The Weight of Inheritance

Tang Wulin and his three companions had already reached the center of the arena.

Tan Qing led the six members of New Zero Class to spread out and take positions. Their formation changed extremely quickly, forming a semi-circular defensive array in just a few breaths. Tan Qing himself was at the forefront, while Lin Xiao retreated to the rear like a phantom. The other four spread out on both flanks, their movements clean and efficient, clearly indicating extensive joint training.

Xie Xie turned his head and glanced at Tang Wulin: "How do we fight?"

Tang Wulin's Blue Silver Grass had silently drooped to his side, the tips of the grass leaves trembling slightly, as if breathing.

"The usual."

Gu Yue raised her eyes, a faint golden light flashing in them. "I'll control the left flank, Xiao Yan will manage the situation, and you'll break through the center."

Xu Xiaoyan gave a soft "hmm," and a layer of fine, shimmering light appeared on her fingertips.

"Start!"

Before Long Hengxu could finish speaking through the megaphone, Tan Qing's Dark Iron Heavy Shield slammed into the ground, cracking the stone slab with spiderweb-like patterns. A pale yellow light curtain rose from the shield, enveloping the entire New Zero Class.

At the same time, Xie Xie's figure had already disappeared from the spot.

Tang Wulin's Blue Silver Grass spread silently along the ground like a swarm of snakes, and suddenly burst forth just before the light screen touched it, with more than a dozen vines wrapping around the seam of the light screen from different angles at the same time.

Tan Qing's expression hardened, and he suddenly pushed the heavy shield horizontally. The light screen trembled violently and bounced away most of the vines, but two treacherous ones still managed to get around the gaps and wrap around Tan Qing's ankles.

"So fast--!"

Someone in the stands shouted, followed by a chorus of gasps.

Xie Xie's figure curved in mid-air in an almost illogical arc, dodging an oncoming wind blade. He lightly tapped his left foot on a training post, using the momentum to rise again. With a flick of his wrist, a fine, golden blade of light shot from his fingertips—

A Soul Skill.

Lin Xiao's Phantom Butterfly darted in from the side, several afterimages simultaneously rushing towards Xie Xie's landing point, but Gu Yue raised her hand and pressed down, a cold blue aura surging from her palm, condensing into a thin but tough ice wall around Xie Xie, blocking the phantoms for a moment.

That's enough.

Xie Xie's golden blade pierced through the gap in Tan Qing's defenses, precisely striking the hem of a New Zero Class member's training uniform behind him. With a soft "swoosh," it cut open a gash. The person subconsciously looked down and froze.

A gasp of surprise erupted from the stands.

"It broke through the defenses already?!"

"How long has it been since the fight started? Three seconds? Five seconds?"

Tan Qing's expression finally changed. He slammed the Dark Iron Heavy Shield into the ground, and a shockwave like a muffled thunder spread outwards. The stone floor trembled violently. Tang Wulin's feet swayed, and several Blue Silver Grass were shaken out of control, but he quickly regained his balance, and the corners of his mouth curved up.

"Level 25 Soul Power is indeed a bit too much," he muttered, his eyes shining brightly.

"But experience can't suppress it~."

Taking advantage of the chaos, Xu Xiaoyan had already slipped to the flank of New Zero Class. With a few light taps of her fingertips, several points of light drifted out like fireflies. Seemingly harmless, they landed precisely at the edge of everyone's field of vision, flashing slightly and interfering with their judgment.

The two flanks of the New Zero Class began to hesitate and become misaligned. Lin Xiao made two consecutive speed changes and advances, but Gu Yue's ice wall precisely blocked her route, forcing her to retreat back into formation.

"Their teamwork is better than ours was back then," Gu Yue whispered to Tang Wulin during a break between positions.

"But formation switching relies too heavily on defensive Soul Master; once the shield is breached, the entire defensive line will collapse instantly."

Tang Wulin nodded. "I'll take it apart."

The Blue Silver Grass instantly surged, this time not attacking in a scattered manner, but instead all of it gathered into a deep blue vine about the thickness of a thumb, and slammed head-on into Tan Qing's Xuan Dark Iron Heavy Shield with an almost tyrannical attitude.

Tan Qing's pupils contracted sharply, and the veins on his arms bulged as he deflected the shield diagonally.

With a muffled boom, the blue stone slab split open with two long cracks on either side of the shield. Tan Qing's body was pushed back half a meter by the impact, and his feet plowed two white marks on the stone slab.

"Hold on—held on?!" someone in the stands shouted, holding their breath.

But the next second, Gu Yue appeared silently in Tan Qing's blind spot to the right, pressing her palm lightly against the air.

A second blast of icy blue air seeped in along the seams of the shield's edge, and the extreme cold instantly frosted over the surface of the Dark Iron Heavy Shield.

Metals become brittle and hard when rapidly cooled.

Tang Wulin's second wave of attack followed immediately, the deep blue vines slamming into the shield again, this time with a crisp "crack".

The first crack appeared on the shield.

