A Crushing Victory

After leaving the Tang Sect branch, Tang Wulin returned to the Blacksmith Association with Mu Chen. He accepted a few Hundred Refinement commissions before heading back to the academy.

Although Tang Wulin was quite wealthy now, blacksmithing was his secondary profession, and he felt it was best not to let it go to waste.

It was already afternoon by the time he returned to the academy, and Class Five's daily training had just concluded. Tang Wulin decided to head straight for the dormitory.

"Click!"

Tang Wulin opened the dormitory door.

"Wulin!"

"You're finally awake!"

Before Tang Wulin could even step inside, Xie Xie rushed over and hugged him tightly.

A long moment passed.

"Uh... Xie Xie, I can't breathe."

"Oh, oh, sorry."

Xie Xie released Tang Wulin and took a few steps back. Fortunately, there was no one else in the dormitory, or they might have misunderstood the nature of their relationship.

"How is Gu Yue? Is she alright?" Tang Wulin walked into the room and sat on his bed.

"Why are you so concerned about her! Can't you care about me for once?" Xie Xie's face darkened, his cheeks puffing up in frustration.

Tang Wulin looked Xie Xie up and down and laughed. "You look perfectly fine and energetic to me! What could possibly be wrong?"

"By the way, what happened that night after I passed out? When I woke up, I only saw Teacher Wu bringing us back to the academy. Did he save us?"

"Uh... I suppose so! I'm not entirely sure myself." Tang Wulin felt a bit tongue-tied and could only go along with Xie Xie's assumption.

"That's such a shame. I missed the chance to see Teacher Wu in action."

"Alright, stop overthinking it. I'm going to the cafeteria to eat. Are you coming?"

"Let's go!"

In the cafeteria, Xie Xie watched in shock as Tang Wulin ordered a Grade A Meal—and fifty portions of it at once.

"Tang Wulin, did you strike it rich? That's fifty Grade A Meals!"

Tang Wulin stuffed a piece of unknown meat into his mouth and replied, "I suppose you could say that! I have enough money to fill my stomach for now. Do you want me to treat you?"

"No need. This young master isn't so poor that he can't afford a single Grade A Meal."

Since he had hundreds of millions in his pocket now, he figured he should treat himself well when it came to food. After all, eating well would help him cultivate faster! That was Tang Wulin's logic.

That evening, Tang Wulin and Xie Xie arrived at their usual special training spot right on time.

Wu Zhangkong and Gu Yue had already arrived.

"Teacher Wu, Gu Yue."

Tang Wulin greeted them both.

Wu Zhangkong gave a slight nod.

"Wulin! You're awake!" Gu Yue walked over to Tang Wulin, her face full of concern.

"Yeah! My body is pretty tough!" Tang Wulin said with a smile.

"Hey, hey, hey! I'm still standing right here!" Xie Xie pouted.

"Cough, cough! Enough! Everyone, stand at attention!" Wu Zhangkong said in a deep voice.

"You should already know that the Class Promotion Tournament is in three days. Class Four will be your first opponent."

"Teacher Wu, I think we should try to predict which students Class Four will send so we can formulate a strategy," Xie Xie said, raising his hand.

Wu Zhangkong cast a cold glance at Xie Xie and said sternly, "You are only dealing with Class Four. Strategy is unimportant for you right now. I demand an overwhelming victory. If you cannot take down Class Four within one minute, there is no need for you to even think about challenging Class One."

"This..." Xie Xie hadn't expected such strict requirements from Wu Zhangkong. Winning within a minute—even with his confidence in his own strength, he couldn't guarantee he could pull that off.

"Enough. For the duration of the Class Promotion Tournament, your special training will focus on honing your synergy. For instance, tonight, all three of you will attack me at once."

After saying this, Wu Zhangkong snapped a willow branch from a nearby tree. With a slight flick of his wrist, he held the branch as if it were a long sword.

"Didn't you say you wanted to see Teacher Wu in action? Well, here's your chance," Tang Wulin whispered to Xie Xie.

"That's not what I meant when I said I wanted to see him fight!"

"Stop dawdling! If you don't attack first, I will!" Wu Zhangkong said in a deep voice.

"Yes!"

The three of them responded in unison and released their martial souls.

When Tang Wulin saw the two Century Soul Rings rising from beneath Xie Xie's feet, he couldn't help but say in surprise, "Xie Xie, you've broken through to the second ring!"

