This "bold statement" instantly silenced the rest area.
Huo Yuhao's pupils contracted slightly. He knew Gu La's strength and character well, and this person was not one to boast.
"Comparable to a Soul Emperor? This... this is impossible! Even with the power of ultimate attributes, soul power is still the foundation. Crossing three ranks—impossible!"
His mind churned with shock, temporarily overshadowing his resentment over Gu La's refusal to join the Tang Sect.
Gu La's credibility was astonishing; no one dared to refute him at that moment.
Others were left dumbfounded. Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, Xiao Xiao, He Caidou, and even Wang Yan gathered around, curiously inspecting the unassuming "watch."
Xu Sanshi couldn't help but ask, "Gu La, where did you get this treasure? Are there more? I'm not short on money!" His eyes gleamed; who wouldn't want something like this?
Gu La shook his head, "You can't buy it outside. I made it myself."
"You made it yourself?!" Huo Yuhao exclaimed in disbelief, his expression a mix of astonishment and incredulity. He felt as if those should have been his lines.
"Mm," Gu La replied matter-of-factly, "It's just a soul-guided device, pretty simple, isn't it?"
Huo Yuhao: "… "
He felt a lump in his chest, speechless. Simple? You call something that amplifies an ultimate martial soul, allowing a Soul Elder to touch a Soul Emperor, simple?!
Wang Yan was full of questions. "The academy records show Gu La is an orphan… This soul-guided device is clearly not simple. Where did he learn such terrifying soul-guided techniques? This must be reported to the academy."
Suppressing his shock, he pressed further, "Does this soul-guided device really have such miraculous effects? Can it amplify an ultimate martial soul? As far as I know, ultimate attributes are already near the peak of the plane, making external intervention extremely difficult."
"More or less," Gu La's response remained concise, leaving everyone in disbelief. If Gu La weren't one of their own, they would have dismissed it as nonsense. Even so, they didn't fully believe him.
Wang Yan clapped his hands, "Alright, let's stop discussing soul-guided devices. Today is the first day of the round-robin matches. The rules allow for one-on-one, three-on-three, or seven-person team battles, each corresponding to different points."
Wang Yan looked at Gu La, "Gu La, you might need to work hard today. Your strength rivals that of a Soul King. In one-on-one matches, you can secure points for us. We'll choose one-on-one, and we'll need you to go on for several rounds."
"No problem." Gu La nodded, thinking it was a good chance to practice against opponents, almost like relaxation.
And…
"The audience's fervent worship… Isn't this a form of faith energy? It's unfortunate I can't switch to Du'An's martial soul, otherwise, I could harvest a wave of it."
Bei Bei, as the reserve team captain, went to draw lots. Their opponent was Yunluo Advanced Soul Engineer Academy.
When Yunluo's team saw their opponent was Shrek Academy, their morale visibly dropped.
In the first one-on-one match, they sent out a rather capable female student. Her martial soul was a pair of gleaming willow leaf blades, with two yellow and two purple soul rings—a four-ring Soul Ancestor at Level 45.
When Gu La calmly stepped onto the stage, revealing his configuration of one yellow and two purple soul rings, the audience erupted in understanding murmurs.
"This makes sense. A genius from Shrek Academy having two purple and one yellow is normal."
"Yes, those six red ones yesterday were too absurd; they must have been an illusion!"
"But this Yunluo representative is a Soul Ancestor, while Shrek's representative is only a three-ring… It's going to be tough…"
However, when the golden-red Solar Angel spirit soul, radiating sacred majesty and spreading its six wings, slowly emerged behind Gu La, the entire combat arena fell into an eerie silence!
Immediately following was an even louder uproar!
"Heavens… an Angel martial soul?!"
"My god! Shrek Academy actually has someone with an Angel martial soul hidden away?!"
"The ultimate nemesis of evil soul masters! How dare they reveal him now?!"
"It's over! Once the madmen of the Holy Spirit Sect get this news, they'll go berserk trying to assassinate him!"
"What is Shrek thinking? They should have kept him hidden until he reached Title Douluo status before revealing him!"
In the VIP seats, Star Luo Emperor Xu Jiawei also furrowed his brows, his eyes filled with confusion and a hint of concern.
