Soul Land 2: Huo Yuhao, Join Sun and Moon

Chapter 124: Me? Fight Qiu'er?

The Auspicious Beast was willing to sacrifice its life for Huo Yuhao in the original story, yet in the end, its very existence was denied by Tang San. According to Tang San, if not for him, Qiu'er wouldn't have possessed such intelligence and wouldn't have existed at all. Honestly, that kind of statement was shameless.

If Tang San had simply said that without his intervention, the Three Eyed Golden Lion wouldn't have taken Wang Dong'er's appearance, that would have made sense. After all, Wang Qiu'er was indeed molded in Wang Dong'er's image.

But to claim that Qiu'er's intelligence was entirely due to Wang Dong'er's divine sense? What nonsense.

The Three Eyed Golden Lion was still an Emperor Auspicious Beast how could it possibly lack intelligence? If it had chosen to take human form, it would have still been Qiu'er, just without Wang Dong'er's influence.

Truly, Lord Sea God knew how to flatter himself. With a casual statement, he erased Qiu'er's identity, which is probably why he thought fusing Dong'er and Qiu'er into one person was a great idea.

"Another student attempting the special admission exam? Not interested. Sounds less exciting than soul tools. Yuhao, let's head back to the lab and continue our research."

Xuan Ziwen gave his assessment, clearly eager to return to his lab.

To him, everything paled in importance compared to crafting soul tools.

Huo Yuhao shook his head. "Teacher, I want to see this special admission student."

Xuan Ziwen frowned, a bit irritated. "What's so interesting about a special admission exam? If she really has a Golden Dragon martial soul, then it's practically guaranteed that she'll be admitted.

"This isn't Shrek Academy, where you need a city lord's recommendation letter to enroll. If her talent is good enough, granting her a student position is nothing difficult.

"Come, let's go to the lab. I have a brilliant idea for a new soul tool, and I need to test it. You can watch and see if there are any ways to improve it."

Although Huo Yuhao was not yet as skilled as Xuan Ziwen in soul tool crafting, his raw talent was unparalleled. Discussing designs with him was highly beneficial to Xuan Ziwen's own research.

Saying this, Xuan Ziwen grabbed Huo Yuhao's arm, intending to drag him toward the lab.

Huo Yuhao's expression changed slightly he could feel Xuan Ziwen's strength through his grip.

"Damn, this guy really is obsessed with soul tools. No wonder he defected from Mingde Hall to Tang Sect in the original story just for Huo Yuhao's hidden weapon designs."

"But I need to see Qiu'er! Why research soul tools right now? I need to prepare for our future Martial Soul Fusion Technique!"

Immediately, he said, "Teacher, wait! I've been overworking myself lately. Constant soul tool research isn't good for my physical and mental health. A person needs a balance of work and rest, so I'd like to step outside for a bit and adjust my state of mind."

Xuan Ziwen stopped and looked at Huo Yuhao carefully.

Now that he thought about it, Yuhao had been quite tense lately.

After a moment, he nodded. "Alright. You do look a bit wound up. I'll go with you to meet this Di Qiu'er."

Huo Yuhao was puzzled. "Teacher, I thought you said the exam wasn't interesting? Why the sudden change of heart?"

Xuan Ziwen sighed. "Now that I think about it, you might be right. I've been too focused on soul tool research. I love my work, but I've been stretching myself too thin, like a bowstring pulled too tight.

"So, I could use a break too. Watching young, promising students might remind me of my own academy days."

Just then, the thin gate guard interjected hesitantly, "Professor Xuan, shouldn't you go find her now? Di Qiu'er is still waiting at the gate. I need to inform the Headmaster first special admissions are too rare, and the Headmaster needs to make the final decision."

As Mingde Hall's chief researcher, Xuan Ziwen was one of the most talented soul engineers in the entire Sun Moon Empire. Some even speculated that he had already reached the level of a Rank 9 Soul Engineer, but his own cultivation level was holding him back, so he remained classified as Rank 8.

Xuan Ziwen waved his hand dismissively. "Fine, Yuhao and I will go get her."

"Understood." The thin guard nodded, giving both of them a polite smile before activating his flying soul tool and heading straight for the Headmaster's office.

Dueling Arena

Di Qiu'er stood at the center of the Dueling Arena, prepared to take the special admission test at Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy.

Typically, special admission exams focused primarily on soul engineer skills. After all, Sun Moon Academy's main priority was nurturing soul engineers.

But Huo Yuhao knew that Qiu'er who had spent her whole life in the Great Star Dou Forest had never studied soul tools before.

So he proposed to Jing Hongchen that they first test her combat abilities instead.

Due to her incredible bloodline, Qiu'er was a natural warrior.

At that moment, the arena contained only four people: Di Qiu'er, Jing Hongchen, Xuan Ziwen, and Huo Yuhao.

Qiu'er had already removed her veil, revealing her stunning face.

Huo Yuhao glanced at her silky golden hair and thought to himself, "So this is what she looks like without Wang Dong'er's influence. Pure golden hair, just like a true Three Eyed Golden Lion… rather than pinkish blue."

"Makes sense Three Eyed Golden Lions have golden fur, after all."

Qiu'er noticed Huo Yuhao's gaze and felt uneasy.

"Why is he looking at me like that?"

For a brief moment, she worried that he had seen through her identity.

After thinking about it, she dismissed the idea it was impossible for him to know her true nature.

Jing Hongchen then spoke. "Alright, Di Qiu'er, this is the Dueling Arena. The special admission test will begin now. Your first challenge is to fight Huo Yuhao."

Huo Yuhao froze on the spot.

"Wait… ME? FIGHT QIU'ER?!"

"Headmaster, isn't this a bit much?" he protested.

"In your eyes, I should still be just a Soul Elder, right?"

He had been planning to meet Qiu'er, get a new spirit soul, and finally break through to Rank 40.

Jing Hongchen waved his hand dismissively, speaking righteously.

"No problem. Combat is the best way to gain experience.

"You may be extremely talented, but you haven't been through enough real battles.

"For both soul masters and soul engineers, this is a fatal weakness."

He had a point. Many Mingde Hall researchers had spent decades focused solely on research, rarely engaging in real battles.

Even when they did fight, it was mostly just to obtain soul rings.

As a result, their combat skills were weak.

Though they were geniuses in research, they were completely outmatched in actual combat.

It wasn't that their soul tools weren't powerful they simply lacked battle awareness due to years of isolation.

And now, Huo Yuhao had been dragged into this mess.

"Seriously?! I have to fight Qiu'er??"

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