The morning's round-robin matches soon ended. Tang Wulin's team once again won every match with ease. Teams in the same bracket even conceded outright when facing them, afraid to waste so much as a sliver of soul power.
Next came the round of thirty-two, where sixteen teams would advance.
Tang Wulin and Huo Yuhao regarded the three girls before them with curious eyes. This was their first encounter with an all-female team.
The girl in the middle was relatively tall, with short blond hair that gave her a crisp, efficient look.
Behind her, the girl on the left had short, fiery-red hair and unusually red eyes. At present, those eyes kept shifting in expression, sometimes showing hostility toward Tang Wulin and Huo Yuhao, sometimes casting strange looks at the girl before her. The girl on the right had pale green hair and a delicate, frail air that made people instinctively feel protective of her.
The referee said, "Both teams, enter the arena and introduce yourselves."
Tang Wulin and Huo Yuhao entered side by side as usual, while the short-haired blond girl who had stood at the front of the opposing team retreated to the rear.
"Freshman Class Nine, Wu Feng, level twenty-five power attack system Battle Soul Master."
Wu Feng spoke proudly.
"Freshman Class Nine, Nanmen Yun'er, level twenty-four agility attack system Battle Soul Master."
Nanmen Yun'er gave Wu Feng a mildly reproachful glance, but introduced herself in the same manner.
"Freshman Class Nine, Ning Tian, level thirty-one support system Tool Soul Elder."
The last, calm voice came from behind the two girls.
A Soul Elder, just like in the stories?
Tang Wulin perked up, his back unconsciously straightening a little. This was his first time facing a team with a Soul Elder.
Since their opponents had introduced themselves this way, Tang Wulin decided to follow suit as a gesture of respect.
"Freshman Class One, Tang Wulin, level thirty-seven power attack system Battle Soul Elder."
"Freshman Class One, Huo Yuhao, level thirty-nine control system Battle Soul Elder."
"Impossible!"
Wu Feng's face filled with disbelief, while Nanmen Yun'er lightly covered her mouth, her expression full of shock. Ning Tian nearly lost her composure as well. Reaching Soul Elder at her age had already consumed considerable resources, yet she had never expected to encounter even stronger opponents.
"Feng'er."
Ning Tian looked gravely at Tang Wulin and Huo Yuhao as she warned Wu Feng. There was always someone beyond you, another sky beyond the heavens. One should never be too arrogant.
Wu Feng also put away her earlier contempt. These two had made it this far alone. Even if they were all show, they were hardly ordinary pretenders. The boost in strength granted by a Thousand-Year Soul Ring was tremendous, and dealing with it would not be easy.
"Begin the match."
Just then, the referee announced the start.
"Seven treasures turn, and glazed tiles emerge."
With a soft cry from Ning Tian, a seven-colored pagoda over a foot tall appeared in her hand almost instantly. Radiant colors shimmered across every surface, as though it were inlaid with countless gems. The moment it appeared, it drew everyone's gaze.
"The Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect?"
Tang Wulin recognized the pagoda's origins. It belonged to the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, which had ranked among the Upper Three Sects alongside the Clear Sky Sect ten thousand years ago. Though the changing times had left it weaker than in its heyday, it still counted among the foremost sects.
The sight of the pagoda made Tang Wulin pause, too. If he remembered correctly, wasn't he supposed to call her ancestor Aunt Ning?
At that thought, Tang Wulin stopped himself from activating Teleportation. He ought to at least let them show what they could do before knocking them out of the arena.
Huo Yuhao received Tang Wulin's mental message and naturally understood his intentions. He hurriedly withdrew the Soul Shock he had been itching to unleash. He had used that soul skill so often throughout the competition that he had nearly fired it out of habit.
Though Ning Tian had no idea why Tang Wulin and Huo Yuhao were making no moves, her own movements did not slow in the slightest.
"Seven Treasures Have Names. First: speed. Third: strength."
Four brilliant rays instantly shot from the seven-tiered pagoda, landing on Wu Feng and Nanmen Yun'er.
A faint red sheen rippled across Wu Feng's skin. Fine dragon scales covered the left side of her face, extending down her neck to her left hand. As the two rays entered her body, the aura she radiated abruptly surged, displaying the might of a top-tier beast martial soul.
"Dragon's Fire, Dragon's Wrath!"
Wu Feng was no fool. The instant the enhancements arrived, she activated all her soul skills. After all, a twelve-level gap in soul power was hardly easy to bridge.
Thick red flames poured from her body, surrounding her within a radius of about a foot. Every movement carried the scorching heat of Dragon's Fire, and activating Dragon's Wrath drove that heat even higher. Her offensive and defensive strength instantly skyrocketed.
Wu Feng swiftly reached Tang Wulin and swept her left arm toward his body.
Tang Wulin naturally noticed the direction of her attack. He raised his hand slightly, and his arm, which did not look particularly muscular, blocked her strike with apparent ease. In truth, it was easy.
Even enhanced, Wu Feng's strength was worlds apart from Tang Wulin's current power. Moreover, her martial soul was a fire dragon, while Tang Wulin had recently undergone a baptism in the Fire Dragon King's origin power. The gulf between them defied comparison. To Tang Wulin, the supposedly scorching Dragon's Fire was merely a gentle breeze brushing his face.
Only because Tang Wulin deliberately suppressed his aura to let his opponent demonstrate her abilities had Wu Feng avoided dropping straight to her knees.
Seeing her first strike fail, Wu Feng swiftly pulled away while kicking at Tang Wulin, intending to use his body to propel herself backward.
Despite the opening Wu Feng had left, Tang Wulin did not press his advantage. Instead, he gently caught her ankle with one hand and threw her along the direction of her momentum, lest he snap her lower leg outright.
Wu Feng had never imagined the gap would be so vast. Her body flew straight toward the edge of the arena. Fortunately, Nanmen Yun'er broke off her attack on Huo Yuhao in time to fly over and attempt to catch her.
But Tang Wulin's strength was not so easily countered, and Nanmen Yun'er had little leverage in midair. When she caught Wu Feng, both girls flew backward together. Only just before crossing the boundary did they land, sliding a short distance before stopping.
"Damn it!"
Wu Feng climbed to her feet and stared at Tang Wulin, unwilling to accept defeat. They were clearly the same age. How could the gap be so enormous?
Wu Feng burst forward again, swinging the dragon claw on her left arm fiercely at Tang Wulin.
But Tang Wulin had, after all, received plenty of sparring instruction from Titled Douluos. His discerning eye easily found the weaknesses in Wu Feng's attacks, breaking through them and throwing her away again and again.
"I'm sorry. Please give Feng'er one final blow and make her face reality!"
Standing at the rear, Ning Tian watched with an aching heart as Wu Feng fell and rose over and over. She knew her companion refused to admit defeat, but their opponents had been holding back throughout this match. One could even say they were offering guidance. If Wu Feng kept pestering them like this, she would only earn their displeasure. Her behavior was even beginning to resemble a descent into madness.
Hearing the opposing captain speak, Tang Wulin breathed out softly. Giving guidance took considerable effort, after all. Stepping on an ant without crushing it was very difficult.
Golden scales appeared on Tang Wulin's right arm, and his Golden Dragon Claw emerged once more. A savage, frenzied, noble aura spread from his body.
"Aah!!!"
Wu Feng, who had been about to charge again, suddenly crumpled. Utterly powerless, she stared at the brilliant figure beneath the sunlight. The aura that made even her martial soul tremble was radiating from him.
Wu Feng's red eyes filled with terror. As her head struck the ground, her eyes rolled back and she fainted on the spot. A puddle slowly spread beneath her.
"We concede!"