Feint / Like an Angel

The Four Element Academies were schools in name, but the forces behind them had always been families. They used the academies as a front to educate their own children while also recruiting and nurturing talented outsiders.

After all, the reputation of sects had grown rather foul. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was the only one that made an effort to cultivate outsiders.

As for the other sects, you only had to look at blood ties to tell insiders from outsiders. The difference between the two was enormous. Insiders were naturally well cared for and given priority when it came to resources. The unlucky outsiders who joined a sect either married into it to gain some status, or worked like oxen and horses, risking their lives for the sect. If they left, they were branded traitors and killed.

The two sides met, exchanged polite greetings, and made small talk. Qian Xunji was always especially sharp in situations like this. Even Qian Daoliu couldn't find fault with anything he said.

He expressed Spirit Hall's "friendliness," soothed the other side, and offered goodwill, making it clear that they only wanted to spar and exchange ideas to help both sides improve, and so on.

He had a smooth answer for everything. No matter what went on behind the scenes, on the surface, this really was a perfectly harmonious exchange match.

Behind the scenes, though, things probably weren't so harmonious.

Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er were only nine and eight years old, respectively. Shui Bing'er had just reached Soul Power Level 19 and was still training at a junior Soul Master Academy, planning to hunt for her Second Soul Ring and advance to Soul Grandmaster.

Soul Masters tended to advance faster the earlier they were in their cultivation.

That was the norm for talented children from major, established forces. If they had good aptitude, they trained their Soul Power as hard as they could.

Dai Mubai hadn't been born with Innate Full Soul Power, and he'd spent so long indulging himself at Shrek Academy, yet he had still reached Level 37 at fifteen.

Zhu Zhuqing had Innate Soul Power Level 7. She was a year younger than Tang San and the others when she enrolled, but she had already reached Level 27, just two levels below Tang San's Level 29.

Despite having Innate Full Soul Power, Oscar had only reached Level 29 at fourteen, since food-type support Soul Masters cultivated slowly. (Honestly, I really don't understand Flender's logic in using Oscar to put Ning Rongrong down. Ning Rongrong had only just turned twelve, sometimes slacked off in training, and had reached Soul Power Level 26. Oscar, you had Innate Full Soul Power and were two years older than her; being Level 29 now was nothing to brag about. Without Immortal Herbs, at this rate Ning Rongrong would surpass Oscar in a couple of years. The only thing Oscar had over her was his Innate Soul Power. But Ning Rongrong had taken the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, which could only have Innate Soul Power Level 7, and raised it to Level 9 through sheer talent. You could say talent had beaten genetics. She was countless times more impressive than Yu Xiaogang, whose Martial Soul had malignantly mutated despite his Innate Soul Power being only half a level.)

If the Immortal Herbs hadn't later given them a cheat-like boost, helped them catch up on lost progress and age, and improved their aptitude, Tang San and the others would never have made it to the finals.

Or, put another way, based on their cultivation progress at the time, they weren't just lacking the talent to become gods; even compared with their peers, they were only average.

Before officially enrolling, every member of the Shrek Seven Devils had either slacked off or had some kind of flaw.

Ning Rongrong had Innate Soul Power Level 9, but she'd been spoiled since childhood, couldn't endure hardship, and didn't train diligently.

Zhu Zhuqing simply had low Innate Soul Power and poor aptitude. She became a genius through hard work alone.

Dai Mubai had good enough aptitude, but his older brother's oppression had driven him to give up and indulge himself.

Because of his Martial Soul's flaw, Ma Hongjun couldn't train with all his strength. Whenever he had a little money and energy, he went out to visit brothels.

Oscar, meanwhile, was a food-type Soul Master, which made cultivation difficult. He was only Level 29 at fourteen.

Tang San hadn't devoted himself to cultivation. He studied in the mornings, forged iron in the afternoons, and trained only at night. Even with the Mysterious Heaven Skill, he could barely keep up with the other geniuses.

Xiao Wu had simply come to have fun. She hadn't taken training seriously at all.

