An Easy Victory, Then Off to Suotuo City!

The training grounds rang with a deafening clamor!

On the platform, Yang Que stood in his white robe, facing twenty students from White Deer City Academy!

A light breeze snapped his white robe around him!

From a distance, he looked like an adult teaching a group of children! And in truth, he was. Add up Yang Que's years, and he really was a middle-aged man!

"Make your move!" Yang Que said, looking utterly unconcerned.

"!!!!!"

"You want us to go first? Hmph, you're on your own. Why don't we let you go first instead? That way you won't lose quite so badly!" the student leading the group said arrogantly.

"Heh! If I go first, you won't get a chance!" Yang Que looked at him with open disdain.

"You first!"

"No, you first!"

Silence fell beyond the platform. What was going on? The whole scene looked stranger by the second!

Could they please show some respect for this enormous wager? There were 200,000 Gold Soul Coins at stake! And here they were, politely insisting the other side go first!

It was almost as if neither side wanted to lose face before losing the fight!

"Hmph, we offer you courtesy and you spit on it. Brothers, show him your Martial Souls!" the student said impatiently.

"Whoosh~"

Martial Souls and Soul Rings appeared one after another!

There were tigers, wolves, eagles, swords, bows and arrows... Whatever their Martial Souls, every student had a Hundred-Year Soul Ring beneath their feet! Two of them even had two Hundred-Year Soul Rings each. One wielded a bow Martial Soul, while the other had a wolf Martial Soul!

"What? They're all Soul Masters, and two are even Soul Grandmasters! One fights up close and the other attacks from a distance! That lineup is terrifying!"

"White Deer City Academy has really gone overboard this time!"

"That lineup is too strong! How can he win? Even a Soul Elder would be beaten!"

"Grandmaster! This has gotten out of hand! What do we do?" The academy dean had clearly been frightened too.

"What are you afraid of? It's not as though all twenty are Soul Grandmasters. Set your mind at ease. Yang Que will win. He spent five years living in the Star Dou Great Forest! Don't forget he also has a Thousand-Year Soul Ring. I refuse to believe he made no progress in those five years!" Yu Xiaogang said calmly.

Hearing that, the dean realized Yu Xiaogang was right! The boy had a Thousand-Year Soul Ring too! With his strength, what was there to fear? The wager had already been placed. Win or lose, it was up to fate now!

"Hahaha! Well? Still dare to let us go first? We have two Soul Grandmasters and eighteen Soul Masters, all with standard Soul Ring configurations!" The cheers around him were going to the leading student's head!

Yang Que merely shook his head. "Is that all?"

He looked at them with disdain and crooked a finger, beckoning them to come at him!

"Damn you! You won't accept courtesy, so you'll get a beating instead! Brothers, attack with me! Tianshe, strike from a distance!" Seeing Yang Que still wearing that expression, the leader nearly burst with rage and gave the order to attack!

Ah, children were children. They couldn't bear the slightest provocation!

Yang Que tucked one hand behind his back and extended the other. He clearly intended to fight them one-handed!

"You still dare to look down on us!"

First Soul Skill: Wolf Rush!

First Soul Skill: Sword Shadow!

First Soul Skill: Lightning Arrow!

A dense barrage of attacks hurtled toward Yang Que! He frowned. Together, those attacks nearly matched the power of a five-thousand-year Soul Beast!

"Not bad. At least there's something worth seeing." Even as the attacks closed in, Yang Que found time to offer a critique!

"Come on, man, can you take this seriously? Twenty Soul Masters are attacking you! At least release your Martial Soul and fight back!"

The students watching from outside were furious at Yang Que's careless attitude! Whether they would have to tighten their belts for the next few years depended on this fight!

Boom! Twenty attacks in different colors struck Yang Que, throwing up a great cloud of dust!

"What happened? Don't tell me he lost just like that!"

"No way. Does that mean we'll have to tighten our belts?"

The students outside craned their necks and watched nervously!

Even the dean got a fright! He reached out with his Soul Power to sense what had happened. "Heh, this boy has a trick or two!"

When the dust settled, Yang Que had vanished!

"Hahaha! That's what you get for provoking us! There isn't even a scrap of you left, is there?" the student leader laughed.

"Watch out!" Dean Lu warned from outside the platform.

"What?" The student looked puzzled. Watch out for what?

Then a voice sounded behind him.

"You talk too much. Off you go!"

Thud!

A figure shot off the platform and slammed into the wall!

