In the forging room in Eastsea City, Yan Qing clearly had no idea how grave a crisis had erupted in the Star Luo Empire.
This latest windfall had already put Two-Word Battle Armor within his wildest hopes.
He just did not know whether Shrek's entrance exam had any rules against using cheats. Otherwise, he really could put on Two-Word Battle Armor and charge through the trials.
After all that bustling about, the start of the school term was drawing near.
Figuring it was about time, Yan Qing returned to the academy. If he remembered correctly, a new classmate would arrive in the next few days.
When he entered the classroom, Gu Yue was already there. Her attention was entirely on Tang Wulin, though, and she only gave Yan Qing a slight nod.
As a transmigrator, Yan Qing had no desire to provoke this half of the Silver Dragon King.
He could hardly sidle up and say:
"Gu Yue, you wouldn't want Tang Wulin to know you're the Silver Dragon King, would you?"
He had a feeling he would be torn into eight pieces on the spot.
Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi came in together. At the sight of Yan Qing, Wang Jinxi tried to give him a big hug, only for Yan Qing to kick him away.
Things really had gone off-script. Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi had not transferred schools.
Once everyone had arrived, Wu Changkong introduced their new member, Xu Xiaoyan.
Strictly speaking, this was their second meeting. The first had been on the Spirit Ascension Platform, where her brother had been bold enough to try to rob them, only to be crushed by Yan Qing like some roadside nobody.
Class Zero's numbers had swelled to a staggering seven. Who knew whether the principal's wallet could still bear the strain?
As expected, that afternoon, the seven of them received notice that they would be participating in the Skysea Alliance Grand Competition. It seemed the academy also wanted Class Zero to win back some prestige.
The Skysea Alliance Grand Competition was a tournament jointly organized by several cities in the eastern part of the Federation. Its caliber was fairly average, since neither Shrek City nor Mingdu, the two strongest fighting powers, participated.
Still, the main goal this time was to gain experience. The junior division covered ages ten to fifteen, while Class Zero's members averaged just over ten, putting them at an age disadvantage.
Although fighting opponents several years older was routine for the protagonist's party, they were still in the early stages of development. With five rings against six, the advantage was theirs; with one ring against three, they would simply get beaten up.
That naturally did not include Yan Qing. He could even bring out One-Word Battle Armor now. The frustrating part was that his Soul Power Level was still too low to power a complete suit.
Wearing battle armor required being a Soul King. Yan Qing estimated that he would be able to use a full suit once he had three rings and was approaching four.
The Tianhai Grand Competition was further divided into individual and team events, with the team events split into three-person, five-person, and seven-person categories.
With seven people in Class Zero, Wu Changkong had originally wanted them to enter the seven-person team event directly. At Yan Qing's suggestion, they split into two three-person teams.
Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, and Xie Xie formed one team, with Xu Xiaoyan as their substitute.
Yan Qing took Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi himself, which was more or less in line with the original plot.
Yan Qing did not plan to enter the individual event. He intended to coast through the entire competition.
If he really stole the limelight at the competition, some nasty thing might well set its sights on him.
The Holy Spirit Cult was still digging three feet into the ground looking for him.
Yan Qing would still participate in the forging events of the Skysea Alliance Competition, since Mu Xi would be entering this round of events too.
Soon, the results of the first draw came out, and Yan Qing checked them against the schedule.
Something's wrong!
Why are forging and the team match scheduled for the same day and the same time slot?
He had to say, the event planners must have been possessed by little pigs. Had they never considered that someone might enter both events?
Yan Qing's team was scheduled after Tang Wulin's, and the resulting shift in dates put their match right on top of the forging event.
The arena match was about to begin. Yan Qing looked at the two beside him, both itching to have a go.
He could not bear to tell them he needed to run off to forge, so he could only hope to finish the fight quickly.
Unfortunately, all their opponents in the first round were fifteen, right at the junior division's upper age limit.
Seeing the three of them step into the arena, a youth on the opposing team sneered.
"Why have a bunch of kids come up here?"
"Just surrender. A Soul Elder is a Soul Elder, and a Soul Grandmaster is a Soul Grandmaster. The difference is that between a firefly and the radiant moon, between heaven and earth!"
The three opponents promptly revealed their Martial Souls. Their Soul Power spread out, putting considerable pressure on Yan Qing's side.
Wang Jinxi summoned his Martial Soul, and a Bone Dragon appeared behind him. He forcibly withstood one of his opponent's blows, but was sent flying to the edge of the arena himself.
He had originally been able to use a Martial Soul Fusion Skill with Zhang Yangzi.
The timeline had changed. Neither of them had transferred schools, and Tang Wulin's influence on Wang Jinxi had grown deeper.
His Martial Soul had almost become a purebred Bone Dragon, its dark element fading. Naturally, they could no longer activate their Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
Had they been on the Spirit Ascension Platform, Yan Qing would simply have used Purple Demon Eye to sweep them away with one click.
But this was being livestreamed across the entire internet. It would be bad if someone watched the match recording and worked out his spiritual power.
Yan Qing had other methods, though. Light flickered in his eyes, and his purple second Soul Ring lit up.
Surging sword light shot from his eyes, easily shattering one opponent's defenses.
Seeing his teammate fall, the youth opposite him was startled.
Alarmed, he seized the moment when Yan Qing could not use Soul Skills in succession to launch a sneak attack.
Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi were both tightly pinned down by the last opponent.
Just as the youth's Soul Skill was about to strike Yan Qing, pale blue armor appeared on Yan Qing's back.
The Soul Skill sent broad ripples across the backplate before slowly dissipating.
Battle armor!
Although Yan Qing could not use the whole suit, taking inspiration from Tang Wulin earlier, he could wear individual pieces.
While the youth was still reeling in shock, Yan Qing also "invited" him out of the arena.
Their little team won without question.
Wang Jinxi wanted to celebrate with Yan Qing, but there was no trace of him left in the arena.
He had to hurry to his next event-the forging preliminaries.
From far away, Yan Qing could already hear the hammering of metal being forged inside the competition venue.
"Young fellow, the competition is about to end."
The referee at the entrance kindly reminded him, but she did not make things difficult for Yan Qing and let him enter without trouble.
The competition inside was nearing its end, and several boys who had failed were trudging out with their heads hanging.
Seeing Yan Qing rush over, they straightened their backs a little, sweeping away their earlier dejection.
"What a genius, only showing up now."
"How long is left? Less than half a minute, right? What the hell can he forge in that time?"
"Half a minute? He'd be doing well just to identify the metal!"
Yan Qing paid them no heed. He grabbed his forging hammer and brought it down on the metal.
Before arriving, he had already known that this round used blue infused copper.
Seeing Yan Qing begin forging, an old man on the dais frowned slightly.
"At a time like this? Why has a child come in to fool around?"
The somewhat younger, middle-aged man beside him tried to reason with him:
"He's only a child, after all. We can't be too harsh. We can relax the time limit a little."
As he spoke, he suddenly realized that the old man had stood up at some point.
The old man's hand trembled as he pointed into the venue as though he were having a stroke.
"Wait, he's finished forging?"
The middle-aged man followed the old man's finger and saw a piece of hundred refinement blue infused copper glowing faintly on Yan Qing's worktable.
How long had it been?
Eight seconds!