"Class Five of the first year wins!"
As Long Hengxu's words fell, all of Class Five erupted in cheers, crowding around the four of them.
Watching the lively scene below, Long Hengxu felt a trace of unreality. Just a month ago, Class Five had been universally acknowledged as the worst class.
Even after he had assigned Xie Xie to them, their overall strength had still been in the lowest tier.
Besides, Xie Xie had not even taken part in these two class promotion matches.
From the looks of it, even Class One might not be able to stop them. They really might fight their way through the entire first year.
Yan Qing had been surrounded by his classmates from Class Five as they celebrated when he suddenly remembered a key plot point.
Without lingering, he found an excuse to slip out of the crowd and ran straight up to Wu Changkong.
"Teacher Wu, big trouble!"
At that moment, the entrance to Eastsea Academy was packed so tightly that not even a drop of water could get through.
The gate was only six or seven meters wide to begin with, and over two hundred burly men were crammed there, their ranks stacked so deep they almost blocked the intersection.
Moreover, several people in the crowd had Soul Tools shaped like Soul Cannons hanging at their waists.
As more and more onlookers gathered, several of the burly men exchanged glances, pulled a few banners from their bags, and held them high.
"A life for a life!"
"Pay back what you owe!"
When Long Hengxu arrived with his people, the troublemakers were holding up enlarged headshots of Tang Wulin and the other two, shouting incessantly.
Seeing teachers approach, quite a few of them began itching to use the Soul Tools beneath their hands.
Teachers at an intermediate Soul Master Academy were at least Soul Elders, and might even be Soul Ancestors.
But without Soul Power at the Soul Saint level and a Martial Soul Avatar, their bodies' defenses were very fragile.
One hit from a Soul Guidance Ray, and it would be time for a funeral feast.
That was also what gave this group the confidence to blockade the gate.
The burly man at their head waved a hand. Several underlings cleared a path, and soon someone carried over a stretcher.
The stretcher was set down in the center of Eastsea Academy's gate. Sitting on it was none other than Guang Long, who had been beaten half-paralyzed yesterday.
One side of Guang Long's face was swollen high, and his left eye was a strange bluish purple, yet he still insisted on letting out a sinister, cackling laugh.
He spat on the ground and pointed one hand at Long Hengxu.
"That brat who hit me yesterday-I want him on his knees, kowtowing to me."
"And the other two. Bring them all out here."
As he muttered, he glanced to his side out of the corner of his eye.
The man standing beside him was Guang Long's older brother, Guang Biao.
As captain of Eastsea City's mecha brigade, Guang Biao had immediately brought men to surround Eastsea Academy upon hearing that his own younger brother had been beaten.
Guang Biao was a man who avenged even the slightest grievance. At this moment, never mind Long Hengxu-even Eastsea City's administrator would not have been able to restrain him.
"You beat my brother into this state, and now he's in so much pain he can't even speak."
Pointing one hand at the figure on the stretcher, Guang Biao accused Long Hengxu harshly.
Guang Long was injured, but his injuries were not actually too serious.
Since he had come to settle the score, he naturally had to exaggerate a little. He was seizing people from a Soul Master Academy and had even deployed civilian Soul Cannons forbidden by the authorities.
That would also make things easier to wrap up when his superiors held him accountable.
Long Hengxu and the teachers and students with him all froze at the sight before them, swallowing back the words on their lips.
Seeing that the other side actually did not refute his claims, Guang Biao's expression grew a little more contemptuous.
Eastsea Academy really was full of bookworms. A few words were enough to cow them into obedience.
Just then, an underling behind Guang Biao could not help tugging at his sleeve.
"Boss, look!"
Guang Biao turned around. Guang Long's eyes had rolled back on the stretcher, and froth was spilling from his mouth. He looked almost done for.
There's no need to put that much effort into acting!
His gaze shifted downward, and he saw that a streak of ice-blue sword Qi had appeared on Guang Long's body at some unknown point.
