--Zhang Kun's pov---
I was sure that my statement must have been surprising to Qian Renxue. Even as she shadowed me in her disguise, I noticed her surprise.
Her disguise was, unfortunately, the most eye-catching figure in the academy.
Of course, it was pretty fortunate for me. Because of this attention, it was relatively easy to catch the eye of my target. After all, before I could start pursuing her, she must first notice me.
What better way than having the crown prince beside me to attract her notice?
I glanced at the 'crown prince', who followed me quite reluctantly into the training grounds of the heavenly duo team. Since the 'crown prince' wanted to shadow me, I must at least gain some benefits from it.
According to the rumours, the team members were quite strong and talented for their age.
AI, show me their current strength.
[Yu Tianheng (Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, Level 30), Dugu Yan (Jade Phosphor Serpent, Level 28), Shi Mò (Black Tortoise, Level 29), Shi Móu (Black Tortoise, Level 29), Oslo (Ghost Leopard, Level 26), Yufeng (Wind Chime Bird, Level 25), Liam Ti ( Healing rope, level 24)]
As we stepped onto the ground, the sounds reverberated into our ears.
ZAP ZAP
Yu Tianheng surged forward first, lightning crackling across his arms as he lunged straight for Shi Mò. It felt weird, bizarre. I could foresee the next move; it was, without a doubt, a solo target-soul skill.
Perhaps the vast amount of fighting and dangers I faced was not useless after all.
Yu Tianheng's first spirit ring lit up—Blue Lightning claw—and with a roar, he brought down his arm like a blade. In hindsight, it was clear that it would be the Claw Soul skill. The soul skills of the top 3 clans, such as the Blue Tyrant Lightning Dragon Clan, were renowned and widely recognised by the real powers on the continent. Among them, only a handful were solo-target soul skills.
I couldn't help but dream of the day when I could deduce such attack patterns from the knowledge base I had, especially when the target of those attacks was me. It was easy to understand an attack pattern as a bystander, mainly after it had occurred; after all, what use was this stored knowledge if I couldn't apply it?
To my surprise, I found that the attack failed.
CLANG!
Shi Mò barely got his shield up in time. His body shimmered with the first ring of the Black Tortoise, and his entire skin glowed with stone-plate toughness. The impact still sent him skidding back, boots tearing into the ground.
"Shi Móu, side flank!" Oslo shouted, disappearing into shadows. Now, this was a soul skill II recognise
Dugu Yan's eyes flared green—Poison Mist Release. A wave of green fog burst outward from her, a hiss filling the air as the poison crept low to the ground.
Yufeng soared up, using the wind to blow the poison upward. "Don't breathe it in!"
Everyone else chorused without hesitation, "We Know!"
From above, his feathers glinted—his first spirit ring pulsed—Wind Feather Shot! A flurry of glowing projectiles rained down.
"Liam, cover!" Yu Tianheng barked.
The healer reached out with a whip-like rope, glowing with warm spirit power. It lashed out—Healing Bind—and coiled around Yu's arm, funnelling slow but steady healing into him.
However, it was not the true aim of the soul skill; using the binding, he pulled Yu Tianheng out of the path of the feathers.
"I can only maintain this for a little while," Liam called.
Yu TianHeng replied, "It is more than enough."
Oslo appeared behind Dugu Yan in a flicker of black smoke. Thankfully, I recognised the next soul skill. His claws glowed with ghostly energy—Phase Strike—but she spun, releasing her Jade Phosphor Serpent's second skill, which sent out an aura mid-turn.
Oslo froze for half a second—just long enough for Yu Tianheng to slam into him with a bolt of lightning. Oslo hit the ground, dazed.
"Should've stayed in the shadows, leopard boy," Yu grinned.
But the twins weren't idle.
BOOM!
Shi Móu and Shi Mò charged in perfect sync, double-shield bashing Yu and sending him flying. Liam snapped his rope toward Yu's back, cushioning the fall with a pulsing catch of spirit energy.
"Thanks for the net," Yu muttered, shaking the dust out of his hair.