Lin Xiao swooped in from the flank, the wings of the Phantom Butterfly unfurling several streaks of light behind her. Her speed was so fast that she almost left afterimages, but she stopped abruptly after taking two steps.

Xu Xiaoyan's points of light somehow connected to form an extremely thin ray of light along her path, like an invisible tripwire.

Lin Xiao's sudden braking caused her center of gravity to lean forward slightly for half a second.

Xie Xie's third dash was completed within that half-second.

That's enough.

He appeared beside Lin Xiao, placing two fingers together on her shoulder with just the right amount of force—not enough to hurt her, but enough to make her visibly falter.

The sharp edge stopped three inches from Lin Xiao's neck.

The outcome of the contest was clear in that instant.

Cracks spread from the surface of Tan Qing's shield to its center. His hands trembled slightly, and a chill ran from the edge of the shield to his wrists. He barely managed to lift his head and glance at Tang Wulin. His lips moved, but he didn't say anything.

Gu Yue withdrew his hand, and the frost silently melted away in the air.

Xu Xiaoyan's light also dimmed, like fireflies going out.

A moment of silence fell over the stands, then a roar erupted like water bursting from a dam.

"It's over?"

Five minutes? Is there really five minutes?

"That's incredible... Did he really only use level 25 Soul Power?"

"Tan Qing's shield was as fragile as paper in front of them..."

Tang Wulin stepped forward, extended his hand to Tan Qing, and said in a calm tone as if he had just finished a daily training session, "You played very well, especially the first wave of defense, which almost knocked all my Blue Silver Grass away."

Tan Qing was stunned for a moment, then released the shield handle and grasped Tang Wulin's hand, his rough palm bearing the calluses left from training.

He straightened up, glanced at Tang Wulin, and suddenly grinned, with a youthful cheerfulness. "Far from it. We practiced the combined attack formation for half a year, and you guys dismantled it in five minutes."

That's because we've been working together for a longer time.

Xie Xie dusted himself off and walked over, nodding at Tan Qing, "What you lack is time, not foundation. Practice for another two years, and maybe you can last ten minutes."

Several New Zero Class members gathered around Tan Qing, their faces not showing much dejection, but rather a kind of gleam that seemed to have been ignited.

The boy whose clothes had been torn by Tang Wulin rubbed the back of his head and muttered, "I didn't even have time to use my Soul Skill" before his teammate slapped him.

The applause from the stands spread from a few scattered spots, gradually becoming a continuous chorus, mixed with whistles and cheers.

Principal Yu Zhen sat at the highest point, his thermos cup resting on his lap. The smile on his face was finally no longer suppressed. He turned to Long Hengxu beside him and said something, to which the latter nodded.

But before the applause had even completely subsided, the boys from the upperclassmen in the front row of the stands were already getting restless.

One of the tall boys stood up, his voice low but clearly audible in the gradually quieting environment. "Director Long, can the sparring session between Shrek Academy students be scheduled now?"

Long Hengxu looked at the principal, Yu Zhen waved his hand, and Long Hengxu picked up the megaphone. "Alright. Those who want to challenge, come to the center of the field to register."

Before he finished speaking, two or three more people stood up next to the boy who had already stood up, and several students from the intermediate grade were also eager to join in, but were stopped by the teacher's gaze.

Yun Jingheng glanced at Ye Xinglan beside him. "Will you go first or should I?"

"Casual."

Ye Xinglan's tone was calm, but Yuanen Yehui noticed that her fingers, hanging by her side, curled slightly, a habitual reaction Ye Xinglan had when she found something interesting.

"Then I'll go first," Yun Jingheng released his arms and stepped towards the center of the field. "Let them see what the world is like."

Xie Xie had already retreated to the sidelines, standing side by side with Tang Wulin and the other three. With his hands on his hips, he shouted at Yun Jingheng, "Jing Heng! Don't make him cry. Give my alma mater some face!"

I'll try my best.

Yun Jingheng didn't turn his head. He stood in the center of the training field, facing the six advanced students who had already come down. His expression was as calm as if he were waiting for a cup of tea to cool down.

The sun was setting a little further west, and the afternoon heat was slowly fading away, but the crowd on the playground not only didn't disperse, but instead became excited again because of the appearance of the words "Shrek," forming even tighter circles around the crowd than before.

Long Hengxu stood on the sidelines, glanced down at his communicator, and then added, "The rules are the same as above. Soul Power is not suppressed, and Soul Skill are unlimited. The game ends when you admit defeat or lose the ability to fight. Are you all coming at me at once, or one by one?"

The tall boy pursed his lips, his gaze lingered on Yun Jingheng for two seconds, then he exchanged a glance with his companion.

"Attack together!"

Yun Jingheng nodded slightly. "Please."

The next second, six waves of Soul Power exploded simultaneously.

The leaves of the sycamore trees by the playground rustled in the invisible air currents, and the students in the stands held their breath and leaned forward.

The setting sun cast a long shadow on the young man in the center of the field.

At the highest point of the stands, Principal Yu Zhen picked up his thermos and slowly took a sip, a satisfied gleam in his eyes.