Chapter 64.3: The Ultimate Soldier Plan (Preview)
“Understood.” The group of seven answered in chorus. With their current ages and cultivations, becoming the official substitutes for the main team was already enough to fill them with happiness! Furthermore, they might even get the oppurtunity to go out and fight. An experience such as this was already quite difficult to come by, yet the academy had done all of this in order to prepare them to become the next generation of Shrek’s Seven Monsters.
Elder Xuan nodded. “Alright, everybody introduce yourselves so that you all can get to know each other. We’ll start with the preparatory team.”
After confirming how old they were, there was naturally no problem regarding the order in which the preparatory team started speaking. Bei Bei was the first to walk out, “I’m Bei Bei, a fifth year student from the outer courtyard. I’m a Rank 42 assault-type Soul Ancestor.”
He Caitou was the next to take a step forward. “He Caitou. Fourth year from the outer courtyard. I’m from the Soul Tool Department, and I’m a Class 4 soul engineer.” As a student of the Soul Tool Department, he evidently had no need to give out his own cultivation. On the contrary, he would use his Class to reveal his own strength.
Xu Sanshi was the third to come up. “Xu Sanshi. I’m a fifth year from the outer courtyard, and I’m a Rank 43 defense-type Soul Ancestor.” In terms of soul power, he was still slightly weaker than Bei Bei.
The fourth in line was Jiang Nannan. Though she didn’t want to stand next to Xu Sanshi and listen to him grumble on and on again, they were of a similar age. It wouldn’t be good to reveal her thoughts at an important event like this.
“I’m Jiang Nannan. I’m a fifth year from the outer courtyard, and I’m a Rank 41 agility-type Soul Ancestor.”
The gazes of a few male students from the inner courtyard immediately lit up after seeing her. Jiang Nannan was indeed extremely beautiful. Of the females present here, she was the most beautiful in terms of looks alone; Ma Xiaotao, on the other hand, had the best physique. As for Xiao Xiao, she was simply too young. As a result, she hadn’t developed much of her womanly charms.
Xu Sanshi immediately tensed up, and he looked toward his seniors in the inner courtyard with a blazing look in his eyes.
The fifth person to step out was Xiao Xiao. “I’m called Xiao Xiao, greetings to my senior upperclassmen. I’m a second year from the outer courtyard, and I’m a Rank 29 control-type Soul Grandmaster.”
The disciples of the inner courtyard who were enraptured by Jiang Nannan’s looks involuntarily widened their eyes at hearing the words ‘Rank 29’.
Rank 29? Did they hear something wrong? This was the preparatory team of the Shrek’s Seven Monsters, but there was actually a second year among them? It was no wonder they looked so small. Heavens! What was Elder Xuan trying to do?
The next-in-line after Xiao Xiao was Huo Yuhao. He took a step forward to Xiao Xiao’s side and said respectfully, “Greetings to my senior upperclassmen. I’m Huo Yuhao, and I’m a second year of the outer courtyard. I’m a Rank 26 control-type soul master.”
Rank, Rank 26? Other than Ma Xiaotao, the expressions of the others in the inner courtyard became somewhat strange. However, seeing as they were able to become disciples of the inner courtyard, they had extremely calm temperaments. Though they were astonished, they didn’t reveal any large changes on the outside.
The last in line was Wang Dong. He could naturally see the astonishment that the seniors in the inner courtyard had, and hence he proudly raised his little chest and said, “Wang Dong. Second year from the outer courtyard, and a Rank 31 assault-type Soul Elder.”
Elder Xuan nodded and pointed towards the disciples from the inner courtyard, “Your turn.”
The first one to walk out from among the group of disciples from the inner courtyard was actually Ma Xiaotao. She was evidently much calmer than before.
“Inner courtyard, Ma Xiaotao. Rank 67 assault-type Soul Emperor.”
Though Huo Yuhao and the rest knew that she was powerful, they couldn’t help but gasp after hearing her say the words ‘Rank 67’.
The fact that she could participate in the Continental Advanced Academy Soul Duelling Tournament meant that she wasn’t even twenty yet. However, her cultivation had already reached Rank 67. This couldn’t even be described using the word ‘terrifying’.
A male student stepped up after Ma Xiaotao. He was extremely tall, and standing together with the slender Ma Xiaotao was extremely fitting. Huo Yuhao felt a few traces of familiarity upon seeing him, but didn’t know why this was the case. This man had a solemn temperament, and his gaze was as cutting as a blade. He said in a low voice, “Inner courtyard, Dai Yueheng. Rank 64 assault-type Soul Emperor.”
Huo Yuhao finally came to himself after hearing the words ‘Dai Yueheng’. He was greatly astonished, and his expression changed involuntarily. On the other hand, Dai Yueheng squinted his eyes as he looked at Huo Yuhao, and a faint chilly light flickered through them.
The White Tiger Duke had two sons. The eldest was the prince of the White Tiger Duke’s Mansion, and also its future inheritor; he was called Dai Yueheng. Dai Huabin’s talent was very outstanding, as shown by the fact that he was able to become a Rank 37 Soul Elder before even turning thirteen. However, he still had to live under the shadow of his elder brother.
Huo Yuhao had never expected to see Dai Yueheng in a situation like this. He was actually one of the current generation’s Shrek’s Seven Monsters. From the look in Dai Yueheng’s eyes, he knew that his grudge with Dai Huabin was definitely known by the former.
