The cardinal first kept them in suspense. "I believe you have all heard that, the evening before last, His Eminence Chrysanthemum Douluo visited our Spirit Hall Academy solely to escort one person here to take up residence."
"Then..."
"Let us welcome the newest member of Spirit Hall Academy!"
"The Sun Soul Master-Xu Zi."
As the bishop on duty finished speaking, light, steady footsteps sounded behind him.
The bishop moved his red-robed body aside, and a young man walked over the white floor tiles.
His purple hair met the long wind, and his clear eyes swept over the eight people at the front.
After exchanging ecclesiastical salutes with the bishop, Xu Zi also nodded in greeting to the fifth person from the left among the seven in the first row.
"Thank you for the introduction, Bishop."
Born into royalty, Xu Zi readily delivered the official pleasantries. "I came from overseas in admiration of your prestige. My homeland lies far beyond the western coast of the Douluo Continent."
"Of course, I am not from Sea God Island, but from a continent called Sun Moon, three seas away."
"I brought the culture of my homeland and was fortunate enough to gain His Holiness the Pope's appreciation. I was granted a Pope Token and placed in the academy for further study."
As he spoke, Xu Zi took out the Heaven Prison Pope Token to suit the occasion and displayed it to the crowd in a half-circle.
Under sixteen pairs of astonished eyes, Xu Zi raised his other hand at just the right moment, yielding the floor to the cardinal.
"Good. Thank you, student Xu Zi." The cardinal applauded lightly.
Truth be told, this was his own first time seeing the Heaven Prison Pope Token firsthand from such close range.
"Ahem!" Clearing his throat, the cardinal returned to the subject. "The day before yesterday, His Eminence Chrysanthemum Douluo conveyed the Pope's verbal decree to me. Now I will relay it to you all."
"Student Xu Zi is to join the Spirit Hall Team, replacing one of you."
The words had barely left his mouth before half a second of silence followed...
"What?!"
Spirit Hall's first team immediately erupted.
Even Huang Ying could not help looking surprised as she glanced left and right.
Compared with the uproar from Spirit Hall's first team, the second team's reaction was clearly much smaller.
After all, which of those who could enter the first team did not possess outstanding talent, powerful backing, and an affluent family?
The one with the fiercest temper even challenged him in public. "You're from another continent. What gives you the right to replace us in the tournament..."
But before he could finish, he remembered the Pope Token Xu Zi had just displayed and wilted on the spot.
"Sun Chuantao, what is there to complain about?" the cardinal immediately reiterated. "This is His Holiness's verbal decree. It is an order. We need only obey."
Sun Chuantao? Xu Zi murmured inwardly, sweeping his gaze toward the bare-chested young man who had challenged him.
The man's information immediately surfaced in his mind: a level 48 Power Attack System Tool Soul Ancestor, with the Tool Martial Soul "Giant Ring War Blade," a mainstay of the team.
"But, Bishop."
Among the seven, a woman who appeared slender but actually possessed an angular beauty also questioned him. "We have worked hard to coordinate with one another for nearly ten years. Now that we are about to win two consecutive championships, is it really appropriate to disrupt our arrangements so easily and dismiss one of us?"
"Exactly!" Another bare-chested young man echoed her. "Putting a Soul Elder on our team would only drag down our pace, wouldn't it?"
To know Xu Zi's cultivation, he must have learned Xu Zi's identity beforehand.
In other words, an elder from this young man's family must have attended the emergency meeting that had lasted all night in the Pope Hall the night before last.
"Zhang Ping, Li Kai, you two..." The cardinal stopped short.
Their backgrounds gave them the standing to object, and every word they said stood on solid reasoning.
Looking at it this way, every member of Spirit Hall Academy's first team was a well-connected recruit with formidable strength of their own.
The pillars supporting their families were either cardinals or elders of the hall.
Some were even dependents or followers of Spirit Hall's consecrators' families, such as Huang Ying of the "Golden Bird," Zhang Ping of the "Golden-Waisted Flying Swallow," and that Brilliant Gold Scepter Soul Master.
"Bishop, please judge right from wrong!"
Once one person took the lead, the other six, who had coordinated for so long, all echoed the appeal:
"Bishop, please judge right from wrong!"
"Bishop, please judge right from wrong!"
"We will ask our family elders to submit a joint petition to His Holiness the Pope, requesting that she withdraw her decree."
Now, even the powerful cardinal genuinely found the situation exceedingly thorny.
Xu Zi, too, personally experienced just how clever the cardinal had been in inviting him here to share the fire.
Fortunately, he had copied that clever move yesterday morning and prepared his response to the current situation well in advance.
Now Xu Zi needed to do nothing but wait for the person who would break the deadlock.
"Silence!"
A clear voice came from the sky. At the same time, a wave of heat smashed clean through the morning wind's chill and swept down over the Soul Fighting Plaza.
Fiery feathers traced two flaming trails as Ling Yuan descended from the sky, hovering at a person's height above the ground.
"Elder Ling Yuan?"
Quite a few people present evidently recognized this newly promoted Douluo of the Elder Hall.
