The Unrivaled Tang Sect

Book 8: Advancing to the Second Year

Chapter 53.1: Irrefutable Benefits?

“In order to withstand it, your soul power must’ve needed to reach at least rank 20; only then did it fully awaken. Now that it has, your body should be able to bear its load. I know that what I’m saying right now might sound inconceivable, but I think that this is the best way to explain your situation.”

It might sound inconceivable? Huo Yuhao felt like his back had become drenched in cold sweat when he heard Teacher Wang’s explanation. Teacher Wang was just too amazing… simply too amazing! His Ice Empress martial soul obviously hadn’t appeared when he’d awoken his Spirit Eyes, but besides that, there hadn’t been a single mistake in what Wang Yan had said! His martial soul truly was sentient!

Wang Yan took a deep breath. “Yuhao, let me give you a piece of advice. Even though you’ve become a core disciple of the Soul Tool Department, you’re still someone who has an Ultimate martial soul. As such, the Martial Soul Department is the best place for you to study. Only in the Martial Soul Department will you be able to properly raise your Ultimate martial soul. To tell the truth, your innate talent is the highest I’ve ever seen. I never could’ve imagined that, not just twin martial souls, but both a Body Soul and an Ultimate martial soul could coexist inside of the same person.”

“You aren’t that strong right now. However, given enough time and assuming you continue to cultivate properly, your strength will continue increasing at an extremely fast pace. At the same time, your Spirit Eyes martial soul can still awaken twice! Heavens! I’m already incapable of imagining the heights you’ll reach in the future. However, you’ll have to pay close attention to your cultivation. An Ultimate element is extremely strong, but even an Ultimate martial soul has its disadvantages, which is related to the speed of your cultivation. According to the academy’s records, the three ancestors who possessed the Ultimate element all felt their cultivation speeds drop dramatically once they reached Rank 30.”

Huo Yuhao was startled. “A drop in cultivation speed? To what extent is this drop?”

“You don’t need to worry,” Wang Yan said with a faint smile, “even though your cultivation speed will drop by a large margin, a soul master with an Ultimate martial soul will still be much stronger than other soul masters of the same rank. Furthermore, a slower cultivation speed is definitely acceptable when it’s for the sake of strengthening both your body and your Ultimate element. After all, it’s not like you won’t make any progress at all. Actually, progressing slowly isn’t necessarily a bad thing for an Ultimate martial soul; you won’t encounter any bottlenecks since you have an Ultimate element.”

Once Huo Yuhao had finished listening to Wang Yan’s explanation, he realized just how much of an advantage his martial soul granted him. Moreover, Wang Yan didn’t know that he also had both a million year intelligent soul ring and a four hundred thousand year intelligent soul ring inside of his body.

Just like Wang Yan had said, Huo Yuhao was weak right now. At the same time however, his prospects were limitless.

“So, what do you think? You should seriously consider transferring to the Martial Soul Department. If you’re willing to, I’ll personally notify the Dean. He’ll surely give you the position of a core disciple this time. Furthermore, I can assure you that, with your level of talent, you’ll definitely advance to the inner courtyard.”

Huo Yuhao furrowed his brows slightly. However, in the end, he shook his head. “Thank you, Teacher Wang. I appreciate your good intentions. However, when I was in a pinch, it was the Soul Tool Department that accepted me. Now that I’ve become a core disciple of that department, I can’t go back on my word.”

Wang Yan sighed. “The Martial Soul Department is also at fault for being so short-sighted! When you and Wang Dong placed first in the freshmen assessment, I went ahead and asked Elder Xuan to take another look at the two of you. However, they…” Wang Yan sighed again. “An Ultimate martial soul can’t be wasted. Yuhao, even if decide to specialize in soul tools in the future, you absolutely can’t neglect the cultivation of your martial soul. I’ll do my best to convince the Martial Soul Department to help you obtain your future soul rings. You definitely must cultivate this Ultimate element of yours properly.”

Huo Yuhao’s eye sockets became somewhat red when he heard this. “Teacher Wang, I’ll remain your disciple forever. You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll definitely cultivate diligently and live up to your expectations.”

Wang Yan patted him on the shoulder and said, “You should head back to your dorm room and rest for now. The advancement test will continue for the rest of the day; there aren’t any more classes today. I’ll go and look for the Dean; he should’ve seen your performance just now as well. In fact, I bet he’s already paying quite a bit of attention to you. However, you don’t need to be in a hurry to choose. Dean Yan is always looking for people with outstanding talent. Now that he’s found someone like you, there’s no way that he’ll give up on you.”

“Hm.” Huo Yuhao nodded, then turned to leave.

When he did so, a gentle voice suddenly echoed from all directions. “Teacher Wang, you live up to your reputation of being one of the most outstanding teachers in our Martial Soul Department. I have to thank you for all the work you’ve done for the academy. There’s no need to look for me, as I’ve decided to come of my own volition. Please open the door.”

This gentle voice was like a warm breeze; it was extremely pleasing to the ear. When he heard it, Huo Yuhao immediately felt his spiritual sea fluctuate slightly.

The Skydream Iceworm and the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion both simultaneously exclaimed from inside of Huo Yuhao’s spirit sea, “This human is extremely powerful!”

Wang Yan became delighted when he heard these words, and immediately moved to open the door to his office. The person waiting outside was the Dean of the Martial Soul Department, Yan Shaozhe.

