Fighting Above His Level, an Easy Victory

In the blink of an eye, Gan Lin had spent a semester at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

That was half a year.

Although his Soul Power Level had made little progress over those six months, his reputation...

It could be said that his name was known far and wide.

A crowd of students surrounded the Soul Fighting Arena in Heaven Dou Royal Academy's outer campus. Gan Lin stood in the middle of the fighting platform. At six years old, he did not even reach some people's waists. He held the Blackcliff Warbow in his hand, with the Condensed Arrow Ice Box fastened behind him.

Since joining the academy, he had spent almost every day on the fighting platform. At first, quite a few Soul Masters of his level saw how young he was and that he used a bow, and volunteered to challenge him. They had all lost.

The Blackcliff Warbow struck with tremendous force when drawn to its fullest, while the ice arrows from the Condensed Arrow Ice Box carried a chill that could freeze an opponent's movements. One attacked with power, the other controlled the field; together, they left no openings.

He could no longer find an opponent at the Soul Elder rank. Many students had fought him one after another, and none had lasted twenty exchanges.

Someone below the platform said, "Is someone coming up to lose again today? That Power Attack System fellow last week was frozen on the platform by an ice arrow and couldn't move for ages."

"No one at his level has dared to go up for a long time. A level thirty-eight tried yesterday, and three arrows knocked his heart-protecting mirror off. His face turned green."

Gan Lin paid no attention to the voices below. He knew that if he kept fighting at his own level, his practical combat skills would improve slowly. A Soul Elder and a Soul Ancestor were separated by an entire major realm, and the Soul Power barrier was formidable. Without using his Martial Soul, he wanted to see how hard it was to cross that hurdle.

Actually, it would not be that hard.

When the voices below quieted a little, he looked up and swept his gaze over the crowd. His clear voice spread with his Soul Power: "This junior would like to challenge a Soul Ancestor. Which senior would come down and offer me guidance?"

As soon as he spoke, the Soul Fighting Arena fell silent. Then it erupted.

"Fighting a Soul Ancestor above his level? How can a Soul Elder compare to a Soul Ancestor? There's a whole tier of difference in their Soul Power!"

"And he's an archer! A flying Agility Attack System Soul Ancestor could run him around until he couldn't even catch a glimpse of them. A ranged fighter against a flying opponent is at a complete disadvantage."

Amid the commotion, a white figure leaped down from the stands. A pair of white dove wings spread behind him, stirring up a gust of wind. The young man in white landed on the opposite side of the platform, his level forty-one Soul Power pressing forward, pale green wind swirling around the dove wings on his back.

"I'll do it." The young man smiled. "Bai Ling, level forty-one Agility Attack System Battle Soul Ancestor, Martial Soul Flying Dove. You've got guts, but guts count for nothing on the fighting platform. If you lose, don't say I bullied a child."

Cheers rang out below. Bai Ling was not particularly strong among Soul Ancestors, but he was famous for his speed. His Flying Dove Martial Soul could fly and had the wind attribute to increase his speed. He excelled at keeping his distance and wearing opponents down, making him a natural counter to ranged tool Soul Masters.

Everyone thought Gan Lin was certain to lose this time.

Gan Lin nodded and placed his left hand on the ice box. "Please make your move, senior."

The moment the referee shouted "Begin," Bai Ling flapped his wings and flew straight up, stopping at the top of the fighting platform's protective barrier. He looked down at Gan Lin on the ground and said, "First, take this."

His yellow First Soul Ring lit up, and his wings sent a dense barrage of small wind blades crashing down at Gan Lin like raindrops. The blades were fast, reaching him in the blink of an eye. Gan Lin shifted his feet and dodged while drawing three ice arrows from the box, nocking them, pulling the string, and releasing in one smooth motion.

The bowstring sounded, and the three ice arrows struck the three densest points in the barrage of wind blades. Ice chips and gusts burst apart. The few remaining wind blades brushed past his clothes and scored shallow marks in the stone slabs.

