Class Promotion Tournament 3

Tang Wulin had just finished a round of tactical instruction when extra training began. The three had clearly defined roles: Tang Wulin handled control, Xie Xie served as the agility attacker, and Gu Yue took charge of heavy offense. Together, they attacked Wu Changkong. From beginning to end, Wu Changkong held nothing but a wooden sword.

At the end of the day, it was just a wooden sword. How powerful could it be? Gu Yue wondered. The next instant, her first soul ring lit up, and a fireball formed out of thin air, hurtling straight toward Wu Changkong. Almost simultaneously, Xie Xie drew his Light Dragon Pen and shot forward like an arrow. Tang Wulin lashed out with Blue Silver Grass, providing restraint and support for his two companions.

But the gap between their strengths was enormous. With only a wisp of soul power, Wu Changkong easily disrupted the fireball's trajectory. The wayward fireball slammed straight into the unsuspecting Xie Xie, blasting him away on the spot. Immediately afterward, the wooden sword became a skyful of sword shadows, thrusting at Gu Yue and Tang Wulin simultaneously.

Tang Wulin did not retreat. With a turn of his wrists, two Thousand-Refined Tungsten Steel Hammers dropped into his palms, and he smashed them toward the sword's edge. Just as the hammers came within half a meter of Wu Changkong, his opponent's body suddenly twisted. With an uncanny movement, he effortlessly evaded them, then swept out a leg and kicked Tang Wulin flying.

Gu Yue did not hold out for long either. In a matter of moments, all three fell in succession.

Wu Changkong had not come through the entire sparring session entirely unscathed, either. For instance, Tang Wulin's full-powered hammer strike just now had smashed his wooden sword clean in two.

Once training ended, Wu Changkong looked at Tang Wulin. "Pull me with all your strength. Let me see the limit of your power."

"All right!"

Tang Wulin gripped Wu Changkong's outstretched right hand tightly and pulled toward himself with every ounce of strength he had. Wu Changkong remained firmly planted, like an old monk deep in meditation. Yet a careful observer would have noticed the soul power rippling across his body. He was not as relaxed as he appeared.

After a moment, Wu Changkong said, "That's enough."

His expression remained placid, but towering waves had already surged through his heart. That astonishing pulling force amounted to well over a thousand jin.

Wu Changkong patted Tang Wulin's shoulder and said with a faint smile, "With you three little fellows taking part, the Class Promotion Tournament should be interesting."

Before long, the next day arrived. After enduring the morning's harsh physical conditioning and the afternoon's tedious theory lessons, the other students were utterly exhausted. Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue, however, followed Wu Changkong to have their spiritual power tested.

The results were unexpected. Xie Xie's spiritual power measured 29, an excellent result among his peers and only a step away from the middle stage of the Spirit Origin Realm.

Tang Wulin's reading had actually soared to 100, breaking through the Spirit Origin Realm and entering the Spirit Connection Realm.

Gu Yue's spiritual power was even higher, reaching 130 and placing her firmly within the Spirit Connection Realm as well.

The Spirit Connection Realm meant that the mind communed with the spiritual, and thoughts took on substance. Only upon entering this realm did one truly reach the threshold of spiritual power, gaining the ability to freely direct it and support two yellow hundred-year soul spirits or one purple thousand-year soul spirit.

Wu Changkong grew increasingly certain of his suspicions. Gu Yue possessing such formidable spiritual power was understandable. Her martial soul was an elemental envoy, which very likely carried the exceedingly rare mental attribute.

But what about Tang Wulin? His martial soul was merely Blue Silver Grass. When had Blue Silver Grass ever possessed a mental attribute? It defied all reason.

Considering Tang Wulin's extraordinary physical toughness and terrifying physique as well, Wu Changkong arrived at two bold possibilities: either Tang Wulin's Blue Silver Grass had undergone a mutation and become a dual-attribute mutated martial soul, or a second martial soul lay hidden within his body.

After all, he had once been a gifted student of Shrek Academy. Such breadth of vision and knowledge was naturally well within his grasp.

Time hurried onward, and soon less than a week remained before the Class Promotion Tournament. Over those two months, everyone in Class Five had suffered terribly, with Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, and Xie Xie bearing the brunt of it. Wu Changkong demanded strict discipline from the entire class during regular lessons, then gave those three additional private training.

Of the three, Tang Wulin suffered the most, simply because he could take a beating particularly well. Every time Wu Changkong left him bruised and swollen, he would be as good as new the following day. Xie Xie, who suffered beatings alongside him, was filled with frustration. Even after applying ice for several nights, the bruises on his face refused to fade, while Tang Wulin looked as though nothing had happened. Tang Wulin could only smile and try to smooth things over.

