Chapter 454 - Into The Arena (1/2)

Tang Wulin strode forward with his head held high, his comrades trailing him. They walked with their backs straight and chests puffed out. They weren't just here to complete their exam. They also had to win glory for Shrek Academy!

Only upon entering the arena did Tang Wulin understand its size. Not even Shrek Academy could boast an arena as large as this. Modeled after coliseums of old, where champions fought soul beasts to the death for others' entertainment, the arena spanned long and wide. The spectators' stands could easily accommodate 150,000 people. To Tang Wulin's knowledge, this might even be the largest stadium on the entire continent. It stood in the heart of the Imperial Sun Moon Academy, surrounded by numerous skysc.r.a.pers.

The stands were nearly full. It was clear that not all of the spectators were students, as an academy rarely had a student population over ten thousand. Tang Wulin couldn't fathom where they had all come from.

The moment his team had entered the stadium, the roaring excitement stilled. Over a hundred thousand gazes converged on them at once.

Even as strong-willed as they were, they couldn't help but falter under the weight of so many hostile stares. Xu Xiaoyan and Xu Lizhi suffered the worst out of them all, their faces paling before the audience.

All of Tang Wulin's team were affected by the concentrated hostility..

Tang Wulin sucked in a deep breath. It looks like this is going to be harder than I thought.

He stepped forward and summoned his golden soul ring. It glowed most resplendently, calling forth his blood essence to surge within him. He straightened his back and stood taller than before, an aura of blood essence flaring around him, spreading to envelop his comrades.

They felt the pressure on their minds easing as it did. The world around them seemed to grow smaller, and themselves bigger. Supported by Tang Wulin's aura, they were able to stand tall and confident once more.

On the platform, an elderly man knitted his brow. “A golden soul ring?”

“I've never seen one before. Is that a million-year soul ring? Impossible!” a middle-aged man exclaimed at the elder man's side. “Not even the Spirit PaG.o.da has a million-year soul beast! Million-year soul rings have only appeared twice in all of history!”

“But both those two times were at Shrek Academy. We have to keep an eye on him,” the elder said.

“Yes!”

Before the regal might of the golden soul ring, the spectators' gazes no longer seemed so stifling. But such a reprieve didn't last. Soon after, the stands were filled with crude swearing, all directed toward Tang Wulin's team.

Head held high, Tang Wulin ignored the jeers and continued his march toward the center of the arena. Six people waited in that s.p.a.ce. They wore the white uniforms of the Imperial Sun Moon Academy, faces betraying a youth that rivaled Tang Wulin's own.

Apart from those six, a man in his forties hovered on the side of the stage, his feet quite far from the ground. He was equipped with battle armor, and from the beauty of it, Tang Wulin estimated it to be of the three-word sort. Is he the referee? Or did they deliberately bring him here to intimidate us?

Entering such a grand stage for a match would frighten most people. But not Tang Wulin. He embraced the challenge and would rise up to overcome it. This was so ingrained into his nature that his friends had fallen into the habit of calling him a spring. The harder he was pressed, the greater the force he would bounce back.

A confident smile on his lips, he approached his opponents to greet them. Both teams were lined up side-by-side to face each other. Unlike the Imperial Sun Moon Academy's team, however, Tang Wulin's team did not wear their academy's uniform. Instead, they were dressed in common, green sportswear. It was the best they could do, seeing that their uniforms had been confiscated upon the exam's start.

“I will now announce the rules of the match,” the referee said.

“What?” Tang Wulin placed a hand to his ear.

“I said, I will now announce the rules of the match!” the referee said, raising his voice.