Xue Ye the Great pulled out a newspaper and handed it to Tang Lan.
"Tang Sect's movements are fast. The preliminary publicity has already begun."
Tang Lan wasn't in the habit of buying newspapers, but he took it and glanced at the headline.
— "Innate Rank 0 Soul Power Can't Cultivate? Tang Sect Breaks History, Benefiting Future Generations!"
Not bad.
It perfectly captured the essence of sensational journalism—definitely Bai He's handiwork.
He continued reading.
"After a year of testing, the Tang Sect has successfully helped over a thousand innate Rank 0 soul power individuals break their limits and step onto the path of cultivation!"
"A significant portion of them have already obtained their first soul rings and become one-ring soul masters!"
"Building on this success, under the proposal of Sect Master Tang Lan, 100 age-appropriate children undergoing martial soul awakening will be tested to see if their innate soul power can be influenced!"
"This event will be broadcast live across the continent today after the Elite Tournament finals, featuring a real-time martial soul awakening!"
"Moreover, Sect Master Tang Lan will announce a game-changing revelation that could alter the entire continent!"
"Stay tuned!"
The hype was well done.
For the Douluo natives who had never been bombarded with this kind of information before—
Their curiosity must have been fully piqued.
With the stage set, all that remained was for the results to live up to expectations.
Tang Lan put down the newspaper and looked at Xue Ye the Great.
"Many thanks to Your Majesty for making this possible."
Xue Ye the Great's expression was somewhat complicated. He wasn't sure if his decision had been the right one.
But at this point, there was no turning back.
"Ning Sect Master, Tang Sect Master," he said, "we should head out to watch today's match."
With that, Xue Ye the Great strode out, his steps swift and decisive.
Tang Lan nodded in approval.
— His "declutter therapy" was working wonders.
Ning Fengzhi also got up and walked alongside Tang Lan, testing the waters as he asked, "Lan, what exactly is the world-altering news mentioned in the newspaper?"
"You sure you want to know now?" Tang Lan raised an eyebrow. "Don't blame me for not warning you—once you know, you'll be in a tough spot."
Ning Fengzhi was surprised.
After confirming that Tang Lan was joking, he wisely dropped the topic.
He quickened his pace towards the arena.
"I'm looking forward to Tang Sect Academy dominating the competition!"
"Let's go!"
Tang Lan shrugged.
Ning Fengzhi truly had a sharp mind—he refused to take the bait at all.
He quickly caught up.
The battle arena was located at the center of the military camp, a massive soul-fighting coliseum.
The main seating area had five prominent seats.
Xue Ye the Great sat in the central one.
Yu Xiaogang sat to his right.
That left two remaining seats—one next to Yu Xiaogang and one to Xue Ye the Great's left.
How should Tang Lan and Ning Fengzhi arrange themselves?
Without hesitation, Ning Fengzhi pulled Tang Lan towards the left side of Xue Ye the Great, placing Tang Lan directly beside the emperor while he himself sat on the outermost seat.
Lowering his voice so only Tang Lan could hear, he joked—
"Sitting next to the emperor is like sitting next to a tiger. Finally, I can relax and enjoy a match today."
Tang Lan merely smiled.
With social skills like Ning Fengzhi's, it was no wonder he could support the entire Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Not far away, Yu Xiaogang let out a cold chuckle and turned his gaze downward.
Fifteen teams had already entered the arena, preparing in their designated areas.
Xue Ye the Great stood up and gave a few polite opening remarks.
Then, he quickly announced the start of the matches.
At the same time, he made a silent vow— from now on, whenever Yu Xiaogang and Tang Lan are in the same place, he would absolutely avoid coming!
It was just too mentally exhausting.
The first match just happened to be Tang Sect Academy vs. Blazing Academy.
Enemies truly crossed paths easily.
When Huo Wu saw her opponents, her eyes burned with intense hostility.
Without hesitation, she was the first to leap into the arena.
Tang Lan swept his spiritual power over her— Rank 43.
Not bad.
Meanwhile, Tai Long and the others from the second team had only just reached Rank 40. She was indeed a tough opponent.
