Chapter 603 - Nine-ringed Silver Blade
“Fantastic!” Tang Wulin’s exclamation drew gazes from their surroundings.
Gu Yue’s smile grew into a full-fledged grin. It wouldn’t be a lie to say she loved that happy expression of his.
The streets surrounding the stadium were packed with people, with many streets sealed off due to necessity. Gu Yue and Tang Wulin barely managed to enter the competitors’ area after having their badges scanned.
The moment they stepped foot into the stadium, the electric atmosphere came at them from all directions. The heated shouts of the spectators crashed upon his ears like raging waves, drowning out anything less than yelling right beside him.
This was the cheering of three hundred thousand people!
Numerous stages were set up within the stadium, each equipped with a special soul barrier to prevent the battles from affecting one another.
When Tang Wulin first caught sight of these stages, his eyes shone with glee. The individual competition had no rules and competitors were free to use whatever they had at their disposal. The competition required signing a death waiver after all. Although fatalities were rare, it was impossible for the referees to always intervene in time. This would be Tang Wulin’s first time participating in such a competition.
Very few competitors used mechas for the preliminary rounds. Due to the fact that fifty arenas were set up in the stadium, each arena only amounted to about fifty meters in diameter. Maneuvering a mecha in such limited space would prove difficult.
However, Tang Wulin saw many people equipped with an assortment of soul devices. Those technological marvels were shiny gadgets in his eyes, utterly dazzling.
“Damn! I’m super pumped for this now! Gu Yue, are you sure you don’t wanna participate?” Tang Wulin asked. She had registered long ago, so she could still change her mind.
Gu Yue shook her head. “I’m not interested. I’m fine with just the duos with you.”
“Alright then.” Tang Wulin took out his electronic badge and looked up his information. He still had about half an hour before his first match. The only information he had about his opponent was their number: 631.
“I wonder what my opponent will be like,” Tang Wulin said, a smile on his lips.
“No matter who they are, they won’t be able to stop you,” said Gu Yue. “Good luck. I might not be able to become one of the Shrek Seven Monsters, but you definitely can. Don’t underestimate your opponent though. Remember what we heard from those Imperial Star Luo Academy people? The most powerful academy in the Star Luo Empire is Monster Academy, and they’re heavily influenced by Shrek. You’ll be in trouble too if you meet any battle armor masters.”
Tang Wulin nodded. “Don’t worry. I have a plan.”
Time passed quickly and Tang Wulin’s number was called up onto the stage. He waved to Gu Yue as he left for stage 33. As he climbed up, the coincidence of being competitor 333 on stage 33 made him feel lucky!
Once he stood on stage, he was floored by the immense pressure of hundreds of thousands of gazes, all converging on him. A completely different feeling from when he was still waiting for his turn. The spotlights dazzled him. The crowd shouted with enthusiasm, their voices reverberating like a roaring wave. Even the most steadfast competitor would be swept up in the mood of the crowd, blood racing.
Thousands of years ago, there was also a tournament like this on Douluo.
Amidst the shouts of the crowd, a person climbed onto the side of the stage opposite of Tang Wulin. This was undoubtedly his opponent, competitor number 631.
The opponent was a young man about seventeen or eighteen years old. He stood tall with a well-proportioned build. His entire being exuded a steady aura.
Tang Wulin had plenty of combat experience. So much so, in fact, that he was immediately on alert and in combat mode the moment he saw his opponent. He could tell that his opponent would be a bit of trouble.
From a viewing platform, two elderly men sat together discussing the matches. If anyone were to approach, they would discover that no sound escaped from the area around them. They were completely isolated from the outer world.
“Wuxie’s match is about to start. Old Lin, these are just the preliminaries. Why did you want to personally watch? You sure do care a lot about that precious disciple of yours!” the thin elderly man on the left side teased.
The person referred to as Old Lin was a tall elderly man. Face impassive, he answered in a deep voice, “Even a lion needs to use all its strength to hunt a rabbit. Although these are the preliminaries, he might be unlucky enough to come across a powerful opponent. I also want to see for myself if he’s taken my teachings to heart. He’s eighteen this year. It’s his last chance to compete in the Continent Young Elites Tournament. He can’t afford to lose. He just needs to at least make it into the quarterfinals.”
The thin elder smiled. “Now ain’t that a low goal! Isn’t Wuxie already a one-word battle armor master? And with his five-ring cultivation, it’ll be hard to find an opponent that will give him trouble throughout the entire tournament. Maybe if it’s one of the elites from Monster Academy we could talk, but I don’t think so. This match will finish in a flash. I bet Wuxie’s got a good chance of making the top three.”
Old Lin said, “I hope so. But I’m actually the most worried about the preliminaries. If he’s unlucky, he could be in the same heat as the fledgling monsters from Monster Academy. He’ll be in trouble if that happens. Since the preliminaries are instant elimination, he won’t have another chance.”
Once again, a smile graced the thin elder’s lips. “Well, that’s not happening this match at least. This baby-faced kid is probably fifteen at most. He’s most likely here to see what it’s like. We can start packing up our bags now.”
Old Lin nodded.
Shimmering light climbed through the air as the barrier formed a dome over the stage. Since the matches were devoid of rules, the sole job of the referee was to declare the winner when the dust settled. An electronic voice sounded, “First round of the elimination matches: Competitor 333 versus competitor 631. Prepare yourselves. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Begin!”
The instant the match began, Tang Wulin rushed his opponent. He didn’t even release his martial soul yet.
Competitor 631 was named Ling Wuxie and he hailed from an ancient sect. He was here to carve a name for himself at this tournament. In his previous participation at the age of fifteen, he ranked in the top sixty-four. Since then, he had poured blood and sweat into cultivation so that he could achieve a better rank this time.
When he saw that Tang Wulin had charged him without summoning his martial soul, Ling Wuxie was taken aback. Did he forget his martial soul?
The Continental Young Elites Tournament was so large and placed so much pressure upon competitors that more than a few made glaring mistakes.
Yet Ling Wuxie didn’t dare be careless. His eyes shone as five soul rings appeared around him, two yellow and three purple. The optimum configuration. His martial soul appeared simultaneously, light gathering to form a blade in his hand. The blade was about 1.3 meters long with nine rings, both blade and rings made of a silver metal. His five soul rings flew into his blade, merging with its first five rings, changing their colors to match those of his soul rings.
A tool martial soul! Tang Wulin’s eyes narrowed. He could tell his opponent was powerful, the way the soul rings merged with the blade a testament to that. It looks like my luck’s a bit bad this time. His first match and he must face a five-ringed Soul King! Meanwhile, many of the other battles were only between two or three-ringed soul masters.
Why am I the only one with a five-ringed opponent? Yet Tang Wulin could only push away the thoughts of complaint, focusing on rushing his opponent once more.
Ling Wuxie raised his Nine-ringed Silver Blade at Tang Wulin. Filled it with soul power. In a flash, he released a one-meter-long beam.
Tang Wulin picked up speed and altered his path to evade the attack, but the beam adjusted its trajectory in pursuit of him. It was a soul skill that locked onto its target!
Unable to dodge, Tang Wulin chose to stand his ground. He planted his feet into the floor for a moment and took a stance. He thrust out a punch. A white glow coated his knuckles, his punch on its way to collide with the Ling Wuxie’s attack.
A martial soul was unnecessary. Using just his soul power was enough!
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