Arthur studied Gu Yue for a moment, his expression shifting with a hint of something unreadable.
He could easily guess that she was planning to build her future at Shrek Academy. Part of him felt a quiet sympathy. He could only hope she wouldn't come to regret it later.
Climbing the ranks in a place full of monsters like Shrek was no small feat, and who knew what toll it might take.
The soul guidance spotlight in the center of the arena blazed to life, flooding the entire combat zone in brilliant white light as though it were the middle of the day.
Eastsea Academy's seven members took the stage one by one, lining up in a row with Arthur standing at the front.
Across from them, Shrek's team had an unfamiliar face, a lean, slight boy who nevertheless stood at the very front of their formation.
After the referee announced the rules, the countdown began.
The pre-match trash-talk segment got underway. The unfamiliar boy gave a slight nod and said simply, "I'm Qian Wu."
The moment the words left his mouth, his sharp gaze locked onto Arthur.
Despite his slender frame, his eyes were keen and carried an air of casual arrogance. "You're Arthur?"
He let out a soft laugh, making no effort to conceal the contempt in his voice. "A genuine talent, I'll give you that. Too bad I'm here now."
"This is as far as you go."
Before the echo of his words faded, five soul rings rose behind him, three purple and two black.
A Spirit King.
The entire tournament had never seen a Spirit King-level competitor until this very moment.
The arena plunged into dead silence, then erupted in an ear-splitting uproar.
"I watched your match the day before yesterday," Qian Wu continued. "Not bad, honestly."
"By the way, where's Gu Yue? Why isn't she competing?"
"Though honestly, it's probably better that she's not."
Qian Wu savored the shock rippling through the crowd, the corner of his mouth curling into an even more pronounced smirk.
He raised a finger and pointed directly at Arthur. "I'll give you a chance. Concede now, and you might spare yourself some suffering."
Arthur tuned out every word of it.
He stuck a finger in his ear and gave it a lazy wiggle, then seemed to snap back to the moment. "Oh? You're done?"
The smirk on Qian Wu's face froze. His eyes turned ice-cold in an instant. "I hope you'll still be so composed when this is over."
The countdown reached its final seconds. The referee called out in a commanding voice, "Begin!"
At the signal, the arena was instantly swallowed by the brilliance of soul power.
Qian Wu and Arthur stood perfectly still, like two statues facing each other from opposite ends.
Arthur kept his eyes locked on Qian Wu, but his opponent showed no intention of moving, leaving himself completely open while his teammates surged forward to engage.
The moment the fight started, Xu Zhili shoved food into his teammates' hands, then dusted off his backside and jogged all the way to the far edge of the stage behind their formation.
Xu Xiaoyan summoned the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, sending three streams of golden enhancement light flowing into her allies.
Yuanen Yehui crackled with blue lightning as his second soul ring lit up, the ghostly silhouette of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon rising behind him.
His skill, Thunder Dragon Claw, surged forward on a wave of snapping electricity, driving straight at Tang Wulin.
Tang Wulin was ready. Blue Silver Grass erupted in an instant, dense vines coiling up to intercept, and he shouted sideways, "Zhang Yangzi!"
Zhang Yangzi blurred into motion, joining the Blue Silver Grass to block the Thunder Dragon Claw together.
At the same moment, Wang Jinxi had already circled around to the flank, bringing a howling strike crashing down toward Yuanen Yehui's back.
Yuanen Yehui sensed the wind at his back and roared. The ghostly Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon swelled violently as his third soul ring blazed to life.
"Thunder Strikes All!"
Wild electricity detonated outward from him as the center. Tang Wulin felt his soul power draining at a frightening rate and recoiled in alarm, hastily releasing his Blue Silver Grass.
Wang Jinxi's attack was thrown off course by the surging current as well, crashing into the ground and sending fragments of stone spraying in all directions.
"Na'er!" Arthur's voice was calm, but it carried cleanly across the noise.
Na'er, who had been busy ramming through an opposing defense-type soul master's shield and then swinging him repeatedly into the ground by his collar, paused. She turned her head and registered that Tang Wulin and the other two were struggling to hold back Yuanen Yehui.
