Douluo: A Furious Rebuke of the Grandmaster

He was going all out.

At last, the opening he had been waiting for appeared.

Faced with Lu Yu's relentless assault, Tang San's footwork faltered for the briefest instant. That tiny hesitation was enough for Lu Yu to seize.

"Pfft..."

The blade sliced across Tang San's arm, and the scent of blood instantly filled the dormitory.

The moment he was injured, Tang San panicked.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lu Yu struck several times in succession, every slash landing on Tang San. Though they were only superficial wounds, they dealt a severe blow to Tang San's confidence.

With a bang.

Lu Yu used his sword to force Tang San to dodge in the direction he wanted, then immediately raised his leg and kicked.

Lu Yu used seventy percent of his strength in that kick.

Tang San was sent flying instantly, crashing heavily onto a bed.

But Lu Yu did not stop.

Instead, he jumped onto the bed and, before Tang San could get back to his feet, used his sword like a stick and lashed down at him in a flurry.

Only then did Wang Sheng and the others see clearly.

"Gasp..."

"That's way too brutal."

Looking at the miserable Tang San, Wang Sheng and the others could not help drawing sharp breaths. They secretly swore never to spar with Lu Yu.

When other people sparred, they stopped once a winner was decided.

But with him, it was different. Whoever you were, he would beat you until he was satisfied.

Thinking of Xiao Wu earlier and looking at Tang San now, each was worse off than the last. Just watching them made everyone hurt.

Flash Shadow Triple Kill

"Ding! The mission has been completed. The reward has been issued to the inventory. Please check it."

"Ding! A new mission has been issued. Please check it."

Only when the system notifications rang out did Lu Yu finally stop his violence.

It had to be said, Tang San was quite tough. Lu Yu had beaten him for so long, yet he had not let out a single scream and had endured it all.

"Tang San, are you okay?" After Lu Yu left, Wang Sheng and the others immediately gathered around, afraid Lu Yu might have beaten Tang San half to death.

Tang San lay there half-dead, his eyes vacant and silent, as though he had not heard Wang Sheng and the others' concern.

Combined with the bloodstains, he looked utterly miserable.

The sight made Wang Sheng and the others' scalps tingle.

Their boss had been way too damn ruthless, hadn't he?

What they did not know was that it was all just an illusion. Tang San's injuries were not that severe; it was merely that the trauma to his heart was rather heavy.

After all, Tang Hao was still lurking in the shadows. How could Lu Yu possibly beat him badly enough to seriously injure him? He knew where to draw the line.

Of course, no one else knew that.

Even Lu Fei could not bear it any longer and asked, "Brother Yu, wasn't that a little too hard? We're classmates, after all."

Lu Yu rolled his eyes at him and could not be bothered to explain.

Did he think Lu Yu wanted to?

What else could he do?

The system mission was right there, and since he had the chance...

Was he supposed to take it or not?

As for whether Tang San would be unable to recover from this setback, what did that have to do with him?

Besides, Lu Yu did not think he would.

Tang San was the child of destiny. If his mental resilience was this weak, Lu Yu would not even need to take him seriously.

After sitting down to rest for a while and asking Wang Sheng and the others where the bathhouse was, Lu Yu and Lu Fei took their gear and clean clothes to bathe.

They had traveled so far today and fought twice along the way. They were drenched in sweat, and if they did not bathe, they definitely would not be able to sleep tonight.

When Lu Yu returned after washing up, he found that Tang San had not only already treated his wounds, but had also come before him as though nothing had happened.

"I will definitely defeat you."

Seeing Tang San acting like an edgy teenager, Lu Yu merely gave him a huge eye roll.

Then he turned over, climbed onto his bed, and burrowed beneath the covers.

To keep things secret, Lu Yu had warned Lu Fei before coming to the academy that they could not cultivate on the first day. They had to sleep honestly.

The Heaven Origin Technique was the key to their rise. No mistakes could be allowed. Before they possessed absolute means of self-preservation, they could not reveal it even if it killed them.

Once the academy taught them the standard Soul Power cultivation breathing method tomorrow, it would not matter. Who would know what technique they were cultivating then?

However, Lu Yu was not idle even after slipping under the covers. He turned his attention to the system inventory once more.

[Flash Shadow Triple Kill of the Nine Absolutes Sword Technique: The first form of the Nine Absolutes Sword Technique. Instantly unleashes three sword qi strikes in a designated direction. The power of the sword qi depends on Soul Power Level.]

Lu Yu's eyes lit up when he saw this.

Its power depended on Soul Power Level.

Wasn't that far better than a soul skill?

If he got eight more skills like this, would that not be equivalent to gaining another martial soul? And that martial soul would be equipped entirely with top-tier soul skills.

Lu Yu immediately learned it without hesitation.

This sword technique differed from other martial arts. Lu Yu did not need to comprehend it himself at all. The instant he learned it, he had already mastered it completely.

Only after grasping it did Lu Yu realize just how powerful this sword strike truly was.