"Not bad reactions." Bai Ling raised an eyebrow. He looked down on Gan Lin a little less, but still did not take him seriously. A flying Soul Master had a natural advantage against an archer on the ground. He beat his wings and traced a tricky curve through the air. His Second Soul Ring lit up. "Second Soul Skill, Wind Feather Shadow Clone!"

Three white figures identical to him spread out, making four in all with his true body. They charged at Gan Lin from four directions, each trailing wind blades, with no way to tell which was real. This was a common Soul Skill of the Flying Dove Martial Soul, using Anemo to form clones. Even Soul Ancestors of the same level found them hard to distinguish, making them even more troublesome for an archer who needed to aim.

Someone below shook their head. "Even Power Attack System Soul Ancestors get headaches from that move. How's he supposed to tell them apart?"

Gan Lin stood still, watching the four figures in the air without rushing to shoot. His bow hand was steady, and his breathing remained even. When the clones came within twenty meters, he suddenly turned his wrist and took out a long arrow radiating cold. He drew his bow to its fullest, but instead of shooting into the air, he fired at the ground beside his feet.

The ice arrow lodged in the stone slab, and cold spread out in an instant. A patch of sharp ice spikes rose from the ground as thick white mist billowed up, covering most of the fighting platform in the blink of an eye.

"Ice mist." Bai Ling frowned. With his opponent's vision blocked, the clones could no longer serve as a distraction. He beat his wings hard, trying to blow the mist away, but the cold hung heavy. The wind only made the mist sway, sending ice chips flying into his face and leaving his skin tight with cold.

Just then, a muffled rush of air burst from the mist. Bai Ling's heart tightened, and he twisted aside. A pitch-black arrow skimmed past his shoulder, the wind it carried making his wing ache.

"That arrow had some force behind it." Bai Ling was startled. He could feel that the Soul Power on the arrow was much stronger than that of an ordinary level thirty-seven Soul Elder.

He put aside his playful thoughts and beat his wings. His Third Soul Ring lit up. "Third Soul Skill, Gale Soaring Strike!"

Anemo enveloped Bai Ling's entire body, and his speed jumped by thirty percent. He darted back and forth above the ice mist like a streak of white light, constantly changing course until his path was impossible to predict. He knew archers struggled against fast-moving targets. As long as he kept up this pace, it would not matter how accurate Gan Lin's arrows were.

Inside the ice mist, Gan Lin closed his eyes.

Since he could not see, he would rely on hearing. He could hear the wind from the beating wings, feel the changes in the flow of air, and judge where Bai Ling was each time he changed direction. He drew the Blackcliff Warbow to its fullest, its arrowhead pointing toward the sound of the wind. His fingertips slowly adjusted the angle while the rest of him remained motionless.

Front left, thirty degrees, approaching.

Gan Lin released the string, and the arrow flew.

It missed.

Circling around from the rear right, lower now.

The second arrow followed, skimming past Bai Ling's tail feathers.

"Kid, hearing alone won't do." Bai Ling's voice came down from above, tinged with smugness. "At my speed, you can't predict where I'll be."

As soon as he finished speaking, the purple light of his fourth Soul Ring shone through the ice mist. Bai Ling paused, then swooped down like a hawk, a green wind spear forming in his hand. Its tip pointed at Gan Lin as it came crashing down with a rush of wind.

"Fourth Soul Skill, Wind Feather Piercing Slaughter Spear!"

This was his strongest move. The combination of a dive and wind-attribute piercing was something even Power Attack System Soul Ancestors of his level dared not take head-on. He thought Gan Lin could no longer dodge.

Startled cries rose from below the platform.

Just as the wind spear was about to strike him on the head, Gan Lin stepped forward.

He did not retreat to dodge; he walked forward into the path of the dive.

At the same time, he slapped the mechanism on the ice box with his left hand. The lid sprang open, and seven ice arrows popped up at once. His right hand moved so fast it was only a blur as he nocked all seven arrows on the bowstring. The Blackcliff Warbow was drawn to its utmost, its body humming. The seven ice arrows pointed forward side by side, their cold freezing frost flowers in the surrounding air.