Against where they currently stood, a Spirit Ancestor was simply too strong, and Yuanen Yehui's martial soul made it even worse.
Na'er's brow creased slightly. Behind her, the towering phantom of the Golden Dragon let out a skyward roar.
The roar sent the entire arena humming.
The true Dragon King's pressure wove itself through the Golden Dragon's aura and spread outward like a wave.
Yuanen Yehui's expression shifted drastically.
His martial soul was being suppressed.
That was impossible. He was the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. Who could ever suppress him?
The Dragon King's pressure bore down on him like an invisible mountain, crushing into his chest and causing the blue electric soul power within him to seize and falter in an instant.
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon phantom let out a weakening cry and began to slowly dissolve.
He stared at Na'er in disbelief, his throat working several times before he could manage anything. "Your martial soul, how can it possibly..."
Na'er's gaze was cold. Golden soul power surged around her, and a phantom dragon claw condensed until it had the solidity of something real.
"The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon?" Her voice was flat. "In front of me, it's nothing but a common lizard."
She was already moving before the last word landed.
She crossed the distance in a heartbeat and drove her fist into Yuanen Yehui's chest. The phantom dragon claw overlaid her knuckles, cutting through the air with a sharp shriek aimed squarely at his sternum.
Yuanen Yehui instinctively tried to gather soul power into a defensive shell, but the energy inside him felt frozen, impossible to summon. All he could do was watch the golden claw close in.
At the critical moment, Xu Xiaoyan's Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda flared with renewed intensity, and three more streams of enhancement light descended onto Yuanen Yehui, barely restoring a sliver of his mobility.
The tall, lean boy rushed in as well, riding the momentum to pull Yuanen Yehui clear. The two managed to open a little distance, but it made little difference.
Na'er's terrifying force exploded outward. Even at a distance, the shockwave from her punch sent both of them hurtling backward.
They hit the protective barrier at the edge of the stage with a heavy, reverberating crash.
Blood trickled from both their mouths.
Yuanen Yehui struggled to rise, but found nothing but tearing pain all through his body. His soul power was in complete disarray, impossible to concentrate.
The tall boy was in somewhat better shape, though his face had gone a ghastly white. He hunched over with one hand pressed to his chest, coughing violently, his martial soul's glow dimming until it was barely visible.
Xu Xiaoyan's Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda trembled under the strain. The continuous enhancement releases had burned through her soul power at a punishing rate, and fine beads of sweat had gathered across her forehead.
On another part of the stage, Ye Xinglan noticed what was happening but didn't move to intervene. She simply kept trading moves with Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan in what amounted to an elaborate exercise in going through the motions.
She had never had any real fighting spirit to begin with, and Xu Xiaoyan was perfectly content to keep it that way. The only one who was genuinely trying was Xie Xie, but he was no match for Ye Xinglan whatsoever.
By some strange unspoken agreement, the three of them had drifted far from the heart of the battle, trading one technique for another in a rhythm that looked less like a fight and more like a rehearsed performance.
And besides...
Ye Xinglan glanced toward Arthur's position.
A flicker of genuine curiosity passed through her eyes. The real deciding factor of this match rested entirely with Arthur and Qian Wu.
She knew clearly that Qian Wu was a one-word battle armor master.
So then, Arthur. What exactly are you going to do?
The situation on the stage grew increasingly layered. On the surface, Eastsea Academy seemed to have seized the advantage.
Shrek Academy had one member unable to fight, two thrown off the stage, and Xu Zhili contributing nothing from the sidelines. Even Xu Xiaoyan was already running on fumes.
"You're just going to stand there and watch?" Arthur glanced across at Qian Wu, his tone more exasperated than anything else.
He had initially assumed the boy was a serious threat and had spent the opening moments weaving his aura outward, probing for the tension of a true expert locking onto him.
Instead, Qian Wu stood there utterly motionless, openings everywhere, clearly with no concept of the technique whatsoever.
Definitely a fool. No question about it.