Challenge the Academy

Tang Wulin keenly sensed Gu Yuena's low spirits as she recalled Leng Yaozhu. He did not ask further, merely tightening his grip on her hand as he said gently,

"There are too many people here. It's a little stuffy. Let's go for a walk and see some of Mingdu's other sights."

Gu Yuena gave a soft "Mm" and let him lead her away from the noisy, somewhat utilitarian admissions scene at Spirit Academy.

The two wandered aimlessly through Mingdu's streets, deliberately slowing their pace. The Spirit Pagoda district in the city's eastern half had a more modern Soul Guidance Technology style, but as they casually crossed the city's central axis and entered the western half, the scenery around them gradually changed.

The architecture here was steeped in the lingering style of the Sun-Moon Empire from ten thousand years ago. Rough metal frameworks were left exposed, massive gears and bearings adorned the walls, and some public Soul Guidance facilities still retained brass pipes and valve designs reminiscent of steampunk. The streets also seemed broader, carrying the weight of a history that felt rugged, sturdy, and powerful. This was the district where Sun-Moon Royal Soul Master Academy was located.

Before they even reached the academy's main gate, they sensed an agitated atmosphere similar to the one outside Spirit Academy in the eastern half of the city, yet entirely different.

A sizable crowd had gathered before the gates of Sun-Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, forged from heavy metal and engraved with the emblem of the sun, moon, and star crown. Most eye-catching of all were several young Soul Masters standing before the crowd, looking eager for action. They wore Shrek Academy's distinctive uniforms of green with golden patterns, forming a stark contrast against the dark blue and silver-white uniforms of the surrounding Sun-Moon Academy students.

The boy at the forefront stood tall and handsome, his brows carrying the sharp spirit of a newborn calf unafraid of tigers. Holding a Soul Guidance loudspeaker, he looked awkwardly at the recording horn in his hand.

"Greetings to all the teachers and students of Sun-Moon Royal Soul Master Academy! We are this year's freshmen from Shrek Academy. Passing through Mingdu, we have come specifically to your esteemed academy for friendly sparring and exchange, with the aim of learning from one another, progressing together, and seeing what gaps remain between us!"

The announcement sounded impeccably polite, with nothing to criticize. Yet combined with the loudspeaker's effect and the barely concealed excitement and eagerness on the Shrek students' faces, it was undoubtedly a blatant, superiority-laced provocation in the eyes of the Sun-Moon Academy teachers and students standing ready for battle!

Sun-Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, this ancient and renowned institution, had always been a powerful rival of Shrek Academy. Yet unexpectedly, its gates were often subjected to "challenges" from Shrek Academy students.

This strange phenomenon seemed to date back to the final exam of a certain group ten thousand years ago. From that time onward, Sun-Moon Royal Soul Master Academy and Shrek Academy began a prolonged rivalry. Whenever Sun-Moon Royal Soul Master Academy emerged victorious in a contest against Shrek Academy, they would loudly publicize the victory to display their strength and glory.

However, if they suffered defeat, Sun-Moon Royal Soul Master Academy would not lose heart. Instead, they would pour even more cultivation resources and exceptional teachers into their students, hoping to catch up to Shrek Academy as quickly as possible.

Shrek Academy, meanwhile, had its own reasons for sending students here to "challenge" them. They hoped to place a certain amount of pressure on their students through this method, even allowing them to experience the feeling of defeat, so they could continue to grow and improve through real combat. At the same time, it served as a test of the students' strength. Only by facing genuine challenges could they better improve themselves.

Thus, "challenging" one another gradually became an unspoken tradition between the two academies. Yet no one could have imagined that the originators of this tradition were now standing outside Sun-Moon Royal Soul Master Academy's gates...

Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena's attention was instantly drawn to the leading boy.

"It's him," Gu Yuena said softly, a trace of surprise flashing through her violet eyes. That boy was the one they had seen before in Class Zero at Eastsea Academy—the youth in whom Tang Wulin had planted a seed of icy sword intent, the boy with the Skyfrost Sword Martial Soul! They had not expected him to have entered Shrek, much less become such a prominent figure among this year's freshmen.

Beside the boy, a lively-eyed girl with twin ponytails was making faces and sticking out her tongue at the glaring Sun-Moon Academy teachers and students around them. She radiated a girl's mischief and energy, as though she did not feel nervous in the slightest. The leading boy had clearly noticed his companion's "provocative" behavior. A hint of helplessness appeared on his face as he hurriedly pulled her back to his side and whispered something to her. Only then did the girl reluctantly restrain herself somewhat, though a mischievous smile still lingered at the corners of her lips.

Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena could not help staring at this group of spirited youths, bold enough to challenge others, a little arrogant yet unable to conceal their youthful nature.

In an instant, the scene before them seemed to overlap with a scene from ten thousand years ago.

It had also been a bright, sunny day, and the location had likewise been the gates of Sun-Moon Royal Soul Master Academy. Tang Wulin and the others had stood here too, equally young and high-spirited.