Section 76: A Feint

After the friendly meeting, they moved on to the main event.

The dean of Skywater Academy, Shui Qing'er, remained composed, her expression barely changing, but the air around her grew colder.

She had seen the children standing behind Qian Xunji. Naturally, the students participating in the exchange match had come today.

Spirit Hall had always won the Advanced Soul Master Tournament, and she had prepared herself for defeat in today's match.

She had arranged for the academy's best students to compete, ready to show off Skywater Academy's strength and make sure they didn't lose too badly.

But Spirit Hall had arranged such a "half-hearted" team!

She recognized the two muscular young men with bronze-colored skin. They were students from Elephant Armor Academy and had appeared many times in sparring matches between Skywater Academy and Elephant Armor Academy over the years.

The other four contestants, however, looked far too young. As a Soul Douluo, Shui Qing'er had keen senses. She couldn't determine their exact ages as if she were examining their bones, but she could make a rough estimate.

The purple-haired girl looked around fifteen or sixteen.

The blond boy seemed to be about the same age as the purple-haired girl, but he was actually much younger—at most nine or ten.

The other three blond children were even more outrageous. From what Shui Qing'er could sense, none of them was older than nine.

What was more outrageous was that she could sense their Soul Power Levels.

There was no need to mention the two brothers from Elephant Armor Academy.

The purple-haired girl was a minor genius, having reached Soul Power Level 32 at her age.

But the blond boy and the long-haired blond girl both had Soul Power Level 38.

The other two blond children had Soul Power Level 29 and seemed ready to break through at any moment.

Becoming Soul Elders at that age—they were monsters.

Was Spirit Hall trying to use the Four Element Academies' reputations to make a name for their own super-geniuses?

If the Four Element Academies were defeated by eight-year-old children, their reputations would plummet, while Spirit Hall Academy would rise even higher.

But that would depend on whether they had what it took.

If both sides had fielded their strongest teams, Skywater Academy would have been almost certain to lose. But Spirit Hall had insisted on pulling this stunt...

Shui Qing'er saw a chance at victory instead. She sneered inwardly and led Qian Xunji toward the viewing platform.

The two stood on a raised platform, where they could look down over the arena.

The seats beside them were occupied by Spirit Hall's deacon and bishop, along with teachers from Skywater Academy.

Both sides watched the arena intently as their students walked onto it together.

The teams formally saluted each other, as was customary for an exchange match, then backed away to open some distance between them and waited for the teachers to announce the start.

Shui Qing'er looked at Skywater Academy's team below. Her eyes were gentle, and the corners of her mouth lifted slightly. She was quietly pleased.

The academy had been preparing this team for a long time, intending to use them in the Advanced Soul Master Tournament. The captain was a Level 43 Soul Ancestor, and the vice-captain was a Level 42 Soul Ancestor. The other members were a little weaker: two Level 40 Soul Ancestors and four Level 39 Soul Elders. They worked together seamlessly and had plenty of tactics at their disposal.

Their chances of winning the Advanced Soul Master Tournament weren't high, but surely they could easily handle a team with two Level 41 Soul Ancestors, two Level 38 Soul Elders, one Level 32 Soul Elder, and two Level 29 Soul Grandmasters?

"Begin!" the announcement rang out.

Huyan Qian and Huyan Shan from Elephant Armor Academy took their positions at the front, as planned.

Qian Renxue and Xiang Yu spread their wings and flew into the air. Qian Renxue's First Soul Skill, Angel Assault, was a well-rounded melee skill with both offense and defense. It ignored 30% of the target's defense with its piercing effect and prevented the target from regenerating for three seconds.

Her Second Soul Skill, Wings of Void, primarily made her immune to all physical attacks, reduced damage from energy attacks by 50%, and increased her movement speed by 200%.

Her Third Soul Skill, Angel Protection, was a group support skill that strengthened the team's defense.

Xiang Yu's First and Second Soul Skills both boosted his attributes, strengthening his ultimate, Overlord's Burning Boats.

