Douluo Continent: I ushered in this era

"start!"

With a command from Wu Changkong, the final showdown between Class 5 of Grade 1 began.

The Chu Ci (Songs of Chu) shot out like an arrow released from a bow, launching the first attack.

Tang Wulin immediately activated the Blue Silver Grass, which intertwined in front of him, forming a large net that blocked Chu Ci's path.

With a wave of his hand, Chu Ci placed a portion of his soul power on the scales, and a fire phoenix flew out from the other end. Wherever the fire phoenix's wings swept, the Blue Silver Grass was engulfed in flames.

The blue silver grass glowed faintly, resisting the flames on its body.

Chu Ci's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this. As expected of Blue Silver Grass influenced by the Golden Dragon King's bloodline, it was able to remain steadfast under the flames. If it were ordinary Blue Silver Grass, it would probably have turned to ashes by now.

However, no matter how strong the Golden Dragon King's bloodline is, what use is it when combined with Tang Wulin's weak soul power? Chu Ci stopped and played with the flame in her hand.

Indeed, this was the case. Tang Wulin felt his soul power continuously decreasing, and beads of sweat trickled down his forehead.

Tang Wulin knew he couldn't just sit and wait to die, so he gritted his teeth, took out his thousand-forged tungsten steel hammer, and threw it directly.

Chu Ci slightly turned his body to dodge the thousand-forged tungsten steel hammer. When he turned his head, he saw Tang Wulin holding another thousand-forged tungsten steel hammer and smashing it at him.

Chu Ci raised an eyebrow and stretched out his hand, seemingly intending to catch the thousand-forged tungsten steel hammer with his own strength.

Seeing this, Tang Wulin was secretly delighted. He had absolute confidence in his strength and swung his hammer with all his might.

But just as Chu Ci touched the Thousand-Forged Tungsten Steel Hammer, it suddenly disappeared from Tang Wulin's hand and appeared on one side of the scale behind him.

Tang Wulin was stunned. When he came to his senses, he found himself in mid-air and unable to dodge.

Tang Wulin was about to activate the Blue Silver Grass, but Chu Ci gave him the chance. He flashed in front of him, the scales swayed, and a flaming staff appeared in his hand, striking Tang Wulin in the stomach.

"Ugh," Tang Wulin felt his stomach churning after taking the blow, and he almost threw up his breakfast.

Chu Ci smiled slightly. Tang Wulin relied entirely on brute force to use the Thousand-Forged Tungsten Steel Hammer. It was too easy for Chu Ci's soul power to cover the Thousand-Forged Tungsten Steel Hammer. Just like now, it was directly and forcibly absorbed by the balance.

However, the thousand-times-forged tungsten steel hammer fell from the balance with a loud clang.

Even with Chu Ci's current strength, it would be difficult to find an item of equivalent value after a thousand blood sacrifices.

Just as Chu Ci was about to make her next move, Wu Changkong appeared, caught Tang Wulin who was flying backward, and said in a cold voice, "Chu Ci wins."

With Wu Changkong's keen eyesight, he could naturally see that Chu Ci was about to unleash a series of attacks on Tang Wulin, who had just flown out, leaving Tang Wulin with no chance whatsoever.

Tang Wulin was put down by Wu Changkong, rubbing his slightly aching stomach.

Chu Ci walked to Tang Wulin's side and asked with a hint of apology, "Wulin, are you alright?"

Tang Wulin waved his hand and said, "I'm tough, I'm fine!"

At this moment, Wu Changkong stood in the center of the field, looked around at all the students, and said coldly, "The competition is over. Do you know how I feel about you?"

"Rotten wood cannot be carved!" This aloof and arrogant male god answered his own question directly, "Except for Chu Ci, all of them are like that."

"No wonder you were assigned to Class 5, you're all utterly useless. But even if you're scrap metal, I'll forge you into steel. You all saw the competition just now. What is Tang Wulin's martial soul? The universally acknowledged useless martial soul, Blue Silver Grass, yet he still made it to the fourth round."

"...Starting tomorrow, our class will undergo intensive physical training. Physical training will be in the morning, and theoretical knowledge in the afternoon. That concludes this morning's class. Think carefully about today's competition when you get home. This afternoon's theory class will cover meditation. Dismissed!"

