Douluo Dalu 4: Ultimate Fighting

Qiu Yuxin shook her head. “It seems like the little girl isn’t strong enough. However, Lan Xuanyu still needs to improve his fighting skills. He just got lucky because he was so heavy. Didn’t expect that.”

Lan Xianyu got up from the ground, leaving Ye Lingtong still lying there, motionless. He looked innocently at the teacher in a daze and explained, “Teacher, she was the one who started it.

When Qiu Yuxin realized that Ye Lingtong wasn’t moving, she immediately rushed forward and took her in her arms. The girl had fainted, a couple of grass blades stuck to her face, obviously pressed down with quite some force.

“Send her to the infirmary quickly.”

An hour later, Lan Xuanyu was ordered to take his weight again. He was 1.3 meters and weighed 23 kilograms – a perfectly normal height and weight for a six-year-old.

The next time Lan Xuan Yu saw Ye Lingtong again, three days have already passed. Her face was still a little pale and she didn’t seem all too well.

She no longer ran in the front during their physical exercises, opting to jog slowly at the back instead.

The other students kept looking at both of them from time to time, giggling and whispering.

Ye Lingtong’s animosity over Lan Xuanyu just increased tenfold. Lan Xuanyu almost crushed her that day, fracturing her sternum in the process. Of course, she got better after going through the treatment for Spirit Master, but she still couldn’t do any vigorous training for some time. She asked her father how could it have happened to her, and the only answer that she got was ‘Spirit Skills’. She was now determined to get her own Spirit Skill and finally beat Lan Xuanyu.

Lan Xuanyu, on the other hand, was mostly indifferent to it. Mostly because he truly believed that he was innocent. Of course, with his innocent looks, even the teachers believed that what happened that day was just a fluke.

“Just you wait until I’m rank 10. Once I have my Spirit Ring, I will challenge you again,” Ye Lingtong said viciously as she jogged past him.

Life in the elementary academy was routine and dull.

Lan Xuanyu studied hard and paid attention every single day, topping his culture class, basic knowledge of Spirit Beasts, and about every other class that he has. It made sense since his father was the head of the Ancient Spirit Beasts Research Center. He came from a family of scholars.

In a blink of an eye, half a year went by.

It was almost time for the final exam.

“Son, are you confident for the exam?” Nan Xiao asked Lan Xuanyu with a smile.

“Mommy, I am ready. Daddy, you’re still keeping your promise, right? You have to bring me to Heaven Luo Planet to play in a big flying ship if I do well.” Lan Xuanyu turned to his father, his eyes adorably wide with excitement.

Lan Xiao laughed and said, “Of course. You must be in the top three for all your subjects, though, okay?”

“En! I should be able to do it,” Lan Xuanyu promised. “Daddy, I’ll just go to the toilet and we can go.

“Alright.”

Nan Cheng watched Lan Xuanyu’s retreating form with a worried smile on her face. “It seems like our son is really quite outstanding, huh? But..”

She was worried about his cultivation. Ever since his Spirit Awakening, Lan Xiao and Nan Cheng have been worried that Little Xuanyu would be different than the rest of the students in respect to his Spirit Master abilities. However, after these past six months, they’ve begun to observe something different. Sure, Lan Xuanyu was doing great in his academics and even combat practice, but his Spirit Power hasn’t advanced at all, staying at rank 11.

At his age, and given his innate full spirit body, he should’ve already been able to advance by at least two to three ranks in half a year. Even normal children were expected to increase by a rank every six months. The speed of his advancement should’ve only slowed down at rank 20.

Logically speaking, someone who has innate full spirit body should be able to cultivate much quicker than an average Spirit Master. However, it had already been half a year and though Lan Xuanyu had some accumulation, he didn’t move up a rank.

They didn’t know what this slow progress meant.

“Don’t worry too much. Besides, isn’t this a good thing? He’s doing more than well in school and he’s not drawing too much attention to himself. He’s always been stable and steady just like me. He’s just starting so let’s just take it slow, okay?

“En.”

When Lan Xiao and Lan Xuanyu arrived at the academy, they ran into Ye Feng dropping his daughter off to school.

