"Start!"
The referee's voice cracked through the air, and the match began.
Tang San wasted no time. With a flash, he rushed at Li Shen—his movements precise, honed by countless hours of rigorous training. A faint blue shimmer danced around his hand as his Blue Silver Grass Martial Spirit emerged, spiraling forward like a whip toward Li Shen's legs—fast, fluid, and full of binding intent.
But Li Shen didn't move. His katana rested casually across his shoulder. Just as it seemed he'd be caught—
He vanished.
A gust of displaced air marked where he had stood. In that instant, Tang San's Blue Silver Grass struck only empty space.
"Behind me?!" Tang San's eyes widened.
A sharp presence flared. Li Shen reappeared like a ghost behind him, katana already mid-swing. The blade shimmered with faint golden-white spirit energy—clean, precise, and deceptively fast. It was his Void Step, a skill granted by his spirit bone.
Tang San reacted instinctively, twisting his body and raising his arm. He blocked with his bare hand, but—
CLANG!
Even with spirit power and his Jade Hand technique reinforcing his limbs, the blow numbed his entire arm. The sword didn't cut flesh, but the shockwave rattled through his bones, forcing him three steps back.
"What the—his strength...?"
Tang San barely had time to recover before Li Shen advanced again, pressing the attack with a horizontal slash that whistled through the air.
The crowd roared as the two clashed. But something was different.
Li Shen wasn't moving like a beginner.
He was moving like a master.
Just as Tang San stepped in to counter, he heard Li Shen's voice—calm, yet sharp as a blade, and full of ominous intent:
"First-Level Derivation: Rising Moon Tide."
Li Shen's katana swung upward in an arc. From it erupted a glowing wave of white flame—a crescent-shaped tide that roared forward like a divine breaker, ready to engulf Tang San.
The wave was fast and wide. So overwhelming that one of the teachers in the stands instinctively stood up, ready to intervene.
But Tang San reacted in time.
Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step!
His figure blurred and vanished, narrowly slipping into a blind spot. The fiery tide slammed into the wall behind him, leaving a charred, smoking crater several meters wide.
"Damn… What kind of Spirit Skill is that?" one of the teachers muttered, assuming it was a Li Shen's Spirit Ring skill.
But it wasn't.
Rising Moon Tide wasn't a Spirit Ring skill at all. It was a derivative technique, born from Li Shen's training in Holy Sun Slash—a refinement that Lin Yuan had helped him develop. On his third day practicing the technique, she had asked him:
"What exactly are you trying to master?" He told her about the technique as this technique even she could use it.
Her insight and guidance led him to a new style—less focused on precision, more on releasing surging, tide-like flames. Though not as powerful as the full Holy Sun Slash, Rising Moon Tide rivaled the might of a thousand-year Spirit Ring skill when unleashed at full force.
"So this is your first Spirit Ring skill…?" Tang San muttered, trying to piece it together mid-fight.
But Li Shen didn't stop.
He charged forward again, katana gleaming with eerie calm. "Let's finish this. I need to get back to lunch," he muttered, vanishing and reappearing beside Tang San via Void Step.
Tang San countered swiftly. "That trick won't work twice!" he growled, thrusting his palm forward—
But the blade was already in motion.
"Second Derivation: Full Moon Bloom."
With that declaration, Li Shen's katana spun in a circular motion, erupting into a dome of golden-white flame that exploded outward. Tang San tried to retreat, but the dome caught him mid-step. A burning arc sliced across his chest—not fatal, but enough to send him flying backward. As this technique is more of defensive.
He crashed onto the arena floor, smoke rising from his uniform as he groaned in pain.
"Winner: Li Shen!" the referee declared.
The crowd erupted into cheers and stunned murmurs.
In the stands, Yu Xiaogang stiffened.
"How… how can he use two Spirit Skills at level 15?!"
Then his eyes narrowed, expression darkening. "Wait… does this mean he has twin spirits? Is he another dual Martial Spirit genius?"
He stood and pointed an accusing finger. "You said you were level 15—but your power is clearly beyond level 20! Are you lying to us?! There's no other way you could use two Spirit Ring skills!"
Li Shen raised an eyebrow and gave a casual shrug. "What, this? Oh no. These aren't Spirit Ring skills. They're self-created techniques. You've heard of those, right?"
The entire crowd buzzed in disbelief.
Yu Xiaogang clenched his fists. "You…"
Li Shen smiled faintly and held out his hand. "Anyway, let's not forget the bet. I won. Where's my reward?"
Yu Xiaogang's face darkened as Master Ma Nuo chuckled quietly from the side.
Gritting his teeth, Yu Xiaogang reluctantly tossed over a 24-jade inlaid belt.
Li Shen caught it with a grin. "Thanks, old man."
"You… this isn't over! Do you dare make another bet?" Yu Xiaogang asked, furious but trying to regain control of the moment.
Li Shen turned, eyes calm and cold. "Only if you've got something valuable enough to risk. Otherwise—stay out of my way."
He began walking offstage.
"I have something valuable!" Yu Xiaogang suddenly shouted from the stands.
Li Shen paused mid-step and glanced back.
"This," Yu Xiaogang declared, raising a glowing token into the air, "is a Pope's Token! With this, one can issue a command equal to a direct order from the Pope herself!"
Li Shen's eyes narrowed. Oh? So you're using the token given by Tang Hao… he thought, then smirked slightly.
"All right," he said calmly. "What's the bet?"
Yu Xiaogang's voice rang out, full of confidence. "You defeated Tang San using only self-created skills. Let's have another match—six years from now, in Soto City, at a place called Shrek Academy. Tang San will be there. Come then, and fight him again—but this time, only using Spirit Ring skills, if you dare!"
****
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