Chapter 32.2: Rewards and the Core Disciples
Huo Yuhao was extremely weak by himself, but even a Soul Grandmaster wouldn’t have been able to do better than he had! Disregarding their friendship, Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao both truly admired him. Huo Yuhao had an astonishing amount of both talent and diligence, but only the two of them knew of that fact.
Zhou Yi had already left the tall stage and was running towards them. The always-strict teacher currently looked as excited as a child as she hugged Huo Yuhao’s trio and cheered exuberantly.
The teacher in charge of Dai Huabin’s class had also walked over to their team to console the trio. However, the expression on Dai Huabin’s face hadn’t changed at all. From time to time, he’d glance viciously towards Huo Yuhao’s trio with his fists tightly clenched. Next time, I won’t lose!
The results for the freshmen assessment’s final round spread throughout the entire school extremely fast. However, Huo Yuhao once again decided to skip selling roasted fish. Instead, he went into the wilderness alongside Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, Bei Bei, and Tang Ya, and roasted some fish for them.
Bei Bei and Tang Ya hadn’t expected Huo Yuhao’s trio to become the champions; they’d given up the concept when they heard that there’d be three Soul Elders participating in the knock-out tournament. And yet, despite the odds, Huo Yuhao had managed to give them an enormous surprise.
“Wang Dong, do you still want to join our Tang Sect?” Tang Ya only recalled Wang Dong’s wish to join the Tang Sect after she’d finished gorging herself on roasted fish.
Wang Dong hurriedly nodded. “Of course I’d still like to join!”
Tang Ya giggled. “Alright, seeing as you guys were able to become the champions, this Sect Master can’t renege on her words. I’ll let you join the Tang Sect like I promised. Xiao Xiao, what about you? Are you interested as well?”
Xiao Xiao blinked and mumbled, “The Tang Sect?”
Tang Ya replied, “Right! The Tang Sect. Our Tang Sect doesn’t have many benefits to offer you if you do join, but we value all of our disciples. Our Tang Sect will definitely impart all of its secret techniques to its disciples for them to cultivate.”
Xiao Xiao smiled. “That sounds good. I’ll join as well. In any case, I don’t have a sect I’m tied to. Sister Tang Ya, I want to learn that footwork technique that Yuhao used.”
Xiao Xiao nodded graciously. “No problem. I’ll teach it to both of you when we get back.” Despite how carefree she appeared to be, she was actually extremely happy right now. There was no need to doubt Wang Dong’s strength; a large part of why Huo Yuhao’s team had been able to become champions had been due to his strength. On the other hand, Xiao Xiao’s talent didn’t lose out to Wang Dong’s in the slightest; she had twin martial souls! Tang Ya had never expected her to agree to join the Tang Sect so easily.
In reality, the reason that Xiao Xiao had been willing to join the Tang Sect was due to Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, but Tang Ya didn’t know that. The fusion skill that Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong had unleashed had simply been too breathtaking to her; the more she stayed with them, the more favourable her impression of them became. Huo Yuhao’s strength and looks were much inferior to Wang Dong’s, but his calmness and unswerving determination were things that Wang Dong didn’t have. Xiao Xiao believed that the future Huo Yuhao would definitely wouldn’t lose out to Wang Dong in the slightest, and being in a team with them would definitely be a good thing, regardless of whether it was for her cultivation or for her future.
Good companions were a must in the world of soul masters, and Xiao Xiao had already gotten used to the carefree and uninhibited way of fighting that Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection allowed. Furthermore, the three of them were getting more and more coordinated with each other; if they were able to enter Shrek Academy’s inner courtyard, they’d have to stay together for ten years at the very least. If they continued to work together like this, their team would be incomparably steadfast once they left Shrek Academy.
However, in the end, Xiao Xiao was still just a little girl who’d only thought about her future and having companions that she could trust. She hadn’t thought too deeply about the seriousness of her decision to join the Tang Sect. On the other side of the equation, Tang Ya had been able to conveniently get another member at a huge bargain.
As of now, the Tang Sect had become a five-person sect, which was more than twice the size of its original two. Although they weren’t very old, the Tang Sect had finally increased in size.
Bei Bei said, “Now that you’ve all passed the freshmen assessment, you’ll be split into your respective classes. The assault and control systems are all part of the same family, and you three are on the same team, so you’ll probably be placed in the same class. I don’t need to repeat this to Yuhao, but you two should’ve heard that our Tang Sect is famous for our hidden weapons. However, the appearance of soul tools has gradually caused hidden weapons to disappear from the stage of history. That’s the main reason that our Tang Sect has fallen into decline. As such, we need to redefine our hidden weapons in order for the Tang Sect to reemerge, but they can’t be as simple as our previous hidden weapons. The only way that we can reforge our glory is by combining hidden weapons with soul tools. What do you two think about soul tools? After you formally becoming first year students, you should choose to study them.”
Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao glanced at each other, furrowing their brows slightly. Xiao Xiao replied in a soft voice, “Since I have two martial souls, I won’t have enough time to cultivate if I have to research and create soul tools. I feel that soul masters should focus on cultivating as their main priority. Research soul tools is something that only soul masters with subpar talent or martial souls are willing to do, no?”
Wang Dong nodded. “I agree with Xiao Xiao. I don’t really feel like learning how to forge a soul tool either.”
After speaking their mind, the two of them originally thought that Bei Bei and Tang Ya would be unhappy. However, they unexpectedly began to laugh. Helpless, Tang Ya replied, “It’s no wonder that you two are outstanding students of the Martial Soul Department! That’s the typical way of thinking for a student from the Martial Soul Department. In fact, you’re not the only ones who think that way. Even Bei Bei and I think that you wouldn’t have enough time to cultivate if you were to study soul tools as well. There won’t be a lot of time for you two to carefully study soul tools, thus, just do as you wish. The Tang Sect won’t force everyone on to a specific path of cultivation. I was just wondering whether any of you were interested in it. You all have exceptional talent, so it won’t be too good if you’re distracted. We’ll just have to recruit a few disciples that are specialised in cultivating soul tools in the future.”
However, at that moment, Huo Yuhao suddenly opened his mouth, “Teacher Xiao Ya, I wish to study soul tools.”
Tang Ya’s eyes lit up. “Yuhao, you’re willing to?”
Huo Yuhao nodded. “Soul tools have their own unique fascinating aspects. Since they were able to replace our Tang Sect’s hidden weapons and become the most valued weapons in the world, they definitely can’t be weak. I want to try them out. If I don’t have the talent for them, then nevermind. But if I do have the talent for them, I want to learn as much as I can about them.”
“Good! Good!” Tang Ya was overjoyed. “Soul tools truly do fit you. You have a mental-type martial soul, which makes it so that you’re lacking a way to attack your opponents at the moment. If you had a soul tool with you, your combat power would increase exponentially. Furthermore, the strength of your soul tools will increase as your comprehension of them increases as well.”
Bei Bei reminded him, “Junior brother, you have to manage your time well. Your martial soul has a lot of potential, thus you can’t spend too much time on your soul tools. After all, both soul power and soul rings are the foundation of a soul master. Some stronger soul tools even require soul power to activate.”