Chapter 96: Special Martial Soul

"Gu Qi is good in all aspects, but compared with Tie Li he looks considerably inferior; if a normal strong‑attack‑type Soul Elder were to Soul Battle him, he should be able to win," Qin Ming added.

As a teacher, he has excellent ability and can judge a student's level from some simple battle scenes.

Zhi Lin nodded, endorsing Qin Ming's statement.

Having seen the two's strength, Qin Ming already had a plan for what came next.

After seeing Tie Li's power, Gu Qi's eyes gained an inescapable hint of fear.

As for Tie Li, he was fairly satisfied with his own performance just now.

His own Soul Battle experience, combined with what he learned at the academy, yielded even more outstanding combat power.

But there is still room for improvement.

Zhao Laoshi saw his own reflection in Tie Li's fight, and his assessment of Tie Li rose a bit.

"Teacher Li, please ask Teacher Yu to come over; Gu Qi is injured," Zhao Laoshi said to the nearby Teacher Li.

From Zhao Laoshi's demeanor, it was clear she had no intention of sending Tie Li and Gu Qi back.

Zhao Laoshi let Gu Qi rest aside, and at that moment another male student, about twenty years old, arrived.

He was tall and well‑built, looks above average, with very spirited eyes, giving a very good first impression.

"Zhao Laoshi."

"Tuo Yu, you really like to come right on time," Zhao Laoshi laughed.

Tie Li's impression of Tuo Yu was the same as Gu Qi's; they were classmates in the same classroom, not close but had seen each other.

"Zhao Laoshi, what brings you to find me?" Tuo Yu asked politely.

"You two will have a Soul Battle; I need to assess your strength."

Tuo Yu hesitated a moment, seeming to guess Zhao Laoshi's purpose, and then spoke.

"Zhao Laoshi, I don't want to join the Second Team, I…"

"This is Teacher Qin's order; you can go to Teacher Qin to give feedback."

Hearing it was Teacher Qin's command, Tuo Yu let out a sigh of relief and gave a wry smile.

Tie Li felt a slight aversion upon hearing he was to join the Second Team of Tian Dou Royal Academy.

His main purpose in joining Tian Dou Royal Academy was to study Soul Master knowledge, deepen his foundation, and avoid mistakes during cultivation.

Zhao Laoshi noticed Tie Li's change of expression and thought to herself, "Oh no."

"Don't rush to refuse; if you are willing to join the academy's Second Team, the academy will obtain the Fourth Soul Ring most suitable for you and allocate resources toward you;

you should know this is Tian Dou Royal Academy, the Empire's top academy; when such an institution allocates resources to you, it will greatly aid your future development."

The conditions Zhao Laoshi offered were exactly what Tie Li needed most, making it hard for him to refuse.

"Of course, you may also refuse; you will still retain the rights of a Tian Dou‑level student. When you break through Forty Level, the academy will also obtain a Fourth Soul Ring for you, but the benefits will certainly not compare to the former."

Not every student is willing to join the Soul Master Competition; for example, Tuo Yu here, if Qin Ming didn't hold such high prestige in his eyes, he wouldn't have any interest in the Soul Master Competition at all.

Zhi Lin's eyelid twitched in the room; representing Tian Dou Royal Academy in the Continental Soul Master Elite Competition is an honor, even the Second Team qualification draws a group of students watching, and when it comes to them, everyone has to coax them.

"There will always be some students who dislike such contests; that's normal," Qin Ming said with a smile, trying to reassure.

"Those nobles all eye the Second Team slots; to build a truly strong Second Team for the competition, I ended up offending them, and now these bratty kids still refuse to compete."

In the end Tie Li nodded in agreement, which let Zhi Lin breathe a sigh of relief; without a strong‑attack‑type Fourth Ring Soul Ancestor, the team's overall strength would drop a tier.

"Tuo Yu is a Control-type Soul Master; in one‑on‑one Soul Battles, Control-type Soul Masters hold a dominant position, and ordinary Soul Masters find it hard to defeat them;

but in Soul Power Level, Tuo Yu is only at Thirty‑Two Level, which is a clear gap compared to Wan Li," Qin Ming analyzed.

"Tuo Yu's martial soul is the rare Shadow Mirror martial soul, capable of summoning the demon‑shadow Soul Beast that he has absorbed Soul Rings from, and the main reason I chose him as a Control-type Soul Master is that his Second and Third Soul Rings are Plant Soul Beasts, giving him extremely strong field‑control ability."

Qin Ming had studied Tuo Yu's martial soul in depth and knew its potential was huge; in certain situations it could produce unexpected effects.

Tuo Yu's field‑control ability is not inferior to that of orthodox Control-type Soul Masters; it's just a bit behind Du Gu Yan, who excels at poison‑based control, and Du Gu Yan's talent surpasses Tuo Yu's, so before the Soul Master Competition starts he will surely break through to become a Fourth Ring Soul Ancestor.

Between a Soul Ancestor‑level Control-type Soul Master and a Soul Elder Control-type Soul Master, which benefits the team more is self‑evident.

If Tuo Yu becomes a Soul Ancestor and obtains a Fourth Soul Ring, whose field‑control is stronger? Even Qin Ming dares not make a casual judgment.

At Zhao Laoshi's signal, Tie Li and Tuo Yu's Soul Battle began.

Tuo Yu had no intention to hide his power; the three Soul Rings lit up simultaneously, two yellow and one purple, shining brilliantly together.

"Roar!"

Tuo Yu's First Soul Ring comes from a hundred‑year‑old Golden Bear, the Second Soul Ring from a six‑hundred‑year‑old Ghost Vine, and the Third Soul Ring from a thousand‑year‑old Crimson Fire Thorn.

The Soul Beast emerging from the shadow realm had a dark silhouette; its eyes were not merely empty, retaining some of its former combat memories.

The Golden Bear let out another beastly roar and immediately launched an attack at Tie Li, while the Ghost Vine and Crimson Fire Thorn attacked him from both sides.

Tuo Yu's sense of danger to Tie Li far exceeded Gu Qi's; this was also Tie Li's first time feeling pressure from an opponent whose Soul Power Level was higher than his own.

The First and Third Soul Rings lit up together; facing an opponent whose strength was not inferior to his own, Tie Li had to give his all and could not afford any carelessness.

First Soul Technique, Thunder Hammer!

Third Soul Technique, Thousand‑Weight Transformation!

Tie Li's physique swelled by a third, and his grip on the hammer's handle became more powerful.

With a forceful step, he launched the first assault toward the Golden Bear.

"Roar!"

The Golden Bear let out a roar, showing no intention to dodge; its power concentrated in its paws, it met Tie Li's attack head‑on.

"Boom—"

The Golden Bear's form stalled; its strength was inferior to Tie Li's, and its whole body collapsed and deformed into an abnormal shape.

The Ghost Vine and Crimson Fire Thorn attacks arrived simultaneously; several vines and thorns crossed toward Tie Li, forcing him to temporarily abandon his offense and dodge repeatedly.

Just as Tie Li thought he had successfully evaded the onslaught, he realized the Ghost Vine and Crimson Fire Thorn had interwoven into a special web, snapping shut and trapping him inside.

(End of Chapter)