Chapter 41: Laughing Red Dust: A Genius Like Me Was Defeated in One Move!

"The ancient souls simulated by the Hall of Ancient Souls initially start at the same age as you. The examination is divided into four difficulty levels: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, and Top-tier."

Zhang Xuanfeng stood before the group, delivering the final instructions before the assessment:

"After you enter, the first ancient soul you face will be of Basic difficulty. Defeating it will advance you to the next level, where the strength of the ancient soul will increase accordingly."

"For this assessment, unless you encounter a mythicized primordial ancient soul, you must pass the Basic level to be considered a pass. Intermediate is excellent, Advanced is a perfect score, and as for the Top-tier, no one in the academy has ever cleared it."

With that, he walked to a corner of the room and pressed a button.

The next moment, thirty-six beams of light descended without warning, landing precisely on the thirty-six students of the Sun Class.

Xu Zhao felt his vision blur for a fleeting second, and when it cleared, he found himself in an unfamiliar space.

"So, this is the Hall of Ancient Souls?"

He looked around and attempted to summon his martial soul, but was blocked by an unshakeable force.

"Cannot summon martial souls?" Xu Zhao was startled, then realized: "That makes sense. Martial souls did not exist in the primordial era. If they could be used, the entire academy wouldn't be without a single person capable of passing the Top-tier assessment."

Soon, a synthesized voice echoed in his mind:

"Welcome to the Hall of Ancient Souls. Examinee: Xu Zhao. Age: Six. Status: Class Monitor of the Grade One Sun Class. This is your first trial. Difficulty: Basic."

"Countdown: ten seconds..."

"Assessment begins."

As the voice faded, a six-year-old boy appeared before Xu Zhao.

White hair, blue eyes, and delicate, slender hands fairer than a girl's.

Recognizing these features, Xu Zhao immediately recalled the boy's identity: The Red Dust family, Xiao Hongchen, whose martial soul was the three-legged golden toad, a creature possessing the bloodline of a divine beast.

"It’s actually him!"

Once identified, Xu Zhao casually unleashed a sphere of mixed elemental energy, combining wind and fire.

The six-year-old Xiao Hongchen was obliterated by the attack before he could even manifest his martial soul.

"Basic assessment: Passed. Time elapsed: One second. Rating: Perfect."

"Ten seconds until the Intermediate assessment begins..."

"...Three, two, one, assessment begins!"

As the words fell, Xiao Hongchen appeared before Xu Zhao again.

This time, however, he looked a few years older and immediately manifested his martial soul upon arrival, two deep yellow soul rings appearing behind him.

"Oh? Intelligent, are we?" Xu Zhao mused, not wasting a moment.

Water elements transformed into ice, fire into a scorching sun, and, propelled by wind, they formed a crimson and ice-blue spiral storm that surged forward.

Not far away, just as the soul rings behind Xiao Hongchen began to glow, he was once again annihilated by the strike.

"Intermediate assessment: Passed. Time elapsed: Two seconds. Rating: Perfect."

"One minute until the Advanced assessment begins..."

"...Three, two, one, assessment begins!"

Once more, an older Xiao Hongchen appeared.

This time, not only did he immediately manifest his martial soul, but his soul rings had changed from two yellow to two yellow and one purple.

Furthermore, the moment his martial soul appeared, his thousand-year soul ring began to pulse.

"A three-ringed Soul Elder for the Advanced level? These primordial ancient souls are truly impossible for humans to defeat!"

Xu Zhao spoke, and a slit opened in the center of his forehead. An eye emerged—it was his external soul bone from the Evil Eye Tyrant, which he called the "Heavenly Eye."

A deep green light of destruction condensed within the eye, crossing the space in an instant to strike the three-ringed Xiao Hongchen.

Without surprise, Xiao Hongchen was annihilated yet again.

"Advanced assessment: Passed. Time elapsed: One second. Rating: Perfect."

"Five minutes until the Top-tier assessment begins..."

"...Three, two, one, assessment begins!"

In the Top-tier form, Xiao Hongchen had grown from a boy into a handsome, jade-like youth.

Upon appearing and manifesting his martial soul, a configuration of two yellow and two purple soul rings appeared behind him.

Perhaps having learned from the previous three encounters, this time Xiao Hongchen did not use a soul skill, but instead immediately deployed a soul tool—an Invincible Soul Barrier.

After activating the barrier, he stood motionless, watching Xu Zhao’s every move with intense vigilance.

"..." Xu Zhao was speechless.

The Invincible Soul Barrier was a luxury item among ancient soul tools, its core material being the gold crystal unique to the Sun Moon Empire. With the exhaustion of the gold crystal mines, such one-time-use ancient soul tools had faded from history.

"If Xiao Hongchen can bring out an Invincible Soul Barrier, can I manifest the firearms from my past life?"

Xu Zhao thought, then shook his head abruptly.

"Better not. If I really could manifest them, it would be hard to explain their origin."

"Besides, the Invincible Soul Barrier cannot block pure spiritual attacks. I'll stick with the Heavenly Eye."

He pondered which talent of the Evil Eye clan to use.

"The 'Soul-Devouring Touch' it is."

A spectral tentacle extended from the Heavenly Eye on his forehead. It passed through the Invincible Soul Barrier as if it were non-existent, striking precisely at Xiao Hongchen's forehead and entering his sea of consciousness to devour his soul origin.

With his soul consumed, Xiao Hongchen became brain-dead, indistinguishable from a living corpse, and was judged as dead by the rules of the Hall of Ancient Souls.

"Top-tier assessment: Passed. Time elapsed: Five seconds. Rating: Perfect."

"Congratulations to examinee Xu Zhao for being the first student in ten thousand years to pass the Top-tier assessment. You have earned an honorary certificate and a mysterious gift package, which will be delivered by a specialist upon your return to the outside world."

"A mysterious gift package? How mysterious?"

Ignoring the useless honorary certificate, Xu Zhao focused entirely on the unknown gift.

As he thought this, his vision blurred once more. A second later, it cleared, and he found himself back in the original circular room.

At this moment, only about twenty students from the Sun Class were in the room; the rest were still undergoing their assessments in the Hall.

Among those who had finished, one student looked exceptionally dejected—so much so that the class teacher was busy providing him with psychological counseling.