"All right, it's a day off today and I've got nothing scheduled. Weren't you three planning a little sparring match? I've been looking forward to it," said Jing Hongchen with a warm smile.
He truly was excited. As the saying goes, "practice is the best teacher." No matter how much potential Huo Yuhao had shown on paper, what really mattered was how he performed in a real battle.
After a while, the early-rising Xiao Hongchen dragged Meng Hongchen out of bed. She groggily got up, and only when she spotted Huo Yuhao did she remember they weren't alone in the house.
Meng Hongchen's hair was slightly messy, her eyes half-closed—looking adorably disheveled.
But when she realized Huo Yuhao was smiling gently at her, her cheeks flushed red and she dashed into the washroom to tidy herself up.
Half an hour later, Meng Hongchen emerged, refreshed and energetic. Dressed in casual clothes full of youthful charm, her hair tied into twin tails, she returned to her usual cheerful self.
After sharing a light breakfast with Jing Hongchen, the three students made their way to the academy's combat arena.
To their surprise, a boy and girl were already inside, locked in a heated battle.
"Ugh! I'm not fighting anymore! First thing in the morning, and you drag me here like some idiot to spar? It's my day off!"
A sharp-tongued young woman wearing square-framed glasses emerged from a cloud of purple smoke, visibly annoyed.
Across from her stood a handsome young man, calm and collected, holding a sleek black sword. His demeanor was that of a master swordsman out of a martial arts novel.
Seeing the pair, Huo Yuhao had a bad feeling.
"Oh no… aren't those the two fighting maniacs from the academy?"
Even Xiao Hongchen, usually cocky, had a rare look of unease on his face.
"Sister Jing and Senior Ji…"
The two of them were among the few students even Xiao Hongchen didn't want to spar with.
"They're also considered elite students of our academy," he explained. "Their soul engineering skills are average, but as soul masters, they're second to none here."
"That guy, Ji Juechen—he only started with innate soul power of rank 3, and his martial soul is just a basic sword. But thanks to an almost obsessive dedication to the way of the sword, he's now nearly a six-ring Soul Emperor."
"And the girl, Jing Ziyan, is a powerful combatant who has harmonized her soul master and soul engineer abilities beautifully."
"Unfortunately… they're a bit older than us."
While his tone was casual, Jing Hongchen was also taking the chance to explain to Huo Yuhao who the two were.
But as a transmigrator, how could Huo Yuhao not know? These two were infamous in the original story for their relentless sparring and obsession with dueling.
The sparring duo in the arena soon noticed the group entering, and upon seeing Jing Hongchen, they immediately approached and greeted him.
"Good morning, Headmaster."
"Good morning, Headmaster."
Jing Hongchen smiled in response. "Good. You two finished already? My three prized students here would like to use the arena for a match."
Meng and Xiao Hongchen nodded to the two fighting maniacs—a simple acknowledgment.
Naturally, Ji and Jing agreed.
"Xiao and Meng Hongchen… and this is?" Jing Ziyan asked, peering curiously past Jing Hongchen's round frame to spot Huo Yuhao.
Ji Juechen also looked intrigued.
Huo Yuhao began to sweat. 'Please don't notice me… these two are mad duelists!'
But fate, as always, had other plans.
Jing Hongchen, looking quite pleased with himself, wrapped an arm around Huo Yuhao's shoulder and proudly introduced him.
"This is my final disciple, Huo Yuhao—a young man with extraordinary talent in both soul mastering and soul engineering. You should all get to know each other. After all, you're the future of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy."
Jing Ziyan and Ji Juechen turned their expectant gazes toward Huo Yuhao.
Talented? Now they were interested.
"Hello, Junior Huo."
"Greetings."
Huo Yuhao could only smile weakly. 'Please stop drawing attention to me, Headmaster… it's too late. I can already see my future—surrounded day and night by these two duel maniacs demanding sparring matches…'
".Nice to meet you, Senior Jing, Senior Ji."
Even Meng and Xiao Hongchen were barely holding back their laughter at the look of despair on Huo Yuhao's face.