"What is Shrek up to? To expose such a precious soul master seedling so easily in the open?"
In a corner of the audience, several cold gazes locked onto Gu La, filled with deep hatred and greed, then quietly vanished into the crowd. The message was being transmitted to the Holy Spirit Sect headquarters at the fastest speed possible.
The match didn't delay due to the audience's chatter. At the referee's command, the battle began.
Gu La looked at the sternly prepared female Soul Ancestor across from him, his eyes carrying a faint trace of regret, "Why aren't you stronger?"
Such an opponent didn't even stir his desire to test the basic functions of the Evolution Watch.
The female Soul Ancestor felt greatly disrespected. Her delicate eyebrows furrowed, "Arrogant!"
She let out a sharp cry, her figure darting like lightning. Her twin blades transformed into a dense silver net of light, tearing through the air with a piercing whistle, enveloping Gu La.
Her blade technique was ruthless and cunning, clearly honed over many years.
Unfortunately, under Gu La's gaze—already at the "Sword Soul" realm, comprehending the triple realms of earth, stars, and sky—this seemingly fierce blade net was riddled with openings.
Gu La didn't even move his feet. The longsword condensed with golden flames in the hands of the Solar Angel spirit soul casually pointed forward!
"Clang!"
A crisp sound of metal clashing!
The myriad blade shadows instantly dissipated!
The tip of the flaming golden sword, somehow, had already firmly stopped an inch from the female Soul Ancestor's throat.
The icy sharpness and scorching sacred aura made her body stiffen, cold sweat instantly soaking her back.
Fast! Too fast!
Too fast for most of the audience to even see what happened.
The entire arena fell silent for a moment, then erupted in thunderous cheers.
"One-hit KO?!!"
"My goodness! With just one sword?!"
"The Angel martial soul, truly lives up to its reputation!"
Gu La sheathed his sword, and the angelic spirit soul vanished.
He thought silently, "Using blades… without reaching the right realm, facing me is like a child waving a stick, completely effortless." He shrugged, as if he had done something trivial.
Seemingly provoked by Gu La's attitude, the Yunluo team was determined to deplete Gu La's soul power in the subsequent battles.
They consecutively sent out five members, ranging in strength from Soul Elders to Soul Ancestors, mostly soul masters with strong survival skills, adopting tactics of skirmishing, delaying, and attrition.
Gu La was delighted. This was a perfect opportunity to use only basic sword techniques and footwork, without using soul skills, to further refine the integration of his newly comprehended sky realm with his swordsmanship in real combat.
He moved leisurely, his figure elusive. Each sword strike precisely hit the gaps in the flow of the opponent's moves or their weak defense points, sending one opponent after another off the stage with minimal effort.
Six consecutive victories!
The Yunluo team still refused to concede. Their captain, a tall, composed young man, finally stepped onto the combat platform.
"Yunluo Advanced Soul Engineer Academy, Situ Yu, Level Five Soul Engineer, five-ring Soul King."
Situ Yu's voice carried solemnity and a hint of confidence.
Looking at Gu La, whose breathing was still steady but obviously fatigued from six battles, he said gravely, "Your strength and swordsmanship are astonishing. However, the gap of two soul rings, combined with the exhaustion from continuous battles, means you're no match for me!"
Gu La assessed his own condition. Situ Yu's judgment was correct; relying solely on the soul power and stamina of a Soul Master level, after six battles, the consumption was indeed significant.
If relying only on sword techniques and basic soul skills, facing a fully refreshed, unknown Soul King, the chances of victory were indeed slim.
However...
Before Situ Yu finished speaking, his body quickly retreated. Simultaneously, pieces of metallic luster soul-guided device components flew rapidly, covering and assembling on his body.
Shoulder-mounted soul-guided cannons, arm-guard soul-guided rays, chest energy convergence cores... In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a heavily armed humanoid soul-guided fortress, all the dark cannon muzzles locking onto Gu La from a hundred meters away.
Fortress tactics!
The favorite and most commonly used tactic of soul engineers, suppressing enemies with pure firepower while protecting themselves with sturdy metal shells.
