The Evil Soul Master is actually myself

Matthew was puzzled. Those people were clearly quite talented, so why couldn't they unite and put pressure on the academy, then stick together and, if necessary, switch to another academy? He didn't believe Shrek Academy wasn't anxious.

He wasn't just all talk; it was Matthew who led the students in the protests. He had already planned to fight step by step until all hope was lost, then they would simply switch schools and join each other. A third of the students being commoners was enough to shake the foundation of Shrek Academy.

Unfortunately, things went wrong at the last step. When he decided to leave, very few people followed him. Those who had been the most vocal in their demands changed their tune. These people were exceptionally talented and had no shortage of teams; they just wanted to be team leaders. Unfortunately, they lacked connections and tried to get the academy to intervene.

But things escalated to this point, and they backed down.

The remaining large group of people had average talent and a high elimination rate, but they became cowardly at the crucial moment and dared not go against the academy at all.

"In the end, I was just too weak," Matthew murmured, stretching out his hands. Two soul imprints, radiating a warm glow, were branded on the backs of his hands, resembling a scythe and a hammer.

Chapter Seventy-Eight: The Crouching Dragon and the Young Phoenix

Looking at his own martial soul, Matthew's eyes softened, then he shook his head. So what if he had twin martial souls? His innate soul power was less than half a level. He probably only received a sliver of soul power because of his twin martial souls.

After all, his family was too ordinary. His father's lineage consisted of blacksmiths for generations, and the martial soul they awakened was just an ordinary iron hammer. They had never possessed soul power. His mother's lineage consisted of farmers for generations, using ordinary grass-cutting sickles.

These two weak martial souls are naturally poor in talent as twins. Matthew is only level 5 at the age of twelve. He has been working very hard to cultivate, but his talent is a ceiling.

He was specially recruited. Shrek Academy was very interested in twin martial souls and said they would find a divine herb to help him build his foundation, forcibly enhancing his talent.

But in the end, it all came to nothing. The Yin-Yang Eye was already trapped by Tang San, so how could Shrek Academy find the rare immortal herbs that were hard to come by in ten thousand years? All they could do was give Matthew some more spiritual herbs. After this incident, Matthew couldn't stay any longer.

However, he harbored no resentment. To be fair, Shrek Academy had already done everything it could to be considerate.

"Besides not being strong enough, the organization was also not tight enough; those people's thoughts were not unified at all," Matthew reflected on his mistakes. But this was something he simply couldn't handle.

"But where should I go next?" He was at a loss, having lost even the last sanctuary that held goodwill towards ordinary people. Although he had learned a lot from this experience, he had no chance to realize his ambitions in this supernatural and rigid world.

If... without the arrival of an unexpected visitor, this seed of awakening might have been swept away by the daily setbacks and the pressures of life, eventually drifting away like ripples on water.

"Young man over there, are you also upset because of those nobles' harsh conditions?" Suddenly, an old man who seemed to have been standing on the street for a long time called out to him.

A sense of unease rose in Matthew's heart. "What? You want something from me?" he asked.

The older man didn't care about Matthew's attitude. He skillfully built rapport, boasted a lot, softened Matthew's attitude, and gradually steered the conversation toward future plans.

"If you have no other choice, then I suggest you join one of our training courses," the older man said, revealing his true intentions as the conversation heated up.

"Join your training program? I'm not familiar with it, so forget it." Matthew refused without even thinking.

"Here's the thing, this training program was organized by the Mingxuan Chamber of Commerce. You know the Mingxuan Chamber of Commerce, right? They're the organizer of the freshman elimination competition. It's absolutely legitimate and free," the man introduced enthusiastically.

"Moreover, our training program has a mysterious perk: a secret technique that can raise the limit of your talent. It also boasts a strong faculty. Shrek Academy and our Chamber of Commerce cooperate, and every year we invite teachers from the academy to come and teach. It's not much different from training at Shrek Academy."

The man was pushing the training course hard.

"Giving me such good treatment, you must have something to gain, right?" Matthew said distrustfully, having experienced the harsh realities of life.

