The moment Huo Yuhao saw the simulated version of himself, three soul rings appeared around the figure, and its hands were covered in diamond-like ice crystals, radiating a bone-chilling cold.
Ice Empress' Pincer!
In the next instant, the simulated Huo Yuhao stepped forward and rushed toward him, its palm thrusting out.
However, the extreme cold of the Ultimate Ice had no effect on Huo Yuhao, it couldn't even slow his movements.
Huo Yuhao raised his hand, wrapped in soul power infused with Ultimate Ice, and effortlessly blocked the Ice Empress' Pincer.
After reaching the Limit Douluo level ten thousand years ago, he hadn't fought often, but he had still battled in public before.
The Spirit Pagoda must have relied on those records to recreate and enhance the virtual Spirit Ice Douluo.
But no matter how much they strengthened it, with the current computational power of the Spirit Pagoda, it was impossible to fully replicate the data and combat experience of a Limit Douluo.
The version of himself before him couldn't possibly reach its peak.
Not to mention… the gap in other aspects.
A golden light shimmered in Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes, carrying an aura that seemed to see through all things.
Meeting that gaze, one's mind would involuntarily sink into it, as if falling into an endless abyss.
Boundless as the abyss, deep as the netherworld.
Spirit Abyss Realm!
An invisible storm of spiritual power suddenly surged forth.
The simulated Huo Yuhao, caught completely off guard, immediately began bleeding from its nose and mouth, its energy and spirit plummeting to their lowest point.
The simulated Huo Yuhao's eyes turned grave as a key-shaped soul tool quietly slipped into its palm.
A spatial compression force silently spread through the surroundings, distorting the air.
This power… a sixth-ranked soul tool, and a spatial-type one at that.
Huo Yuhao's eyelids twitched. He raised his palm, and his spiritual power and soul force merged instantly.
Drawing upon his past comprehension of spatial power, he forcibly bypassed the soul tool's interference.
Floating Frost!
After the artistic conception-based strong control, a blinding golden light flashed before his eyes.
Under its radiance, the virtual Huo Yuhao was instantly sliced in half at the waist, shattering into countless fragments of light before dissipating into nothingness.
Huo Yuhao wouldn't give it the chance to use various soul tools, who knew how much his future self as a tenth-ranked soul engineer had been enhanced in that regard?
Just that one soul tool earlier would have been enough to toy with most soul masters using spatial power.
Still, watching his opponent vanish, Huo Yuhao felt a complicated emotion.
Killing himself… really did feel strange.
"Opponent defeated. Trial cleared."
...
"..."
Outside, Luoyang Lu stared at the soul screen, his expression stiff as he watched Huo Yuhao effortlessly defeat the first-generation Pagoda Master.
He should've known better than to let Yuhao take the trial, now he just felt awkward.
That was the first-generation Pagoda Master! Couldn't he have held back a little? There were outsiders here!
But Luoyang Lu quickly realized something was off about Huo Yuhao's spiritual power display earlier.
The first-generation Pagoda Master's spiritual power was designed to be at the Spirit Sea Realm.
If Huo Yuhao's spiritual attack alone forced it into its second phase… did that mean…?
Luoyang Lu gulped.
At that moment, a flash of light signaled Huo Yuhao's exit from the virtual battlefield as he landed gracefully on the ground.
Not far away, Wu Zhangkong's gaze was locked onto him, his usually icy, jade-green eyes filled with undisguised shock.
"Your spiritual power… is at the Spirit Abyss Realm?"
Huo Yuhao nodded lightly. "I went easy on you yesterday, Teacher Wu."
Hearing this, Wu Zhangkong's emotions became indescribably complicated.
Reaching the Spirit Abyss Realm at the age of nine, if he had heard this before today, he would have dismissed it as pure delusion.
Not just in Shrek Academy, but throughout the entire history of the soul master world, there had never been such a precedent.
This far surpassed the definition of "genius"!
As time passed, Huo Yuhao's spiritual power would only grow stronger.
He would likely break through to the Spirit Domain Realm before even becoming a Titled Douluo, setting foot on the path toward the Divine Origin Realm.
And the Divine Origin Realm… in Shrek Academy, only the Skycrosser Douluo possessed such a level of spiritual power!
At this thought, Wu Zhangkong inexplicably felt a sense of relief, and the lingering awkwardness from his defeat yesterday faded somewhat.
