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— Chapter 145 —

“So, are there any challenges?”

Ning Fengyuan’s voice rang in the venue. The amusement in her voice was loud and clear, causing more people to curse at Dao Academy for being shady.

Of course, not long after, an elderly man in a blue-white suit with a bear’s fur coat on top stood from his seat and declared solemnly, “My Northern Beast Academy would like to challenge the seventh stage, Fire Leopard Academy!”

Thus, the first Dao Exchange’s challenger appeared.

Everyone focused on the Northern Beast Academy and recalled it was a decent advanced academy near the Far North, focused on cultivating ice-based spirit masters.

While the Northern Beast Academy wasn’t as famous as the Tianshui (Sky Water) Academy, their strength still ranked high within the Heaven Dou Empire’s spheres since they could build an academy in such an extreme place.

Of course, there is also the downside of not having enough students to attend such an academy.

However, the audience didn’t care about that.

They cared more about the fact the first challenger had appeared!

Meanwhile, the Fire Leopard Academy’s team cursed in their heart as the Northern Beast Academy really chose them wisely. After all, the Northern Beast Academy is their weakness.

Whether it was ice-attributed spirit masters or a stronger physique due to living in a ‘harsh’ condition, Fire Leopard is weak against them because a spirit master with this martial soul always focused on cultivating their fire and explosiveness.

Being targeted first also doesn’t feel nice.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t refuse any challenge, which was the rule!

Ning Fengyuan smiled, “Challenger: Northern Beast Academy, Defender: Fire Leopard Academy. Before we start, the latter may choose the format of the fight.”

“It can be a single, duo, or team combat like Spirit Arena’s layout.”

Upon hearing Ning Fengyuan’s words, the eyes of eight defender teams couldn’t help but light up. Well, it seems they are not hopeless. Although they can’t reject a challenge, they can decide how it plays!

The captain of the Fire Leopard Team is a rugged man in a crimson battle robe. His name is Yan Ruqing. He decided quickly, “Let’s do a one-on-one exchange!”

“One-on-one it is.” Ning Fengyuan was amused because they had really fallen into the easiest trap. ‘If you cherish your stamina and chance, you should have chosen a team fight because you can wipe the challenger by consuming their stamina, preventing them from using their second and third chance of Dao Exchange.’

‘Shame, what a shame~!’

“Then, Northern Beast Academy’s fighter, please enter the seventh stage!”

A flamboyant man in a green-blue battle robe jumped off his venue’s seat, and landed near the seventh stage.

Ning Fengyuan nodded, “Remember, you two may fight with all you have, exchange your best move, and showcase your Dao!”

“Don’t hold back because Xiao Yuan can stop you anytime as long as one side is defeated.”

“Thus, the Dao Exchange begins!”

Yan Ruqing stared at his challenger and introduced, “Fire Leopard Team’s Captain, Yan Ruqing. Spirit: Fire Leopard, level 43 Power-system Spirit Ancestor!”

The challenger responded similarly, “Northern Beast Team’s Captain, Bing Wuming. Spirit: Sky Forest Tiger, level 42 Power-system Spirit Ancestor!”

Both Yan Ruqing and Bing Wuming are actually young. They just turned 20 recently, which was a testament to their talents. However, this is just a level of ordinary genius.

Many compared them to Han Yuan, who displayed his monstrosity earlier and couldn’t help but sigh.

Every monster is a genius.

But not all geniuses are monsters.

Han Yuan? He’s a monster among monsters!

Even then, the prospect of this fight is still exciting.

While Yan Ruqing has a higher cultivation base, Bing Wuming’s attribute suppressed him, which made this fight more intense than it should have been.

The exchange between two talented spirit masters caused many students in the venue to sit on the edge of their seats. After all, it’s irregular to see something like this unless it’s a Spirit Tournament, which only happens every five years.

“Martial Soul Possession!” 2x.

Roar!

Roar!

Leopard and tiger roars echoed in the seventh stage.

