Winner—Heavenly Venerate Squad!
With the referee's announcement, the atmosphere of the arena instantly erupted into thunderous cheers.
"Even though I expected this outcome, seeing it happen with my own eyes still feels surreal!"
"Kamui is insane—he just took on one Soul Ancestor and six Soul Elders all by himself and won! I'd say he's unmatched among his peers in Seagod City… no, the entire East Coast! Even Shrek Academy might not have someone of his age who is stronger than him."
"Miss Forth Wall, I love you!"
"You bastard, taking advantage of the chaos to confess? Brothers, get him!"
"Brother Lufa's calm figure… so handsome!"
"I'm Miss Forth Wall's loyal dog! Woof woof!"
The stadium descended into chaotic noise, while the three main characters walked calmly off the stage, as if such a victory was nothing out of the ordinary.
"Unbelievable. The younger generation these days truly is astonishing," sighed an elderly man seated in a high corner of the gymnasium.
He was the Dean of Tianhai Academy, Yue Buqun, a Soul Saint of the seventy-seventh rank, and also a mecha master.
"Indeed," replied the middle-aged man standing behind him. "Whether it's Kamui, or the ones who didn't even lift a finger—Lufa and Forth Wall—each one of them is a once-in-a-century genius. To think the three of them are gathered together…
This year's Tianhai battle team might very well be the strongest squad in our academy's entire history."
The middle-aged man paused, then continued, "But, Dean… their strength has already far surpassed that of any other student here. Lin Pingzhi's squad was already the strongest in our academy, and yet they were effortlessly crushed. I fear no one in Tianhai Academy can serve as their whetstone anymore.
And not just students—even among the senior teachers, aside from you, Dean, very few could defeat them, let alone guide them. In truth, there's nothing more we can teach them. For the past year, our so-called instruction has been little more than letting them grow on their own. At most, we can pass on some life experience."
At this point, the man gave a wry smile. To have students with such monstrous talent was supposed to be a blessing—but who would have thought their talent would one day become a burden to the academy itself?
"Perhaps… we should send them to the legendary Shrek Academy," he suggested after some hesitation.
Yue Buqun frowned. "Isn't that a bit too hasty?"
The man shook his head. "Shrek's enrollment only happens once every three years. They're already over thirteen years old. If they don't go now, they'll miss the next chance."
Yue Buqun was reluctant. "What if we invest heavily in them? As the foremost city of the East's five great metropolises, Tianhai City grants our academy tremendous resources. If we tilt those resources toward them, we might not fall behind even Shrek."
To be frank, since the trio revealed their talent, Tianhai Academy had already given them preferential treatment within the rules. In many ways, what they had gained was earned by their own abilities.
But now, the academy was considering officially channeling vast resources directly into their growth.
The man sighed. "I doubt it would be enough. In fact, months ago, the three of them already expressed the same thought to me: they all believe Tianhai City is simply too small."
Hearing this, Yue Buqun trembled slightly. Finally, he conceded, "Fine… perhaps for geniuses of their caliber, Tianhai City really is too small. They should head for a larger stage."
And so, when the Heavenly Venerate Squad chose to leave, Tianhai Academy could hardly stop them. After all, the academy had never truly given them overwhelming resources, so they owed the academy nothing.
Inside Tianhai City's Spirit Transmission Tower.
"So, where do you all plan to go next?" asked Nan Fusheng, gazing at the three before him.
Over the past three years, Nan Fusheng had grown taller, his soul power rising to rank forty-five, having successfully fused his fourth spirit soul.
This wasn't because he hadn't worked hard. A gain of eight levels in three years was already an extraordinary pace. But much of his energy had been invested in cultivating his four avatars.
One of them was Kamui.
He was created using Nan Fusheng's own blood, a fragment of the Ten-Thousand-Year Thunder Prison Vine's root (procured with help from Qiangu Buwai), and a piece of a thunder beast's body—then fused with a Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon spirit soul.
From this fusion, a sovereign of thunder was born.
The Thunder Prison Vine was among the strongest of plant-type soul beasts, innately intelligent from birth. It grew only where lightning raged ceaselessly. A ten-thousand-year Thunder Prison Vine could alter the heavens themselves, summoning divine lightning to annihilate all.
But the vine had a fatal flaw: because it constantly absorbed thunder to grow, its compressed, destructive power grew so unstable that it risked self-destruction at any moment.
As for the Thunder Beast—it was a legendary elemental soul beast, the very embodiment of lightning, akin to the Ice Emperor, the third-ranked of the Ten Great Savage Beasts. Unlike the Ice Emperor, however, Thunder Beasts were prone to self-detonation after ten thousand years, since they too grew by absorbing thunder without limit.
A living, mobile thunder-bomb that could self-destruct at any moment—terrifying beyond words. A single ten-thousand-year Thunder Beast's explosion could cripple even a hundred-thousand-year beast.
This made them universally hunted and driven out by other soul beasts in ancient times.
How the Spirit Transmission Tower managed to obtain and preserve a piece of one was a mystery.
And finally, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon soul spirit—though powerful, even an unyielding spirit could not resist Nan Fusheng's parasitic ability.
From this unparalleled fusion of materials, the ultimate prodigy, Kamui, was born—bearing the abilities of multiple top-tier soul beasts.
The three purple soul rings he bore were all drawn from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon soul spirit, their energy sealed with ease by Nan Fusheng's mastery of the "Door".
Moreover, the dragon spirit also provided Kamui with an external spirit bone.