After enduring a barrage of punches akin to crashing waves, Xuan Zi's expression finally changed.
He could feel the girl before him concentrating all her strength into a single point—his soul power barrier was about to break!
Remember, the gap in their soul power levels was over seventy ranks!
Everything has its limits. Though Ye Wen could control Huo Yuer's body beyond its natural limits, Huo Yuer was still only a Great Soul Master at Level 23.
"This is far enough. Remember this feeling, Little Yu'er. If you don't want to feel this sense of helplessness again, work harder," Ye Wen calmly instructed within her mind.
Huo Yu'er nodded seriously.
At this moment, she understood—it wasn't that she couldn't defeat the shadow of her childhood tormentor; it was simply that she hadn't worked hard enough.
Just as Xuan Zi was about to reinforce his barrier, Huo Yuer's body suddenly paused, followed by a fierce punch.
"Boom—"
The sound wasn't louder than the earlier bone-crushing impacts, but it caused the faces of all the teachers who understood the significance of this punch to change drastically.
This punch had surpassed the speed of sound, creating a sonic boom.
Xuan Zi stared incredulously at the pale fist now halted before him.
His soul power barrier had shattered! Even though he hadn't used his full strength, it was still a barrier capable of withstanding attacks from a Soul Sage. Yet here it was, broken by a mere thirteen-year-old girl using an unknown self-created spirit skill.
As the fist slowly withdrew, the cold voice of Huo Yuer carried a hint of disdain.
"Is this how Shrek Academy allows outsiders to interfere in its supposedly fair and impartial freshmen tournament?"
Her words weren't loud, but they were deeply insulting. Only now did everyone realize that someone had indeed meddled in this fair competition.
Du Weilun, though only a Soul Douluo, was one of Shrek Academy's higher-ups and naturally knew Xuan Zi's identity.
Because of this, he absolutely couldn't let Xuan Zi lose face. He had no choice but to step forward and explain himself.
"Huo Yuer, I understand your anger, but it's because your self-created spirit skill was so astonishingly powerful that this teacher from Shrek stepped in to stop you.
However, don't worry. What's rightfully yours will remain yours. I hereby officially announce that the champion of this year's freshmen tournament is Team Huo Yuer from Class One."
Upon hearing this result, Huo Yuer reluctantly nodded in acceptance. She then left with her teammates, returning to their class to await the awards ceremony and the conclusion of the event.
But just as Huo Yuer was about to step down from the arena, Xuan Zi asked,
"Little girl, what's the name of that self-created spirit skill you just used?"
Huo Yuer merely glanced at him indifferently, leaving behind a curt, "No comment."
Xuan Zi didn't grow angry. Pulling out another chicken leg from somewhere, he began munching on it while a lecherous smile spread across his face.
"Hehehe, does this little girl think I won't find out if she doesn't tell me? With Shrek Academy's resources, uncovering your secrets will be child's play."
Unfortunately for Xuan Zi, he had miscalculated this time. After all, Huo Yuer had been hidden away by the White Tiger Dai Family for years. Coupled with the modifications to her spirit rings and Ye Wen's generous nurturing, she was no longer the pitiable girl she once appeared to be.
Her entire identity was a blank slate to the world of Douluo Continent.
In this timeline, due to Ye Wen's interference, Huo Yuer hadn't prematurely revealed her talent in soul-guiding tools, so there was no storyline where she was secretly recruited by the Soul-Guiding Department under the guise of mediocrity.
However, her stunning performance in the final battle solidified her reputation as the strongest freshman, earning her team the qualification for core disciple resource allocation during the awards ceremony.
In the original timeline, Huo Yuhao, despite winning the championship, hadn't qualified as a core disciple because he only had one spirit ring—a deceptive white one.
Indeed, in Shrek Academy, strength was everything. Hmph.
This time, Huo Yuer, not acting as support, truly demonstrated her value.
However, the rewards for becoming the champion team weren't limited to just the core disciple slot. Afterward, Huo Yu'er and her teammates were summoned to Director Du Weilun's office.
Director Du looked kindly upon the three prodigies before him.
In a teacher's eyes, top students always received preferential treatment.
Setting aside Huo Yu'er's overwhelming combat abilities, Tang Wulin possessed twin spirits, and even Xiao Xiao, the weakest among them, had a formidable spirit skill capable of forcibly controlling opponents ten ranks above her.
However, because Huo Yuer's strength hadn't exposed Xiao Xiao's secret of possessing twin spirits, Director Du hadn't grown even more excited.
At this moment, the ruby ring on Du Weilun's finger flashed, and a small red pouch appeared in his hand—a clear indication that it was a storage-type soul-guiding tool.
With great solemnity, he held the storage tool and softly addressed the three of them.
"Children, considering that you successively defeated three teams of Level 30 Great Soul Masters and emerged as the ultimate champions, I have petitioned the academy to grant you an exceptional reward. Though there is only one reward, and you three must decide who will receive it, this is already the most precious prize the academy has awarded in a freshmen assessment in at least three hundred years. Go ahead and take a look."
As he spoke, he handed the pouch to Huo Yu'er.
Due to the intense battle earlier, Ye Wen didn't trust returning control of Huo Yuer's body to her just yet. Thus, Ye Wen was still in control of her body.
And Ye Wen had seen countless treasures in his time. With a calm demeanor, he retrieved the prize from the storage tool.
Upon seeing the contents, Ye Wen's eyebrows rose slightly—it was a spirit bone.
Tang Wulin and Xiao Xiao were astonished by Shrek Academy's generosity. Though the number of spirit bones would increase over time, they remained exceedingly rare.
Based on the intelligence Ye Wen had gathered, no spirit bone sold in Douluo Continent's auction houses went for less than 100,000 gold soul coins. Even with Shrek Academy's vast resources, their stockpile of spirit bones wouldn't be abundant.
However, Ye Wen knew well that there was no such thing as free love or gifts.
So… did Shrek Academy believe that this small team led by Huo Yu'er would create value surpassing that of this spirit bone in the future?
Ye Wen sneered inwardly. It seemed they had inherited Flender's tradition of never making a losing deal.
But either give nothing at all, or give something to everyone. Giving just one spirit bone—what were they trying to do? Create discord among the three? A single peach killing three scholars?
If even one of these children fell prey to greed, it would spell disaster. Shrek Academy's lack of foresight was truly astounding.
Moreover, this Huo Yu'er wasn't the same Huo Yuhao from the original timeline who hadn't even secured the status of a core disciple. A mere bone wouldn't be enough to quell her grievances.
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