The Glory of the Sun and Moon in the Peerless Tang Sect

After nearly a year of silence, the confident and arrogant young man in her heart has returned.

The blood-red baboon was quickly taken away by the arena staff. Soul beasts have amazing vitality; such injuries can be basically recovered in half a month.

Du Weilen's tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed.

"Dai Huabin, facing the highest level of the thousand-year soul beast assessment. In the battle, you demonstrated the advantages of a power-attack type battle soul master by going head-to-head, which earns you all the basic points of 100. However, you lacked some skill, so you can get 40 points for combat skill. Your final score is 140 points, and you pass the upgrade assessment."

During the upgrade assessment, the base score varies depending on the type of spirit beast faced. The lowest level, a hundred-year-old spirit beast, has a base score of only ten points, a two-hundred-year-old spirit beast has twenty points, and so on. As for combat skills, the maximum score is fifty points.

In other words, if you choose a hundred-year-old soul beast, your total score will only be sixty points. You must perform perfectly to have a chance to get a total score of sixty points and pass the assessment.

Of course, this is just theoretical; in fact, no student has ever passed the Shrek Academy's upgrade assessment by challenging a hundred-year-old soul beast.

Choosing a thousand-year-old soul beast grants a base score of over one hundred. Adding the fifty points for combat skills, the maximum score is one hundred and fifty. However, this doesn't guarantee a perfect score of one hundred for passing the upgrade assessment simply by challenging a thousand-year-old soul beast. If the performance is poor, such as being instantly killed by the beast or being rescued by the examiner after only a few exchanges, the combat skills score may even turn negative.

Upon hearing that he had scored 140 points, Dai Huabin was filled with excitement. Standing in the center of the field, he glanced at Xu Zihuang, who was at the very front of Class 1, his gaze intense.

It was as if they were questioning Xu Zihuang.

Give me time to catch up?

Chapter 138 Anomaly

Wang Yan frowned slightly when he saw Dai Huabin return covered in blood.

"Dai Huabin, you've passed your upgrade assessment. Go back and clean up first."

Dai Huabin shook his head and glanced sideways at Xu Zihuang, whose expression had not changed at all from beginning to end.

Wang Yan hesitated for a moment, then stopped insisting and asked the other students in Class 1 of the second year, "Who's next?"

"I'll go."

As soon as Wang Yan finished speaking, Wang Dong's voice rang out. He walked between Xu Zihuang and Dai Huabin, looking arrogant.

It seemed that Dai Huabin's outstanding performance had no impact on him at all, and he appeared very confident.

Upon arriving at the venue, he made his choice before the examiners even asked any questions.

"I choose the Thousand-Year Soul Beast."

Because Dai Huabin had already selected a thousand-year-old soul beast before, the teachers didn't seem too surprised this time.

However, almost all the students in Class 1 of the second year were discussing it. Dai Huabin was already a Soul Master when he entered the school, and his personal strength was second only to Yu Tianhuang. So, no one was surprised that he could defeat a thousand-year-old Soul Beast.

But Wang Dong is a Great Soul Master. Even though his second soul ring is at the thousand-year level, facing a thousand-year soul beast is still too risky.

Even Xiao Xiao, the only one in the class who was relatively close to Wang Dong, was stunned for a moment.

What is Wang Dong planning to do?

However, everyone soon realized where Wang Dong's confidence came from.

A dazzling blue light flashed, and Wang Dong, without being careless, immediately released his martial spirit. Perhaps it wasn't necessarily out of caution, but rather out of a certain sense of defiance.

"Ah!" Exclamations rang out instantly throughout the academy, and even many of the teachers were somewhat taken aback.

Their astonishment stemmed not from Wang Dong's dazzling Goddess of Light Butterfly Martial Soul, but from the three Soul Rings rising beneath his feet.

This is the source of Wang Dong's confidence.

For nearly a year, he cultivated relentlessly in order to avenge his previous defeat. He even took several pills that squeezed out his potential, and with the help of his family during his month-long vacation, he finally broke through the level 30 bottleneck and obtained his third spirit ring.

Of course, those pills are all top-tier rare and precious herbs, and may have some side effects, but there are ways to deal with them, so they won't affect future development.

On the high platform, Du Weilin's eyes lit up, even more so than when he watched Dai Huabin's promotion assessment.

"Good, one yellow and two purple, their talent and martial soul are both top-notch. Their future achievements will probably surpass Dai Huabin's."

