Forming the Elite Class, One Against Seven!

After resting, Luo Chen's body had mostly recovered, so the master and disciple set off toward Tiandou City.

Returning to the academy, the two parted ways immediately. Luo Chen had been physically and mentally exhausted these past few days, but reaching level 21 provided some consolation. He returned to his dormitory; his roommates were absent, likely still in class. He didn't have the energy to worry about that, so after washing up, he crawled into bed and drifted off to sleep.

On the other side, after parting with Luo Chen, Meng Shenji immediately summoned the second-ranked committee member, Bai Baoshan, and the third-ranked, Zhilin, to make a decision.

"I have decided to establish an elite class, scouting for promising talent from the primary division to cultivate from the ground up."

"An elite class?" Bai Baoshan spoke up. He didn't mind, but he was curious why Meng Shenji would suddenly propose such a thing.

Zhilin, standing to the side, stroked his beard. "I heard you old fellow took on a new disciple! Surely this elite class isn't being founded specifically for your little apprentice, is it?"

Meng Shenji did not refute this, instead saying, "If you had reached level 21 at the age of six, I would have established a separate elite class for you as well."

"What? Level 21? At six years old?" Zhilin's hand, which had been stroking his beard, froze. "You aren't joking, are you? When I was six, I had just awakened my martial soul and my soul power was only level seven. Level 21 at six? Are you pulling my leg?"

Bai Baoshan, standing nearby, was also full of disbelief and asked, "This isn't a joke, is it?"

Meng Shenji replied, "I saw it with my own eyes; how could it be false? I witnessed him obtain his second soul ring right in front of me; would I lie about that?"

Once these words were spoken, both Bai and Zhilin were stunned. Bai Baoshan asked, "Even with innate full soul power, one shouldn't reach level 20 that quickly, right?"

Meng Shenji agreed, "Indeed, but perhaps my little disciple's martial soul is quite unique; that might have something to do with it."

"What is his martial soul?" the other two asked, both very curious.

Meng Shenji offered a mysterious smile. "Since you both want to see, why not hold a selection tournament? For this tournament, I intend to select fifteen students from the six grades of the primary division to form the elite class, providing them with specialized training for the upcoming Continental Soul Master Elite Tournament!"

At this, Bai Baoshan looked troubled. "But, shouldn't we discuss this with Prince Xue Xing?"

"I will speak to the Prince; I shall bear all consequences," Meng Shenji said. "We have only recently become committee members; we should be thinking about adding a bit of vitality to the academy."

Not long after, a message went out from the primary division of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy: following a decision by the Academic Affairs Office, the academy intended to recruit fifteen students for an elite class. There were no restrictions on grade or department for those wishing to register for the assessment. However, the final sentence dashed the hopes of many lower-grade students: only those who were at least one-ring soul masters could compete!

"Luo Chen! Have you heard? The academy is holding a selection for an elite class. I heard that those who get in will receive better instruction from teachers and more cultivation resources!"

Upon hearing this, Luo Chen immediately became interested. Although he was progressing rapidly, who would turn down more cultivation resources?

"Go! Why wouldn't I go?" With his current strength at level 21, let alone the primary division, he felt he could even hold his own against the intermediate division, not to mention he still had his several capable warriors.

They were the only two in the first grade who qualified, so they went to register together.

Eventually, the list of participants was finalized: two from the first grade, one from the second, and the entire student body from the third through sixth grades!

Well, that was only three people from the first two grades combined, but fortunately, the tournament format wasn't team-based. Instead, it was a chaotic brawl on the arenas. There were 243 participants in total, and the academy had ten arenas. Each arena would hold eight people, with opponents decided by drawing lots. The first round consisted of three matches, meaning three contestants would receive a bye and automatically advance to the next round.

The draw was random. Su Heng was lucky enough to draw a bye, but Luo Chen did not have such good fortune. Not only did he draw a match, but he was also in the first match on Arena Number One.

"Good luck, Luo Chen! You can definitely crush them!" Su Heng said with a grin. He had already witnessed Luo Chen's strength; a six-year-old two-ring Great Soul Master—who would believe it?

Luo Chen walked toward Arena Number One. The other seven people were already standing on the platform. Judging by the numbers on their uniforms, there were two sixth-graders, three fifth-graders, one third-grader, and one fourth-grader. Adding Luo Chen, the first-grader, the eight were complete.

The tallest boy spoke up: "Little brother, your courage is commendable, coming to compete at such a young age. But your big brothers and sisters won't go easy on you. You'd better just surrender obediently."

A young girl added, "That's right, little brother. You should just admit defeat and head down; come back and compete in a few years."

Luo Chen feigned "innocence" and smiled (though he was actually quite devious): "I don't think the one who loses will be me!"

"Hahahaha! Since this little guy doesn't want to step down, let him taste the cruelty of the soul master world!" a sturdy-looking boy declared.

Following the referee teacher's command, the match began.

The first to strike was a slender boy. He activated his martial soul, revealing a cultivation level of 18. His martial soul was a Variegated Cat, and he appeared to be an agility-attack system soul master.

The agility-attack type naturally took the initiative. He targeted a delicate-looking girl, but she showed no fear. She activated her martial soul and charged straight at him.

Her martial soul was a white bear; no one expected such a soft-looking girl to have such a contrasting side.

Most of the third, fourth, and fifth graders were one-ring soul masters. Only two sixth-grade seniors and one fifth-grade senior had reached the two-ring level.

The sixth-grade senior had a Flame Lion martial soul; after possessing it, his entire frame grew a size larger. The other senior had a tool martial soul, wielding a pair of twin blades with such ferocity that they combined both power and speed. The remaining fifth-grade senior had a long sword martial soul, his swordsmanship sharp and precise.

Luo Chen thought to himself that there were quite a few geniuses in the primary division after all. Thinking of this, his hands began to itch.

He casually pulled out four Gulu Balls and tossed them onto the open ground in front of him: "Come out! Xiao Xiezi, Xiao Yingzi, Little Wolf Cub, Little Turtle!"

The next moment, four soul beasts appeared by Luo Chen's side—two century-level, one thousand-level, and one eight-hundred-thousand-level (weakened version)—causing everyone on the arena to stop in their tracks.

Seeing the one yellow and one purple soul ring circling Luo Chen, they were completely dumbfounded. A yellow first soul ring was acceptable—aside from two people on the field whose first rings were white, everyone else had yellow century-level soul rings—but what was the meaning of this purple thousand-year soul ring?

Furthermore, whose six-year-old first-grade kid becomes a two-ring Great Soul Master?

Are you kidding me?

Luo Chen grinned: "Hehe, I'm going to take on all seven of you!"

(Luo Chen: One yellow and one purple? Sorry, your Brother Chen's soul rings are actually both purple. Well, red-tinted purple still counts as purple~)