Precious Codex Martial Soul

In fact, completing the groups did not require five minutes at all.

Students who could come to Shrek Academy had generally passed the hurdle of recommendation letters. In other words, most of them came from rather good families, and many had known one another before arriving at the academy.

While Wang Yan explained the rules, most of them had already decided on their partners. Thus, in less than two minutes, the students had basically finished forming their teams.

Tang Wulin naturally chose Huo Yutong. In this era, he was practically an undocumented outsider. There were fewer than five people in the entire class whose names he could currently recall, so asking him to choose someone else would truly have been difficult.

Seeing that the students had finished forming teams, Wang Yan nodded in satisfaction.

They were students capable of entering Shrek, after all. Their ability to act was quite high among their peers.

He said:

"For the first battle, our Class President and Class Vice President will take the lead. Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong's team will face Zhou Sichen and Zhang Naier's team."

Tang Wulin instinctively looked toward Zhou Sichen in the distance, meeting the other boy's gaze.

Seeing Tang Wulin look at him, Zhou Sichen smiled and waved. There was not the slightest trace of nervousness on his face.

Under Wang Yan's direction, the students stepped back one after another, leaving an Open Space for Tang Wulin and Zhou Sichen.

Tang Wulin's team and Zhou Sichen's team stood facing each other thirty meters apart.

Wang Yan looked at both sides and said:

"Due to time constraints, there is no need for introductions. Begin."

The moment his words fell, two yellow soul rings rose beneath Zhou Sichen's feet. At the same time, a book appeared in his hand, emanating an enigmatic glow.

The girl behind him held a gorgeous staff, around which two yellow soul rings likewise revolved.

In stark contrast to the two of them were the white soul rings rising beside Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong.

The moment the surrounding students saw their soul ring configurations, a wave of hushed discussion broke out.

One ring, and White Soul Rings at that? How had they entered the academy?

Even Zhang Naier, the girl beside Zhou Sichen, could not help revealing a hint of contempt.

Not everyone had been in the classroom when Tang Wulin clashed with Dai Huabin. Zhang Naier had already left the classroom at the time, so she had not witnessed their battle firsthand and did not fully understand Tang Wulin's strength.

All she saw was that Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong each had only one ring.

Could two Soul Grand Masters with optimal soul ring configurations possibly lose to two soul masters without optimal configurations?

At that moment, Zhou Sichen suddenly spoke.

"Don't be careless."

The carefree smile remained on his lips, but his eyes were fixed unblinkingly on Tang Wulin, utterly serious.

"Our Class President is very strong. Underestimating him will come at a price~"

Even as he warned his companion, his hands did not stop moving.

The pages rapidly flipped. Both yellow soul rings lit up at once, and two beams of light shot out from his book. One transformed into a Giant Bear radiating yellow light, while the other became a fierce tiger wreathed in flames.

Clearly, he had gone all out from the very beginning.

Zhou Sichen's Martial Soul was a peculiar one known as the Precious Codex. Its effect was to turn the owners of the soul rings he absorbed into Phantom Spirits for him to command.

This Martial Soul had granted him innate rank seven Soul Power, causing him to be praised and placed at the center of attention since childhood.

Naturally, someone like him possessed his own pride. After personally witnessing Tang Wulin's battle with Dai Huabin, he admitted that he was not as strong as Tang Wulin, but that did not mean he wanted to lose.

Thus, he did not hold back in the slightest, determined to defeat Tang Wulin in this match.

In his view, it was not impossible. Tang Wulin was certainly powerful, but Huo Yutong was clearly different from him and was the weak point of their team.

And while Zhang Naier's Exquisite Staff could not compare to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, it was still a top-tier Support Type Tool Martial Soul. Like him, she was also a high-level Soul Grandmaster, and she was definitely stronger than Huo Yutong.

With one side rising while the other fell, the gap between him and Tang Wulin had surely narrowed greatly. He might not necessarily lose to him.

Faced with Zhou Sichen's assault, Tang Wulin moved.

As if his Bluesilver Grass Martial Soul were fake, he stomped fiercely against the ground and rapidly closed the distance between himself and Zhou Sichen's team.

Zhang Naier was startled by his speed and hurriedly swung her staff, providing support to Zhou Sichen and his Summoned Creatures.

Two streaks of light landed on him. Zhou Sichen immediately felt his Soul Power Circulation Speed increase, while his body became lighter. His eyes could not help lighting up.

Good. At this rate, we can win!

Under his command, the Giant Bear and fierce tiger both charged toward Tang Wulin, forming a pincer attack as they prepared to take him down in one go.

However, at that moment, an incomparably intense headache suddenly struck him. It was as though his head had been hit by an invisible giant hammer, forcing it backward as he fell flat on his backside.

At the same time, Tang Wulin's right hand rapidly transformed into a golden dragon claw and swept outward.

The two Summoned Creatures, having lost their master's control, possessed little intelligence. Unable to resist at all, they were struck and turned into specks of light that scattered through the air.

Zhou Sichen immediately felt a tightness in his chest, so uncomfortable that he wanted to vomit blood.

Although these Summoned Creatures were not especially important to him, once they dispersed, it would take an entire day to condense them again. He could forget about participating in any of today's remaining battles.

Seeing Tang Wulin charge at him without letting up, he could only shout helplessly:

"Stop, stop, stop! I surrender!"

Since he had surrendered, Tang Wulin naturally did not continue pressing him. He promptly stopped, and his right hand reverted to its normal palm.

The Golden Dragon Claw consumed a great deal of energy for him. If his opponent had not been Zhou Sichen, he would never have chosen to use such a major trump card from the start.

Zhou Sichen let out a long breath and got to his feet. The instant he stood, an intense headache surged through him again, and he nearly dropped back onto the ground.

Tang Wulin hurriedly supported him, preventing him from falling again.

"Thanks." Zhou Sichen said with a bitter smile, "Wulin, that golden dragon claw of yours is way too powerful. Its Attack Power must be at least at the Soul Elder level, right?"

Even without his control, his two Summoned Creatures had fairly decent defense under Zhang Naier's support.

Being able to Instantly Kill both of them showed that Tang Wulin's Attack Power had reached an utterly astonishing level.

And it was not just Tang Wulin. That girl named Huo Yutong was extremely strange as well.

He was certain that Tang Wulin had not been the one to knock him down. The one who had given him that violent headache and created the crucial opening had to have been Huo Yutong.

With only one ring, she could bring down a high-level Soul Grandmaster like him. She was no harmless little thing either, completely different from what he had initially thought.

Sure enough, only monsters hang around with monsters...

Zhou Sichen was feeling extremely depressed right now.

One second ago, he had been celebrating victory, and the next, he had been knocked flat. Even he could not summon any spirit now.

Tang Wulin asked with concern:

"Sorry, I didn't control my strength properly. Do you need me to take you to the infirmary?"

"No need. I've mostly recovered already. I just need to rest for a while."

Zhou Sichen sighed, pulled free from Tang Wulin's grasp, and staggered toward an Open Space to the side.

He had reminded Zhang Naier not to underestimate Tang Wulin, yet had he not underestimated Huo Yutong himself?

He would just take it as a lesson and remember it.

Author's Note

I went to check Zhou Sichen's performance and found that in the Semifinals, Lao Huo knocked him out with a single Soul Impact while only having one ring. Just one Soul Impact turned him into fermented tofu.

It's hard not to laugh. The Spiritual System in Douluo Dalu 2 is way too overpowered.