The copper-plated armor looked no different from ordinary clothing, except that between its layers were many hammered copper plates sewn in.
Gu Yecheng ran along the mountain path wearing it as if treading on flat ground—there wasn't even the slightest feeling of pressure.
Gradually, the figure ahead became clearer. Gu Yecheng looked at the guy running with his legs forming an X-shaped outward stance and almost smiled, but he forced himself to hold back.
Like a gust of wind, the X-legged runner sensed someone behind him. His first thought was to protect his rear (his "backdoor" region), and then he saw Gu Yecheng swiftly passing by.
"What speed!"
The "X-legged" runner chose to carry iron sandbags tied to his legs since his lower body was relatively strong.
Gu Yecheng glanced back and realized the guy was singing. Was his ear just assaulted by that voice?
"Come on, enjoy, after all there's plenty of time.
Come on, love, after all there's plenty of folly.
Come on, wander, after all there's plenty of direction.
Come on, act up, after all there's plenty of glory.
Ah, itchy—so itchy!"
Though Gu Yecheng couldn't understand what the guy was singing, he couldn't help but curse under his breath: "Don't let me see him again, or I might just lose it and hit him. He's way too annoying."
Ignoring the person behind him, Gu Yecheng sped up and quickly caught up with the main group.
However, Gu Yecheng noticed neither the beautiful little girl nor the bald "ruthless" was in sight. They must be using their soul power on this stretch, otherwise he would have caught them.
Without further thought, Gu Yecheng increased his speed. His plan was to stay within the top ten by the end of the second stage, so he'd have a chance to break into the top four in the final stage.
As for first place, Gu Yecheng wasn't confident yet. After all, his soul power was only level 20, and according to his sensing, at least four people ahead had soul power over level 27.
More importantly, he was still only a first-ring soul master because he hadn't yet hunted a soul beast to gain his second soul ring.
It's worth noting that soul rings add to the body's overall attributes. A second-ring soul master's physical strength far surpasses that of a first-ring soul master. In attack, defense, strength, and speed, the second-ring soul master has absolute superiority.
Although this test was relatively fair—placing soul masters ranging from level ten to nearly thirty together—there was no such thing as true fairness.
The ages of the participants varied greatly—some as young as twelve or thirteen, others at least sixteen or seventeen, with a few exceptions.
Clearly, their natural soul power affected their training speed, and those without soul rings had no qualification to attend the Tian Dou Royal Academy.
Overall, most had relatively poor talent—over a hundred held only first-ring soul master titles, while fewer than twenty had second-ring titles.
Gu Yecheng naturally did not consider those with level-ten soul power his rivals. The only ones he respected were at least second-ring soul masters.
Just as Gu Yecheng sped up, trying to pass those ahead, two people suddenly joined forces and physically blocked his way.
Being obstructed greatly slowed Gu Yecheng's pace, which irritated him. The others should focus on improving their own speed, not trying to slow down others—it was downright cheating.
Had Gu Yecheng not slowed down, he might have knocked the two aside, possibly injuring them.
Such dirty tactics left Gu Yecheng helpless.
The two blocking him both had roughly level 17 or 18 soul power.
"Hey brother, that guy behind wants to pass us. Should we teach him a lesson?"
A thick-lipped man spoke to a snub-nosed man: "We're at the bottom anyway. Why can't he just stay behind us? He has to try to pass—so annoying."
"I don't like him one bit. We've got to show him how to behave. You remember that old saying in the soul master world? 'A soul master who doesn't dare cause trouble is a mediocre one!'"
"We're all veterans, of course we know some tricks. Little bro, watch how I deal with him."
The snub-nosed man asked, "Big bro, what's the plan?"
Sausage Lips smiled: "Since this is a test, we have to play by the rules. We can't attack directly, but we can trip him up indirectly, like this—hehe."
He pulled a handful of thumbtacks from his pocket and carelessly threw them behind.
Then he threw a few more and grinned: "See that, little bro? Clever, right?"
"Brilliant!"
Snub Nose nodded, "The mountain is so far away; from their view we're just tiny dots. They won't see these tacks. Big bro's using the blind spot—smart."
Sausage Lips waved his hand modestly, "You flatter me. You haven't even seen my other tricks yet. Today, I'll show you."
He then pulled out bags of banana peels prepared in advance and tossed them down.
He also threw a few small animal traps.
"Big bro is really awesome. My admiration for you is like the endless river."
Snub Nose praised wildly, "Big bro, you're a true hero!"
Whether Sausage Lips was a real hero, Snub Nose didn't know, but he knew Sausage Lips was definitely cunning.
However, these little tricks didn't faze Gu Yecheng. Though he was forced into a bit of a mess and almost slipped on a banana peel, these cheap tricks were just that—cheap.
"How is this possible?"
Sausage Lips looked at the light-as-a-swallow Gu Yecheng. Normally, carrying over eighty pounds, even halved by soul power to around forty pounds, one should definitely fall when slipping on banana peels.
"It's scientific!"
"Big bro, your plan doesn't seem to work," Snub Nose said, picking his nose.
Just then, as Sausage Lips was unsure what to do, Snub Nose suddenly exclaimed, "Big bro, watch his lip reading—he's cursing you for being an idiot. So annoying!"
"Damn it! I won't believe it!"
Hearing that he was being cursed and his plan failing, Sausage Lips got angry. Where was his dignity?
He handed all his gadgets to Snub Nose, saying, "Here, take these. We're probably stuck in the regular class anyway. I hate that kid; let's pull him down with us."
After passing the gadgets, Sausage Lips' eyes darkened, seemingly ready to unleash his trump card soul skill.
The test only forbade shortcutting, but didn't prohibit entangling with others.
First Soul Skill: Relentless Cling
Sausage Lips' soul was "chewing gum." His soul skill was a control type that used his body's advantage to stick to opponents—basically holding on to their thigh.
This mutually destructive tactic was despicable and shameless. He was throwing caution to the wind. Even if his actions were excessive, he just wanted to waste time so that annoying Gu Yecheng would finish last.
At least until the third checkpoint, when academy seniors would forcibly separate them—by then, Gu Yecheng would have fallen far behind.
"What is this thing?"
Gu Yecheng suddenly felt something trip his feet, nearly stumbling.
"Is this a person?"
Because he was using his "Crimson Lotus Weakening" skill, he felt no burden, only like wearing a spherical shoe cover.
But no burden didn't mean no speed loss. His speed was clearly halved, as if running in a swamp.
Chewing gum really was powerful!
Gu Yecheng's original advantage disappeared; now he was last again and running badly.
Currently, the leader at the second stage was Kong Long.
Second was You Xiyao.
Third, Cai Xiang.
Fourth, Jiu Ying.
Fifth, Zui Wuqing.
...
Fourth from last, Xie Ba Zi (the X-legged runner).
Third from last, Snub Nose.
Last (tie), Sausage Lips.
Last (tie), Gu Yecheng.
Wang Li on the high platform also noticed Gu Yecheng's situation: "What's going on? What is that dragging behind him? Is it some kind of pendant? Teacher, isn't he cheating?"
Sun Buyu waved his hand: "Not cheating, and it's not a pendant. It's a person—someone who wants to be eliminated with him, mutual destruction."
(End of chapter)
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