Soul Fight!

"Boss, you're a genius. Every piece of metal has its own unique grain. Once it's damaged, the effectiveness of any Soul Tool made from it will be greatly reduced. But if its interior isn't damaged, a Soul Tool made from hundred-forged metal will be vastly more effective.

"This is simply a genius discovery, enough to bring about a revolution in the world of Soul Tools."

Zui Hongchen looked excitedly at Xu Tianyang, his chubby little face filled with agitation. He understood all too well what this technique meant for the development of Soul Tools.

Calling it earth-shattering would not be an exaggeration.

"Good, as long as it works. But why haven't you broken through to Soul Master yet? Your Martial Soul talent will grow stronger along with your strength. Cultivation is the foundation of everything."

Listening to Zui Hongchen's report, Xu Tianyang nodded. Soul Tools were slowly developing. At this point in time, the Sun Moon Continent had not paid much attention to the forging and purification of materials, leaving plenty of room for improvement.

Hearing Xu Tianyang's somewhat "disdainful" words, Zui Hongchen's little face fell. He said pitifully, "Boss, do you think everyone is like you? You have Innate Full Soul Power. I only awakened my Martial Soul two months ago, and I'm already at rank nine Soul Power. That's already very fast."

"Research into Soul Tools can be put aside for now. Cultivation is the top priority. The Empire's high-ranking Soul Engineers are all occupied right now, and there's no manpower available to form a dedicated research team for this. During this time, the most important thing is to improve your cultivation as quickly as possible."

After pondering for a moment, Xu Tianyang looked at the two of them and spoke seriously. Because of the approaching decisive battle, all of the Sun Moon Empire's high-ranking Soul Engineers had been mobilized. Xu Tianyang could not find many experts to study this matter either.

With the little fatty's cultivation, hundred forging was already his limit. He did not have the cultivation needed to support thousand forging yet. At this stage, cultivation was still the most important thing.

"Besides, if you don't quickly advance to Soul Master, how will you raise your Soul Engineer rank?"

The crafting of Soul Tools corresponded to Soul Master ranks at every level. Without sufficient cultivation to support it, one could not create high-level Soul Tools. No matter how gifted someone was, they could only remain at the theoretical level.

As soon as Xu Tianyang said this, not only did Zui Hongchen stiffen, but Huang Xiuwen's expression also froze. He was rank nine as well, only one step away from rank ten. Although his talent in Soul Tools was not as freakish as Zui Hongchen's, it was still quite good.

It could be said that the top families of the Sun Moon Empire were all formidable in the field of Soul Tools.

He also wanted to become an official Soul Engineer as soon as possible.

"Xiuwen, the same goes for you!" After speaking to Zui Hongchen, Xu Tianyang did not forget Huang Xiuwen.

"Got it, Boss!"

Half a year passed quietly.

After six months of academy life, Xu Tianyang had gradually grown accustomed to it. Watching the little brats play around at the academy every day was not without its charm.

During this time, Xu Yunxiao and Mu Mengyu became increasingly busy. Over the past three months, Xu Tianyang had not seen either of them even once. No one told him how the war between the two countries was going, but the Imperial Capital remained peaceful, as though unaffected in the slightest.

It seemed the Sun Moon Empire still held the advantage. Otherwise, the Imperial Capital would not be like this.

Over these six months, Xu Tianyang's cultivation rose by two ranks. Huang Xiuwen and Zui Hongchen also became Soul Masters and, incidentally, passed the assessment for rank-one Soul Engineers.

That day, everyone attended class as usual. When Lin Ximeng arrived, she was not carrying teaching materials as she normally did. She walked onto the podium empty-handed, looked at the students, and said softly, "Everyone has studied at the academy for half a year now, and many students in the class have broken through to Soul Master. Today, we won't be having a theory lesson. We'll have a practical combat lesson instead. Follow me."

After hearing this, everyone's faces filled with excitement. Soul Masters were destined for conflict, and they had long looked forward to the academy's practical combat lessons. Now that they heard they would be having one, they eagerly rose to their feet and quickly followed Lin Ximeng.

The Dou Hun Area was an essential and important part of any Soul Master Academy. Sun Moon Royal Academy's Dou Hun Area occupied a vast tract of land in the academy's northeastern corner.

Students frequently came here. All sorts of matches could be held here, with dedicated teachers acting as referees. There was no threat to life, making it the best place for practical combat.

The Dou Hun Area was divided into six major sections according to rank, with corresponding areas for Soul Masters all the way up to Soul Emperors.

Everyone followed Lin Ximeng to the Soul Master-level Dou Hun Area. The venue was enormous, large enough to hold over a thousand people, with a huge arena in the center.

At this moment, besides Lin Ximeng, there were two other teachers standing beside the arena. One looked ordinary, with a smiling, amiable expression. The other emitted a faint Life Aura and appeared to be a healing-type Soul Master, here to treat students accidentally injured during the matches as quickly as possible.

"Next, the Soul Masters in the class will form one group, while those who haven't advanced to Soul Master will form another. You'll draw lots and fight in pairs," Lin Ximeng said with a smile after greeting the other two teachers and looking around at everyone.

After quickly watching the chickens peck each other in the fights below Soul Master level, it was time for the eight Soul Masters of Class One to take the stage.

Among the eight, aside from Xu Tianyang, Xu Nianshuang, Zui Hongchen, and Huang Xiuwen, who possessed the highest Innate Soul Power, there were also four students with rank-seven Innate Soul Power. Ironclad Bear King Yan and Gale Sword Lu Yu were among them.

The remaining two were Yang Ruoruo, whose Martial Soul was the Ice Wolf, and Yi Mingyu, whose Martial Soul was the Star Chessboard.

