Chapter 130: Old-Timer Yan's Eyes Went Red, Greed
Xie Huanyue quickly completed the assessment.
As the person with the highest cultivation in Class Two, Xie Huanyue's Spirit Power cultivation also increased from Rank Thirty-One during the Freshman Assessment to Rank Thirty-Four now, an average of one rank every three months over nine months.
This speed was already very fast, belonging to the normal standard for a genius's Spirit Power progression.
Bei Bei was only Rank Thirty-Seven as a fourth-year student, and Tang Ya had only just broken through to three rings in her fourth year. Xie Huanyue would basically be able to break through to Spirit Ancestor steadily by the fourth year.
The speed of Spirit Power rank advancement did not necessarily mean that Xie Huanyue was more of a genius than Bei Bei; perhaps it was just because Bei Bei spent more time on foundational work. But this was sufficient to prove Xie Huayue's talent.
In the assessment, he also chose a Thousand-Year Spirit Beast, a swift-attack type Extreme Shadow Black Panther, whose speed was very fast, a notch quicker than a normal swift-attack type Spirit Elder. Xie Huanyue relied solely on his formidable defense to exhaust most of its stamina before successfully defeating it.
After all, felines, whether Spirit Masters or Spirit Beasts, are the kind that are fast but also tire quickly.
In the end, Xie Huanyue's assessment score was one hundred twenty-five points. The referee's evaluation was that he was strong in defense but lacking in offense, constantly choosing to endure attacks and missing many opportunities where he could have counter-attacked and severely wounded the Extreme Shadow Black Panther, causing him to unnecessarily sustain many injuries.
Yes, Xie Huanyue's defense was breached by the Extreme Shadow Black Panther. Although the wounds were not deep, there were many of them, and he was covered in blood.
The scent of blood is extremely obvious in the Spirit Beast Forest, just as sharks in the ocean can smell blood from a great distance; it is the same for Spirit Beasts—the scent of blood attracts them.
Getting injured in the Spirit Beast Forest can very likely lead to a Spirit Beast siege. Coupled with the fact that Xie Huanyue wasted a bit too much time, twenty-five points were ultimately deducted from his technique score.
Only then did Xie Huanyue understand how difficult it was to earn a perfect score evaluation.
The next student to be assessed was from Class One. Xiao Xiao confidently walked out, also choosing a Thousand-Year Spirit Beast.
It must be said that the evolved Nine Dragons Cauldron was very powerful. Xiao Xiao's opponent was an ice-attribute wolf-type Spirit Beast, which was assault-type and not slow in speed, but its weakness was low defense.
Xiao Xiao first split the Nine Dragons Cauldron into nine, using the Rejection Fire Ring formed by the Cauldron's Sway to play "push-push fun" with the ice wolf, bouncing it back and forth within the corners formed by the nine cauldrons until it was dizzy and disoriented.
She then found the ice wolf's vulnerability, controlled it with the Cauldron's Seal, and finally defeated it completely with the Cauldron's Quake.
The battle process was utterly smooth and highly engaging to watch. After the battle concluded, Xiao Xiao still retained forty percent of her Spirit Power, still capable of defending herself.
Xiao Xiao's assessment process was virtually flawless in both combat capability and timing. Not even Yan Shaozhe could find fault, and thus appeared the second student to receive a perfect score.
"Brother Yun, how did I perform?" After returning to the Class One formation, Xiao Xiao winked playfully at Lin Yun.
"Very well, worthy of my Xiao Xiao!" Lin Yun did not disappoint the girl, praising her with a smile.
'My Xiao Xiao...' Xiao Xiao's little face flushed, feeling a bit shy, but more overwhelmingly joyous.
Separately.
In the formation, a group of people watched Lin Yun and Xiao Xiao display their affection, and not even Mu Jin brought up the nonsense about 'Outer Court students are not allowed to date' to spoil the moment. Meanwhile, Yan Shaozhe on the other side was completely bewildered.
Yan Shaozhe had an impression of Xiao Xiao. During the Freshman Assessment, she was on the same team as Lin Yun, and Yan Shaozhe had personally watched their match.
And back then, Xiao Xiao's martial soul was still the Three-Lives Soul-Shaking Cauldron, not the Nine Dragons Cauldron of today.
With Yan Shaozhe's experienced eye, he could quickly tell that Xiao Xiao's martial soul was more than one level stronger. The power of the Nine Dragons Cauldron was incomparable to the former Three-Lives Soul-Shaking Cauldron, even approaching the boundary of a Super Martial Soul.
Since he had not specifically tested it, Yan Shaozhe could only give the evaluation of being close to a Super Martial Soul. If he were to seriously test it, Xiao Xiao's martial soul would only prove to be even stronger.
So, the question arises.
What was the actual reason that could allow a person's martial soul to achieve a dramatic leap in improvement, evolving from a standard top-tier martial soul to its current near-Super Martial Soul level?
A martial soul is an inherent ability of a Spirit Master and is basically impossible to change throughout one's life.
Perhaps some people can cause their martial soul to change and mutate for the better after absorbing a Spirit Ring of exceptional quality, but Xiao Xiao's Third Spirit Ring was clearly not from a particularly powerful Spirit Beast.
This was because the Spirit Ring did not carry the bloodline pressure characteristic of a powerful Spirit Beast!
Take Lin Yun, for example. All his Spirit Rings are high-grade, coming from the Frenzy Blood Behemoth, Titan Snow Demon, Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear, and Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
Even excluding his Golden Dragon King Martial Soul and the Spirit Rings' age, the Spirit Rings themselves still carry intense pressure. This pressure is merely masked by the even stronger power of his Golden Dragon King bloodline.
However, this power is always present, and sharp-eyed powerful individuals can perceive it.
But Xiao Xiao didn't have this!
This means that her martial soul was not prompted to mutate by the Spirit Ring, but rather by another circumstance!
Coupled with her rapid advancement in Spirit Power rank...
Yan Shaozhe felt his heart almost leap into his throat. His mouth was dry, and he felt dizzy.
Immortal Herb...?
Other than an Immortal Herb, what else could cause such a massive change in a Spirit Master's martial soul, even making their appearance more perfect and their Spirit Power rank skyrocket?
As the Dean of Shrek Academy and a former genius famed on the continent, Yan Shaozhe had naturally gained experience on the continent.
Having once viewed himself as superior, believing he was no worse than anyone else, he had also attempted to search for traces of the Immortal Herbs to gain the capital to achieve godhood.
Having grown up hearing the stories of the Seven Monsters, how could he not have such an idea?
But the fact was that no matter how hard Yan Shaozhe tried, he never found those divine objects mentioned in ancient texts. Yet, now, such a divine object had appeared before his eyes in this manner.
Yan Shaozhe felt like he was going crazy.
His century-old state of mind was nearly shattered, and the Spirit Power fluctuations around him became somewhat unstable.
'No, that's not right. That little girl couldn't have had this fortuitous encounter, nor could it have been given by her family members, otherwise she would have consumed it long ago; it wouldn't have waited until now.'
'Then... is it Lin Yun?'
Yan Shaozhe's thoughts raced, and he quickly locked his target onto one name, turning to look at the most dazzling presence in the crowd.
Although it was only speculation, Yan Shaozhe felt certain that his guess was correct: Lin Yun definitely possessed an Immortal Herb!
The seed of greed thus took root and began to sprout deep within his heart.
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