"Of course, we implement a 3+2 system: three years of study, two years of working for our respective factions for free, and then you're free. Of course, if you perform exceptionally well during your apprenticeship and are willing, we implement a 5+7 system, where you can not only enjoy some higher-level benefits, but we are essentially cultivating you as a core member."

The old man spoke frankly.

Matthew hesitated for a moment, then decided to go and take a look. After all, the Mingxuan Chamber of Commerce had given him his initial trust, and in his memory, Mingxuan rarely had any trouble with her youngest son.

Meanwhile, this situation continued to play out across Shrek Academy. Most of the eliminated civilian freshmen were too ashamed to go home and had nowhere else to go, so they chose to join a training program called "Desperate Path".

"Five years, five years is enough time for me to grow!" Su Ming muttered to himself as he studied the list in his hand. Once it's in his hands, how could it possibly run away?

He was confident that he could become a Soul Emperor in five years. With a divine-level martial soul and martial arts cultivation, he would be able to contend with a Title Douluo. Together with his sister, he could easily hold his own!

The various factions won't care too much. Although these people are talented, those who are eliminated are just so-so.

Little did they know that as Su Ming made rapid progress in martial arts, there was already a possibility that he would forge a new path in martial arts in the Douluo world. These people were the first generation of disciples under Su Ming, the future Martial Ancestor of Douluo.

"That's not all. I also have a soul technique system to pass down. I'll wield martial arts in my left hand and soul techniques in my right. I need to master both and make sure both are strong." Su Ming took a deep breath, his heart filled with ambition.

Those extraordinary forces high above the clouds will never know that an ordinary genius, amplified by martial arts and soul techniques, can have their talent and combat power increased by one or two levels.

This seemingly insignificant force lies dormant until it shakes the world in the future.

The matter proceeded smoothly, and Su Ming turned to select his team. However, to his dismay, the remaining team members were not only incredibly incompetent but also arrogant and unrealistic, pointing fingers and making pronouncements as if they knew Su Ming wouldn't have enough time to assemble his team before the competition started.

Su Ming, of course, wouldn't tolerate these people and kicked them all out. He simply chose from the "Desperate Situation" pool. Since they were all power levelers anyway, why not bring along obedient people?

After much deliberation, he finally selected four teammates who were barely acceptable.

The two Pang brothers are both level 19 Soul Masters with the Martial Soul Ironclad Crab. They excel at defense and are very powerful in one-way speed, but they are not good at changing direction. Those who know about crabs understand.

Xing Lian, a petite girl, possesses the martial soul Star Chain and is a level 23 Great Soul Master. She excels at amplification and escape, making her a support character to some extent.

Yueyu, a thin boy with narrow eyes, possesses the Martial Soul Azure Scale Python and is a level 21 Great Soul Master, specializing in defense and speed.

As expected of people who have been through the harsh realities of life, the four treated Su Ming with utmost respect upon their first meeting.

"I'm curious, how were you eliminated?" Su Ming asked, looking at the four "tools" in front of him.

"Hehe, my brother and I weren't good at teamwork with our soul skills, and our soul power level was a bit low, so we were eliminated." The four looked at each other, and finally the two tall and simple-looking Pang brothers answered.

Su Ming nodded. He had read their information. Their first soul skill, "Rampage," was a powerful one-way charge. Moreover, during the activation of the soul skill, they were in a state similar to invincibility, making them difficult to interrupt. Their defense was also top-notch, making them formidable warriors in battle.

However, the problem is that the [Rampage] only moves in four directions: forward, backward, left, and right. The movements are stiff and easy to read, which seriously affects the team's overall positioning. In addition, with low soul power, the soul skill can only be used a few times in a battle, so it is naturally eliminated.

The selection process before the freshman elimination round has progressed to this point, and most students below the second ring road have been eliminated, with only a few managing to survive thanks to their unique skills.

"What about you two? You're both second-ring Great Soul Masters, you shouldn't have trouble finding teams, right?" Su Ming turned to look at the two people beside him with a puzzled expression.