Yan Ruqing has transformed into a leaner build, gaining leopard-like traits, such as ears, eyes, claws, and a tail made of a flickering flame. At the same time, four optimal spirit rings hovered around him.

On the other hand, Bing Wuming becomes taller and more muscular, with ice-blue furs growing on his arms and two blue tiger eyes. His spirit rings are also optimal, hovering around him.

Then, they rushed forward.

Yan Ruqing’s speed granted him an initial advantage as he rapidly sent a flurry of claw attacks, overwhelming Bing Wuming with multiple hits.

Bing Wuming endured each hit calmly, showcasing his formidable physical defense as someone with tiger spirit.

The fire element in Yan Ruqing’s strikes was also ‘naturally’ mitigated by his ice element.

After a few seconds, Bing Wuming saw a chance and activated his fourth spirit skill.

“Not good!” Yan Ruqing focused on dealing with damage so much that he forgot to pay attention to his defense.

Bing Wuming’s right arm burst with frost as he punched Yan Ruqing in the chest. “Sky Frost Eruption!”

BAM!

Yan Ruqing got sent flying. He felt a coppery taste in his mouth but held himself for not spewing blood and looking weak, twisting his body and landing on four naturally.

He stared at Bing Wuming, who looked surprised that his fourth skill couldn’t defeat him, and said, “It would be lame to lose first…”

“You have all the advantages against me, but I won’t lose!”

“I won’t allow it!”

Yan Ruqing’s pride surged alongside a fiery coat that covered his body and made him look like a leopard made of the fire element. He kicked the ground and rushed toward Bing Wuming.

Bing Wuming snorted, “Not allow it? How arrogant!”

He activated his first and third spirit skills, causing frost to grow on the ground and spread rapidly around him.

Then, Yan Ruqing vanished.

Bing Wuming’s eyes widened before he realized Yan Ruqing was above him.

“Fire Spin Strikes!” Yan Ruqing’s figure danced in the air as he formed a fire tornado around Bing Wuming, increasing the heat intensely with every rotation.

Bing Wuming caught his ice melting under the heat and was shocked, ‘T-This is impossible!’

Han Yuan watched this fight and thought, ‘Sky Frost Tiger indeed holds a significant advantage against the Fire Leopard. However, the origins in their martial souls are different.’

‘The Fire Leopard Sect is one of the seven minor sects. Due to their longer lineage, the origin within their descendants’ martial soul is much richer and stronger than Sky Frost Tiger.’

‘Yan Ruqing’s Fire Leopard even exhibits signs of extreme flame, though it is still not quite there yet.’

‘The result is obvious…’ Han Yuan closed his eyes slightly.

After gathering enough force, Yan Ruqing appeared behind Bing Wuming and attacked him with a fierce punch full of fiery energy.

Bing Wuming couldn’t dodge and felt he would get injured heavily from this attack.

Surprisingly, the attack didn’t hit.

Zzt!

A tall figure stood between Yan Ruqing and Bing Wuming, holding the former’s wrist. It was none other than the Purple Silver Knight, which had appeared to stop the fight.

The knight gave everyone a noble yet dreadful feeling.

Han Yuan’s voice appeared from the Purple Silver Knight’s helmet as he announced, “Fire Leopard Academy successfully fended their stage. Two points for Fire Leopard Academy.”

Yan Ruqing stared at the Purple Silver Knight in disbelief and fear because he couldn’t detect nor see it appear. It just suddenly stood there!

Even Bing Wuming, thankful for the interruption, couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat.

‘As expected of the youngest Spirit King!’ They thought simultaneously, feeling helpless when comparing themselves with Han Yuan.

It’s not just Yan Ruqing and Bing Wuming. The others are also shocked by the sudden interruption of Purple Silver Knight and how fast it moved under everyone’s eyes.

Some agility-system spirit masters doubted themselves because they couldn’t move that fast!

No wonder you are the referee! It would be unfair if you join this event!

Han Yuan didn’t care about their reaction and crossed his arms, “Next challenge!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep