Battle Against Grade One Class One

Eastsea Academy.

This typhoon had struck Eastsea City without warning, causing enormous damage throughout the city. Trees had been uprooted, buildings damaged, and traffic paralyzed.

Because Tang Wulin had not broken the first seal of the Golden Dragon King, the situation from the original story where he lost contact no longer existed.

The afternoon classes passed quickly. Perhaps the week-long typhoon had left the students stifled for too long; as soon as school ended today, the field filled with students and teachers, all waiting to watch Grade One's final Class Promotion Tournament match.

"Who do you think will win today's Class Promotion Tournament?"

"Is that even a question? Class Five, obviously! That three-ringed Soul Elder is in Class Five. If he takes the field, even if Class One fights together with their teacher, they might not be able to win."

"Yeah, Class One is under enormous pressure this time! They might become the first Class One in Eastsea Academy's history to be defeated by Class Five."

It was not only the students who thought so; even the teachers believed it.

Grade One Class One.

At that moment, their homeroom teacher, Ye Yingluo—Ye Yingrong's older sister—was addressing the students. "Later, if that three-ringed Soul Elder takes the field, just surrender immediately."

"There's no shame in that. He isn't someone you can compare to."

"But if that three-ringed Soul Elder doesn't take the field, then fight them hard! Do you hear me?"

"Yes, Teacher!" the Class One students answered in unison.

Seeing this, Ye Yingluo nodded with satisfaction. "Wu Zhangkong, just wait. As long as you don't send that guy out, I'll make you lose all face today and wipe that cold arrogance right off you."

At that moment, Wu Zhangkong led the Class Five students to the edge of the arena. The students consciously made way for them.

Everyone's gazes fell upon Xiling beside Gu Yue. It could not be helped—his distinctive appearance was impossible to ignore.

The dean of studies, Long Hengxu, had already stepped onto the competition platform. He first nodded to the homeroom teachers of both classes, paused briefly when his gaze landed on Xiling, then said in a deep voice, "Due to the typhoon, the Class Promotion Tournament was postponed."

"Today is the fourth Class Promotion Tournament match, with Grade One Class Five facing Grade One Class One."

"Teacher Wu, how many students will your class be sending out today?"

Wu Zhangkong did not answer immediately. Instead, he looked toward Xiling and the others.

However, Xiling looked at Gu Yue and the other two. "You should know that the other side has three Soul Grandmasters."

"So? Are you confident? If not, I can take the field."

Although, because of him, Gu Yue and Xie Xie were far stronger at this point than they had been originally.

Tang Wulin had not broken the Golden Dragon King's seal, so he should have been somewhat weaker than in the original story.

Xie Xie was the first to step forward. He patted his chest, his face brimming with confidence. "Don't worry, Brother Ling. They're only three Soul Grandmasters. You don't need to act—we three are more than enough!"

Xiling looked at the other two. Seeing that they shared the same answer, he chuckled softly and said no more.

Wu Zhangkong nodded in satisfaction as well before finally telling Long Hengxu, "Three students from our class will compete."

With that, Gu Yue, Xie Xie, and Tang Wulin stepped out from Class Five.

Seeing this, Long Hengxu turned to Ye Yingluo. "Grade One Class One, please send out three students as well."

When Ye Yingluo saw the three from Class Five step forward, her eyes suddenly lit up. She sneered inwardly. Wu Zhangkong, Wu Zhangkong, you're too arrogant after all.

"Now, competitors from both sides, please enter the arena," Long Hengxu continued.

Gu Yue and the other two walked toward the competition platform. On the other side, three students from Grade One Class One stepped up as well.

"My name is Zhang Yangzi," said the boy in the center calmly.

"My name is Wei Xiaofeng. We already know each other." Wei Xiaofeng extended his right hand and raised his thumb, then slowly rotated his wrist until the thumb pointed downward in a taunting gesture.

"You!" Xie Xie immediately flew into a rage and wanted to charge forward, but he restrained himself.

"Wang Jinxi." The final Class One student, who was as thin as a skeleton, introduced himself.

"Grade One Class Five, Tang Wulin."

"Gu Yue."

"Xie Xie!" A cold glint flashed in Xie Xie's eyes as he stared at Wei Xiaofeng.

Before the match had even begun, Long Hengxu could already sense the strong smell of gunpowder between the two sides. He could not help frowning. "Let me stress this: this is an academy competition. Stop at the right point. Only victory and defeat will be decided. Deliberately injuring your opponent is forbidden, or the academy will punish you."

"Yes!" all six answered in unison.

"Good. Both sides, fall back." Under Long Hengxu's supervision, both sides began retreating and opened up the distance. "The match begins!"

The instant his words fell, Wei Xiaofeng and Xie Xie charged at each other. They had long found each other unpleasant.

Two yellow Soul Rings rose beneath Wei Xiaofeng's feet, but to his surprise, two yellow Soul Rings lit up beneath Xie Xie's feet as well.

Light and shadow flashed as the two closed in. In this exchange, Xie Xie clearly gained the upper hand.

Tang Wulin had also begun clashing with Wang Jinxi, who had released the Bone Dragon King Martial Soul.

Having long faced Xiling's sudden spatial teleportation attacks, Tang Wulin handled Wang Jinxi with much greater ease. He always managed to evade the latter's attacks, draining his Soul Power at the smallest possible cost.

Zhang Yangzi, meanwhile, used Martial Soul Possession. A pair of wings shimmering with black light spread from his back, carrying him into the air.

On the arena, everyone's attention was focused on the two pairs of figures locked in battle. Few noticed Gu Yue standing still in place.

Fire element continuously gathered and compressed in her right hand behind her back.

Relying on the advantage of his flying Martial Soul, Zhang Yangzi hovered in midair and looked down over the battlefield.

Seeing Wei Xiaofeng and Wang Jinxi locked in stalemates on the ground, he simply targeted Gu Yue, the quietest person on the field. But before he could react—

The temperature on the competition platform plummeted. A wild wind swept across the entire arena, carrying icy mist with it, and the vast white fog instantly blurred everyone's vision.

The expressions of the three Class One students changed. Before they could react, Gu Yue had already vanished from where she stood and appeared behind Wang Jinxi.

She struck with her palm, and the highly condensed fire element instantly detonated.

The fire element that had been compressed for so long erupted all at once, violently blasting into the center of Wang Jinxi's back!

Wang Jinxi was currently driving the Bone Dragon King Martial Soul and fighting Tang Wulin with all his strength. All his focus was on the offense and defense before him; he had not guarded against an ambush from behind at all.

Under the eruption of Gu Yue's fire element, condensed to the extreme, dense cracks instantly spread across the surface of the heavy bone armor.

"Pfft!"

Wang Jinxi's entire body shuddered violently. Blood rose in his throat as he staggered forward and lunged out. The Bone Dragon King Martial Soul was forcibly dismissed, strength drained from all four limbs at once, and he crashed to one knee, completely losing the strength to continue fighting.

The entire process took only an instant. Wang Jinxi, who had just been deadlocked with Tang Wulin, was instantly eliminated by that fully charged fire-element strike!

Zhang Yangzi's pupils abruptly contracted in midair, and his heart sank. An overwhelming sense of danger instantly enveloped his entire body.

P.S. I wasn't in very good condition today. I kept thinking about Bella's later storyline, so I wasn't satisfied no matter how I wrote this part. Let me make some adjustments.