The third to go up from Shrek Academy was Huang Yuan. He had neither Tai Long’s defensive strength or Jing Ling’s speed. But possessing the Lone Wolf Spirit, he won out in balance. With balanced attack and defense, even though he ultimately also lost to the tyrannical attacks of the opponents’ fourth Spirit Master, he also successfully wasted the vast majority of the opponent’s spirit power.
The Shrek Seven Devils finally took their turn. The fourth to go up from Shrek Academy was Xiao Wu.
Even though Xiao Wu still hadn’t reached the fortieth rank, her spirit power was still at the thirty ninth rank, and her opponent’s spirit power was already mostly used up and couldn’t use any formidable spirit abilities. Xiao Wu dodged a few times and attacked once, defeating him and drawing out the next.
Thunder Academy, fifth student to go up.
Lei Tian[1], forty second ranked power attack system Battle Spirit Master. Spirit: Thunder Hawk[2].
There were long since no longer any secrets between the two sides. Thunderclap Academy hadn’t been observing Shrek Academy for just one or two days. But even they hadn’t expected that they would continuously be at a disadvantage in the previous fights today, and the opponents only sent up a few thirty something ranked Spirit Elders.
Grandmaster’s arrangement of the battle order might appear very casual, but it perfectly countered the opponents, exploiting their characteristic advantages. If it wasn’t for Tang San’s name not appearing in the Shrek Academy’s list for the day, perhaps there would already have been issues with morale for Thunderclap Academy.
The students both sides had revealed so far weren’t their strongest members, but Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun had both single-handedly defeated seven opponents in the previous matches. There was no need to doubt their strength. At least before the turn of Thunderclap Academy’s vice captain they didn’t have a chance of victory. Therefore, whoever gained an advantage in the previous exhausting competitions, would also take the initiative between the two sides.
Right now, even though Xiao Wu was somewhat spent, she was only the fourth person to appear. And her opponent was already the fifth. The advantage clearly already lay on Shrek Academy’s side.
Lei Tian coldly gazed at Xiao Wu. To him right now, Xiao Wu wasn’t a beautiful woman, but an opponent. Outsiders didn’t know Shrek Academy’s internal ranking. After the matches so far, some people who studied Shrek Academy knew that Shrek Academy’s three most dangerous people were Tang San, Dai Mubai, and Ma Hongjun. Even though Xiao Wu had also obtained a lot of victories before, with only three spirit rings, the attention she drew was naturally a bit less. The name Shrek Seven Devils was only something they used among themselves. Consequently, it seemed to Lei Tian that Xiao Wu wasn’t any different from the previous several members who had appeared, and was only here to use up his strength.
The match reaching this stage was already its key moment. Lei Tian knew that he couldn’t be allowed to lose this fight, and he moreover had to defeat Xiao Wu while conserving as much spirit power as possible. He didn’t have any certainty in confronting Dai Mubai in the next fight, but he still had to consume as much of Dai Mubai’s strength as possible in order to prepare for the final fight.
Part 3 (TL by Bagelson)
Blitzkrieg, this was the Thunderclap Academy coaching teacher’s instructions for Lei Tian.
Lei Tian immediately released his spirit, and along with a thunderclap, a pair of distorted lightning wings abruptly unfurled. His third spirit ring glittered with purple radiance, his body soaring up.
The advantage for flying type Spirit Masters was unquestionable, it put the wielder in an especially invincible position against opponents without ranged attack capability. But Lei Tian now flying into the sky wasn’t in order to avoid any attack Xiao Wu could launch against him, but rather to strengthen his own attack.
Xiao Wu stood there gracefully, her beautiful eyes following the opponent’s movements, but without moving herself.
Soaring in the air, Lei Tian spread his arms, his fourth spirit ring flaring after his third, the two purple spirit rings resonating with each other. Even to the extent that people could sense the lightning attribute elements in the air condense with frantic rhythm.
In order to quickly defeat Xiao Wu, he had pulled out his most powerful attack method.
Xiao Wu’s eyes squinted slightly, but she still only waited quietly, right hand pulling her scorpion braid out in front, that kind of next door neighbour little sister feeling provoking tender feelings.
