FE-Chapter 76: Xuan Zi: Cross Them Off the List
In the trial field of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, as the selection competition began, all students released their martial souls at the first opportunity. They took out their soul guidance devices, which were generally equipped with ordinary soul guidance protective shields, soul guidance ray guns, and soul cannons. Some students utilized the close-combat soul guidance devices they were adept at.
Nana looked at the grenade gun in Huo Yuhao's hand and said in surprise, "Seeing your new soul guidance device, the grenade gun, I feel that the barrel caliber is much larger than the one on the creative list."
"No wonder Xiao Hongchen, who is so arrogant, recognizes your strength. I saw him always practicing with you in the trial field before."
Huo Yuhao smacked his lips and said, "Senior Nana, actually, Brother Xiao often comes to me not because of the grenade gun."
"Oh?" Nana raised her chin, a bit of strange meaning evident in her eyes. Could it be that Huo Yuhao's puppy-like appearance could not only capture Miss Meng's heart but also attract Xiao Hongchen?
Huo Yuhao smiled helplessly. "Alas, I have to spend some time each time introducing my soul skills to new people... You can just think of it as a skill that has a good auxiliary effect."
As he spoke, a faint golden halo flashed in Huo Yuhao's eyes, and he used his Spirit Detection & Sharing to transmit the spiritual signal to Nana.
"Senior Nana, this is my spiritual auxiliary soul skill. Don't resist."
Nana noticed the change in her sea of spirit and frowned slightly. When she heard Huo Yuhao's words, her somewhat surprised expression eased and then turned into uncontrollable shock.
"Junior Yuhao, you let it in. This is..."
Nana's eyes widened slightly. She found it hard to believe that there was such a powerful spirit skill.
Huo Yuhao's current spiritual detection map could cover 90% of the entire soul guidance trial field. As the mental signals connected, a shocking scene unfolded in Nana's mind.
Except for the scenery at the edge of the trial venue, all information about everything else was presented in Nana's sea of consciousness in great detail. Even the actions of each student, including the soul cannon in their hands, the patterns on the metal shell, and every internal mechanical component were visible.
Nana trembled and wanted to speak, but the shock rendered her momentarily speechless.
With such a magical skill that could benefit the soul engineers of the artillery platform infinitely... No wonder Xiao Hongchen would seek out Huo Yuhao to practice firing artillery shells every day.
Even for ordinary soul engineers who were not turret-type, this kind of soul skill could provide a significant advantage in battle.
Huo Yuhao looked at Nana, who was immersed in the detection map, and shook his head slightly, a hint of emotion in his tone. "I knew it would be like this... Every time I show this skill to soul masters, they always react like this."
Nana came back to her senses from the shock and stared into Huo Yuhao's eyes, which were more beautiful than a girl's. "Your soul skill is as extraordinary as your looks; it's so tempting."
Huo Yuhao: "..."
He thought Nana was praising his looks and nodded. "Well, this is the main reason why Xiao Hongchen often comes to me."
Experiencing Huo Yuhao's dual functionalities of perspective and automatic aiming for the first time, a burning excitement gradually entered Nana's eyes.
"This is a great opportunity to take advantage of this trial to experience what you brought in."
"Senior Nana, it's called Spirit Detection & Sharing."
Huo Yuhao smiled and said, and under the cover of the simulation, he quietly rubbed the invisible and transparent Angry Buddha Lotus Flame.
Although there might not be any students capable of threatening him in the entire venue, he needed to maintain the habit of preparing his ultimate move in advance.
Nana released her martial soul, and four soul rings—two yellow and two purple—lingered around her body. Her entire aura drastically changed with the release of her martial soul.
Nana, who was originally full of heroic spirit, suddenly became a little ethereal under the influence of her martial soul. A layer of strange and transparent ripples vaguely appeared around her body, giving off an unreal feeling.
"Yuhao, follow me first and don't attack. Focus on using your spirit detection skills to assist me."
A rainbow light flashed in Nana's hand, and she held a short knife with a strange texture. The entire blade was only one foot and two inches long.
The overall color of this dagger was dark red. From the detection map in his mind, Huo Yuhao could see that it was made of relatively inferior quality.
It was evident the maker's skills weren't good enough, and the crafting of this short blade lacked sophistication.
Huo Yuhao pondered in his heart: "It seems that Nana has never had a chance to showcase her talent. She has not been discovered yet, and the school has not equipped her with a soul guidance device."
