"Spirit Hall!"
"Spirit Hall!"
"Spirit Hall!"
The opening match was Spirit Hall against Thunderclap Academy, the champion of the Polaris Empire qualifiers. Yet throughout the vast audience seats, there were only a few scattered voices cheering for Thunderclap Academy.
Seated in the special-class seats, Alistair Jewel keenly noticed this while listening to the massive cheers around him.
"Although this is Spirit Hall's home ground, in the past, even against a Spirit Hall team, an advanced academy like Thunderclap Academy would have received at least thirty percent of the cheers. But this time, fewer than ten percent of the audience is cheering for them. It seems Spirit Hall's prestige has risen another level these past few years. No, perhaps it is because of that young man."
Under the gazes of Alistair Jewel, the other higher-ups, and tens of thousands of people, Spirit Hall's team slowly walked out of the tunnel.
In the past, Spirit Hall's uniforms had always been white. This time, only the young man leading the team wore black. There was no need to think. That young man was Wu Ling, the disciple of the current Pope.
The entire competition venue fell silent. A second later, cheers that seemed to pierce the sky erupted.
"Ah, it is Lord Wu Ling! He really is so handsome! I want to have his babies!"
"Get lost, you shameless woman! You think you deserve to have Lord Wu Ling's children? I can give him ten!"
"Look, look! Lord Wu Ling just smiled at me! Ah, I feel like I am already pregnant!"
"Count me in! Count me in! I will join too!"
"Brother, you are a man."
"So what if I am a man? Lord Wu Ling and I have true love!"
Wu Ling was so popular partly because of his own reputation and partly because Spirit Hall had been building momentum for him behind the scenes.
Inside Spirit City, daily life changed with each passing day, improving more and more. Add Spirit Hall's propaganda, and even a random three-year-old child on the roadside knew that all of this was Wu Ling's achievement, and that they should thank and admire him.
The final and most important point was Wu Ling's own appearance, handsome enough to be described as an A+ rank Beautiful Youth.
At fifteen years old, he stood at one meter eighty-five. His body was straight and sharp, his black trench coat clean, and his face carried a smile warm enough to feel like a spring breeze.
When he first stepped out, he carried an otherworldly air. But as he walked those short dozen meters, his aura seemed to transform from a hidden forest stream into a sword that pierced heaven and earth.
Unyielding. Invincible. Strongest.
Even after every member of Thunderclap Academy had already stepped onto the stage, the audience's eyes still remained on Wu Ling.
"That young man is not simple. I can see sword intent on him!" Sword Sage Vane Ash, who had originally been meditating in the back, suddenly stood beside Alistair Jewel and spoke.
Alistair Jewel looked at Vane Ash in surprise. Normally, one of Sword Sage and Bone Sage would remain behind to guard the sect, and only when visiting Spirit City would both accompany him. Even then, Sword Sage Vane Ash generally had no interest in battles between juniors. Yet this time, before the fight had even started, Wu Ling had already drawn his attention.
"Sword intent? Could Wu Ling's Martial Soul be a sword?" Alistair Jewel guessed.
In the outside world, there were many theories about Wu Ling's Martial Soul. But if Vane Ash said he had sword intent, then there was an eighty percent chance his Martial Soul was a sword. After all, in the Spirit Master world, who would bother practicing an ordinary weapon for no reason?
After a moment of thought, however, Vane Ash denied the answer.
"No. It is not only sword intent. There is something else as well. I cannot confirm what that young man's Martial Soul is. But if we speak only of swordsmanship, he may not be below me."
Alistair Jewel and Lucius Grimm froze.
The three had known one another for many years, and the two of them had never seen anyone compare to Vane Ash in swordsmanship. Yet now Vane Ash was saying that a teenager might compare to a man who had devoted his life to the sword. How could they not be shocked? And these words had come from Vane Ash himself.
Alistair Jewel let out a long breath. He had already placed great importance on Wu Ling, but because of Vane Ash's single sentence, he realized he had still underestimated him.
"The match is about to begin. Let us watch his performance."
On the stage, the seven members of Thunderclap Academy looked at Wu Ling, who simply stood there without even taking a stance. They felt their breathing tighten. The two Spirit Adepts in the back would probably have gone weak-kneed and collapsed if they had not supported each other.
Seeing Thunderclap Academy like that, the last few scattered voices cheering for them gradually vanished into the waves of sound. But Serena Ivory's group of five, also watching from the special seats, understood that feeling very well. Standing before Wu Ling did not feel like an equal fight. It felt like facing a bottomless abyss where one wrong move meant death.
After the barrier rose, the referee outside shouted through it, "Both sides, take your positions!"
The state of the two teams was obvious, but Thunderclap Academy had not conceded. The referee would not kindly ask them if they wished to surrender.
"Ready... begin!"
As the referee's voice rang out, the eyes of tens of thousands fixed on Wu Ling, waiting for his movement. But in the next second, the six white-uniformed teammates behind him drew everyone's attention instead. Against all expectation, they turned around, walked to the edge of the stage, and jumped down without a word.
"Wha... what! The six Spirit Hall members have collectively jumped off the stage! Only Wu Ling remains. Could he be planning to fight seven alone?"
The strange behavior of those six jolted Thunderclap Academy awake. No matter how overwhelming Wu Ling's aura was, he was now alone. And they had seven people.
"Everyone, attack!" ordered the captain whose Martial Soul was the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon.
The other six immediately acted.
As all of Wu Ling's teammates left the stage, Wu Ling faced the incoming attacks with an easy smile. Then he took his first step with his right foot.
One minute later, everyone present had fallen silent. On the stage, only Wu Ling remained, holding Thunderclap Academy's captain aloft by the throat.
"A... a complete crush," someone finally said in a trembling voice.
They had all understood that Wu Ling's strength would be extraordinary, but when that strength surpassed common understanding, their hearts filled with indescribable fear. Then, as soon as they remembered he was on their side, that fear transformed into relief and cheers.
Amid wave after wave of cheering, Thunderclap Academy's captain looked at the man before him with terror written across his face.
Wu Ling had merely walked over as if strolling through a garden. Every attack they launched seemed to avoid him on its own. All of the captain's teammates had been knocked down with one punch each, thrown off the stage, and left unconscious.
Even he himself had his proud dragon transformation caught with one palm. Afterward, he had been handled like an infant.
Feeling the pain at his throat and the insurmountable gap between them, one thought appeared in his mind.
"What kind of monster am I fighting?"