With the two rings of light flashing simultaneously, blue purple serpents of lightning began to rapidly surge around Lei Tian, a deep blue silhouette appearing behind his back, precisely the avatar of his spirit, Thunder Hawk.
Serpent after serpent of lightning condensed on that goshawk avatar, and centered on Lei Tian’s body, formed a blue purple enormous five meter diameter sphere of blue purple light in the air. Under the pull of thunder and lightning, the entire sky seemed to darken. The more and more condensed lightning seemed as if it would erupt at any time, and Lei Tian’s eyes had now also turned blue.
The enormous pressure made the lapels of Xiao Wu’s clothes flap without wind, but she still didn’t move. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to interrupt her opponent, but rather that she was unable to.
Xiao Wu was a close combat type Spirit Master. Even though her leaping ability was powerful, and she also had Teleport to increase her altitude, Thunderclap Academy had clearly long since analyzed her characteristics, and Lei Tian’s current altitude was precisely beyond what Xiao Wu could reach. No matter what Xiao Wu did, it was impossible to reach her opponent in the air.
There was still another reason why Xiao Wu didn’t try it. If she was in the air, the chance to dodge would become even smaller. When hit by the opponent’s full attack power, how could she resist?
The Thunder Hawk grew. Lei Tian had once very earnestly listened to his teacher describe Xiao Wu’s capability. The reason he could calmly aggregate his thunder and lightning force like this, was because Xiao Wu didn’t have any way to attack him.
In a moment, that enormous Thunder Hawk had already grown to five meters. Lei Tian’s body quietly merged into that tremendous energy, and that spirit Thunder Hawk’s eyes brightened. Those were Lei Tian’s eyes, and his aura immediately locked in on Xiao Wu, the enormous Thunder Hawk dropping from the sky. With incomparable imposing manner and pressure, the attack range included the distance Xiao Wu could teleport.
Just the moment Lei Tian turned his head downwards, Xiao Wu finally moved. She directly used her third spirit ability, Teleport.
Her figure flashing, Xiao Wu was already five meters away. But her opponent had already locked in on her, and under the pull of the Thunder Hawk’s energy, it automatically slightly changed direction in midair, still dashing towards Xiao Wu. But at this moment, Xiao Wu’s eyes flashed.
Second spirit ability, Demon Confusion, launched.
Rays of pink light shot out of Xiao Wu’s eyes. The instant they came into contact with the Thunder Hawk’s eyes, that enormous energy stalled somewhat in midair. And at this moment, Xiao Wu’s legs bent, and with a whooshing sound, leapt up.
This seized the initiative. The opponent naturally already knew about Xiao Wu’s three spirit abilities. From the start of the match, Lei Tian had all along avoided looking Xiao Wu in the eyes. But even if he knew, so what? When Xiao Wu used Teleport, the Thunder Hawk changed direction, pulled by the aura. The Thunder Hawk’s eyes were also Lei Tian’s eyes, and when the Thunder Hawk changed direction, Lei Tian naturally subconsciously turned to look at Xiao Wu. And naturally he looked at Xiao Wu’s pink eyes.
Who could have thought that Xiao Wu’s goal in using her third spirit ability was actually only to let her use her second spirit ability. Her Teleport was only to make the opponent look at her.
But with this use, and forcibly using Demon Confusion to break the opponent’s lock on her, her long legs directly shot Xiao Wu more than t
en meters away, temporarily outside the Thunder Hawk’s attack range.
Lei Tian was only stunned for a moment. After all, right now under the full use of his spirit power and two major spirit abilities simultaneously, his mental strength was naturally condensed to the most stable degree it could reach. After discovering his mistake, he hastily controlled himself to change direction, locking down on Xiao Wu once again.
But, Lei Tian very quickly discovered that he was already unable to do so.
Indeed, Xiao Wu’s spirit power was certainly lower than his, and she also had one less spirit ring, and she was further on the ground. But right now, whenever Lei Tian wanted to lock down Xiao Wu, he would immediately be interrupted by Xiao Wu’s teleport. At the same time, after Xiao Wu teleported, she would immediately swiftly leap to the side. Teleport followed by leap could escape his attack range in a flash, forcing Lei Tian to change direction, and once again aim at Xiao Wu.