In the original novel, the short blades Nana used in her battle with Huo Yuhao, including the Blinking Sword that almost claimed Huo Yuhao's life, were all specially configured by the academy for her martial soul.
Now, it appeared that Nana had not been taken seriously and could only use the soul guidance device she crafted herself.
At the beginning of the selection, the teams formed by the students were all cautiously holding their soul-guidance guns and cannons, testing each other's resolve and estimating the opposing firepower. The atmosphere in the venue was unusually calm.
However, soon, several explosions suddenly erupted, completely igniting the atmosphere.
All the students' teams immediately launched artillery fire at the targets they disliked and had locked onto in advance, turning the entire venue into a battlefield of splashing flames and continuous artillery fire.
"Brother, I have been researching defensive soul guidance devices, and I am skilled at using thick armor and heavy shields. I will take the damage later, and you only need to put in the effort."
"Don't worry; my Level 3 energy-gathering soul cannon has great firepower. There is no skill; it's all power."
"Should we just cover them with firepower?"
"No, let's clear out the lower-grade students first and reduce the number of people in the field."
While looking for their target to attack, one team discussed their next tactics.
Soon, they were extremely lucky and noticed Huo Yuhao and Nana in the center of the venue.
"Level 2 soul engineer? These two junior students are so arrogant to dare to run to the middle of the venue. Do you want to deal with them?"
"Are you blind, buddy? Don't you know Huo Yuhao? The one who broke Xiao Hongchen's record."
"Breaking the record of a Level 2 soul engineer doesn't mean his actual combat power is strong. Can he withstand my powerful Level 3 energy-gathering soul cannon?"
That's right; there are always some stubborn people whose great luck leads them to provoke just the right individuals.
The student carried a Level 3 energy-gathering soul cannon in his arms, mobilized his soul power, and fired a shell directly at Huo Yuhao.
"..." Huo Yuhao had already detected this person through his mental detection before the attack commenced.
He picked up the grenade gun and fired a Flame Lotus Bomb at the shell the opponent launched.
With the guidance of his spiritual detection, the flying speed of the energy-gathering soul cannon was significantly reduced.
The Flame Lotus Bomb directly met the opponent's energy-gathering soul cannon.
In the next moment, a loud explosion echoed through the air.
Huo Yuhao did not stop with the grenade gun in his hand; another Flame Lotus Bomb flew toward the students who had attacked him.
The opponent saw his energy-gathering soul cannon intercepted by a special flame lotus bomb. While he was stunned, the second flame lotus bomb approached him.
He quickly activated his soul guidance shield for defense.
However, the moment the Flame Lotus bomb touched the protective shield, a faint halo enveloped his entire body and neutralized the explosion of the Flame Lotus Bomb.
Then, he was carried out of the field by the halo. He was rescued by an eighth-level soul engineer referee, which meant he was eliminated.
His teammates wanted to avenge him, but considering the opponent was Huo Yuhao, they could only say, "Why did you have to provoke someone whose talent is even more abnormal than Xiao Hongchen? If Huo Yuhao didn't have some skills, how could he play with the Hongchen siblings?"
At the same time, Nana was engaged in a conflict with a fourth-grade student.
Because the detection map in her mind displayed what was happening in most of the venue, it naturally included the battle where Huo Yuhao had just used the grenade gun.
Seeing Huo Yuhao's powerful fighting ability, Nana's eyes expressed some surprise.
However, she was also fighting at the moment, so she could only suppress her thoughts for the time being.
Huo Yuhao raised his eyes and looked at Nana's opponent, momentarily stunned. "Hmm? What is this… Blue Silver Entanglement?"
The man's hands flashed with a strange blue light, releasing dozens of blue-purple vines, each entangled with and controlling a soul-guidance ray gun.
Nana's voice came in a slightly faster tone. "His martial soul is the blue spirit vine, which can control the soul guidance ray gun and cannon by wrapping around it. It's a castrated version of the soul guidance turret."
"The firepower is not as fierce as a real turret soul guidance device, but the advantage is that it's more flexible."
Huo Yuhao nodded, knowing Nana wished to showcase herself in this selection, so he asked, "Do you need my help?"
Nana curled her lips slightly. "No, your spiritual detection is enough."
As she spoke, Nana's third soul ring lit up, and the dark red short knife in her hand exhibited a strange ripple.
