With just one exchange,
Lu Chuan had seized the initiative from an opponent at Soul King level.
Wu Zhangkong was extremely satisfied.
But Long Hengxu looked a little embarrassed.
As the director of education,
what did it mean to be knocked down by a student?
If it had been one of his own students, that would have been one thing,
but of all people, it was Wu Zhangkong, who had repeatedly gone against him!
After getting back to his feet,
he quickly adjusted his mindset.
The friendly attitude he'd shown Lu Chuan earlier was gone,
replaced by the seriousness one showed a Soul Master of equal rank!
"Kid, I'm going to get serious."
Long Hengxu gripped the heavy sword again and spoke solemnly.
Lu Chuan nodded and took up a stance as well. "Teacher, please enlighten me."
Before the words had even left his mouth,
Long Hengxu's Soul Power erupted in full.
Five Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet.
One white, one yellow, and three purple.
Not a single black Soul Ring.
Clearly,
Old Long had come from a poor family when he was young,
and had fought his way to this point all on his own!
People like him
cared most about rules,
and were the most stubborn!
Behind him,
his golden Soul Rings suddenly blazed with light.
A dense glow of Soul Power immediately enveloped the Black Iron Heavy Sword.
The blade trembled slightly,
letting out a low hum.
"Second Soul Skill—Earth Splitting Slash!"
Long Hengxu leapt into the air,
raised the heavy sword over his head,
and brought it crashing down again with the force of a mountain bearing down.
The movement was exactly the same as before,
but this time,
he used a Soul Skill!
The earth split—
the earth split—
before the sword energy had even struck the ground,
cracks had already appeared across the surface.
Lu Chuan roughly estimated the energy behind that strike.
It was enough to cleave a massive boulder in half.
If it hit him,
he'd be laid up in bed,
with Wu Zhangkong nursing him for half a month!
Even so,
he still didn't dodge!
Since Long Hengxu wanted to settle things with the same move,
Lu Chuan would give him the chance!
He took a deep breath,
spread his feet,
and planted himself in a firm horse stance.
His right fist clenched and gathered power,
then—
he punched.
There was no flashy flourish,
just a head-on collision between flesh and sword.
A thunderous boom rang out,
and a violent shock wave swept across the entire Martial Arts Arena in an instant.
The two were locked in a stalemate.
Long Hengxu felt as if he'd really struck a mountain—
unbelievably hard,
and impossible to cut into even the slightest bit.
Most importantly, this was only one of Lu Chuan's punches!
As Lu Chuan pulled back his right fist,
his left fist came up to meet the sword.
The web between Long Hengxu's thumb and forefinger split open in an instant,
and the Black Iron Heavy Sword flew from his grasp.
As for Long Hengxu himself,
Lu Chuan's punch sent him stumbling backward,
until he crashed into the Soul Guidance Barrier around the Martial Arts Arena and finally stopped.
The winner was clear!
However, Wu Zhangkong didn't rush to announce the result.
She waited for Long Hengxu to regain his composure on his own.
At that moment,
Long Hengxu leaned against the Soul Guidance Barrier,
looking down at his hands, which were streaming with blood and no longer able to grip his sword.
He couldn't help giving a bitter laugh.
He'd lost.
Lost to a nine-year-old child!
And he'd been defeated in two punches,
even after using a Soul Skill that required him to gather power!
It was hard to accept,
but as a teacher who had devoted himself to education,
he quickly let it go after a brief moment of disappointment.
He looked at Lu Chuan, now in the prime of his youth,
then at Wu Zhangkong, the young teacher,
and finally said,
"I lost!"
"The waves behind push on those ahead... It seems I really am getting old!"
At that, Lu Chuan hurriedly waved his hands and stepped forward to help Long Hengxu up.
"Teacher Long, don't say that! If your strike just now had been a little stronger, I definitely wouldn't have been able to stop it."
Long Hengxu rose with his help. He knew Lu Chuan was just being polite, but he still couldn't help laughing.
"You little brat, you've really become a smooth talker! It's one thing to be talented, but you even remembered to give me an out after winning. You've got a real knack for handling people—much better at it than your teacher! I like you!"
