The wheel battle was the result of the students' deliberations.
Feng Xiaotian had originally planned a team battle, but after he was injured and withdrew from the sparring match, that plan immediately lost its supporter.
Besides, Feng Xiaotian had overlooked one thing:
The people from the other academies were not teammates who trained alongside him. A team battle required teamwork. How could two sides unfamiliar with each other coordinate?
Thus, Yu Tianheng chose a wheel battle.
Although winning that way was somewhat dishonorable, having seven people take turns fighting meant they could fight freely without worrying about coordinating with teammates. Surely they could wear Long Yue down.
One could say that Long Yue's punch, which sent Feng Xiaotian flying at the Seven Treasure Ball, had also ruined Feng Xiaotian's original scheme, forcing the remaining students to change their plans.
"Let's stick to fighting one at a time."
The master of ceremonies was drenched in sweat.
The emperor is watching from up there. Can't you, a man from the Divine Realm Empire, stop stirring up trouble for no reason?
Long Yue swept his gaze over his opponents below the stage. They all avoided his eyes, which were like those of a fierce tiger ready to devour a man.
"Fine. We'll start with individual matches." With a cold laugh, Long Yue exposed Yu Tianheng and the others' intentions. "Are you hoping to exhaust my soul power?"
Onstage and off, not a bird's cry broke the silence. Only Long Yue's voice echoed.
"But let me tell you, against trash like you, even after beating all seven of you in succession, I can still take all seven at once!"
The spectators immediately erupted.
Those with greater composure and deeper reserves, such as Xue Ye and Ning Fengzhi, naturally remained silent. The young students whose minds were less nimble started cursing on the spot.
"Damn it! You people from the Divine Realm Empire are too arrogant!"
"It's good for young people to have proud bones, but not an inflated ego!"
"The Divine Realm Empire People are far too conceited! Their greatest genius? More like a frog at the bottom of a well!"
Sima Lanxiao sighed softly, then unleashed the pressure of his Soul Saint cultivation to suppress the noisy, hotheaded students. "Quiet! Keep watching the match!"
This was an unmistakable show of support for Long Yue.
The referee announced, "Both sides, salute."
"Godwind Academy, Gu Tianming. Rank forty-one Agility Attack System Battle Soul Ancestor."
"Monster Academy of the Divine Realm Empire, Long Yue. Rank forty-five Power Attack System Battle Soul Ancestor."
Long Yue smiled, baring his sharp teeth as he looked at Gu Tianming of Godwind Academy. He dipped his head slightly, not even bothering to make a token bow.
That was because a ball of anger had been smoldering inside him.
Ever since he received the news from the Moonlight Pavilion, the people of the Douluo Continent had been scheming over how to defeat him in the competition.
There was nothing inherently wrong with that. After all, losing to an outsider would leave the Heaven Dou Empire looking bad.
What disgusted Long Yue, however, was how these people from the Douluo Continent kept changing the rules: first changing the match to a one-against-seven team battle, then adding Elephant Armor Academy, and now turning it into a wheel battle.
Whatever kind of fight you want, whatever conditions you have, just say so.
Call me "Brother Long." I, Long Yue, am a man of honor. Would I really refuse?
Yet they insisted on playing tricks behind his back and changing things over and over-and over something so trivial, at that.
"Begin!" the referee announced.
The first minute of the match was allotted to both sides to activate their martial souls. This was a rule of soul fighting competitions on the Douluo Continent.
"Shriek-" Gu Tianming spread his wings and flew into the air, putting distance between himself and Long Yue. Four soul rings appeared at once, two yellow and two purple-the optimal soul ring configuration.
Martial soul: Sky-Piercing Warhawk.
The Sky-Piercing Warhawk was a bird-type soul beast that won through speed rather than powerful attacks. It could soar to altitudes exceeding three thousand meters and sustain high-speed flight for long periods.
Below the stage, Yu Tianheng revealed a smile worthy of a "grandmaster."
He had carefully studied the order for the wheel battle. As the only Soul Ancestor, Gu Tianming would naturally go first, and his goal was to consume half of Long Yue's soul power.
