"That's right. That was a Martial Soul Fusion Skill."
Jiang Mingyuan had already confirmed that this Martial Soul Fusion Skill had absolutely nothing to do with Tang Wulin's Blue Silver Grass. It was entirely the Golden Dragon King bloodline within Tang Wulin doing the work.
Tang Wulin was thrilled. He knew about Martial Soul Fusion Skills. In the book Brother Yuan had written, "Peerless Tang Sect," Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao and Dragon Butterfly Douluo Tang Wutong possessed one, too.
"Brother Yuan, Brother Yuan! Let's give our Martial Soul Fusion Skill a name. How about Phoenix Blue Silver Transformation?"
Tang Wulin thought he was a naming genius, perfectly incorporating both their martial souls.
"Huh? Brother Yuan, why are you looking at me like that?" Jiang Mingyuan's stare left Tang Wulin a little embarrassed, his cheeks flushing red.
"Brother Yuan, doesn't Phoenix Blue Silver Transformation sound good?"
Does it sound good? Jiang Mingyuan rubbed his forehead.
He... you... I... oh, for crying out loud!
"Listen. In all my years, I've never asked you for anything. You have to listen to me this time."
Tang Wulin nodded blankly.
"Okay. Go ahead, Brother Yuan. I'll listen to you."
Jiang Mingyuan patted Tang Wulin's shoulder, an indescribable look in his eyes. Tang Wulin had a vague feeling that this wasn't good.
"Wulin, how about I come up with another name? That Phoenix Blue Silver Transformation you just suggested can be something we only say in private. It'll be our little secret. Don't tell anyone else, okay?"
Jiang Mingyuan held out his pinkie.
"Come on. Promise."
"Oh. O-okay." Tang Wulin's ears automatically filtered out everything else, leaving only the part about their little secret.
Jiang Mingyuan suddenly felt that this kid was such a handful. No wonder so many people in his previous life hadn't wanted children.
"How about this? You name the humanoid form we fused into just now, and I'll name the sword. From now on, when we tell other people about our Martial Soul Fusion Skill, we'll use the sword's name. What do you think?"
Jiang Mingyuan pondered for a moment. A spark of inspiration suddenly flashed through his mind.
"Let's call it Phoenix King Annihilation Sword. How does that sound?"
Tang Wulin wasn't sure whether it was a good name, but it sounded pretty cool. Besides, anything Brother Yuan suggested was good.
"Mm-hmm! I think it's great." A smile tugged at Tang Wulin's lips. This was their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, and each of them had given it a name. Just right.
On the Competition Platform for the class promotion tournament, Jiang Mingyuan looked at the three opponents across from him.
The one in the middle had a composed face and a sturdy build, almost on par with Tang Wulin's.
The student on the right was thin, with sinister eyes and a dark aura hanging over him. Had this been Shrek ten thousand years ago, he would surely have been branded an Evil Soul Master.
Things were much better in this era. After all, the leading force in combating evil soul masters had shifted from Shrek Academy's so-called Shrek Inspection Corps to the Sun Moon Federation. Those politicians weren't fools, either. There was no need to drive soul masters into the enemy camp merely because they had dark attributes or some sinister traits in their martial souls.
The one on the left had an ordinary face, the sort that would vanish into a crowd at a glance.
Below the platform, Wu Changkong nodded to them. Although he had learned through certain special channels that all three students representing Class One this time were formidable, overall, Jiang Mingyuan's team had the better odds of winning.
Long Hengxu stood in the center of the Competition Platform. This was the first grade's final class promotion match. Once it was over, he could finally get some proper rest.
"In this match, First Grade Class Five will challenge First Grade Class One. Each side will field three team members."
Both teams walked to the center of the Competition Platform and stood facing each other.
Jiang Mingyuan looked at the tall student opposite him and felt oddly uncomfortable. He pivoted, reached out, and pulled Tang Wulin straight into his spot, then moved to the right himself.
Looking at the sinister boy in front of him, Jiang Mingyuan let out a long breath. Come on, I'm actually pretty tall.
Although he knew Tang Wulin's growth was downright bizarre, making it perfectly normal for him to tower over his peers, standing beside him always felt a little awkward. It had even made Jiang Mingyuan wonder whether he was too short.
At least all that milk hadn't gone to waste.
The two sides began introducing themselves. The composed boy extended his hand toward Tang Wulin.
"Class One, Zhang Yangzi."
Tang Wulin showed no trace of timidity. He also extended his hand, his voice firm. "Class Five, Tang Wulin."
They shook hands, and a flash of surprise crossed Zhang Yangzi's face. Tang Wulin was actually stronger than him?
"Wei Xiaofeng." "Wang Jinxi."
"Xie Xie." "Jiang Mingyuan."
After introducing themselves, both sides retreated twenty meters, leaving forty meters of open space between them for the battle.
At Long Hengxu's command, the match officially began.
All six students released their martial souls. To Tang Wulin's surprise, all three members of Class One had two-ring cultivation, and every one of their soul rings was yellow.
The boy named Wei Xiaofeng had a martial soul called the Azure Shadow Serpent, a high-quality agility-attack martial soul. He instantly charged toward Xie Xie.
Unexpectedly, two yellow soul rings rose beneath Xie Xie's feet. It seemed he had worked hard during the typhoon and broken straight through to rank twenty.
Gripping the Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger tightly, Xie Xie moved to meet Wei Xiaofeng.
This startled all three members of Class One. Below the platform, their homeroom teacher, Ye Yingluo, also frowned.
With Class Five having cut through thorns and brambles to defeat the other three classes, Class One certainly didn't dare take them lightly.
Ye Yingluo had carefully studied every match. She believed that the boy named Jiang Mingyuan was the core of Class Five's team.
Apart from the battle against Class Three, when Jiang Mingyuan had displayed unparalleled strength and defeated those three flying-type soul masters with overwhelming might.
In the other matches, Jiang Mingyuan had stayed in the rear to provide ranged suppressive fire, but before every match began, a few Golden Feathers had landed on Tang Wulin and Xie Xie.
Ye Yingluo surmised that this had to be some kind of team-enhancing soul skill belonging to Jiang Mingyuan.
Kill the support first in a team fight. That was a truth that had held firm through the ages.
The tactic she had arranged beforehand was to have Wei Xiaofeng, a two-ring Agility-Attack Soul Master, tie down Xie Xie and Tang Wulin, both One-Ring Soul Masters.
Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi would take care of Jiang Mingyuan. She hadn't expected Xie Xie to have already broken through to two rings. Under these circumstances, with Tang Wulin added to the mix, Wei Xiaofeng probably wouldn't last long.
Now Ye Yingluo could only hope that Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi would quickly finish Jiang Mingyuan and return to support him.
But the world rarely went as expected.
After Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi released their martial souls, they felt immense pressure from Jiang Mingyuan and Tang Wulin respectively.
Fear welled up uncontrollably in their hearts.
Still, to preserve Class One's honor, they forced down their fear and took flight. They charged toward Jiang Mingyuan.
"Ho-ho! Instead of running away from me, you're coming closer? How interesting."
Jiang Mingyuan activated Phoenix Possession. His fiery red tail feathers swept over Tang Wulin's head, and a few pale golden feathers settled on Tang Wulin and Xie Xie.
"Leave the two in the air to me."
Jiang Mingyuan beat his wings and flew straight at them.