Dean Yan had held a meeting with all of the core teachers when he’d returned to the inner courtyard. After a simple discussion, he’d left once again and had returned to the test area to look for Huo Yuhao as fast as he could. He then heard that he’d been led away by Wang Yan. When he’d learned this, he decided to come to place directly. With his cultivation, he could hear the sound made by flies and mosquitos flapping their wings from several kilometers away; listening in on the contents of Wang Yan’s speech had been a piece of cake for him.

“Dean.” Wang Yan greeted Yan Shaozhe respectfully. He admired Dean Yan from the bottom of his heart.

Yan Shaozhe smiled faintly. “Teacher Wang, I heard what you said. In my capacity as Dean, I thank you on behalf of the academy. You’ve done your best to convince this talented youth to enter our Martial Soul Department. No matter what, once Huo Yuhao and the others graduate from their class in the outer courtyard, you’ll be allowed to teach in the inner courtyard. If I’m not mistaken, you’ve always wanted to read the books held within the secret library. Look for me when you’ve entered the inner courtyard. I’ll give you clearance to enter the secret library.”

Wang Yan was overjoyed. “Thank you, Dean. This is incredible! Really… this is just incredible!” If it weren’t for the fact that Yan Shaozhe was there, he would’ve immediately begun to jump for joy. Becoming a teacher of the inner courtyard and being able to read books from the secret library… these were things that Wang Yan had always hoped for! He hadn't expected that his lifetime goal would be achieved just like this. How could he not be happy?

Yan Shaozhe stepped into Wang Yan’s office. Once he had, the door to the office closed of its own accord.

Huo Yuhao, who was near Wang Yan, also hurried to greet him respectfully.

Yan Shaozhe arrived in front of Huo Yuhao and said with a faint smile, “Student Huo Yuhao, I came specifically to talk to you this time. First things first, I would like to apologize to you on behalf of the entire Martial Soul Department.” Once he’d finished speaking, one of the true members of Shrek Academy—the majestic Dean who possessed an enormous amount of prestige within the world of soul masters—bowed slightly to Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao couldn’t stop him; he’d been in a daze from the moment that Yan Shaozhe had entered the room.

The moment that Yan Shaozhe had appeared, he’d already guessed that he’d come here for him, in the hopes that he’d enter the Martial Soul Department. Huo Yuhao had planned to reject his offer, but he hadn’t expected Yan Shaozhe to use a trick like this.

Let alone Huo Yuhao, even the nearby Wang Yan had become so shocked that his mouth was wide open. He’d never seen Dean Yan bow to anyone.

There had once been a time when a king had come to visit the academy. Yet, this king had been the one to bow in front of Dean Shaozhe! This was because the king in question had studied at the academy once. Even though he hadn’t been able to graduate from the outer courtyard and had been dismissed from the school, he’d still been full of respect for the academy. This was more than enough to show what level of authority the academy held.

And yet, Dean Yan Shaozhe, one of the two leaders of the academy, was currently bowing to a twelve-year-old second year student. If this matter were to be publicized, it would shock every single soul master on the continent.

After bowing, Yan Shaozhe straightened his back. He was still smiling like before, and didn’t seem to be even the slightest bit embarrassed. He gently said, “Student Huo Yuhao, because of our negligence, the Martial Soul Department nearly lost someone as talented as you. I sincerely apologize for this. The blame rests with us; we were unable to properly assess your skills. We almost lost an outstanding student.”

Huo Yuhao was only able to react now: His small face had become entirely red, and gestured again and again. However, he couldn’t say anything.

The difference between him and Yan Shaozhe was comparable to that of heaven and earth. Yan Shaozhe had unexpectedly bowed to him; this alone had left him dumbfounded! His mind had been thrown into confusion, thus he didn’t know how to reply. He had already forgotten the words he’d prepared in order to refuse his offer.

Yan Shaozhe continued, “I saw your martial soul today. When you used your soul skill, your martial soul also manifested itself. If I’m not mistake, it should be an Ice Jade Scorpion, right? An Ultimate martial soul of the ice element. I know that you’ve already become a disciple of the Soul Tool Department. However, this isn’t a problem. I can go and have a talk with their department. If you were to specialize in soul tools whilst being the owner of an Ultimate martial soul… I can only say that it would be a huge waste. I dare say that, throughout the entirety Douluo Continent, the only soul masters capable of providing the proper guidance to someone with an Ultimate martial soul are those of our Martial Soul Department. If you’re willing, from today onwards you’ll become a disciple of the inner courtyard of the Martial Soul Department. I’ll teach you personally, and will become your academic advisor. Given your innate talent… even with your cultivation speed slowed by your Ultimate martial soul, I’m confident that you’ll become a Titled Douluo in less than 40 years under my tutelage. A Titled Douluo with an Ultimate martial soul, do you know what that means?”

Huo Yuhao unconsciously shook his head.

Yan Shaozhe smiled faintly. Then, he continued in a firm tone, “It means that you’d be invincible and unmatched in the world.”

These words spoken by Yan Shaozhe were like a bomb. Huo Yuhao’s body swayed, and he had to take a step back. Luckily, his will was much stronger than that of the average person’s. If it weren’t, he might’ve fallen down, which would‘ve caused him to lose a large amount of face.