"Remote suppression from a hundred meters away, let's see how you close in!" Situ Yu's eyes flashed with confidence. This was his greatest reliance as a soul engineer.
The audience erupted in exclamations. A soul engineer pulling distance and unleashing full firepower in a one-on-one fight posed a significant threat to soul masters.
Gu La looked at the dense array of cannon muzzles, not showing fear but instead revealing an anticipatory smile. This was somewhat interesting. Estimating the strength a Soul Master should exhibit, Gu La moved, using his soul ring for the first time.
"Third soul skill, Angel Possession!"
Golden-red light instantly enveloped his entire body, and the massive fiery wings on his back abruptly spread. Gu La soared into the air, hovering as he looked down at the soul-guided fortress below.
"Come on." Gu La's voice carried a hint of excitement.
"Boom boom boom boom—!"
Situ Yu didn't hesitate at all; all the cannon muzzles instantly spat out scorching beams and explosive energy projectiles. A dense web of firepower instantly covered the airspace where Gu La was located.
The audience held their breath!
In the air, Gu La moved like a seabird shuttling through a storm. The golden-red halo of Angel Possession fluctuated violently under the energy impact, but his figure was exceptionally agile.
Each flap of the sacred white wings generated strong air currents, combined with the exquisite footwork infused with sky realm, allowing him to narrowly weave and evade through the dense soul-guided rays.
For unavoidable attacks, the angelic sword in his hand turned into a streak of golden-red lightning, precisely striking the weakest concentration points of the energy attacks.
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Pchh!"
Soul-guided rays exploded, energy projectiles shattered. Explosions and scattered energy fragments intertwined in the air, creating a breathtaking scene.
Situ Yu's forehead broke into a sweat, his mind highly concentrated, frantically channeling soul power output, constantly adjusting the cannon directions.
But Gu La's speed and predictive ability far exceeded his imagination, as if he could foresee his attack trajectories in advance.
Moreover, that sword was strange; its destructive power against energy was too strong, seemingly countering him specifically. Seven or eight out of ten of his attacks either missed or were thwarted.
How could this be? His soul power was attribute-less, impossible to counter.
Instead, he became more concerned about another advantage Gu La possessed.
"Damn it, how can his spiritual power be so strong?! How can his sword predict my attack trajectory so precisely?!"
Situ Yu's mind grew anxious; the dual consumption of soul power and spiritual power made him feel dizzy in waves.
Gu La, however, fought with increasing exhilaration. His control and swordsmanship realm matured under self-imposed pressure, and his judgment of the energy nodes of soul-guided device attacks became increasingly accurate.
He was like a burning golden meteor, going against the current through the soul-guided storm, continuously closing the distance with Situ Yu.
Finally, at the moment when Situ Yu's soul power faltered, leaving a brief gap in firepower.
Gu La's eyes gleamed sharply, "Now!"
The huge sacred wings abruptly folded, flapping backward. His entire body turned into a golden-red arrow, tearing through the air at several times the previous speed, instantly breaking through Situ Yu's last layer of firepower interception. The angelic sword, carrying the authority of judgment, stopped before Situ Yu's forehead.
The scorching breath hit Situ Yu's face. His movements froze instantly, his eyes filled with disbelief and deep frustration. The glow of the soul-guided cannons on his body rapidly dimmed.
The entire combat arena fell into a deathly silence.
The referee's voice trembled as it rang out, "Shrek Academy, one-on-one arena match, victory!"
After a brief silence, the areas occupied by Shrek Academy and its supporters erupted in deafening, roof-shaking cheers.
"Gu La! Gu La! Gu La!"
"Angel! Invincible!"
"Long live Shrek!"
Gu La slowly sheathed his longsword, the fiery wings on his back gradually retracting amidst the cheers.
Feeling the considerable depletion of his soul power, he didn't unseal it, savoring this rare sense of weakness and the warm touch of the Evolution Watch on his wrist, a satisfied curve forming on his lips.
"Warm-up over. Yunluo Academy is still lacking. With the age limit of twenty, only one Soul King. The power of this Evolution Watch… I really want to find a worthy opponent to test it soon."
His gaze seemed to penetrate the cheering crowd, directed towards the resting area of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy.
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