Douluo Continent: The Eye of Truth

Chapter 15 On the Eve of the Freshman Assessment

Before they knew it, three months had passed. Perhaps because they had avoided the events at Seagod Lake, no other incidents occurred in Huo Yuhao's area.

During this time, Tang Ya and Bei Bei often interacted with Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, the two new members of the Tang Clan, to build a relationship and to assess their mastery of the Tang Clan's unique skills.

Every time, Huo Yuhao could bring them a unique surprise, but they didn't know that these so-called surprises were the result of Huo Yuhao suppressing them as much as possible.

After three months of nurturing with soul power and the spiritual power of the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm, Huo Yuhao's originally narrow and blocked meridians have been completely cleared and stabilized, and his cultivation speed has greatly increased.

Moreover, due to Huo Yuhao's improved physical condition and the solidified foundation of his meridians after being nourished, Tianmeng Ice Silkworm is now attempting to open up those subtle meridians that were not incorporated into the soul power circulation by the Xuan Tian Gong technique, under Huo Yuhao's instructions.

By using the Eye of Truth to observe the flow of other Soul Masters' Soul Power, Huo Yuhao gradually pieced together how to use Soul Power to impact and clear other miscellaneous meridians.

Although apart from the Xuan Tian Gong, there is no systematic method for meridian operation in Douluo Continent, each family has its own way. Even if they are unorthodox methods, they can be pieced together to make a decent result.

With the assistance of the Soul Power Aggregation Array and Soul Power Conversion Array, and as he gradually gained control over and opened up those subtle meridians, Huo Yuhao discovered that the solidity of his soul power had undergone a completely different transformation compared to the soul power cultivated solely through the Mysterious Heaven Technique.

"This should be what was referred to as 'opening up the eight extraordinary meridians' and materializing soul power in the first part of Douluo Continent. However, this change is actually because the circulation of soul power throughout the body has finally become unobstructed, solidified, and formed a complete cycle."

"Actually, this can only be considered the vaporization and release of soul power, not its materialization. This can be considered the first step in condensing the soul core."

"However, the mental strength of ordinary Soul Masters at this stage is completely insufficient to support them in achieving full integration."

"The earliest version of the Mysterious Heaven Technique was probably just a clever trick, using the Eight Extraordinary Meridians as the main pathway to connect and unify the entire body, gradually influencing one's soul power to undergo a qualitative change, completing the first step of qi transformation and external release."

"The current version of the Tang Sect's Mysterious Heaven Skill has completely lost this effect; it can only accelerate the circulation of soul power, without the subsequent steps. No wonder the Tang Sect has fallen to such a state."

"Although I can now deduce the complete version of the Mysterious Heaven Skill, it's no longer necessary. After all, the version I'm practicing now is stronger than the original. Back then, Tang San at this level didn't have such a massive amount of spiritual power to assist him."

"Although with my current cultivation method, even a Soul Master at the Soul Saint level would probably find it difficult to complete such a detailed and in-depth circulation of Soul Power."

"The reason why the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm was able to do this without expending much mental energy was because it used a clever trick."

"At this rate, I will soon be able to open up all the meridians in my body, even those minor, less noticeable ones."

"When all the meridians in my body are connected as one, my soul power should be far stronger than the so-called Pure Profound Heaven Technique."

"In the words of martial arts novels, the Xuan Tian Gong (玄天功) opening up the eight extraordinary meridians should be the phenomenon of the Small Heavenly Circuit (小周天), where all meridians are open. Now that I have opened up all the meridians in my body and made them a unified whole, I have reached the Great Heavenly Circuit (大周天)."

"However, I'm not cultivating immortality in a fantasy world, so there's no need to delve into the effects of this cultivation system. Just knowing that this method can speed up my cultivation is enough."

Three months have passed, and even without the Xuan Shui Pill and Sheng Hun Pill from the original story to replenish his cultivation, Huo Yuhao's cultivation level has reached level seventeen, approaching level eighteen.

Although Huo Yuhao's cultivation level is slightly lower than in the original story, his actual cultivation speed is much faster than that of the original owner at the same stage, since he didn't take any drugs.

Huo Yuhao's soul power increased by five levels in three months. Others simply assumed that Huo Yuhao's physique was particularly suited to the Tang Sect's Xuan Tian Gong, and that Huo Yuhao's soul power level was relatively low, since the Tang Sect's Xuan Tian Gong was known for its cultivation speed.