The person who came up after Dai Yueheng was another male student. He wasn’t as sturdily built as Dai Huabin, but his body was slender. He carried the trace of a warm smile on his face. “Inner courtyard, Chen Zifeng. Rank 57 assault-type Soul King.”
Though the two previous Soul Emperors were shocking, a person who was able to become a Soul King before the age of twenty was similarly astonishing! It was extremely difficult to become a disciple of the inner courtyard, but he was actually able to stand out from the many disciples in the inner courtyard to go out and represent Shrek Academy. Their excellence could be seen from this.
The fourth person was another woman. She looked extremely normal, and her figure was also extremely normal. Moreover, she even had short hair. On the surface, she was a young girl who couldn’t be any more normal. Even her voice was so normal that it was astonishing.
“Inner courtyard, Xi Xi. Rank 56 agility-type Soul King.” She gave a similar introduction, but it didn’t really give a deep impression. The moment she spoke, her entire person seemed to dim, as if she’d been completely overshadowed by the radiance of the people in front of her.
The fifth person was also a female student, and she was much prettier than Xi Xi. Unlike Ma Xiaotao’s fierceness, she had a cool sort of beauty. She was also different from Jiang Nannan’s gentleness; the cold and aloof feeling that came from her would easily give a person a deep impression. Her skin was very white, and she seemed completely weightless as she stepped forward.
“Inner courtyard, Ling Luochen. Rank 55 control-type Soul King.” Finally, a control-type soul master came out after the other assault and agility-type ones.
The sixth person was a thin boy who was only 1.6 meters or so tall. He had a thin body, and was much shorter than Ling Luochen, but his eyes were bright and filled with expression.
“Inner courytard, Yao Haoxuan. Rank 55, control-type Soul King.” It was another control-type soul master, but were there any auxiliary-type ones?
The last disciple from the inner courtyard had an elegant set of facial features. Right, the word was ‘elegant’. Though he was clearly a male student, he had a slender body and a jade-like face. His elegant appearance made one involuntarily fall in love with him, and even his voice was soft, “Inner courtyard, Gong Yangmo. Rank 59 auxiliary-type Soul King.”
The seven from the preparatory team would never have thought that the last member of the Shrek’s Seven Monsters would actually be ranked third in terms of cultivation. Second only to Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng, he was at Rank 59. He only needed to take a single step to become a Soul Emperor-ranked expert.
After hearing his senior upperclassmen introduce themselves, Huo Yuhao etched their names, specialties, and soul ranks into his mind. Though they were were only assisting them in the actual competition, there were evident benefits to memorising all of this.
Other than the gloomy feeling he had after Dai Yueheng’s unexpected appearance, Huo Yuhao felt astonished after memorising the details of his seniors.
These competitors were all under the age of twenty, but they were all above Rank 50! Moreover, there were even two of them who were Soul Emperors. Was this actually something that could be achieved before the age of twenty? Though they were definitely consummate existences amongst their peers, since they were studying in Shrek Academy’s inner courtyard, the fact that they were all Soul Kings and Soul Emperors still managed to startle Huo Yuhao. If he were able to reach the Soul King rank before the age of twenty, wouldn’t that be a sight to behold?
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the inner courtyard disciples standing in front of Huo Yuhao were already at the very top amongst their peers. Would there even be a chance of losing in the Continental Advanced Academy Soul Duelling Tournament with a team like this participating?
Elder Xuan nodded slightly, “Okay, you all know each other a bit now. For the sake of getting you guys to know each other more, your first training task today is a friendly match. You should try and increase your familiarity with each other in today’s match. You won’t just be teaming up with your own teammates; I can switch the members of your teams any time I wish to during the match, so as to ensure that we can be the final champions of the Tournament. Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, you each take a team. Ma Xiaotao, your cultivation’s higher, so you can only take two official members for your team. However, I’ll let you choose a member from the official and preparatory teams first. Dai Yueheng, you can take three official members along with some people from the preparatory team.
Huo Yuhao’s group of seven were still somewhat baffled, but the seven from the inner courtyard were clearly familiar with Elder Xuan’s way of doing things.
Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng took a step forward and put some distance between the two of them. The former said, “The first person I’ll choose from the official team is Gong Yangmo.” She had a total of three official members she could choose from, but the first person she chose wasn’t the assault-type Cheng Zifeng, but the person who had the highest cultivation within the official team other than her and Dai Yueheng, Gong Yangmo.
With that, she paused, “The first person I’ll choose from the preparatory team is Huo Yuhao.”
“Huh?” The moment she spoke, both teams were greatly astonished, and even Elder Xuan revealed a startled look on his face.
Ma Xiaotao snorted coldly. “What? Can I not choose him?”
Wang Dong bumped Huo Yuhao, who then glanced back at him. Under Wang Dong’s slightly inquisitive gaze, the former could only reveal a helpless smile.
Gong Yangmo walked elegantly over to Ma Xiaotao and smiled slightly. “Xiaotao, you truly have good eyes.”
Ma Xiaotao revealed a loathful look and said, “Maintain a five meter distance between you and me. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being impolite.”
Gong Yangmo wasn’t angered by this; he walked five meters away from her with a smile.
Ma Xiaotao waved Huo Yuhao over. “What’re you waiting for? Quickly, come here.”
“Oh.” Only then did Huo Yuhao quickly walk over to Ma Xiaotao’s side.
Ma Xiaotao raised her chin towards Dai Yueheng in a seemingly provocative manner. “It’s your turn.”