Chapter Thirty: The Wheel of War

  "Xiǎo Mèng, the competition is over." I trembled all over, hearing this voice should be Ye Guǐ, how come it's him to inform me? This isn't the time to think too much, I quickly opened the door and smiled, saying "Senior, why are you here, let's go."

  It was just a casual remark, but unexpectedly, Ye Gui actually replied, "On the way." I nodded. After the first round of competition, each school had a very sufficient rest time, plus there were special teachers to repair their soul power, so today's students all recovered to their best state.

  "Go, be careful." He said coldly and turned to leave. Watching his black back, I was stunned, this is the first time he took the initiative to talk to me, a very strange feeling, looking at him walking further and further away, shrouded in a sense of loneliness, as if only he himself was left...

  "Xi Meng, come over here." Nian pulled me into the team. Today, those few students' overall feeling seemed to have changed, and they should have been more restrained. However, they all stared at me, as if looking at a monster, making me feel embarrassed, I could only turn my head to look at Nian beside me.

  "It seems that you all understand now, being arrogant is okay, but you need to have the capital to be arrogant. In a match, there's no family background or status, only strength matters." Nian said. Those few students lowered their heads, they were all top students in their first year, and it was estimated that this time would also be a significant blow, always being the center of attention until now. The Dou Huang Silver Palace was indeed strong, but the students' own arrogance was their biggest shortcoming.

  "There's still some time left, so let me tell you something. The remaining academies in this round are Lianba Academy, Canglong Academy, Fenghuang Academy, Anye Academy, and our own academy. What comes next is the real competition. The first match was just a probing battle, and there may be hidden strengths, so I hope you all will be careful. Earlier, I went to draw lots, and luck wasn't bad - in the first round, we don't have to go up. After those four academies finish competing, the one with the lowest ranking will compete against us. This match can only be won, not lost." Nian took a deep breath.

  "Each college, please get ready. Contestants, please take your positions immediately." The host's voice rose, and the noise subsided a lot.

  "Linba Academy versus Dark Night Academy, Canglong Academy versus Xinghui Academy, the match begins."

  I sat in the rest area, carefully watching the four colleges. What caught my attention was Lian Ba versus Dark Night, I always felt like something was going to happen. Lian Ba sent out a boy, tall and slender, with an exceptionally handsome face, his temperament didn't seem like that of a commoner at all, he stood quietly on stage, it seemed like he hadn't appeared in the previous matches. Dark Night sent out someone who looked extremely ordinary, short and stout, with a pair of small ears on their head, sharp fangs protruding from the corners of their mouth, a pair of black wings behind them, this was a fully formed bat demon, deep red soul energy already visible.

  "Senba." The male student from Ryouga Academy reported his name first.

  "Black Robe." The bat demon's voice was slightly sharp.

  What? I widened my eyes, and that male student was actually a mid-level warrior? Heaven, isn't it too fast for a normal first-year student? How is this possible? I looked at Nian, only to find her frowning as well. No wonder the elder of Lian Ba was so confident. If not for me, he would have indeed had the upper hand.

  The bat demon launched the first attack, moving at incredible speed and instantly appearing in front of the male ghost. The ghost didn't even flinch, and just as the bat was about to hit him, a burst of white light enveloped him. Before I could see what happened, the bat demon was sent flying back, defeated without a doubt. I was left wondering, was he really just an intermediate warrior? Under such intense pressure, the Dark Night Academy was being dominated one-on-one until the fourth student stepped up, wearing a black robe with a pale face and red lips, but his eyes were a deep crimson that seemed eerily familiar to me - I must have seen him somewhere before. He gave off a similar feeling to Jiu Mei, except Jiu Mei had an otherworldly beauty to her. This guy was more like a ghostly charm, capable of drawing you into the depths with just one glance, never to return. "Hei Ze," a magnetic voice called out, followed by the release of his soul energy.

  My heart tightened, it was that ominous aura, the dark atmosphere he emitted was so familiar, I stared at him intently. Although he was just a low-level warrior, his appearance put some pressure on Senya. He quietly looked at Senya, whispering something, and a black air slowly enveloped Senya. Although he had consumed some soul power before, Senya now seemed to have no strength to fight back, standing still in the same place. He seemed to want to struggle, his eyes revealing unwillingness, until he closed his eyes, his body trembling, surrounded by more and more black air. Senya let out a roar and fell down. As the black air disappeared, the barrier also disappeared. Lian Ba's teacher rushed to the stage first, looking at Senya lying on the stage with an all-black body, he trembled as he looked towards the highest point of the viewing platform, only to see that the old man who had spoken before Lian Ba had already stood up, and the other elders around him were also in a state of disbelief.

  "I request that the Council severely punish the Dark Night Academy." The principal of Lian Ba Academy's voice was very low, even icy.

  "Hmph, the match only prohibits killing your opponent, and that son of yours still has breath in him." The speaker was clearly the principal of Dark Night Academy, the third elder who had spoken before the match. Indeed, even his actions were cunning and ruthless.

  "Stop farting around here! Everyone knows that dark energy isn't fatal, but even if Senya wakes up, he won't have any attacking power left." The principal of Renjia Academy seemed to be getting anxious. Upon hearing this, I was shocked - I had underestimated the severity of this dark energy. This poisonous and ruthless technique is something I would only use when my life depends on it.

  "You're good at showing off here, why don't you think of a way to save your son instead?" The principal of Dark Night Academy looked at Principal Lian with a smug expression, seemingly not feeling any guilt.

