Chapter 32: Passing the Assessment
Roar—
A phantom of a white tiger appeared on the surface of Dai Mubai’s body, roaring as it merged with him, granting him an enhancement buff!
In his White Tiger Vajra Transformation state, Dai Mubai’s resistance to negative effects, defense, and attack power were all increased by 100%.
Thud—
However, even in this enhanced state, Dai Mubai’s defenses were like paper in front of Su Mo’s Thunder Strike. The unstoppable force of Su Mo's Soul Hunting Spear pierced right through Dai Mubai’s crossed arms, which were meant to guard against the attack.
"Not good..."
Zhao Wuji, who had been watching calmly, suddenly turned pale with alarm.
Su Mo’s attack had completely exceeded his expectations.
In Zhao Wuji’s mind, even though Su Mo’s second soul skill was of a millennium-level soul ring, Dai Mubai’s third soul skill was also of millennium-level quality. Coupled with Dai Mubai being at level 37 and possessing a top-tier martial spirit, Zhao Wuji thought that while Su Mo’s attack might hurt him, it wouldn’t be life-threatening.
But seeing the scene unfold, Zhao Wuji realized Su Mo’s attack could actually pierce right through Dai Mubai. This was extremely dangerous—if not deadly, it could certainly leave him severely injured.
Just as Zhao Wuji was about to intervene, Su Mo withdrew his spear with a flourish, spinning it expertly before placing it back behind his back.
"I think there’s no need to continue, right?"
After stowing his Soul Hunting Spear, Su Mo smiled faintly at the pale and shaken Dai Mubai.
Gulp—
Dai Mubai swallowed hard, his eyes momentarily glazed over. It took a while before he spoke, filled with fear and frustration: "I... lost."
Although he hated to admit it, Dai Mubai knew that if Su Mo hadn’t held back just now, he would be dealing with more than just a pierced arm.
"This…"
"How is this possible…"
Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong, witnessing the scene, were both shocked and incredulous.
Neither of them had expected Su Mo to pass the test so quickly and decisively.
Not only did Su Mo not just survive the incense-stick-length test, but he outright defeated Dai Mubai.
"Teachers, does this mean I’ve passed the fourth stage of the assessment?"
Su Mo turned to Zhao Wuji and Lu Qibin, smiling as he spoke.
Su Mo wasn’t surprised at all by his victory over Dai Mubai.
His attack power was currently overwhelming, and both his first and second soul skills were top-tier. When combined with his Soul Hunting Spear, which was fused with the Profound Iron Spear, even Soul Elders would find it difficult to withstand his attacks, let alone Soul Masters.
However, Su Mo’s strength was mainly in his offensive power. In close-quarters combat, he excelled, but he would struggle against fast opponents who avoided direct confrontations.
Moreover, Su Mo was still only a level 22 Great Soul Master. His defense and soul power reserves were weaknesses that could be exploited.
For example, in his fight against Dai Mubai, if Su Mo hadn’t managed to defeat him quickly, he would undoubtedly have lost in the long run.
"Of course, you’ve passed!"
"You cheeky brat, you actually dared to tell me you were only level 22. How on earth is a level 22 soul master supposed to be this strong?!"
"Come on, tell me what your second soul skill is. Why is it so powerful?"
Zhao Wuji, hearing Su Mo’s question, immediately responded, then curiously asked Su Mo about his abilities.
Not only Zhao Wuji, but everyone else was also staring at Su Mo, eager to know the source of his strength.
"My second soul skill is just a bit stronger than average. What really makes my attacks powerful is the fusion of my martial spirit with my weapon!"
Su Mo smiled lightly before taking the long spear from his back once more.
Buzz—
With a thought, Su Mo separated his martial spirit, the Soul Hunting Spear, from the Profound Iron Spear.
Once separated, everyone could see that while the two spears looked similar, they were not identical.
This was because Su Mo’s martial spirit had undergone changes after absorbing his soul rings, while the Profound Iron Spear had been forged based on its original form, naturally creating differences.
"This is my martial spirit—the Soul Hunting Spear!"
"This spear was crafted by Tang San, following the design of my martial spirit. The shaft is made of refined iron, and the spearhead is forged from profound iron!"
Su Mo knew that everyone would be curious about his extraordinary strength, so he didn’t hide the fact that his martial spirit was fused with a Profound Iron Spear.
As long as he didn’t reveal the secret of imbuing his weapon into his soul, it was fine!
Besides, even if he didn’t say it, perceptive soul masters would eventually figure it out—especially Tang San, who could easily see through things with his Purple Demon Eyes.
There was no point in hiding it because, over time, the truth would come to light.
"It can actually be done like this…"
"He forged a weapon identical to his martial spirit and then fused them together…"
"No wonder he always kept his martial spirit manifested—turns out it was to hide this!"
"…"
Hearing Su Mo’s explanation, the crowd was stunned by this unique approach. They had never imagined something like this was possible, which explained why Su Mo’s attack power was so overwhelming.
Even though he already had a weaponized martial spirit, he went a step further and forged a matching weapon to fuse them together, amplifying his power.
Ning Rongrong's eyes sparkled as she looked at Su Mo, finding him increasingly intriguing. Not only was his perspective sharp and unconventional, but he also thought of merging his martial spirit with a weapon to enhance his abilities.
"Shameless! This is cheating!"
Dai Mubai, realizing what had happened, angrily accused Su Mo.
He had already struggled to accept his defeat to Su Mo, but now that he knew why, he lashed out at Su Mo to justify his loss, hoping it would prove he had been unfairly beaten.
He believed the only reason Su Mo had defeated him was because Su Mo had cheated, causing him to misjudge his attack power.
"Teachers, this doesn’t count as cheating, does it? After all, Tang San used more weapons than I did!"
Su Mo, hearing Dai Mubai’s accusation, didn’t argue with him. Instead, he turned to Zhao Wuji and Lu Qibin with a calm response.
"Ahem, this definitely isn’t cheating. Being able to come up with something like this shows your ingenuity!"
"However, in future competitions like the Soul Master Tournament, external tools like weapons are prohibited, so you won’t be able to use this method."
Zhao Wuji coughed lightly, then explained. A unique talent like Su Mo wasn’t someone he would reject.
However, he also had to consider Dai Mubai’s feelings, so he made sure to address Su Mo as well.
"Alright, Mubai, from now on, you’ll all be comrades. Let’s not dwell on this. Even without using weapons, Su Mo would still be a little monster!"
As Zhao Wuji spoke, Lu Qibin also used a secret voice transmission technique to soothe Dai Mubai.
After all, the most embarrassed person here was Dai Mubai, a Soul Elder at level 37, who had just been taken down in an instant by a mere level 22 Great Soul Master.
"My apologies, I misspoke!"
"Su Mo, welcome to Shrek Academy!"
Though still upset, Dai Mubai had enough composure to step forward, apologize to Su Mo, and formally welcome him to Shrek Academy.
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