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The fireball merged with towering flames, its power surging with the support of the two Fire Star Spirit Masters. Even Ning Tian raised an eyebrow in surprise.
'Looks like they've put some real effort into countering me,' he thought with a faint smirk. His first Soul Ring glowed as he gripped his sword with both hands and swung it downward, unleashing his first Soul Skill: Sword Ray.
Back at level 33, his Sword Ray stretched seven or eight meters. Now, with his Soul Power at level 48, it was a whole new beast.
The crowd watched in awe as the Azure Bamboo Cloud Swarm Sword transformed into a massive blade of light, over ten meters long, crashing down with unstoppable force.
The fireball burst apart mid-air, scattering into a fiery blast seven or eight meters wide. The combined flame attack from the two Fire Crane Spirit Masters split under the Sword Ray's edge, and the glowing blade kept going, slashing toward the arena floor.
"Watch out! Get to the sides!" Huo Wu shouted, her voice sharp with panic. She'd just used her Resist Fire Ring and couldn't summon it again so soon. All she could do was dodge and yell for her teammates to do the same.
Boom!
The arena trembled, dust and chunks of stone flying everywhere. Ning Tian's strike didn't just shatter Blazing Academy's attack, it carved a gash into the stage itself.
Smoke clouded the battlefield.
"Monster!" Huo Wu muttered, her tone a mix of shock and anger.
She considered using her Resist Fire Ring again to clear the dust and push back the New Heaven Dou Battle Team, but with everything hidden in the haze, she had to find her teammates first to avoid hitting them by mistake.
Focusing quickly, she reached out with her senses, tracking their Soul Power to pinpoint their positions.
Then, out of nowhere, Ning Tian's calm voice sounded right behind her. "Mind telling me why you hate me so much? I'm pretty sure this is our first meeting."
Huo Wu froze, her eyes widening. Somehow, Ning Tian had slipped behind her, so close they were nearly back-to-back, and she hadn't noticed a thing.
Before she could answer, the tip of his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword pressed against her throat.
From above, Yu Feng called out, "Third Soul Skill: Storm Dance!"
High in the sky, Yu Feng, fully merged with his Wind Chime Bird Martial Soul, activated his third Soul Ring. His wings beat hard, sending a fierce wind tearing across the arena. The gust swept away the dust and knocked the two Fire Crane Spirit Masters off balance.
At the same moment, Zhu Zhuqing's first three Soul Rings lit up. Her form split into three. Her two clones darted toward the Fire Crane Spirit Masters, while her real body used Nether Thrust to close in on the Fire Leopard Spirit Master, unleashing a flurry of Nether Hundred Claws.
The two Fire Star support Spirit Masters didn't even have time to steady themselves. The Shi brothers flung their turtle shells, sending them tumbling out of the arena.
When the dust cleared, the Fire Leopard Spirit Master lay battered on the ground, joined by the two Fire Crane Spirit Masters and Huo Wushuang, still paralyzed from Ning Tian's earlier hit and unable to move near the sword's scar on the stage.
Huo Wu stood motionless, Ning Tian now facing her, his sword steady at her throat.
Blazing Academy was done. The audience sat in stunned silence. Beyond Huo Wu's initial Resist Fire Ring and Ning Tian's terrifying Sword Ray, they couldn't make sense of what had happened. The fight had ended in less than a minute.
Even Blazing Academy's own team was dazed. They'd known losing was possible. Ning Tian's strength and the Soul Power gap were obvious, but losing this fast? It was beyond anything they'd imagined.
The referee scanned the scene: the two Fire Star Spirit Masters sprawled outside the ring, Huo Wushuang and the others down on the stage, and Huo Wu pinned by Ning Tian's blade, clearly out of the fight.
"New Heaven Dou Battle Team wins," he declared.
The crowd erupted into excited chatter. They knew the New Heaven Dou Battle Team was tough, but this was unreal. Their last win against Elephant Armor Academy could be explained by strategy and elemental edges. This time, Blazing Academy had planned ahead, and it still didn't matter; they'd been crushed.
Ning Tian slid his sword back into its sheath. "So, can you tell me now?"
Huo Wu turned to face him, her eyes burning with defiance. "That girl, Zhu Zhuqing, she's your girlfriend, right? She went against her family for you, but you're cozying up to Ning Rongrong from your team. I saw you two kiss. I can't stand people like you."