Upon hearing this, Yue Yu smiled awkwardly and said, "There's a problem with my martial soul skills. The two skills are to increase speed and to give others a layer of scales. I'm in an awkward position. If I use them as an agility-based attacker, I have enough speed, but I don't deal any damage. If I compete with support soul masters, it seems a bit useless, and I'm not even as good as other support soul masters of the same level."

He was starting to have doubts. Look at this team, what kind of hidden talents and promising youngsters are they? Each of them has a fatal flaw. Can they really work together? Maybe their formation will collapse before the team battle even starts.

Su Ming noticed Le Yu's confusion and comforted her, "There are no useless soul skills, only people who don't know how to use them. The reason I chose you is that your characteristics are very compatible with the tactics of my team."

Yueyu shrugged, indicating that she didn't care.

This is actually the current situation for untrained Soul Masters; there's no one to help them plan their Soul Rings and Soul Skills.

If the teacher is knowledgeable, they can select a soul beast that is compatible with the soul master based on the soul beast's innate skills and martial soul characteristics, keeping the error within a certain range, so as not to make such an absurd mistake as the desired offensive soul skill becoming a support soul skill.

"And what about you? What happened?" Su Ming looked at the female assistant beside him and asked in confusion. He had seen Xing Lian's martial soul and soul skills, which were basically perfect.

"It's just that trivial matter. A noble young master took a liking to me and declared that he wouldn't choose me for anyone else. I didn't want to submit to his tyranny, so I was eliminated in a spectacular fashion." The girl said helplessly, spreading her hands.

Su Ming frowned, thinking to himself, "It seems that this competition system still has a big flaw. If every team is led by a noble, won't that accelerate the involution? I need to ask Sister Le Xuan to fix it."

"From now on, team leaders must apply to the student council to form a team, and the ratio of commoners to nobles among team leaders must be at least 3:7. Each team must have at least two members from commoner backgrounds."

In addition, he plans to establish a student council oversight committee and an enforcement team to monitor internal activities and retain the right to enforce personnel assignments.

Chapter Seventy-Nine: Adjustment

After waiting another half day, Su Ming finally met the true "Sleeping Dragon" and "Young Phoenix".

"Brother Su Ming, I'm here." A young man with striking silver hair said with a simple smile.

"Oh, it's Luo Hao? Haven't you chosen a team yet?" Su Ming asked, surprised to see the newcomer.

"I knew Brother Ming would definitely build his own team, so I've been waiting. Now I'm going to latch onto his coattails!" Luo Hao joked.

He couldn't help but sigh. Su Ming's reputation had been circulating in the circles of hidden sects. All the elders who had witnessed Su Ming's fighting prowess praised him as having the appearance of a god-king. Moreover, many families only began to try sending their disciples in after Su Ming entered Shrek Academy, which can be considered a celebrity effect.

That's how Luo Hao got into Shrek Academy. Of course, compared to his friends who dared to fight back, Luo Hao was spineless and decisively clung to powerful figures.

Upon hearing this, Su Ming nodded. Although he had been in seclusion for the past few months, he had not been completely unaware of the news. He naturally knew that some reclusive families were actively seeking to emerge into the world. He remembered from the original story that the year six years later would be the time when the reclusive sects would truly shine.

Luo Hao's arrival was unexpected for Su Ming, but he still welcomed him with a smile, saying, "With you here, this team finally has a second pillar."

Luo Hao is a level 25 Great Soul Master with the top-tier weapon spirit Qiankun Tower. He is a support and control battle soul master and is only eleven and a half years old this year, which can be considered as a little genius.

After a short while, a boy with dark brown hair arrived at the training ground. He nodded silently to the others present and joined the ranks.

"Brother Su Ming, who is this person?" Luo Hao asked curiously. He knew that anyone worth Su Ming waiting for must be an extraordinary person.

Seeing the inquiring looks in everyone's eyes, Su Ming smiled and introduced, "His name is Cao Jinxuan, a level 25 Great Soul Master, whose Martial Soul is Timeless Seed, and he is a control-type Battle Soul Master."