"Headmaster, may we observe the match?" Ji Juechen asked eagerly. He was intrigued by the unfamiliar faces of Meng and Huo Yuhao.
"Of course. You three, get ready."
In the preparation room, Meng Hongchen grinned mischievously at Huo Yuhao.
"Heehee, Yuhao, I bet you already figured out what's going to happen now that those two have noticed you~?"
Huo Yuhao sighed with a look of resigned doom.
"What kind of normal people spar at dawn? What kind of normal people can intimidate Xiao Hongchen? Sigh… it's fate."
"Come on, it's a good opportunity to hone your combat skills," Meng Hongchen said cheerfully, patting his head like a child.
"You've grown taller, Yuhao~ You're nearly as tall as me now."
"Hmph, give me a little more time and I'll be the one patting your head."
"Heh, well for now, I'm still taller~"
After a few more playful exchanges, Huo Yuhao gently brushed her hand away and turned aside.
Soon, it was time to begin.
Meng Hongchen and Huo Yuhao stood at one side of the arena, facing Xiao Hongchen on the other.
With Jing Hongchen as the referee, both sides could go all out without fear of accidents.
Meng and Yuhao took their positions—one in front, one behind.
Jing Hongchen's voice rang out. "Let the sparring begin."
Meng Hongchen moved first.
Her soul armor appeared in a flash, making her already beautiful appearance shine with heroic grace.
Then, two yellow, two purple, and one black ring rose from beneath her feet—the best configuration possible. Her third ring lit up as she used her third soul skill: Ice Refraction.
This allowed her to teleport short distances between reflective ice plates, creating unpredictable movement—perfect when combined with her soul armor.
In the blink of an eye, Meng appeared close to Xiao Hongchen.
He reacted swiftly, summoning the same ideal ring configuration. Activating his first soul skill, Metal Affinity, he enhanced his connection to metal and fired a barrage of soul tool shells toward Meng.
"Blanket coverage. You shouldn't have rushed in so recklessly, little sister."
Based on what he knew of her capabilities, she wouldn't be able to evade them all.
But to his shock, Meng dodged each shell with the grace of a dancer skating on ice.
That shouldn't be possible.
And then he saw it—on the opposite side of the arena, Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes were glowing.
"It's you…"
Indeed, it was Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection Sharing that allowed Meng to anticipate and dodge the barrage.
"Splitting your attention mid-battle is a rookie mistake, big bro~"
Just as Xiao Hongchen tried to rethink his approach to account for the new variable, Meng had already closed in.
In her hands appeared a massive Level 5 soul tool greatsword, which she swung down with a sharp clang toward her brother.
Xiao Hongchen barely activated his shield and dodged back, but not before a few of his soul tool cannons were shattered.
Though the strike hadn't injured him, it had diminished his firepower.
Stabilizing himself, Xiao realized he could no longer rely on his usual tactics against his suddenly nimble sister.
Still, even with the setback, he believed he had the upper hand.
Her strongest move—poison—was useless against him, since their toad-type martial souls were of the same lineage.
Preparing his final move, Xiao locked his long-range weapons onto Huo Yuhao, planning to overwhelm him, then close the distance to deal with Meng directly.
But at that moment—something unexpected happened.
Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes flared with a terrifying light.
A beam shot from his eyes, bypassing Xiao's shield like it wasn't even there, and struck him squarely in the forehead.
Spiritual Shock—a devastating soul skill that only a spiritual-type soul master like Yuhao could use.
Xiao's shield had no resistance against mental attacks. Unless it was a specially-made spiritual barrier, he had no defense.
He froze—stunned for two whole seconds.
It was more than enough.
The pre-planned strategy clicked into action.
Meng activated her fifth soul skill: Icefire Venom Dragon Drill—a top-tier single-target skill of her level.
The attack shattered Xiao's Level 6 shield, and using her Ice Refraction to leap through a new icy patch, she reappeared right in front of him.
With armor-clad grace, she pressed a dagger to his throat.
The battle was over. Clean, swift, and decisive.
"Match concluded. Victory goes to Meng Hongchen and Huo Yuhao."
Jing Hongchen calmly announced the result, though inside, he was practically bursting with excitement.
(End of Chapter)
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