Tang Wulin turned back into the spirited handsome boy that he was as his claws and scales disappeared. He looked up at the stands and put a finger to his lips. “Shhhh!”
Then he smiled and got off the stage. You can insult me all you want; I’ll shut you up with the results.
The audience burst into an uproar.
“Who the fu*k do you think you are?!”
“This is the Star Luo Empire! Go back to your shithole country where you belong!”
“Did nobody teach you any manners?!”
They had thought their boos had intimidated Tang Wulin when he first entered the stage, as he had made no response. They had never expected him to strike back in this way.
Dai Tianling’s face darkened.
En Ci was not here today; the emperor was being accompanied by several well-renowned old soul masters in the Star Luo Empire. “Talk about arrogance,” one of them snorted.
He was right; Tang Wulin’s behavior had been arrogant. But it was them who had left him no choice. What had the Shreak Academy team done to deserve all this verbal abuse? The people here had taken to hating them just because they were outsiders.
It was not appropriate for a delegate to have behaved like that, and he had set a classic example of how not to promote peace between the two continents, but no one from the delegation – including the leader – considered Tang Wulin’s behavior wrong, because he had defended the honor of the Douluo Continent.
With a faint smile on his face, Tang Wulin strutted back to the waiting area, deaf to the insults being fired at him. I made it to the next round! He looked to Long Yue, lips curving up in a smirk.
Long Yue smirked back, giving Tang Wulin a thumbs-up before turning it into a thumbs-down.
Tang Wulin grinned, revealing his white teeth, and sat down.
“That kid is too cocky, Boss,” said a young man sitting beside Long Yue. “I never thought Sima Xian would lose so easily,”
Long Yue snorted. “Tang Wulin’s bloodline suppressed his, most likely. But he is strong, that’s for sure. Anyone who says otherwise is a fool.”
Dai Yun’er turned to gaze at Tang Wulin. Can I beat him? Was that his full power? Although he’s just a four-ringed soul master like me, he’s unmistakably a formidable opponent. The more she knew about him, the more she wanted to know; the princess was curious by nature.
Dai Yueyan nudged his sister. “Never let your guard down when you fight him. Go all out from the very beginning and take him down. Don’t give him any opportunity.”
“I won’t. Don’t worry, Fourth Brother. I’ll beat him!” Dai Yun’er said, shaking her little fist.
Dai Yueyan smiled. She is even more talented than I am, and Tang Wulin’s strength won’t do him any good against her.
They had to put the competition on hold while having the stage fixed.
“Please calm down, everybody,” said Fang’er. “The doctor said Sima Xian just passed out. He’ll be fine.”
The ruckus died down. “In all honesty, I didn’t quite understand why Sima Xian’s charging had no effect whatsoever,” continued Fang’er, “and it baffled me how someone could have taken him down in such a short time, not to mention the fact that he is stronger than Tang Wulin in terms of soul power. So I consulted several authorities, and they told me that Tang Wulin may possess some kind of ability which suppressed Sima Xian. Please look at the screens.”
Fang’er started to replay the footage of the match. When Sima Xian got close enough to Tang Wulin, she put the replay in slow motion.
“You can see the yellow ripples of light under Sima Xian’s feet, which are showing the range of his Gravity Control. Clearly Tang Wulin is now under the influence of this soul skill. But after he gave a roar, he disturbed the ripples and blocked Sima Xian’s attack with ease.
“When Sima Xian crashed into the phantom dragons, he stopped moving, as if he had been controlled by Tang Wulin’s technique. We haven’t figured out what this technique is though. Hopefully his next match will provide us with the answer.” Fang’er paused a moment. “While he is young, there is no denying that the captain of the Shrek Academy team is strong.”
Her remarks were short and to the point, and they contained important information for Tang Wulin’s opponents, but she made no comments on Tang Wulin’s provocative gesture.
Tang Wulin closed his eyes and seemed to be lost in thought. The swearing and cursing had finally quieted down. Hurling insults was hard work; maybe their mouths had gone dry.
Half an hour later, the stage was ready and the second match started.
Although the first match had been short, it was so shocking that the audience still hadn’t recovered even after the second match started. It was also a great match, but they were in no mood for it yet; even Fang’er’s commentary was much less enthusiastic.
Ten minutes later, the second match was over with a four-ringed young man winning.
At least half of the 64 people who had made it into the last stage were five-ringed Soul Kings. Most of the four-ringed soul masters who had made it this far had a special technique or two up their sleeve. The next several matches confirmed this point. In one of them, a four-ringed Soul Ancestor defeated a five-ringed Soul King; the latter had no battle armor though.
In an unusual match, a contestant beat his opponent with his skilled control of a purple mecha. Generally speaking, a four- or five-ringed soul master should be able to use the full power of a purple mecha. It was better to them than a black one, since their cultivation level rendered them unable to use a black mecha to the full.
“The seventh match: Yuanen Yehui of the Shrek Academy versus Teng Teng of the Monster Academy. Will the contestants please come to the stage?” Fang’er said. “This is no doubt one of the most high-profile matches today and another clash between the Shrek Academy and the Monster Academy. Hopefully this will be a wonderful match.”
Fang’er quickly adjusted her mood to prepare herself for the next match.
Yuanen Yehui stood up. Dressed in men’s clothing as usual, she was the most inconspicuous one in the Shrek Academy team.
“Be careful,” Xie Xie whispered, seizing her sleeve, as she stepped past him.
Yuanen glared at him. “Keep your hand where it belongs!”
Xie Xie withdrew his hand obediently. Yuanen Yehui walked out and headed to the stage.
Teng Teng was the young man sitting beside Long Yue. He had been looking forward to this match for a long while.