The next morning, in the assessment arena.
"Teacher Mu Jin looks very pleased today," Wu Feng remarked, watching from the viewing platform. Sure enough, Mu Jin wore a rare smile, her mood clearly improved compared to the tense days before.
Chen Junting, arms crossed, slowly opened his eyes. No surprise there, he thought. Zhou Yi's been knocked down for good. How could she not be happy?
His gaze swept the arena. With only sixteen teams left, the field had thinned out. He could recognize most faces at a glance. But his attention stayed sharp, especially when it landed on the other two power-focused teams.
The draw began.
When the matchups were set, Chen Junting and his team spotted their opponents: one man and two women. The girls both had flowing blue hair, so alike they could only be twins. Beside them stood a tall, powerfully built young man, his size making the sisters look even more petite by contrast.
"Brother Chen," Qin Lan said quietly, stepping up to him, "those sisters — they have a martial soul fusion skill."
Chen Junting's eyes fixed on the twins, calm and cold.
"Then I'll handle them first," he replied flatly, no hesitation in his tone.
Their opponents approached. The tall male student cupped his fists respectfully.
"Huang Chutian's team: Huang Chutian, Lan Susu, Lan Luoluo. Please advise."
Chen Junting returned the gesture without pause.
"Chen Junting's team: Chen Junting, Qin Lan, Gao Ming. Please advise."
Both sides stepped back to their positions.
"The match begins!"
Martial spirits exploded to life.
Huang Chutian roared, slamming his fists into his chest. His Hercules Ape spirit ignited, bulking him up to nearly two meters tall. His muscles swelled under his uniform, iron-black skin gleaming like polished metal.
The Lan sisters tossed their long blue hair back. Their flowing locks unfurled like silk ribbons, catching the wind and filling the air.
Before their soul rings even activated, the sisters embraced. A surge of deep blue soul power erupted around them, wrapping their figures in shimmering halos and masking their forms.
"First soul skill — Speed Blessing!"
Gao Ming's Ruyi Disk spun in front of him, firing streams of yellow light toward Chen Junting and Qin Lan, boosting their speed.
"Shua!"
Sword light flashed — Chen Junting's strike shot straight toward the Lan sisters!
At the same moment, a shadow streaked across the battlefield — Qin Lan, closing in fast.
Huang Chutian roared and activated his first soul skill. His fists doubled in size, metallic and gleaming. He charged at Chen Junting with brute force, meeting the incoming sword light with a thunderous punch.
Clang!
Steel clashed with sword energy in an explosion of sparks. Huang Chutian's iron skin split open under the impact, blood spraying from the torn flesh.
His face twisted in shock. He staggered, barely keeping his footing.
That wasn't even a soul skill!
He had counted on his Hercules Ape's raw power and defenses, but Chen Junting's sword aura had shredded through them like paper.
Even so, Huang Chutian forced himself to remain standing.
Meanwhile, the Lan sisters' blue hair gleamed, lengthening and twisting into a brilliant net that filled the air.
Qin Lan's claws sliced at the net, but his face darkened instantly. The hair wasn't just tough — it was deceptively soft, absorbing and dispersing his strikes like a sponge.
Worse, before he could retreat, tendrils of hair swept in from behind, weaving into an inescapable trap. In moments, he was completely entangled, wrapped head to toe in shimmering blue strands.
But the net wasn't finished.
Their true target was Chen Junting.
The blue strands surged toward him, aiming to capture him as they had Qin Lan.
"Roar!"
Huang Chutian unleashed his second soul skill. His arms bulged with power, and a solid sphere of yellow energy blasted from his fists, aimed directly at Chen Junting.
The plan was clear: knock him into the trap.
But Chen Junting moved like water.
"Shua!"
A swift backhanded slash cleaved the energy sphere clean in two. The split fragments streaked past him and detonated harmlessly against the expanding net.
Then — brilliance.
The first and second soul rings on Chen Junting's sword flared, murderous energy pouring into his blade.
The Seven Killing Sword howled through the air, and a massive arc of sword light, ten meters long, split the sky.
"Boom!"
Just as the sword was about to cleave through Huang Chutian, a giant shield materialized overhead — the referee had stepped in, activating his fourth soul skill to intercept the blow.
Even so, the sword left a deep gouge in the shield.
The referee's intervention meant only one thing: Huang Chutian was eliminated.
Chen Junting turned his focus to the Lan sisters.
He stepped forward, eyes locked on the sky-blue net.
With a casual flick of his wrist, thin threads of sword light unspooled from the Seven Killing Sword, weaving and dancing like silk.
The blades sliced clean through the net.
In an instant, the overwhelming blue strands were shredded.
Chen Junting stood firm, raising his sword horizontally. Six streams of blood-red sword light spiraled in front of him, forming the character "Kill" in the air — each stroke sharp, deadly.
The aura of slaughter filled the battlefield.
The net collapsed like torn linen, shredded by pure force.
As the remnants of their fusion skill unraveled, the Lan sisters staggered, their faces pale. The strain of their broken fusion left them visibly weak, their earlier confidence crumbling beneath the weight of Chen Junting's killing intent.
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(End of Chapter)
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Gimme stones~