"Rise."
Gu You formed hand seals, and a strange purple array automatically etched itself beneath his feet. Before him, the Ascending Dragon Stele emitted a piercing white light that shot straight into the heavens.
A sea-blue vortex appeared in the sky, and that beam of white light pierced into it. Everything around froze at that moment.
A mournful dragon's roar echoed from within the vortex.
"Your mission is over" Gu You spoke calmly.
From his chest, a streak of violet light flew out and surged into the sky-bound sea-blue vortex.
The vortex expanded for a moment, then collapsed into a small point, rushing downward toward the Ascending Dragon Stele.
The bone-like surface of the stele shed away, revealing pure white radiance beneath.
It was as though there were stars on its surface, each twinkling with soft light.
Gu You glanced at the current Ascending Dragon Stele and nodded in satisfaction.
With two fingers, he pointed forward. The entire stele rose into the sky, transformed into a beam of light, and vanished into the starry space of his spiritual sea.
'This counts as a new kind of resistance too.'
Gu You sat down and began meditating. There were still two days until the advancement match against the sixth-year students.
It was time for proper cultivation.
With the Ascending Dragon Stele's help, anyone with dragon-type bloodlines—be they soul beasts or humans—would experience over twice the usual cultivation speed in this realm.
Especially soul beasts with star-attribute bloodlines—the boost was even greater. But unfortunately, star-attribute beasts were incredibly rare. Throughout the Douluo Continent, there were only a few ever recorded. Star-attribute martial souls, however, were a little more common.
One could say that the stele's secondary attributes were lackluster, but its primary function—amplifying cultivation—was without flaw.
Gu You calmed his thoughts and sensed the flow of soul power in his body, as if it were connected to his very bloodline.
The life force and elemental power in the air merged into him from all directions.
It was a soothing feeling, one that made time pass all too quickly.
Two days later—
Gu You's eyes snapped open. The aura radiating from him was vastly different—intense yet composed.
Level 68!
Feeling the raging soul power within, Gu You clenched his fists.
'This match with the sixth years... it's time to vent.'
Shrek Academy's sixth year was divided into two groups. One was the "new sixth year"—students who had just advanced from the fifth year. The other was the "old sixth year"—those who had lingered at this level for five or six years, unable to either enter the Inner Court or graduate by crafting their battle armor.
Gu You's team would face a mixed group of three from each category in a friendly match.
You might ask, why only six opponents in a 7v7 format?
This was something the Shrek teachers had long debated. Having one fewer person was reasonable, given that the higher years were battling down. But adding an extra person also made sense—after all, the lower years had Gu You, a complete monster.
In the end, they settled on letting the strongest candidate from the new sixth year—someone with the potential to enter the Inner Court—serve as the opposing team's captain.
All this was done to try and limit Gu You. He was too strong. Even full-fledged battle armor masters might not last more than a few seconds against him.
This grand cross-grade friendly match would be open for students from all grades to watch. Even Inner Court disciples could attend if they wished. Shrek had especially activated the largest battle arena in the Outer Court for the event.
"You came?"
Xie Xie looked slightly dazed as he gazed out at the massive arena. From beginning to end, they all knew—this stage belonged to Gu You.
"Yeah."
"Everyone get ready. If you can attack, do so. If not, focus on protecting yourselves. Since they're allowed to go all-out, the destruction level won't be low" Gu You swept his gaze across the team.
The rules of this match had changed repeatedly. First, the sixth years were restricted to under four rings, then they were allowed to use battle armor. Now, it had evolved into full-power combat.
Totally unfair—for Xie Xie and the others. But Gu You couldn't refute it, because for him, it was fair.
If the sixth years were restricted to four-ring strength, then it would be unfair to them against someone like him.
"Both teams, enter the arena."
The referee's deep voice echoed—it was clear from the tone alone that he wasn't ordinary. An elder of Shrek, no doubt.
The arena was vast, able to accommodate over a thousand people.
And incredibly, it was packed to the brim—no empty seats.
So many heads squeezed together, the sight made Xu Xiaoyan too nervous to even lift her head.
Luo Guixing, Wu Siduo, Xu Yucheng, Yang Nianxia, and Zheng Yiran were all in the spectator stands, though Yue Tian and the support-type soul master were absent.
Other than Luo Guixing, Wu Siduo, and Yang Nianxia, the others had been hit by Gu You's destruction orbs just the day before. Their bodies had been a wreck, faces twisted beyond recognition. But thanks to Ya Li's healing, they were mostly fine now, no scarring either. Still, their faces looked gloomy.
They'd lost. And it felt inexplicable. It had been a battle among equals!
Even under the most conservative estimates, having Wu Siduo alone should have been enough to turn the tide.
But why—why had Gu You wiped them out with just one soul skill? They only remembered a flash of violet light, and then nothing.
Zheng Yiran couldn't accept it. But they had lost, and that was reality. Not accepting it changed nothing.
Yang Nianxia was the calmest among them. He shrugged, "Gu You had his strength sealed, so we didn't lose unjustly. When my bear claws collided with his dragon claw, he clearly held back. Otherwise, I might've lost an arm."
Hearing that, all except Luo Guixing nodded slightly.
'Yeah... he really was holding back.'
Wu Siduo narrowed her eyes. She'd never doubted her own martial soul talent. But ever since meeting Gu You, she had experienced true humiliation—getting obliterated in front of their entire class.
"That fight's already over. Let's watch this one carefully. We need to understand where we fall short" Xu Yucheng said, glancing at the others.
"True... is Yue Tian alright though? He seemed totally depressed after Gu You knocked him out of the arena with a single punch" Yang Nianxia asked Luo Guixing.
'It's only right to worry about a teammate.'
"Not sure. Don't bother him for now. It seems like his martial soul might've been damaged" Luo Guixing shook his head.
Martial soul damage?
The rest of them sucked in a cold breath. Just how powerful was Gu You's punch, that it could shatter a martial soul?
"Today's match will be watched by me and Her Excellency the Holy Spirit Douluo. Afterward, we'll be distributing special rewards!" Cai Yue'er announced from the spectator platform.
A chorus of cheers followed. As the Outer Court's headmaster, Cai Yue'er rarely involved herself in daily affairs. At her level, most of her time was spent in cultivation. Even becoming a Title Douluo didn't mean one could rest easy—one had to continuously train, stabilize their vast energy, and nourish their armor to delay aging.
But ever since this generation of first-years had enrolled, she'd clearly taken a special interest.
This Silver Moon Douluo had appeared more than once in their classes. During the internal team selection match, she had been present too—though in a place the students couldn't see.
Both teams now stood on the enormous battlefield, a hundred meters apart.
There was a clear age and height gap between them. Still, other than being six or seven years older, the sixth years weren't that much taller—just a little. Except for Xu Xiaoyan. She was just tiny.
"Team captains, introduce yourselves."
"Ye Shihong, martial soul: Golden Leaf. Sixty-three rank power assault system Soul Emperor."
The crowd erupted with thunderous cheers...
(End of Chapter)
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