Overpowering All Rivals, Making a Name!

The next morning.

The rising sun cast slanting rays of dawn.

Up the white marble steps stood a grand and imposing gate. Above it, the seven words "Spirit Hall Advanced Academy" stood out boldly, their strokes sharp and elegant, carrying a faint air of majesty.

Standing before the gate, Xu Peinian could not help but marvel at how extravagantly wealthy Spirit Hall truly was. The top-tier Soul Master Academy under its banner was more than ten thousand times more luxurious than Notting Academy, where he had previously studied.

After completing the enrollment procedures, Xu Peinian first went to the dormitory area to settle into the room assigned to him.

Xu Peinian had not relied on Elder Hall's influence to take any special route. He had been admitted as an exception entirely on the strength of his own talent and ability.

A Soul Grandmaster above level twenty-six at barely eight years old, with a top-tier weapon spirit besides—even though Xu Peinian had concealed part of his true strength, it was enough for any Soul Master Academy on the continent to make an exception for him.

He did not want to rely on his elders for everything. Since he possessed the strength, he would carve out a place for himself with his own fists.

Therefore, although the academy knew nothing of his background, it provided this genius with treatment according to the highest standards.

His cultivation resources were abundant, and even his dormitory was a standalone courtyard.

Looking at the empty courtyard next door, Xu Peinian could not help clicking his tongue.

These Spirit Hall geniuses were really competitive. They had gone out to train early in the morning.

After tidying up the courtyard, Xu Peinian prepared to take a look around the academy and broaden his horizons.

Along the way, he occasionally saw groups of two or three students hurrying past. Without exception, though, all of these young people possessed the strength of Soul Grandmasters or above.

This was the foundation of the continent's number one Soul Master Academy. Its students were talents Spirit Hall had unearthed and cultivated from across the continent, fighting their way upward through countless rounds of selection.

If Shrek Academy only accepted monsters, then Spirit Hall Advanced Soul Master Academy was a wholesale market for geniuses.

Quite a few students were sparring on the training grounds, honing their combat techniques. The sight made Xu Peinian eager to join them.

Previously, he had spent every day on Sacred Mountain, either training alone or being ruthlessly thrashed by the elders and worshippers under the guise of instruction.

A large part of why he had voluntarily come to study at Spirit Hall Academy was so he could spar with geniuses his own age and test his current level.

"Senior, I'm a new student. May I ask for some guidance?"

Xu Peinian saw a tattooed male student around twelve or thirteen years old easily defeat his opponent, so he immediately stepped forward to ask.

The male student looked at Xu Peinian, who was clearly several years younger than himself, his face full of confusion.

"You? You're new? Since when did the academy start recruiting child soldiers?"

Quite a few people nearby were drawn over by their conversation.

Seeing the spectators whispering among themselves and even covering their mouths to laugh, Xu Peinian did not get angry. He merely repeated his invitation.

"Please, Senior, enlighten me."

"Fine, kid. But don't go crying for your mother when you can't beat me."

"Ha ha ha!"

As the tattooed man finished speaking, several bystanders in the crowd failed to hold back their laughter.

Xu Peinian ignored their mockery. He simply stepped onto one of the fighting platforms and curled his little finger at the tattooed man.

"Heh, this little brat!"

Seeing such a little kid putting on airs, the tattooed man immediately leaped onto the platform and summoned a leopard-type martial spirit over his body.

"Yan Ji, level twenty-eight agility-attack battle Soul Master. Martial spirit: Lightning Leopard."

Who came up with such a cringeworthy pre-battle introduction?

Xu Peinian grumbled inwardly, but out of respect, he followed suit.

"Xu Peinian, level twenty-six assault-type battle Soul Master. Martial spirit: Netherworld Blade."

The blade tip pointed diagonally toward the ground, its sharp edge gleaming with a cold chill. Xu Peinian held the blade in one hand and clasped the other behind his back, responding to every change by remaining unchanged.

