221 Powerful Opponents

“I heard things are different in the center and western regions. Apparently,becoming a battle armor master is a lot more popular there. That’s why, many ofthose people choose to walk a pure soul master’s path. They don’t rush toincrease their soul powers blindly. In order to be a battle armor master, it’simportant to also be a formidable soul master. Because of this mindset, thereare more battle armor masters produced by the center and western regions. Intheir eyes, battle armor masters are the greatest military force on thecontinent; so, they all strive to become one. I believe this difference inperspectives has created the current gap in strength.”

“I think Teacher Wu’s teaching methods are similar to the center region’s. Infact, they’re probably from Shrek Academy’s inner court. This should be whywe’re stronger than our peers.”

Tang Wulin couldn’t help but raise a brow at Xie Xie’s theory. “How do youknow these things?” He couldn’t believe that this was something Xie Xie dug uphimself.

Xie Xie smirked. “When I returned home for vacation, I wanted to play but myold man was bent on testing me. I gave him a nice surprise in the end. After Iexplained the training we’d been through, he told me about this stuff. My oldman is quite perceptive, you know.”

Tang Wulin nodded. “What Uncle said is reasonable. Let’s all work hard tobecome battle armor masters.” He extended his hand as he spoke.

Gu Yue placed her hand below his. On top were Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan’s. Thefour friends smiled at each other, their confidence soaring.

☀

Tang Wulin’s team was able to attain easy victories in the following threematches. There was only one three-ringed opponent that appeared throughout thestring of matches. The entire time, Tang Wulin served as the cornerstone of theteam. He controlled the battlefield, protected his teammates, and dealt themost damage. Overall, he carried the team.

Although his cultivation was weak, his innate divine strength and goldendragon claw made up for it and then some. He had yet to meet a worthy opponentin the team competition.

By their fourth win, the other teams in their group had taken notice of them.They were wary of Tang Wulin especially.

Tang Wulin’s performances had been too dazzling, his attacks too intimidating.He also wielded a purple soul ring. The other teams realized that he alwaysbarged through as the vanguard. He kept the opposing team in check while histeammates did their part. As a result, he became a hot topic and a subject ofresearch for those interested in his combat style, techniques, and weaknesses.

Tang Wulin had a strict daily schedule. He would rise at the break of dawn tocultivate the Purple Demon Eyes and practice Controlling Crane, CapturingDragon. In the afternoon, he would compete, and at night he would meditate. Hisdays were rich and productive.

Actual combat was essential to his cultivation. As Tang Wulin grew morefamiliar with the basics of Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon, he triedapplying it in some of the matches. He couldn’t wield it effectively, but hisunderstanding of the technique continued to deepen. Not only was ControllingCrane, Capturing Dragon another method of attack, it also improved his controlover the soul power compressed by the Mysterious Heaven Method. His priorityinvolved training what little soul power he possessed to burn at one hundredpercent each time he summoned it.

“I heard our opponents today are strong! They’re probably the most formidableteam in our group.” Xie Xie said to Tang Wulin.

Tang Wulin nodded. “Mn. That’s right! It’s Sealand Academy’s primary team. Iheard that they have two three-ringed soul masters and one two-ringed soulmaster. Our group’s overall strength is actually pretty low. Sealand Academy’steam also has four wins in four battles so far. The top four teams in our groupwill enter the top sixteen. We just need to win one more match. It’spractically settled already.”

“What’s the plan for this match?” Xie Xie asked. “You should let me show offfor once. You’ve been hogging all the limelight! No one’s paying attention tome!”

Tang Wulin lowered his voice, his words mysterious, “The ones who burst out inthe end are the trump cards! Those like me are the worst. I can only show mystrength in the beginning.”

A look of astonishment crossed Xie Xie’s face. “Really? But all the girls onthe other teams only pay attention to you. I don’t understand why since I’mmore handsome than you!”

“Your skin sure is thick. You aren’t even one third as handsome as ourcaptain.” Xu Xiaoyan fought hard to contain her laughter.

Xie Xie’s face soured, wrinkling like a prune. “I hate people as blunt as you.Anyway, I want to show off a bit. I don’t want to be a trump card. Just let meshow off how awesome I am.”

Tang Wulin shrugged. “Fine! We’ll change our tactics.”

Although Wu Zhangkong had brought their team here, he gave them free reign todo as they saw fit. He did not impart any advice. Every single strategy theyused had been drafted by Tang Wulin.

