Chapter 24

Both sides announce their names!

Chen Qiye.

Gu Yue.

On the competition platform, the referee stretched his arms out to both sides and said, "Each go to the edge of the arena; I will announce the start, then you may launch an attack."

Both sides retreated to the edge of the arena as instructed; Chen Qiye had just turned when he saw Gu Yue swinging a fist at him from far away.

"Start!" With the referee's soft shout, Chen Qiye instantly released his martial soul, his whole body moving at full speed like an arrow as he charged forward.

So fast

Gu Yue seemed not to have reacted yet; when she raised her hand, Chen Qiye's whole body had already left, he was already about five meters away.

He swung his sword down.

A soul ring rose from beneath Gu Yue's feet; Chen Qiye watched the soul ring burst forth from the girl's body, his expression paused, then he looked at Gu Yue with a solemn face, "Indeed, she's no ordinary girl!"

He also thought, "No wonder she's the Silver Dragon King!"

But at this moment Chen Qiye was already right before Gu Yue's eyes; as an assault-system battle Soul Master, although most people lack long-range soul skills, as a close-combat Soul Master he was very confident in this range, unless Gu Yue had other trump cards.

In the next instant, the girl's figure suddenly vanished. Yan Shaozhe on the observation platform thought, "Space."

Watching Gu Yue disappear before his eyes, Chen Qiye suddenly looked behind him.

Immediately, he saw in shock that the pure light around the girl's body suddenly turned red, and a fist-sized fireball had already arrived before him.

"Test" Chen Qiye couldn't help but mutter.

Chen Qiye casually swept his hand at the oncoming fireball; the fireball exploded upon contact with his sword in mid-air, "Boom—"

The spot where the fireball landed instantly turned the color of charcoal.

Chen Qiye lightly tipped his toes, quickly increasing the distance between them.

"Just now her abilities are a bit strange—first space, then fire, plus water and earth martial souls; is an elemental martial soul really this weird?" Yan Shaozhe and his companions thought.

A flicker of surprise flashed in Gu Yue's eyes; she had deliberately delayed her attack, not because she was slow to react, but she hadn't expected Chen Qiye's reaction speed to be a bit faster than she imagined; to be precise, Chen Qiye's mental strength is not much weaker than Gu Yue's current level.

Again.

Thud, thud

Gu Yue and Chen Qiye exchanged hundreds of moves, neither gaining an advantage.

Chen Qiye, dragging this out like this is pointless; go all out.

I was just about to…

"Release." Chen Qiye gave a soft shout.

Two purple and one black, three soul rings far exceeding normal configuration appeared beneath Chen Qiye's feet.

Compared to Gu Yue's one yellow and two purple, they were more dazzling and imposing, and the pressure was greater.

Ten-thousand-year soul ring!

The spectator area erupted with incredulous shouts.

Even beneath this black third soul ring, the two purple soul rings seemed rather ordinary.

Chen Qiye, a rank 40 assault-system battle Soul Ancestor, please instruct me!

What? Chen Qiye, your soul power has already reached rank 40!

Yeah! I just haven't had time to obtain soul rings.

This time even Gu Yue's usually calm, unflinching face showed a hint of surprise.

……

Seeing countless people shocked by Chen Qiye's talent on site, Yan Shaozhe on the high platform also revealed a relieved smile.

……

Be careful, this time you could easily get hurt.

No need for you to worry.

Gu Yue thought Chen Qiye's words were telling her to be careful, unaware that they were a prelude to an alarm.

Chen Qiye held the Broken Leaves Sword; looking at that sword, everyone felt the surrounding soul power thicken somewhat; Chen Qiye flashed forward and was already before Gu Yue, his speed and power far surpassing their previous bout.

The ferocity of Chen Qiye's sword strike seemed as if he didn't care at all whether the girl before him would be injured.

Gu Yue looked on, unable to help wondering in her heart, "Such a ruthless strike."

Just then a gust of fierce wind blew, sending Gu Yue, who was before Chen Qiye, flying away.

Chen Qiye's sword, having lost its target, struck the platform straight on, instantly collapsing the ground and forming a small pit.

The spectators on the stands stared in shock; if that sword had struck them, they'd likely be dead or severely injured.

In the next instant, Gu Yue vanished before Chen Qiye's eyes.

"Space again"

Chen Qiye watched Gu Yue disappear before him, sensed the wind's flow, and instantly turned, swinging his sword backward to release a blade of sword qi.

