Chapter 27: Skysea Alliance Tournament : Wraith
" Is class Zero your way of compensating for that incident " Shen Yi asked Wu Zhangkong after some hesitation. "At first, yes," Wu Zhangkong admitted. "But now, I am focused on making them the monsters worthy of inner courtyard as for that incident, I did blame myself for a considerable time and even questioned myself if meeting Long Bing had been a mistake "
Wu Zhangkong paused, his eyes shutting momentarily, lost in recollections of the past and then continued " But a certain Someone called me pathetic and reminded me of how lucky I was to have Long Bing. I admit that I may have disappointed Teacher and Sea God pavilion. Nevertheless, if I find myself back at that moment then I would still choose Long Bing. I don't regret leaving Shrek academy for her. My only goal is to revive Long Bing and prove myself deserving of the love she had for me as for Shrek Academy, I intend to atone for my actions in my own way " Wu Zhangkong said with a unrelenting determination in his eyes.
Shen Yi was relieved to see Wu Zhangkong like this as she didn't want him to live like a mere shadow of himself.
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Nero meditated for the whole afternoon and got ready for the match as the five-man event finale which was supposed to commence the next day got rescheduled at night. This happened due to the immense popularity of individual matches among the audience. The Skysea alliance committee decided to host both the semi-finals and Finals of Individual tournament at the final day.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the grand finale of the Five-man Junior Division event!"
"On one side, we have the esteemed Sea Rising Academy."
"Sea Rising!"
"Sea Rising!"
... the fans of Sea Rising Academy erupted in enthusiastic support.
"And on the other side, we have the unexpected contender of this Tournament, East Sea Academy!"
"EAST SEA ACADEMY!..EAST SEA ACADEMY!..EAST SEA ACADEMY!..EAST SEA ACADEMY!...." cheers rang out through the whole stadium for Class Zero, who had displayed their immense strength right from the first match, solidifying their status as a formidable team.
" Both teams please enter the arena " announced the host. In response, Class Zero and Sea Rising Academy entered the arena, ready to face off in the final showdown. Nero narrowed his eyes at the black haired boy who seems to be the captain and the two blue-spectrum haired girls beside him as he felt a certain connection between them. [ Here is their team status ]
{photo of martial soul in comments }
[
Name: Jun Sheng
Age: 13
Martial soul: Imperial Sword
Rank: 29
Soul Ring Configuration: 🟡🟡
]
[
Name: Kim Daeyang
Age: 12
Martial soul: Aqua Serpent Wyvern
Rank: 25
Soul Ring Configuration: 🟡🟡
]
[
Name: Bianca
Age: 13
Martial soul: Frost Drake
Rank: 27
Soul Ring Configuration: 🟡🟡
]
[
Name: Shien suru
Age: 11
Martial soul: Kalpalata Lotus { Auxiliary}
Rank: 17
Soul Ring Configuration: 🟡
]
[
Name: Halranga
Age: 11
Martial soul: Venom Fang
Rank: 19
Soul Ring Configuration: 🟡
]
[ It seems like Bianca, Kim Daeyang and Jun Sheng possess a martial fusion skill ] Aria informed Nero after sensing the matching frequencies between them. ' Interesting! I'll simply wait; Tang Wulin and Gu yue would surely bring their martial fusion skill out ' Nero thought while sitting on a plastic chair at the back of the team { Those who are cultured explain this to uncultured people in comments }.
" Both teams, summon your martial souls! " everyone except Nero summoned their martial soul and no one objected at Nero's actions as the match with Ye Xinglan displayed what sort of monster he really was.
" Begin! "
" First spirit ability Blessing of Cecilia! " Shien suru the auxiliary soul master took the lead in providing Team Sea Rising a boost and her team also reorganized their formation with Bianca, Kim Daeyang and Jun Sheng at the forefront and Halranga protecting Shien suru at the back. Class Zero wasted no time and started their assault with Tang Wulin and Gu yue confronting Jun Sheng and Bianca. Meanwhile, Xu Xiaoyan focused on restricting Kim Daeyang with Xie Xie supporting her and looking for a opportunity to eliminate Shien suru.