"Don't thank me yet. I'm running out."
Their conversation and the spar itself stopped with our intervention.
CLAP CLAP
CLAP CLAP CLAP
The claps of the 'crown prince' sent a resounding echo of claps from the rest of the onlookers, especially those who followed us into the ground.
The moment Qian Renxue stepped forward—no, Xue Qinghe—the whole crowd kind of just… quieted. Not instantly. But like a wave settling over the arena. One by one, eyes drifted toward him, the prince of the empire, the golden child of the royal family.
I didn't even need my sensory technique to feel the shift. Pressure changed. Heads turned. People straightened up as if their spines had suddenly grown etiquette.
Then she started speaking in the guise of a he.
"It is my greatest honour," Xue Qinghe's voice rang clear and polished, "to see such extraordinary talent gathered here today under the name of our Heavenly Dou Empire."
Classic royal voice. Calm, elegant. Too smooth to be real. It had the same weight as the perfect signature: practised a thousand times and delivered like it meant everything.
"The Heavenly Dou Academy," she continued, eyes sweeping across the teams below, "has long upheld the future of our empire. And today, seeing these youths—no, these rising stars—I am confident that within the next decade, we will witness glory once more."
That's when the cheers started.
The crowd lost it. Deafening noise. Applause, whistles, some dude shouting, "Long live the Empire!" even though I'm ninety-nine per cent sure he just wanted to hear himself echo.
Xue Qinghe smiled like he'd expected all of that. Not smug—controlled. As if he were ticking off a checklist in his head, with a box labelled: Earn crowd support with vague-but-patriotic speech. Check.
I nodded slightly, not at his words, but at the girl hidden behind the words. For a brief moment, I was confused and thought the speaker was the Crown Prince of the Heavenly Dou Empire.
The team standing in front of us right now—Yu Tianheng at the front, Dugu Yan right behind him with that calm but slightly greenish fog around, Shi Mò and Shi Móu like stone walls on either side with their massive bodies, and even Oslo twitching in the back like he might pounce on applause itself—yeah, they looked like a team that could win something.
Not this tournament. No, no. They weren't there yet. Even the crowd knew that.
But in a decade?
Yeah. That's a maybe.
And in this world, a "maybe" was considered gold when compared to most people's "definitely not."
Because while the Heavenly Dou Empire could technically send two teams—same as Spirit Hall or Star Luo—everyone in this arena knew only one team ever mattered.
The "official" second one? It was filled with sons of nobles, dukes' kids, merchants' grandsons, and people whose spirits were barely even passable but whose surnames made up for it. I'd seen a few of them before in the couple of days I had been here. They had more silk on their robes than spirit rings on their martial souls.
Backroom deals. Family pressure. Politics.
Trash.
Not all of them, maybe, but enough that no one looked at that team and thought "champion."
Yu Tianheng's squad, though?
That was different. At least, according to the numerous rumours that spread throughout the Star Luo Empire, Yu Tianheng wasn't just some spoiled noble brat with a fancy spirit. Sure, he had the name and the backing—but he trained like he hated being gifted. That made a difference.
When he clashed earlier, he didn't hesitate. No fluff, no flashy moves meant to impress girls in the stands. Just like lightning from his marital soul, raw and sharp. Efficiency. I knew only a handful of noble students like that back in the Star Luo Empire. It was impressive for him to cultivate such a mindset and an efficient fighting style.
And the others followed that tempo. Dugu Yan, with her poison fog, which defied wind flow, could easily pass off as a good control-type soul master. Oslo, flickering like a ghost, was a good agility-type soul master, and he was protected by Shi Mò and Shi Móu, shielding like turtle mountains you could never push past.
Sure, they weren't unbeatable. But they wanted to be unbeatable.
And that's half the fight right there.
So, when Xue Qinghe kept talking, weaving praises into the air and mentioning how she hoped they would carry the name of the empire into future victories, even the most jaded people didn't scoff.
I nodded again.
Because I saw what she saw.
Potential.