Upon hearing Xu Peinian's introduction, the tattooed man put away his contempt and began taking the battle seriously.

Those who could enter Spirit Hall Academy were no mediocre talents. He could mock his opponent, but he would never underestimate one—especially when he could feel an invisible pressure coming from the boy before him.

They were both geniuses. Who was afraid of whom?

Yan Ji violently pushed off the ground, his figure turning into a bolt of lightning as he suddenly charged at Xu Peinian.

A yellow energy claw slashed down from above. Xu Peinian raised his blade to block it, then exerted force and knocked it aside.

"First soul skill, Explosive Lightning Claw!"

After exchanging a few moves, the tattooed man, Yan Ji, finally could not hold back from releasing his first soul skill.

Xu Peinian's pupils shrank as he suddenly leaned backward.

At the same time, a yellow claw much thicker and longer than before, crackling with arcs of electricity, swept over Xu Peinian's face.

Seizing the opening after his opponent had just released a soul skill, Xu Peinian sharply twisted his waist to right himself, then stepped forward with the Ghostly Movement he had learned from the Netherworld Three Forms.

The blade rested against Yan Ji's carotid artery. Xu Peinian had not even used a soul skill.

"I lost."

With the victor decided, Yan Ji could only dismiss his martial spirit and admit defeat.

Xu Peinian also withdrew his Netherworld Blade. His eyes were as still as an ancient well, and his tone was indifferent.

"If you have bad eyesight, get it treated. Don't misjudge people next time."

Yan Ji's facial muscles twitched at those words. He knew the other boy was mocking him, but he had lost and could only swallow his anger.

"Are there any other seniors willing to come up and offer guidance?"

Xu Peinian paid no further attention to Yan Ji as he left the platform dejectedly, and continued asking the people below.

A boy younger than every one of them stood proudly on the platform. This enraged the self-proclaimed geniuses present, and they all declared that they would go up and challenge him.

After several crushing victories, not a single Soul Grandmaster among the spectators dared to step onto the platform again.

"I'll do it!"

A woman in fitted combat attire with a high ponytail lightly tapped the ground with her toes and landed gracefully on the platform.

She pointed a silver spear forward as two yellow and one purple soul rings abruptly rose around her.

She was clearly a female Soul Elder.

At the sight, Xu Peinian grew more focused. His body gathered strength, like a tightly drawn bow.

This time, Xu Peinian no longer intended to passively receive his opponent. He planned to strike first!

A purple soul ring emerged from his body, then merged into the blade.

Everyone present inexplicably shuddered. An invisible, icy aura enveloped them, as though they were facing the Netherworld Cold Spring itself.

The next instant, Xu Peinian's body became an afterimage and vanished from the platform. Dense, crescent-shaped blade energy suddenly shot toward the high-ponytailed senior.

The dust filling the platform gradually dispersed.

The high-ponytailed senior with the strength of a Soul Elder was seen kneeling on one knee in humiliation. Her resentful gaze remained fixed on Xu Peinian, as though he had subjected her to a savage beating.

Judging from her expression, she was deeply unconvinced. She had likely never dreamed that a Soul Grandmaster's second soul ring could be of purple quality, much less that someone would open with their ultimate move and give her no time to react.

This was Xu Peinian's second soul skill, Cold Nether Maelstrom. Its age was just over a thousand years. It was an area-of-effect soul skill that released blade energy to form a black crescent tide. When used against the same target, the damage of every blade energy strike stacked exponentially.

By now, Xu Peinian had won battle after battle. The surrounding students no longer dared to look down on this boy several years younger than themselves.

At Spirit Hall Academy, and even across the entire continent, what earned a Soul Master's respect was not age, but strength—strength capable of convincing everyone.

Today, Xu Peinian had earned the respect of these gifted peers who were slightly older than him.

On the platform,

At that moment, fierce winds made his robes billow as Xu Peinian stood with his blade held horizontally.

Overpowering his peers, he cut a truly magnificent figure!