Chapter 51.1: The Butterfly Goddess Slash and the Berserk White Tiger
“Year 2, Class 1. Wang Dong.” Wang Dong strode forward and handed his test form to the referee.
That’s right. This time Wang Dong was the first to take the field instead of Huo Yuhao. However, the other students had all expected this sort of change. After all, Huo Yuhao had previously used his special soul skill to intimidate the soul beast, not harm it. This time around, his soul skill had been restricted. Thus, he naturally couldn’t be Class 1’s opening act. Class 1 needed an opening that would stun their opponents.
In Dai Huabin’s eyes, however, Huo Yuhao was a coward. The thought of him kowtowing and acknowledging his mistake to Huo Yuhao turned the intense humiliation he felt into bitter resentment, which wrecked havoc in his mind. Revenge. I want revenge! I will first trample them beneath my feet, then find an opportunity to eradicate them all. No, I want to see them kneel before me, wailing and begging me for mercy! Only then will I kill them!
Dai Huabin, who wasn’t even thirteen years old, had long since seen bloodshed. There was already a merciless look in his eyes!
“I choose a thousand year soul beast.” Wang Dong’s voice drew Dai Huabin out of his reverie. He couldn’t help but be taken aback when he heard Wang Dong’s selection. Despite his thousand year soul skill, Wang Dong’s cultivation was only that of a Soul Grandmaster. He actually dared to choose a thousand year soul beast, the highest ranked opponent in this examination?
The two referees were also shocked.
Two days ago, Huo Yuhao had shocked them. He’d been the first to take the field, and had chosen a soul beast with a cultivation of a hundred years. This was a soul beast reared in the Great Beast Duelling Arena, yet Huo Yuhao had managed to scare it witless with the aura of two hundred thousand year soul rings, an event which had stunned everyone present. This time around, Class 1 had sent out someone else, who’d immediately chosen a thousand year soul beast. Were these kids really intending to corroborate Shrek Academy’s slogan, that they only bred monsters?
However, the referee didn’t dare to delay the matter any further with Dean Yan Shaozhe in the audience. “Wang Dong, are you ready?”
“I’m ready.” Wang Dong nodded with a serious expression on his face as brilliant blue rays of light enveloped him. He didn’t waste any time in releasing his martial soul. Even he wasn’t sure of himself when it came to confronting a thousand year soul beast.
“Ah!” Cries of surprise rang out as all of the students and even several teachers became gobsmacked by what they saw.
They weren’t taken aback by Wang Dong’s martial soul, the Radiant Butterfly Goddess, but rather by the three soul rings that had gradually risen from beneath his feet. That’s right. There were now three soul rings. This was Wang Dong’s secret.
When they’d had to report back to the academy, Huo Yuhao had been late, while Wang Dong had rushed back with only two days to spare! Just what had he been up to? In the short span of just a month, he’d succeeded in breaking through his cultivation bottleneck of Rank 30 with the help of his clan and had even managed to obtain his third soul ring.
Yan Shaozhe’s eyes shone as he sat on the Spectator’s Stand. With a slight nod of his head, he said, “Good. He has one yellow soul ring and two purple soul rings. This kid’s talent and martial soul has far surpassed those of his peers. He’s definitely going to be a great asset in the future. However, the Radiant Butterfly Goddess…” A hint of a playful smile lifted the corners of his lips when he mentioned that point.
Wang Dong’s third soul ring was also a purple soul ring, which meant that it was a thousand year soul ring. Thus, the Soul Elder-ranked Wang Dong already had two thousand year soul rings.These weren’t imitation soul rings but the genuine article.
Dai Huabin would never have thought that Wang Dong would give him such a huge “surprise.” That’s right, his cultivation in soul power was truly stronger than Wang Dong’s by a large margin. But they were both Soul Elders wielding three soul rings! On top of that Wang Dong overpowered him in terms of the ranks of their soul rings. This meant that if they were to compete purely based on their soul skills, Wang Dong would still be able to hold the upper hand in their battle. Thus, the gap between their cultivations would be closed.
Dai Huabin’s face sank and the expression on his face immediately turned vile, however, his confidence didn’t waver. From his point of view, Huo Yuhao didn’t have the ability to directly injure soul beasts without using his second soul ring and could only rely upon his spiritual shock of his. Dai Huabin believed that Huo Yuhao could only follow his teacher’s advice and pass the examination by accumulating the minimum amount of points required. He also believe d that he would perform even better than Wang Dong. However, he couldn’t help but feel nervous despite his complete confidence in himself.
At this moment, a tyrannical aura seeped out from the open metal gates located some distance away from Wang Dong. A tall figure slowly walked out of the beast pen.
Even though it didn’t have the speed of that Windspirit Wolf Huo Yuhao had fought the last time, the pressure its aura emitted was far superior.
The soul beast was three metres tall and walked out on its hind legs like a human. There was a faint fishy smell coming from its light brown fur. On its chest was a huge patch of white fur in the shape of a check mark that resembled the veined patterns on the wings of Wang Dong’s Radiant Butterfly Goddess. The sheer size of the bear was truly impressive.
The most eye-catching feature of this massive bear was its eyes. It had faintly red eyes that were filled with callousness towards its prey.
Even if they were all similarly aged thousand year soul beasts, the natural strength that gnus, goats, and cows possessed could not be compared to that of lions, tigers, leopards, and bears. Moreover, the probability of these carnivorous soul beasts having cultivated for over a thousand years was also very high.
The thousand year soul beast that Wang Dong was going to face off against was called the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear, a powerful earth attributed soul beast.
