Seeing both sides pull apart and prepare for battle, the referee on Battle Platform 24 brought his hand sharply down.
"Begin!"
At the referee's command, four Soul Rings-yellow, yellow, purple, purple-rose beneath each girl's feet. The turbulent air stirred by their Soul Power collided, neither side yielding an inch.
Aurora Sword in hand, Ye Guyi soared skyward on pure-white wings, instantly claiming the aerial advantage. Her brilliant golden eyes looked down on Nana, whose Martial Soul was called Ghost. After entering Martial Soul Possession, Nana's tall, toned figure seemed to become considerably more insubstantial.
The battle drew hundreds upon thousands of eyes. With thirty-six selection matches taking place simultaneously, even the Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord would probably have been dazzled, let alone the Sun Moon students. Naturally, they preferred watching the marquee matches.
A clash between fifth-year students was undoubtedly the most exciting spectacle. The spectators sharpened their gazes, and a few resourceful souls even pulled out Magnifying Soul Tools for a close-up view. Who didn't love watching pretty girls fight?
Whoosh-
A pair of dark-purple metal wings unfolded. Nana rose into the sky using a Level 4 Flying Soul Tool, gripping two short blades. The Crimson Flame Blade spat searing firelight, while the Lightwind Blade summoned an indigo breeze. Her pretty face taut, she faced Ye Guyi from a distance.
At the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, upper-year students needed two kinds of Soul Tools. The first was a Soul Tool Shield, which could save their lives in a crisis.
The second was a Flying Soul Tool, essential for traveling and crucial for countering flying Martial Souls. After all, nobody wanted an airborne Soul Master to kite them indefinitely.
Her Ghost Martial Soul and Wind-Fire Twin Blades marked Nana as a close-combat Soul Engineer. Meanwhile, Ye Guyi disguised her Holy Angel as a Bright Swan and could not use her four Soul Skills. Her public persona likewise specialized in close combat.
The two girls exchanged a glance, then charged in unison. Nana unleashed her first Soul Skill, Ghost Speed, continuously accelerating as she glided.
Ye Guyi's approach was far simpler and more brutal. Her wings beat fiercely, wind howling past her as she streaked across the sky like a beam of white light. The advantage of her physique alone overwhelmed her opponent's Soul Skill enhancement!
Clang-
The ringing clash of metal echoed through the sky. The Aurora Sword descended without a single flourish, forcing Nana to raise her arms and cross her blades against the crushing blow.
Metal fragments sprayed outward. Nana's pupils contracted as she stared in disbelief at the point of impact. After just one clash with the Aurora Sword, her Level 4 blade had already suffered an alarming notch!
Ye Guyi smiled coldly. Behind her stood someone with ultimate metal. Anything Qing made was guaranteed quality!
There's no evil aura in her Martial Soul. She's never devoured a life...
Darkness did not equal evil. The Holy Angel adhered to the standards for Evil Soul Masters passed down through her family for ten thousand years. She would never misjudge the Ghost Martial Soul simply because of its innate darkness attribute. In the angelic young lady's eyes, only two possibilities remained for Nana's identity!
A lackey of the fiends lurking within the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy!
A poor girl under an Evil Soul Master's control!
Whichever answer proved true, Nana was a breakthrough point for lifting the mysterious veil shrouding the Evil Soul Master organization!
Of course, before delivering justice, Ye Guyi first had to win her opening selection match. She absolutely refused to study diligently for three months only to miss out on the Hongchen Class.
Her wings carried her slender body into a rapid spin, as though the angelic young lady were dancing a dazzling waltz. The Holy Angel bloodline, combined with Aerial Combat Techniques honed over years, had created a sovereign of the skies unmatched in her generation.
Trusting the referee, Ye Guyi held nothing back. Nana was caught in a Platinum Storm, gritting her teeth as she raised both blades and struggled to block sword light that struck like a tempest.
Every metallic chime exacted a price from the Wind-Fire Twin Blades. Notches multiplied across them until they looked ready to shatter at any moment.
