Xie Xie didn’t seem to have felt the hostile glare on him and kept on laughing noisily.
“What are you babbling about?” Tang Wulin asked, confused.
“I figured out how to become an agility-type soul master!” Xie Xie exclaimed, stoked.
What? Aren’t you already one? Tang Wulin thought, but what he said was, “Good for you.” And then he made for the stage amid loud cheering and shouting. Dai Yueyan calmed himself down and followed after.
“What’s gotten into you?” Yuanen Yehui demanded, standing up from her couch. Xie Xie threw his arms around her shoulders and hugged her tightly.
“I finally figured it out!” Xie Xie answered. It seemed his excitement wasn’t feigned.
Yuanen Yehui was embarrassed and angry and was about to push him off her, but then she smelled blood. Xie Xie’s blood. She remembered the cuts over his body and didn’t touch him. “Get off me,” she snarled in a hushed voice.
Xie Xie seemed not to hear her. “Before I met you, I was slack and not putting enough energy into training. Then you came into my life, and I was given a reason to get stronger and catch up to you. Because of you, I has become more powerful and confident. But then I hit a bottleneck. An agility bottleneck. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get my agility to another level. I never figured out why.
“Until just now. Lin San’s fighting style inspired me. I realized that the essence of agility lies in freedom. Freedom from the control of mind. My moves were too predictable, but they won’t be once I let my instinct take control. I’ll become strong and good enough for you. I promise…”
Yuanen Yehui could hear his voice fading, and suddenly she felt his whole weight on her. He had fainted.
She stood there uncertain for a moment. Is he doing all this just for me? A gentle look flashed across her eyes as she wrapped her arms around him and laid him down gently in his couch. She watched as he breathed evenly.
By then both Tang Wulin and Dai Yueyan were on the stage. The shouting was kept out as the soul barrier rose.
Tang Wulin picked his ear. “Whoo! That’s much better. I think I’ve fallen in love with this barrier.”
Dai Yueyan fixed his eyes on his opponent and said nothing. He understood the importance of this match. He couldn’t afford to lose to someone who was younger than him and who was from the Douluo Continent. When the fourth prince looked at Tang Wulin, he didn’t see a boy. No. He saw an adversary he must defeat.
Compared to the prince, Tang Wulin was much more relaxed. He stretched his arms and legs casually, but he radiated combat skills just by standing there.
Dai Yueyan thought he felt the power in Tang Wulin’s blood, even though they were standing hundreds of feet apart. But he stared at the boy, his eyes unflinching.
“Let the fight begin!” the referee announced.
Tang Wulin grew a little taller as his spine made popping sounds, his golden dragon claws appearing. He could feel the Golden Dragon King’s power surging through his veins.
He charged, the first golden soul ring shining. In an instant, scales spread all over his body.
His Golden Dragon Body somehow seems stronger than before! Yuanen Yehui was surprised and not surprised. When I first met him, he was weaker than me, and I didn’t even consider him a worthy rival. But as time passed by, he has grown stronger than any of us. His soul power rank may be low, but his overall power is unimaginable. And what’s more amazing is that the stronger his opponent is, the stronger he becomes.
Elder Cai and Wu Zhangkong were watching the match from their box, along with eight powerful-looking delegates.
They had come here for cultural exchange, and competing in the Continental Young Elites Tournament had never been their plan. If they had known about this event beforehand, they would have brought older and stronger students. They had allowed Tang Wulin and his friends to participate, because the tournament was a good chance to gain battle experience. Since they had never expected the kids to get good results, they naturally hadn’t paid much attention to them.
Yet the eight kids’ performance had turned out to be surprisingly good. The top brass of the delegation were happy to see that three had made it into the top 16, and that Yuanen Yehui had even advanced into the top 8. The results were already good enough for them to show off when they got back to the Douluo Continent.
If Tang Wulin managed to defeat the fourth price Dai Yueyan, it would serve as a perfect way to show strength.
“Do you think Tang Wulin will win this match, Elder Cai?” asked Tang Bingyao, leader of the delegation and vice-leader of the Federation Parliament.
“Truth be told, I don’t know,” replied Elder Cai. “Dai Yueyan has the edge over him, I think, judging by his age and cultivation level, but Tang Wulin has fought many opponents who were stronger than him and won. That kid never ceases to amaze me. Many of his teammates were stronger than him, but now he is their captain. It won’t surprise me if he wins.”