"Chu Ci, Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, the three of you come with me, I'll handle this." Wu Changkong said this and turned to walk towards the teaching building.

The four exchanged glances and followed Wu Changkong to his office.

The four stood still, and Wu Changkong looked at Tang Wulin. "You performed alright today, but you didn't fully utilize your strengths. Your Blue Silver Grass must have mutated, right? It's exceptionally resilient. However, your soul power is too weak; you can't hold out for long. Under these circumstances, if your opponent's soul power is higher than yours, you won't have many chances. And what's with those hammers of yours?"

Tang Wulin said helplessly, "I have studied forging."

Wu Changkong's eyebrows twitched slightly. "Forging? What are you, a Soul Master, doing learning forging? The early bird catches the worm, and you're already a slow bird, yet you're wasting your time on pointless things."

Hearing this, Chu Ci couldn't help but interject, "Teacher Wu, high-level blacksmiths are rare in Douluo Continent. Wu Lin has a great talent for blacksmithing, so it's not a problem for him to focus some of his energy on blacksmithing."

After listening, Wu Changkong paused for a moment, then asked Tang Wulin, "Have you undergone a blacksmith assessment?"

Tang Wulin nodded vigorously and replied, "I just passed the Level 2 Blacksmith assessment yesterday."

A look of surprise flashed across Wu Changkong's eyes. With his experience, he naturally knew that a nine-year-old level two blacksmith's talent was definitely not low.

“Alright, you can learn forging without interfering with your soul power cultivation in the future,” Wu Changkong said.

Wu Changkong turned to Xie Xie and said, "You're the most useless of the three. It must have been fun hiding your twin martial souls, right? Your soul power is only level 18, mostly thanks to the innate advantage of your twin martial souls, which give you full innate soul power. Are you proud of that? You know very well how stupid you were when you fought Chu Ci."

Xie Xie blushed deeply at Wu Changkong's cold words, lowered his head, and stammered, unable to utter a word.

After speaking about Tang Wulin and Xie Xie, Wu Changkong looked at Chu Ci, his expression softening considerably.

"Chu Ci, your performance was indeed good, but you must not be arrogant or complacent. There is still a considerable gap between you two and the Federation's top geniuses," Wu Changkong warned the two.

Xie Xie looked at Wu Changkong's expression at this moment, which was much more amiable than when he was scolding him, and felt a pang of grievance in his heart. Was he really the only one being scolded?

Chapter 11 Gu Yue Arrives

"Chu Ci, your punch..." Wu Changkong paused halfway through his sentence, "...the boxing gloves are quite good."

Although Chu Ci was puzzled as to why Wu Changkong changed his tune, he still continued the conversation, "Of course, after all, it's a level-three soul tool that I made myself."

“Oh, you’re also a Soul Master,” Wu Changkong said, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes.

“Hmm,” Chu Ci said, taking out a Level 3 Soul Master badge.

With Chu Ci's abilities, the soul tools he could create were certainly more than level three, but when traveling, one always needs to have some trump cards up their sleeve. A level three soul tool demonstrates strong talent, but it's not overly extraordinary, which is just right.

Wu Changkong glanced at it, nodded, and said, "Like Tang Wulin, you can learn about soul tools in the future without interfering with your soul power cultivation."

After Wu Changkong finished speaking, he thought for a moment and turned to look at Xie Xie.

Xie Xie understood Wu Changkong's meaning and chuckled, "Teacher Wu, I don't have those extra skills."

"You're no good at fighting, and you don't have any special skills or talents," Wu Changkong said calmly. "I knew you were right to say you were the most useless."

Upon hearing this, Xie Xie nearly fainted from a loss of breath, thinking to himself: "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, never underestimate a young man's potential."

Wu Changkong ignored Xie Xie's little thoughts and instead started talking about the promotion competition.

After he finished speaking, Tang Wulin and Xie Xie's eyes lit up, clearly showing great interest.

In contrast, Chu Ci seemed uninterested, his eyes glazed over, clearly lost in thought.

Wu Changkong picked up a pen and threw it with a "whoosh," aiming straight at Chu Ci's face.

Chu Ci snapped out of his daze in time and dodged the flying pen by tilting his head.

