Song Lin did not plan to sweep the friendly competition against the joint first and second grade team. To discourage the younger students was not a good idea. Therefore she chose Wu Rui, whose personal battle strength was top five in the class for the first round. Naturally, she figured that defeating him would still pose a significant challenge for the first and second graders.
Elder Cai stepped into the air. There was a glowing silver flash as she arrived on the battle ring.
“Please send forth your participant for the first one-against-one match.”
Two silhouettes ascended on both sides of the sparring arena simultaneously, eliciting cheers from the students of all grades at once.
Wu Rui landed gently on the battle ring. His features were elegant and he possessed a peaceful demeanor. He had one hand before him and the other at his back. His hair was immaculately combed. With a subtle grin on his face, he went so far as to wave at the people below the ring. He was known for his love of showboating. If not for the academy prohibiting romantic relationships among students in the outer court, he would have kept himself busy from the start.
Yuanen Yehui landed steadily in the arena. Her clothes were still like those of a boy and there was nothing unusual about her appearance. However, cheering began from second grade class one as soon as she entered the battle ring.
“Wu Rui, third grade class one!”
Wu Rui faced Yuanen with a slight smile, revealing his white teeth. His eyes showed no sign of provocation or arrogance. The only thing he wished to be seen was his pretty-boy facade.
“Yuanen Yehui, second grade class one,” Yuanen said calmly.
Wu Rui smiled and said, “Oh, you’re the president of second grade class one! I’ve heard about you. Twin martial souls are quite an achievement. All the best, alright?”
Yuanen Yehui remained silent.
Wu Rui kept talking, “Don’t force yourself if you can’t handle it. Not to worry. As your senior, I’ll show mercy. We’re schoolmates after all. Be diligent in the future and you might eventually reach my level.”
Below the battle ring, Song Lin felt she had made a bad decision. She now regretted putting this blusterer into the first round. The lad was capable, but he was a sweet-talker who loved to put on a show. He took great pleasure in showing off. It was obvious that he could not help himself when he had an audience of so many students from six grades.
“Silence! Why are you talking so much?!” Elder Cai scowled and interrupted him directly.
“Uhh… Elder Cai, I’m just expressing my concern for my junior.”
Elder Cai glared at him. “The battle begins now.”
“Be careful, junior brother…” Wu Rui was still sweet-talking, but Yuanen Yehui had already advanced.
She was a person of few words and preferred to let her actions speak for her. She stomped her left foot hard on the ground and shot out like a cannonball. In midair, her body began to grow rapidly. It was her third soul skill, Diamond Titan.
Wu Rui could not help but widen his eyes in astonishment as he witnessed the speed of her tremendous growth. Even while releasing his martial soul he was dumbfounded as he spoke, “What the-?! That’s enormous! Gigantic!”
Yuanen Yehui punched her fist into the air. Before the blow could land, an evil wind struck her face.
It was a battle between the control and assault systems. Wu Rui was very confident in himself. With a sudden flash in front of his face, a thick book bound in blue appeared before him.
The book flipped itself open and turned to the first page. Out of nowhere, countless dark-green vines dashed from the pages and rushed towards Yuanen Yehui like a wild beast.
The vines were extremely thick, and with her body at such a great size, it was impossible for Yuanen Yehui to evade them. In fact, she had no plan of even attempting to dodge them. She continued her advance against Wu Rui as her body crashed into the vines.
“That’s not very smart, junior brother,” Wu Rui exclaimed while flipping through the book in his hands. With a flash, he disappeared into thin air. The next second, he reappeared ten meters away, escaping Yuanen Yehui’s blow. Meanwhile, the thick vines had wrapped themselves around Yuanen Yehui’s body.
‘Plant and spatial attributes? Two different attributes?’ Tang Wulin had a look of surprise in his eyes as he watched Wu Rui in the battle ring. How exactly did such a martial soul function?
“His martial soul, Heavenly Book, isn’t Elemental Control but acts to store some of his abilities. Meanwhile, each of his soul rings would add a page of soul skill storage to the Heavenly Book. He has stored Bind and Teleportation in the pages and has honed his skills in the Control System. Such a martial soul is untraceable and the power might be unrestrained, but it would be hard to handle if he does not have the proper storage and coordination,” Wu Zhangkong gave an explanation on the Heavenly Book with his cold voice.
Tang Wulin had just realized how powerful a Douluo was with these wondrous martial souls!