"Who did that?!"
Guang Biao's face flushed crimson. Someone had actually dared to hurt his brother right in front of him.
"I did. His injuries are indeed quite serious."
A white-clad figure slowly walked out of the crowd and came to a stop before Guang Biao.
"But you won't be taking my disciples away."
"It's Teacher Wu. They say his strength is unfathomable, and his cultivation is at the Soul King level."
Some students on Eastsea Academy's side whispered among themselves.
Guang Biao grinned, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth.
"Pretty boy, take a good look at my Soul Rings before you speak!"
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, purple, purple-six Soul Rings spiraled upward. A Six-Ring Soul Emperor!
Like Guang Long's, Guang Biao's Martial Soul was an Ironclad Dragon. Brown scales covered his entire body, and his imposing presence was countless times stronger than Guang Long's.
"Where's your mecha? Bring that out too."
Guang Biao tugged at his ear, his face full of disbelief.
"In all my life, this is the first time I've met someone more arrogant than me."
"You'd better not be a useless sack of straw!"
The instant his words fell, his third Soul Ring lit up. His scales and iron claws doubled in size as he lunged straight at Wu Changkong's face.
Yet Wu Changkong remained where he was, seemingly without any intention of dodging.
After telling Guang Biao to use his mecha, Wu Changkong had closed his eyes on the spot, as though recalling something.
"Teacher Wu!" a student cried out. Quite a few people covered their eyes.
Guang Biao's expression grew even more savage, his enormous, scale-covered claw almost reaching the tip of Wu Changkong's nose.
Cold!
Blue!
Those were Guang Biao's sensations at that moment.
His iron claw stopped an inch before that face, unable to advance any farther.
He felt that he could no longer pull back the left hand he had swung out.
Damn it. A chill crept into Guang Biao's heart.
His Ironclad Dragon Martial Soul had gone out of control for the first time. Just what was this pretty boy's Martial Soul?
Guang Biao wanted to withdraw his hand, but more than two hundred underlings nearby were watching him.
As brigade captain, if he admitted defeat to an elementary school teacher, how could he show his face again?
He desperately channeled Soul Power into his hands. Even his Sixth Soul Ring lit up, but he still could not break free of that cold's control.
Pale blue armor emerged from within, growing ever larger in Guang Biao's eyes.
This was Battle Armor. One-Word Battle Armor had to be put on piece by piece. Anything that could emerge directly from within the body had to be made from Spirit-Forged Metal at the very least.
In other words, Two-Word Battle Armor!
Yan Qing's eyes lit up as he watched from the sidelines. Although he had already forged quite a lot of raw materials for Battle Armor, actually seeing a complete suit was still quite an impact.
Wu Changkong's Two-Word Battle Armor was called Heavenly Ice.
Heavenly Ice Wu Changkong!
An ice-blue longsword fell into Wu Changkong's hand, light flowing along its blade like a stream.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black!
He was likewise a Six-Ring Soul Emperor, but his last two Soul Rings were actually black.
Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings!
The Spirit Pagoda could not mass-produce ten-thousand-year Soul Spirits. So many people went their entire lives without ever seeing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.
The cold ravaged the entire area. Guang Biao, right at the front, bore the brunt of it, his whole body shivering from the chill.
"You... I... let me go! We'll have a fair fight!"
At this point, his mouth was the only part of him that remained tough.
Wu Changkong's First Soul Ring lit up.
An azure flash of sword light swept past. Guang Biao's entire Martial Soul shattered inch by inch, and he collapsed unconscious on the ground.
Looking at the Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings circling in the air, Guang Biao's underlings were so frightened that their souls nearly fled their bodies. They scooped up the unconscious Guang Biao and took to their heels.
The crowd shoved and jostled one another. No one paid any attention to Guang Long on the ground, and he was trampled several more times, howling in pain.