And so, Lin Xi gained a new understanding of this world, but his life did not change much. He kept living as he always had.
...Apart from the two rather noisy individuals now in his Sea of Consciousness.
Perhaps because they had previously had to remain in spirit form most of the time to conserve magical power, leaving them terribly bored, the two had become especially talkative since gaining physical bodies in his Sea of Consciousness.
Artoria was all right; she had an upright personality. Melusine, on the other hand... well, all he could say was that she truly lived up to being the scummy dragon Morgan had bestowed the name Lancelot upon.
That said, Lin Xi did not find them annoying.
He was actually rather glad.
In truth, he had felt quite guilty about constantly restricting their lives. Although there were still many restrictions now, they undoubtedly had far more freedom than before.
Soon, as the tournament progressed, Lin Xi's group encountered another seeded team.
Namely, Ning Tian's team.
Before the match even began, Melusine started chattering in Lin Xi's mind.
"Lin Xi, is that little red-haired girl across from us the one you said had a Red Dragon Martial Soul?"
It had only been a few years since Lin Xi summoned her, and she had never seen a dragon-type Martial Soul before.
Although Bei Bei had the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, Lin Xi had never fought him, so she was now full of anticipation, eager to see what the dragons of this world were actually like.
Artoria frowned in Lin Xi's mind.
"A Red Dragon Martial Soul? It doesn't feel like one."
She herself was the Red Dragon of Britain, yet she felt that Wu Feng had nothing in common with her.
Lin Xi gave a wry smile.
"It's just the same name. Don't get your hopes up too high, or you'll definitely be disappointed."
How could the Red Dragons of the Douluo Continent compare to the Red Dragon of Britain?
With her Dragon Core and Excalibur, Artoria could contend with upper gods. But the Red Dragons of the Douluo Continent? Mere trash crushed beneath an Ice Jade Scorpion.
They were on entirely different levels.
Unaware of Lin Xi's thoughts, Wu Feng had already come up before him. She lifted her head haughtily and declared with pride:
"Freshman Class Nine, Wu Feng. Level twenty-five Power Attack System Battle Soul Master."
The girl with long, pale-green hair beside her gave her a somewhat reproachful glance, seemingly blaming her for being so arrogant that she had even disclosed her Soul Power Level.
However, she did not change this manner of introduction. Her gentle voice contrasted sharply with Wu Feng's cold arrogance, just as their appearances did.
"Freshman Class Nine, Nanmen Yun'er. Level twenty-four Agility Attack System Battle Soul Master."
Another calm voice came from behind the two girls.
"Freshman Class Nine, Ning Tian. Level thirty-one Auxiliary System Tool Soul Elder."
As soon as Ning Tian announced her name and level, Wu Feng gave Lin Xi a disdainful smile, as though taunting him.
Lin Xi shook his head helplessly inwardly.
What a childish temperament.
My Yutong is much more mature than this girl.
Ignoring Melusine, who was angrily declaring in his Sea of Consciousness that she wanted to go out and give Wu Feng a beating, Lin Xi glanced at Wang Dong and signaled to her.
Since the other side had started their introductions with their Power Attack System member, they ought to return the courtesy.
Wang Dong gave Wu Feng a somewhat pitying look.
In the past, she would have been angered by Wu Feng's arrogance. Now, however, she felt only sorrow.
She had once been just like that.
Just look at how thoroughly her personality had been corrected now.
She stepped forward and said:
"Freshman Class One, Wang Dong. Level twenty-five Power Attack System Battle Soul Master."
In the original story, she had still been one level below Wu Feng at this point, but after these three months of arduous training, her level had actually caught up.
Next was Huo Yutong.
"Freshman Class One, Huo Yutong. Level twenty Control-Type Battle Spirit Master."
Unlike Wang Dong, her gaze was frighteningly dark.
To Huo Yutong, Lin Xi was the most formidable person of all. She did not demand that everyone worship him, but anyone who dared look down on him like this would definitely get a taste of what she could do.
Had someone like Wang Dong or Huang Chutian, who had suffered a beating from Huo Yutong, been stared at like this, they might already have been shivering despite the lack of cold.
Wu Feng, however, did not. She merely found Huo Yutong's gaze irritating.
A mere would-be Soul Grandmaster who doesn't even have two rings dares glare at me like that? I'll hit a little harder later.
Completely unaware of what awaited her, she turned her gaze toward Lin Xi.
What about this guy?
One member of this team is level twenty and another is twenty-five. Presumably, he's only a Soul Grandmaster too.
Since he's the captain, perhaps he's close to Soul Elder.
Lin Xi slowly let out a breath.
He did not want to announce his level either. He did not want to stand out too much.
But with Wu Feng acting like this, failing to take her down a peg would be a dereliction of his duty as captain.
"Freshman Class One, Lin Xi. Level thirty-nine Battle Soul Elder."
The instant he said it, even the air seemed to freeze.
All three girls opposite him looked at Lin Xi with expressions of disbelief.
That was right. Lin Xi was already level thirty-nine.
He had been level thirty-seven upon enrollment, gained one level over three months, and gained another from absorbing the gold of life.
Even judging by level alone, he was so close to Soul Ancestor that he represented an insurmountable despair for the other participating students.
The sudden surprise left Wu Feng and the others' heads buzzing. They had absolutely no idea what to do.
Unfortunately, before they had time to react, the proctor shouted:
"Begin the match!"
Wu Feng gritted her teeth, forcibly cast aside her shock, and took the lead in charging toward Wang Dong.
Lin Xi's level far exceeded her expectations. With a living example of a Soul Elder right beside her, she knew better than anyone just how great the gap between a Soul Grandmaster and a Soul Elder was.
Their only hope of victory was to quickly eliminate Wang Dong and Huo Yutong, then have all three of them surround and attack Lin Xi.
But how could that possibly be easy?
At the same level, with an equally top-tier Martial Soul and superior Soul Rings, Wang Dong had absolutely no fear of her and met her attack head-on.
This time, she did not overestimate herself as she had against Huang Chutian. Right from the start, she unleashed Butterfly Wing Guillotine and Crimson Dragon Flame to clash with her, forcing Wu Feng back again and again.
Watching scales grow over Wu Feng's body and flames continuously surge out of her, Melusine felt somewhat disappointed.
"Is this what the dragons of this world are like?"
It was simply an insult to the name of dragons!
Lin Xi could not help chuckling.
"I told you not to get your hopes up too high. She doesn't even qualify to be compared to you."
Ultimately, a Red Dragon was merely an ordinary fire-type dragon. It was only so much stronger than an ordinary Martial Soul. To become powerful, its Martial Soul would at least have to be raised to the level of the Fire Dragon King.
And even if it truly reached that level, in the eyes of Albion, who held the Grand rank among dragons, it would probably be no different from a bug. Lin Xi had long anticipated her disappointment.
Compared to that...
Lin Xi looked thoughtfully at Ning Tian behind Wu Feng, whose hands were glowing with multicolored light as she prepared to use her Martial Soul.
He was still more interested in Ning Tian.