The voice belonged to Yang Que! With the speed of his Thunderclap Sword Shadow Steps, he had dodged behind the students the instant before their attacks landed!

"Whoaaa!" Cheers erupted outside the platform! It was astonishing—he had taken down a Soul Grandmaster with ease!

"How is that possible? That speed... it's far too fast! How could a child under fifteen move like that? He'd have to be at least a Soul King! A fifteen-year-old Soul King? Impossible!" Even Dean Lu was stunned!

"Vice Dean, is he really a student? Why does he seem stronger than us?" a White Deer City Academy instructor said in shock.

At that speed, even the instructors could never have reacted in time!

"..." Dean Lu fell silent.

Perhaps they really were going to lose.

As though confirming his fears, Yang Que said, "This is too much trouble. I'll finish you all at once!"

A Blood Sword slowly appeared in Yang Que's hand! A purple Soul Ring rose beneath his feet!

Boom!

"What is that? A Thousand-Year Soul Ring?"

"A student has a Thousand-Year Soul Ring?"

The students watching were just as stunned as Grandmaster and the dean had been when they first saw it!

"Hiss!" The White Deer City Academy instructors drew sharp breaths!

"If he truly is a student, his potential is limitless. We must not offend him," Dean Lu murmured.

By then, Yang Que had already begun his attack!

First Soul Skill: Blood Blade!

A blood-colored blade slashed toward the students!

"Oh no, it's a thousand-year Soul Skill! Everyone, block it together!" Tianshe, the Soul Grandmaster, shouted frantically.

The group poured all their strength into a Soul Power barrier!

The rainbow-colored barrier seemed unbreakable, but with a boom, the blood-colored blade struck it! The barrier failed to hold for even a moment before shattering!

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!"

Nineteen figures flew backward together and smashed into the wall beside the platform!

"Heh! Is that all?" Even after winning, Yang Que couldn't resist one last taunt!

Yang Que was still spotless, without a speck of dust on him! His other hand had remained behind his back the entire time, never moving once!

He stood with his hands behind his back like a proud lion, as though to say: You're all too weak!

Yang Que left the rest to the dean and the others, departing without a care!

The next day, Grandmaster summoned Yang Que to his office!

"Little Que, how strong are you now?" Yu Xiaogang asked. The dean beside him looked at Yang Que with curiosity too!

"Me? I've barely reached rank thirty-nine. My aptitude isn't great, and I've been a little lax in my cultivation. I've only improved a bit!" Yang Que said with a modest expression!

It was true: over the past year, he had risen by one rank! But his overall strength had grown far greater. His foundation was more solid, and the other techniques he practiced had grown stronger too!

The corners of Yu Xiaogang's and the dean's mouths twitched!

Is that all? Your aptitude isn't great? You've been lax in your cultivation? Could you stop showing off? You're only twelve, aren't you? You've already reached rank thirty-nine, and you call that inadequate? How are the rest of us supposed to live? The dean grumbled inwardly!

"Mm! It is a little low. Although you're stronger than most, it's good that you aren't arrogant or impatient!" Yu Xiaogang said, feigning composure.

Beside him, the dean's mouth kept twitching! These two really knew how to put on an act!

"Yes! Grandmaster, I'll keep working hard!" Yang Que nodded, apparently in complete agreement.

"Mm! Tang San has already gone ahead to Suoer City. Once you reach that area, report to a place called Lake Academy. You should run into him there!" Grandmaster said.

"All right, Grandmaster!" Yang Que said.

"With your strength now, there's nothing more I need to remind you of. Just take care and be careful on the road!" Yu Xiaogang said.

"I will!"

"Mm, that's all. Pack your things and leave tomorrow!" Yu Xiaogang waved a hand, signaling Yang Que to go.

The dean beside him opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing!

The next day!

Traveling light, Yang Que mounted a swift horse and galloped toward Suotuo City!

In the office, Grandmaster and the dean sat together, both full of emotion!

"If only that boy could stay. In a few years, our academy could grow into an intermediate academy. Even becoming an advanced academy wouldn't be impossible..." The dean looked wistfully in the direction Yang Que had gone!

"Oh, give it up. In this little backwater of yours, you'd only hold him back!"

"I believe it won't be long before that boy's name rings across the entire Douluo Continent!" Yu Xiaogang gazed in the direction Yang Que had gone, his face full of emotion!

Yang Que rode his swift horse at a furious gallop!

Zhuqing! Wait for me! We'll see each other again very soon...