All this freedom gave Tang Wulin a lot of space to operate. His display ofstrength in the previous matches were orchestrated to draw the attention awayfrom Xie Xie and Gu Yue. Since they hadn’t faced the strongest team in thetournament yet, they were saving their trump card for as long as they could.Their opponents would be tougher to defeat from now on. In fact, they mighteven face a Shrek team with Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi on it. It was best to focuson hiding his teammates’ abilities, using his revealed skills as a veil.

Today, they would be facing off against Sealand Academy’s primary team.Sealand City was the third largest city in the Skysea Alliance, preceded byEastsea City. It was located two-hundred kilometers to the north of SkyseaCity. The city’s denizens were valiant and Sealand Academy was famous, eveneclipsing the repute of Eastsea Academy.

Sealand Academy’s three representatives were nearing fifteen years old. Theteam was composed of a pair of three-ringed soul masters and one two-ringed.Even the two-ringed soul master’s soul power hovered around rank 25 at least.In their previous matches, they had relied on absolute strength to crush theiropponents. These adolescents were the one of the favorites of the tournament,thought to have a high chance of becoming the champions.

Their captain possessed one thousand-year soul ring, but had yet to use it inany of the matches. Its abilities were unknown.

“Oh right, I ran into an acquaintance of ours earlier,” Xie Xie said with asmirk.

“Who?” Tang Wulin asked.

Xie Xie said, “It was our two former classmates, Yangzi and Jinxi. They’re inthe fourth group. It seems they’ve been able to win without a hitch guided by asenior schoolmate.”

Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi? Tang Wulin trembled at the mention of theirnames, recalling their battle with the Man-Faced Demon Spider together. Hisheart ached.If it wasn’t for me, they wouldn’t have had to leave.

“I called out to them and chatted. Do you know what Jinxi said? The team hehopes they don’t meet at all costs is us!” Xie Xie roared with laughter.

A gentle sighed escaped from Tang Wulin’s lips. “If they were still in classzero, then we would only be one person short of participating in the seven-manteam competition.

Xie Xie wiped the smile off of his face. He let out a long sigh. “There’s noone to blame in this matter. Everyone has their own ambitions. In any case,we’re still in class zero. Let’s win today’s match for the glory of class zero!”

Tang Wulin raised his head, eyes shining with resolution. “Victory!”

“Victory!” Xu Xiaoyan and Gu Yue joined in.

The arenas used after the start of the round-robin tournament were larger andmore secure than their predecessors.

Only junior-division matches were scheduled for the afternoon. Though thebattles were broadcasted, there will still disgruntled spectators in thestands. Perhaps they would pay more attention once the top sixteen teamsremained. This was just the three versus three competition, after all.

☀

Within box one.

Box one was set aside for officials of Skysea City. During important matches,Skysea Alliance’s big shots would congregate here to watch.

For this reason, box one was the largest box.

However, box one was desolate this afternoon. It was the junior division’stime slot, beginning from the three-man team battles. Rarely would a high-levelmatch be seen in this division. Even so, the box was not completely empty. Twopeople sat in a sofa viewing the matches on the screen.

The pair seemed to be in their fifties. One was tall and stalwart with a headfull of blazing-red hair. His voice was deep, resonating throughout the box themoment he opened his mouth.

“Brother Zhenpeng, your Sealand Academy is really shining this time!”

The man called Zhenpeng was slender with bronzed skin and small, sharp eyes.He smiled humbly. “Brother Huantian is too modest. Your Skysea Academy isnumber one in the Alliance and no one shakes its position.”

The two were renowned figures among the soul masters of the Skysea Alliance.The red-haired man was Long Huantian, the president of Skysea Academy and asix-ringed Soul Emperor.

Zhang Zhenpeng was the president of Sealand Academy, and although hiscultivation was still short of Long Huantian’s, he too was a Soul Emperor.

“Brother Zhenpeng, what did you call me here today for? Could it be the juniordivision’s competition?” Long Huantian gazed curiously at Zhang Zhenpeng.

Zhang Zhenpeng nodded. “My academy has quite a few talents currently. I wantedto discuss with Brother Huantian about granting us three quotas this time.”

Long Huantian snapped into attention. Naturally, he knew what ‘quotas’ ZhangZhenpeng spoke of. Those were the quotas to take Shrek Academy’s entrance exam.