While the upper years were busy with their own internal competitions, the first years lived in relative calm — everyone occupied with gathering information.
Lan Xuanyu, meanwhile, focused on studying the abilities of every student in his class.
Three days passed like this.
Lan Xuanyu's closest companions gathered at his villa.
"It looks like the older years' competitions will drag on for a while yet," said Dong Qianqiu.
Lan Xuanyu nodded and said, "I've studied almost everyone's abilities. The only one left is…" He turned his gaze to Fan Yue. "You."
Everyone looked at him at once, waiting with interest to see what he would show them.
Fan Yue sighed and said, "It'll probably be easier to just demonstrate. Let's head down to the training room."
Everyone nodded and made their way downstairs.
Fan Yue took his place in the center of the training room, his companions watching with eager anticipation.
Then he began to take off his upper garments. The room froze for a moment. The girls hastily looked away.
"Yue, what are you doing?" Lan Mengqin asked in bewilderment.
Dong Qianqiu silently stared at the floor, wrestling with the awkwardness.
"Are you seriously putting on a striptease?!" Qian Lei asked, his face contorting.
"Fatty, don't make it worse — your words are only making things more uncomfortable," said Yuanen Huihui. Strangely, the elf was flustered too, refusing to look at Fan Yue.
Liu Feng and Lan Xuanyu showed no reaction whatsoever — they understood perfectly well that Fan Yue wouldn't do this without reason.
Fan Yue removed his upper garments completely, baring his torso.
"Qian Lei, you're right — I absolutely decided to put on a striptease."
He snorted and continued, "Like I have nothing better to do. I just don't want to ruin another set of clothes."
Fan Yue, wise from experience, knew that releasing his Battle Soul would shred whatever he was wearing.
The girls and the elf, having overcome their embarrassment, looked at Fan Yue.
Dong Qianqiu was slightly flustered, but quickly composed herself.
Lan Mengqin, however, flushed noticeably and found herself involuntarily recalling the hug from before. Her gaze drifted across his chest.
It looks solid. I want to touch it.
She shook her head sharply, banishing the unwanted thought.
Lan Mengqin, you are not a pervert!
Yuanen Huihui, for his part, was embarrassed but couldn't help looking at Fan Yue's physique with curiosity.
Where did muscles like that come from?
"Alright, I'm starting," said Fan Yue.
In the next instant, something beneath the skin of Fan Yue seemed to stir, and dark-golden scales began rapidly surfacing, as though rising up from the depths of his body. They swiftly covered his arms to the elbows, his legs to the knees; at the tips of his fingers, sharp and menacing claws extended. Five symmetrical scales emerged across his chest.
Behind him, broad draconic wings unfurled, and from the base of his spine a flexible tail stretched outward, tracing a smooth arc through the air.
His entire body seemed scattered with glowing points of light, like a night sky. His long hair shimmered, blending into a mixture of white and gold. Fan Yue's pupils narrowed into vertical slits — his right eye colored the pure, blazing hue of gold, his left a cold, glacial white.
And at that moment, five black spirit rings rose from beneath his feet.
The room fell instantly silent.
Fan Yue looked far too magnificent. Far too beautiful. Within him was a fusion of nobility and the overwhelming might of an ancient being — the kind before which something in you instinctively wants to bow.
The black rings were so natural that no one would have questioned their color. In truth, Old Man Shu had poured immense effort into this illusion. Even at the rank of God, one could not have distinguished them from the real thing.
"Yue, where did your Three Saints Sword go?" Lan Mengqin asked quietly, unable to look away.
"It's not fair — why does he have such an incredible Battle Soul?" Qian Lei whimpered.
"You became a Soul King?!" Yuanen Huihui exclaimed in shock.
At that moment, Lan Xuanyu and Liu Feng exchanged a glance, both sensing a strange resonance stir within their own blood. Something ancient and kindred seemed to be awakening inside them. The bloodlines of the Dragon God and the White Dragon King trembled, as though answering a call.
For Lan Xuanyu, the feeling was especially strong.
Could Fan Yue's Battle Soul be connected to the Dragon God?
Fan Yue said calmly, "I underwent a second awakening. My Battle Soul is now the Three Saints Dragon."
"Well… that's just incredible," was all Qian Lei could manage.
Lan Xuanyu smiled and shook his head. "In any case, we now have another Soul King in the team — that's excellent news. But for the time being, this should be kept hidden."
Fan Yue clenched his fist; the muscles beneath the golden scales shifted visibly.
"I can't demonstrate my Spirit Skills for you — I'd be afraid of destroying the training room. So I'll just show you the most important aspects of my Battle Soul."
He raised his hand.
And simply struck the air.
BOOM.
The sound was like a thunderclap. A powerful shockwave rolled through the training room, the very air erupting into a frenzy, slamming outward in every direction.