It was not that Nana had made no attempt to fight back. She activated her Ghost Martial Soul's Soul Skills to accelerate, while simultaneously pushing her Flying Soul Tool to maximum output.
Yet Ye Guyi remained with her like a shadow, seemingly more ghostlike than Ghost itself. She clung relentlessly to Nana, the sword energy from her Aurora Sword never ceasing. A blast of layered sword energy had already shattered Nana's Soul Tool Shield. The battle stood on a knife's edge!
She could neither win nor escape. As long as the battlefield remained high in the sky, Ye Guyi was a fish in water, and any Soul Master of the same rank faced certain death.
Against the angelic young lady in aerial combat, Nana was merely a flying tortoise despite her Flying Soul Tool. Every movement was slow and clumsy, posing no threat whatsoever to Ye Guyi.
"Ghost Possession!"
A bright-purple Soul Ring blazed. Her third Soul Skill, Ghost Possession, negated all physical damage for one second, though Nana herself could not attack during that time either.
For Nana, an agility-type Soul Master, Ghost Possession was purely a lifesaving Soul Skill. It could hardly compare with mechanical monstrosities like Elemental Transformation and intangibility, which allowed their users to unleash Soul Skills while remaining insubstantial.
Using Ghost Possession to gain a moment's respite, Nana slipped past the Aurora Sword and immediately lit up her final, thousand-year fourth Soul Ring. A shadow split from her body, and her face instantly grew paler.
Her fourth Soul Skill, Wraith!
The shadow lunged at Ye Guyi with a hideous face and a piercing shriek. This Soul Skill possessed formidable control capabilities, but had to be unleashed through the soul. If it failed to restrain the opponent, Nana would suffer its backlash.
Succeed or die trying. Her fourth Soul Skill was undoubtedly a desperate gamble. Nana's gaze sharpened to its utmost as her Soul Power squeezed every last ounce of strength from her Wind-Fire Twin Blades. Blade radiance flared like a rising sun, its scorching heat concealing the rending force of fierce winds.
She and her blades became one!
Awooo-
The Wraith reached Ye Guyi first, forcibly invading her Sea of Consciousness to disrupt her with resentment. A second later, its triumphant, vicious grin froze. Golden flames erupted across its body, and it screamed in unending agony!
Using a Wraith against a Holy Angel. Absolutely brilliant!
The Soul Skill's backlash followed immediately. Nana spat out a mouthful of blood, and the power of her unified blade strike plummeted. Having anticipated the Wraith's fate, Ye Guyi swept her Aurora Sword across the two-colored blade radiance.
Sunlight Radiance descended like holy light upon the mortal world. Golden sunlight coated the sword's edge in a thin, dazzling halo. The strike raised a howling gale and cleaved the layered clouds!
"Her Martial Soul was countered. Nana's defeat was hardly unjust."
With the outcome beyond doubt, Mingde Hall's master, Jing Hongchen, discussed the battle with Starry Sky Douluo Ye Yulin at the center of the dais. "The Bright Swan surpasses Ghost in quality. Instead of securing a victory, the Wraith's powerful control became the straw that broke her back. The gap between their Martial Souls really is enormous."
"I'm more taken with that young girl's exquisite Aerial Combat Techniques. It was practically an artistic performance!"
As an aerial Soul Engineer, Ye Yulin focused on aerial combat. He could not hide his appreciation. "Old toad, where did she come from?"
"Ye Guyi. She and Lin Qing are very close friends. They immigrated together from the Douluo Continent to the Sun Moon Empire," Jing Hongchen readily explained. "Over the past three months, Ye Guyi has progressed at tremendous speed, firmly establishing herself as a Level 4 Soul Engineer.
"She has much the same problem as Lin Qing: neither has settled on a direction as a Soul Engineer. Lin Qing is young enough that there's no rush, but Ye Guyi is fifteen this year. She should have decided long ago."
