"First soul skill, Demon Wolf Iron Claw!"
Cornered and forced into a disadvantage, Neil finally used his first soul skill. Gray light suddenly erupted from his hands as metal plates covered them, forming what looked like a pair of iron gloves.
After all, he was a senior. Being pressured to this point by a newly enrolled junior was extremely humiliating for him.
With the first soul skill activated, his face became stern. He stopped dodging and charged straight forward.
With the boost from his first soul skill, he could finally cut through the vines with full strength. But as he cut one, a second and third vine swept in continuously. Even during this brief window, the first cut vine regrew rapidly, returning to its original state.
Neil was completely shocked. With no chance to evade, he became surrounded by the vines and was soon completely engulfed.
A first soul skill of up to two hundred years clashing against one approaching seven hundred years,Neil's loss was justified. Yet to onlookers, it was still an incredibly impressive display.
When the match ended, Bai Chen loudly announced:
"Wang Li wins!"
The arena fell silent. Everyone was speechless. Neil, who had been expected to display his prowess, lost in such a manner.
Wang Li, a newly enrolled freshman, had just defeated a senior who had been in the academy for years, leaving his reputation fully exposed in front of the entire school.
…
Meanwhile, in the distance, on a pavilion balcony,
Gorfa retracted his gaze, looking uneasy. He turned and said:
"Elder Ling, are you saying this child only had level fourteen soul power two months ago?"
Elder Ling was equally surprised. He was absolutely certain that two months ago, Wang Li was indeed level fourteen. And now, after just two months, he had broken through to level fifteen. A genius,a truly unparalleled genius. He replied:
"Yes, Headmaster. There's absolutely no mistake!"
Hearing this, Gorfa felt a pang of regret again. He said:
"He grows quickly, performs well in combat, and yet his martial soul is a mutated Blue Silver Grass. If his martial soul were fire-based, I would gladly take him as my personal disciple and teach him all my skills."
Elder Ling was also impressed by Wang Li's talent. Hearing Gorfa speak, he immediately said:
"Headmaster, I'll bring the child over for you to see."
Gorfa shook his head and replied:
"No need to rush. He is now a Student Council executive. Whether he likes it or not, he will participate in the battle for the chair. We can meet him after this fight."
Elder Ling nodded in acknowledgment:
"Yes!"
…
Back at the arena.
As Gorfa had said, after defeating Neil, Wang Li had officially qualified to participate in the battle for the Student Council chair. The others who had the right to compete no longer saw him as just a freshman,they now regarded him as a truly equal opponent.
If one put themselves in Neil's shoes, it became clear that Wang Li was extremely difficult to deal with. The dense Blue Silver Vines made it nearly impossible to get close, leaving no chance of defeating him.
As for Wang Li, he looked at the thirty-six experience points gained from the fight with Neil and silently thought to himself that he needed to accumulate experience little by little.
Three days passed this way, and the holiday was finally over. A new semester was about to begin.
The first event of the new semester was selecting a new Student Council chair. The chair was always the strongest student, and this battle would even draw the attention of the headmaster.
Those eligible included the two vice presidents of the Student Council, five executives,Wang Li being the fifth,totaling seven, plus nine leaders of battle clubs, making sixteen in all, a perfect bracket.
The tournament used a draw system with one-on-one matches: sixteen to eight, eight to four, four to two, and two to one. It was expected to conclude in three days.
On the first morning, Wang Li's opponent was Xiao Xiao, leader of the Spirit Weapon Club. His martial soul was a spear, skillfully wielded, and his first soul skill, Galloping Charge, had strong forward momentum. However, he could not get close to Wang Li and was defeated.
After dealing with his opponent, Wang Li stayed to observe other matches.
Although these were low-level soul master battles, the variety of martial souls led to many exciting moments.
One Student Council vice president, Bai Chen, had a hidden-line martial soul, known for its extreme stealth. His first soul ring came from a poisonous spider. When he summoned his martial soul and released his soul skill, the threads were nearly invisible. Touching them could paralyze half of a person's body. Thanks to this combination of stealth and venom, after the previous chair graduated, he became the strongest overall.
The other vice president, Meng Du, wielded a battle axe. His first soul skill, a charged heavy strike, had incredible power. Aside from executive Liu Si, no one dared block it head-on. Among students, his offensive power ranked first.
One executive, Cang Nan, had an eagle as his martial soul, clearly an offensive type. His first soul skill, Falcon Strike, used the momentum from diving from the air to increase destructive power. If his second soul ring granted him wings, he could perform this skill from high altitude with the force comparable to a thousand-year soul skill.
Soul skills could combine, creating even greater destructive power. For most ordinary soul masters, reaching level thirty could take a lifetime. Choosing the right first and second soul skills was crucial; a wrong choice could ruin a person's potential.
The mid-level soul master academy provided guidance. Professional teachers helped students develop their martial souls, select soul rings, and combine soul skills with their abilities to form optimal battle strategies.
For example, two other Student Council executives, Neil and Qing Yi. Neil's martial soul was a wolf. Though defeated by Wang Li, he was by no means weak. His first soul skill was Demon Wolf Iron Claw. If his second soul skill could grant something like flying claws, he would have iron claws for close combat and flying claws for ranged attacks,a position even among Great Soul Masters.
Qing Yi's martial soul was a snake. With martial soul possession, she gained a snake tail. Her agile snake-like movements made her extremely difficult to counter, and her tail could strangle opponents, lethal for non-strength type soul masters. The teachers had already selected her optimal second soul skill: Charm.
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