A Pitying Look

The moment he finished speaking, before Duan Yu could respond, Dugu Yan beside him spoke first.

"Tianheng, he's only nine! You're level twenty-nine, fighting someone at level thirty-one. Aren't you ashamed?"

"..."

Yu Tianheng's mouth twitched. "Yan, you've got it backward. He's level thirty-one, and I'm level twenty-nine."

Dugu Yan froze upon hearing that, only then realizing it.

Right, this little brother was a three-ring Soul Venerable, four levels higher than Yu Tianheng.

But even so, he was only nine!

What real combat experience could a nine-year-old possibly have?

Dugu Yan looked at Yu Tianheng, then at Duan Yu. No matter how she thought about it, she could not understand how Duan Yu had reached three rings at the age of nine.

There had been no shortage of heaven-gifted prodigies with innately full soul power throughout history, but none of them had reached three rings at nine.

Hearing Yu Tianheng's challenge, Duan Yu became somewhat interested.

The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, the number one beast martial soul on the continent.

Though it definitely could not compare to the Spatial Dragon King among the Dragon God's nine sons, Duan Yu still wanted to see just how powerful the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon truly was.

"Sure."

Duan Yu nodded and said calmly, "Then shall we fight now?"

"Yes." Yu Tianheng nodded. "We'll go straight to the private spirit-fighting arena on the fourth floor."

Qin Ming looked at the two of them, both brimming with fighting spirit. He initially wanted to stop them, but then reconsidered. It would be good to let Duan Yu fight Yu Tianheng and see how capable he was in actual combat.

Thus, the group made their way grandly toward the training grounds.

Along the way.

Dugu Yan kept chattering nonstop, telling Duan Yu to be careful of Yu Tianheng while also telling Yu Tianheng to go easy on him and not hit so hard.

Yu Tianheng's head started to ache from listening to her. Helplessly, he said, "Yan, whose side are you on? Which one of us is the three-ring soul master here?"

"I'm on Duan Yu's side!" Dugu Yan answered without the slightest hesitation.

Yu Tianheng: "..."

Fine, then. They had not even fought yet, and she had already switched sides.

When they arrived at the spirit-fighting arena, the two stood together on the stage.

Yu Tianheng looked seriously at the nine-year-old child before him.

Though his opponent was young, anyone who could break through to level thirty-one at nine could hardly be useless.

With Qin Ming's shout of "Begin the spirit fight!"

Yu Tianheng took a step forward and possessed his martial soul. A dazzling blue light lit up between his brows, and with a dragon's roar, his entire arm swelled and became covered in blue-violet scales, with faint lightning curling around it.

First soul skill—Thunderclap Dragon Claw!

Amid intense soul power fluctuations, countless bolts of lightning gathered into a blue-violet dragon claw and struck toward Duan Yu.

Duan Yu chuckled. He did not rush to release his martial soul. Instead, he simply pushed off the ground with his toes and met the attack head-on.

Not releasing his martial soul?

Yu Tianheng watched Duan Yu charge at him without releasing his martial soul.

Though he could not understand Duan Yu's strategy, out of respect for the match, Yu Tianheng accelerated and thrust out his claw.

But as the distance between them closed, Yu Tianheng noticed that something was wrong.

He found Duan Yu's gaze strangely unsettling. It was a... pitying look.

I'm practically in front of you, and you haven't even released your martial soul. What are you pitying me for?!

As the distance between them narrowed, Duan Yu finally released his martial soul. One yellow and two purple soul rings rose beneath his feet.

But what truly made Yu Tianheng feel a trace of fear was the dragon roar of the Spatial Dragon King when Duan Yu released his martial soul.

Under that dragon roar, he could clearly feel his Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon trembling in fear.

This was... martial soul suppression!

How was this possible? The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon was the number one beast martial soul on the continent. How could any beast martial soul possibly suppress it?

Yet no matter how unwilling Yu Tianheng was to believe it, when the power of the Thunderclap Dragon Claw on his arm dropped by more than half, he had no choice but to accept that cruel reality.