Wang Dong's third spirit ring was naturally also at the thousand-year level. This meant that upon advancing to the Soul Master level, he possessed two powerful thousand-year spirit skills, making him almost as powerful as Yu Tianhuang.

Dai Huabin never expected that Wang Dong, whom he had always looked down upon, would break through to the Soul Master level in just one year. His soul power cultivation was indeed much stronger than Wang Dong's, but he was only a three-ring Soul Master. Like Wang Dong, he possessed three soul rings.

However, Wang Dong surpasses him in spirit ring level, meaning that in a pure contest of spirit skills, Wang Dong should have the upper hand. This significantly narrows the gap in their strength.

Dai Huabin's confident expression suddenly froze, his face turned gloomy, and he involuntarily clenched his fists.

He could barely accept that Yu Tianhuang was slightly better than him, because Yu Tianhuang had defeated him fair and square.

But who is Wang Dong anyway?! How did he manage to surpass everyone else?

Just as he was gritting his teeth, another soul beast leaped out from the iron gate that had opened at the far end of the arena. Compared to the thousand-year-old blood-red baboon that Dai Huabin was facing, this soul beast looked much smaller.

This soul beast was only a foot tall, its body covered with a layer of dark carapace, with four thick and powerful short legs on each side, and six eyes on each head, two large and four small, radiating a ghostly green light.

This is a soul beast that is easily found in any soul beast forest: the Thousand-Pound Ant.

The Thousand-Pound Ant is a soul beast with extremely tenacious vitality, outstanding physical defense, strong resistance to blows, and immense strength, far exceeding its physical proportions.

These are the characteristics of the Thousand-Pound Ant. As a soul beast, it has no soul skills of its own, and in any soul beast forest, it often becomes food for other soul beasts. Although its defense is good, it is ultimately limited, and it lacks offensive means. Despite its considerable strength, it is difficult to exert its full potential.

Generally speaking, a Thousand-Pound Ant with ten years of cultivation is about three inches long, possessing only a pair of saber teeth at its mouth capable of biting through hard objects. A Thousand-Pound Ant with a hundred years of cultivation will not exceed six inches in length, and only with a thousand years of cultivation might it grow to a foot. These are already very rare Thousand-Pound Ants. This is because they lack any powerful means of survival, and infighting often occurs within their own colony.

The thousand-year-old ant before him was barely half a meter long, possessed no special soul skills, and wasn't fast. Aside from its immense strength, it was practically useless. Wang Dong's Goddess of Light Butterfly already possessed the ability to fly, and this thousand-year-old ant couldn't attack it; it could be said that Wang Dong was already invincible.

Zhou Sichen, who was standing near the front of Class 1, Grade 2, couldn't help but smack his lips.

"Wang Dong's luck is unbelievable. To run into a useless soul beast like the Thousand-Pound Ant, isn't passing the upgrade test a piece of cake?"

What he said was actually quite true; this Thousand-Pound Ant was, after all, a thousand-year-old soul beast. Any thousand-year-old soul beast was guaranteed at least a hundred points.

Upon hearing Zhou Sichen's words, Wang Yan smiled and explained.

"In fact, there have been a few particularly powerful beings among the Thousand-Pound Ant clan. According to the records left by our academy, there were three Thousand-Pound Ant Kings with cultivation of nearly 100,000 years ten thousand years ago. They were later killed by Tang San's ancestor and transformed into the spirit ring of the Clear Sky Hammer martial soul."

However, the appearance of these three mighty ant kings was an exception, so Wang Yan did not refute Zhou Sichen's statement.

These Thousand-Pound Ants are numerous but lack strength, truly resembling a useless soul beast.

However, a hint of confusion appeared in his eyes as he thought about this. This was the first time he had ever seen a Thousand-Pound Ant appear in the upgrade assessment.

Du Weiren on the platform was equally puzzled. According to Shrek Academy's regulations, the spirit beasts appearing in the upgrade assessment should all be of medium to high level. This was to better hone the students' skills.

Why did a Thousand-Pound Ant suddenly appear today?

He wanted to ask, but it was inconvenient at the moment.

The person in charge of this fighting arena holds a position equivalent to Yan Shaozhe, the dean of their Martial Soul Department. It would be disrespectful for him to send just any teacher to inquire about it.

Moreover, with Wang Dong's cultivation level, passing the upgrade assessment would definitely not be a problem, so there's no need to go through the extra trouble.

But Wang Dong, standing in the arena, didn't see it that way. He felt frustrated, as if he had strength but couldn't use it. He had clearly prepared to make a name for himself, but his opponent just happened to be a useless soul beast like the Thousand-Pound Ant.

