At those words, the Imperial Fighting Team fell silent for a moment.
Then a burst of laughter, louder than any they had ever heard, erupted.
Yu Feng laughed so hard he could barely stand upright, pointing at Xue Tianyu.
"Did I hear that right, Captain?"
"Skywater Academy actually found a little boy who hasn't even grown his first whiskers and made him their captain?"
"Even if you've given up on yourselves, you didn't have to bring in such a pretty vase to make up the numbers!"
The surprise on Dugu Yan's face deepened as she looked Xue Tianyu up and down.
The little guy looked no more than twelve or thirteen, several years younger than she was. How could he possibly be the captain of these proud Skywater girls?
Qian Renxue thought it was just as absurd.
She had met countless people. Though not a trace of Soul Power leaked from the boy, and he looked like an ordinary person,
the way Shui Bing'er wholeheartedly stood up for him was no act.
There was definitely more to this boy than met the eye.
Faced with the Imperial Fighting Team's jeers, Xue Tianyu didn't even raise an eyelid.
He glanced sidelong at Yu Tianheng, his voice as still as a dried-up well.
"Don't believe me?"
The two words were spoken lightly, yet carried such force that they drowned out the laughter around them.
Yu Tianheng clenched his Dragon Transformation fist, electricity crackling around it as his eyes filled with fury.
"Quit your tricks!"
"Beat me and I'll believe you! If you've got the guts, get up here!"
The Imperial Fighting Team joined in, their taunts rising one after another.
"Get up there and take a beating, little captain!"
"Just don't get beaten so badly you go running home to Mommy!"
In stark contrast to the Imperial Fighting Team's uproar, the Skywater Academy side was dead silent.
Shui Bing'er, Xue Wu, Shui Yue'er, and the others said nothing. They even stepped back half a pace of their own accord, leaving Xue Tianyu a clear path.
They weren't the least bit worried. Instead, they were filled with anticipation.
Of all the people to provoke, they had to pick this monster—the one who could casually unleash power on the level of a Titled Douluo!
Xue Tianyu said nothing.
He lifted his foot and took his first unhurried step toward the arena.
His shoe touched the stone floor with the faintest sound.
The instant his foot landed—
Buzz!
The air itself shuddered.
A jet-black Soul Ring, deep as ink and dense beyond measure, slowly rose from beneath Xue Tianyu's feet.
Black light swirled around it, and a pressure as heavy as a mountain swept across the entire arena.
The Imperial Fighting Team had been laughing freely, but their laughter was abruptly choked off, as if an invisible hand had clamped shut around their throats.
Yu Tianheng's pupils shrank as he stared at the black halo.
A Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring!
His first ring was already ten thousand years old?!
How was that possible?!
Qian Renxue's hand tightened sharply around her teacup, shock turning to disbelief in her eyes.
The Soul Shock from absorbing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring was enough to drive any low-ranked Soul Master insane. How could he have endured it for his very first ring?!
Xue Tianyu's expression didn't change as he took a second step.
As his foot came down—
Buzz!
Another black Soul Ring burst into being, matching the first as they shone together.
The pressure of two Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings sent the surrounding temperature plummeting. A fine layer of frost even formed across the ground.
Two Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings!
Yu Tianheng sucked in a sharp breath. Cold sweat instantly broke out across his back, and his voice trembled.
"Impossible... This can't possibly be true!"
Qian Renxue could no longer remain seated. She rose from her chair in the VIP seats, staring at Xue Tianyu.
What happened next became a nightmare that every member of the Imperial Fighting Team would remember for the rest of their lives.
Xue Tianyu walked steadily up onto the arena, one step and one Soul Ring at a time.
On his third step, a third black Soul Ring appeared.
On his fourth step, a fourth black Soul Ring appeared.
When he came to a stop, standing firmly opposite Yu Tianheng, a fifth black Soul Ring roared into being!
Five Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings, deep as the abyss, pulsed around his slender figure.
The entire training grounds fell deathly silent.
Only the frigid light radiating from those five black Soul Rings remained, piercing everyone's eyes.
Five Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings!
That twelve- or thirteen-year-old boy was a Soul King!
And not just any Soul King, but one with an unprecedented, world-defying set of five black rings!
Yu Tianheng's legs trembled uncontrollably. He shook his head frantically, unable to believe his own eyes.
"Fake! It's all an illusion!"
"How can there be a monster whose very first ring is ten thousand years old?! You're definitely using some kind of Soul Tool to trick our eyes!"
By now, Qian Renxue's heart was surging like a storm-tossed sea. The whole thing felt utterly unreal.
She had always believed herself to be the most gifted person on the Douluo Continent, born with Innate Full Soul Power at level twenty and personally taught by her grandfather.
She was several years older than this boy, yet her cultivation was only at the Soul King realm.
And her own Soul Ring configuration was merely the best possible: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black.
This boy had appeared with five Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings. He had ground her pride to dust.
The Imperial Fighting Team's members were even more terrified. Yu Feng's legs went weak, and he fell straight to the ground.
A flash of madness and unwillingness crossed Yu Tianheng's eyes.
He refused to believe that someone his age could be this powerful!
"I'll tear off your disguise!"
Yu Tianheng roared as the third purple Soul Ring on his body blazed brightly.
Thunder Fury erupted. Wild blue lightning transformed him into a god of thunder.
His Dragon Transformation right arm, brimming with enough thunder to destroy the heavens and shatter the earth, smashed toward Xue Tianyu's face.
Faced with such a powerful attack, Xue Tianyu didn't even bother to summon his Martial Soul.
He merely raised his right hand and pressed down lightly on the empty air.
Boom!
A tangible pressure, cold as ice, descended out of nowhere.
Yu Tianheng's unstoppable lightning assault didn't last even half a second against that force. It dissolved in an instant.
Crack!
The hard stone floor of the arena split apart over a wide area.
Yu Tianheng felt as though a ten-thousand-foot ice mountain had crashed down on his shoulders. His bones groaned and cracked under the unbearable strain.
He had no power to resist. Both knees smashed through the stone slabs, and he was forced to kneel before Xue Tianyu!
The entire arena was silent.
There had been no earth-shattering clash, no flashy Soul Skills trading blows.
Just one casual downward press.
The famed captain of the Imperial Fighting Team, a level-forty Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Soul Ancestor, was now kneeling in shame at the feet of a twelve-year-old boy.
"Beautiful!"
Xue Wu sprang up in excitement, pumping her fist, her face alight with triumphant satisfaction.
Shui Yue'er, Yu Hairou, and the others threw their arms around each other and cheered.
Shui Bing'er stood at the edge of the arena, watching the tall figure in white, standing with his hands behind his back like snow on a mountain peak.
A brilliant, joyful smile blossomed across her usually cool face, and her eyes brimmed with undisguised admiration.
The young geniuses of the Imperial Fighting Team stood frozen in place.
What they had just witnessed had shattered their mental defenses.
They couldn't accept this cruel reality. They refused to accept it.
Before you continue