During the match, after the other side raised a soundproof barrier, their little group would deliberately dig around in their ears, pull out a small paper ball they had prepared beforehand, flick it away, and then look innocently at their opponents. It had enraged the Sun-Moon Academy teachers and students into hurling even fiercer curses.

Back then, whenever Tang Wulin was questioned about whether he represented Shrek Academy, he would put on a "sincere" yet faintly smug smile and wave his hand. "No, no, no. We only represent ourselves. It has nothing to do with the academy."

And then there had been the most "infuriating" part—pretending to be weak before revealing their strength. Right at the beginning of the match, their opponent's genius youth, who possessed the top-tier Bright Sacred Dragon Martial Soul and was hailed as Sun-Moon Academy's hope, had barely unleashed his powerful dragon's might when Tang Wulin, who appeared utterly ordinary, suddenly erupted with the Golden Dragon King's power and pressure. Simple, brutal, and completely unreasonable, he had pinned the boy to the ground with a single claw, leaving him unable to move. Even now, the expression on that boy's face as it shifted from utter confidence to doubting his entire life was enough to make one laugh.

Their challenges back then had truly maxed out the hatred. They would provoke people however they could and crush their opponents' confidence however they could. They had been as hateable as possible.

At that thought, Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena both let out soft laughs almost simultaneously. Their laughter was filled with nostalgia for those glorious days, memories of their companions' vivid faces, and the amused realization that they had been so deserving of a beating back then.

Sunlight fell upon them, as though it too had cast a warm halo over this shared memory spanning ten thousand years.

Yet after the laughter faded, an uncontrollable and profound loneliness welled up in their hearts.

The young men and women before them resembled their former selves so closely—vibrant, fearless, with companions to whom they could entrust their backs. But where were their own companions?

Xie Xie's nimble figure, Xu Xiaoyan's cunningly adorable smile, Yue Zhengyu's hot-blooded chuunibyou manner, Yuanen Yehui's concern hidden beneath her cold exterior, Ye Xinglan's focus on the sword... And Teacher Wu's gentleness beneath his sternness, along with the careful teachings of elders such as Zhuo Shi and Feng Wuyu...

Those people with whom they had cried, laughed, fought, and played together, those who had made up the most important colors of their youth, had long since become dust in history under the wash of ten thousand years. They lived only in the memories of the two of them, memories that had grown ever clearer and ever more distant.

The liveliness belonged to those youths, while the complete youth and clamor that had belonged to them would never return.

The smile on Tang Wulin's face gradually faded, turning into an almost inaudible sigh. He reached out and gently wrapped an arm around Gu Yuena's shoulders, drawing her closer into his embrace. Gu Yuena leaned against him in turn, and a faint trace of reminiscence rose in her violet eyes. It was not sorrow, but a melancholy born of time's ruthlessness and the difficulty of finding old friends.

They stood silently at the edge of the crowd, watching Shrek's freshmen begin negotiating with the Sun-Moon Academy students as they prepared for another "traditional" sparring match that had continued for ten thousand years. Like two ghosts from the past observing the clamor of the present, their hearts were filled with complicated, inexpressible emotions that only they could understand.

At the same time, deep within a remote valley where even space itself seemed slightly distorted.

The atmosphere here was utterly different from that of any city on Douluo Star. Within the deathly silence lingered a majesty that made one's soul tremble. Countless enormous phantoms drifted through the valley—dragon souls! Remnant souls of dragons of every attribute and form gathered here without dispersing, letting out silent roars that made the valley's energy field incomparably powerful.

At the deepest point of the valley, one particularly massive dragon soul had almost solidified into substance. Its entire body shimmered with mysterious silver radiance, its scales and claws distinct, its posture majestic. A force field capable of distorting time surrounded it. Even light seemed to bend as it approached, while dust falling onto its illusory body slowed visibly to an extreme degree, as if in slow motion. The aura emitted by this dragon soul far surpassed that of every other dragon soul in the valley, carrying an ancient, supreme power and mystery that seemed to touch upon the level of laws themselves.

Directly before this most powerful silver dragon soul sat a man in black, cross-legged.

He was tall and upright, yet as motionless as an ancient boulder that had existed since time immemorial. A thin layer of dust, accumulated over who knew how many years, covered his body. The style of his clothing was ancient and strange, unlike any common attire found on modern Douluo Star. Its fabric was a light-absorbing matte black, faintly marked with dark patterns containing spatial fluctuations, patterns that had long since been lost.

No powerful Soul Power fluctuations leaked from his body. There was only an exceptionally faint, nearly imperceptible strange fluctuation circulating slowly around him, as though he had fused with the entire valley and the silver dragon soul before him. Without that barely detectable trace of movement, he would have seemed like a black statue devoid of all signs of life, silently resting here for endless years.

His eyes were closed, and his features were obscured by dust and shadow, impossible to discern clearly. No one knew how long he had sat here, nor why he was here. Only between him and the powerful silver dragon soul seemed to exist some silent communication that transcended space and time.