Xie Xie wore a smug grin. "Naturally. With my talent, reaching the second ring was a piece of cake!"

"You have innate full soul power and you're only just now breaking through to the second ring? You have the nerve to brag about that?" Gu Yue retorted with a curl of her lip.

"You..." The smugness on Xie Xie's face vanished instantly. "Forget it, I won't argue with a girl. Just make sure you don't hold me back during the Class Promotion Tournament."

"Tch! You'd better worry about what's right in front of you first!" A mischievous smirk curled the corners of Gu Yue's lips as she pointed ahead of Xie Xie.

"Huh?"

Xie Xie suddenly felt a chill beside him.

"Snap!"

A thin, long willow branch struck Xie Xie's backside without warning.

"Ouch!"

Xie Xie jumped straight up in pain.

"Teacher Wu, how could you sneak attack me! That's not honorable!"

Wu Zhangkong retracted the willow branch and said, "I told you just now, if you dawdled any longer, I would strike first!"

"Then couldn't you have picked the other two to strike first?" Xie Xie said with a tearful face.

"Still yapping?"

The next instant, the willow branch lashed out at Xie Xie again, but fortunately, he reacted in time this time, moving his feet to barely dodge the strike.

"Continue!"

Wu Zhangkong did not stop, and his next attack turned toward Tang Wulin.

Three days later.

The East Sea City Intermediate Soul Master Academy welcomed its liveliest event of the year: the Class Promotion Tournament.

Today's first match was Class Five versus Class Four of the first grade.

Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue were the first to step onto the arena, though their eyes were filled with exhaustion, as if they hadn't woken up yet.

What others didn't know was what the three of them had endured over the past three days; every night's special training had been a battle against Wu Zhangkong, and naturally, the result was them being beaten until they were crying for their parents.

"Teacher Wu, your class's contestants don't seem to have much spirit, do they?" A somewhat chubby middle-aged man walked up to Wu Zhangkong and said.

He was Kong Hanwen, the head teacher of Class Four.

Wu Zhangkong glanced at him with a cold face and ignored him.

"Tch, acting all high and mighty, and he was even demoted from the higher grades!" Kong Hanwen curled his lip and said.

Wu Zhangkong truly couldn't be bothered to pay him any mind; they were merely Class Four.

On the arena, three boys slowly walked up with expressions of superiority, clearly looking down on Class Five.

"Prepare! Both sides, retreat fifty meters," Grade Director Long Hengxu said, standing between the six of them.

"First match of the Class Promotion Tournament, Grade One Class Five versus Grade One Class Four, begin!"

Long Hengxu shouted, and both sides released their martial souls almost simultaneously.

But when everyone saw the martial souls of both sides, they were suddenly confused about which side was Class Five and which was Class Four.

"Why is that person's first soul ring a thousand-year one?"

"And what the hell is that two-ring Great Soul Master?"

"That girl's first soul ring is also a hundred-year one!"

A massive wave of discussion erupted beneath the arena.

Even Long Hengxu, standing on the stage, was stunned. What on earth was going on?

In contrast, the Class Four side looked rather pathetic, as they only had ten-year soul rings.

The three from Class Four hesitated the moment they saw this. Were these people really not from Class One?

"Let's end this quickly. I want to go back to sleep!"

Xie Xie moved first, holding his Light Dragon Dagger in a reverse grip. Without using any soul skills, his speed was already at an absurd level.

In the next instant, he appeared behind one of the Class Four contestants, his Light Dragon Dagger pressed directly against the boy's neck.

"Lin Zunyuan is out!"

Gu Yue was no slower. Silver light exploded from her body as she utilized spatial power, teleporting directly behind another contestant with a fireball already condensed in her hand, aimed right at him.

"Jialong is out!"

Tang Wulin was the slowest of the three. The thousand-year soul spirit at his feet glowed, and a mass of Blue Silver Grass rose beneath the feet of the last boy. The boy tried to dodge, but his speed was ultimately a step too slow, and he was bound tightly by Tang Wulin's Blue Silver Grass.

"Mosi is out!"

"Grade One Class Five wins!"

Long Hengxu announced the result immediately.

The area below the stage went silent in an instant.

That was too fast! The whole process hadn't even taken half a minute!

It was an absolutely crushing victory!

The strength of the two sides was simply not on the same level.