20+ Advance chapters on Patreon
Though Meng Yiran knew her earlier win had been a bit unfair, she still wanted to challenge Ning Tian again. Her actions, along with Huo Wu's, caught the eyes of many academies and nobles from various duchies, all turning their attention to Ning Tian and Tang San. After asking around, people were amazed by Ning Tian's strength but looked down on Tang San, almost embarrassed to be linked with him.
Ning Tian brushed off the odd stares with a calm smile. Tang San, though, grew furious. He didn't need to hear the whispers to know what they were saying. It only deepened his hatred for Yu Xiaogang. If he didn't need the man's knowledge about twin martial souls, Tang San would have gotten rid of him long ago.
Ning Rongrong watched it all unfold and laughed softly beside him. "Ning Tian, looks like Huo Wu and that Meng Yiran from before are both stuck on you. And don't forget Shui Bing'er from Tianshui Academy. Why not take them all? Add a few more sisters for us?"
Ning Tian gave her a helpless glance. "Since when are you so open-minded? Have you even thought about Zhu Zhuqing's feelings?"
But Zhu Zhuqing's next words caught him off guard. She leaned in close and whispered, "If they're not shady or bad women, I'd let you bring them home."
Ning Tian coughed, his face turning red. "Zhu Zhuqing, you're not serious, are you?"
Ning Rongrong hummed lightly. "Serious? You're too much for just the two of us to handle."
She couldn't help but think back to how Ning Tian always left her worn out. Zhu Zhuqing nodded in quiet agreement. After going through it herself, she'd figured out Ning Rongrong had been with Ning Tian for a while too. Though her body was stronger than Ning Rongrong's, she couldn't keep up as well. Just yesterday, she'd nearly collapsed. After talking with Ning Rongrong, she realized Ning Tian wasn't just powerful in battle, his stamina in other ways was far beyond normal too.
She still wanted to train and grow stronger, not be left exhausted every time.
…..
While they spoke, the match on the field took a turn. Meng Yiran had beaten four opponents, but her weaker teammates nearly lost it all. By now, it was easy to see how strong each side was in this promotion round. Even setting aside the New Heaven Dou Battle Team and Shrek, the teams from kingdoms and duchies lagged behind the Four Element Academies in overall power.
The first day's matches wrapped up fast, with no real close fights. In just half a day, all eight were done. Afterward, the team leaders went up to draw lots for the next round. Ning Tian was caught off guard when the New Heaven Dou Battle Team got matched against Shrek for round two.
Back at their camp, Zhu Zhuqing headed to her room to rest. Tomorrow's match loomed, and she'd used up a lot of soul power today. She needed to recover fast. Ye Lingling went with her. Ning Tian had learned that Ye Lingling's Sacred Heart Begonia didn't just counter poisons, it could also speed up a soul master's soul power recovery.
…..
The next morning, the competition kicked off.
Shrek sent Yu Tianheng up first. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, known as the top beast martial soul in the soul master world, lived up to its name. He took down the Shi brothers one after the other. But by the third round, his soul power ran low, and Yu Feng's fourth soul skill, Storm Dance, sent him flying off the stage.
Then Xiao Wu stepped up. With her teleportation and Invincible Golden Body skills, Yu Feng didn't stand a chance. His soul power weaker than hers, he fell to her charm, got teleported close, and was tossed out of the ring.
Next came Ning Tian. His soul rings lit up—yellow, purple, purple, black all at once. The moment he stepped onto the stage, that striking setup grabbed everyone's attention. Tang San shot to his feet. "No, I can't let Xiao Wu face him."
Yu Xiaogang grabbed his arm. "Let her go. Ning Tian's strength is beyond this competition. Even the three spirit kings from Spirit Hall Academy might not beat him one-on-one. We need to tire him out. Xiao Wu's Invincible Golden Body and teleportation make her perfect for this. If it gets too tough, she can still keep herself safe."
Flender chimed in beside him. "He's right, Tang San. Trust Xiaogang. He knows what he's doing. Plus, Xiao Wu and Ning Tian used to be friends. He won't hurt her."
Tang San's face darkened even more. He wasn't worried about Xiao Wu getting hurt. What scared him was the thought of her and Ning Tian growing close again. That was the real danger.
As he wrestled with his thoughts, the two on the stage started moving. Xiao Wu winked at Ning Tian and rushed forward, her second and third soul rings glowing as her eyes flashed pink.
Ning Tian didn't flinch at her charm. He didn't strike back hard either. Instead, he sent a quiet message. "Xiao Wu, get your Invincible Golden Body ready. I'll knock you off the stage."
Right then, Xiao Wu teleported next to him. But Ning Tian saw it coming. He swung his sword in a clean arc. "Xiao Wu!" Tang San shouted, jumping up, ready to charge the stage. Just in time, Xiao Wu's fourth soul ring flared.
Her fourth soul skill, Invincible Golden Body, kicked in. A golden glow blocked Ning Tian's sword energy. Even so, the force shoved her off the stage. She flipped in the air a few times before landing steady. The Shrek team hurried over, and Tang San asked, "Xiao Wu, are you okay?"
For some reason, his voice carried a hint of relief. Was it just because she wasn't hurt?
"I used Invincible Golden Body at the last second. I'm fine," Xiao Wu said, shaking her head and putting on a shaken look.
The crowd buzzed with excitement. Yu Xiaogang, sitting with Liu Erlong and Flender in the rest area, stared wide-eyed at Ning Tian, who'd just sent Xiao Wu flying. His sharp voice muttered, "Has the gap gotten this big?"
'If we both started with half a level of innate soul power, how did I end up useless?' he thought.
Flender tried to reason with him. "Xiaogang, maybe we should stop. The kids will only get hurt."
"No," Yu Xiaogang shot back. "The New Heaven Dou Battle Team only has Ning Tian and Zhu Zhuqing as real fighters, aside from their support soul masters. If we can beat Ning Tian, we'll win this."
Yu Xiaogang refused without any hesitation.
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━━━━━━
patreon.com/DUKE3500 for advance chapters for all the novels i translate for 2$