Her gaze locked onto him, fierce and unyielding. She'd always been Blazing Academy's star, a standout talent among the Four Elemental Academies. Losing to someone younger was bad enough, but to someone she saw as a cheating nobody with barely any innate Soul Power? That was unbearable.
(For context, rumors had spread about Ning Tian's half-level innate Soul Power, hyped up by the Heaven Dou Empire. They painted him as a prodigy shaped by Zhu Qing, their Soul Master Corps instructor, and tied him to Prince Xue Qinghe like a brother. His romance with Zhu Zhuqing got dragged into it too; a loud message to Spirit Hall and the Star Luo Empire that Ning Tian was Heaven Dou's.)
Ning Tian blinked, thrown off for a second. So that's what this was about. He'd half-expected her to be some old rival from his past.
"We'll meet again," Huo Wu said, fixing Ning Tian with a hard stare. "Next time, I won't lose."
Ning Tian gave a small, easy smile. "Anyone I beat isn't worth calling a rival. I'll give you time to catch up until you can't even see me ahead of you."
His words struck deep, leaving Huo Wu speechless. She stared at this boy, five years younger than her, a mix of shock and grudging respect flickering in her eyes.
'He might actually pull it off,' she thought, her anger fading just a little.
Ning Tian didn't bother clarifying anything. With the crowd cheering, he turned and led Zhu Zhuqing and the New Heaven Dou Battle Team off the stage.
With eleven fights and eleven wins, they were untouchable. Blazing Academy now sat at ten wins and one loss.
As they stepped down, Zhu Qing, Ye Lingling, and Mona were there to meet them.
"You're incredible, Ning Tian," Mona said sincerely. "I doubt many Spirit Kings could take you on."
She'd known he was strong, but this? Taking out Blazing Academy's captain in one move, then breaking through a combined attack from three—no, five, counting the Fire Star Spirit Masters' boosts was unreal. With Ning Rongrong's Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda and Ye Lingling's Sacred Heart Begonia in the mix, she was starting to believe they could win it all.
"I just got lucky," Ning Tian said with a shrug, keeping it humble.
As they walked into the rest area, the crowd and other teams watched them with a new kind of awe. Ning Tian had only fought twice, but both times he'd left no doubt; first crushing Elephant Armor Academy with a single ten-thousand-year Soul Skill, and now overwhelming Blazing Academy with raw power. He was the tournament's standout, hands down.
...….
Meanwhile, Blazing Academy was a mess. Losing after a good fight would've been fine, but this? One of the fastest defeats in tournament history, second only to Elephant Armor Academy's collapse against the same team. Even Blue Tyrant Academy's stinky loss to Shrek had taken longer.
Then, a bright, eager voice cut through their gloom. "Huo Wu, when we face the New Heaven Dou Battle Team, I'll get revenge for you."
They turned to see Feng Xiaotian, Divine Wind Academy's captain, striding over in his green-and-silver uniform.
"You?" Huo Wushuang snorted. To him, Feng Xiaotian was barely stronger, if at all. If Ning Tian could drop him in one hit, what could this guy do?
Feng Xiaotian grinned. "You lost because you fought him on the ground. Ning Tian's a nightmare up close. But I can fly. I've got a trick up my sleeve."
"You really think you can beat him?" Huo Wu asked, her tone doubtful.
"Yep," Feng Xiaotian said with a firm nod.
"Fine. If you beat Ning Tian and the New Heaven Dou Battle Team, I'll go out with you."
Her words hit Feng Xiaotian like a bolt from the sky. Huo Wu was proud, always drawn to strength. She'd only consider someone tougher and more talented than her, looks didn't matter much, as long as they weren't awful. (In the original story, she'd even kissed Tang San before his Blue Silver Grass woke up, despite his plain face.)
Feng Xiaotian, with his talent and sharp features, had messed up his own shot. He'd slowed his training to avoid outshining her, wasting time on self-made Soul Skills and throwing fights to impress her. There was no surprise she'd never given him a second look.
Now, her promise lit him up. "Really, Huo Wu? You'll go out with me if I win?"
"Beat the New Heaven Dou Battle Team and Ning Tian, and I will." She turned and walked off, her team trailing behind in stunned silence.
Feng Xiaotian stayed behind, beaming like he'd just won everything.
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