Inside the dormitory.
Zhu Ziyang sat cross-legged on his bed, entering a state of meditation.
In his Sea of Spirit, he stared at the two guests floating on the surface of the lake, feeling an odd sense of strangeness.
Electrolux had been asleep for more than three months. The once-unstable gray orb had now become completely stable. Its current state was extremely subdued, without releasing even a hint of aura. It looked like an ordinary gray bead. Zhu Ziyang had a feeling that Electrolux was about to awaken.
As for the other guest—the rhomboid crystal possibly housing the soul of the Silver Dragon Wolf—it hadn't changed at all. It was exactly as it had been from the start, not the slightest fluctuation in its state. It seemed like a very stubborn entity. Zhu Ziyang understood that only when he cultivated the Heavenly Frost Holy White Dragon martial soul would this Dragon-Wolf crystal possibly react.
What surprised him the most, however, was the new development in his Sea of Spirit. After two months of deep mastery and development of his Silver Right Eye, he was shocked to find a silver vortex appearing within the sea. It had emerged so suddenly that he hadn't even noticed it at first. Only a few days ago did he accidentally discover that the vortex was devouring his spiritual power. The blue spiritual power, once consumed, was refined into a denser, purer silver spiritual power. He was delighted to find that his spiritual power was increasing on its own—an unexpected surprise indeed!
Now, the silver spiritual power already occupied a quarter of his Sea of Spirit. He had a feeling that once the entire sea turned silver, his spiritual power might reach the level known as "substantial yet formless."
This level—substantial yet formless—represented a state of existence that was intangible and untouchable. It was the second level of spiritual power realms. Soul masters who reached it would see tremendous growth in their understanding and manipulation of spiritual power. Only those at this level could influence the surrounding environment with their spiritual power or control the potency of soul skills through it. Typically, substantial yet formless spiritual power was standard for Soul Saints. For Zhu Ziyang, a non-spiritual-type soul master, to be touching this level at the Soul Elder stage was truly a mark of heaven-given talent.
Withdrawing his awareness from his Sea of Spirit, Zhu Ziyang resumed cultivating his soul power. The soul power condensed by the Great Light Mantra was thick and rich, filled with a majestic and awe-inspiring aura. It constantly washed over his meridians and acupoints, tempering his body and refining the light element within his Death Scythe, steadily reinforcing his foundation.
——
The first day of the elimination round.
Sixty-four freshmen teams gathered outside the assessment grounds. A hundred and ninety-two students stood silent, not daring to make a sound as they faced over thirty teachers—an oppressive atmosphere pressing down on them all.
Du Weilin, the Head Instructor of the Martial Soul Department, was calling roll.
"…Class Four freshmen, Zhu Ziyang, Jiang Nannan, Tang Ya, Lin Ziwei…"
Each student called promptly responded.
Soon after, the roll call ended and the drawing for the sixty-four-to-thirty-two elimination began.
Thanks to adjustments made the previous day, the assessment area had been divided into sixteen zones, expanding the size by several times. It was now far more spacious, greatly easing the constraints on agility-type soul masters. Seeing this, Jiang Nannan was so delighted that she started bouncing with joy.
The drawing quickly concluded.
Sixty-four teams were split into thirty-two matches. These would be held in two batches—sixteen matches in the morning and sixteen in the afternoon—by the end of the day, thirty-two teams would remain to enter the next round of competition.
The teams set to compete in the morning were soon called away. The remaining thirty-two teams were told to return to class and would only be allowed to appear at the assessment grounds when it was their turn to compete.
Zhu Ziyang's team was scheduled for the twelfth field in the morning session.
"Ha! It's the twelfth field again."
All three were surprised, but what shocked them even more was that the proctor of the twelfth field was again the female teacher Liu Xue—and their opponent turned out to be none other than Lu Shaoyou's team from Class Three, the same team they had faced during the ranking competition.
The moment Lu Shaoyou and his teammates saw Zhu Ziyang and the others, their faces turned pale. If surrender had been allowed, they would have fled the assessment zone immediately. This was simply too cruel!
"Why... why is it you again?!" Lu Shaoyou cried out in anguish, his two teammates wearing matching expressions of despair.
Liu Xue tried her best not to laugh. She swore she had washed her hands before drawing lots!
"Can you three go easy on us this time?" Lu Shaoyou pleaded miserably.
"We'll think about it," Tang Ya replied with a mischievous smile.
The match began. Since both sides had fought before, the rematch was even shorter. Zhu Ziyang's trio made quick work of them with ease.
As Liu Xue announced the result, Lu Shaoyou's team cried out in grief, "Oh heavens! Why are we being toyed with like this!"
With their eight-win-one-loss record from the ranking round, they shouldn't have been eliminated in the first round of the elimination. But fate seemed to have played a cruel joke—they'd once again encountered Zhu Ziyang's team in their first match. Their loss wasn't due to weakness—it was purely that their opponent was too strong!
"Goodbye… hope you win the championship!"
Leaving behind those words, Lu Shaoyou and his teammates lowered their heads and jogged away from the assessment grounds. As they passed the gate, they noticed their class advisors still lingering nearby—and saw the stormy expression on their own teacher's face. Immediately, their hearts sank. They knew they were in for a scolding.
They quickened their pace and fled.
"Eh? Teacher Chu, weren't those three your students?"
"…Shut up!"
"…"
Having easily secured a spot in the next round, Zhu Ziyang's team didn't leave right away. Instead, they roamed around the assessment grounds, observing the strength of other teams. It wasn't long before they spotted Yu Beibei's team in the second field.
Yu Beibei's team was facing an opponent composed of two Soul Masters and one Soul Grandmaster. Against such a team, just Yu Beibei and Xu Sanshi alone were enough. Thus, Zhu Ziyang's plan to gather intel on Xue Weiwei fell through—she didn't even summon her martial soul.
Behind both Yu Beibei and Xu Sanshi hovered two yellow soul rings each.
On the field, the pair effortlessly secured victory with simple moves.
Yu Beibei's right arm transformed into a thick dragon arm covered in blue-purple scales. His hand turned into a fierce dragon claw, crackling with lightning like coiling snakes. This dragonification was a signature ability of a top-tier dragon-type martial soul.
He charged at one of the Soul Grandmaster. His first soul ring lit up and, with intense soul power, a foot-wide claw of blue-purple lightning shot forth, smashing toward a White Rhinoceros Martial Soul user. That student's expression changed. He activated his first soul skill, forming a white energy shield around himself.
But how could the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon's first skill compare to that of the White Rhinoceros? The Thunderclap Dragon Claw shattered the shield instantly, forcing the student to retreat several steps in disbelief. Yu Beibei gave no quarter. His second soul ring flashed, and from his claw burst countless crackling serpentine lightning bolts. They exploded midair, forming a thunder net that enveloped the student.
The student was immediately incapacitated.
As for his teammate, a Soul Grandmaster with a Swift Dragon martial soul—a wind-type sub-dragon—he couldn't even circulate his soul power properly under the pressure of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon's dragon might. Let alone lend support, he could only stand helplessly and watch as his teammate was thrown off the stage. He himself followed soon after.
(End of Chapter)
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