Chu Ci looked up and saw Wu Changkong with a cold face, saying, "Chu Ci, are you not listening because you don't want to participate in the promotion competition?"

“Yes,” Chu Ci said sincerely to Wu Changkong, “I don’t want to participate.”

They're too busy fighting those Soul Masters from the military region to have time to fight those brats from Donghai Academy.

As soon as Chu Ci finished speaking, the three of them inexplicably felt the temperature in the office drop, and a chill ran from their tailbone straight to the top of their head.

Tang Wulin quickly said, "Chu Ci, the rewards for the winners of the promotion competition are very generous."

"I don't care, and I don't need it," Chu Ci's straightforward answer left Tang Wulin speechless.

Xie Xie looked at Chu Ci and silently gave him a thumbs up. This dance teacher didn't look like someone to mess with, yet he dared to reject her so decisively. Impressive.

Seeing that the best student in his class refused to participate in the promotion competition, Wu Changkong felt his anger rise instantly.

But being naturally proud and aloof, he wouldn't gently persuade Chu Ci to participate; instead, he would simply and expressionlessly announce the result.

“Okay, Tang Wulin and Xie Xie will participate in the promotion competition.”

“Starting tomorrow, in addition to classes, I will conduct special training for the three of you every night. The training will be divided into two parts: first, three-person training, and then training for Tang Wulin and Xie Xie to work together.”

After leaving Wu Changkong's office, the three of them went to the cafeteria for lunch.

In the afternoon, the course continued, teaching meditation techniques.

The meditation technique taught by Wu Changkong is much more complex than that taught in the junior academy, but its effects are also significantly better. It is a simplified version of meditation technique derived from Shrek Academy.

Chu Ci is also studying diligently. He is currently preparing to create a more advanced meditation technique, and Wu Changkong's teachings are excellent material.

After school, Chu Ci went to the Temple of the God of War to ask a Soul Saint for advice on meditation.

……

The next day, upon arriving at the academy, they were faced with the basic physical training class that Wu Changkong had promised them the day before.

Wu Changkong pulled out three sets of iron armor weighing twenty pounds each and made Tang Wulin and Xie Xie run ten laps in them.

Just as Chu Ci was wondering why his own suit wasn't included, Wu Changkong took out a suit of iron armor that was clearly a size too large and handed it to Chu Ci.

Chu Ci took the iron armor and, using his hands that had touched countless metals, instantly judged that the iron armor weighed at least thirty pounds.

Wu Changkong explained that Chu Ci is a second-ring Soul Master, so his training intensity should be higher than the other three.

"Also, you're not allowed to secretly use your martial soul to alter the weight of your iron armor," Wu Changkong narrowed his eyes at Chu Ci, "If I find out, heh..."

Chu Ci shivered involuntarily, retrieved the scales hidden behind her back, and said sincerely, "How could that be? I'm the most obedient."

Once ready, everyone in Class 5 started running laps, shaking their heads and swaying.

At this moment, a girl walked slowly towards the school gate on the playground of the Intermediate School.

She was a girl wearing white trousers and a white top. She looked about the same age as the students in Class 5 of the first grade. She wasn't particularly beautiful, just pretty. She had long black hair and black eyes. Her figure was above average for her age, very well-proportioned. Her large eyes were bright and piercing.

As the girl walked, her steps seemed to have a special rhythm, and at the same time, there was a strange aura about her.

Chu Ci felt something and looked at the girl, a smile unconsciously spreading across his face.

You've finally arrived, Gu Yue.

"Which class are you in?" Wu Zhangkong walked up.

Gu Yue's gaze seemed to be drawn to something else, and she looked at Chu Ci. The two locked eyes, and a smile unconsciously crept onto Gu Yue's lips.

“I came here to study. But they said the registration period has already passed.” Gu Yue turned her gaze back to Wu Changkong and said.

Wu Zhangkong frowned, "Aren't you a student of Donghai College?"

Gu Yue said, "Not yet, but I hope I can study here. Is that alright, teacher?"

If it were any other teacher, they might have kicked her out immediately. But is Wu Changkong any other teacher? No!

"This is the Soul Master Academy. If you want to go to school, you have to rely on your ability." Wu Zhangkong said coldly.

"I can take the exam," Gu Yue smiled.

Wu Zhangkong asked: "What's your name?"