Long Yue was too strong. With rank forty-five cultivation, he was strong enough to seriously injure Feng Xiaotian without even releasing his martial soul.
Yu Tianheng did not believe Gu Tianming could defeat Long Yue. That meant he could only become a tool for wearing Long Yue down.
As long as six people wear him down in succession... wait, what is that?
Purple soul rings!
But why were all four purple?
Long Yue released his Mountain Dragon King martial soul, along with his four purple soul rings.
Many people from the Douluo Continent cried out in shock. Even Xue Ye, who was accustomed to maintaining his composure, could not hold his expression as still as deep water. "How is that possible?"
No one on the Douluo Continent had ever possessed a thousand-year first soul ring!
"Your nation's Blood-Weeping Douluo also seemed to have thousand-year soul rings for his first four rings..." Platinum Bishop Salas looked at Sima Lanxiao. "Could your nation's greatest genius possess twin martial souls as well?"
Back then, Blood-Weeping Douluo's four purple and five black soul rings had shocked the people of the Douluo Continent.
Pope Bibi Dong had concluded that Blood-Weeping Douluo actually possessed twin martial souls. That would allow the first soul ring of his second martial soul to be a thousand-year soul ring.
Spirit Hall was not alone in reaching that conclusion. Other knowledgeable people on the Douluo Continent had reached much the same conclusion.
In this era, no sect yet possessed any secret method for upgrading soul rings. Even those who stood at the very pinnacle of the continent still had limited knowledge.
"Long Yue does not possess twin martial souls. His martial soul is simply the Mountain Dragon," Sima Lanxiao explained. "As for having a purple thousand-year soul ring as his first ring... all of us Divine Realm Empire People can achieve that. Because of soul spirits."
If you wanted a purple soul ring, couldn't you simply go to the Spirit Pagoda's Spirit Ascension Platform and grind up your soul spirit's age?
"Soul spirits?" Ning Fengzhi narrowed his eyes and ventured a guess. "Are they a kind of soul ring created using soul tool technology?"
"Yes. But soul spirits originally came from our ancestor, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao." Respect and pride filled Sima Lanxiao's face. "It was Spirit Ice Douluo who created the soul spirit system."
"A creation bestowed by a deity." Xue Ye's face filled with emotion. He thought that the Divine Realm Empire truly enjoyed blessed fortune, with a God Level ancestor who had left behind so many legacies.
Ning Fengzhi, Yu Yuanzhen, Huyan Zhen, and the others remained silent, but longing arose in their hearts for the Divine Realm Empire on the Spirit Ice Continent, a place they had never seen.
If the Divine Realm Empire really has a God Level inheritance, could we advance another step?
Ning Fengzhi was the most anxious. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's problem lay in its Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul.
This most powerful Support System martial soul could only accept seven soul rings, and its cultivation limit was rank seventy-nine.
That placed an absolute limit on the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's development.
If there is a deity, could the limitations of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul be resolved?
"The rumors are true."
Below the stage, a masked, middle-aged Soul Master with a dispirited air gave a cold laugh.
"The first soul ring must be below four hundred and twenty-three years, the second below seven hundred and sixty-four years, the third below one thousand seven hundred and sixty years, and the fourth below five thousand years... The Divine Realm Empire People are nothing special."
The people of status were all up on the platform. Among the spectators below, besides students from the various academies, were some visiting Soul Masters. Soul Masters were, after all, the ruling class. Besides, the Heaven Dou Empire was happy to publicize its first-ever exchange competition with the Divine Realm Empire.
Thus, Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang had managed to slip inside. Beside him was a little boy-Tang San.
"Teacher, Long Yue has twin martial souls, doesn't he?" Little Tang San was only seven years old, but his eyes were filled with wisdom, already faintly showing the bearing of someone who would one day scheme against the Douluo Continent's entire plane.
"My fine disciple, precisely!" A smile appeared on Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang's stiff face. He affectionately stroked Tang San's head, proud of his disciple from the bottom of his heart.
Before you continue