Chapter 534 - The Competition Begins (1/2)

“Ye Wu, how long is it going to take you to fix that arrogance?” a gentle yet hauntingly piercing voice chimed out.

The instant that lilting rebuke fell on Ye Wu’s ears, he drew back and shot up to stand at perfect attention before turning to face the direction the words came from. “Big Sis Mo! It's just small talk. No reason to worry at all! I’m taking this very seriously.”

A young lady glided over with ethereal grace and reclined herself beside Li Qiankun. Her long black hair cascaded in waves over her back, and all that was best of dark and bright met in her aspect; in her eyes. Her stunning features carried the cold perfection of marble. She was the portrait of femininity. Despite her beauty, it was apparent that attempting to breach that frosty temple would result in penile frostbite.

“I’ve heard that those children have at least two soul fusion skills, one of which is a self-soul fusion. They use both the elements of light and darkness in a combo skill. Nearly everyone on that team is above rank 40. Some even have battle armor pieces crafted from various spirit alloys. I don’t believe the children are our equals, but that difference in power that you’re so confident of, it's not as great as you imagine. If we do not take this seriously, we will be the architects of our own humiliation,” said Mo Jue in her peculiar melodic yet stern way.

Mo Jue was one of the Vice Presidents of the third grade class. A rank 51 Soul King and the other battle armor master from the third grade. She was even more respected among her classmates than Li Qiankun, due in part to her strong and selfless character. She had helped many of her classmates. This, combined with her honesty and empathy, made her one of the pillars of the third grade alongside Li Qiankun. It was thought that both she and Li Qiankun were certain to enter the inner court in the future. They were ready to take the entrance examination at the end of the academic year. As long as they made it through the trial by fire, admittance to the inner court was guaranteed.

Li Qiankun turned to her, a brow raised. “Two soul fusion skills? How powerful are they?”

Mo Jue shook her head. “I couldn’t find out. They shouldn’t be much of a threat though, according to my estimates, since we have battle armor. Once we equip our armor, we’ll have the strength of a normal Soul Sage.” She let out a little laugh that sounded like bells tinkling on a warm breeze before continuing, “Even though the gap in strength is still large, I do have to admit that our juniors really are quite talented. I heard that one of them is already inches away from becoming a sixth-rank blacksmith. That’s how they got the spirit alloys for their battle armor. What’s even more astonishing is that the spirit alloys are all rumored to have had a harmony rate over eighty percent. We should have a word with that blacksmith once we pass the inner court exam and start on our two-word armor.”

Li Qiankun understood what Mo Jue was subtly pushing for and cracked a wry smile. “We shouldn’t be too harsh on our dear juniors then. We gotta control ourselves.”

Mo Jue nodded. “We’ll just compete like normal. The team battle is the only one we need to win, so we can let them win a couple of the matches before that. That’ll allow them to gain some confidence, too. As far as strategy goes, how about you and I split up? One of us will fight in the team battle, and the other in one of the duels. That way we’re guaranteed at least six points. That’ll be enough.”

“Sounds good to me. We’ll go with that. Which one do you want to participate in?”

Mo Jue’s lips curved up in a slim smile. “Naturally, I already know which one. I’ll take one of the duels. If those children are much stronger than we’re expecting, I’ll also join in on the team battle. If we dominate in the early matches, I’ll abstain from it.”

Li Qiankun chuckled. “Alright. It’s settled.”

☀

The day of the competition had finally arrived, and Tang Wulin was rushing to finish last minute preparations.

“Give me some more buns,” Tang Wulin said, leaning on a chair as he beckoned for Xu Lizhi to hurry up.

Worry flashed in Xu Lizhi’s eyes. “Boss, can you really eat this many? Aren’t you full yet?”

Unfortunately for Xu Lizhi, Tang Wulin’s appetite had grown by fifty percent in the past few months. He didn’t even know what it felt like to be satiated anymore. A bitter smile tugged at the corner of Tang Wulin’s mouth. “I can’t help it! If I don’t eat enough now, what’ll happen if I run out of blood essence this afternoon? You can’t give me buns in the middle of a battle either. Just make sure you prepare a bunch of buns for me to eat after my two-on-two match!”

Every student of the outer court had their eyes on this competition. The way things worked out, the third grade was the strongest in the outer court. This was primarily due to the fact that those in the fourth through sixth grades no longer had any chance of entering the inner court, and were now completing their battle armor at their own leisure. Since they were over twenty years old, graduation swiftly followed the completion of their battle armor and they would be booted out. Thus, none remaining in the upper grades had a full set of battle armor and the strongest, those with the most potential and talent, of the outer court were all found in the third grade.

It was rare for such an exciting competition to be held. Students and teachers alike welcomed this exciting break from the monotony. This competition was sure to entertain with the participants being the greatest talents of the outer court, the ones with the most hope of entering the inner court. It was a clash between the shining stars of the new generation.

The students of the first and second grades arrived early. From the moment they took their seats, they were on edge, desperately hoping for a miracle.