Real, ugly, grinding, slowly-blooming potential. Something I didn't possess. Even with the numerous risks and calculations I have undertaken. With all my hard work and pain, I am barely equal. That was because of my luck, as I noticed that Dai Mubai still possessed the spirit bone, gifted to the contenders for the throne by the Dai family.
[Zhang Kun
Age: 11 years, 8 months
Martial soul: Tiger
Spiritual Power: Spirit Origin peak
Soul Power: 26]
I finally arrived at the start line. Yu Tianheng, the strongest and most talented in this team, was level 30.
But he was 13 years old.
Meanwhile, I stood at level 26 at the age of 11 years 8 months. Considering I used soul bones to get here, I didn't see myself crossing four levels in 1 year based on my natural talent. Two levels were generous if I considered using Whale glue.
You must know that these guys would one day grow strong enough to compete for the continental tournament's championship. The same level of field that Tang San and the seven Shrek devils would compete. Meaning I was finally at the starting line.
In the short span, I found them strong, mainly due to their Top-quality marital souls. I was sure that the power behind the lightning-clad fists of Yu Tianheng's martial soul was just normal damage output for him. The poison fog from Dugu Yan must be the same.
They were strong but not unbeatable. Due to the various risks and adventures I undertook, I possess five soul skills—two from rings and three from spirit bones. Not to forget my self-made one.
I have more options than they do. Of course, there was a price to pay. The sheer amount of contrasting attributes between my soul skills made the difficulty in training and continuously using them rise exponentially. But it was manageable and worth it when I considered the versatility I possessed.
However, the most painful aspect was my inability to utilise them to their full potential. The sun-moon impact I made tore my body apart in ways that no soul master could comprehend. I was only able to proceed with the testing and come back alive because I had the support of the best auxiliary martial soul, like a nine-heart flowering apple user like Ye Lingling. Such rapid and thorough healing was deserving of the unique martial souls like hers, which had numerous restrictions.
Thankfully, madness and my new soul skill, Poison horn, weren't so overbearing in attribute clash.
My thoughts were knocked aside when the foot-end of the crown prince's voice sliced into my ears.
"…..a level 26 attack soul master, Zhang Kun. ZHANG KUN"
I blinked, not once but twice, brain rebooting as I turned to meet Xue Qinghe's gaze.
Right. Training grounds. Teams. People. Oh, it seemed that I tuned more than speech. In the short time the speech had ended, the prince was already introducing me to the Junior team.
"Ah, sorry," I said, scratching the back of my head with a sheepish grin. "I zoned out."
A few chuckles came from the team, not mocking, just casual. Yu Tianheng tilted his head, arms crossed, watching me with the expression of someone silently gauging a new guy. It was incredible how it didn't rub me the wrong way.
It was as if looking down and evaluating people came naturally to him. It irritated me because I knew that came from being born in a powerful background from birth.
"Spacing out already? We haven't even begun training. By the time we are done, you will be left with a lot of thoughts." Dugu Yan said with a smirk, the green in her eyes way too intense for the light joke she'd thrown.
"I was just thinking," I muttered, stepping slightly forward to stand beside the 'prince'.
"Dangerous habit," Oslo commented from the back, flipping a coin between his fingers.
Ok. What the hell?
My lack of knowledge of his soul skills aside, he was acting as if he was born for edgy background commentary.
"Alright," Xue Qinghe's voice came again, smooth as ever, "Everyone, let me introduce you once more. This is Zhang Kun. Our new student."
And just like that, I was one of them.
That's the weight of royalty. No questions asked.
By tonight, everyone in this academy was going to know my name, my spirit, my rank, and—if gossip spread the way I knew it did—my origin.
And that was the problem.
Because I wasn't just some kid with decent spirit power; I was someone who crossed the entire continent, all the way from the Star Luo Empire, to reach here.
There are no official announcements. There is no dramatic search. But it didn't matter.
People didn't need facts to form judgments. A simple whisper—"traitor"—would be enough to poison their view. Traitor, no matter the reason, was a word that stains, primarily when the truth was complicated. And mine? It was very, very difficult.