It was obvious that Yuanen Yehui was in trouble now. The vines began to tighten their grip on her. They seemed to be much more powerful than Tang Wulin’s Bluesilver Grass vines.
“Hmph!” Yuanen Yehui scoffed in anger. The first soul ring on her body shone brilliantly. It was Titan Strength!
She grabbed the vines with her monstrous arms, loudly tearing them apart one by one.
It was a combination of Diamond Titan and Titan Strength. In terms of pure strength alone, the only person who could compare with Yuanen Yehui in Shrek Academy’s outer court was Tang Wulin with his Golden Dragon Body.
“Such great strength! Junior brother, you’re very strong. Here I come again!” Another cluster of vines dashed towards her. They were even more overwhelming this time as they swept toward Yuanen Yehui in a massive swarm.
Wu Rui’s battle methodology was very simple. As a control-type soul master, he could win as long as he continuously kept Yuanen Yehui under pressure and drained her soul power until she was completely exhausted. After that, it would take little effort for him to control her and toss her out of the ring.
Even Wu Rui’s seemingly nonsensical chatter served a purpose, as it was a means to provoke his opponent. Wu Rui himself was a cunning survivor who made the most of his Teleportation skill on the battlefield.
Yuanen Yehudi scoffed coldly, still aiming her blows at Wu Rui. The only way that she could free herself from the vines wrapped around her was to struggle and tear them apart continuously.
Wu Rui was shocked when the Air Cannon arrived at him in an instant. However, the book in his hands was flipping automatically, and a mirror appeared before him in the blink of an eye.
The Air Cannon that had been fired at him was suddenly redirected towards Yuanen Yehui. This was the power of the Reflective Mirror, Wu Rui’s third soul skill. This soul skill would be highly effective if he was to use it wisely in the group battle.
As Yuanen Yehui was bound by the twisting vines, her agility was limited. Looking at the Air Cannon coming closer, all she could do was punch it, negating her own Air Cannon.
From the looks of the battle at that moment, Yuanen Yehui had fallen into Wu Rui’s trap. There was no doubt as to the result when it was a control-type soul master restraining an assault-type.
A glow flashed in Yuanen Yehui’s eyes and suddenly her body shrank at an alarming rate. A cluster of dark purple flames then rose from her body. Right away the vines coiled around her began to burn and turned to ash.
As her body shrunk, she was left wearing only a tight, stretchable suit. Her boyish image was instantly transformed, revealing her feminine beauty.
A pair of black wings unfurled from her back. With the flame of the Shadow Demon Sword burning, she got within striking distance of Wu Rui almost instantly.
It was her martial soul Fallen Angel which was part of both the assault and agility system.
“Damn, you transformed from a boy to a girl!” Wu Rui yelled and teleported himself while dodging the attack again. There were changes in the pages of his book once more. A golden glow came dazzling down from the sky and landed directly on Yuanen Yehui’s body.
Something strange happened. There was another Yuanen Yehui separate from her own body. She didn’t have the same alertness in her eyes as Yuanen Yehui, but the rest of her appearance was exactly like her Fallen Angel form.
Cloning! It was Wu Rui’s fourth soul skill.
With the four control system skills that were Teleportation, Bind, Reflective Mirror, and Cloning, Wu Rui had been ranked as the top control-type soul master in third grade class one. He was also granted the opportunity to one day enter the inner court.
Yuanen Yehui was a little stunned as she faced her own copy. Her opponent’s tactics were truly endless! However, having gained a great deal of battle experience, she knew that any duplicate made using the Cloning skill would be much weaker compared to the original. Otherwise, it would no longer be as simple as a soul skill.
Suddenly, Yuanen Yehui’s body became a little illusory as she dashed forth with her sword held horizontally. Shadowy images emanated from the Shadow Demon Sword in her hand. At the same time, Curtain of Darkness bloomed from her body and covered the entire battle ring immediately.
The clone possessed all of the soul skills that Yuanen Yehui had, but its power was only 60% of her own. Wu Rui could achieve 80% if he managed to elevate his soul skill to a black soul ring in the future. He could even achieve 90% if he had a hundred thousand year soul ring. However, he could not do that at the moment.
The clone’s main purpose was to buy him time to look for an opening to slip in an attack.
A huge tangle of vines dashed toward her as soon as the clone appeared. The Curtain of Darkness spread out at the same time.
Within the Curtain of Darkness, Teleportation would be greatly affected as Yuanen Yehui would be able to tell his location immediately no matter where he teleported to.