章 88: Chapter 88: Shock
Before long, it was time for the thirteenth match of the youth division—Jing Shaoyu's turn to take the stage.
"Good luck, Xiao Yu-ge!" Xu Xiaoyan called out cheerfully.
"Go, Captain!" Tang Wulin and Xie Xie chimed in.
"…" Gu Yue stayed silent but watched intently.
Jing Shaoyu stepped onto the platform, his opponent entering from the opposite side—a tall boy dressed in the Ninghai Academy uniform. With a composed demeanor and noble bearing, he was clearly from a prominent family.
But what caught Jing Shaoyu's attention most was his affiliation with Ninghai Academy. The fact that it carried the prestigious "Ninghai" name marked it as the strongest academy in Ninghai City, the third most powerful institution in the Tianhai Alliance, right behind Tianhai Academy and Hailu Academy.
"You're one of the Class Zero members from Donghai Academy, right? I've heard about you guys—pretty impressive! When I was your age, I wouldn't have had the courage to enter the Tianhai Alliance Competition," the Ninghai Academy student remarked, noting Jing Shaoyu's youthful face with a hint of admiration. "My name is Wu Bai, sixth-year intermediate student at Ninghai Academy. Don't feel bad about losing to me—I'll go easy on you."
"Wu Bai?" Jing Shaoyu was taken aback. "As in… the singer?"
Wu Bai chuckled. "No, no, it's 'Wu' as in warrior, and 'Bai' as in cypress."
"Oh, got it," Jing Shaoyu replied, scratching his head sheepishly. "By the way, any relation to Wu Song?"
"You know my brother?" Wu Bai looked genuinely surprised.
"Oh, uh… just a random guess, really," Jing Shaoyu replied awkwardly.
The referee, uninterested in their conversation, stepped in. "Both contestants, get ready."
At the referee's signal, Jing Shaoyu and Wu Bai turned serious. Jing Shaoyu narrowed his eyes, observing Wu Bai closely, sensing that this could be a challenging fight.
"Begin!"
Wu Bai moved immediately, striding forward with powerful steps. With each step, his aura grew, his transformation gradually revealing itself. By the seventh step, he had completed his spirit possession, towering at two meters with bulging muscles and powerful tiger-like claws covered in golden fur. Feline—no, tiger—ears topped his head.
Wu Bai's spirit: the Vajra Tiger. A level-32 assault-type Battle Soul Exalted with a spirit ring configuration of two yellow and one purple.
As he took his eighth step, his first and second spirit rings lit up simultaneously. A golden light radiated from his body, his eyes filled with fierce determination, and his claws gleamed with sharp edges—his first and second spirit skills, Vajra Rage Transformation and Vajra Frenzied Assault, were activated.
Jing Shaoyu, seeing Wu Bai's transformation, grew cautious. He raised his Celestial Staff, summoning a shower of fiery meteors and a whirlwind from the ground to test Wu Bai's strength.
A powerful whirlwind sprang up at Wu Bai's feet, and scorching fireballs rained down toward him. Undeterred, Wu Bai's footsteps remained steady. With each step, he lessened the whirlwind's control over him, his clothes flapping wildly in the wind but his stance unwavering. He swiped his claws, easily shattering the approaching fireballs.
The combination of fireballs and wind bindings barely fazed Wu Bai. After this brief skirmish, he emerged with only slight burns on his fur and a disheveled appearance, but no real damage.
Intrigued, Jing Shaoyu decided it was time to reveal a new ability.
For the first time in a large-scale competition on the Douluo Continent, he summoned his Primal Spirit, an event that would later be recorded in history as a milestone, making this year's Tianhai Alliance Competition an iconic event and an exam question for future students.
"What… is that?" Wu Bai's eyes widened in shock as he stared at Jing Shaoyu's spirit. "I've never seen anything like it."
The referee, equally surprised, wore a curious expression, unable to identify this unfamiliar spirit.
But before Wu Bai and the referee could delve deeper, Jing Shaoyu's spirit rings appeared, leaving everyone in the arena in stunned silence. The spectators watching the youth division, and even those not watching, couldn't help but gape in disbelief. "He's… a Soul Exalted?"
In a luxurious private box, a sharp-eyed, strong-willed woman abruptly stood up, her gaze locked on Jing Shaoyu. She was Xie Xueyun, the dean of Ninghai Academy's intermediate division.
"A Soul Exalted… with three thousand-year spirit rings! How did Donghai Academy find a talent like this? For a prodigy like him to emerge from the Eastern Coastal Region—this is unprecedented!"
"Haha, I knew you'd be surprised, Dean Xie!"
Three middle-aged men entered the box. The man in the lead chuckled, gesturing toward the woman's stunned expression.
"We never doubted it, did we?" one of the men behind him muttered, rolling his eyes.
Xie Xueyun was unperturbed by the trio's arrival. "What brings you three here?"
"Oh, we just thought we'd chat about the Donghai Academy students," replied the leading man, Long Huan, dean of the intermediate division at Tianhai Academy.
"Ah, so you have information on them, then? Otherwise, I doubt Dean Zhang and Dean Xu would have joined you," Xie Xueyun said, intrigued.
Dean Zhang and Dean Xu, respectively Zhang Leipeng of Hailu Academy and Xu Le of Linghai Academy, exchanged awkward smiles. They were both Soul Emperors like the others in the room, making it a gathering of four deans from the top five academies in the Tianhai Alliance.
In fact, their roles were similar to that of Donghai Academy's Director Long Hengxu, except that they held the title of "dean" while Long was only a director, making him reluctant to attend these gatherings to avoid the awkwardness of his lower status.
"As I was saying, Donghai Academy has truly exceptional students this year," Long Huan continued. "They sent twelve participants, seven from their advanced division and five first-year students from their intermediate division."
"Five?" Xie Xueyun asked, intrigued. "Apart from Jing Shaoyu and Gu Yue, who are the other three?"
"There's a one-ring Soul Master named Tang Wulin with a thousand-year spirit ring, a two-ring Soul Grandmaster named Xie Xie with a commendable performance, and a girl named Xu Xiaoyan who hasn't competed yet. Judging by her surname, she's probably from the Xu family of Donghai City," Long Huan explained.
"These five are only ten years old, yet each is a prodigy—a one-ring Soul Master with a thousand-year spirit ring, a two-ring Soul Grandmaster with two thousand-year spirit rings, and now a Soul Exalted with three thousand-year spirit rings. No wonder Long Hengxu has been so smug lately," Xu Le said with a hint of envy.
"Hah, with so many talents, I'd be smug too," Zhang Leipeng snorted. "I thought Hailu Academy's students were outstanding this year, but Donghai Academy's kids are on another level."
"If I recall, Jing Shaoyu's last opponent was one of your students from Hailu Academy, right?" Xie Xueyun asked.
"Yes, and that student was one of our top prospects," Zhang Leipeng replied helplessly. "But he still lost to that kid, Jing Shaoyu."
"I wonder… what would it take to recruit these kids?" Xu Le mused, rubbing his chin.
"You'd best drop that idea," Long Huan warned. "From what I know, Donghai Academy has set up a special Class Zero just for these students. If you tried to poach them, Yue Zhen and those seniors from Donghai City wouldn't let it slide."
"Ah, right… I was just wondering," Xu Le mumbled sheepishly. Donghai Academy might not be top-tier, but the old
masters of Donghai City were formidable, with few rivals in the entire Tianhai Alliance.
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