So, I needed to move fast. Before their narrative caught fire, I had to start my own.
CLAP CLAP
The sound of claps drew our attention to the current leader of the team.
"Let's start with basics," Yu Tianheng said, turning to face the team. "We'll introduce each other to newcomer Zhang Kun."
He didn't argue. I didn't question Xue Qinghe's choice. That made him smarter than most nobles I'd met. But I caught the tightness in his stance. He'd be watching me closely.
Fine by me.
"Kun, what's your martial soul again?" Dugu Yan asked as she tied her hair into a high ponytail.
"Tiger."
"Tiger?" Shi Mòu said. "There are a lot of tiger-type souls in Star Luo. Which one?"
I shrugged, stepping onto the field, "Not the royal one."
Technically true. I didn't think introducing the common nature of my martial soul was a good idea. Not before they saw my combat power.
That answer didn't satisfy them. It showed with their frowns. But they didn't object to it. Instead, they continued to introduce each other by name.
The introductions were going surprisingly smoothly, which, in hindsight, should've been the warning.
Because, of course, peace never lasts in a place filled with spirit masters, adolescent egos, and too many silk-robed nobles with half the brains and twice the mouth.
"Ah, there you are!" A voice cut through our circle, nasal and way too loud for someone with no soul rings lit. "Xue Qinghe, your Highness, forgive the interruption—but I simply must protest!"
We turned in sync.
Three figures strode toward us like they were fashionably late to a ball they weren't invited to in the first place.
Leading the pack was a boy dressed in embroidered crimson robes who screamed, "My family buys status, not strength." A thin rapier hung at his waist like decoration. His hair was oiled to a shine. Even from here, I could smell the perfume.
"You must be joking," Yu Tianheng muttered.
"Ah," Dugu Yan rolled her eyes, "it's young master Du Shao again."
Du Shao. I'd heard the name. Considering the short time I was in the academy, it was an achievement in its own right.
AI, bring up his profile.
[Du Shao, Son of a Marquis.
Spirit: Rapier.
Rank: low twenties.
Attitude: ninety-ninth percentile.]
"Your Highness," Du Shao continued with a deep bow that was more performative than respectful, "I've heard rumours, awful ones, that this—" his finger jabbed toward me, "—Star Luo defector has been placed with the Heavenly Dou junior team?"
Fuck. It didn't take a night. I guess I would be known as the traitor/refugee from the Star Luo Empire for a long time.
Qinghe's smile didn't falter. "That's correct."
Despite being caught off guard by the direct reply, he continued stubbornly.
"In place of who?" Du Shao demanded. "We nobles train for years—"
"Oh no," I muttered under my breath. "He's one of those."
Unbelievable.
My time in the Star Luo Empire made me realise that the Chinese young master was a plot device in novels and movies. To think that it was real and happening right before my eyes was truly eye-opening.
"—and yet he, a nobody with no title, walks into the junior team's training grounds?" he sneered. "Your Highness, surely this is some jest."
The others behind him snickered—all silk robes, all polished boots, all weaklings with too much entitlement and not enough bruises.
I stepped forward before Xue Qinghe could respond.
"I'm standing right here," I said evenly. "You can insult me to my face instead of pretending to ask permission from the prince."
Du Shao blinked at me, caught off-guard that I'd speak at all. "So, it can talk. Curious. Did they not teach you manners where you're from? Or are all defectors this wild?"
I didn't flinch.
"My apologies," I said, keeping my tone light, "I forgot that being born a noble gives you the sacred right to be loud and wrong at the same time."
A few snorts escaped from Tianheng's group.
Du Shao flushed red. "You dare—"
"Yeah. I dare."
I stepped fully onto the training ground. "Since we're so curious about each other's worth, why don't we settle this the proper way?"
He squinted. "You mean a duel?"
"No. I mean all of you." I pointed at him and his two decorative sidekicks. "Three versus one."
The crowd murmured. Dugu Yan raised an eyebrow. Even Oslo stopped twirling his coin.
Yu Tianheng gave me a warning look. "You sure?"