Meanwhile, Luoyang Lu withdrew his gaze with a complicated expression after Huo Yuhao confirmed his spiritual power level, turning his attention to the other students still undergoing their trials.
Huo Yuhao had reached the Spirit Abyss Realm even earlier than they had anticipated. The future… truly belonged to him.
Huo Yuhao glanced around the room, noting that the others hadn't yet finished their trials, and walked over to the screen to observe.
...
A flash of light later, Tang Wulin stumbled out of the virtual battlefield, looking somewhat disheveled.
Xie Xie, who was nearby, saw him and walked over, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Tang Wulin shook his head, steadied himself, and looked around at the others. Apart from Gu Yuena, all his classmates had already come out, and the atmosphere was a little subdued.
Noticing this, Xie Xie glanced in Huo Yuhao's direction. "Boss Yuhao already won. The rest of us got knocked out at the Purple Rank's second stage. My opponent was a woman with an Angel martial soul. What about you, Wulin?"
They had fallen at the Purple Rank, while Huo Yuhao had already cleared the Red Rank… the gap was enormous. But that guy was a freak, there was no point comparing.
"I got knocked out at the final stage of the Purple Rank."
Tang Wulin sighed.
"My opponent was a senior wielding a sword. His swordplay was too sharp, I couldn't fight back at all."
"I had it worse," Xie Xie said with a dark expression.
"Not only was I outsped, but my opponent could also fly. Her attack and close-combat abilities completely outclassed mine. My Twin Dragon Daggers were useless against her, she beat me to a pulp before I could even react."
"The trial was way too hard," he grumbled.
"I feel like all those opponents were legendary powerhouses from the Spirit Pagoda's past."
"Ah, but you're wrong about that." Luoyang Lu walked over, having overheard Xie Xie's complaint, and chuckled.
"The opponents I set for you were the first-generation members of the Spirit Pagoda. Xie Xie, the one you faced was Tower Master Ye Guyi, a true prodigy. But Wulin, the one you fought, Tower Master Ji Juechen, was no genius. His innate soul power was only level three!"
"Innate soul power… level three?"
Tang Wulin stared at Luoyang Lu in shock. "Is that true?"
Xie Xie, Xu Xiaoyan, and the others nearby also turned to look, equally curious.
"It's true. During the era of the first-generation Tower Masters, the Spirit Pagoda had three Vice Tower Masters: Frost Douluo Su Tong, Angel Douluo Ye Guyi, and Sword Maniac Douluo Ji Juechen."
Luoyang Lu continued, "Tower Master Ji Juechen's innate soul power was only level three, undoubtedly weak among soul masters. Yet, he eventually became a 97th-ranked Super Douluo."
"Even the first-generation Tower Master, the Spirit Ice Ancestor, once admitted that if not for countless fortuitous encounters, he would have been far inferior to Tower Master Ji Juechen!"
The Spirit Ice Douluo was a Limit Douluo, the founder of the Spirit Pagoda. He actually claimed to be inferior to someone else?
The group was inwardly stunned.
Just then, a flash of light signaled Gu Yuena's exit from the virtual battlefield. Hearing Luoyang Lu's last remark, she couldn't help but glance at Huo Yuhao and transmit a voice message:
"Yuhao, aren't you being too humble?"
How could an ordinary person possibly surpass a reincarnated God King?
"Being inferior is being inferior," Huo Yuhao replied with a smile. "This isn't humility, it's the truth."
Gu Yuena blinked, studying his expression for a moment before nodding slightly.
If Yuhao said so, there must be a reason.
Meanwhile, Luoyang Lu turned to Tang Wulin and patted his shoulder encouragingly.
"So, Wulin, don't dwell on your innate soul power. Don't let it pressure you. Someone else has already succeeded, haven't they?"
"Yeah!"
Tang Wulin nodded firmly, a spark of determination flashing in his eyes.
His innate soul power was also level three!
And his circumstances were clearly better than Tower Master Ji's. From now on, Tower Master Ji would be the one he strived to catch up to!
Seeing Tang Wulin's renewed fighting spirit, Luoyang Lu glanced at the other students and noticed that they, too, seemed revitalized, quickly shaking off the frustration of their defeats. He nodded to himself in satisfaction.
Nothing was more motivating than cold, hard facts!
Tower Master Ji was an inspiration to many later generations in the Spirit Pagoda, innate level-three soul power, yet he became a Super Douluo. Was there any greater encouragement than that?
All of you have innate talents dozens of times better than Tower Master Ji's. Why let a few setbacks discourage you?