They offered ecclesiastical salutes and greeted her one after another. "Greetings, Elder Ling Yuan."
Ling Yuan Douluo turned her red eyes over every member of Spirit Hall Academy's first team and rebuked them sharply. "His Holiness makes the decisions, and you need only carry them out. Why are you stirring up resistance here?"
She withdrew her burning wings and landed beside Xu Zi with a tap, exchanging nods with the cardinal.
"Elder Ling Yuan, you are here to...?" the cardinal asked.
"To supervise the execution of the decree on His Holiness the Pope's behalf," Ling Yuan replied.
"I see." The cardinal understood.
The Pope had sent a Titled Douluo to supervise in person. It seemed Xu Zi's entry into the team was already nailed down, with no room for discussion or reversal.
Of the seven in front, six looked as though they wanted to speak but held back. The two Power Attack System members even clenched their teeth, not daring to say anything.
Only Huang Ying behaved as usual. She had personally experienced Xu Zi's strength and knew he truly had the ability to join the team, so she quietly waited for events to develop. After all, as a hidden trump card, she was the least likely of the three substitutes to be replaced.
"Oh-ho, how lively!"
An incongruous voice broke the tense, irritable atmosphere.
Xu Zi let out a light breath. Finally... the person to break the deadlock.
The Jin Family's young master, Jin Yu, strode with the bearing of a dragon and tiger into the center of the Soul Fighting Plaza, surrounded by six attendants.
He muttered in apparent puzzlement, "Strange. I heard all the commotion here from far away. Why has everyone stopped talking now that I'm close?"
Huang Ying was the first to leave the formation, coming up to greet Jin Yu. "Young Master, it's because..."
"Mm, all right." Before his younger cousin could finish explaining, Jin Yu nodded and brushed her aside, turning toward the important figure present: Ling Yuan Douluo.
Reining in his arrogance, he lowered his head slightly and spoke respectfully. "So Elder Ling Yuan is here too. It seems His Holiness knows."
After exchanging a glance with Xu Zi, Ling Yuan folded her arms. "I am here to ensure fairness. You two may proceed as you please. Just treat me as though I'm not here."
"Hahaha!" Jin Yu said, brimming with satisfaction. "Rest assured, Your Eminence. It will be absolutely fair."
He truly could not imagine what underhanded methods a level 49 Soul Ancestor would need against a level 30 Soul Grandmaster.
The two rows of team members on the field, however, all looked over in confusion.
Huang Ying quickly explained to her teammates, "My older cousin and student Xu agreed to a wagered fight this morning, right here."
"Good!" Li Kai immediately stepped out and approached Jin Yu, cupping his fist. "Brother Jin Yu, this outsider wants to use his connections to disrupt our Spirit Hall Team's arrangements. I hope you can also..."
As one of Demon Bear Douluo's grandsons, he naturally knew Jin Yu from childhood. But their positions were as far apart as heaven and earth, so they had few chances to interact.
Yet after hearing his request, Jin Yu merely gave a disdainful smile. "What does that have to do with me?"
"I'm neither a member of your academy nor a participant in the Soul Master Tournament. What use is complaining to me? Hmph."
He had come with a family assignment. Where would he find the time for such trivial matters?
Besides, if Xu Zi could drag down the Spirit Hall Team and thereby dampen the Pope faction's ambitions, Jin Yu, as a descendant of the consecrator faction, would be only too delighted.
With that, Jin Yu swept his elbow outward. With the disparity in their Martial Souls and levels, compounded by the enhancement of his golden bloodline, Li Kai was sent stumbling several meters back, clearing all the space nearby.
This was Xu Zi's objective.
He never did anything without benefit. As an obstacle in his path, the Jin Family's young master could still be put to use.
This was why Xu Zi had dared to challenge him directly yesterday morning: defeating seventeen elites was less convenient than vanquishing one expert.
It would also silence everyone more easily, including the pillars standing behind these well-connected recruits.
He had already begun planning the scene before him, bit by bit, when Bibi Dong told him to join the Spirit Hall Team.
Asking for the Golden Crocodile, requesting Dragon Scale Fruit, injuring the Golden Bird Soul Master, obtaining the Pope Token-these factors had arisen from accidents or good fortune, but every link connected to the next.
After obtaining these factors, however, Xu Zi had first treated the cardinal to milk tea to gather the Spirit Hall Team's members, then used the new cultivation method as bait to lure out a powerful opponent of his generation...
Ultimately, this one-on-one Soul Fighting match was put on display before everyone's eyes.
As the one who had set it all in motion, Xu Zi naturally could not do without luck.
Had his luck been poor and everything gone wrong, even with the Soul Core Method and Dragon Scale Fruit in hand, the Golden Crocodile Family and Holy Dragon Sect might have ignored him entirely.
"Come on!" Jin Yu beckoned with the four fingers of his left hand.
He already could not wait to finish this formality and settle down to read the new cultivation method properly.
The crowd retreated to either side.
Xu Zi exhaled a long breath and readied himself for battle, but still offered a friendly reminder. "Yesterday, I successfully absorbed my third Soul Ring. Afterward, I consumed the Dragon Scale Fruit His Holiness bestowed upon me. Finally, with the Soul Power accumulated at the level 30 bottleneck..."
