Early the next morning, the examination area was bustling with noise once again, filled with an atmosphere of tension and anticipation. Furina and her group of four arrived at Zone 33 on time.
Unlike the round-robin stage, after the first round of eliminations, the five teams remaining in this area had been replaced. The new teams, while not necessarily the top seeds from their original sections, were generally a tier stronger than the opponents encountered previously; anyone capable of advancing this far was no slouch.
However, the situation in Zone 33 was somewhat peculiar. Strictly speaking, there was an anomaly in this area where there were "two first-place teams"—Huo Yuhao's team ranked first with an undefeated record, and although Furina was also undefeated, due to her highly specific personal circumstances, the academy had to make some special adjustments when calculating rankings and arranging opponents.
Considering that Furina's presence was a nearly "devastating" blow to ordinary freshman teams, disrupting the balance and training value of the examination too much, the academy leadership had specially adjusted the rules:
Any team eliminated in the knockout stage due to encountering Furina would be granted one additional "resurrection match" opportunity to compete against other teams in similar situations, determining a "strongest survivor" spot to ensure that truly potential-filled teams were not "accidentally" knocked out.
After all, anyone could see that Furina was completely "bombing the fish pond"; it was simply too unfair.
In fact, according to the normal draw, it was highly likely that Furina and Huo Yuhao's team would have met early on.
But Yan Shaozhe clearly knew they were close and both belonged to the "Axis Cult" faction. To avoid internal strife consuming a championship favorite too early, or rather, to preserve more suspense and entertainment value, he had secretly adjusted the schedule to ensure these two teams would not meet until at least the quarterfinals, or even the semifinals.
When all six advancing teams had arrived, Teacher Wang Yan, the chief examiner for this area, scanned the crowd and announced loudly: "According to the knockout stage rules, the top-seeded team in this area will compete first."
He scanned the match bracket in his hand and said clearly: "According to the draw results, the opponents for this match are: freshman class one, Furina, versus freshman class seven, Huang Chutian's team. Please have the team members enter the arena. You may only release your Martial Soul after I announce the start of the match."
The opponent that was supposed to be faced by Huo Yuhao's team in the original timeline had now become the litmus test for Furina. Furina was quite satisfied with this—this was part of her "poaching" plan, targeting the twin sisters who possessed rare Body Martial Souls, Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo. She had long wanted to bring these potential stocks under the banner of the Axis Cult.
In her view, even if the original plot played out, the one-ring Huo Yuhao, working with Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao, could defeat this sister pair's team. Now that Huo Yuhao's mental force was even stronger, and he had unlocked the bug-level "Golden Road" Martial Soul Fusion Skill with Wang Dong ahead of schedule, dealing with them would only be easier.
Whether it was the gap in Soul Power, the quality of their Martial Souls, or that unprecedented one-hundred-percent Fusion rate, the sisters' Martial Soul Fusion Skill "Heavenly Net" could hardly contend with it.
Furina even felt that, looking at the entire Douluo series, the only things that could be mentioned in the same breath as the "absurd" level of the Martial Soul Fusion Skill of the "God-made CP" of Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were perhaps the "self-Fusions" from the Late Stage that involved God King Bloodlines and the level of rules.
But those were mostly products of Bloodline resonance, which differed in nature from the situation where Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong's Martial Soul attributes did not seem to fully match, yet were forcibly twisted into a one-hundred-percent Fusion by the secret machinations of a certain God King. To replicate this "miracle," it would likely require another God King-level existence to "personally intervene" and orchestrate it from behind the scenes.
Thinking of those in the God Realm Committee, especially the famous "troll" style of the former Gods of Good and Evil, God of Destruction really had quite the "blessing" to have such colleagues.
...
Returning to the arena. In the freshman class seven team, a tall, burly, and muscular male student stepped out first. Following closely behind were two female students who looked almost identical, like mirrors. They both had supple blue hair down to their waists, delicate features, and a hint of the unique tacit understanding of twins in their spirited eyes.
The male student who stepped out first was the captain of this team, Huang Chutian—a background character who almost exited the stage as soon as he appeared in the original work.
As for the sisters Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo, they left a deeper impression due to their unique "hair" Body Martial Soul and the rare sister Martial Soul Fusion Skill "Heavenly Net".
Furina had always felt that if they could be introduced to the Body Sect, which specialized in Body Martial Soul Cultivation, their development potential and future achievements would definitely far exceed growing up step-by-step at Shrek.
Seeing that Furina was indeed alone and was a white-haired girl with outstanding temperament, Huang Chutian immediately thought of the rumors about the "Inner Court student bombing the fish pond" that had been spreading like wildfire in the academy recently.
He suppressed his inner apprehension, maintained his composure, and saluted first: "Hello, my name is Huang Chutian, and these two are Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo. Please advise." His attitude was neither servile nor overbearing.
Furina, however, responded with an exceptionally bright smile, even with a hint of impatient salesmanship: "Hello there! I am Furina, the current Pope of the Axis Cult and the future Water God herself, a level 52 Food-type Support Soul Master."
"May I ask, are the three of you interested in joining our Axis Cult? Especially you two beautiful and special Young Misses, our Axis Cult is thirsting for talent, and we guarantee we can provide the most suitable development platform and resources for you. Your future will definitely be bright, oh!"
Her enthusiastic solicitation was conducted openly in front of the invigilator Teacher Wang Yan and many onlookers.
Teacher Wang Yan, who was off-stage, twitched the corner of his mouth slightly and really wanted to stop her: Student Furina, you are openly poaching people in front of Shrek Academy; aren't you taking the academy too lightly?
But the words reached his lips and were swallowed back. Because he had long heard from other colleagues that this "Pope" with an unconventional style of doing things had more than once promoted the benefits of the Axis Cult in public, even bluntly stating that in some aspects it was not inferior to Shrek, and had successfully "lured away" the attention of some students.
In all fairness, Wang Yan could not fully refute it. Furina had indeed brought out many astonishing things, such as those peculiar weapons that could be driven without Soul Power and had impressive power—"pistols"—as well as her own spirit ring configuration and Cultivation speed that subverted cognition.
Even the once-glorious Tang Sect was willing to become its affiliate and seemed to have gained a new life within the Axis Cult. In the hearts of some students, especially those from civilian backgrounds or those who had no feelings for traditional major Sects, the image of the Axis Cult had become mysterious and powerful.
Moreover, even Dean Yan Shaozhe seemed to have adopted an attitude of tacit approval or even observation, so why should he, an ordinary teacher, stick his neck out? Doing his job well and ensuring the examination was conducted fairly was his primary task. Unless... there was a day when he needed to be the scapegoat.
After a brief internal struggle, Wang Yan decided to look at his nose and heart, focus on performing his duties as a referee, and choose to turn a blind eye to Furina's "on-site recruitment" behavior.
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