At the mention of a rematch, Luo Guixing slowly nodded. “Yeah. I’m down.” He wasn’t one to admit defeat. His eyes, once dim, blazed with determination once more. But there was no denying that Tang Wulin had changed. He seemed taller and more mature than ever before. He’s grown so much in one year. For the first time, Luo Guixing was regretting his decision to part ways with Tang Wulin. If he hadn’t, perhaps they would still be on the same team!

  Wu Zhangkong approached them, regarding them silently.

  All the while the trio of Wu Siduo, Xu Yucheng, and Yang Nianxia watched on with sour faces. They were absolutely miserable. Despite their efforts, they had been defeated once again. And this time, it was even more crushing. Wu Siduo’s soul fusion skill had stood no chance against Tang Wulin’s team.

  They’re way too strong! Tang Wulin’s counter attack had overwhelmed them all. His burst of power unstoppable.

  Naturally, Tang Wulin kept the ability of Golden Dragon Tyrant Body secret. He was well aware that such an opportune time to use this skill was rare, and that either way his opponents would meticulously study it for any weaknesses. There was no point in making it any easier for them. In the end, that skill was his lifeline.

  By achieving victory in this battle, Tang Wulin had gained the absolute confidence of his classmates and cowed the second grade.

  After consoling the rankers, Tang Wulin regrouped with his teammates and high-fived each and every one of them.

  In the eyes of the spectators, Tang Wulin’s team seemed to have bulldozed their way through their opposition. Tang Wulin knew, however, that they won thanks to both his new soul skill and the surprise it inspired. Luo Guixing had been deceived. The gap between them wasn’t as large as he had thought. Luo Guixing’s team had three Soul Ancestors after all!

  But this did not mean victory had been on the table for the rankers. With Ye Xinglan, Tang Wulin, and Xie Xie’s explosive burst of strength supported by Xu Xiaoyan’s crowd control skills, Tang Wulin’s team was already an unstoppable force. The addition of Golden Dragon Tyrant Body was just overkill. Tang Wulin hadn’t felt an inkling of fear toward Wu Siduo’s soul fusion skill. Xu Yucheng’s deadly attacks were also blunted by his frail body.

  There was no way they could have lost.

  “It looks like he can make a team completely of Soul Ancestors if he wanted to. That’s already better than us,” Yue Zhengyu said to Yuanen Yehui.

  Yuanen Yehui remained silent, turning to leave. She knew that they’d be better off not facing the first grade this year. Tang Wulin’s strength had shook her confidence. Unless she could think of some plan, some ingenious way to exploit any and all openings, her team would struggle to defeat them. Especially with the threat of Tang Wulin and Gu Yue’s soul fusion skill.

  Following the end of the match was leisure time for the remainder of the day. Tang Wulin headed straight for the area with specialized cultivation spaces. He would bite the bullet. Pay the hefty cost to use one of them. He was curious to see if it would be worth the points.

  “It’s one hundred points per hour. How many hours do you want?” the staff member asked Tang Wulin.

  Suppressing his inner miser, Tang Wulin said, “Teacher, is it possible to get a discount if I buy hours in bulk?”


  “No,” the staff member said, almost rolling his eyes. “The price is set and won’t budge no matter how many hours you buy.”


  Tang Wulin clenched his jaw. “I want one hour then.” Frugal was his nature and he decided to test the waters first before diving straight in, lest it was a waste.

  “What attribute is your martial soul?”


  “Plant-type.”


  The staff member handed Tang Wulin a green emblem, then pointed to the seventh room on the left. “That’s your room. Let it scan the emblem and it’ll unlock for you. You have one hour. If you want to continue using the space while inside, you can tap your student ID on the emblem and it’ll automatically deduct points and add more time. You can also just come out here to buy more time.”


  “Thank you.”


  Tang Wulin inspected the emblem for a moment, then made his way to the room. He presented the emblem to the door and a light sweeped over it, scanning it. The door unlocked with a click and slid open.

  After stepping foot within, Tang Wulin took in the space around him. It was typical, The only thing that seemed a bit out of the ordinary was a flight of stairs at the center leading below. Looks like I gotta go down. He dashed down the stairs not wanting to waste time.

  After descending dozens of meters, he finally found himself in a verdant world. Lush plants surrounded him, covering the floors and scaling walls. The space glowed with vitality. He took a deep breath and felt invigorated. He could feel his bluesilver grass cheering, eager to bask in the purity of nature.

  And so he indulged it like a good master, summoning it out and letting the long tendrils crawl and connect with the other plants.

  The specialized cultivation space wasn’t large, only about ten square meters in area. So even if plants ran thick and free within, Tang Wulin couldn’t wrap his head around the vitality in the air. Just how did Shrek do this? As expected of Shrek!

  Not wasting another moment, he weaved a mat of bluesilver grass at the center of the room and plopped onto it. He crossed his legs into a pretzel and began to meditate.

  His spiritual power quivered, stretching to encompass the space around him. It struck him immediately how rich the natural energies in this space were. Nearly comparable with those of Sea God’s Island. He came to a shocking revelation: the greatest advantage inner court students had over outer court students was access to Sea God’s Island, free of charge.

  Having experienced the boost in cultivation speed Sea God’s Island had offered him, Tang Wulin finished evaluating the cultivation space quickly. Increasing his cultivation speed by twenty percent,it was well worth the price paid.

  Looks like I can’t sell off all my metals to Heaven Dou City anymore. I need more points to continue using this room.

  Though is soul power grew slower than his peers, with the help of a specialized cultivation space, he might reach rank 40 by the end of the second year. By then, the rest of his teammates would surely have reached rank 40 as well.

  According to Wu Zhangkong, most students didn’t become five-ringed Soul Kings until the end of the third grade. Soul power was easy to cultivate for the first thirty ranks, but the growth speed would slow from there on. And when a soul master reached rank 40, their advancement speed would plummet. This wasn’t due to a decrease in soul power growth speed. Rather, the root of the issue lay in the difficulty in compressing soul power.

  The earlier Tang Wulin reached rank 40, the greater his advantage. He understood just how unique his constitution was. Once he obtained his fourth ring, he could become a sixth-rank blacksmith and prepare to advance into a Saint Blacksmith. Furthermore, his body would be strong enough to equip a full set of one-word battle armor.

  Rank 40 would be a turning point for him.