When Ye Lingtong saw Lan Xuanyu, her eyes were filled with excitement.

“Good morning, uncle,” Lan Xuanyu greeted Ye Feng politely.

“Good morning to you too.” Ye Feng had always been stoic, but as he looked at Lan Xuanyu, there was a noticeable gentleness with the harsh lines on his face.

“Daddy!” Ye Lingtong called, tugging on Ye Feng’s shirt.

“En, go for your exam,” Ye Feng told her, giving her a short pat on the shoulder.

Ye Lingtong felt aggrieved. Her father was treating Lan Xuanyu better than he was treating her!

She turned to Lan Xuanyu with narrow eyes, marched to his side, and pulled at his sleeves. “Come on, let’s go in together.”

“Oh, alright.” Lan Xuanyu turned to wave at his father before following her.

“Lan Xuanyu, do you want to know something?” Ye Lingtong asked him with a smile as they walked together.

Lan Xuanyu wasn’t sure why but somehow, even though she was smiling at him for the first time, he wasn’t at all comforted.

“What is it?” he asked.

Ye Lingtong answered, “Today, we’ll have the culture class exam in the morning and actual combat exam in the afternoon. Class one and two will be taking the combat exam together.”

Suddenly, Lan Xuanyu understood what she was trying to say. “Your class is offensive-type and my class is control-type, isn’t it unfair?”

“It’s not unfair. Most of the students have yet to reach rank 10 and don’t have Spirit Skills. It’s just gonna be simple combat.”

Lan Xuanyu shook his head. “It’s still unfair. I have a Spirit Skill and the teachers probably wouldn’t allow me to spar with the other students.”

Ye Lingtong stopped in her tracks and turned to him. “Then there is something else you should definitely know, too. I am now a rank 10 and have also gotten my first Spirit Skill. And since the teachers let the girls pick their opponent to teach you boys to be a gentleman… see you later, Lan Xuanyu.”

She let go of Lan Xuanyu’s hand and looked at him with delight as she skipped away.

Lan Xuanyu blinked, suddenly feeling chills down his spine.

The exams in the morning went smoothly. Lan Xuanyu was a very serious learner and with his family’s scholarly influence, he found the culture exam quite alright and made an all-out effort to answer all the questions. Of course, it was mostly because he was promised with a trip to Heaven Luo Planet and he’d been looking forward to it for the entire school term.

They had an hour of rest after lunchtime before they were expected to report for the combat exam.

The combat exam in elementary Spirit Masters academy was very easy for first graders. The students merely had to spar and exchange pointers with one another and the teachers would grade them based on the fight. Those children who had broken through rank 10 would be segregated from the rest of the students and the girls would be the one to pick their opponents.

As the class monitor of class one, Ye Lingtong was the first to step forward. She turned to the form teacher of class two, Qiu Yuxin, and said, “Teacher Qiu, I pick Lan Xuanyu.”COMMENT FIRSTRate this chapterVote with Power Stone

Qiu Yuxin shifted in slight discomfort, remembering how Lan Xuanyu accidentally fractured Ye Lingtong. Add to the fact that Ye Lingtong was the one who instigated the fight, her losing must’ve bothered the little lady. It was clear that she was out for revenge.

“Alright, but be careful,” Qiu Yuxin advised Ye Lingtong with concern in her eyes. She then turned to look for the most good-looking child amongst class two of the first-graders and said, “Xuanyu, Ye Lingtong has chosen you. Do well and fight for class two.”

Lan Xuanyu walked out with a miserable look on his face. He knew how good Ye Lingtong was, topping all her academic subjects and actual combat class even as she was recuperating from her injury.

Him, on the other hand, was average at best. He might have learned a few practical combats and fighting techniques, but he knew that he was still going to lose against Ye Lingtong.

“Lan Xuanyu, do your best! Lan Xuanyu, do your best!” The students of class two cheered, gathering to support him.

His classmates all loved him. If it wasn’t for his combat class results, he would have been appointed the class monitor for class two. As it is, their current monitor was another rank 10 student who has a better spirit compared to the Blue Silver Grass.

“You’ll feel my full strength this time!” Ye Lingtong raised her little chin arrogantly towards Lan Xuanyu.

“Begin,” the homeroom teacher of class one called.

Without preamble, Ye Lingtong unleashed her spirit. A layer of faint bright light was released from her body, white scales surfacing out of the skin of her hands. The scales were in the form of rarely seen triangular shapes with a craggy protrusion at the center of every scale. Her pupils turned into sharp slits and her originally pitch-black eyes turned into a citrine color. A faint dragon roar resonated as she leaped forward, her whole form imposing.

Ye Lingtong’s spirit was exceedingly outstanding, best among her peers, and all the teachers were impressed. With her innate Spirit Power at rank eight, a rarely seen mutated spirit which was different from her parents, it took her merely a week to advance to rank 10.

A variant of the Earth Dragon Spirit, hers was the mutated Iron Dragon Spirit that has been promoted to the Celestial Dragon! From an inferior dragon, it had evolved into a true dragon. Although it was the weaker type amongst the true dragons, it was still a Dragon Spirit – one of the few strongest spirits in existence.

A yellow Spirit Ring surged from beneath her feet, the color that represented 100-year Spirit Rings. It was no wonder that Ye Lingtong has so much confidence. Not only did she managed to gain a Spirit Skill, but she also bagged a 100-year one. Couple that power with her anger, she was unstoppable.

“Bring your spirit out!” Ye Lingtong demanded at Lan Xuanyu.

Lan Xuanyu couldn’t help but be anxious as he stared at her threatening pose. Shakily, he raised his left hand, bringing forth a swirl of silver veined Blue Silver Grass from his palm. Compared to the beginning of the term, the spirit he had produced did not appear to have any change.

As soon as she saw the white Spirit Ring rising on the Blue Silver Grass, Ye Lingtong rushed towards him.

Lan Xuanyu panicked at the sight of Ye Lingtong coming for him. He unconsciously took a step back, the white Spirit Ring he had lighting up. Immediately, the Blue Silver Grass on his left hand emitted a silver halo, the dewdrops on the leaves seemed to come alive as they converged into a river under his control. The river formed a whirlpool with a diameter of approximately one chi, shielding him from the front.

Despite its ordinary appearance, his Blue Silver Grass was unique. After gaining his first Spirit Ring, it gave him the ability to control the element of water. However, his control wasn’t strong yet and the most water that he could handle’s roughly about 10 liters.

He was only able to manipulate the water into a beautiful but lethal spiral flow because of his diligent practice.

A dazzling luster blossomed from the Ye Lingtong’s yellow 100-year Spirit Ring, congealing around her. She then ran straight towards Lan Xuanyu’s whirlpool, confident that her 100-year Spirit Ring would be able to break through his weak defense.

Everything happened in an instant. As both sides collided, it felt as time had frozen over. Both Lan Xuanyu’s and Ye Lingtong’s faces showed panic and astonishment.

The instant Ye Lingtong came into contact with Lan Xuanyu’s whirlpool, the white light around her body disappeared. Her body plunged into the whirlpool without a single defense. No matter how weak it was, it was still a Spirit Skill that could do considerable damage. Ye Lingtong’s small body was swept into the whirlpool for a few moments before the leaves from Lan Xuanyu’s spirit threw her soaking wet body out.

Plop!

Ye Lingtong fell onto the grass patch.

The students and the teachers were all stunned, confused as to what just happened.

“That’s impossible!” Ye Lingtong cried, staggering to her feet, drenched but otherwise unharmed.

She had a perfected Celestial Body, how could it just disappear all of a sudden? It should have been an easy collision into the whirlpool. She should’ve been able to go through his defense, knock Lan Xuanyu into the air, and throw him to the ground. How did it all backfire on her?

“Victory goes to Lan Xuanyu,” Qiu Yuxin announced, still stupefied. She pulled Lan Xuanyu back and walked him to his classmates who were rejoicing his victory.

“Lan Xuanyu!” Ye Lingtong screamed angrily from behind him. Lan Xuanyu turned back to look at her with an innocent expression. However, those innocent eyes only increased the magnitude of Ye Lingtong’s anger.