Hovering in mid-air, he impatiently flapped the wings of the Goddess of Light Butterfly behind him, swooping down to the Thousand-Year-Old Ant. Crossing his forewings, he used his first soul skill, Wing Guillotine, to slam heavily onto the ant's hard carapace, stunning it with his soul power.

Du Weilun and the other four judges around him exchanged glances, thought for a moment, and then said.

"Wang Dong, you have chosen a Thousand-Year Soul Beast for your upgrade assessment. Base score: 100. Given that this Thousand-Year Soul Beast is a Thousand-Pound Ant, which lacks combat skills, combat skill score: 20. Total score: 120. You have passed the upgrade assessment."

But shortly after Du Weiren announced the results, several figures suddenly emerged from a side door next to the beast enclosure in the Great Soul Arena. Standing at the front was an old man with a ruddy complexion, a tall stature, and striking red hair.

The old man checked the condition of the Thousand-Pound Ants before grinning at Du Weiren on the high platform.

"Hehe. Xiao Du, I encountered this Thousand-Pound Ant in the Star Dou Great Forest a while ago. Thousand-Pound Ants with a cultivation of over a thousand years are quite rare, so I just caught it on a whim. It was my people who made a mistake. I hope it didn't affect your upgrade assessment?"

Du Weiren quickly rose and gracefully descended from the platform, arriving before the old man and bowing respectfully. He dared not look down upon the old man.

"Master Gong, you flatter me. It's nothing."

This red-haired old man is named Gong Changlong. He is the person in charge of the Great Colosseum and holds a transcendent position in Shrek Academy. He has a very deep understanding of soul beasts.

Gong Changlong, being a straightforward person, immediately patted Du Weilun on the shoulder in a loud voice.

"That's good. You can continue to oversee the assessment. I'll be going now."

Gong Changlong had his men take away the thousand-year-old ant, and then cleared out the area.

Du Weilun then nodded slightly to Wang Yan, signaling for the assessment to continue.

"Teacher Wang, I'll take over next," Xu Zihuang said, and walked towards the center of the field. His figure crossed paths with Wang Dong, who was walking towards him.

As they passed each other, Wang Dong, with his chin held high, gave a haughty snort, his eyes brimming with provocation.

Although he was somewhat annoyed that he had drawn such a weak soul beast, which prevented him from better showcasing his strength.

But those one yellow and two purple spirit rings alone were enough to demonstrate his extraordinary nature. This was evident in the awe-inspiring yet uncertain gazes of the freshmen in Class One.

In terms of talent, I'm no less than you. It's just that I didn't practice hard enough before.

Xu Zihuang remained calm throughout. As he stepped onto the field, he looked at the referee beside him and said calmly.

"I want to challenge a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast."

His tone was calm and his voice was not loud, but it stirred up a storm in the hearts of everyone present.

The entire audience erupted in uproar.

"Challenge a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast?!"

Not only the ordinary students in Class 1 and Class 2, but even Wang Dong and Dai Huabin were filled with disbelief.

Are you out of your mind?! Challenging a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast?!

For a soul beast to reach the cultivation level of ten thousand years, it is a qualitative change. Although Xu Zihuang's soul skills are indeed very powerful, it is impossible to make up for such a huge gap in cultivation level.

Generally speaking, soul beasts of the same level are stronger than human soul masters.

Only Soul Masters with the cultivation level of Soul Emperor or above can defeat a ten-thousand-year-old Soul Beast in a one-on-one fight, especially one whose cultivation level has just broken through to the ten-thousand-year level.

As for Yu Tianhuang's cultivation level, he was merely a Soul Venerable. In their eyes, challenging a ten-thousand-year-old Soul Beast was simply overestimating his own abilities.

The examiners present, including the four judges besides Du Weilun, were also taken aback.

Let alone the promotion assessment in the second year, even the promotion assessment from the fifth grade to the sixth grade has never involved challenging a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast.

The only ones who remained somewhat calm were Wang Yan and Du Weilun, who knew some of the facts.

Even Gong Changlong and his group, who were just about to leave, stopped and looked back in surprise.

"Let him choose." Du Weiren's voice floated down from the high platform.

"Yes," the examiner replied, then looked at Xu Zihuang with a puzzled expression and asked, "Are you ready?"

Xu Zihuang nodded slightly.

The examiner made a gesture, reminding Xu Zihuang again: "Be careful. If you find yourself unable to fight back, try your best to protect yourself."