Great Soul Arena · Two consecutive victories
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The preliminary rounds of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament were held at the Great Soul Arena in Heaven Dou City.
When Nan Feng signed up for the individual competition, the teacher in the academic affairs office stared at his registration form for a moment.
"Bronze Tower Martial Soul, level thirty-five, a three-ring Soul Elder." The teacher turned the form over and looked it over twice before looking up at him. "Are you sure you want to enter the individual competition? Your opponents will all be advanced division students from the various academies. Many of them are Soul Ancestors above level forty."
Nan Feng nodded. The teacher said nothing more to dissuade him, put the form in a drawer, and gave him a bronze competitor's token. The words "Heaven Dou Division" were engraved on the front, and his number was on the back.
Nan Feng put the token away. When he walked out of the academic affairs office, Ye Lingling was waiting outside in the corridor.
She held a rolled-up schedule in her hand. When she saw him come out, she unrolled it and pointed to a line.
"The day after tomorrow, in the afternoon, at the Great Soul Arena's third platform. Your first opponent is a student from Elephant Armor Academy, level thirty-two, with an Iron-Armored Rhinoceros Martial Soul."
"Defense-type, with above-average defensive strength."
Nan Feng glanced at the schedule and committed his opponent's Martial Soul and level to memory.
Elephant Armor Academy was one of the Lower Four Sects. Unlike the remnants of the Lower Four Sects in Gengxin City, it had always had a good reputation.
Its students excelled in defense and strength.
The Iron-Armored Rhinoceros was a tank-type Beast Martial Soul, strong in defense but rather slow.
Ye Lingling put the schedule away and tilted her head to look at him.
"I won't be there for your first match. Teacher Qin Ming asked me to help him organize the advanced division's training records that day."
"I'll use Nine Heart Begonia's perception to watch from afar. If you're hurt, I'll know right away."
Nan Feng nodded. Ye Lingling's perception covered all of Heaven Dou City, and she could sense the Soul Power fluctuations inside the Great Soul Arena from the academy. It was just as well she wasn't going to be there; her presence would only distract him.
Two afternoons later, Nan Feng entered the Great Soul Arena with his competitor's token.
The third platform was on the eastern side of the grounds. Quite a few spectators had gathered around it, most of them students from the various academies and Soul Master enthusiasts from Heaven Dou City.
Nan Feng stood in the competitors' waiting area at the edge of the platform, surveying the other entrants. Quite a few, like him, wore ordinary clothes rather than academy uniforms; they looked to be independent cultivators or representatives of small academies. Teams in matching uniforms had gathered on the other side of the platform, the emblem of Elephant Armor Academy embroidered on their chests.
The first match soon began.
His opponent walked up from the other side. He was a sturdily built young man in his early twenties, dressed in a close-fitting gray-brown outfit, with an Iron-Armored Rhinoceros Martial Soul. His Soul Power fluctuations were steady and substantial. He was just above level thirty, and his Soul Power was considerably denser than that of an ordinary Soul Elder. Three Soul Rings, two yellow and one purple, revolved beneath his feet. The first and second were hundred-year rings, while the third was a thousand-year ring. A standard configuration.
The referee announced the start.
The young man didn't charge in immediately. He planted his feet one in front of the other, lowered his center of gravity, and crossed his arms before him. The illusory figure of an Iron-Armored Rhinoceros took shape behind him, and gray-brown rhino armor covered his arms, shoulders, and back.
He had chosen to defend and counterattack.
Nan Feng didn't hesitate. He activated Tower Suppression, and a cyan halo spread from beneath his feet, covering a radius of five paces.
The Iron-Armored Rhinoceros youth's body sank, and his steps faltered for a beat. His defensive stance remained firm, but his movement had slowed considerably.
Nan Feng came in from the front. His right hand reached out, drew a short staff from behind his waist, and swung it down at his opponent's shoulder.
The young man crossed his arms to block, the rhino armor condensing into a gray-brown shield over them.
The short staff struck the shield with a muffled thud. A fine crack appeared across its surface, but it didn't break.
The young man seized the chance to counterattack. His right fist shot out from behind the shield, wrapped in an illusory layer of gray-brown rhino armor, and drove straight for Nan Feng's chest.
Nan Feng turned sideways to evade it. His second Soul Skill, Tower Suppression: Spirit Binding, shot from his palm. A cyan spiderweb spread through the air, its strands coated in a dark purple poisonous glow.
The young man stepped half a pace back, trying to dodge. The halo of Tower Suppression weighed down beneath his feet, and he moved much more slowly than usual.