The dark red blade light, which was originally only one foot and two inches long, suddenly expanded to ten feet. Nana's somewhat illusory figure leaped up and instantly transformed into a shocking rainbow.
The other party controlled dozens of blue spirit vines and nearly thirty soul-guidance ray guns, which opened fire simultaneously, targeting Nana.
Nana's martial soul was a ghost. The moment she drew her sword, her body, which was nearly transparent, disappeared completely and merged into the long rainbow-like sword light.
Her figure flashed directly through the dense barrage of soul guidance rays without suffering any damage as if she were immune to physical attacks.
Uniting her body and sword, she rushed straight towards the opponent with the intent to cut him.
The opponent did not expect Nana's figure to suddenly vanish from the venue, leaving them unsure of how to respond.
With his current mental power, he could only use the blue spirit vine to control the soul ray gun to fire. There wasn't enough mental power to support controlling dozens of soul cannons.
He couldn't effectively use the blue spirit vine to entangle her.
His teammate reminded him, "Why are you standing there, Third Brother? Her martial soul should be immune to some physical attacks. Use the blue spirit vine to entangle her."
"Didn't I think of that?"
Feeling a bit clever, he replied, "She is integrated with the blade. If I use the blue spirit vine to entangle her, isn't that just giving her a chance to chop?"
"Put yourself in her shoes. Are you afraid of the blue spirit vine entanglement?" he asked his teammate.
"I'm not afraid," the teammate responded without hesitation.
"That's it. If you're not afraid, why would the other party be? Otherwise, why do you think I chose the path of a soul engineer?" He looked at his teammates with disdain, believing their caution would only lower his level.
The teammate slipped away, "Then you're on your own. Just a gentle reminder, her teammate seems to be Huo Yuhao. You're done."
"Just go ahead and leave in peace. We'll carry your hope until the end."
Afterward, the two teammates strategically escaped to avoid being caught in the ensuing chaos.
Seeing Nana's blade and body merge into one, transforming into a stunning long rainbow, she was poised to strike the opponent with extreme force.
At that moment, a faint halo also enveloped the opponent's body, carrying them out of the field.
On the high platform above the trial field, Jing Hongchen and Lin Jiayi had been paying attention to the battle situation on Huo Yuhao's side.
Seeing Nana's incredible performance, Jing Hongchen couldn't help but admire her. "I didn't expect this female student to be so fierce. Which class is she from?"
Since Nana was Huo Yuhao's teammate, she naturally caught Jing Hongchen's attention.
Huo Yuhao easily eliminated a fourth-grade student, which didn't surprise them; after all, he knew the power of the grenade gun.
Lin Jiayi flipped through the folder in his hand. "Her name is Nana, and she is a student in the Soul Guidance Class of the Control Department."
"her martial soul is a ghost. According to the teacher's notes, she excels at using short blades. She is a soul engineer of the Agility Attack Department. While having a high burst speed, she also possesses high attack power..."
…
At Shrek Academy, outside the Sea God Pavilion, beneath the golden tree.
Wang Yan reported the situation of the free-for-all selection to Xuan Zi: "Master Xuan, the first round of the reserve team selection has ended."
"During this time, many talented students stood out. Their performances were impressive, making it difficult to decide on the final candidates for the reserve team."
"Hmm?"
Xuan Zi was eating a chicken leg and drinking wine under the shade of a tree. After hearing Wang Yan's words, he stopped drinking and asked, "Didn't I say before the game? The remaining seven people, with such simple and clear rules, how could it be difficult to decide?"
Wang Yan sighed lightly and said slowly, "Master Xuan, you said that the free-for-all was just that: free to play, with no rules, and that the students would form teams spontaneously."
"The first-place team is made up of the five strongest people in the outer courtyard: Beibei, Xu Sanshi, He Caitou, Tang Ya, and Jiang Nannan."
Xuan Zi continued to suck on the chicken leg without raising his head, stating the matter of factly. "Why not just decide on these five people and then pick two from the second-place team?"
"That's where the problem lies," Wang Yan was somewhat helpless.
"There are many seed students who are younger than them, making it difficult to allocate two places. They are Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, Wu Feng, and Ning Tian..."
A gleam of light flashed in Xuan Zi's slightly closed eyes. "Do Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu have martial soul fusion skills? In that case, we can only cross Ning Tian and Wu Feng off the list first."
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(End of this chapter)