"Bright Swan. An excellent Martial Soul... The quality of the Douluo Continent's Soul Masters certainly lives up to its reputation. Judging by her Soul Power fluctuations, she's a steady cultivator who hasn't taken any drugs, either. Becoming a Super Douluo is well within her reach..."
Ye Yulin smacked his lips, his tone laden with meaning. "Genius Soul Masters often possess uniquely gifted abilities, such as the aerial combat skills Ye Guyi demonstrated. That sort of talent is very difficult to cultivate later in life.
"A Super Douluo who excels at high-altitude combat, paired with my newly developed Level 9 Soul Tool, the Sun Moon Divine Needle, would be a tiger given wings. Invincible in the skies..."
"Realized you can't recruit Lin Qing, so you've turned your sights on Ye Guyi?" Jing Hongchen understood instantly.
"What, you have a problem with that?" Ye Yulin remained entirely unruffled. "Old toad, I haven't charged you a single Copper Soul Coin as an appearance fee for lecturing. If fate permits, I'll take a personal disciple here at the academy to inherit my mantle.
"Ye Guyi even shares my surname. If her character is upright enough, becoming my disciple or acknowledging me as her adoptive father would both be excellent choices.
"Oh, right. You said she's close friends with that ultimate metal boy. He's talented, she's beautiful, and if they end up together someday, wouldn't that put me in the same generation as Master Kong?"
"Pah!" Jing Hongchen erupted in fury, spittle flying. "Dream on, you old bald monk! Never mind whether Ye Guyi would even think you're worth her time-Lin Qing is close to my granddaughter Little Meng. Sooner or later, he'll be the Hongchen Family's prized son-in-law. Then I'll rank a generation above Master Kong!
"Ow! Who the hell threw that iron block?!"
He instinctively shouted toward the sky, then hurriedly came to his senses, lowering his head and falling silent with a few disgruntled grunts. Ye Yulin had angered him into speaking recklessly, and he had briefly forgotten that old geezer Kong was secretly watching.
Ye Guyi hopped lightly off the platform and returned to the Waiting Area to meet Lin Qing.
"There's another winners' bracket match this afternoon. Shall we get lunch?" Lin Qing asked.
"Mm-hmm."
Ye Guyi nodded, then glanced around like a thief afraid of being caught. Bringing her red lips close to Lin Qing's ear, she whispered, "Let's stay at Zhanghua Garden tonight. We need to talk properly.
"I have a feeling a big fish has surfaced!"
Her brilliant golden eyes gleamed. All her hard studying after joining the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy had not been in vain. Sure enough, the harder she worked, the luckier she became. Hadn't she just caught them by the tail? The inherently evil organization of Evil Soul Masters would inevitably be uprooted by the Holy Angel!
After a nutritious lunch, the Green Garment Duo returned to the Waiting Area to await the afternoon assessments. From afar, they spotted a deeply resentful Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen, who had heartlessly dragged his sister away at noon.
Before the finals, kings must not meet.
And a king's sister absolutely must not fraternize with the enemy!
"Hey, guys, is it just me, or do the dean's and Starry Sky Douluo's ears look uneven...?"
One male student suddenly noticed something odd and pointed at the dais displayed on the Soul Tool screen. The two Level 9 Soul Engineers sat ramrod straight, presenting the stern, unsmiling bearing of mighty experts.
"I wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't mentioned it. The dean's left ear is swollen, and Starry Sky Douluo's right ear is puffed up. Looks like when our homeroom teacher grabbed me and my best friend by the ears, hauled us in front of him, and gave us a furious scolding. Our ears weren't just swollen-he nearly filled the ear canals with spit..." analyzed a certain class's notorious troublemaker.
"Stop guessing wildly. Dean Hongchen isn't exactly broad-minded. Careful, or you'll get more than you can handle," someone warned.
"Look! The second-round draw is starting!"
The screen flickered rapidly. The afternoon matches no longer used a single unified draw; instead, students were divided into the Winners' Bracket and losers' bracket based on the morning's battles.
