The Legend of the Dragon King

“There are a lot of other rankings as well, such as for blacksmiths, mecha designers, makers, and mechanics. Then there’s the Genius Youths Ranking.

“It’s considered a secondary ranking outside of the Continental Rankings. Anyone on it is destined to make it onto the Continental Rankings, assuming they don’t meet with an unfortunate accident. “Only those eighteen and under can have their names listed there, with their talent, strength, secondary profession, and soul power all assessed. There are thirty spots on this list altogether.

“Of these thirty slots, the majority are held by students of Shrek Academy. And of those Shrek students, seven are under fifteen years old. In our class, there’s the rank 17 Shackler Luo Guixing, the rank 19 Immortal Xu Yucheng, and the rank 30 Jade Snake Zheng Yiran.”

Tang Wulin felt his heart tremble from hearing of this ranking system for the first time. “Big brother Yang, you must be part of that seven, right? Probably ranked even higher than Zheng Yiran too. You’re so strong.”

Yang Nianxia chuckled. “I just made it on to the list, ranked 27. Everyone calls me Dark Bear.”

Dark Bear?

Tang Wulin snickered in his heart.

The nickname suits him! He’s cunning and can hide it so well.

“Actually, the rankings aren’t absolute. The difference in strength between us isn’t that great. For example, take Xu Yucheng. He has a higher cultivation than the three-ringed Luo Guixing, but he ranks lower. So you see, the ranking is a comprehensive evaluation of talent. Luo Guixing isn’t the highest ranked person in our class either. There’s a person under sixteen who’s made it to rank 9.”

“Rank 9?” Tang Wulin gaped.

He controls the space element but he isn’t at the top of the list?

Yang Nianxia nodded, solemn in his action. “It’s said that there hasn’t been a class of new students as powerful as ours in a hundred years. To have two or three students on the Genius Youths Ranking in a batch of new students is already considered excellent. But the current Shrek Academy? It has seven on the list! To be fair, two of them are already in the second grade, so technically we have five in our class. The highest ranked person is called Wu Siduo. I’m not sure how we compare in strength, but I know she’s from Star Luo City. She has four soul rings, but unlike Xu Yucheng, all of them are thousand-year. She’s praised as a once-in-a-century genius in Star Luo City, and it’s likely she’ll reach the top of the Genius Youths Ranking by the time she turns eighteen. And besides that, she’s also a fourth-rank mecha designer. Truly amazing. Actually, she’s similar to you in that regard. You’ve also reached the fourth-rank, right? It’s surprising that you’ve managed to do that with only two soul rings.”

The way in which Gu Yue watched Tang Wulin shifted at that moment. Originally, she had disapproved of teaming up with Yang Nianxia, not to mention his decision to lay low. However, she was beginning to see the wisdom in his actions. At the very least, they gained a thorough understanding of the Genius Youths Ranking from Yang Nianxia and knew who the five strongest students in their class were.

“Does that Wu Siduo have a nickname too?” Tang Wulin asked. Nicknames spoke volumes about the person.

“Her nickname is ‘Hell’. Hell Wu Siduo. She’s supposedly a beauty, but to earn that kind of nickname in addition to her looks? I have no idea how powerful she could be.”

Hell Wu Siduo, Shackler Luo Guixing, Immortal Xu Yucheng, Dark Bear Yang Nianxia, and Jade Snake Zhen Yiran who already got eliminated.

These are the five strongest people in our class, and they’re all on the Genius Youths Ranking.

Tang Wulin turned his focus to Gu Yue. He was convinced if Gu Yue revealed her full might, she would make it far on that prestigious list.

As if psychic, Gu Yue met his gaze, a flash of pride and yearning for battle in her eyes.

It caught him by surprise. This really is Shrek Academy! Everyone is so much more talented than me. I’ll have to work even harder if I want to make it on that list.

He liked this sort of pressure.

Of course, he wanted to pick up the class president’s mantle. But he’d be lying to say it was necessary to him. No, his true aim in this competition was to gain a sense of how powerful his classmates were.

Learning about the five rankers was enough for today. Now he could focus on the competition.

Yang Nianxia waited until there were no signs of Luo Guixing’s group before leading Tang Wulin and Gu Yue in the opposite direction.

The competition had gone on for about half an hour.

All of a sudden, Shen Yi’s voice shook the very skies.

“Forty-eight students remain. The combat zone shall be reduced by fifty percent.”

Space warped in the next moment, the forest twisting and transforming into somewhere entirely new.

The terrain changes at the half-hour mark?

Luckily, Tang Wulin had subconsciously grabbed Gu Yue when that had happened.

After everything settled, Tang Wulin caught sight of a group of people before him.

Yang Nianxia was still at his front, but now, about thirty meters further off in the distance, stood Luo Guixing’s group. In addition, a girl stood off to the left and two boys to the right.

A mass of people were thrown into this clearing in the blink of an eye.

This…

Luo Guixing reacted first. “Tidy up the battlefield!”

The vanguard, a youth with a shield, immediately charged at his nearest opponent, the two boys on the side. The entire team of seven moved in sync with him, rapidly closing in on the duo.

“Do we run?” Tang Wulin asked.

Yang Nianxia waved his hand. “No. This is a good opportunity.”

As he spoke, he approached the girl on the left.

Tang Wulin took note of this tall girl. She had wavy, auburn hair, pale skin, and large eyes. Her beauty was contrasted by her cold attitude that seemed to warn all to stay away.

She didn’t withdraw from them. Instead, she walked forward to greet them while releasing her martial soul.

“Let’s team up against Luo Guixing’s group.” Yang Nianxia shouted when they were twenty meters apart.

Surprise was evident on her face. She narrowed her eyes, weighing the pros and cons.

“Alright!” Her voice was sweet and gentle. Without another word, she switched targets to Luo Guixing’s group and shot off like a rocket.

“Prepare for battle!” Yang Nianxia shouted as he rushed forward, his body expanding and dark-gold hair covering his body as he summoned his martial soul.

A pair of purple soul rings rose from beneath Tang Wulin while bluesilver grass followed Yang Nianxia’s wake. All the while Gu Yue remained situated at Tang Wulin’s side.

No sooner had they broke into a sprint, a green light shot out and enveloped Tang Wulin and Yang Nianxia, boosting their speed.

Yang Nianxia glanced backward in shock. Wind element?

It was now that he recalled Tang Wulin’s words about Gu Yue’s support.

She used ice before, and now wind? Does she have twin martial souls?

Even so, Yang Nianxia’s astonishment was short lived. After all, he had never heard of anyone named ‘Gu Yue’ on the Genius Youths Ranking.

Silver lights twinkled and rose from the feet of the two boys in battle. Suddenly, the shield-bearing youth accelerated and crashed into his opponents. Yet instead of sending them flying, the two boys seemed glued to the shield. Then with a wave of her staff, Xu Xiaoyan impaled the other boy with an ice spear. In a flash of light, both boys were eliminated.

From beginning to end, only a few seconds had passed. In fact, Yang Nianxia had drawn the other girl to his side at the same time Luo Guixing’s group neutralized the two boys. Their battle efficiency was shocking.

Through it all, Luo Guixing never stopped smiling. His three soul rings, two yellow and one purple, twinkled in turn. Without pause, the shield youth turned to charge at the girl coming from Tang Wulin’s side.

Silver light swallowed up the ground beneath her. This time, Tang Wulin could clearly see space warping around her, compressing her and locking her in place.