surrounding flames to fade away. Ma Xiaotao had also regained her composure. She relaxed her grip on Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, causing them to stumble and fall to the ground.
Ma Xiaotao indifferently said, “Since this is unrelated to you two, so be it. I know that you two won’t accept this, so work hard and cultivate. If you can enter the inner courtyard one day, I’ll give you the chance to challenge me.” When she finished speaking, she turned around and left. She completely ignored the two of them, who were filled with indignation.
“This madwoman!” Wang Dong shouted angrily.
Huo Yuhao climbed to his feet, then pulled Wang Dong up. “Let it go. If you still have the strength to curse at her, use it to cultivate when you get back. She’s not wrong; whose fault is it that we’re not stronger than her? Let’s head back.” Previously, when Ma Xiaotao had been forced back by the Skydream Iceworm’s finger, Huo Yuhao had seen everything. Because of this, he’d faintly guessed what Ma Xiaotao was talking about.
There was practically no chance of a clear-headed Ma Xiaotao killing them; she just wanted to force the Skydream Iceworm out. However, Huo Yuhao had already deduced her objective, but even if he hadn’t, the Skydream Iceworm still couldn’t even come out! The old man was sleeping soundly; he’d already said that he wouldn’t be able to help Huo Yuhao for another year.
When Xiao Xiao saw the two the day after, she couldn’t help a hint of astonishment from appearing on her charming face. “What happened to you two? Why do the two of you have such ugly looks on your faces? Did that senior sister from the inner courtyard do something to you?”
Wang Dong answered first, “Obviously not. She just wanted to ask us a few question. Don’t worry about it, let’s hurry up and head to the assessment.” He was obviously unwilling to speak about such an embarrassing matter.
Since they were the team that had achieved the best results during the previous five-round tournament, they were able to remain in the 33rd arena. After lots were redrawn, they were paired with another five teams in order to continue their assessment.
These students definitely weren’t first-rankers from the other arenas, as such they certainly wouldn’t meet any amazingly strong opponents during their next five rounds. However, it still wouldn’t be as easy for them as their previous matches.
Teacher Wang Yan glanced at Huo Yuhao’s team of three with a deep look in his eyes, then proceeded to make an announcement, “Alright, everyone’s present. Since Class 1’s ‘Team Huo Yuhao’ was able to obtain the best results in this arena during their previous five matches, they’re the seeded team of this arena. As for the order of the matches, the first match of the 33rd arena’s sixth round will be: Class 1’s Team Huo Yuhao versus Class 7’s Team Huang Chutian. Begin the assessment.”
When the two sides entered the arena, Huo Yuhao’s team of three was immediately astonished by the fact that there was an identical pair of female students on the opposing team.
The two female students had blue hair, and their small, delicate faces were rosy. They looked extremely cute, and even seemed to be slightly younger than them.
A pair of twins?
A tall and sturdy male student stood in front of the two girls; he was clearly Huang Chutian, their team leader.
“I’m Huang Chutian. The girl on my left is Lan Susu, while the girl on my right is Lan Luoluo. Please advise us.”
“Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao. Please advise us.” Huo Yuhao replied.
Both parties took their positions. Huo Yuhao’s side followed their original formation, with Wang Dong in front, Xiao Xiao in the middle, and Huo Yuhao in the corner of the arena.
On the other side, Huang Chutian stood in front, while Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo stood behind him. Teams could only have one assault system soul master, and it was extremely obvious that one of the twins couldn’t possibly be their team’s assault system soul master. Hence, it was extremely possible that they were both auxiliary system soul masters, or even both control system soul masters like Huo Yuhao’s team.
Teacher Wang Yan let out a low shout, “Let the assessment begin!”
Both sides quickly released their martial souls. Huang Chutian let out a roar and used both hands to forcefully beat on his chest. He hadn’t even reached the age of twelve, yet he was already 1.5 metres tall. After releasing his martial soul, his stature instantly shot up to 1.8 metres or so, whilst his bulging muscles directly ripped the school uniform that he was wearing apart, exposing his muscles, which had turned metallic black.
His originally black eyes had turned yellow, and two canine teeth were now protruding from his thickened lips. His four limbs were become thick and solid, while his muscles looked as tough as steel.
Two yellow soul rings simultaneously rose up from his feet. Impressively, he was an assault system Soul Grandmaster.
The pair of twins behind Huang Chutian also released their martial souls, which, unexpectedly, turned out to be their hair…
Two soul rings unexpectedly also appeared below Lan Luoluo and Lan Susu’s feet, all four yellow. With a swing of their heads, their long, blue hair immediately rose into the air, rapidly spreading out in midair. It quickly reached ten or so metres in length as it floated in midair.