There was no time for shock. Seeing his martial soul suppressed, Yu Tianheng erupted with all his strength, and the second soul ring beneath his feet lit up as well.

"Second soul skill, Thunderous Lightning!"

Countless lightning serpents erupted from every direction, forming a net of lightning that tightly restricted Duan Yu's range of movement.

Duan Yu shook his head at the sight. What a pity. If it were another martial soul, it might truly have stumbled under this attack.

But my martial soul is the Spatial Dragon King!

"First soul skill, Spatial Rift."

A phantom of a spatial dragon emerged behind Duan Yu. Countless spatial cracks opened before him, instantly swallowing every one of Yu Tianheng's attacks.

At the same time, Duan Yu flashed with silver light and appeared behind Yu Tianheng. His right hand became covered in silvery-white dragon scales as it struck toward him.

"That's enough. The outcome has been decided."

Qin Ming appeared on the field in time and blocked Duan Yu's attack.

Qin Ming glanced at Duan Yu and announced, "Duan Yu wins this match!"

Yu Tianheng had not lost unfairly. His soul power had been suppressed, as had his martial soul. Even if they had been at the same level, he likely would not have been able to win.

Yu Tianheng looked at the nine-year-old child before him, who was even a head shorter than he was, his feelings indescribably complicated.

Yet he had to admit that the gap between them was simply too great. Duan Yu had used only one soul skill throughout the entire battle to end it.

Before this, he had never imagined that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul could be directly suppressed by another dragon-type martial soul.

Yu Tianheng let out a soft sigh. In the end, he had truly been a frog at the bottom of a well.

Just then, the door to the spirit-fighting arena was pushed open.

An elderly man in a white robe slowly walked in.

"I heard our academy got a nine-year-old three-ring kid. This old man came to see whether Old Meng was bluffing—"

Before the white-robed elder could finish speaking, his gaze fell upon Duan Yu.

He stared at Duan Yu for a long while, then stepped forward and checked his bone age.

Then his eyes immediately lit up.

"Damn, Old Meng was telling the truth? He really is three-ringed, and he really is nine?"

Qin Ming recognized him at once as Zhilin, one of the three chiefs of Tiandou Royal Academy.

He hurriedly stepped forward and saluted him. "Chief Zhilin."

Duan Yu raised an eyebrow upon hearing that.

Zhilin, one of the three chiefs of Tiandou Royal Academy, an eighty-third-level control-type Soul Douluo whose martial soul was the Azure Vine.

Was he, like Meng Shenji, setting his sights on Duan Yu now?

Zhilin smiled as he carefully looked Duan Yu up and down, growing more satisfied the longer he looked.

"Little fellow, are you Duan Yu?"

"Yes." Duan Yu nodded.

"Then would you be willing to take this old man as your master?"

Before Duan Yu could speak, Qin Ming anxiously interjected, "Chief Zhilin, Chief Meng has already—"

"What does that old Meng fellow know?"

Zhilin waved a hand, his face full of disdain. "A heaven-gifted prodigy like this should be placed with this old man. Only if I personally guide him will this little fellow's talent not be wasted."

"Little fellow, why don't you think it over?"

Duan Yu looked at this overly familiar little old man, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

Good grief. He had just turned down Meng Shenji, and now Zhilin had appeared.

Were the chiefs of Tiandou Royal Academy all so idle? Did they not have any proper work to do? Why were they all busy taking disciples?

If Zhilin and Meng Shenji knew what Duan Yu was thinking, they would surely cry out that they had been wronged.

They did not accept just anyone as disciples. It was simply that, in their entire lives, Duan Yu was the only nine-year-old three-ring genius they had ever encountered.

However, Duan Yu still had no intention of taking a master. No matter who came, he refused them all.

Meng Shenji, Zhilin, and even Bai Baoshan, who came looking for him afterward, were all turned down by him.

Seeing that taking him as a disciple was hopeless, the three chiefs no longer pressed the matter and merely told Duan Yu to cultivate diligently.