Gu Yuena's Trust and Reliance

After seeing the people Wu Zhangkong sent out, Kong Hanwen said with disdain, "To deal with the people from Class Five, any three from our class will do. Jialong, Lin Zunyuan, Mosi, you three go."

Of course, while he claimed to have picked three people at random, they were actually one power attack type, one agility attack type, and one support type. Their coordination was precise and orderly, clearly making them the ace team of his class.

Kong Hanwen disliked Wu Zhangkong intensely, so he naturally wouldn't send just anyone; if they happened to lose, he wouldn't be able to mock Wu Zhangkong.

On the other side, facing the coordinated attack of the three opponents, Yun Xiao was the first to release his martial soul.

His martial soul was called the Star Disk, a jade disk inscribed with numerous astrological signs, and a white ten-year soul ring appeared at his side.

Immediately following, the first soul ring flickered, and a dazzling white light erupted, illuminating the entire competition stage.

"First soul skill, Starlight Flicker!"

Without a powerful elemental mage like Gu Yue from the original story, Wu Zhangkong had changed his strategy. He built the team around Tang Wulin's immense strength, with Xie Xie lurking to feign attacks, while Yun Xiao's role was to ensure Tang Wulin could unleash his power.

Just like this first soul skill, its effect was to briefly disable all stealth abilities, while simultaneously reducing the enemy's speed by ten percent and increasing the allies' speed by ten percent.

Sure enough, as the white light washed over them, Jialong felt as if something were dragging at his feet. His speed dropped instantly, and even his momentum in the charge faltered.

Outside the arena, Long Yuan watched everything, naturally deducing the effect of Yun Xiao's soul skill.

"Wu Zhangkong is quite skilled at team composition. He understands what the key to victory is and trains his team around those strengths. He is worthy of being someone from Shrek."

There were many in Class Five with higher levels than the thirteen-level soul master Yun Xiao, and there were other support-type soul masters as well, yet Wu Zhangkong had still chosen him.

Gu Yuena was somewhat surprised. "Is Wu Zhangkong actually from Shrek?"

Gu Yuena was naturally well-informed about Shrek Academy, the so-called number one academy on the continent; after all, since ten thousand years ago, Shrek Academy had always been a great enemy of the Star Dou Forest.

"That's right. His teacher is an elder of the Sea God Pavilion, the Red Dragon Douluo Zhuo Shi, though he has been expelled from the sect now—at least, that's what Wu Zhangkong believes."

"Expelled from the sect?"

"Yes. Who told him to fall in love with the daughter of an Evil Soul Master? That person's name was Long Bing, the daughter of the Dark Hummingbird, one of the four Dark Heavenly Kings of the Holy Spirit Cult. It's laughable, really; Shrek Academy is as leaky as a sieve to have let the daughter of an Evil Soul Master infiltrate it."

Gu Yuena blinked. She didn't feel much about this information; what truly concerned her was that this "older brother" of hers actually knew so much.

"What? Is there anything else you want to ask?"

"No." Gu Yuena sighed, then firmly gripped Long Yuan's hand.

No matter where he had learned this information, Gu Yuena didn't care now. He was her brother, the other half of the Dragon God, the Golden Dragon King, and the person she could rely on.

Although Di Tian and the others were absolutely loyal to her, they were, after all, just subordinates. Aside from herself, no one knew what her state of mind had been during the long, arduous years she spent healing on the Douluo Continent.

Even if she harbored a thousand resentments, they ultimately culminated in anxiety—the fear of being found by the God Realm one day.

However, things were different now.

Gu Yuena turned her head and stared intently at Long Yuan's profile. The scent and aura radiating from him made her feel incredibly at ease.

Even if he wasn't at his peak, that sense of power he exuded still made her willing to trust him.

Rarely, she felt a sense of exhaustion. It wasn't physical fatigue, but the relief of a heart that had been anxious and restless for endless years finally relaxing, making her want to rest properly.

"As I expected, they couldn't even last three moves," Long Yuan said, unsurprised, wanting to continue talking with Gu Yuena.

However, when he turned his head, he realized that Gu Yuena had fallen asleep against his shoulder at some point. He tried to pull his hand away, but failed.

Even in her sleep, Gu Yuena kept his hand gripped tightly, without the slightest sign of loosening.

"Sigh..." Long Yuan sighed. He didn't disturb her, instead letting her hold onto him as she slept.

On the competition stage, with Yun Xiao's support and Xie Xie's feigned attacks to drive them, Tang Wulin didn't even need to use his Golden Dragon Claw. With one punch, he sent Jialong flying, and then with a slap, Mosi went spinning off the stage.

As for the support soul master Lin Zunyuan, who stood at the very back, he had intended to run away, but Tang Wulin threw his Blue Silver Grass vines with such force they left afterimages. They flew directly to him, and the Blue Silver Grass seemed to come alive, wrapping around him tightly.

Tang Wulin pulled with one hand, and Lin Zunyuan was yanked back rapidly, only to have his face collide painfully with Tang Wulin's fist.

Unsurprisingly, Lin Zunyuan's amateur headbutt hadn't been practiced enough, and he fainted instantly.

Three moves. It had taken only three moves for Tang Wulin to defeat the carefully trained team from Class Four.

Class Four fell into a deathly silence. This wasn't even a match that could be called a crushing victory, because there hadn't been a process of crushing at all; everything had been so easy and casual that it left them wilted like frost-bitten eggplants.

Kong Hanwen, in particular, saw his previously excited expression freeze on his face.

After a long while, he finally snapped out of it and growled at a student nearby, "What are you standing there for? Isn't it embarrassing enough? Why don't you hurry up and find some people to take them to the infirmary?"

After speaking, he looked up at the students of Class Four. "A bunch of losers, all of you, disperse! Your training volume will be doubled from now on!"

With that, he flicked his sleeves and left, ignoring the bewildered and helpless students.

If they had just lost, it would have been one thing, but this was a match that felt like stepping on ants—it hadn't even taken half a minute, and it happened right after he had mocked Wu Zhangkong!

Tang Wulin stepped off the stage, high-fived Xie Xie and Yun Xiao, and then looked toward Long Yuan outside the arena.

He had wanted to go over and share the good news, but seeing the sleeping Gu Yuena, his steps gradually slowed.

Then, he saw Long Yuan give him a thumbs-up and an encouraging look.

"Well done, worthy of being my disciple!"

Long Yuan's voice rang in his ears, and Tang Wulin was instantly filled with motivation. He nodded firmly at Long Yuan, then trotted back to the Class Five group.

Wu Zhangkong had also seen this scene, though he wasn't yet sure if there was any connection between Tang Wulin and Long Yuan.

Forget it, I'll ask Tang Wulin later. Such a genius... if he were to join the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy...

Wu Zhangkong thought to himself as he led the students of Class Five back.