Achieving such a feat at the Soul Master level is not entirely unexpected. A Soul Power level of seventeen is just the minimum for most Shrek Academy students, at least not too conspicuous among them.

"Physical training class is suspended today." Zhou Yi looked at the fifty-five students present with a blank expression. Because of Huo Yuhao's influence, the number of students is now more than a dozen fewer than in the original story.

The number 55 was also specifically reserved by Zhou Yi to ensure that a three-person assessment combat team could be formed. In addition, there was a separate student who was favored by her and joined the Soul Guidance Department.

"Three months have passed, and Shrek Academy's first assessment for you is about to begin. Only by passing this assessment can you officially become first-year students and become a part of Shrek Academy."

"If you pass this assessment, barring any unforeseen circumstances, you will be able to remain in the academy to continue your studies until your first-year graduation exams."

"The assessment starts tomorrow, and today I'll focus on explaining the key points of the assessment to you."

"Wang Dong, distribute them." Zhou Yi handed a stack of papers to Wang Dong, who then quickly distributed them to everyone present.

At this moment, everyone felt a little nervous, and most of them knew what Zhou Yi was about to say.

"After the freshmen assessment, we will tailor our teaching to each student's individual needs. Write down your future cultivation direction and hand it to me later."

Without much hesitation, Huo Yuhao immediately wrote down the Agility Attack major, determined to be a nobody at Shrek Academy and not attract attention.

Wang Dong, standing to the side, subtly nudged him, but Huo Yuhao ignored her.

Zhou Yi then began to explain in detail a series of matters concerning the freshman assessment, including the rules for team division and the standards for passing the assessment, and finally the grouping of martial soul categories.

Unsurprisingly, Zhou Yi used the special recruitment quota of the freshman class's head teacher to recruit a student to the Soul Guidance Department.

Looking at the unlucky kid who was still jumping for joy, Huo Yuhao shook his head inwardly. But then again, it made sense. People from the three great empires would have no chance of joining the Sun Moon Empire to learn about soul tools, except for Shrek Academy.

In the original Douluo Continent, although Shrek Academy's Soul Guidance Department was not very good, it was still much better than the private academies in the other three great empires.

Zhou Yi then proceeded to group the trainees.

"Group 1: Wang Dong, Huo Yuhao, Xiao Xiao."

"The second group..."

The grouping was completed quickly, and over the past three months, Huo Yuhao had learned a lot about some of the students in the class, especially the composition of their martial souls and soul skills.

As Xiao Xiao is a character with a certain degree of fame in the original work, she naturally received his special attention.

Unlike the original story, when Xiao Xiao first entered the school, she had not yet attached a soul ring to her second martial soul. It was only because of Zhou Yi's cruel training that she began to waver in her thoughts in order to avoid being eliminated.

However, Huo Yuhao gave her a few extra pointers and warnings. After all, in Huo Yuhao's view, Xiao Xiao's advantage of having twin martial souls should not be wasted, unlike Huo Yuhao, who had acquired twin or even triple martial souls.

The innate twin martial souls are of extraordinary significance to ordinary soul masters, and can also give them advantages over their peers. They should not be wasted, and Xiao Xiao herself is also worth winning over.

After hearing her group assignment, Xiao Xiao turned around and smiled at Wang Dong and Huo Yuhao behind her. Interestingly, just like in the original story, Xiao Xiao seemed to be captivated by Wang Dong's appearance.

"Alright, that's settled. Go back and give yourself a day to consider it. Report any objections as soon as possible."

"You can leave school once you hand in your cultivation intentions. Don't embarrass me in tomorrow's freshman assessment. If anyone gets eliminated, hmph, don't blame me for not warning you in advance."

Zhou Yi's icy tone was particularly chilling to everyone's ears.

"Alright, school's out. Wang Dong, Huo Yuhao, and Xiao Xiao, you three stay behind for a bit."

After observing the three individuals' cultivation preferences, Zhou Yi's expression changed slightly before she said, "Wang Dong, explain to me what you mean by 'agility-based attack'?"

"Your first two spirit rings are both offensive spirit rings. Apart from your wings, what makes you look like an agile attacker?"

Then, after noticing Huo Yuhao's cultivation inclinations, Zhou Yi's eyes lit up with realization: "No wonder, Huo Yuhao, you also want to go for the agility-based attack style?"