"I'm not doing it to win," I said quietly.
He understood.
Xue Qinghe said nothing, but I felt her eyes sharpen like blades behind that calm, princely mask. I had a feeling that she would enjoy this. But outwardly, she showed a disapproving look that matched her pacifistic image in society.
"Fine!" Du Shao scoffed. "When you're done eating dirt, maybe you'll learn humility!"
I cracked my neck and pulled out my hammers—Twin spirit-refined silver alloy. One with one, they hummed with a faint pulse. Blood-linked. They knew me. And I knew what I had to do.
Du Shao's team fanned out clumsily, all posturing, no coordination. It was only after the three pairs of yellow spirit rings rose that they even bothered to assume an attack stance.
A rapier, a shield and a spear. All in all, average martial souls told a lot about the Heavenly Dou Empire. Unlike the strict martial nature of the Star Luo Empire, the Heavenly Empire was much looser in terms of martial soul inheritance among nobles.
I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't work half as hard as I did in their entire life. I didn't give them time to try now.
"Listen well! You peasant…"
Wind Tiger Left Leg Soul Bone Skill: Legs of Wind.
My leg flexed as wind pressure compressed around my knees and ankle. It felt like wings of wind grew there.
WHOOSH
I vanished from their vision, a silver blur closing the distance in a heartbeat.
I appeared beside the first guy who had the spear, slamming the blunt side of my hammer into his side.
THUD!
He flew like a bag of flour, air knocked out of him. With the one with the better reach out of the game, the fight became much more easy.
Du Shao shouted, "Coward! Face me properly!"
Oh, I would.
But first—Number Two.
But, praise when it was due. I realised I was targeting him even before I closed the gap between us.
He tried to throw up a weak shield skill—looked like some turtle variant—but I didn't even use a soul ring.
Self-Made Soul Skill: Rippling Wave.
A shockwave of momentum burst from the pivot of my hammer, spiralling through the air like a coiled spring.
CRACK!
The shield shattered. He yelped and was thrown backwards, limbs flailing.
And just like that, it was one-on-one. At least until the downed cronies came back to their senses.
Du Shao's hand finally glowed, a rapier enveloped in shimmery spirit power. I saw the first ring.
First soul ring: [Spirit Lock Thread].
He flicked the blade. A thin line of golden energy lanced toward me like a tether.
To my surprise, he instantly closed the distance between us. I dodged back with a light step, but somehow, he kept up. His rapier followed there, accurately locking onto me and following me up.
To the point that I had no choice but to slam my hammers in between us to change the trajectory of the rapier's stab, instead of being surprised by the force behind the hammers, he immediately adjusted his posture for the next attack that surged forward relentlessly.
No wonder he dared to be arrogant. Just this soul skill, when combined with this custom fighting style, allowed him that much privilege.
CLANG
CLANG
CLANG
Unfortunately, it was evident that he had no intention to kill me. Just a hair-raising experience in the wolf-taken village was enough for me to face these half-assed attacks calmly.
I sidestepped while facing the underfoot stab. When it tried to follow the thread, I easily slammed it aside and charged in.
Second Soul Ring: Flame Cover
My body was lit with a coat of orange-red flame. The next step scorched the air. I dragged my hammers behind me, heating up until they glowed like molten silver.
Du Shao panicked and tried to dodge.
Too late. My hammers, coated with flames, slammed into his side.
SIZZLE
Lucky for him, his cronies finally came back. Dodging the spear stab that was flickering with lightning by bowing down. I activated my news skills.
Soul Bone: Poison Hook [Scorpion Tiger Arm].
A flash of violet-green venom lashed from my left hand. This venom, produced against the anti-toxins in my body, was a potent poison that was easily injected into my hammer. It was then embedded into a soul spike—aiming low.
He barely deflected the strike with his spear handle. But the venom laced into the spikes spilt on him.
He froze, eyes wide. "W-What—"
"Poison," I said coolly. "Don't worry. Paralyses for ten minutes. Don't kill."