Long Hengxu gave Lu Chuan a thumbs-up, then burst out laughing.
At the edge of the arena, Wu Zhangkong heard him and immediately darkened.
She kicked Long Hengxu straight out of the arena with her sword still in hand,
not forgetting to warn him,
"Don't teach my student bad habits!"
Long Hengxu had been driven off.
The vast Martial Arts Arena
was left with only Wu Zhangkong and Lu Chuan, teacher and student.
At that moment,
Wu Zhangkong still couldn't calm down, even after Long Hengxu's departure.
It had been a battle of less than half an hour,
and she'd long guessed that Lu Chuan would most likely win,
but she'd never imagined
he'd win so cleanly and decisively.
Long Hengxu was a level 57 Soul King,
while Lu Chuan was only level 33!
There were two full major realms between them,
and more than twenty levels of Soul Power.
Defeating an opponent one major realm above you—
that was the mark of a genius!
And Lu Chuan had crossed nearly two major realms.
That made him a genius among geniuses,
known as a "Little Monster" throughout Shrek Academy!
And then there was how effortlessly he'd held his own against her yesterday.
Wu Zhangkong gradually formed a clear idea of Lu Chuan's combat strength.
Invincible below Soul Emperor.
On par with an ordinary Soul Emperor,
and only slightly inferior to a genius Soul Emperor!
What did that mean?
It meant
that among his peers,
Lu Chuan already stood at a height they could only look up to.
"Teacher Wu,"
Lu Chuan's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"What's next? Any more training?"
Wu Zhangkong finally came back to herself.
Looking at the boy before her, drenched in sweat but with eyes still bright,
full of bullheaded determination,
and fond of playing the pig to eat the tiger,
her mood suddenly lifted.
"That's all for today's combat lesson. Go rest. Meditate properly tonight, and we'll continue tomorrow."
"Got it! See you, Teacher!"
The moment Lu Chuan heard class was over, his face lit up.
He turned and ran out of the Martial Arts Arena.
To him,
classes were simply too painful—
he'd rather forge a single hair.
Little did he know,
Wu Zhangkong's gaze followed him until his figure had completely disappeared
before she finally came back to herself!
Day after day,
Lu Chuan spent his days running, practicing basic Soul Power control, fighting, meditating, and forging.
He knew some of the theoretical material,
but there was very little Lu Chuan didn't know.
The only class he was interested in was Mecha Class,
but Wu Zhangkong told Lu Chuan
that she wouldn't begin teaching it until all the other students in Class Zero had arrived.
This left Lu Chuan deeply disappointed.
Fortunately,
two months passed before he knew it.
The Class Promotion Tournament was about to begin!
"Brother, guess what? I've been chosen to represent Class Five in the Class Promotion Tournament!"
Tang Wuyue came bounding into Lu Chuan's single dormitory room,
her little face brimming with pride,
and unable to hide her delight.
Lu Chuan was wiping down his Forging Hammer. Hearing his sister's good news,
he couldn't help smiling.
"Well, look at that! Our little Wuyue is so impressive. A representative for Class Five? Then you'd better do your best and not bring shame on the Tang Family, all right?"
"Of course! I'll definitely do my best!"
Tang Wuyue planted her hands on her hips and lifted her little chin.
"And our homeroom teacher said that if we come in first in this Class Promotion Tournament, there's a good chance we'll get into Class Zero. Then I'll get to take classes with you, Brother!"
"That'd be great. We could take classes together. Feeling confident?"
"Of course!"
Tang Wuyue waved her little fist, brimming with confidence.
"To get into Class Zero, I haven't slacked off once in the past two months. I go meditate at East Sea Park every day after class! My Soul Power is already at level eighteen!"
"Level eighteen? When did that happen? Have you felt any discomfort?"
Lu Chuan was startled.
At the same time, his heart seemed to skip a beat.
He remembered clearly—
when Tang Wulin had reached this level of Soul Power in the original story,
the first layer of the Golden Dragon King Seal had already been broken!
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