The web wrapped around his right arm. Dark purple poison began to corrode the surface of the illusory rhino armor.
The young man's expression changed. He abruptly channeled his Soul Power, and the rhino armor hissed as the web corroded it.
Nan Feng's Bone Spike had already sprung from his left arm. Three dark purple spikes rested in front of the young man's throat.
The referee's whistle sounded.
Seven breaths.
Nan Feng withdrew Tower Suppression and Bone Spike. The cyan halo dispersed, and the web fell from the Iron-Armored Rhinoceros youth's arm.
The young man stood there stunned for a moment, then cupped his fists in salute and turned to leave the platform.
Nan Feng stood on the platform as scattered murmurs rose from the stands. Someone mentioned a "Tower Master"; someone else mentioned "that Bronze Tower Martial Soul." He didn't linger. He turned, stepped down from the platform, and returned to the competitors' waiting area to prepare for his next match.
The second match began half an hour later.
This time, his opponent was an advanced division student from Blazing Fire Academy, level thirty-five, with a Fire-Patterned Tiger Martial Soul. The Fire-Patterned Tiger was a fire-attribute Beast Martial Soul known for its explosive power, and his Soul Rings were also arranged in two yellow and one purple.
His fighting style was completely different from that of the Iron-Armored Rhinoceros youth.
He charged the moment the referee's whistle sounded. The illusory Fire-Patterned Tiger condensed behind him into a blazing giant tiger, whose claws, carrying searing Spiritual Power, swiped at Nan Feng's chest.
Nan Feng activated Tower Suppression, the cyan halo bearing down on his charge, while Tower Realm · Creation unfolded at the same time.
The fire-attribute Spiritual Power within the Tower Realm was devoured and transformed by the Power of Creation. The fiercer the man's flames burned, the more was devoured, and the fuller Nan Feng's Soul Power reserves became.
The Fire-Patterned Tiger student launched three explosive attacks, and his fire-attribute Spiritual Power had noticeably weakened. Nan Feng's Soul Power, meanwhile, remained above eighty percent.
In the gap in the fourth assault, Nan Feng moved in. A web tangled around his opponent's ankles, Tower Suppression sealed off his retreat, and Bone Spike rested against his ribs.
The referee declared Nan Feng the winner. A blue-clad student in the front row stood up and looked toward the platform for several breaths.
Two consecutive victories.
Nan Feng stepped down from the platform, and every gaze in the competitors' waiting area focused on him. Several independent Soul Masters huddled together, speaking in low voices and occasionally glancing his way.
Someone in the Elephant Armor Academy team had noticed him as well. A middle-aged man who looked like their leader glanced his way several times and made a few notes in a record book.
Nan Feng paid the gazes no mind. He went to the rest area at the edge of the platform, sat down, and took a drink from the water flask in his pack.
Ye Lingling's perception swept over from the direction of the academy and paused for a beat on his Soul Power fluctuations. After confirming that he was in good condition, she withdrew it.
Nan Feng put the water flask back in his pack. The deep black underlying glow of a Soul Ring in his palm pulsed against his skin, rising and falling in response to the cyan light in the crack at the bottom of the tower.
After the two individual matches, Tower Realm · Creation had grown a little more active during the clash with his fire-attribute opponent, and the gap in the third-floor door had continued to widen throughout the fight. His Soul Power was now at level thirty-five, five levels short of forty. Every real battle was accumulating strength to push the third-floor door fully open.
He rose from the rest area, ready to leave.
His gaze swept across the eastern side of the stands.
Golden hair flashed in the crowd, and a pair of pale golden eyes settled on him from half a platform away.
Hu Liena leaned against the railing of the stands, arms folded and lips curved in a smile. She wore a pale gold outfit instead of her Spirit Hall uniform today, and her eyes stood out in the crowd.
She saw Nan Feng look over. Without looking away or coming closer, she nodded once, then turned and walked into the passage behind the stands.
Nan Feng looked away, picked up his pack, and headed for the Great Soul Arena's exit.
As he passed the passage by the stands, he saw a new schedule posted on the wall. There was another individual match the afternoon after next. His opponent was a student from Godwind Academy, level thirty-eight, with a Wind Falcon Martial Soul.
Nan Feng committed his opponent's details to memory and walked out of the Great Soul Arena.
The sky had already darkened. The lanterns out front lit up one by one, their warm yellow light stretching his shadow.
He followed the road he had come by back toward the academy, walking at a pace neither hurried nor slow. The deep black underlying glow of a Soul Ring in his palm pulsed in the dusk.