End

He had known that sooner or later, he would face this question. "Teacher Wu, although my martial soul looks like nothing more than a book, it gave me the ability to manipulate all kinds of elements in the air. My two soul skills are Heart of Nature and Soul Perception. Both are passive skills, enhancing my elemental affinity and Soul Perception respectively."

An Ping had not lied about his soul skills. He simply had not mentioned that manipulating elements was not his innate talent, but rather a Witch's use of magic power. However, one could only become a Witch because of one's martial soul, so saying it was a talent granted by his martial soul was not exactly a lie.

Surprise flashed in Wu Changkong's eyes. "So it isn't just the Fire Element. There are other elements as well."

"That's right." An Ping nodded.

"What a miraculous martial soul." Wu Changkong sighed, then said nothing more.

Tang Wulin and Xie Xie's opponents in the second round were both Support System Tool Soul Masters with little combat ability, and they quickly won their matches.

Then, one lucky Support System Tool Soul Master who had advanced by default met another lucky Support System Tool Soul Master who had advanced by default. The two engaged in a thrilling brawl. Then, in the third round, that lucky Support System Tool Soul Master met Xie Xie and was swiftly eliminated.

An Ping's opponent in the third round was a petite-looking girl named Li Chushui. Her martial soul was a cat.

"Begin."

An Ping quickly cast Magic Barrier. His opponent underwent Martial Soul Possession, white fur sprouting from her hands as sharp claws extended.

With light steps, she charged at An Ping at tremendous speed.

As the Water Element in the air fluctuated violently, a pale blue ice wall rapidly condensed between them, radiating a chilling aura.

While Li Chushui was forced to go around it, the Water Element and Earth Element surged again. An Ping cast his water-earth composite cantrip, Swamp Spell. Li Chushui suddenly felt the ground beneath her soften, and her speed immediately dropped sharply.

Then, with the release of an Ice Arrow Technique, An Ping won the match.

"How is anyone supposed to fight against that many skills? That's practically cheating." Li Chushui muttered as she withdrew.

In the final match of the third round, Tang Wulin faced a girl named Han Lan. Her martial soul was the Earth Element, and her First Soul Skill was Earth Prison. Tang Wulin smashed the Earth Prison apart with a single hammer blow, ending the match and drawing gasps from the crowd.

Only three people remained, and Xie Xie was the happiest of them all. He hoped he would be matched against An Ping. He had long wanted to fight him, but An Ping had never been willing.

"An Ping, Xie Xie, you two will fight next. The winner will face Tang Wulin."

The two stood facing each other. Xie Xie looked excited. "I can finally fight you."

"Begin." Wu Changkong gave them no time to chat.

At Wu Changkong's command, Xie Xie summoned his martial soul almost instantly. Leaning slightly forward, he rushed at An Ping with light steps.

After watching the previous two matches, Xie Xie knew that An Ping had skills for restricting movement and attacking from afar. With their difference in levels, he certainly could not outlast An Ping, so he decided to launch a direct assault.

Both were of the Agile Attack System, but Xie Xie was much faster than Li Chushui. After casting Magic Barrier, An Ping did not use Ice Wall Spell as he had against Li Chushui. Instead, he chose the simpler Frost Technique. In an instant, the temperature across the arena dropped slightly, and white frost formed over the ground within a range of several dozen meters. Several students sitting on the ground sprang to their feet.

Xie Xie's speed slowed slightly. As An Ping retreated, he rapidly constructed his next spell: Dust Technique, another first-level cantrip like Frost Technique.

Dust and frost from the ground were swept up in an instant. For a moment, the wind, water, and earth elements reached a balance, producing an effect similar to fog.

Looking at the mist before him, Xie Xie worried there might be a trap ahead. But seeing that he was already so close, he gritted his teeth and charged onward. In an instant, he reached An Ping. Delighted, he thrust the Light Dragon Dagger in his hand toward An Ping's shoulder.

The sensation of stabbing empty air told him at once that he had fallen for the trap again. Just as he was about to look around for An Ping, he suddenly felt a chill between his brows. An ice arrow hovered three inches from his forehead. "I lost."

As Xie Xie conceded, An Ping dispersed the dust haze.

"Can you tell me how you did it?" Xie Xie looked somewhat dejected.

The students watching were equally stunned. Only a few seconds had passed from when the dust haze rose to when it dispersed, yet the battle inside had already ended.

"It was light. He used light to interfere with your vision." Before An Ping could speak, Wu Changkong explained Xie Xie's confusion for him, then said coldly, "The moment you saw that An Ping didn't even dodge, you should have realized it was a trap."

An Ping nodded and did not offer any further explanation. "That's right."

"Alright, An Ping doesn't need to fight Tang Wulin. Xie Xie, rest for ten minutes, then fight Tang Wulin."

Ten minutes quickly passed.

"Begin." Once Xie Xie and Tang Wulin were standing opposite each other, Wu Changkong said in a deep voice.

At Wu Changkong's command, the two quickly summoned their martial souls.

Tang Wulin directly summoned a patch of Blue Silver Grass around himself. Knowing that Tang Wulin's Blue Silver Grass was unusually tough, Xie Xie circled around him, trying to find an opening.

Watching Tang Wulin turn in place to follow him, Xie Xie suddenly accelerated and pounced on Tang Wulin like lightning. Tang Wulin remained calm, controlling the Blue Silver Grass to block Xie Xie's possible attack routes.

With a puff, the Light Dragon Dagger slashed into the Blue Silver Grass. Blue Light flashed across it, and it actually blocked the strike.

Wu Changkong, watching from the side, raised an eyebrow slightly. What remarkably tough Blue Silver Grass.

When his strike failed, Xie Xie rapidly retreated to avoid being entangled by Tang Wulin's First Soul Skill. Xie Xie was extremely fast, and Tang Wulin knew he could not restrain him, so he did not pursue.

The two then fell into this cycle until Tang Wulin's Soul Power was exhausted and he had no choice but to withdraw the Blue Silver Grass.

Seeing Tang Wulin withdraw the Blue Silver Grass, Xie Xie instantly attacked with the Light Dragon Dagger in hand, flashing to Tang Wulin's side and slashing toward his back.

With a clear clang, Tang Wulin blocked it behind his back with the Thousand Refined Tungsten Steel Hammer in his hand.

Unwilling to believe it, Xie Xie circled to the other side and slashed again. With another clang, Tang Wulin blocked his second attack in exactly the same way.

Then, before Xie Xie could launch another attack, Tang Wulin wielded both hammers and battered him back step by step in a furious storm of blows.

Not daring to clash head-on, Xie Xie instantly retreated several steps. He raised his left hand slightly, then accelerated again, becoming even faster. In an instant, he appeared at Tang Wulin's side once more. His right-hand Light Dragon Dagger lightly tapped Tang Wulin's Thousand Refined Tungsten Steel Hammer, and he used the force to flip into the air, his left hand swinging toward Tang Wulin.

With a puff, Tang Wulin's school uniform was torn across the back, leaving a bloody mark.

"Stop! Xie Xie wins."