His companions involuntarily took a step back.
Then Fan Yue's figure simply vanished. He reappeared behind the group — so silently that no one had even heard him move.
"I'm over here."
His companions spun around at once.
I didn't even notice when he disappeared, thought Yuanen Huihui.
The others' thoughts ran along similar lines — a blend of admiration, shock, and respect.
Fan Yue recalled his Battle Soul. The draconic wings folded, the scales and tail vanished, his eyes and hair returned to their normal appearance. He exhaled slowly and said in a measured tone, "Although my spirit power is at the Soul King level, my physical strength, speed, and endurance are at the level of a Soul Saint. My most powerful Spirit Skill is the fifth one. It grants me three seconds of invulnerability. However, it can only be activated once per day, and it does have a limit — I wouldn't survive a direct hit from a Super Douluo above rank 95, but anything below that won't leave a scratch on me."
The words were spoken calmly, but the effect was staggering.
Complete damage immunity was an extraordinarily rare ability — especially for a Soul King.
Lan Xuanyu smirked, a flash of delight crossing his smile. "With you, our chances have grown considerably stronger. Fan Yue, you'll be one of our key trump cards. But until the time comes, behave as you normally would. The less others know about you, the better. You're the most enigmatic first-year there is — let's keep it that way."
Fan Yue nodded. He had more or less anticipated this decision.
The next four days flew by quickly. Today was the day of the match between the first and second years. Before the fight, Fan Yue stopped by the Exchange Center, where students were placing bets.
"Only 1 to 0.5 — well, what else did I expect. They did defeat the third years, after all," he muttered.
After his previous bets, he had accumulated 84 white emblems, but he had paid for eight months of accommodation while away on his training, plus two months in advance. That left him with 74 emblems. Without hesitation, he staked all of them on his class winning.
Well, 37 emblems isn't bad.
Done, he left the Center. The match was set for the afternoon. Lessons were in the morning, so the competition didn't disrupt the schedule. The venue was one of the mech training arenas in the Outer Court of Shrek Academy — a vast arena, spacious enough for students to fight without holding back.
The entire Outer Court had fewer than three hundred students and teachers combined. Altogether, there were just over a hundred people on the arena grounds.
Mostly first and second years. The older years didn't seem particularly interested in this match. In general, everyone was extremely busy, and no one wanted to waste even a moment.
But the first years had all come — without exception.
They were excited, but barely nervous. They had already beaten the third years, so the second years didn't seem like such a daunting problem.
That was how most of them saw it.
For the first round, the class's representatives were Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu.
Lan Xuanyu finished giving his final instructions.
At that moment the referee teacher announced, "The match is about to begin. Both teams, take to the arena."
The arena was enormous — it could easily hold tens of thousands of people at once. It was, after all, built for mech combat. Even if the entire first and second year had shouted in unison, the sound would have been swallowed by the vastness.
"Good luck!" said Fan Yue.
The two girls nodded at the same moment and strode onto the arena, shoulder to shoulder, resolute.
From the other side, the second year's representative stepped forward — a tall young man with a cold expression.
Up in the stands, the first years murmured among themselves. At a certain point, one of the students who had been responsible for gathering intelligence spoke up.
"Yuan Rui. Battle Soul — Berserk Lightning Leopard. Spirit power rank — forty-eight. Single-word Battle Armor Master. Number one among the second years. He's a rare type of Spirit Master who combines offense, agility, and control simultaneously. His abilities are highly versatile. In fighting style he resembles Bin Tianliang."
Bin Tianliang snorted. "Only because he has Battle Armor. Without it, he wouldn't even come close to me."
The betting odds shifted sharply — to 1 : 0.4. The enormous bet placed by Lan Xuanyu had completely overturned the previous predictions. In the end, the odds evened out at 1 : 1.
Yuan Rui, who had just stepped onto the arena, was seething with irritation.
I'm the top second-year, a single-word Battle Armor Master. Does no one believe I can win?
He frowned, but upon seeing his opponents, relaxed slightly. Two first-year girls — one with white hair, the other with dark blue — both beautiful, composed, and remarkably self-possessed. He allowed himself a light smile.
"Junior sisters, don't worry. I'll try not to hurt you too badly."
He was met by two cold stares.
"Begin!" the referee called out.
Yuan Rui launched forward. His burst was nearly imperceptible — like a flash of lightning. The girls parted in time; Lan Mengqin stepped back smoothly, Dong Qianqiu stepped forward.
Her second ring flared. A wave of frozen mist struck Yuan Rui in the face. He slipped sideways in an instant. The temperature around him plummeted, but without losing speed he closed the distance to Dong Qianqiu in a fraction of a second.
