The Sky Screen shifted.
[Thunder Academy]
[Just as the students had finished their hellish special training and were sprawled about in exhaustion, Dean Lei Tian walked in with a beaming smile.]
["Young Master! Stop training for now. Everyone, take a break!"]
[Lei Tian waved the letter in his hand, his voice ringing out loudly.]
["Good news! The invitation for the Five Elemental Academies exchange tournament has arrived!"]
["This time, Skywater Academy is hosting!"]
["Besides us, Divine Wind, Blazing Fire, Elephant Armor... oh, right, and Blue Tyrant Academy, which just forced its way into a spot, will all be participating."]
[Upon hearing the words "Blue Tyrant Academy," Yu Xiaotian's hand paused slightly as he wiped away his sweat, his brow lifting.]
[He seemed to have thought of something, and the corners of his lips curled into a smile.]
["Blue Tyrant Academy? Interesting..."]
[A few days later, Skywater City.]
[The city was especially lively that day.]
[Teams representing Elemental Academies from all over had gathered here, and young Soul Masters filled the streets and alleys.]
[Before the main group arrived, however, a small figure had already reached the city ahead of them.]
[It was none other than Yu Xiaotian.]
[Impatient with the main group's slow pace, he had come alone to the Great Soul Arena in Skywater City.]
["Actual combat is the only standard for testing strength."]
["And inefficiently crushing weaklings is merely a waste of life!"]
[Yu Xiaotian directly registered at the Soul Fighting Arena.]
[But rather than starting as a newcomer from Iron Soul Master rank, he simply bought himself a Bronze Soul Master badge to get some practice.]
[Ordinary Soul Masters, especially those around level ten with mediocre martial souls, no longer qualified to be his opponents.]
[He chose the codename: Dragon God!]
Seeing this, countless commoner Soul Masters were dumbfounded.
"What the hell? You can actually buy badges at the Soul Fighting Arena?!"
"Wasn't the Soul Fighting Arena supposed to be above worldly concerns, fair and impartial? Isn't this cheating?"
"Brother upstairs, you're too naive. This is the Douluo Continent. If you have money and power, you can do whatever you want."
"So-called rules are made for people without backgrounds!"
Black World.
Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
Yu Xiaogang saw this scene.
His brows furrowed tightly into a deep frown, his eyes filled with disapproval.
"Taking shortcuts! This is utterly shameless shortcut-taking!"
In his view, a Soul Master's growth had to proceed step by step.
If he were teaching students, he would absolutely require them to start from the lowest Iron Soul Master rank!
Accumulating experience one battle at a time—that was the proper path!
Yu Xiaotian's act of directly spending money to buy a rank was practically a desecration of the spirit of soul fighting!
Shrek Academy.
Dai Mubai was equally stunned when he saw this, his evil eyes widening roundly.
"You can buy badges?"
"Then what the hell was I fighting tooth and nail for in Suotuo City's Soul Fighting Arena these past few years, even losing more than twenty matches?"
Tang San, standing beside him, could not help but feel deeply shocked as well.
Dean Flender and Teacher Yu Xiaogang had required them to start from Iron Soul Master rank.
But the process of accumulating points was exceedingly long and tedious.
He had never imagined that such a shortcut existed.
After calming down and thinking it over, a flash of realization appeared in Tang San's eyes.
"Though it may seem opportunistic, most Iron Soul Master-level opponents vary wildly in strength."
"For true geniuses, they indeed hold little training value."
"Though Yu Xiaotian took a shortcut, he also greatly avoided wasting time in low-level matches."
"Making every second count to challenge stronger opponents may also be a way of thinking for the strong."
He had no choice but to admit it.
When it came to efficiency, Yu Xiaotian truly understood better than they did what to prioritize and what to give up.
[Over the next few days, he became the nightmare of low-level Soul Masters at the Great Soul Arena in Skywater.]
[The short "Dragon God" wearing a golden mask charged straight to a ten-match winning streak the moment he began fighting!]
[Even more terrifyingly, none of his battles lasted longer than one minute!]
[Whether his opponent was an assault-type or control-type Soul Master, all of them were sent flying with a single punch!]
[This terrifying record sparked countless guesses and attempts to test him. Everyone was asking: who exactly was this monster that had appeared out of nowhere?]
[On the other side of the Soul Fighting Arena, there was another equally frenzied figure.]
[Liu Erlong!]
[For the sake of revenge, she had arrived early to temper herself.]
[Wearing a crimson mask and calling herself "Fire Dragon," she relied on a reckless, life-risking fighting style to achieve a five-match winning streak as well!]
[At last, a fated confrontation occurred through the matchmaking system.]
[The massive screen scrolled, and two names froze in place—Dragon God VS Fire Dragon!]
Liu Erlong of the Black World could not help but lose herself in thought upon seeing this.
In her view.
Her counterpart from the other world was bound to clash with Yu Xiaotian.
She simply did not know what the outcome of that battle would be.
"Even Lei Bufan was beaten into submission. The me from the Parallel World probably..."
Liu Erlong already had a vague premonition in her heart.
White World.
Thunder Academy.
Seeing the opponents on the Sky Screen being sent flying by Yu Xiaotian's punches.
Lei Bufan could not help but laugh gleefully.
"Hehe, that's more like it! Why should Thunder Academy be the only one getting beaten up?"
"These Soul Masters from Skywater City should get a taste of this despair too!"
Lei Dong, standing nearby, looked utterly confused. Scratching his head, he asked.
"Dad, if he ends every fight within a minute and one-shots everyone, what training effect does that have? Isn't he just bullying weaklings?"
Lei Bufan glared at his foolish son in exasperation.
"You pig-brain! Even if each fight only lasted a minute, did you forget what level Lord Yu Xiaotian was back then?"
"He defeated opponents in their twenties with just nineteen levels of Soul Power!"
"I'd guess Lord Yu Xiaotian probably used less than twenty percent of his strength at the time!"
"That's what makes him terrifying!"
"And haven't you noticed? His opponents came in all varieties—agility-attack types, control types, defense types."
"Especially since local Soul Masters in Skywater City were mostly water-attribute control types. That held critically important intelligence value for defeating Skywater Academy later!"
"This is called knowing yourself and knowing your enemy, understand?!"
Only then did Lei Dong come to a sudden realization, his face full of admiration.
"As expected of my old man—you really see things clearly!"
Lei Bufan's old face reddened slightly, and he gave an embarrassed cough.
In truth, he had only understood this principle much later.
But that did not stop him from putting on an unfathomable act before his son.
Blue Tyrant Academy.
Liu Erlong looked at herself on the Sky Screen, wearing that crimson mask, and a trace of nostalgia flashed through her eyes.
"I really was a fearless newborn calf back then..."
When she had first arrived in Skywater City, winning several matches in a row.
It had given her the illusion that she was invincible among those of the same rank.
But when she encountered Yu Xiaotian, that battle immediately dragged her back into reality.
It made her understand what it meant for there always to be someone stronger.
"Only..."
Liu Erlong's gaze became somewhat strange.
"Back then, Little Tian Brother had me completely fooled. I treated him as a close friend who understood me."
"Looking back now, that bastard Little Tian Brother must have guessed my identity the moment he saw my martial soul, right?"
"He actually played dumb and pretended not to know. He was truly awful!"
"Though Fire Dragon was a mutation of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, there were precedents recorded in the clan's archives!"
"With his knowledge, how could he possibly not have known?"
Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
Bibi Dong saw this scene on the Sky Screen.
Her beautiful eyes narrowed slightly.
With a smile that was not quite a smile, she looked toward Yu Xiaotian beside her.
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