Wang Dong spread his wings and took flight the moment he saw his opponent’s appearance. However, an enormous formless pressure immediately pushed him down to the ground before he could fly more than five meters into the air. The referee’s voice rang out in his ear, “You are not allowed to fly more than five meters above the ground in this advancement test.”
The Bloodthirsty Demon Bear didn’t appear to be very fast as it slowly walked towards Wang Dong on its hind legs and with an ominous glint in its eyes. However, the stifling aura that came along with it secretly startled Wang Dong. This was his first time facing a thousand year soul beast alone, but nevertheless he was still confident in his strength.
It was also at this time that a three-dimensional image quietly appeared in his mind. Huo Yuhao sat not far off at the edge of the arena, with a faint golden glow already visible in his eyes.
If it wasn’t for the bet with Dai Huabin, he definitely wouldn’t have chosen to cheat. But this time the stakes were high and he couldn’t lose to one of his enemies that had been the cause of his mother’s death. In any case, he could also better protect Wang Dong with his Spiritual Detection, so that no harm came his way.
Wang Dong raised his shoulders, clasping his front wings together as he similarly moved forwards. He only took small steps as advanced in the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear’s direction. Just like the bear, he wasn’t quick at all. Rather, his steps were extremely steady and reflected the calm state of his mind.
The two were slowly approaching one another. The two referees were also attentively observing their movements from a close vantage point. They needed to immediately take action if they felt that Wang Dong’s strength had been depleted too far. After all, humans were not like soul beasts. It wasn’t as though there weren’t any casualties from such events. They’d seen Wang Dong’s test form just now and has noticed his status as a core disciple. That fact alone made it all the more important that they not lose him in an accident.
The Bloodthirsty Demon Bear looked a little stupid as it stood up and walked like a human. Not only was it slow, but it was also swaying unstably. However, when it was about thirty metres away from Wang Dong, its front limbs suddenly dropped down. Now, all four of its limbs were touching the ground.
The sudden change shocked Wang Dong, and he unconsciously stopped in his tracks. He then moved a few metres to the side in anticipation.
The Bloodthirsty Demon Bear continued approaching him as though nothing had happened. A mocking expression even seemed to peek through its faint red eyes. When a soul beast reached a thousand years of cultivation, it would obtain some limited form of intelligence. It was only when soul beasts reached a cultivation of ten thousand years or more that they developed intelligence not inferior to that of humans and so were also able to interact in human speech.
Wang Dong hesitated at the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear’s appearance, and it was in that moment of hesitation that the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear suddenly sped up. A thick layer of bloody light shrouded its whole body, making it look like a red cloud as it sprinted in Wang Dong’s direction. It moved so quickly that for a moment its speed was comparable to that of the Windspirit Wolf that Huo Yuhao had fought the other day.
The changes in its speed along with the sudden utilisation of all four limbs, these were all classic strategies used in psychological warfare! It was no wonder thousand year soul beasts were experts among the same rank. The strength displayed by this thousand year Bloodthirsty Demon Bear couldn’t be compared to a hundred year soul beast at all.
In the time it took to take two breaths, the bear had already closed the distance between them and was now within thirty metres of Wang Dong. Wang Dong seemed be standing there in a daze as the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear swung its huge paw at him with a ball of bloody light trailing behind its movements.
The judges had been waiting for some action after the slow movements from the two of them. The judges sitting in the Spectator’s Stand couldn’t help but frown too. They had earlier been pleasantly surprised by a Year 2 Soul Elder student who had three soul rings and was also a core disciple. How could his experience in real combat be so bad that he was terrified to the point of uselessness?
Was Wang Dong terrified? Obviously not. Seeing the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear’s huge paw already in front of him, he suddenly slid down on one foot and made a half turn. The Bloodthirsty Demon Bear’s slap seemed to brush dangerously close to his body but Wang Dong was already behind the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear.
He unfurled his front wings and made a criss-cross scissoring movement as he swept them across the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear’s neck.
The thousand year Bloodthirsty Demon Bear was an exceptional beast. It had immediately sensed that something was amiss the moment its paw came in contact with nothing but air. The bloody light surrounding its body gradually turned yellow and its light brown fur instantly turned as hard as steel.
The instant Wang Dong’s Guillotine Wing grazed its tough fur, a series of sparks flew out along with an ear-piercing screech.
Being an earth attribute soul beast, the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear was naturally extremely good at defending. Unfortunately, it had still been a half beat too slow in responding to the situation. The bear thought that Wang Dong had been duped by the psychological warfare it had used against him. Therefore, the bear had pounced rather abruptly under such circumstances. But now, although it had been able to react in time, Wang Dong had taken a huge chunk of meat from its neck with his Guillotine Wings.
Who didn’t know how to wage psychological warfare against their opponent? Wang Dong let out a cold laugh. His attack had hit the mark but he didn’t follow up on it. With a flap of his wings, his body suddenly retreated five metres back, dodging the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear’s frantic counterattack.
Without Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection Sharing, he would’ve gained quite an advantage even if he hadn’t been duped by the bear. However, the Spiritual Detection could help him clearly identify the blood vessels and circulation of soul power within the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear’s body, as well as its attack patterns. How could he not utilise this great opportunity?
Sure enough, a stunned look crossed the eyes of all the judges sitting in the Spectator’s Stand after witnessing this attack from Wang Dong. Included amongst them were Dean Yan Shaozhe and Director Du Weilun.
Wang Dong had remained calm in the face of the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear’s attack and had even used his opponent’s stratagem against him. His calm demeanor as he fought against a thousand year soul beast in such close proximity impressed the judges. The judges hadn’t even seen such high level battle tactics from students in higher year groups!