Yu Xiaogang received news of the overseas Divine Realm Empire making landfall while he was teaching Tang San at Nuoding Academy.
Soul Masters were part of the ruling class, after all. However much people looked down on a Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster, he was still a Soul Master. Old Jack, the village chief of Holy Soul Village, had never heard of an overseas continent, but among Nuoding City's Soul Masters, it was no secret at all.
And so Yu Xiaogang learned something that could destroy his theories-the Divine Realm Empire's Blood-Weeping Douluo had four purple soul rings and five black ones.
Yu Xiaogang's first reaction was that this was absolutely impossible.
Then he thought of Bibi Dong, whom he had met in his youth, and Tang San, whom he had now taken as his disciple.
Twin martial souls!
That was the only explanation.
With curiosity about the Divine Realm Empire in his heart, along with the arrogance to pass judgment on its Soul Master system, the Grandmaster immediately chose to head to Heaven Dou City to gather information. He arrived just in time for Long Yue's sparring matches.
Naturally, Yu Xiaogang brought Tang San along. Tang San was already seven this year and had absorbed his first soul ring. Becoming a Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster was only a matter of time, and he was perfectly capable of graduating from Nuoding Academy.
"Read ten thousand books, travel ten thousand miles," Yu Xiaogang said with feeling. "I was right to bring you out to broaden your horizons. Tell me, what mistake did Long Yue make?"
Tang San was quick-witted, his eyes bright with intelligence and a smile on his face. "Long Yue shouldn't have obtained soul rings for his second martial soul while he was still a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor. It might make him look powerful in the short term, but it does nothing for his future development."
"Exactly. If he started adding soul rings to his second martial soul as a Five-Ring Soul King, he could eventually have nine Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings." Yu Xiaogang looked at Tang San affectionately. With so many eyes and ears around, he left the next sentence unspoken.
But Tang San understood what Yu Xiaogang meant.
I hope that will be your future.
"Teacher!" Tang San's heart brimmed with emotion. His teacher truly treated him so well. He would never disappoint the Grandmaster's expectations.
While Tang San and his teacher measured a gentleman's heart with a petty man's yardstick, Long Yue had already begun his fight against Gu Tianming.
Long Yue's already burly body became an even more terrifying, three-meter-tall muscular giant. Huge brown scales covered his entire body, and a long tail dragged behind him.
Yu Yuanzhen, the leader of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, stared fixedly at Long Yue. From this young man, he actually felt a pressure he had not experienced in years-Long Yue's Mountain Dragon martial soul was nobler than the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon.
Gu Tianming's first soul ring lit up. The Sky-Piercing Warhawk's wings swept forward, turning dozens of feathers into sharp arrows that shot toward Long Yue.
Long Yue made no attempt to dodge. Laughing wildly, he bent down and slammed his right fist into the ground as his first purple soul ring lit up.
"Mountains and Rivers!"
Long Yue could not fly and lacked effective ways to attack airborne targets, but reshaping the terrain was child's play for him.
The earth cracked apart. Small mountains like sword blades surged madly from the ground, covering the entire arena in an instant.
The feathers struck Long Yue without inflicting the slightest damage. Meanwhile, a stone prison rising abruptly from the ground trapped Gu Tianming in midair-Gu Tianming's effective attack range was limited, and he had to descend to attack Long Yue.
"A large-area soul skill!" Below the arena, Yu Xiaogang did know a thing or two and understood Long Yue's first soul skill. "No wonder Long Yue wants a team battle so badly."
A single use of that first soul skill would have trapped quite a few people on the spot in a team match.
Tang San watched Long Yue's overwhelming strength with burning eyes, his heart blazing with longing. If only I could be this powerful someday... My Clear Sky Hammer with nine black soul rings will definitely be stronger than Long Yue!
I could take his place.
Standing below the arena like a lackey, Tang San felt ambition stir in his heart.
Eagle Wing Strike!
Gu Tianming's second soul ring shone. His wings doubled in size, folded inward, and slammed against the stone prison formed from the earth.
Not a scratch!
The stone prison formed by the mountains rising from the ground descended. Like a cat trapped in an iron cage, Gu Tianming struggled frantically inside, unleashing his third and fourth soul skills in succession, yet he could not even break through Long Yue's first soul skill.
"Stop wasting your strength." Long Yue walked forward calmly. The stone prison became shackles that restrained Gu Tianming's limbs and, like palace attendants serving their king, delivered the "food" before him.
"We concede!" A teacher from Godwind Academy abruptly shouted to the referee, "Stop!"
"Long Yue..." The referee steeled himself and stepped into the arena, only to be stopped in his tracks by the "mountain range" beneath Long Yue's feet.
"Long Yue!" Xue Qinghe roared. "Don't do anything stupid!"
Sima Lanxiao also stood to persuade him. "Long Yue, you've won."
"Get lost." Long Yue raised a hand and flicked Gu Tianming's forehead. It did little damage, but the humiliation was immense. "Trash like you doesn't even have the courage to fight me to the death. You'll never amount to more than a Soul King."
"You!" Gu Tianming began struggling. "I don't concede! Let me go!"
Can't you people from the Divine Realm Empire speak properly? Why do you keep passing judgment on other people's cultivation paths at the drop of a hat?
Boom-
Long Yue punched Gu Tianming in the abdomen, knocking him unconscious on the spot. Only then did Long Yue turn to the referee, whom he had released. "He didn't concede. I defeated him. You have no objection, do you?"
The referee was a powerful Soul Emperor, yet after being restrained by Long Yue, he had no temper left at all. He could only look to Xue Ye's expression for guidance.
"Next." Xue Ye had lost interest. Once Long Yue proved capable of restraining a Soul Emperor referee, he knew this match was nothing more than Long Yue's personal performance.
Forget offering guidance to the Heaven Dou Empire's young Soul Masters. If Long Yue didn't beat a lasting shadow into their hearts, that would already count as kindness.
The arena returned to its original state, and the next match proceeded.
"Huyan Li." Yu Tianheng turned toward Huyan Li from Elephant Armor Academy, his face ashen. "Next, try to... draw out as many of his soul skills as possible."
The original plan had been for Gu Tianming to wear Long Yue down first, followed by Huyan Li, a Diamond Mammoth Soul Master with the strongest defense. Their task was to weather Long Yue's fiercest momentum.
Now, however, Long Yue apparently had enough strength to spare to stop a Soul Emperor referee. Most likely, he wasn't concerned about his soul power expenditure at all.
"All right."
Huyan Li was the eldest grandson of Huyan Zhen, the Elephant Armor Sect's "Heavenly Elephant," and a genius hailed as the sect member most likely to become a Titled Douluo. He stood two meters tall and weighed over two hundred kilograms-the Douluo Continent's version of Ryoko the big eater.
The fat fellow was fairly honest and had no objection to instructions from someone in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. He answered in a deep, muffled voice, his fat trembling along with it, then stepped into the arena.
"Both sides, salute."
"Elephant Armor Academy, Huyan Li. Rank thirty-two Defense-Type Battle Soul Elder."
"Divine Realm Empire's Monster Academy, Long Yue. Rank forty-five Power Attack System Battle Soul Ancestor."
With his Diamond Mammoth martial soul possessing him, Huyan Li flung off his shirt. His loose flab swelled into terrifying muscle wrapped in fat, while a dark yellow, horny layer appeared over his skin, gleaming with a metallic sheen.
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