When Xiao Wu leapt she would deliberately use Waist Bow, her body practically never pausing, constantly making large changes in her direction, the direction of her leaps always taking her into the Thunder Hawk’s blind spot.
Like this, Xiao Wu only needed to use Teleport to shift out of her opponent’s aim when she was unable to dodge, leaving the Thunder Hawk unable to take advantage of its attack power.
The advice Grandmaster gave Xiao Wu completely revolved around dodging. Even to the extent that when he gave his advice, Grandmaster had already anticipated that Xiao Wu would encounter this Lei Tian.
Even though Teleport consumed a lot of spirit power, this was after all a third spirit ability, and to Xiao Wu who was already thirty ninth rank, it wasn’t a consumption she couldn’t endure. Teleport didn’t have any attack power, and in terms of third spirit abilities, its spirit power consumption was quite small.
But Lei Tian was different. He had successively used his two most powerful spirit abilities, and even though that enormous Thunder Hawk seemed dazzling, at the same time it continuously consumed his spirit power reserves and concentration. Just each time he had to change direction consumed a considerable amount of spirit power to control. Under this lengthy expenditure, the original advantage of air superiority turned into a disadvantage because of the spirit power consumption.
Grandmaster had long since estimated what the opponents would do, that they would let their members on stage use their most tyrannical attacks to defeat their opponents. The strategy he had drawn up for Xiao Wu, basically didn’t include any offense.
If Lei Tian had only remained on the ground and relied on his four spirit abilities and advantage in spirit power to conduct a normal fight with Xiao Wu, Xiao Wu would inevitably be defeated. After all, the long distance thunder attacks in themselves countered Xiao Wu’s capabilities, especially when she was already somewhat spent from before.
But just as Grandmaster had guessed, Lei Tian wanted to defeat Xiao Wu in one move, and so let Xiao Wu train the battle method she was most proud of to its greatest degree. In fact, when Xiao Wu had trained for this, her target had been Ma Hongjun, using Phoenix Ascension and at any time prepared to strike her with Phoenix Cry Heaven Strike.
When the match reached this moment, it was already completely without suspense.
In the end Lei Tian couldn’t endure Xiao Wu exhausting his spirit power. He was pulled down by his two great spirit abilities and, unable to control his emblematic Thunder Hawk bombardment, he only left a big hole in the center of the ring. Without need for Xiao Wu to attack even once, the worn Lei Tian lost the ability to continue the fight. So she obtained victory in this match.
At this stage of the match, the Thunderclap Academy members’ faces were so heavy it looked like water might come dripping out. Shrek Academy had already revealed four people, and Xiao Wu was clearly also like an arrow at the end of its flight, but their fortieth ranked Spirit Masters still hadn’t fought, and they’d already defeated five people. Even though Tang San wasn’t on their list of names, Thunderclap Academy still knew that winning this match would be very, very difficult.
In the judges’ seats, the whole way through this fight emperor Xue Ye’s eyes were brightening again and again,
“Good, well done Shrek Academy. I hadn’t expected that when they faced Thunderclap Academy, they could still win this easily. So much that there isn’t even a need for Tang San to appear.”
Ning Fengzhi smiled calmly, saying:
“Your Majesty, I don’t know whether you can see how Shrek Academy is able to gain successive victories in this competition?”
“Of course it’s strength. These children are apparently even stronger than when in the qualifiers. They’re admittedly very powerful as a team, but I think they’re even stronger individually. That fortieth ranked little fatty didn’t even come out in the qualifiers. It’s no wonder school master Ning would be optimistic about them.”
Ning Fengzhi shook his head with a smile, saying:
“Your Majesty, you’ve only seen half. In my careful observations, in this match today, Shrek Academy has clearly changed. What you said is right. Their strength has apparently advanced, this should be the effect of constant battle and the advancement of their cultivation. But even like this, they still shouldn’t be able to hold such an enormous advantage as this. Just by sending out some people who aren’t part of their main strength, they’ve already prevailed over five Thunderclap Academy students, and still two fortieth ranked Spirit Masters among them. This isn’t as simple as only strength. In terms of strength, it would be impossible for Shrek Academy to accomplish this.”
