At last, it was Shrek Academy's turn to enter. "Come on." Dai Mubai was the first to extend his right hand, followed by Tang San, Xiao Wu, Oscar, Ma Hongjun, Zhu Zhuqing… all eleven of them stacked their hands together and shouted as one.
Under the encouraging gaze of their confident teammates, Xiao Wu walked steadily into the arena.
Shrek Academy's first-round opponents hailed from the Balak Kingdom—a royal academy. It held the same position in the Balak Kingdom that the Tian Dou Imperial Academy held in the Tian Dou Empire. Its name matched its kingdom, too: Balak Academy.
The first fighter sent out by Balak Academy was a tall young man who looked to be in his twenties, dressed in a black uniform trimmed with gold. The moment he caught sight of Xiao Wu, he froze for an instant.
Two things caught him off guard. The first was Xiao Wu's appearance. The second, naturally, was the utterly grotesque uniform of Shrek Academy.
Every inch of Shrek Academy's uniforms was now plastered with advertisements—there was barely a spot without some sponsor's logo. In Tian Dou City, Shrek Academy had become thoroughly infamous because of it.
But the students of Balak Academy, coming from the Balak Kingdom, had no way of knowing any of that.
Watching Xiao Wu strut in wearing that dung-green uniform covered in garish logos, the tall young man burst out laughing. Had Xiao Wu not been such a pretty girl, he would certainly have tossed out a few cutting remarks.
"Little sister, how old are you this year? Don't tell me Shrek Academy is so short on people they sent you out just to fill a spot? I hit pretty hard—I'd hate to accidentally hurt you. Why don't you step down and send someone stronger up here? This isn't a place for someone like you." The tall young man spoke with exaggerated sincerity.
Although Xiao Wu's figure had already grown close to that of an adult woman, several important features were still in their bud. On top of that, the youthful innocence on her face was clearly not something someone over twenty should still carry. In a team battle, with so many fighters milling about, nobody paid much attention to such things—but in a one-on-one match, the contrast between the two opponents was impossible to miss.
Xiao Wu frowned. The tall young man had spoken loudly enough that most of the students watching from outside the arena had heard every word.
Oscar turned to Ma Hongjun beside him with a puzzled look. "Fatty, why are you covering your eyes?"
Ma Hongjun answered with absolute sincerity. "Because I can't bear to watch. Dismissing Xiao Wu like that—this fellow from Balak Academy is about to have a very bad time. Don't you remember? That terrifying string of throws she used to pull off. What was it called again—the Eight Stage Throw? Oh, right, you weren't there that time. What a shame—you missed the whole thing. I really can't watch."
While Ma Hongjun and Oscar were chatting, the match had already begun under the referee's signal.
Xiao Wu did not strike first. She blinked at the tall young man across from her. "Big brother, I think you're right—this really isn't a place I should be."
Her lips said one thing, but her body was already transforming. Her Martial Soul was released in silence: two yellow, one purple—three Soul Rings spiraling into the air around her.
The tall young man from Balak Academy should have noticed the Soul Rings and grown wary, but as Ma Hongjun had said, he truly was underestimating Xiao Wu far too much. What's more, he was supremely confident in his own strength. Across the entire Balak Academy team, he was not only the captain but also the strongest fighter. His Soul Power had surpassed the fortieth level. Unfortunately for him, his opponent was Xiao Wu.
The instant Xiao Wu unleashed her Martial Soul, she also activated a Soul Skill—her second ring skill, Charm.
The yellow ring blazed with light, and Xiao Wu's eyes simultaneously turned a bewitching shade of pink. The tall young man stared blankly, his mind growing hazy. And in that very moment, Xiao Wu moved.
According to match regulations, both fighters began at a distance of twenty meters. Xiao Wu's long legs sprang forward with tremendous force, and in the span of a single heartbeat she had cut the gap between them to ten meters.
The tall young man's Soul Power was, after all, higher than Xiao Wu's, and his dazed state did not last long. On instinct, sensing danger, he hurriedly activated his Martial Soul even as his vision remained blurred, simultaneously slapping both palms hard against his own face to clear his head.
His reaction was not slow. By the time Xiao Wu closed to within five meters, he had already fully recovered his senses. Seeing those three Soul Rings swelling larger in front of him and the frightening speed of the girl bearing down on him, how could he not be alarmed?
Almost on reflex, he raised both hands and launched his first Soul Skill at Xiao Wu rushing toward him.
But in the very instant that skill activated, he froze once more—because the opponent who had been right in front of him had vanished.
Xiao Wu had reappeared behind the tall young man, her back to his. Her scorpion braid whipped outward. Before the young man could even finish registering his shock, he felt a sharp tighten around his neck.
Xiao Wu did not even turn around. The moment her braid wound tight around the opponent's neck, she planted her left foot on the ground, swung her right leg up behind her, and drove it straight into the small of the tall young man's back. First Soul Skill—Waist Bow, activated.