He took one unsteady step backward—just in time for me to launch into the downed Dai Shao, who was pathetically screaming like pig at his newfound burns.
I had gathered my soul power into both, getting ready for a gear three wave.
"Lion's shield."
Despite the intense pain and difficulty, I recast the legs of Wind Soul skill and ran around the shelf and smashed my hammers into Du Shao's body.
His back bent in a perfect arc from the overwhelming waves of force, slamming him into the trees in the training grounds with a loud crack.
Dust and Silence filled the grounds at my cruelty and underhandedness. Before I dealt with the cronies, the fight was interrupted.
CLAP. CLAP. CLAP.
It was Xue Qinghe again, voice amused and silken.
"A fine performance. I believe that settles any disputes."
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Perhaps, that fight proved something, no other young master came to trouble me. It was unbelievable how lax the Heavenly Dou Academy was in comparison to Star Luo Academy.
Thankfully, the disguised crown prince scrambled away to escape from the gathering of power-hungry nobles. Leaving me free from her vision for the first time in days.
Though, I was sure that I had tails that were almost impossible to shake off.
I knew it. After all, three fucking soul bones were far too much. Especially the capacity to remove spirit bones without loss of soul power or trauma.
It practically screamed secrets and mysteries. In this world, that meant power.
"Alright! Let's begin the spar between you two."
Despite it being my first day, I was directly thrown into a spar. I told them as much.
The reply I got was even more interesting, "It was either we choose and fill the reserve spots in the team ourselves or be saddled with more spoiled nobles."
I nodded at the logic. The fight I had just now told me how spoiled they were. Seriously, screaming from burns?
With no dedicated team teacher, Yu Tianheng was managing the daily training. After all, this was a junior team. The teachers were there, but a personal teacher was primarily assigned to the senior teams participating in the Continental Academy tournament. No wonder Shrek attracted some level of talent on its own. Spirit sages and emperors personally focused and guided a single team at a level of its own.
As expected of kids, We paired off for warm-up spars. It's a bad move to integrate newcomers. A group training session or event was better for bringing a newcomer into any group.
Speaking of spars, I got Yufeng as a combat partner.
He grinned at me with the reckless confidence of someone who flew daily for fun. "Don't give up just because I can fly."
"I won't," I said, slipping into my stance.
His wings unfurled with a swish, feathers glinting in the sun.
I moved first.
No fancy soul skills. Just footwork and fists. After all, the incident with the cyan wolf showed me that I shouldn't depend too much on my hammers.
Please keep it simple. Clean. Impressive enough to look competent but not threatening.
He ducked under my first strike, wind kicking up as he twisted mid-air. Quick. Agile. Predictable.
I stepped in just as he tried to glide past and swept my leg low. My feet caught air, and for a second, I saw his eyes narrow as his wings flapped hard.
Thud.
I felt the claw tighten into a fist at the last second and slam into my cheek. First, I took it head-on.
But the second one was voluntary, just enough to let him know I wasn't an ornamental noble who couldn't handle pain.
"Ow," he muttered.
"Need help?" I offered a punch in return.
He blinked, then took it with a short laugh. "Alright, you're not bad."
While it seemed stupid, these kinds of spars mainly were meant to take a punch better and dodge in close combat.
"Thanks."
From the corner of my eye, I noticed Shi Mò whispering something to his twin. Oslo's coin had stopped spinning.
They were watching half-handily.
Which was precisely what I wanted.
-
-
-
-
"Tomorrow," Yu Tianheng called, "we start team formations."
Everyone responded—even me.
That evening, as the team dispersed, Dugu Yan walked up beside me.
"You've trained with poisons before? I didn't mean your poison skill; you trained in poison privately."
I nodded. "Back home."
"Figures. You smell and feel like someone who dabbled in them."
She didn't elaborate, and I didn't press. She was testing me. The words she left unsaid were louder than the ones she spoke.
When I glanced at her, I saw it again.
Not suspicion, exactly. Not yet.
But wariness. Caution.
That I could work with. Especially when I looked at her back as she went away., After all, she was my target. And I now held her attention somewhat.