* * *
[1] (雷天) “Thunder Heaven”
[2] (雷鹰)
Chapter 115: Making Plans, Grandmaster
Part 1 (TL by Bagelson)
“Eh?”
Emperor Xue Ye looked at Ning Fengzhi with some astonishment,
“School master Ning, I don’t quite get your meaning.”
“School master Ning refers to tactics.”
Platinum bishop Salas to the side spoke up:
“Indeed, Shrek Academy’s strength does surpass Thunderclap Academy. But it’s still not to the degree in front of us. The reason they can obtain this kind of advantage is completely due to the overwhelming advantage in the order their team members appear and the tactics they use. On the surface, neither side’s spirits counter each other, but in fact, Shrek Academy’s side has forced their opponents into being restrained due to all kinds of factors. It’s moreover a complete restraint. The clever use of tactics, the order their members appear, has produced the circumstances we’re looking at.”
Emperor Xue Ye’s gaze focused, giving Ning Fengzhi a questioning look.
Ning Fengzhi nodded,
“His Eminence Salas is correct. It’s because of tactics.”
Emperor Xue Ye baffled said:
“It didn’t seem like we saw Shrek Academy have such outstanding tactics in the previous matches. By what you’re saying, this clearly isn’t due to luck.”
Salas smiled calmly, saying:
“Of course it’s not luck. With that person at Shrek Academy, how would there be such a coincidence? It seems that the lord Supreme Pontiff’s choice was right. This person’s spirit research really is too profound. No wonder he would be allowed to become an honorary elder.”
Emperor Xue Ye frowned:
“Your Eminence bishop Salas, I’m not too clear on what your saying.”
Salas smiled slightly, standing up and saying:
“Your Majesty, I have some matters to attend, I’ll take my leave first. As for What I said. School master Ning is fully aware, ask him.”
Finished speaking, without waiting for emperor Xue Ye to say anything, he brought his several guards to leave the VIP seats.
A trace of angry light flashed in emperor Xue Ye’s eyes, and using a voice only he and Ning Fengzhi could hear said through the corner of his mouth,
“This Salas, he really is more and more rampant. School master Ning. Wha
t did he mean by what he said?”
Ning Fengzhi said:
“The person he was talking about is Tang San’s teacher. His spirit power isn’t high, about the thirtieth rank or so, but he has the status of honorary Spirit Hall elder. He is a person of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon School’s later generation. In all aspects of spirit research, I must also gracefully step down. The people familiar with him, all call him Grandmaster.”
“Grandmaster?”
Emperor Xue Ye had clearly also heard this name, and his face immediately revealed a pondering expression.
“School master Ning, regarding this Grandmaster. Give me your assessment.”
Ning Fengzhi smiled slightly, only quietly whispering a few things by his ear.
Radiance suddenly shot out of emperor Xue Ye’s eyes. In that moment, his body suddenly erupted with with a flash of imposing manner. Even though it was only for a moment, Bone Douluo sitting next to Ning Fengzhi used a hand to support Ning Fengzhi’s shoulder, imparting a trace of spirit power.
The aura that erupted from emperor Xue Ye was completely in front of him, and besides Ning Fengzhi next to him, nobody else sensed anything.
Suppressing the radiance, emperor Xue Ye’s expression recovered to normal. The royal aura that erupted just now had vanished completely,
“School master Ning, is that true?”
Ning Fengzhi gave him a certain nod,
“Even though he’s known as rubbish in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, it seems to me that he’s even more important than the entire Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon family.”
Emperor Xue Ye drew a deep breath,
“After the end of this ranking competition, I’ll trouble school master Ning to help me recruit this Grandmaster.”
The words Ning Fengzhi gave emperor Xue Ye just now were very simple: Whoever obtains Grandmaster, obtains the world.
Ning Fengzhi sighed lightly,
“If Grandmaster was that easily recruited, he would be at Spirit Hall right now. I’ll give your Majesty a proposal. If you want to attract Grandmaster, start with Tang San. He’s the disciple Grandmaster cares about the most. It’s also only with him that you might decide Grandmaster’s direction. As for others, even if the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan’s clan chief was here, with Grandmaster’s temperament, he still wouldn’t submit.”
Douluo Dalu - Volume 01-48 Page 204
