Douluo: I Am the Lord of Mysteries

The first match of this year's Advancement Tournament—Year One, Class Four versus Class Five—begins now!

With a thunderous shout from Long Hengxu, the four students from Class Four immediately released their soul rings.

Four white soul rings rose beneath their feet simultaneously.

The frontmost student, Jialong, took a heavy step forward. His body swelled slightly, and he let out a low growl. His originally brown eyes turned yellow, and his arms thickened noticeably. With heavy steps, he charged forward.

Lin Zunyuan muttered something under his breath, and a long staff appeared in his hands. The ring beneath his feet pulsed with light as a beam of red energy shot from the tip of the staff and landed on Jialong.

Jialong's yellow eyes took on a faint blood-red hue, and his body bulked up again. With a menacing aura, he charged straight at Tang Wulin.

On the other side, Moss flickered and took cover behind Jialong.

Kato Eagle showed no outward change, but his palm suddenly swelled significantly, and he charged straight at the four-person team from Class Five.

Their coordination and rapid deployment made it instantly obvious—they were not a group of randomly chosen participants like Teacher Kong Hanwen had claimed. They were well-trained.

Jialong was a Power Attack–type Battle Soul Master, most likely with a wolf-type Martial Soul. Moss was an Agility Attack–type, although his soul wasn't immediately clear. Lin Zunyuan was a Support-type, with a buff-oriented first soul skill.

As for Kato Eagle, he was also a Power Attack–type, and his Martial Soul was a rare Body Soul—even Wu Zhangkong had been surprised by it during evaluation.

Two Power Attack, one Agility, one Support. It was an excellent lineup for a battle.

By contrast, Class Five hadn't even released their soul rings at the beginning. Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue all charged forward without hesitation—only Nan Fusheng stayed in the rear.

Xie Xie moved like lightning, closing the distance toward the advancing Jialong almost instantly. But instead of attacking him, he sidestepped and sprinted toward the Support-type, Lin Zunyuan.

"Moss!"

Jialong roared.

The moment Moss heard him, he peeled out from behind Jialong and gave chase after Xie Xie.

Letting an Agility Attack–type Soul Master close in on a Support-type meant the latter would be down in seconds. That couldn't happen.

Meanwhile, Jialong and Kato Eagle were confident they could hold off and counter-attack the other two.

First Soul Skill: Kato Eagle's Hand.

At soul awakening, Kato Eagle's Martial Soul had only manifested in his fingers, but he later fused with a rare avian soul beast called the Giant-Palm Eagle, mutating his Martial Soul to encompass his whole hand.

He named his first soul skill "Kato Eagle's Hand" as a way of setting a personal goal to live up to.

After activating his soul skill, his hand swelled even further. He lunged toward Gu Yue, full of confidence.

One grab, and this girl is going to turn into a crying mess, he thought smugly.

Unfortunately, his confidence didn't last long.

A burst of light-element energy exploded in front of his eyes. He was caught completely off guard and blinded. His eyes welled up with tears, and he couldn't see a thing.

Then, before he could react, a wave of cold hit him, and his consciousness went blank.

To outside observers, he now looked like a human popsicle—glistening in the sunlight.

While Kato Eagle had been blinded by the light element, Gu Yue had followed up immediately, freezing him solid with ice.

—

Meanwhile, though Jialong had bulked up significantly with his Martial Soul, he was still clearly shorter than Tang Wulin.

As the distance closed, Jialong found himself puzzled.

Why hasn't this guy even activated his Martial Soul?

That's when he saw Tang Wulin's fist flying toward him.

As a Power Attack–type, Jialong was quite confident in his strength. He reached out with his right hand, trying to grab Tang Wulin's incoming punch.

But at that instant, a shadow flashed past behind Tang Wulin. Jialong's footing slipped as if the ground had shifted under him, nearly making him lose balance. His hand missed its mark entirely.

And Tang Wulin's punch landed directly in his chest.

Boom!

Jialong's body was launched seven to eight meters back from that one blow.

A strand of Blue Silver Grass trailed in the air behind the attack, but quickly retracted—it had barely arrived before the fight was already over.

Because by that point, the other side of the battlefield was already settled as well.

—

After bypassing Jialong, Xie Xie accelerated instantly. Though Moss was also an Agility-type Soul Master, he wasn't in the same league speed-wise.

By the time Xie Xie's Light Dragon Dagger lightly tapped the top of Lin Zunyuan's head, Long Hengxu had already declared him out.

Then, with a roll, Xie Xie was already in front of Moss.

Moss's Martial Soul was a short sword, somewhat similar to Xie Xie's Light Dragon Dagger, but his soul power was only Rank 13.

There was no suspense.

Their weapons clashed once, and then Xie Xie had already maneuvered behind him, the Light Dragon Dagger pressed coldly against his neck.

Only now did all three fighters from Class Five finally release their soul rings.

White. Yellow. Yellow.

One ten-year ring. Two hundred-year rings.

Kong Hanwen stood frozen, stunned.

How long did that match take? Ten seconds? Maybe not even that!

And they still had a student who didn't even need to attack!

He wanted to ask Long Hengxu if this was truly Year One, Class Five, and not Class One in disguise.

—

Xie Xie returned to Tang Wulin's side, a bit unsatisfied, and the two exchanged a celebratory high-five.

Only then did cheers erupt from Class Five's section.

No—they were now technically Class Four, at least for the time being.

"Class Five wins.

You will remain classified as Class Five until the Advancement Tournament ends.

After that, final rankings will be reassigned.

Tomorrow, you will challenge Year One, Class Three."

This match hadn't even qualified as a crushing defeat—it had ended before the crushing even began.

Tang Wulin barely used his Martial Soul, and Nan Fusheng didn't even get to act.

Victory was theirs, swift and absolute.

Wu Zhangkong didn't even glance at Kong Hanwen.

Lifting his chin coldly, he simply said,

"Class dismissed."

—

Xie Xie stood beside Tang Wulin, grinning,

"Man, the Advancement Tournament days are the best.

No special training tonight!"

During the tournament period, to keep them in peak condition, their usual hellish training was suspended.

No wonder Xie Xie felt so free.

"Wanna go out for a bit?" he whispered to Tang Wulin and Nan Fusheng.

Tang Wulin shook his head,

"Nah. Cafeteria's about to open."

Xie Xie gave him a blank look,

"All you think about is food."

Tang Wulin shot back,

"I'll starve if I don't eat!"

Xie Xie grinned,

"Fine. I'll treat you. Let's go out for food!

We've been cooped up in the academy for days!"

Eastsea Academy didn't enforce particularly strict rules, and Eastsea City was well-off and very safe.

"Alright."

As soon as he heard about free food, Tang Wulin instantly agreed.

"I'll pass,"

Nan Fusheng said suddenly.

"I have to get back to my cultivation."

"What? Bro, seriously?"

Xie Xie looked at him in disbelief.

"You finally have a free night, and you still want to train?"

Damn, are you trying to make the rest of us look lazy?

Nan Fusheng shook his head,

"Morning is the best time to start the day—and I've got some things I need to take care of.

You guys go ahead with Gu Yue."

He glanced toward the approaching Gu Yue as he spoke.

"Ugh, why bring her? This was supposed to be a guys-only thing!"

"Were you talking about something interesting? Mind if I join?"

Gu Yue had already appeared next to them. Her tone was not a question.

—

Nan Fusheng ignored their antics. Right now, he could feel that the "Dream Thief" potion inside him was nearly fully digested.

He had to finish absorbing it before the upcoming Tianhai League Tournament.

That event… would be his chance to ascend—to take his first true step toward becoming half-human, half-god.