Only Gu Yue kept glancing at Tang Wulin, an inexplicable sense of familiarity rising within her, though she could not say where it came from.

Tang Wulin, meanwhile, was privately alarmed. His terrifying ability to heal came entirely from the Golden Dragon bloodline within him. Yet the more frequently he invoked the Golden Dragon King's power, the closer he came to the day his bloodline seal would break. Bitterness welled up in him at the thought. His peaceful, stable life probably would not last much longer.

Time flashed past like a white horse glimpsed through a crack, the sun and moon racing like a weaver's shuttle. In just two months, Xie Xie's soul power steadily climbed to rank nineteen. One more rank, and he could absorb a second hundred-year soul ring and advance to Soul Grandmaster. Gu Yue broke through two ranks in succession, reaching rank seventeen. Tang Wulin made the fastest progress of the three, his soul power soaring straight from rank twelve to rank fifteen. At this pace, all three could easily break through rank twenty before graduating from the intermediate academy.

Tang Wulin's rate of growth repeatedly overturned Wu Changkong's understanding. Despite having only innate rank-four soul power, he was cultivating faster than geniuses with innate full soul power. At first, Wu Changkong suspected that he was secretly taking pills and personally examined his body. In the end, however, he found nothing beyond an outrageously powerful physique, nothing like what a nine-year-old child should possess.

Unknown to anyone, only a deity-level powerhouse could see through the abnormality of his flesh-the divinity hidden deep within his bloodline, which ordinary soul masters had no means of detecting.

The eagerly awaited Class Promotion Tournament finally drew near.

During their days together, Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue had already forged a deep friendship. The Eastsea F4, who would one day become renowned throughout Eastsea Academy, already had their F3. Only the final member, Xu Xiaoyan, was missing.

Although Xie Xie's soul power was two ranks higher than Gu Yue's, she remained the strongest of the three.

Inside Wu Changkong's office.

"Teacher, who do you think Class Four will send out against us?" Xie Xie asked excitedly, impatient for the fighting to begin.

Wu Changkong's dark green eyes glanced at him indifferently, his tone icy. "A mere Class Four-if you need intelligence to defeat them, you aren't worthy of being my students. For next week's matches, I have only one demand: crush them. Crush them utterly. Do you understand?"

"Understood! We won't fail!"

"Good. Your morale is strong. The Class Promotion Tournament will begin soon, with one match a day until the schedule is complete. Here is your goal: fight your way upward, all the way from the first year to the fourth."

At those words, all three mouths twitched in unison. Almost every fourth-year student was a two-ring Soul Grandmaster, and even quite a few third-year geniuses had already obtained their second soul ring. They were only first-years, each with just one soul ring. The difficulty of fighting their way through to the fourth year with a single ring was easy to imagine.

Yet none of the three lost heart. The pressure was heavy, certainly, but three whole months of grueling, hellish training had already honed their talents for actual combat to an extremely high level.

"For today's training groups, Tang Wulin, you'll team up with Xie Xie against Gu Yue."

A new round of training officially began. By the time it ended, Tang Wulin and Xie Xie each sported an enormous lump on his forehead.

Tang Wulin was utterly frustrated and completely at a loss. He had no chance of winning. He released his Blue Silver Grass, trying to bind Gu Yue's legs, but she rode the wind, her movements elusive and unpredictable. Although his Blue Silver Grass could resist flames, the explosive power of her elements could penetrate the vines and burn him directly.

He could neither stop her nor land an attack. His opponent's strength was simply absurd.

Xie Xie fared little better. From beginning to end, he could not get even half a step closer to Gu Yue.

Wu Changkong looked at the two frustrated boys, then at the high-spirited Gu Yue. A faint trace of amusement passed through his eyes.

Although the two had lost this round as well, it was clear that Tang Wulin and Xie Xie were working together with increasingly seamless coordination.

Tang Wulin had even caught up from behind, his immense natural strength perfectly compensating for the Blue Silver Grass martial soul's weakness in close combat.

The Class Promotion Tournament was a longstanding tradition at Eastsea Academy. It encompassed every year across the academy, with the advanced division holding its own corresponding contests and the intermediate division having a separate competition.

Any student who distinguished themselves in the Class Promotion Tournament would be recorded by the academy and designated for focused cultivation. That record was crucial for future admission into higher-level soul master institutions, and winners could also earn extremely generous rewards. Once a team achieved outstanding results, not only would its class ranking rise considerably, but its teaching assistant would receive commendations as well. Over time, the Class Promotion Tournament had become one of Eastsea Academy's major events.