Student photographs were matched in pairs. With a glance, Lin Qing saw that Ju Zi had drawn a Level 3 Soul Engineer, while Xiao Hongchen faced a weak nobody. Miraculously, Ye Guyi was matched against her old opponent, Tang Gang with his lone bamboo. Gangzi dropped to his knees and cursed the absurd matchmaking system!
On Battle Platform 24, Lin Qing of Class 1, Year 5 would face Meng Hongchen of Class 1, Year 5.
"Huh?!"
At the newly released matchups, cries of surprise exploded throughout the Waiting Area!
Two semifinal-caliber contestants were meeting early, on the very first day!
The Hongchen siblings and the Green Garment Duo exchanged looks, their four pairs of eyes filled with indescribably complicated emotions.
Almost simultaneously, Ye Guyi turned to fix Lin Qing with a piercing stare, while Xiao Hongchen's head popped up beside Meng Hongchen like a ghost.
"Lin Qing/Little sis, you can't play favorites just because it's her/him."
"It's not favoritism. It's a friendly spar where friendship comes first and competition second," Lin Qing declared righteously.
"So what if I play favorites? It's his fault for being handsome."
Meng Hongchen blithely skipped into the contestants' passage, leaving her brother to watch her receding back.
"There's really no saving someone obsessed with looks..."
After muttering his complaint, Xiao Hongchen stopped an innocent second-year girl and said solemnly, "Junior, let me ask you something.
"Setting the facts aside, do you think I'm less handsome than Lin Qing?"
"Who said that?!"
The girl frantically put her brain to work. Who at the academy didn't know Xiao Hongchen was the dean's own grandson, someone they absolutely could not offend?
But she could not betray her conscience. Where in this world could she find a way to honor both her conscience and him? She could only close her eyes and praise him:
"Brother Xiao, your mouth is below your nose, and your eyes are above it. Your nose is actually in the middle of your face! You have exactly the right number of features, all growing in exactly the right places, and your left and right cheeks aren't installed backward. You're simply devastatingly handsome!"
"..."
Girl, that's one filthy insult.
Clutching his heart, Xiao Hongchen looked utterly wounded. At last, he recognized the cruel reality. If Heaven brought Xiao into this world, why did it also bring Qing?!
On Battle Platform 24, Qing and Meng exchanged friendly greetings before their match.
"Lin Qing, my brother and I received a different education growing up. We're Soul Engineers and Soul Masters alike. Now I challenge you to a sacred Soul Fighting match between Soul Masters. If I beat you...
"No excuses tonight. You're coming to visit our Hongchen Family's Ancestral Home!"
Little Meng planted her hands on her hips, mischievous brilliance dancing in her beautiful ice-blue eyes.
"Sure. If you lose, you'll drink three bowls of Gray Juice the next time we go out to eat."
Lin Qing made an OK gesture. Meng Hongchen's expression grew grave. Even native Mingdu residents turned pale at the mention of that stuff. She only ever tricked other people into drinking it!
The Dragon Devourer Cannon won't work. Blasting her off the platform would inevitably wound her heart...
During the brief dozen or so seconds as they backed away from one another, Lin Qing considered suitable Soul Tools, repeatedly rejecting the models he commonly used.
The Giant Spear Dragon Devourer is powerful. Meng Hongchen might get hurt if she slips up for a moment. Using the Snake-Guide Bullet would look like erotic bondage. That'd be one thing in a private spar, but in public it'd offend common decency.
Finger Gun, Bee Swarm? No, no...
Steel was immune to poison and countered ice. The machine element completely countered the two signature abilities that had made the Vermilion-Sun Ice Toad famous. As for its specialty of carrying poison through ice...
If he let that icy mist reach him despite having an elemental Martial Soul, Lin Qing might as well drown himself in Gray Juice.
In that case, I'll have to use you...
Qing could not bring himself to wound Little Meng's pride. He had to win with just the right balance of pressure and restraint!
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