Without exaggeration, once Lu Yu's Soul Power Level exceeded ninety, the power of this strike would absolutely be no weaker than any hundred-thousand-year soul skill.

"Hehe... Tang San, let's see what you can use to fight me now."

At this point, Tang San's advantage of possessing Twin Martial Souls no longer meant anything before Lu Yu. In terms of the number of soul skills, who was afraid of whom?

Not only could Lu Yu compete with him in quantity, he could also compete with him in quality.

He could crush Tang San in every aspect.

After his excitement faded, Lu Yu shifted his attention to the mission panel.

He was curious about who the new mission wanted him to beat up.

[Mission: First Soul Ring]

[Mission Details: Obtain the First Soul Ring. The soul ring's age must not be less than 600 years.]

[Mission Reward: Potential enhancement]

Seeing this mission, Lu Yu's eyes lit up once again.

As everyone knew, the limit for a Soul Master's First Soul Ring on Douluo Continent was 423 years, while the limit for the Second Soul Ring was 764 years.

Judging from the difficulty of the missions the system had issued so far, by the time his Soul Power reached level ten, his physique and spiritual power should reach the level of twenty.

In other words, this was not a mission, but a reminder.

As for the reward...

There was even less to say about that.

Lu Yu's greatest weakness right now was that the quality of his martial soul limited his potential. If his potential could not be improved, then even with the Heaven Origin Technique, his later cultivation speed would definitely be left behind by geniuses like Tang San.

Although the system did not say exactly how much it could improve, potential was the sort of thing where even a little improvement was worthwhile.

It was like money. Who would complain about having too much?

All Lu Yu could say was that the system was damn amazing.

After exiting the system, Lu Yu was just about to happily drift off to sleep when Xiao Wu leaned over.

"Lu Yu, Lu Yu..."

"Damn it, what are you doing?" Lu Yu turned his head and was startled by the huge face right in front of him, immediately sitting up.

"Huh?" Xiao Wu clearly had not expected Lu Yu to react so strongly. "Well... I wanted to ask, do you know that Tang San?"

"What? Do you like him?" Lu Yu instantly became interested when he heard that. He was also curious whether the suspicion in his heart was right.

"Peh, peh, peh..." Xiao Wu said disdainfully, "How could I possibly like him? I just sensed a familiar aura from him."

Lu Yu revealed an expression of realization.

It seemed his guess had been right. The Blue Silver Emperor bloodline was drawing Xiao Wu in.

"Him..." Lu Yu said, "I suppose I know him. He's a child from the village next to ours. We came to Nuoding City together."

"A neighboring village..."

If that was the case, then it was not as she had guessed.

But if he was human, why did he carry Aunt Xiao Yin's aura?

Could it be...

Xiao Wu suddenly thought of a possibility, but the instant the thought arose, she forcibly cast it out of her mind.

Tang San was too young.

Even if he could ask someone to help him hunt one, he could not absorb it.

Seeing Xiao Wu's conflicted expression, Lu Yu could not help feeling troubled. Xiao Wu's current state was dangerous.

If she could not figure it out, she would definitely investigate. And if she investigated, would that not give Tang San an opportunity? This damned pull of fate was truly difficult to deal with.

Still, getting on Xiao Wu's good side early could only be beneficial. At worst, he could lure Tang San away later and let Xiao Wu sacrifice herself to him.

Besides, Tang Hao was watching from the shadows.

If Xiao Wu did not become entangled with Tang San, Tang Hao might very well act early and keep Xiao Wu captive. If that happened, Lu Yu would truly have no chance at all.

After thinking it through, Lu Yu stopped dwelling on it. As long as the plot did not change, there would be plenty of opportunities. There was no use thinking so much now, because he could not use any of it anyway.

Wait for You in the Woods

The next day was the opening ceremony.

Tang San had taken leave. There was no need to think about what he was doing. He had definitely gone to witness just how useless the Grandmaster truly was.

When Lu Yu had said that even a random Thousand-Year Soul Beast would be beyond his ability to handle, he had already been giving him far too much credit.

If not for Tang San, a four-hundred-year Datura Snake would have been enough to finish him off.

The opening ceremony was boring, even more boring than those on Earth. Of course, that was only for Lu Yu. Lu Fei and the others were fired up by it.

After all, Douluo Continent was a world where strength reigned supreme, and these teachers were quite skilled at selling dreams.

With only a few words, they stirred up many students' longing for the world of Soul Masters. Every one of them was brimming with determination, as though a little more effort would truly allow them to become a Title Douluo.

Fortunately, the brainwashing did not last long.

After the opening ceremony, Lu Yu and the others were taken directly to their classroom by their teacher.

As for being divided into classes...

Come on, where would they find so many Soul Masters?

In a small city like Nuoding City, one class per grade was more than enough.

The self-introduction segment was indispensable in every academy, followed by instruction on the breathing method for cultivating Soul Power.

After learning the local cultivation technique, Lu Yu tried cultivating with it.

It was utter garbage.