That day, the sky stretched clear for ten thousand miles, blue as though freshly washed. An arena had been erected early on the intermediate division's sports field. The entire platform was laid with ten-meter-thick alloy plates and measured a full hundred meters across, occupying almost half the field. Soul Tool Shield devices stood around its perimeter to contain impacts and prevent accidental casualties during matches.

Today was the opening day of the Class Promotion Tournament, with first-year Class Five facing first-year Class Four. Most upper-year students in the stands dismissed the match, and nearly everyone believed first-year Class Four would secure an easy, crushing victory.

The dismissal bell rang, and the students of each class marched toward the field in orderly lines. Once first-year Class Five had taken their places beside the arena, a short, plump middle-aged teacher approached Wu Changkong, his face wreathed in smiles. "Teacher Wu, the students you teach really are exceptional. Just look at how neatly they're lined up. I can't compare with you. When they actually enter the arena, you'll have to go easy on our class."

The newcomer was Kong Hanwen, the homeroom teacher of first-year Class Four.

Wu Changkong merely glanced at him before looking away, treating him as though he were thin air.

Kong Hanwen's smile nearly slipped. That indifferent attitude almost made him faint with anger, and in the end, he could only leave a sarcastic remark. "It seems Teacher Wu has complete confidence in his students. Then we'll see you in the arena."

"Idiot."

Standing beside Wu Changkong, Tang Wulin's ears twitched. He distinctly heard two exceedingly faint syllables from in front of him.

At that moment, Academic Affairs Director Long Hengxu strode onto the platform and announced loudly, "This year's Class Promotion Tournament officially begins today. In the first match, first-year Class Five will challenge first-year Class Four. Teacher Wu Changkong, please confirm the number of participants from your class."

"Three," Wu Changkong replied.

"Very well." Long Hengxu turned toward Kong Hanwen. "Class Five is fielding three participants. Teacher Kong, you have five minutes to select your students."

The five minutes passed in a flash. Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, and Xie Xie took the stage for first-year Class Five. They adopted no complicated tactical formation, with Tang Wulin simply standing in the center of the team. First-year Class Four then sent out three students to face them.

"Ready-"

Standing in the center of the arena, Long Hengxu raised his right hand high and swept it sharply down. "Begin!"

At his command, the three students from first-year Class Four were just about to circulate their soul power and release their martial souls when they suddenly felt their limbs tighten. Their bodies were completely beyond their control.

Beside Tang Wulin, standing in the center opposite them, a bright yellow hundred-year soul ring slowly appeared, then abruptly lit up-his first soul skill, Blue Silver Forest, activated instantly. Five thick Blue Silver Vines burst from the ground around him, sweeping toward his opponents with tremendous speed.

In the blink of an eye, the thick Blue Silver Vines bound all three opponents tightly, wrapping them like three firmly packed rice dumplings before hurling them off the platform.

The entire venue fell deathly silent for a moment, then erupted in thunderous applause and cries of astonishment.

"What? Am I seeing things? They got wiped out instantly?"

"Did that even take three seconds from beginning to end? I don't think it was even three!"

Throughout the entire match, Tang Wulin alone had actually acted. Gu Yue and Xie Xie remained motionless at his sides. As teammates who spent every day with him, they knew better than anyone how terrifying his control over Blue Silver Grass was. In the stands, the other first-year Class Five students erupted, their cheers and screams rising one after another.

Long Hengxu walked slowly onto the platform and announced the result loudly. "First-year Class Five wins this match! Class assignments will remain unchanged until the entire Class Promotion Tournament concludes, at which point all rankings will be adjusted together. Tomorrow, Class Five will continue by challenging first-year Class Three."

No sooner had he finished than a cool voice interrupted him at an inopportune moment. "Director Long, why not hold that match today as well? Look at my students. They seem to want more."

The speaker was none other than Wu Changkong. He wore plain white clothes that day, his ice-blue hair cascading like a waterfall, his bearing cold and extraordinary.

The corner of Long Hengxu's mouth twitched. "Teacher Wu, I'm afraid that would be against the rules, wouldn't it?"

Wu Changkong's tone remained perfectly even. "I merely want to save some time. At one match a day, it will take a full four days to finish the first year. Four days would be enough for me to devise a new training plan for my students."

Watching his calm, assured demeanor, the students beside the arena could all sense his complete confidence in his pupils. In the end, however, the extra match did not take place. Rules were rules, and a tradition passed down for so many years would not be lightly broken for one person.