As the student waved his hand, a dense yellow mist was released from the sunflower, surging toward Zhang Fan.
"Boom..." However, Zhang Fan suddenly vanished into thin air.
"Slash..." With a sudden kick, lightning exploded from his foot.
"Ah..." The young man screamed miserably as he was sent flying.
Another instant KO.
"Wow... Fan-ge is too awesome! The Dance of Lightning is insanely powerful!" said Xiao Wu, eyes sparkling as she saw Zhang Fan's foot merge with six afterimages into one dominant strike.
Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, and the others also screamed, fangirling over Zhang Fan's power and handsomeness.
"Next!"Zhang Fan said calmly. He hadn't used much force in that kick, not wanting to knock the guy out cold.
He merely sent them flying off the stage — that was enough.
Otherwise, the Balak Team members might go crazy.
Very quickly, Zhang Fan single-handedly took out all seven members of the Balak Team.
The Balak Team was completely convinced, shocked that the Shrek Team's captain was so monstrous — he didn't even use soul rings or his martial soul and still one-shotted all seven. Utterly insane.
Zhang Fan walked up to the other Shrek members.
"Xiao Fan, amazing!"Liu Erlong gave him a big thumbs-up.
The others also praised Zhang Fan enthusiastically.
Of course, Zhang Fan was very happy to receive the praise.
The first round ended with a perfect win for Shrek Academy.
In the following matches, the other three teams representing Heaven Dou City also won.
Emperor Xue Ye was pleased and immediately rewarded the winning academies with 1,000 gold soul coins each.
Even the losing academies received 300 gold soul coins.
The first day of the tournament ended.
Each academy head went on stage for the draw. Shrek Academy drew Blazing Fire Academy as their next opponent.
Since it was a round-robin tournament, every academy would eventually face each other.
They also discovered that besides the Four Elemental Academies, two other academies were quite powerful: one called Silas Academy, and the other Botanical Academy.
Silas Academy seemed to be on par with the Four Elemental Academies, boasting three students above level 40. Botanical Academy's participants all had plant-type martial souls.
These were strange and exotic plants. Since the start of the tournament, they'd only sent out three members.
Even against level 40+ opponents, plant-control soul masters didn't suffer much.
They even secured two consecutive wins — incredibly low-key.
Soon, it was time for Shrek Academy and Blazing Fire Academy to take the stage.
Zhang Fan still went up first.
No surprise from Blazing Fire Academy — after all, Zhang Fan had gone first in the previous match. It was likely he would be the first up every time.
Their first contestant: Huo Wushuang.
Huo Wu had been training like crazy the past month. She had even sparred with Zhang Fan at Shrek, and was well aware of his strength.
She felt her brother had a high chance of losing.
"This time, I will defeat you!"Huo Wushuang said seriously.
"Alright!"Zhang Fan replied calmly.
"Begin!" said the referee.
Huo Wushuang's soul rings rose beneath his feet. Scales emerged from his skin, and searing flames blazed up around him before quickly extinguishing. A layer of dark red enveloped his entire body. Short horns about three inches long sprouted from his head — his martial soul was Fire Violent Dragon Possession.
His first soul ring lit up, making the scales on his body glisten like armor.
Eyes locked on Zhang Fan, he suddenly stomped the ground — "Boom..." — cracking it beneath him.
"Whoosh..." He lunged at Zhang Fan like a cannonball.
Huo Wu stood there, speechless, unsure who to cheer for. She liked Zhang Fan, but Huo Wushuang was her brother. So, she just pouted, unable to say anything.
"Buzz..." A fireball formed in Huo Wushuang's hand and hurled toward Zhang Fan.
"Whoosh..."Zhang Fan suddenly used Cloud Step, moving so fast he left afterimages, dodging the fireball which smashed into the ground and created a large crater. The explosion was thunderous.
"Whoosh..." As the flames faded, Huo Wushuang couldn't find any trace of Zhang Fan.
"Damn it!" he cursed. He hadn't expected Zhang Fan to be so fast even without using soul rings or martial soul abilities.
"Explosion!" Flames erupted from his body, forming a shockwave that spread in all directions.
This kind of all-encompassing attack should have forced the hidden Zhang Fan out.
"Interesting!"Zhang Fan chuckled. "Dragon Claw Hand!" He suddenly appeared above Huo Wushuang's head and unleashed the ancient martial art.
At the same time, he activated Nine Yang Divine Art, and energy transformed into a massive golden five-clawed dragon's talon, striking down on Huo Wushuang.
In that moment, a golden phantom of a gigantic five-clawed dragon flashed into view.
"Roar..." A deafening dragon's cry rang out.
"Crap!"Huo Wushuang was stunned. How could this guy possess such a secret technique, able to summon a dragon claw? It gave him quite the scare. Realizing he couldn't dodge, he had no choice but to go all in.
"Boom..." His fourth soul ring lit up as he unleashed Fire Dragon Clone.
"Bang..." The two forces collided, resulting in a terrifying explosion that sent Huo Wushuang flying into the distance.
"Pfft..." He coughed up blood, face paling as his hands turned into claws, scraping the ground — "Sparks flying".
"Clang..." But a silver sword light suddenly appeared before him.
"Boom..."Huo Wushuang was instantly blasted off like a cannonball out of the arena.
"Buzz..." As the sword light left the stage, it disappeared, ensuring Huo Wushuang wasn't severely injured.
After all, out of respect for Huo Wu, Zhang Fan held back.
"Uh... so handsome!"Huo Wu was completely captivated by Zhang Fan's power and charm, stars twinkling in her eyes.
Then she dashed over to her brother, "Bro, are you okay?"
"I'm fine... just a little heartbroken!"Huo Wushuang didn't expect that even going all out couldn't force Zhang Fan to use a soul ring or martial soul.
It was heartbreakingly discouraging.
"Good to hear... That Zhang Fan is just too powerful, too mysterious!"Huo Wu tried to comfort him.
"Are you comforting me or praising Zhang Fan?"Huo Wushuang was speechless. This annoying sister really had fallen for someone else — completely taking his side!
"Hehe..."Huo Wu helped Huo Wushuang to the side and called in the healers to treat him.
She clearly saw that Zhang Fan hadn't used his full strength — otherwise, her brother would've been far more seriously hurt.
She was deeply grateful to Zhang Fan for that.
"Next!" As the referee announced, Huo Wu confidently stepped onto the stage.
Her dark red wavy hair flowed down to her waist, framing her fair complexion, delicate features, and large eyes that glimmered faintly with silver light. Clad in a gold-red team uniform that perfectly matched her dark red hair, she looked like a blazing flame — impossible to ignore.
(End of Chapter)