Gu Yue, who had just used spatial power to appear behind Chen Qiye, saw the incoming sword qi; instantly the light of her soul rings flashed, and a stone wall rose before her.

The sword qi struck the stone wall, which instantly shattered.

Gu Yue looked at the shattered stone wall, drew a sharp breath, "So fierce; why do I sense a hint of hostility on Chen Qiye?"

The pure light around the girl's body suddenly turned red, and fist-sized fireballs appeared around her.

Go

With Gu Yue's shout, the surrounding fireballs flew toward Chen Qiye; seen, Chen Qiye wielded his long sword, weaving among the fireballs, and each time a fireball contacted the sword, it exploded instantly.

Boom—

More than a dozen fireballs vanished in an instant, yet Chen Qiye did not stop, continuing his assault on Gu Yue.

Impossible!

Seeing this, Gu Yue was also greatly shocked; if it were an ordinary tool martial soul, it would have long been blown away who knows where, but Chen Qiye's Severing Sword not only cut through all of them, but remained completely unscathed.

Gu Yue once again updated her impression of Chen Qiye.

Gu Yue quickly retreated.

Chen Qiye saw three soul rings slowly floating beneath Gu Yue's feet—one yellow, two purple—and saw her flip her hands, a cluster of yellow light bursting from her palms, representing the heavy earth element.

Gu Yue, as if she were the king of elements, casually shaped the earth element; the originally illusory earth element gradually solidified.

As Gu Yue's slender fingers moved rhythmically, that clump of earth element was slowly kneaded into the shape of a petal.

But the next moment, a speck of blue light began to gather in Gu Yue's palm; the tiny water elements in the air started to flash with their blue light. In the end, these water elements were also kneaded into petal shapes, just like the earth element before.

The yellow and blue elements began to slowly intertwine, eventually seeming to merge or exist as independent entities. But Gu Yue's hand movements did not stop; the Fairy Jade Child lightly waved in the air, and the airflow on the arena began to surge, slowly gathering toward Gu Yue.

At the center of the cyan vortex, Gu Yue lightly grasped the void, and a cluster of cyan light appeared in her hand; its fate was the same as before, turning into a petal shape and merging with the previous earth and water elements.

Chen Qiye instantly realized what? He wanted to interrupt Gu Yue's casting, but this powerful elemental airflow formed an invisible wall.

"Want to play? Then I'll play with you..."

Chen Qiye's eyes turned blood-red, boundless killing intent permeated the air; a mere casual sweep produced tremendous might on the stage, his aura terrifying.

Chen Qiye softly shouted, "One sword opens the heavenly gate!"

At that moment, the three soul rings beneath Chen Qiye's feet lit up together, and his Severing Sword flew into the clouds.

The spectators in the viewing seats all looked up at the sky; a huge sword tore open the heavens, pointing straight at Gu Yue.

Gu Yue's movements continued without stopping; the surrounding air gradually grew scorching, the whole hall like an oven, temperature rising sharply, Gu Yue's body trembled slightly, but as the final petal merged into one.

Finally formed was a lotus-shaped object woven from four colors: yellow, red, cyan, and blue.

In just a few moments, Gu Yue condensed a four-colored lotus.

"Here you go!" Suddenly, she lifted her head; a silver light shone from her body, and the lotus that had been in his palm flew toward the huge sword.

"Open!" Chen Qiye also shouted loudly at the same time.

The spectators in the viewing seats all looked up at the sky; a huge sword tore open the heavens, pointing straight at Gu Yue.

Dean Yan Shaoche, full of confidence, upon feeling the two's extraordinary energy burst, suddenly rose to his feet, his eyes filled with disbelief; standing with him was also that stingy Dean Qian.

Qian Duoduo's shock was no less than Yan Shaoche's; he likewise had no idea that both sides still possessed such means! Even more unimaginable, such a shocking scene would unfold in the freshman assessment final. Even if it were senior students from the outer courtyard, or even those from the inner courtyard, such a victorious sight would be extremely rare.

At this moment, even the experienced referee was dumbfounded, for he didn't know whether he should block this collision; both sides erupted with a force not weaker than, even surpassing, what soul masters of this era could unleash, yet not letting them clash head‑on—how could victory be decided?

He didn't know, but that didn't mean nobody knew what to do at this moment. A white figure finally appeared, as if out of thin air in the nick of time, silently arriving in the assessment area.

The place where he appeared was exactly the center of both sides' killing moves.

He blocked the huge sword with his left hand and the four‑colored lotus with his right hand.