"I am now a level 36 high-ranking Soul Elder."
"Mm, good." Jin Yu's expression remained indifferent, and he merely offered a token pleasantry. "What rapid advancement. You will surely become an outstanding member of the team."
In his eyes, even if his opponent were also a level 49 Soul Ancestor, he was confident of complete victory. In the recent battle to obtain his Gold Soul Fighting Medal, he had defeated a Silver Soul Fighter who was a Five-Ring Soul King, making his name in a single fight.
The next instant-
Scorching heat struck their faces. Amid purple radiance stretching a thousand zhang, a brilliant rising sun ascended behind Xu Zi, scorching the fine dust on the ground behind him into a black mark.
"So he really is nothing more than a Tool Soul Master." Jin Yu flippantly closed his eyes and shook his head.
Tool Soul Masters could not undergo Martial Soul Possession, and their attacks lacked variety. Frail of body and weak of strength, they were naturally looked down upon by Beast Soul Masters.
When Jin Yu opened his eyes again, two imposing golden rings had filled his irises.
Clenching his fists downward, Jin Yu tilted his head back and gave a deep cry. "Golden Crocodile-possess!"
A sudden beast roar thundered out, its force and sound forming a rippling wave that forced several support-system Soul Masters present half a step back.
Abruptly, a giant golden crocodile crawled out of the air above and behind Jin Yu. Its four claws gripped the air as it raised its head and roared at the sky, then it transformed into a golden shadow and descended into him...
"Since you are willing to offer your method, today I will let you witness the power of a top Beast Soul Master of our Douluo Continent!"
Jin Yu's voice became muffled and grating.
His words, however, resonated with quite a few people, for that single remark had elevated a Soul Fighting match into a contest between two continents.
An adamantine sheen spread over his body, and a golden robe was torn off and flung into the wind.
Jin Yu grew taller on the spot, his limbs swelling considerably, while regularly staggered patches of gold covered half his body.
Those golden patches were pieces of armor resembling a golden crocodile's tough hide, with tiny barbs protruding from them.
"Roar!"
Elsewhere, Ling Yuan's soft words reached Xu Zi's ears beneath the cover of Soul Power. "Be careful. The Golden Crocodile Martial Soul combines the power attack and defense systems, and Jin Yu has the aptitude to become the next Crocodile King. There were even rumors that he withstood level 60 Soul Pressure. So you..."
Before Ling Yuan could finish her warning, Xu Zi interrupted with a soft "Mm."
"Come!" Jin Yu said in a rough voice. "In an exchange between two continents, I cannot bully you too much. Since I am thirteen levels above you, I will give you one plus three-a total of four moves!"
He had no agility-attack attributes, so at this medium range, he only needed to wait for his opponent to attack and then counter.
Whoosh!
Xu Zi's purple eyes sharpened. The arch of his foot scraped across the ground, and he sprinted toward Jin Yu.
As he crossed the seven-meter gap, a vertical golden slit split each purple iris, and brilliant purple radiance burst from the surface of his body.
Purple radiance surged from the sun behind him, becoming purple crystal dragon scales arrayed across Xu Zi's chest, back, shoulders, fists, outer hip bones, and the four joints of his arms and legs, like a nimble suit of light armor.
Dual-aspect unified Martial Soul, second form:
Purple Brilliant Heaven Destroying Dragon-possess!
"Roooar-"
A dragon's cry shook the heavens, and resplendent draconic might raged outward.
When he was still several steps from Jin Yu, the tiles along Xu Zi's path were crushed one after another into a trail of black marks!
"This destructive..." Jin Yu's gaze changed. His dismissive expression vanished, and before he could even utter the word "power," he hurriedly assumed a blocking stance.
All twenty-five mouths watching gaped into O shapes in shock.
With both wrists held symmetrically beside his waist and a trailing purple glow streaming behind him, Xu Zi looked like a dragon's head charging forward!
A pair of purple crystal dragon fists swept through the air, driving out two brilliant purple rainbows and carrying a sonata of destruction as they instantly hammered into the crossed golden elbows.
Boom!
"Urgh..." Jin Yu's eyes bulged. His hastily crossed outer elbows slammed back into his chest, and his arm joints were even dislocated outright.
In that instant, he felt only as though a charging, enraged dragon had struck him, a pair of blunt dragon fangs pressed against the outsides of his elbows, the impact scattering all his strength within his chest.
Amid flying golden fragments, Jin Yu was hurled backward. He tumbled end over end across the ground several times, scraping out several alarming streaks of red.
Before he could climb up, a low, muffled howl drew near.
A purple sun hung behind Xu Zi as purple crystal came roaring over with searing heat-
With a snap, Jin Yu was tossed up one-handed.
Gripping his upper arm with one hand and seizing his leg with the other, Xu Zi swung him through half a circle in midair, then gathered momentum and smashed him into the plaza floor.
Crash!
Shattered grit flew, and a ring of vibration passed through the ground beneath their feet.
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