Chapter 26: A Dark Horse Emerges! How Could It Be Her? Something Is Not Right!

A tall, thin old man with dark green robes, hair, and eyes stepped onto the high platform. This old man was none other than Dugu Bo.

On the platform, Prince Xue Xing set aside some of his arrogance and said with a polite smile, "Your Excellency Poison, I did not expect you to be interested in the petty squabbles of these students." Although he tried his best to disguise himself as a haughty and foppish prince, he dared not look down upon a Titled Douluo.

Dugu Bo had once been saved by Prince Xue Xing, so he replied courteously, "My granddaughter is participating in this competition, which is why I have come to watch."

As the two exchanged pleasantries, Meng Shenji stood up and announced the start of the tournament. Shortly after, a dozen academy instructors stepped onto a ring to begin the public drawing of lots.

The format and rules of the Academy Grand Competition were simple: instructors would conduct a public draw, and the matched students would compete in one-on-one battles. The loser would be eliminated, while the winner advanced until the final champion was decided. Only the champion received a prize; the second and third-place winners received nothing at all.

The big shots on the platform paid little attention to the preliminary knockout rounds. Those who were unlucky or had skill but were eliminated early on drew no notice, earning at most a sigh of pity. However, even without a prize, those who placed high—though not the champion—would be valued by the Imperial Family and receive more cultivation resources than others over the coming year. This was an unwritten rule.

Of course, with so many students at Tiandou Royal Academy, the competition would take days to complete if they fought match by match. Thus, the academy offered certain privileges to students with higher cultivation levels:

The first round of knockouts was only for one-ring students; two-ring students advanced directly.
The second round consisted of the winning one-ring students and the two-ring students, while three-ring students advanced directly.
The third round involved the survivors of the previous two rounds competing against the three-ring students.
Four-ring students were guaranteed a spot in the top sixteen!

However, there were only a handful of four-ring students in the entire Tiandou Royal Academy, and all of them were over twenty-five years old. Most were of commoner origin; they had long since met the graduation requirements but lingered in the academy to sponge off resources, planning to stay until they were forced to graduate. As for five-ring students? There were none.

The schedule progressed quickly, and by the afternoon, the second round of knockouts had concluded. Of the six thousand-plus students, nearly three thousand were one-ring practitioners and were essentially eliminated. Another three thousand were two-ring practitioners, half of whom were knocked out. There were only about a hundred students with three-ring cultivation.

This served to show that the quality of students at Tiandou Royal Academy was truly underwhelming. It was precisely for this reason that the Tiandou Imperial Family held Lu Yu, an eleven-year-old three-ring Soul Venerable, in such high regard.

Of course, the primary reason was that Lu Yu had never gone to the Spirit Hall for certification after awakening his martial soul. Therefore, the Spirit Hall was unaware of his true cultivation level; otherwise, they would have sent someone to recruit him long ago. As the holy land for soul masters, the conditions the Spirit Hall could offer would far exceed those of Tiandou Royal Academy.

But Lu Yu knew that the Spirit Hall was far from peaceful and held a long-standing grudge against the two great empires. Before he had grown strong enough, he had no intention of wading into those muddy waters.

In the third round of the knockouts, Lu Yu’s opponent was a one-ring student who had only made it this far by luck. Lu Yu knocked him off the stage with a single punch. In the fourth round, he faced a two-ring soul master and won with another single punch. In the fifth round, facing yet another two-ring soul master, Lu Yu still did not use his martial soul and defeated his enemy with one blow.

And so, Lu Yu fought his way into the top thirty-two. Even when he encountered a three-ring Soul Venerable during this time, he never once used his martial soul!

This spectacle caught the attention of everyone present, making him one of the focal points of the entire event. That he could reach the top thirty-two without using his martial soul, and even defeat a three-ring Soul Venerable, struck all the students as incredible. Yet, no one knew this rising star; he seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

The big shots on the platform were also watching him. Dugu Bo naturally recognized him and felt quite surprised. He clearly had not expected that their reunion after three years would take place under these circumstances. Dugu Gu was equally surprised; she had also fought her way into the top thirty-two with extreme ease, never once using her third soul skill from start to finish.

The first day of competition ended late at night. The crowd dispersed, with the finals scheduled for the following morning. The students began discussing the favorites to win, and some even started underground betting pools.

The most notable figures were the two veteran four-ring students, Yu Tianheng—the heir to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan—Dugu Gu, one of the two great beauties of Tiandou Royal Academy, and… the mysterious dark horse of unknown origin who had reached the top thirty-two without using his martial soul—Lu Yu!

While the students were engaged in intense discussions, Lu Yu went to the lake at the foot of the mountain. To him, this was all just a minor pastime with no real challenge. The only thing that piqued his interest was the two veteran four-ring students.

Lu Yu had set a goal for himself: to win the championship using only his physical strength and martial soul, without relying on the Golden Light Incantation, the Thunder Method, his external soul bone, or the Heavenly Talisman.

"Tap... tap..."

As he sat on the grass by the lake, Lu Yu suddenly heard the sound of soft footsteps. He turned his head to see a girl in a black dress approaching. She sat down beside him and began to watch the lake in silence.

Lu Yu was slightly stunned. This girl was always elusive, walking without making a sound or leaking any aura. But this time, he had heard her footsteps. Or was it... that she had done so on purpose?

With a wry smile, Lu Yu said nothing and offered no greeting, simply watching the water. Suddenly, his gaze sharpened, and a faint blue light flashed in his eyes. In his vision, a talisman was taking shape!

*Spirit Summoning Talisman, Second Tier!*

But the stroke stopped abruptly just after the head of the talisman was drawn. Even so, Lu Yu felt a surge of excitement. In the past three years, he had been unable to grasp the Spirit Summoning Talisman, yet he had mastered the first tier upon arriving at Tiandou Royal Academy, and just now, he had touched the threshold of the second.

Was it the balance of work and rest? Or was it the environment? Or perhaps... Lu Yu tilted his head slightly, his eyes flickering. This girl was strange in every way; could it be her influence? Looking back, every time he had experienced an epiphany, this girl had been lurking in the shadows.

After a moment of thought, Lu Yu asked, "What is your name?"

"Ye Lingling," the girl replied, her voice cold as she continued to gaze at the lake.

Upon hearing the name, Lu Yu was struck dumb. Ye Lingling? The Nine-Heart Begonia soul master? How could it be her? Didn't she only have three-ring cultivation? This... something was not quite right.