"A martial soul with the time attribute? That's a top-tier weapon martial soul, right?" Luo Hao said in surprise, but he didn't pay too much attention to it.

In the Douluo world, there is no distinction between high and low in terms of attributes. In fact, the more precious an attribute is, the less people like it, because, like Huo Yuhao's spiritual attribute, it is too difficult to find a soul beast with the corresponding attribute.

The time attribute is what Su Ming admires most about Cao Jinxuan. He has a vivid memory of this character in the original work. Unfortunately, Tang San doesn't seem to have described him much. Although he eventually joined the Shrek Academy team with Wang Qiu'er as the core, he still fell behind and couldn't keep up with the pace of the top geniuses.

In fact, as long as Cao Jinxuan fully develops this martial soul attribute, the Time-Fleeting Bell will be able to surpass the ultimate martial soul.

So after Su Ming entered the academy, he searched for this hidden gem, hoping that it could join his faction. The reward was a promise to help it fully develop its martial soul.

Cao Jinxuan was very tempted. His family had only been around for a few generations and hadn't even figured out the soul skill combinations for the Time Passing Bell martial soul. They were just minor nobles.

With the help of the Su family, rapid rise to power is just around the corner.

However, Cao Jinxuan did not easily believe Su Ming's words and planned to follow him and observe for a while before making a decision.

"Time is running out. Our team was formed relatively late, and we only have ten days left to get them in sync," Su Ming said solemnly as he gathered everyone together at the training ground.

"You should first inform each other of your soul skills and martial souls to increase your understanding of each other," Su Ming suggested. He started by talking about the effects of his soul skills, which were generally the same, but the values ​​had been reduced considerably.

He was afraid that if the truth were revealed, these people who were merely tools would be terrified.

After a moment's hesitation, the group announced their soul skills one after another. In any case, the first and second soul skills were frequently used, and anyone could collect them if they were willing.

Seeing this, Su Ming was very satisfied. He knew that he had initially established the reputation of the core leader and taken the first step in team cohesion.

"Since we're all in the same team now, let's give this team a name. What are your opinions?" Su Mingfa asked.

The group exchanged glances and obediently shook their heads. They were joking, of course; the right to name things belonged to the boss, and Luo Hao was just a sucker. Cao Jinxuan wasn't interested in these things anyway.

After asking three times without getting an answer, Su Ming said confidently, "If none of you can come up with an answer, then I'll name the team [Nine Nether Qiongqi]!"

Cao Jinxuan opened his mouth as if to speak, but then hesitated, finally sighing and saying, "If you like it, that's fine."

“Very good. If no one has any objections, I will move on to the next step and explain the specific tactics and building philosophy of this team.” Su Ming shamelessly pretended not to hear and continued to speak at length.

The support players were all listening obediently, except for Cao Jinxuan, who raised an objection. He asked doubtfully, "Su Ming, our team doesn't have enough damage dealers, and we don't have any real defensive units. Can we really manage?"

Upon hearing Cao Jinxuan's question, before Su Ming could explain, Luo Hao, that little sycophant, perked up and eagerly jumped out to say, "You don't understand. Brother Ming can handle everything on the offensive end."

He shook his finger at Cao Jinxuan with a pitying expression, seemingly proud to have witnessed Su Ming's true colors.

Cao Jinxuan ignored this idiot and asked Su Ming, "Although your soul skills are very strong, a team needs at least three damage dealers to ensure a stable offensive. You are just an agility-type battle soul master."

Su Ming shook his head and admitted, "The Dark Cat is just a disguise. My true martial soul is the [Netherworld Demon God Leopard]." As time went by, his martial soul was no longer a secret to Shrek Academy. Based on his sister's martial soul, they could roughly deduce Su Ming's true martial soul.

Moreover, Su Ming had also obtained a license from Mu En, so he basically had no more scruples.

"From the Qiongqi lineage?" Cao Jinxuan wasn't surprised; such a monstrous soul skill effect was something no agility-based martial soul could possess.