After seeing the people Wu Zhangkong had sent out, Kong Hanwen said disdainfully, "To deal with Class Five, any three of our students would do. Jialong, Lin Zunyuan, Mosi—you three, go."
Of course, he claimed to have picked three people at random, but in fact, they were a perfectly coordinated trio: one assault-type, one agility-type, and one support-type. They were clearly the aces of their class.
Kong Hanwen disliked Wu Zhangkong intensely, so there was no way he would send out just anyone. If they lost, how could he mock Wu Zhangkong afterward?
On the other side, as the opposing trio launched their coordinated attack, Yun Xiao was the first to release his Martial Soul.
His Martial Soul was called the Star Disk, a jade plate decorated with various celestial symbols. A white Ten-Year Soul Ring appeared beside him.
Then, his First Soul Ring flashed, and a dazzling white light blazed forth, illuminating the entire competition platform.
"First Soul Skill, Starlight Flicker!"
Without a powerful elemental mage like Gu Yue from the original story, Wu Zhangkong had changed his approach. He built the team around Tang Wulin's tremendous strength, had Xie Xie lie in wait to launch feints, and gave Yun Xiao the role of ensuring Tang Wulin could bring his strength to bear.
Yun Xiao's First Soul Skill, for example, briefly disabled all invisibility skills, while slowing the enemy by ten percent and increasing his allies' speed by ten percent.
As expected, when the white light swept over them, Jialong felt as if something were tugging at his feet. His speed immediately dropped, and even his charge lost some of its momentum.
Off the platform, Long Yuan watched everything unfold and naturally figured out the effect of Yun Xiao's Soul Skill.
"Wu Zhangkong certainly knows how to coordinate a team. He understands what it takes to win and trains them around their strengths. No wonder he came from Shrek Academy."
Quite a few students in Class Five were higher level than Yun Xiao, who was only a thirteenth-level Soul Master. There were even other support-type Soul Masters, yet Wu Zhangkong had still chosen him.
Gu Yuena was a little surprised. "Wu Zhangkong is actually from Shrek Academy?"
Gu Yuena knew all about Shrek Academy, the so-called number one academy on the continent. After all, Shrek Academy had been a great enemy of the Star Dou Forest for ten thousand years.
"Right. His teacher is Red Dragon Douluo Zhuo Shi, an elder of the Sea God Pavilion. But he's already been expelled from the sect—or so Wu Zhangkong believes."
"Expelled from the sect?"
"Yeah. What did he expect, falling in love with the daughter of an Evil Soul Master? Her name was Long Bing, the daughter of Dark Hummingbird, one of the Four Dark Heavenly Kings of the Holy Spirit Cult. It's almost laughable. Shrek Academy has more holes than a sieve, yet somehow they let an Evil Soul Master's daughter infiltrate it."
Gu Yuena blinked. The news itself didn't affect her much. What really caught her attention was that this "older brother" of hers knew so much.
"What is it? Anything else you want to ask?"
"No." Gu Yuena sighed, then resolutely clasped Long Yuan's hand in both of hers.
No matter where he had learned all this, Gu Yuena didn't care now. He was her older brother, the other half of the Dragon God. He was the Golden Dragon King, and, more than that, someone she could rely on.
Di Tian and the others were absolutely loyal to her, but they were still her subordinates. Aside from her, no one knew what it had been like to spend those long years recuperating on Douluo Continent.
No matter how much resentment she felt, it had all ultimately given way to fear—fear that the Divine Realm might find her one day.
But things were different now.
Gu Yuena turned her head and studied Long Yuan's profile carefully. His scent and his aura both filled her with a deep sense of security.
Though he, too, was far from his prime, that feeling of immense strength still made her willing to trust him.
For once, she felt tired. It wasn't physical exhaustion, but the relief of her heart finally loosening after endless years of living in constant fear. She wanted to rest properly for a while.
"Just as I expected. They didn't even last three moves," Long Yuan said without surprise, wanting to talk with Gu Yuena some more.
But when he turned around, he discovered that Gu Yuena had somehow fallen asleep against his shoulder. He tried to pull his hand free, but couldn't.
Even in her sleep, Gu Yuena clung tightly to his hand without loosening her grip at all.
"Alas..." Long Yuan sighed. He didn't disturb her, simply letting her hold him as she slept.
With Yun Xiao's support and Xie Xie's feints driving their opponents back, Tang Wulin didn't even need to use his Golden Dragon Claw. One punch sent Jialong flying, and then a slap sent Mosi spinning off the platform.
As for Lin Zunyuan, the support-type Soul Master standing at the back, he had wanted to run. But Tang Wulin casually flung out a Blue Silver Grass vine, which blurred through the air and shot straight toward him. The Blue Silver Grass seemed to come alive, wrapping tightly around him.
Then Tang Wulin pulled with one hand, yanking Lin Zunyuan back at high speed. Lin Zunyuan's face smashed right into Tang Wulin's fist.
As expected, Lin Zunyuan hadn't mastered his unconventional headbutt. He passed out on the spot.
Three moves. It took Tang Wulin just three moves to defeat the team Class Four had trained so carefully.
Class Four fell utterly silent. The match couldn't even be called a rout, because there hadn't been any process of crushing them at all. Everything had been so easy and casual that they wilted like eggplants left out in the frost.
Kong Hanwen, especially, froze with his excited expression still on his face.
After a long moment, he came to his senses and snarled at a student beside him, "What are you standing around for? Haven't we embarrassed ourselves enough? Hurry up and find some people to take them to the infirmary!"
Then he looked at the other students in Class Four. "A bunch of good-for-nothings. Get lost! Double your training from now on!"
With that, he stormed off without another glance at the students, who stood there in bewilderment.
Losing alone would have been bad enough. But this match had been like stepping on ants. It hadn't even taken half a minute, and it had happened right after he'd mocked Wu Zhangkong!
Tang Wulin stepped off the platform and high-fived Xie Xie and Yun Xiao before looking toward Long Yuan.
He had wanted to go over and share the good news, but when he saw Gu Yuena sleeping soundly, his steps gradually slowed.
Then he saw Long Yuan give him a thumbs-up, along with an encouraging look.
"Well done. You really are my disciple!"
Long Yuan's voice rang in his ears, and Tang Wulin was instantly filled with energy. He nodded vigorously at Long Yuan, then jogged back to Class Five's group.
Wu Zhangkong had seen this, too, though he still didn't know whether Tang Wulin had some kind of connection with Long Yuan.
Never mind. I'll ask Tang Wulin about it later. With talent like his, if he joined the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy...
As Wu Zhangkong led Class Five back, he turned the matter over in his mind.