The students who suffered mental shock and amnesia during the previous siege have mostly regained consciousness and are now watching the show with great interest.
What do the characters 朱(Zhū), 莱(Lái), 臧(Zō), and 曹(Cáo) mean?
Zang Xin looked at the other three and said, "Then let's do as we said before. It's okay if we mess it up. Just imagine that Teacher Huo is here to give us a hard time today, and that we'll all get slapped as we walk by. That will make us feel much better."
“Perhaps it’s not as we imagine,” Cao Dezhi sighed. “The four of us are like fish jumping on a chopping board right now.”
"Are you two really not brothers? If I ever get the chance, I definitely want to hear you two perform a comedy routine." Having given up entirely, Leng Yulai was now completely unrestrained. "Let's all just let go of any psychological pressure; losing won't matter anyway."
"As long as you're happy." Leng Yaozhu also breathed a sigh of relief, looking much more relaxed. The two sisters walked behind Zang Xin and Cao Dezhi, forming a two-by-two formation for the four-person team.
"Go." Cao Dezhi casually uttered a few words, then activated his soul rings, and the Ruthless Sword materialized in his hand. It was an octagonal sword, entirely black. "Ruthless Ice Heart," he uttered in a deep voice, and the sword and he himself were instantly coated with a layer of gray, as if they were isolated from worldly emotions.
"Putting on a shield before the fight even begins?" This is what the onlookers are thinking at this moment, unaware that this is a necessary pre-battle preparation for Cao Dezhi and Zang Xin to fight side by side. Everyone knows that the Sentimental Sword can stir the emotions of onlookers, but they often subconsciously assume that the wielder of the Ruthless Sword is immune to it. In fact, the Ruthless Sword does have this ability, but that doesn't mean Cao Dezhi has it too; after all, he's still a normal person. Therefore, putting on a shield before each fight to prevent his teammates from accidentally injuring him serves both to confuse the opponent and to protect himself.
Zang Xin's second spirit ring lit up, and Cao Dezhi rolled his eyes at him in annoyance. Zang Xin grinned at him, clearly not up to any good.
Many years later, Leng Yulai's comment about Zang Xin, "He does whatever is most disgusting," largely stemmed from her malice towards Zang Xin's second soul skill. Oh, if Huo Yuhao had heard that, he would probably have agreed with that assessment.
Second Soul Skill: Sincerity.
On the other side, Huo Dong, also known as Huo Yuhao, hadn't actually intended to dodge this attack. Since waking up ten thousand years later, he had been relentlessly studying the Soul Masters and Soul Guidance knowledge of this era. He had basically absorbed all the Soul Guidance content in just one day; after all, it was his science background, and those top-tier techniques weren't particularly complex to him. However, the Soul Master content truly surprised him. After ten thousand years, not only were Soul Masters now all geniuses in cultivation, but when he entered Shrek Academy, he only had level 11 Soul Power, while the current entry standard was at least three rings. The mutation and inheritance of Martial Souls were so complex that it would take ten generations to explain them all; before, there were at most animal-type, plant-type, and artifact-type Martial Souls, but now there were angels and divine beasts, and some even could perform self-Martial Soul fusion techniques. Ten thousand years ago, textbooks would dare to write this, but teachers wouldn't dare to teach it like this. Huo Yuhao spent three days studying himself until he was increasingly red-faced, and finally made up his mind: he was determined to personally experience these strange and wonderful Martial Souls.
So he withdrew his mental defenses and watched as a ball of white light appeared from the tip of the Ru Shui Duo Qing sword, then flew toward him at a relatively fast speed.
He reached out his hand to take it.
Then the four people opposite him showed indescribable expressions.
"Wait a minute, teacher! Why did you just reach out and catch it?! That's not how it's done at Shrek Academy! You should have given me a soul shock first, then teleported behind the others after I was stunned, then smashed a table full of chestnuts across their desks through the air, and finally announced the end of the class amidst the students' admiring gazes, saying you were very disappointed in us. Why did you just reach out and catch it?!" Zang Xin's mind was in turmoil. The original plan was for Cao Dezhi and him to attack simultaneously, to see who would be lucky enough to hit, and if he hit, he could inflict a tiny bit of mental control. Although Cao Dezhi was surprised by Huo Dong's actions, he still rushed forward, his fourth spirit ring lit up, and the Ruthless Sword slashed through the air towards Huo Dong—
But Huo Dong had already encountered that light.
The second soul skill of the Affectionate Sword, Sincerity, can instantly reduce an opponent's hostility, transforming them into the opponent's most trusted or even beloved person in their eyes. Zang Xin didn't know if this move would work on a mentally-based expert, but Huo Dong had deliberately fallen for it, so theoretically—
“Very good,” came that feeling of time standing still again. Zang Xin felt his movements slowed down a hundredfold, but the flow of time for the others seemed different from his. He looked at the Phoenix Sisters; their expressions were still frozen in surprise at seeing Huo Dong willingly fall for the attack. The surrounding students also seemed to be frozen in place, meaning that only he… was facing all of this?
“But that’s not enough.” He finally mustered the courage to look at Huo Dong, only to find that the weariness between his brows had vanished. The blue-haired master gave him a genuine smile and then said, “Perhaps you will be able to use the full power of this move when you truly fall in love with someone.”
"Now, let me demonstrate."
A powerful mental force weaved into a net, gradually materializing behind him. The image of a girl with blue and pink hair appeared behind Huo Dong. She was smiling, but Huo Dong's expression as he looked at her was full of helplessness and sorrow.
Spiritual embodiment!
"If you want to control other people's emotions, you must first control your own." Although there was reluctance in Huo Dong's eyes, he still reached out and brushed away the image in front of him. The girl came and went like a cloud.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing how far you can go." As soon as he finished speaking, the heavy, stagnant feeling vanished instantly, time began to flow again, and Zang Xin crashed heavily to the floor, temporarily losing his fighting ability.
Zang Xin's disgusting tactic had absolutely no effect on Teacher Huo? This was Cao Dezhi's first thought as he came to his senses. He pressed forward towards Huo Dong, almost touching him...
At worst, he'd just get a mental shock and be knocked out for a bit, Cao Dezhi gritted his teeth.
But Teacher Huo didn't play by the rules. He didn't use any more mental power-related techniques; instead, he used—
Cao Dezhi felt as if his body had been abruptly intercepted by a black hole, and he fell to the side.
"Controlling the Crane and Capturing the Dragon" is one of the Tang Clan's ultimate techniques. By the time he realized it, it was too late; he had already brushed past Huo Dong.
How could this person know the Tang Clan's secret techniques?!
"I've only studied a little bit." Huo Dong had already put on his usual polite smile, turning to explain to Cao Dezhi, who was in freefall. But Cao Dezhi had his back to him, so he didn't see the slight upturn of the corner of Huo Dong's mouth.
It was about time; Zang Xin and he had successfully diverted most of their attention.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," a cold female voice came from behind, as clear as a phoenix's cry.
"Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Phoenix Born of Two Forms".