However—
The three who had followed Tang Lan to Sea God Island?
They were on an entirely different level.
Jing Ling stepped forward voluntarily.
Huo Wu's face filled with disdain.
"Jing Ling, your martial soul is just an ordinary skeleton. You're no match for me!"
"If you don't want to die, you'd better switch out with someone else!"
Huo Wu revealed her Flame Shadow Martial Soul, her four soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple—exuding an intimidating aura.
"Rank 43 Control-type Battle Soul Ancestor! Please enlighten me!"
However—
Jing Ling, cold and indifferent as ever, had no interest in responding.
He simply summoned his plain and ordinary Skeleton Martial Soul.
Then, his soul rings lit up—
Purple! Yellow! Black! Black!
Huo Wu's eyes widened in shock!
What the hell?!
Why is your first soul ring purple?!
And why are your third and fourth rings black?!
But that wasn't even the most ridiculous part—
"Rank 49 Assault-type Battle Soul Ancestor! Please enlighten me!"
Huo Wu's eyelid twitched.
Rank 49?!
How the hell did he jump up so fast?!
And weren't you a speed-type?
When did you become an assault-type?!
Huo Wu's thoughts were a mess.
But Jing Ling wasn't about to wait for her to sort them out. His four soul rings flared as he activated Martial Soul Possession, transforming into a towering ten-meter-tall half-giant, wielding a massive bone blade that came crashing down!
Huo Wu's fear of large objects immediately kicked in.
She instinctively unleashed her third soul skill—Repelling Fire Ring!
A dazzling ring of flames erupted from her, spanning 60 meters in diameter despite its mere three-meter height, engulfing the entire battlefield.
Unfortunately—
Although the skill's effect was supposed to forcibly repel all enemies, when faced with the colossal Jing Ling, it merely pushed him back half a step.
And worse—Huo Wu was still within the attack range of the massive bone blade!
"Boom—!"
The dust settled.
Standing before Huo Wu was the Soul Emperor referee, who had activated Martial Soul Possession to block the attack.
In front of him, two deep footprints were embedded in the ground.
—This six-ring Soul Emperor had actually been forced two steps back by Jing Ling's single strike!
Even considering the hasty defense—
Which four-ring Soul Ancestor could pull that off?
—Even an ambush wouldn't guarantee this result!
At that moment—
Everyone's gaze turned toward Jing Ling, who had calmly retrieved his Martial Soul, their eyes filled with shock!
Why hadn't he fought in the previous matches?
Oh, right!
In the earlier rounds—
Shui Bing'er's first soul skill—Ice Seal—had been enough to wipe the floor with the competition.
No one had been able to break free from Ultimate Ice.
Up in the VIP seating—
Ning Fengzhi looked at Jing Ling and couldn't help but sigh in amazement.
"I remember paying attention to Jing Ling back then because of his Skeleton Martial Soul."
"A little over a year ago, he was only at Rank 29. Now he's already Rank 49?"
"And he switched from Speed-type to Assault-type midway, yet he's still this powerful?"
"Lan, your ability to train soul masters is truly unmatched!"
Tang Lan simply smiled in response.
Training Jing Ling had been a personal interest.
But credit where credit was due—Jing Ling had earned his own success.
His first soul spirit had turned out to be his life-bound soul spirit.
That's why he had become the powerhouse he was today.
But Yu Xiaogang didn't know that.
Watching Jing Ling's overwhelming performance, his mind flashed back to the training plan he had drafted when he first received Jing Ling's data.
His stiff expression twitched uncontrollably.
It's one thing to not recognize true talent—
But the real pain comes from comparisons.
Compared to Tang Lan—
Yu Xiaogang was nothing.
But of course, he would never admit that!
So instead, he muttered something under his breath, his tone filled with disdain and denial.
Which immediately forced Tang Lan to step in and verbally rip him apart.
And then—
You could hear—
(End of Chapter)
Notes-You can read advanced chapters in patreon.com/Shadow_D_X, i have already finished douluo 1 arc and even quite a great deal of douluo 2 arc