Hearing his question, Huo Yuhao hesitated for two seconds, then turned to Zhu Yun and said,
"Xiaoyun, demonstrate your second soul skill for the Dean."
"Okay."
Zhu Yun nodded. The next second, her figure vanished right before Yan Shaozhe's eyes.
"...Interesting. Is this the effect of your second soul skill?"
Yan Shaozhe chuckled, turned, and looked at Zhu Yun, who had instantly moved behind him.
He asked,
"Are there any restrictions on this soul skill of yours?"
Zhu Yun glanced at Huo Yuhao. Only after receiving a confirming look did she answer calmly,
"My second soul skill is called Shadow Transfer. Its effect is to instantly move to any shadow within the range of my soul power. The higher my soul power level, the larger the range of my soul power."
Yan Shaozhe asked seriously,
"Can you take people with you when you teleport?"
"Yes, but only through physical contact."
"I see."
Yan Shaozhe finally understood what happened in the final moment of the match.
The instant the Heavenly Net and Earth Trap enveloped them, Wang Dong used Butterfly God's Light, melting the hair that had entangled the three of them.
Then, Zhu Yun used Shadow Transfer, sending Huo Yuhao to the shadows of Lan Luoluo and Lan Susu.
The rest was simple. The Heavenly Net and Earth Trap was just a large-area control skill, very limited in effectiveness against enemies close at hand.
Huo Yuhao simply used two hand chops and took the sisters away.
"But why wait until the Heavenly Net and Earth Trap enveloped you before acting? With this soul skill, you could have ended the battle much earlier, right?"
"Because we wanted to hide our information as much as possible."
Huo Yuhao said in a deep voice,
"The two deans of the Soul Tool Department gave me a strict order to win the freshman assessment championship. Since that's the case, I had to go all out."
"Heh heh, Lin'er and Duoduo will definitely be very happy to hear you say that."
Yan Shaozhe smiled gently, patted Huo Yuhao's shoulder lightly, and said,
"Keep it up, child. I have high hopes for you."
Although Dai Huabin's team was strong, Huo Yuhao, with his King's Descent, was not much weaker than a regular Soul Ancestor. The outcome of this battle was truly hard to predict.
Given this, Yan Shaozhe naturally felt more inclined towards Huo Yuhao's team.
After all, Huo Yuhao, who had learned King's Descent under Mu En's guidance, could be considered his half-junior brother.
After getting the answer he wanted, Yan Shaozhe put his hands behind his back, turned, and left.
Only after he had gone far away did Wang Dong sneak up and ask in a hushed voice,
"Yuhao, are you sure it's okay? Didn't you say you wanted to hide this move until the finals?"
Huo Yuhao chuckled, reached out and flicked his forehead, saying,
"Don't worry, Dean Yan won't go around talking about our soul skill information. Besides, we have more than just one trump card."
Huo Yuhao's team had three trump cards they hadn't used before this match began: Huo Yuhao's Soul Shock, Zhu Yun's Shadow Transfer, and their martial soul fusion skill, Nether Shadow White Tiger.
These three trump cards were also the reasons why Huo Yuhao believed he had at least three ways to instantly resolve the match against Ning Tian's team: Soul Shock could directly take care of Ning Tian, Shadow Transfer could instantly send Wang Dong or Huo Yuhao next to Ning Tian to end the match, and Nether Shadow White Tiger was a move that could overcome any obstacle with sheer power. Ning Tian's team composition meant they had no chance of winning against Huo Yuhao's team.
However, Dai Huabin's team was not as easy to deal with as Ning Tian's team. Even with these three trump cards, Huo Yuhao was only about 70% confident that his team could defeat Dai Huabin and win the championship.
As for the final result, it would depend on their performance during the match.
At this moment, Huo Yuhao suddenly felt several sharp gazes piercing him from behind. Turning his head, he found it was none other than Dai Huabin and the others.
Shortly after Huo Yuhao's team determined the winner, they also defeated their opponents today and advanced to the finals.
Huo Yuhao blinked and asked with a smile,
"Is your match over? How was it, smooth?"
"Of course."
Dai Huabin nodded proudly, walked up to Huo Yuhao, and said in a low voice,
"You just wait, you little bastard. This time you won't be able to use your little toys. I will completely crush you in the finals!"
Huo Yuhao maintained his smiling expression, but there was not a trace of a smile in his eyes.
"Alright, I'll be waiting for you, you coward who only bullies Soul Masters who can't use soul tools."
"You...!"
Dai Huabin's expression immediately changed, flames of anger erupted in his eyes, and he instinctively wanted to make a move.
But after meeting Huo Yuhao's gaze, a strange chill surged in his heart, and he ultimately chose not to attack.
Seeing that he didn't make a move, Huo Yuhao was actually a little surprised. He raised his eyebrows and chuckled lightly,
"Oh, you've gotten a lot smarter, haven't you? Not bad, not bad, you're improving."
This wasn't the competition stage. If Dai Huabin really attacked him, he could use soul tools freely.
At that time, how badly he would beat Dai Huabin in "legitimate self-defense," and whether he would still be able to participate in tomorrow's match, would be hard to say.
If he was allowed to use soul tools, he wasn't even afraid of Soul Sects right now, let alone Dai Huabin, a Soul Ancestor who had only recently reached level 30.
"Hmph! Zhu Lu, Jin'er, let's go."
Dai Huabin naturally wouldn't admit that he was just afraid. He snorted coldly, turned around, and left with his team members.
Looking at his back, Wang Dong said unhappily,
"What a shame. If he had really attacked just now, I, your daddy, would have beaten him until he couldn't take care of himself!"
Huo Yuhao smiled gently.
"Don't worry, you'll have plenty of chances in the future."
"Uh... Yuhao?"
Looking at him like this, Wang Dong suddenly felt the anger in his heart subside by more than half.
Huo Yuhao asked with a smile,
"What's wrong?"
"No... nothing."
Wang Dong hesitated repeatedly, but ultimately didn't say it out loud.
Huo Yuhao's smile at this moment was so frightening that he almost didn't recognize him.
It seemed like a certain word in Dai Huabin's earlier statement had completely enraged the young man, causing his usually gentle personality to rarely reveal his sharp claws.
Wang Dong had never seen Huo Yuhao with such an expression, one that seemed ready to devour someone.
At this moment, he suddenly realized that he didn't understand his roommate at all. This realization couldn't help but make him feel a little lost.
Zhu Yun watched the two of them with flickering eyes, still expressionless, lost in thought.
Although Huo Yuhao felt Wang Dong's words and actions were a bit strange, he wasn't in the mood to pursue it right now. So he clapped his hands and said,
"Alright, let's disperse for now. Use the rest of today to rest well and prepare for tomorrow's finals."
"Okay."
And so, the day passed.
The next day, the final round of the freshman assessment officially began.