This figure who appeared out of nowhere, using his own body to block the two great martial‑soul fusion techniques without producing the slightest rebound, was Du Weilu, Director of the Martial Soul System Teaching Office at Shrek Academy.

That white light was the pure soul power emanating from himself. In that very instant, eight soul rings appeared on his body.

Two yellow, two purple, four black—the strongest soul‑ring configuration. This is the mighty power of an eight‑ring Soul Douluo!

How to defuse such a fierce collision? Du Weilu gave the answer: block it with himself.

He simultaneously withstood both attacks; using his own body as a gauge, he judged the strength of each side's attack to determine the victor.

Both are martial‑soul fusion techniques, both are last resorts. Without doubt, who is stronger becomes obvious in the act of withstanding.

But when the violent smoke and dust cleared, Du Weilu at the explosion's center was no longer his usual composed and shocked self.

Under the gaze of the observing students, Du Weilu suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

An eight‑ring Soul Douluo was actually seriously injured by a Soul Ancestor and a Soul Elder? Or by a few freshmen?

This is truly unbelievable; the teachers also gradually reacted, each staring dumbfounded.

In the assessment area, Du Weilu wiped the blood from his mouth corner, but at this moment he wore a look of astonishment and disbelief; light flickered in his eyes as he gazed at Chen Qiye and Gu Yue. Even he could not believe this was real! Yet the burning pain all over his body and the agony of his shaken viscera were all too real.

At this moment, Du Weilu's mind held only one thought: Are these two really just a Soul Elder and a Soul Ancestor? He spoke in a deep voice: "Below, I announce the final champion of the freshman assessment elimination tournament. They are……"

Having said that, he paused; then a voice suddenly rang out, "I lost."

Everyone looked and saw it was Gu Yue; Gu Yue said.

"My four‑colored lotus may be equal in strength to Chen Qiye's, but he clearly lacks one soul ring; if he had a ten‑thousand‑year soul ring, I would certainly not be his match……"

"No, I also lost…"

The source of this voice was Chen Qiye.

"Victory on the battlefield is only a fleeting moment; I cannot, just because I lack one soul ring, consider you weaker than me."

"So, referee…"

"That's right, this match has no winner or loser; it's a draw—you both won."

Yan Shaoche had already come down from the platform, appearing in everyone's sight; that voice just now was indeed his.

"Boom—" the whole venue erupted in an uproar.

"Shrek Academy has existed for ten thousand years and has never seen such a situation as a draw."

The silence lasted only an instant; instantly, the sounds on the arena became the names of Chen Qiye and Gu Yue.

Chen Qiye and Gu Yue looked at each other, nodded, acknowledging each other's strength in reality.

Chen Qiye knew that this time he had successfully forced Gu Yue to reveal her current limit.

Yet Chen Qiye also lamented in his heart: last time he could still achieve a seven‑three split, but this time only a five‑five split—is this the true power of the Silver Dragon King, the sovereign of soul beasts?

……………

Shrek Plaza——

Du Weilu held a folder, smiling as he scanned the group of young students, then said: "Believe you all know, the freshman assessment elimination tournament has ended and the top three have been decided; below, I will formally announce……"

"Third place, Huo Yuhao's team; team members are Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao—please step forward."

Du Weilu paused slightly, then raised his voice: "Below, please welcome with warm applause the appearance of our freshman assessment's final co‑champions, the Chen Qiye team and the Gu Yue team."

……………

Du Weilun said: "The quality of this year's freshmen surpasses that of previous years; I hope you continue to strive. Heaven rewards diligence……"

"According to the academy's assessment of the freshmen's performance in the evaluation, the core disciples who passed the final review are: Chen Qiye, Gu Yue, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, Dai Huabin……"

Finally, not hearing his own name, Huo Yuhao's face turned pale.

I also saw readers' mixed opinions of me; I admit I have my shortcomings, and I won't say, "If you think my writing is bad, go delete comments?", because I think this is your most objective evaluation of me.

One can recognize one's shortcomings and slowly improve to enhance one's abilities.

So please forgive any problems; this is my first formal novel writing, so please forgive me if it's not that good.

In the early stages there wasn't much of a breakthrough point, so it seemed a bit plain; once the fourth soul ring is obtained, it can start to ignite.

After all, this is an invincible novel.

Also, this is a harem novel, and Gu Yue will soon do something unexpected, after which she will be offline for a while.

In the early stages Jingliu might not be described much, but after the first major competition ends, she will meet everyone frequently.

Also, thank you for everyone's support, thanks, and please vote for monthly tickets.

Thanks.

(End of chapter)