He simply submitted an application to the War God Hall, and it was approved within a few days.
It was a position whose very name sounded bound to offend people, but whose real authority was beyond question: disciplinary inspector.
On the surface, he was supposed to oversee discipline and conduct within the legion. In private, everyone knew this was a protective talisman Long Tianwu had tailor-made for him.
With this status, whether inside or outside the legion, if anyone dared bully Lu Chen, he could reveal his position and push right back. In most cases, the other party could only back down, provided they were in the wrong.
Of course, with General Long Tianwu backing him, no one blind enough to court trouble dared bother Lu Chen.
In the blink of an eye, a month flowed past like water.
Eastsea Academy's annual class promotion tournament began right on schedule.
The entire academy was abuzz, and students from every class rubbed their fists and flexed their palms.
They were just waiting to shine in the arena, while Lu Chen, Gu Yue, Xie Xie, and the others had long been raring to go, ready to show everyone just how formidable first-year Class Five was in this tournament!
"Teacher, Teacher! Who's Class Four sending out this time? Do you have any information on them?" Xie Xie sidled up to Wu Zhangkong, rubbing his hands eagerly, his eyes bright with excitement.
Wu Zhangkong glanced at him, his voice as cold as shards of ice. "A mere Class Four. If you still need information to beat them, do you deserve to be my disciples? In next week's match, you have only one task-crush them! Understood?"
"Yes!" Lu Chen, Gu Yue, Xie Xie, and Tang Wulin shouted in unison, their voices ringing across the training grounds.
Wu Zhangkong pondered for a moment, then turned to Tang Wulin. His tone softened somewhat, but brooked no argument. "You can take the field in the early matches to get some practice, then step down for the tougher battles later. As for you three," his gaze swept over Lu Chen, Gu Yue, and Xie Xie, "my goal is to take you all the way to the fourth year! Understood?"
"Understood!" the three answered together, their voices loud and full of assurance, their confidence practically spilling over.
Only Tang Wulin's voice was noticeably quieter, carrying a hint of dejection.
Actually, Wu Zhangkong was quite satisfied with all four children, but Tang Wulin's Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul was simply too lacking, and lately, things had grown stranger still.
That innate monstrous strength of his was actually weakening day by day, as though something that had never belonged to him was being stripped away bit by bit.
Wu Zhangkong vaguely sensed something was wrong, but no matter how he racked his brains, he could not say exactly where the problem lay.
Could this have anything to do with Lu Chen?
How was that possible!
In his view, although Lu Chen's Martial Soul had a devouring attribute, at most it could devour attacks and external elemental power. It could not devour vitality or bloodline power at all.
Two days passed like this, and Eastsea Academy's class promotion tournament finally kicked off.
The first match was first-year Class Five against first-year Class Four.
Only a sparse scattering of spectators stood beside the arena. After all, in everyone's eyes, first-year Class Five was at the very bottom. There was nothing worth watching in this match; it was purely a formality.
No one had expected a dark horse to charge out of this match and shock everyone!
Class Five's group had just reached the edge of the field when they ran into Class Four's short, fat homeroom teacher.
The fat man wore a plastered-on, insincere smile, but his eyes held ill intent. He leaned toward Wu Zhangkong and said in a snide tone:
"Teacher Wu, what a coincidence! Our Class Four students are used to being carefree and undisciplined. They don't know many rules. You'll have to go easy on us in today's class promotion match! We're not asking to make it into Class Three. We just want to keep our Class Four ranking, haha!"
Wu Zhangkong did not even raise his eyelids, treating him as nothing more than air.
The short, fat teacher's face instantly stiffened, and he could no longer keep up his smile. He turned away resentfully, leaving behind a vicious remark before he went. His voice was low, but full of venom.
The corner of Wu Zhangkong's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly, and his lips seemed to move slightly.
Lu Chen saw it all clearly from beside him and could not help pressing a hand to his forehead.
Whatever had been said, it certainly was not anything nice. The man probably hated Teacher Wu now.
Just then, Long Hengxu walked over, looked at Wu Zhangkong, and asked, "Teacher Wu, how many students does your class plan to field?"
"Four." Wu Zhangkong's tone was flat, without the slightest ripple.
The moment Class Four's short, fat teacher heard that, he grinned and shouted at his students, "Any four of you will be enough to deal with them! Jia Long, Lin Zunyuan, Mo Si, Zhao Jing! You four, get out there! Remember, you represent Class Four's glory. Show me some fighting spirit!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Zhangkong gave a light wave of his hand.
Lu Chen drove off the ground, shooting forward like an arrow loosed from its bow. In a few bounds, he landed steadily in the center of the arena, sweeping a disdainful gaze over the four across from him.
"Next! First-year Class Four versus first-year Class Five! Let the match-begin!" Long Hengxu's voice rang out like a bell across the entire field!
The four opposing students released their Martial Souls almost instantly. The burly assault-type student's muscles swelled as his Martial Soul possessed him.
The agility-type boy became even more nimble, while pale golden rings of light appeared around the enhancement-type soul master.
The control-type fellow immediately flung out his vine-shaped Martial Soul.
At first glance, this lineup looked fairly respectable, with offense, defense, support, and control all accounted for.
But in Lu Chen's eyes, it was all fancy posturing!
Against opponents of this caliber, there was no need for teamwork. He alone was enough!
Before Gu Yue, Xie Xie, or the others could take a step forward, a cold glint flashed through Lu Chen's eyes, and he softly intoned, "Word Spirit: Time Zero!"
In an instant, the air around the arena seemed to freeze. The movements of Class Four's four students abruptly slowed, as though someone had pressed a slow-motion button. Even the gusts stirred up by their Martial Soul releases grew sluggish.
While they were still looking bewildered, unable to grasp what had happened, Lu Chen's figure had already become a blur.
With a flick of his wrist, he drew the coldly gleaming alchemical sword from his Storage Soul Guidance Device, held its hilt in a reverse grip, and struck each of the four once with its spine at their necks, chests, or knees, fast, precise, and ruthless!
"Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!"
Four dull impacts sounded in succession. Before the four fellows could even scream, they toppled stiffly to the ground like kites with severed strings, losing consciousness completely.
Barely three seconds had passed from start to finish!
The entire arena was silent as the grave. Even the referee, Long Hengxu, stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
Off to the side, Gu Yue stood rooted to the spot, slightly stunned.
In that brief instant, she had clearly caught the extremely short chant from Lu Chen's mouth.
Those syllables were ancient and mysterious, and she distinctly felt that she understood them.
Yet when she instinctively imitated them in her mind, she found she could not mobilize even the slightest trace of energy, no matter what she tried, as though that Word Spirit had never belonged to her.
This guy... just how many trump cards was he hiding?