Then another surge of cold struck him. He sidestepped again, leaving a violet silhouette hanging in the air, and lunged toward Lan Mengqin. His second ring lit up.
"Second Spirit Skill: Thunder Discharge!"
Thousands of violet lightning bolts surged forward, sweeping over both girls at once. But they were met by an ice sphere that had risen around the two of them. The discharges crawled across its surface in frosty zigzags, but failed to breach the defense.
Yuan Rui switched tactics instantly. He gathered energy in his chest, shaped it into a dense violet orb, and hurled it at the icy shelter. But before the blow could land, the defensive sphere exploded outward.
Ice, snow, and a biting frozen wind tore upward. Snowflakes began to spiral, coalescing into a nascent storm.
As Yuan Rui instinctively pulled back, the blizzard swelled — rapidly, powerfully, and far faster than he had anticipated.
He bolted to the side, but there was only snow, ice haze, and endless white blindness. No silhouettes, no footsteps, not even the shadow of his opponents. Only frost, which with every breath sank deeper into his muscles, slowing his movements further and further.
Up in the stands, the second year's teacher grew alarmed.
He should have gone all out from the start! It's too late now…
Realizing he was losing the initiative, Yuan Rui didn't hesitate any longer. Points of light ignited within him — his joints blazed as though filled with lightning. In the next moment, a single-word violet Battle Armor sealed around his body.
A surge of energy shot upward, carving through the cold. The frost retreated, and the air in his lungs turned hot and heavy. His speed climbed sharply, and he stepped forward.
First step — the snow beneath his feet melted. Second step — lightning tore through the mist and the swirling wind. By the third — his figure became a violet flash, driving through the heart of the blizzard.
But inside, the storm was different.
Cold. Dark. Almost alive.
Frost Dome, Yuan Rui whispered to himself, recognizing the technique.
So they've really perfected it…
The cold hit him like a predator, clawing at the armor, trying to compress it, stop it, freeze his very breath. The breach he had pushed through closed instantly behind him. But he was already at the center.
He was already at the center.
"Found you!" Yuan Rui struck forward without hesitation.
His fist slammed into a wall of ice — it cracked, spiderwebbing with frozen lines, but did not shatter. The cold crept beneath the armor, stinging at his joints, but Yuan Rui only clenched his teeth harder. Turning, he drove a spinning blow through the storm, and a blazing violet arc cleaved through the blizzard.
Snow flew apart, and through the riven cold he saw two figures.
They were standing side by side.
Dong Qianqiu's arms were raised, thousands of ice shards orbiting around her.
Lan Mengqin's eyes were closed, both girls enveloped by a layer of water and snow that shielded them from lightning.
"Found you!" Yuan Rui cried and lunged forward.
But in that very instant, Lan Mengqin opened her eyes.
The water and snow surrounding her trembled. They spiraled into a vortex that drove upward, then — as though inverting space itself — closed over the dome from above.
Yuan Rui slowed involuntarily.
This technique… it's too powerful for four rings.
Dong Qianqiu stepped forward. The ice crackled beneath her feet. Her breathing had become nearly imperceptible, yet cold roiled around her.
"Yuan Rui. You charge in headlong — and that will be your undoing," she said calmly.
"And you're far too overconfident!" he barked, gathering his energy.
He leapt. Lightning ripped from his body, the armor blazed brighter, his speed surged to its limit.
But in that same moment, Lan Mengqin raised her palm.
The water dome closed in. The space around Yuan Rui became viscous, like a quagmire. His movements slowed, each bolt of lightning dissolving into the mass of water.
Damn it… Spatial compression?
No. Just water. But wielded with such precision that it felt like an entirely different element.
"Qianqiu," Lan Mengqin said quietly.
She stepped forward. Her third ring flared as her palm sealed the space before her.
"Ice Seal."
The strike was nearly soundless, but instantaneous. Ice pierced through the water dome; crystals erupted outward, binding Yuan Rui's arms and legs, freezing the armor, and extinguishing his speed in an instant.
The violet light flickered.
Yuan Rui tried to break free, but the cold only increased its pressure. His lightning crackled but couldn't fracture the ice. The technique was too refined, too deep.
This… is impossible… he breathed through clenched teeth, feeling the armor lose its strength.
Dong Qianqiu's second strike sealed the Ice Seal completely.
Silence.
The surrounding snow settled. The air went still.
A moment — and the water dome dissolved. Yuan Rui, bound in ice, dropped to one knee. The armor had dimmed. He could no longer move.
In the stands — dead silence.
Then someone quietly exhaled, and the first-year students erupted as one.
"YES!!!!"
Fan Yue smiled and said quietly, "So that's why they were called the Goddess of Ice and the Goddess of Snow."
Xiao Qi smiled at the corner of his lips.
"That is what true teamwork looks like."