Chapter 183: The gap is so huge it brings despair; the Royal Fighting Team shattered.
"This Soul Fight winner is Azure Star!"
The entire Great Soul Arena fell silent, as if no one were there.
The next second, boom—it exploded!
The spectator stands went completely wild, cheering so loud they almost blew the roof off.
"Azure Star! Azure Star! Azure Star!"
"Damn, that was insane! One person wiped out the entire Royal Fighting Team?"
"A ten-thousand-year fourth soul ring, brother; this is the first of its kind in the soul master world!"
The audience in the stands had all gone crazy, some pumping their fists, some jumping up, some throwing whatever they had into the air.
From today onward, the name Azure Star was etched into the history of the Suo Tuo City Great Soul Arena.
…
Inside the VIP room,
Qian Renxue stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, her eyes fixed on the figure walking down from the arena, her chest rising slightly.
She was truly shaken.
She had seen not hundreds, but thousands of geniuses.
But today's match…
One minute.
A Soul Ancestor over rank forty, single-handedly facing an entire team of well-coordinated Soul Elders.
Clean and decisive, not a single one left standing.
Even swapping in a Soul King might not have achieved this.
Qian Renxue took a deep breath, calming herself.
Then she turned to Snake Lance Douluo and said, "Snake Lance, go investigate this Azure Star."
"Everything from childhood to now, whom he knows, and what he's experienced. I want every detail."
Snake Lance Douluo lowered his head in acknowledgment, then hesitated before raising it again. "Young Lady, this person is too strange. His strength far exceeds his level; there must be secrets on him."
"How about… I bring him back directly and interrogate him properly?"
Qian Renxue shook her head, a trace of something unreadable flashing in her eyes.
That mysterious chat group appeared in her mind again, along with the people inside it—each one speaking and acting in strange ways, even she couldn't see through them.
"Don't touch him."
Her tone was calm yet carried an unquestionable authority.
"What I want is his background, not to alert him."
Snake Lance Douluo's expression tightened, and he bowed. "Yes, Young Lady."
Qian Renxue turned back again, her gaze passing through the glass and landing on the corridor where Lin Qingmo had disappeared.
A faint smile curled at her lips, her eyes full of intrigue.
'Ah Qing, Ah Qing, I really want to see just how many secrets you're hiding.'
…
The door to the resting room was slammed open with a bang.
Yu Tianheng walked in first.
His uniform was still covered in dust from the arena, several spots scorched black by lightning.
The chin he usually held high was now lowered completely.
His fingers clenched so tightly the knuckles turned white, his steps unsteady, as if his soul had been sucked out.
He staggered to a corner and collapsed heavily into a chair, not moving again.
The rest of the Royal Fighting Team who followed behind him weren't any better.
The Shi Mo and Shi Mo brothers leaned against the wall, heads lowered, saying nothing.
The two who usually bore damage most steadily were now breathing very softly.
Osler sat by the table, wiping the dagger in his hand over and over with a cloth.
But his eyes were empty, completely unfocused.
Ye Lingling sat in the farthest corner, slender fingers twisting the hem of her skirt.
Aside from breathing, the only sound in the room was the cheering outside, so loud it made the windows buzz through the door.
"Azure Star! Azure Star!…"
Wave after wave drilled into everyone's ears.
"Damn it!"
The veins on Yu Tianheng's forehead bulged.
"Bang!"
He slammed his fist hard into the wall beside him.
After the dull thud, he lowered his head again.
Humiliating.
Too humiliating.
They were the seven ace members carefully nurtured by the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Yet they had been pressed to the ground and beaten from start to finish by a single masked man.
Without even the slightest chance to fight back.
Just as the room was filled with lifeless silence, the door opened again.
Their instructor, Qin Ming, walked in.
There was no expression on his face, only a trace of shock still lingering in his eyes.
Just ten minutes ago, from the spectator stands, he had personally watched that Soul Ancestor named Azure Star overturn the Royal Fighting Team he had led for so long in less than a minute.
He had almost crushed the teacup in his hand.
It would be a lie to say he wasn't shocked; there was even a bit of excitement he couldn't fully suppress.
After all, he came from Shrek.
How could he not be excited that his academy had produced such a once-in-a-thousand-years genius?
But he couldn't show even half of that excitement.
Because right now, he was the team instructor of the Royal Fighting Team.
Looking at the group of dejected students before him, Qin Ming's brows instantly furrowed tightly.
He strode to the center of the room and slammed his hand on the table, his voice suddenly rising. "All of you, lift your heads!"
"Look at yourselves right now. What kind of state is this?"
Everyone in the room stirred slightly, but few actually raised their heads.
"So what if you lost one match? Has the sky fallen?"
Qin Ming's voice grew heavier.
"What were you like before going on stage? Your tails were practically sticking up into the sky."
"You thought you were the elite of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, that no one of the same rank on the continent could beat you."
"Arrogant, complacent, looking down on everyone!"
"Now that you've stumbled, you all sit here like wilted eggplants, wallowing in self-pity?"
"This is behavior only the weak would have!"
His words lashed down like a whip, finally stirring the atmosphere in the room.
But only slightly.
Yu Tianheng finally raised his head.
His eyes were bloodshot.
"Teacher Qin, this isn't about arrogance."
His voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping.
He clenched his fists, joints cracking, each word squeezed out through gritted teeth.
"He crushed me in the very lightning I'm best at, the power I'm most proud of."
"My Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul looked like a joke in front of him."
"The captain is right."
Osler stopped wiping his dagger and gave a bitter smile.
"Teacher Qin, the seven of us fought one person, and we barely even touched his clothes before we were all knocked down."
"This isn't about pride; the gap between us and him is just too big."
"The bigger the gap, the more you should pull yourselves together!"
Qin Ming frowned and scolded.
"Find where the gap lies, and train like your lives depend on it when you get back!"
"Not sit here dejected, thinking you're finished."
But as soon as he said it, the room fell silent again.
No one responded.
They all knew that the gap couldn't be breached simply by "training desperately."
Especially Yu Tianheng.
What he had always been most proud of in his life was his Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul and most confident in was lightning and strength.
But today, someone had completely crushed him in the very field he was most proud of.
That sense of shame and helplessness flooded over him like a tide, drowning him entirely.
It wasn't something a few harsh words could dispel.
End of Chapter