Huo Yuhao nodded: "After all, my first soul skill is mainly for supporting myself, and I don't have any strong offensive or support abilities. In my opinion, the agility-based attack type is more suitable for me when combined with the methods of the Tang Sect."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi's expression changed slightly. After all, she was preparing to become the homeroom teacher of Class 1 in her second year. In her eyes, Wang Dong and Huo Yuhao were both promising talents who were closely related to her teaching performance. How could she just let them go like that?

As for the control system that Xiao Xiao submitted, it was no longer something worth paying attention to at this point.

So Zhou Yi spoke up, "Alright, Wang Dong, you'd better change it back right now. Why would a perfectly good offensive-type Soul Master go for an agility-type?"

"As for you, Huo Yuhao, I recommend that you reconsider carefully. As a spirit-type spirit, your spirit is not good at strengthening the body."

"Even if you cultivate the Tang Sect's unique skills, your disadvantages will become more and more obvious as you progress on the path of a Soul Master. Why don't you try to understand the philosophy of control-type Soul Masters, just like our ancestor, the Sea God Tang San? Being a versatile person wouldn't be bad, would it?"

"Okay, teacher, I agree." Although she wanted to refuse, she looked at the golden runes that appeared in Wang Dong's spiritual sea.

Huo Yuhao ultimately held back. So what if Tang San wanted him to spend more time with his precious daughter? Fine, he'd spend time with her, but he'd remember this grudge.

"Alright, I'll continue." After a look of satisfaction in her eyes, Zhou Yi continued, "This freshman assessment is only your first assessment in the academy."

"But it is very important for your future cultivation path, and it is also an opportunity for you to appear in front of the academy's higher-ups."

"Only those who achieve good rankings and demonstrate outstanding performance in the freshman assessment will be included in the college's training roster. I have the highest hopes for the three of you."

"Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, Huo Yuhao, I'm giving you a task. Your goal for this freshman assessment is only one: to win the championship."

"If you can't win the championship, then starting from your second year, you'll be working alongside me, and I'll teach you properly," Zhou Yi said with a sneer.

Although he was speechless, Huo Yuhao was too lazy to refute, and simply nodded. The other two also quickly agreed.

"I really don't know how Zhou Yi had the nerve to issue this mission, but with my current abilities, dealing with this freshman assessment shouldn't be a problem. I can also take a look at the composition of the soul bones."

"Alright, you three can go back now and get yourself in a good state."

Stepping out of the classroom, Xiao Xiao quickly said to Wang Dong, "Wang Dong, I want to..."

Wang Dong quickly nudged Huo Yuhao, who was standing beside him, and said, "Xiao Xiao, Huo Yuhao and I are going back to prepare for tomorrow's match. Good luck!"

Seeing Wang Dong's retreating figure, Xiao Xiao stomped her foot angrily.

"What's wrong, are you shy?" Huo Yuhao teased.

"Damn it, did you know this all along and that's why you didn't leave on purpose!" Wang Dong said through gritted teeth.

"After all, I'd like to see if the young lady who's disguised as a boy joined Shrek Academy because she's interested in little girls."

"Damn it, stop talking! I'll kill you if you say another word!" Wang Dong said in shame and anger.

During their three months together, Wang Dong learned a few days ago that Huo Yuhao had discovered her true gender, and Huo Yuhao naturally did not hide it from her.

Despite feeling ashamed and indignant, Wang Dong didn't move out immediately, fearing what the other students would say about him.

Moreover, personally, Wang Dong didn't really want to move out, since she had become increasingly interested in Huo Yuhao over the past three months.

Huo Yuhao always seemed to have a confident and in control demeanor, even though he was usually lazy and often just flipped through a lot of books without much cultivation.

However, when it came to crucial moments, he always managed to outshine everyone and amaze the audience, which aroused Wang Dong's curiosity.

After all, Huo Yuhao had discovered his biggest "secret," while his understanding of Huo Yuhao seemed to remain superficial.

"So how exactly did you find out my identity?" Wang Dong asked, puzzled.

"Read more books and newspapers. There's a boring book in the Foreign Languages ​​Department library called 'The 100 Most Beautiful Martial Souls on the Continent.' On page thirteen is 'The Goddess of Light Butterfly,' which is hailed as the most beautiful butterfly martial soul on the continent."

"Although the content of this book is somewhat absurd, the fact that the Goddess of Light Butterfly mentioned in it represents female Soul Masters, combined with your usual behavior, is enough to make that deduction."

(End of this chapter)