His Third Soul Skill wasn't the enhancement skill he'd wanted. Instead, like Qian Renxue's, it increased his flying speed and reduced the damage he took.

Xiang Yu felt that Martial Soul users with wings shouldn't need a flying-type Soul Skill to fly. It was a downright dumb skill.

The effect of his ultimate, Burning Boats, was to charge up and then unleash a blade of energy, dealing physical damage to enemies in its path. Enemies hit by the blade's edge took extra damage and were stunned for one second.

Xiang Yu's passive skill, Will of the Vanguard, not only reduced the damage he took but also increased his damage as his health dropped.

It could be called a counterattack miracle skill.

Since he was at full strength, his passive hadn't activated. His ultimate's damage was high, but it hadn't reached its strongest level yet.

A massive sword-shaped blast swept down from above, covering nearly half the arena.

With the Huyan Brothers blocking the way in front, the only way to dodge was to move to one side of the stage.

Qian Renxue's Angel's Shelter had increased the Huyan Brothers' defense by 50%. On top of that, they were already defensive-type Soul Masters.

Skywater Academy's attempts to break through their line all failed.

They blocked every Soul Skill.

By then, Skywater Academy's formation had changed. To dodge the large-scale attack, its members had gathered together.

Then a golden streak shot past them in an instant.

Mirror Space unfolded!

Before Skywater Academy's members could react, the golden figure had already rooted them in place.

This was a test of agility and reaction speed. If Skywater Academy's support Soul Master had a control-cleansing skill, or if anyone had a displacement skill, they could have dodged.

But in this regard, Qian Xunji had never seen anyone beat Dongfang Jing, who was known as the "Flying Thunder God."

The golden shards surrounding Mirror Space flew toward them. The golden streak flashed twice, and Dongfang Jing switched places with her mirror clone, returning to her team.

It wasn't that she didn't want to keep attacking. Xiang Yu had already charged up his second ultimate, and she needed to dodge the damage.

The massive sword-shaped blast swept across most of the arena again, hitting the immobilized members of Skywater Academy and sending six of them flying. One person was still in the air, having dodged Dongfang Jing's control and Xiang Yu's ultimate, but she was the only one left, so it didn't matter much.

Their Soul Skills might not have been weak, but their combat awareness, teamwork, and ability to react on the spot couldn't compare with heroes who had survived countless life-and-death battles.

Xiang Yu's initial ultimate had been meant to restrict their movement and make it easier for Dongfang Jing to strike.

It was a common tactic in a team fight in the Canyon: make a feint to limit the enemy's movements, then coordinate with teammates to initiate the fight. Follow up with control and the teammates' ultimates, stack all the damage, and obliterate the enemy in one shot.

On a "small" stage like this, the tactic worked surprisingly well.

Arthur regretfully canceled the windup for his Martial Soul Fusion Skill. He hadn't gotten the chance to do anything at all!

Section 77: Like an Angel

The winner was decided in a matter of seconds.

They had lost quickly, and completely!

Some members of Skywater Academy hadn't even had time to use their Soul Skills.

Xiang Yu was a little disappointed. At this level, unless they had a powerful control skill, Dongfang Jing could have taken them all on by herself with the Holy Grail.

Their combat awareness was too poor.

They hadn't seen through his obvious attempt to limit their movements. Instead, they'd charged straight at the Huyan Brothers, lining themselves up and giving Jing a chance to root all six of them in place at once.

As for the Soul Master who'd unexpectedly dodged by flying into the air, she should have been able to save two teammates when Jing used Flying Thunder God. Even if she couldn't interrupt it, she could have rescued them. But she hadn't reacted in time, and she wasn't fast enough.

Of course, the main reason was that Dongfang Jing and Xiang Yu's combined damage was too high. Dongfang Jing's initial Flying Thunder God had already left them lightly injured in an instant, while Xiang Yu's ultimate dealt explosive damage, stacked with the boosts from his First and Second Soul Skills.