Wulin's Dragon claw and Jun sheng's sword repetitively clashed as they engaged in a fierce close range combat. Jun Sheng was overwhelmed as Tang Wulin attacked him with a barrage of punches, if it weren't for the darkness element in his sword and his first spirit ability which diffused the impact of Wulin's attacks then Jun Sheng would have been at a significant disadvantage. On the other side the battle between Bianca and Gu yue was in stalemate as Gu yue was easily able to counter Bianca's ice attacks using her various element combination. Realizing that her long range attack are ineffective, Bianca shifted her strategy and dashed straight towards Gu yue to engage in physical combat as her martial soul Frost drake also provided a considerable physical boost. In response Gu yue used the Earth and wind element to defend against Bianca's punches.
Gu yue stopped at a certain distance from Bianca and started preparing a colossal fireball imbued with light energy. " First spirit ability Arctic Dash " " Second spirit ability Cryo Crusher " taking advantage of this opportunity Bianca used her first ability to arrive in vicinity of Gu yue and simultaneously activated her second spirit ability which condensed rapidly spinning ice energy at her fist to attack Gu yue.
" Flash! " just when Bianca's fist neared Gu yue a flash of light surrounded Gu yue and Tang Wulin appeared in her place. A deafening " Boom! " sounded as Tang Wulin sidestepped, evading Bianca's fist and used his dragon claw to deliver a powerful blow onto her. Gu yue who appeared at Tang Wulin's original position, unleashed her prepared attack at Jun sheng who was defenseless against the attack as Gu yue's attack carried concentrated light element energy.
" Second spirit ability Blue silver Array " Tang Wulin further shocked everyone by revealing his second purple spirit ring which he acquired after his breakthrough on the same morning. A multitude of blue silver vines erupted from the ground to impale Jun sheng and Bianca effectively stunning and restraining them. The rest of the Rising Sea team members wanted to provide aid to Jun sheng and Bianca but Xu Xiaoyan intervened with her starlight chains, halting their movements. Simultaneously, Xie Xie also initiated his double dragon storm to take out Kim Daeyang, Halranga and Shien suru.
" Second spirit ability Aquaflux Shift " In a display of quick thinking, Kim Daeyang activated her second spirit ability to turn herself into water element barely escaping Xie Xie's attack. Halranga and Shien suru were not so lucky as they got elieminated by Xie Xie's attack. " First spirit ability Aqua Wyvern Blast " Kim Daeyang's sudden activation of her spirit ability eliminated both Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan, they both weren't able to react because they were in sluggish state due to spending massive spirit energy in their recent attacks. KIm Daeyang herself was now breathing heavily as activating her elemental state and then consecutively using her first spirit ability took a heavy toll on her.
The onlookers were astounded at class zero's synchronized Teamwork. They were able to drive Team Rising Sea at such a state when their spirit Rank was so much lower than their opponents of course excluding Nero but he also didn't intervene so technically Class Zero did this feat in an unfair 4v5 matchup. Bianca, Kim Daeyang and Jun Sheng regrouped and made some hand gestures amongst themselves. Nero seeing this understood that they were about to activate Martial fusion skill. Bianca and Kim Daeyang hugged each other and placed their hands on Jun Sheng's back, a split second later, a three-colored light enveloped them.
" Wooooh! " The audience exclaimed at the sudden turn of tables, No one except Nero expected that Team Rising Sea would have a Trump card like Martial fusion skills. The three-colored light finally dispersed revealing Jun Sheng who was now much taller with his arms covered in Aqua blue and light blue hues. A sword like crown suspended over his head { picture in comments }. Gu yue immediately conjured a vortex flame and wind with it's size expanding continuously. 'Elemental heart' this was the unified thought of every elemental spirit master as making a vortex this big at Gu yue's level is only possible if she has comprehended elemental heart.
An element's heart was its essence and as long as one grasped it, not only could one draw upon the power within themselves, they could also tap into the elemental power found in the atmosphere. It was an ability that allowed one's strength to reach beyond their soul power. The strong and the weak were separated by whether one had comprehended the element's heart. Naturally, if one called upon power beyond one's control, it could possibly devour one instead. And it was for this reason that spiritual power was absolutely crucial to elemental-type soul masters. The better control one had, the less likely one would be devoured by one's own element.
" Insolent being, How dare you attack me ? I will show you your place " Jun Sheng in the martial fusion state spoke with a clearly visible demeanor than his previous one. ' Did fusing with two individuals messed his brain or what ' Nero thought as he watched Jun sheng recklessly dive head-first into flame vortex to approach Gu yue.