After half a year of getting along, Xu Tianyang had learned the backgrounds of these four. Every one of them came from a powerful Soul Master family within the Sun Moon Empire.

Only with their families' resources could they raise their Soul Power by three ranks in half a year and break through to Soul Master.

"I'm doomed!!!"

Right after the drawing of lots ended, a miserable cry echoed through the Soul Fighting Arena.

"..." Xu Tianyang looked at the terrified Zui Hongchen with a face full of black lines. The draw had matched the two of them against each other.

Am I really that scary?

"Hehe, Fatty, you're doomed!" Seeing this, Huang Xiuwen wore a gloating expression. At the same time, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief. His opponent was Gale Sword Lu Yu. With the advantage of his Martial Soul, this match was practically in the bag.

"What are you so pleased about? If you win, you'll run into Boss sooner or later," Zui Hongchen reminded his fair-weather friend kindly when he saw that smug expression.

The corner of Huang Xiuwen's mouth, which had not yet lowered, immediately stiffened.

"Hehe, Boss, you have to go easy on me later. These thin arms and legs of mine can't take much beating," Zui Hongchen said fawningly as he moved up to Xu Tianyang.

"Boring!" Xu Nianshuang said coldly at the sight before her, then headed straight for the Soul Fighting Arena.

"Fatty, witness the power of the ancient divine beast, the Three-legged Golden Toad. I won't hold back later."

Seeing Xu Tianyang's serious expression, Zui Hongchen put away his fawning look and became serious as well. As a genius, he naturally had his own pride. What he had done earlier was merely to show His Highness his attitude.

On the Soul Fighting Platform, Huang Xiuwen and Lu Yu were the first to step up and compete. As the two underwent Martial Soul Possession, two yellow Soul Rings rose up. Huang Xiuwen immediately took to the air, adopting hit-and-run tactics to attack Lu Yu.

In the early stages, ordinary Soul Masters had no way to deal with opponents who could fly. Huang Xiuwen's Purple Lightning Wyrm Martial Soul was a Dragon Species Martial Soul. Not only was it incredibly fast in flight, but its offensive power was also formidable. He could be said to have been born undefeated.

Lu Yu could only defend passively, fighting in an exceptionally stifled manner.

Long defense inevitably led to mistakes. Five minutes later, Lu Yu was knocked to the ground by Huang Xiuwen and admitted defeat.

The second Soul Fight was between Xu Nianshuang and Yang Ruoruo. Both were girls, and both possessed the Ice Attribute, making it a clash of equals.

However, the battle ended even faster than the first.

The two released their Martial Souls and Soul Rings. Xu Nianshuang's Soul Ring lit up, and frost immediately began to fall around them as the temperature plummeted. Then, Xu Nianshuang instantly crossed the distance between them and appeared in front of Yang Ruoruo. In the blink of an eye, an Ice Crystal longsword was pressed against her opponent's throat.

The battle ended instantly.

"Whoosh—"

The result of their battle immediately caused an uproar. Everyone stared at Xu Nianshuang in shock, unable to stop a chill from rising in their hearts. How were they supposed to fight that? They had no idea how she had moved at all. With their reaction speed, they would not be able to block it, would they?

"That was... Teleportation, right?" Huang Xiuwen asked hesitantly, disbelief in his voice.

Teleportation was a simple yet powerful soul skill. Among the many soul skills, it was one of the skills Soul Masters most wanted to obtain.

"How could a first soul skill possibly be Teleportation? And over such a long distance?" Zui Hongchen exclaimed in surprise as well.

"No, it should be Replacement."

From the moment the battle began, Xu Tianyang had been watching the two in the arena. He noticed something different. At Xu Nianshuang's original position was an inconspicuous little Ice Crystal. Thinking of the frost that had just fallen, he already had a guess.

Even so, such a first soul skill was more than enough to be called top-tier. It was no less impressive than his own first soul skill.

The third Soul Fight ended quickly as well. Yi Mingyu, with the Star Chessboard Martial Soul, defeated Ironclad Bear King Yan and claimed victory.

Soon, Xu Tianyang and Zui Hongchen stepped onto the Soul Fighting Arena.

"That must be His Highness the Grandson, right?"

As Xu Tianyang entered the arena, he immediately drew everyone's attention. The gazes of the three teachers in the distance also fell upon him.

His identity was no secret. Xu was the royal surname of the Sun Moon Empire, and among the imperial family's current generation, he was the only one whose age matched. Anyone with a mind to investigate could easily guess who he was.

"As expected of His Highness the Grandson. Teacher Lin is truly fortunate to share a teacher-student bond with His Highness the Grandson," the other two teachers said, looking at Lin Ximeng with envy.

Lin Ximeng merely smiled without speaking. Her beautiful eyes remained fixed on Xu Tianyang in the arena. She was afraid that if she bragged too much, she would not make it out of the academy gates.

In the arena, Xu Tianyang stared solemnly at Zui Hongchen. Even a lion used its full strength to hunt a rabbit. He would not underestimate any opponent.

Zui Hongchen was somewhat nervous, but his expression was exceptionally serious. Up to this point, everyone had only heard during the opening introductions that Xu Tianyang's Martial Soul was a mutation of the imperial Sun Martial Soul: the Sun Pupil.

Though they were somewhat surprised that Xu Tianyang did not possess any of the imperial family's inherited Martial Souls, no one dared underestimate his Martial Soul. Mutated Martial Souls had only two possible outcomes: they became stronger or weaker.

With Xu Tianyang's Innate Full Soul Power talent, his Martial Soul had definitely mutated in a stronger direction.

To this day, no one knew exactly what effects his Martial Soul possessed.

"The Soul Fight begins."