  "Next." That was what the young man named Kurosawa said. The students of Renha were stunned, but upon hearing this, a very muscular male student rushed forward.

  "Even if I know I'm weaker than you, I'll still fight for our captain. There are no cowards in Lianba Academy." His words stirred up all the students of Lianba, even those on the spectator stands stood up and shouted loudly.

  "Shut up, this match is a forfeit." The principal of the Ryūō school suddenly appeared on the stage, seemingly unwilling to give up. He quietly crouched down and released his spirit energy into Sena's body. It was no use; although he didn't know where Kurosaki had gotten this power from, the aura of dominance wouldn't be so easily dispelled - not even by Kurosaki himself, unless... unless I used my Pure Sound.

  I stood up, but Nian beside me pulled me back and whispered, "You might expose yourself."

  I looked at Nian, paused for a moment, and said: "I cannot be so selfish, otherwise I will despise myself in the future."

  I walked towards the stage, "Can I try?" After all, Kuroba's power was not strong enough, this was just the basics. I could feel many eyes gathering on me. Even the principal of the Conqueror Academy looked at me and said, "You're from the Dou Huang Silver Palace?" I nodded, looking at the old man in front of me, unknowingly thinking of my father, if I couldn't return again, he would be heartbroken too, Dad was the mountain in my heart.

  "What are you going to do?" He looked at me, it was clear that he was trying to calm himself down.

  I walked up to Senya and took his hand. A milky white glow emanated from my body. It was strange, the black aura on Senya's body began to enter mine thread by thread, no, accurately speaking, it was being sucked away by me. At that time in Dream Capital, I had also purified that black gorilla, but the feeling was completely different. Although the yōkai's malignant aura was strong, it couldn't compare to this black aura. The amount of black aura inside Senya wasn't a lot compared to mine, yet the power within me seemed to be happily absorbing it, while the Pure Sound on the other hand kept purifying and expelling it without stop. However, I didn't feel any particular discomfort.

  I opened my eyes, huh? I had clearly sucked away the dark aura from Senya's body, so why wasn't he awake yet? Wasn't there somewhere else that was injured? I lowered my head and carefully examined his body. Just then, Senya suddenly opened his eyes, and I froze. Looking at the face in front of me, which had grown about 5 centimeters larger, I felt my own face heat up.

  "You, you, you." I mumbled and ate, not knowing what to say.

  "Hey, do you want to get up first?" Chiyoda whispered to me. I suddenly jumped up, feeling awkward and not knowing what to do next. Suddenly, the surroundings started to make a noise, and I knew it would be like this.

  "Thank you." Senya said looking at me.

  "How is it, Senba?" he said excitedly in a loud voice before his father passed away.

  "I'm fine, Father," Chiyoda said. "I'm just a bit tired."

  "It's all right, it's all right. Thank you, little girl." Chiba's father smiled at me, and I looked away in embarrassment. He then loudly announced: "This year's College Championship, our college will withdraw from the competition." As expected, the crowd below became even more chaotic.

  "Dad, I—" Kiyoshi's father cut him off and patted his son on the shoulder. "It's not because of you, okay? You go rest first." After that, he gave me a meaningful look again.

  I also stepped down from the stage and inadvertently saw that boy named Kuroba, he was looking at me too, but I didn't think much of it, our match was about to start soon, so I just nodded at him and walked away.

  "You've done a great job, Xi Meng." Nian came over to me and smiled as he took my hand.

  "Ladies and gentlemen of the colleges, please remain quiet. The next round will continue, please take your seats." The male host's voice sounded again, and fortunately, the surroundings returned to calmness.

  "Next, we'll be facing Xinghui Academy. Xiao Zhan, you're up first." The instructor said to a male student on our side, who was the same one he had pulled earlier, and indeed his strength was not weak.

  "The game is starting."

  "Xiao Zhan." "Xing Xing." The opponent was a sweet-looking little girl, who looked so young.

  Such a debate is relatively easy for the Dou Huang Silver Palace, after all, there is no requirement for coordination, so Xiao Zhan only stepped down after defeating two opponents. Our next student also challenged two and tried until the end when the opponent changed to a little fat boy, apparently the final one.

  "Xi Meng, you go." Nian suddenly said.

  I stepped onto the stage. "Xi Meng." I signed up first, and only then did I get a clear look at him - the little fatty in front of me looked like a small bear, with a pair of round eyes that seemed very innocent.

  "Sun." The little fatty finished reporting his name with a shy smile. I nodded at him and smiled.

  He released his soul aura, and it was a warrior's primary level, which didn't seem bad. However, when the light gray soul aura enveloped me, the entire scene fell silent. I looked at the little fatty opposite me, he stared with eyes like lanterns, awkwardly stretched out one hand, trembling as he pointed at me, stuttering "you you you" for half a day without saying anything. Finally, the referee announced the start of the match, and this guy said: "Wait." I looked at him in surprise.

  "I protest! The Silver Palace is cheating, this can't be!" said the little fatty. It's really helpless, just a moment ago I still thought he was very cute.

  "Hmph, the Landa family would never do such a thing." Before I could even speak, Grandfather Landa on the viewing platform had already spoken up. Given his status in the underworld, he indeed wouldn't stoop to doing something like this, so his words shut many mouths. The little fatty in front of me had a complex expression. The referee once again announced the start of the match.

  "Wait." The little fatty said again. What is he trying to do?

  "What's wrong with you again?" the judge asked in a good temper.

  "I, I forfeit."

  Huh? Really? I didn't expect this kind of ending. So now, with this ridiculous conclusion, we've won?