The martial fusion skill finally showed its power as the slightly braindead Jun Sheng solved the tornado using combined attack of water and ice element. Jun sheng after solving the flame tornado didn't stop as he attacked Gu yue with the slightly enlarged Imperial sword. Gu yue who was tired after unleashing such huge tornado was thinking of way to escape when she suddenly became shocked as Tang Wulin wrapped her in his embrace to use his back to intercept against Jun sheng's attack.
" Clang! " just when Jun sheng's sword was about to slash Tang Wulin's back, a sheathed katana appeared before Tang Wulin blocking the attack. " Why are you both always so desperate to sacrifice for each other " Nero who used Yamato to block Jun sheng's attack asked Tang Wulin and Gu yue as Tang Wulin without even thinking than Nero was still there got ready to fatally injure himself.
" How d..." " I am talking to my team mates, Come later " Nero interrupted Jun Sheng and sent him flying towards the other corner of Arena with a resounding punch on the face. " You both did enough. Now, let me have some.. " before Nero could continue Jun Sheng's loud voice came from other corner of stadium " You son of W****, How dare you interrupt me. I will make sure that the very womb that birthed you suffers in the depths of hell! ".
" You two get off the stage, I have a bug to take care of " Tang Wulin and everyone who just saw Nero's face gulped down a mouthful of saliva as Nero had a emotionless look in his eyes.
In the blink of an eye, Nero vanished, leaving an afterimage in his place and the next second Jun Sheng's neck was in Nero's grip. A resounding "rumble" tremored through the arena as Jun Sheng was imbedded into the ground and what happened next could only be described as tragic. Nero didn't even use Yamato but simply summoned Beowulf and repeatedly punched Jun Sheng in the face even the arena started cracking from the sheer intensity of Nero's force. Everyone who belonged to Eastsea academy came at a unified conclusion ' Never insult and threaten Nero's loved ones '.
Five minutes later Nero finally stopped punching Jun Sheng, the referee who finally came back to his senses hurriedly checked on Jun Sheng and after a few seconds, he signaled that Jun Sheng was alright. Observers thought, ' Looks like he was merciful ' upon seeing Referee's signals but as soon as referee carried Jun Sheng all of them immediately denied their guess as Jun Sheng was drenched in blood and his face was so disfigured that he couldn't even be recognized. Watching from the stands, Ye Xinglan recalled her own fight with Nero, feeling that he had shown her mercy.
" Hey, Boy Stop! " the teacher of Rising Sea academy with his colleagues surrounding him shouted at Nero to probably confront Nero about his actions but before he could even come close to Nero a overwhelming pressure shrouded the stadium as Wu Zhangkong appeared above the arena with 7 rings surrounding him symbolizing his status as a soul sage, before the shock of a soul sage appearing could subside a bright radiance enveloped Wu Zhangkong's body as his Skyfrost Sword also flashed with a brilliant light and instantly fused with his body.
Wu Zhangkong ascended even higher. His classic white robes were gone; instead, shining white lights glowed from his forehead, shoulders, chest, elbows, wrists, hands, hips, knees, and feet. Silver threads woven through the lights formed an intricate design, drawing strength to him and it soon overflowed into his aura. A sky-blue crystal droplet materialized from the radiance around his forehead, followed by a band of white that circled his head as the droplet's support. Five snowflake-like tips rose from the top of the band to form a crown while the elegant silver thread design solidified until it exuded an aura of magnificence. Two white metal bands ran down from either side of the crown past his ears to cradle his cheeks, their very appearance like streams of cold air.
The rest of his armor, starting from his neck, manifested after that. Wu Zhangkong was clad in a sparkling suit of armor at the end of the transformation, his attire dyed in a brilliant white and highlighted with silver. His body was bathed in luminescence, his eyes the most sparkling of sapphires. The six soul rings were absorbed into his armor and in his hands appeared a sword about one-and-a-half meters in length. This was the Sky Ice Skyfrost Sword. Both the hilt and the blade were pure white. However, while the hilt's tip resembled a snowflake, the blade's edge flaunted a crystalline-blue hue. Although Wu Zhangkong's looks were originally on another level, now that he wore brilliant armor that accentuated his features, he transformed into a graceful white knight.
" Battle Armor !" every soul master uttered in shock
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