Chapter 36: As Expected of You

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

“That’s… the Rumbling Tail Strike…”

The youth muttered, his face ridden with disbelief. “Impossible, no way! How can a mere green caterpillar use the Rumbling Tail Strike? How can it have such immense power!”

It wasn’t just him who had been stunned by the turn of events.

Everyone in the audience could only look on with their mouths agape.

That might, that immense power, that tail emitting white light!

Without a doubt, that was the soul skill, Rumbling Tail Strike!

Countless questions began popping up in the minds of the audience. In just a few seconds, they burst into an uproar.

Did the green caterpillar actually learn the Rumbling Tail Strike soul skill?

“Victory goes to Contestant No. 23 of Zone J!”

The referee reacted very quickly this time. After all the confusion he experienced from the previous matches, he had gotten somewhat accustomed to being surprised by the green caterpillar.

Wang Che nodded in acknowledgement before walking down the stage once again.

A soul skill like the Rumbling Tail Strike was truly powerful.

While its opponent was busy sharpening its claws, the green caterpillar had already charged forward and shattered them, crippling its vital points.

The effects were unimaginable.

Regardless of how strong a soul pet was, it would still have to kneel in the face of such power.

Since he had already revealed his Spit Thread soul skill in the previous match, Wang Che initially assumed that the Strength Rat would sharpen its claws in preparation to deal with the threads.

As such, he had already decided beforehand that he would allow the green caterpillar to use the Rumbling Tail Strike to counter its vicious claws.

Wang Che had no qualms about exposing himself this time.

At this rate, he would have a high chance of winning the next two rounds, even if he were to meet Lin Xi’s Cloud Cap Snake then.

Following the end of the match, the crowd erupted again.

“Damn, he can really put up a fight!”

Meanwhile, in the waiting area, Yuan Xiaole cursed when he saw the results of the previous match. “Brother Che’s green caterpillar really did learn the Rumbling Tail Strike… No, how can it be that strong with such a soft tail? The Strength Rat’s claws didn’t stand a chance at all… How ridiculous! What’s the point of fighting?! If you end up facing him, just admit defeat!”

Fortunately for him, his Kuka Beast had managed to learn a brand new soul skill and increased its cultivation base.

He got a free pass earlier as well, which allowed Yuan Xiaole to advance all the way until now.

Even after watching the green caterpillar’s earlier battle, where it spat out extremely durable threads, he had still believed that the Kuka Beast would be able to avoid them with its tremendous speed.

From the look of things then, it wouldn’t have been too much of a problem.

Therefore, he had still been confident that he could win and continue to progress.

Looking at it now, Good god… Certain defeat was spelled for him.

Not just him.

The mouths of the other contestants in the waiting area began to twitch as well.

They finally understood the strength of this green caterpillar. It was like seeing an experienced veteran bullying little children.

“This kid is getting more and more extraordinary with each match!”

Meanwhile, on the third floor observation deck.

“Still, if it hadn’t used the element of surprise, the tail attack might not have been as effective.

“Since the soul pets here will not have fully developed their intelligence by this Enlightenment Cup, their combat performance still depends heavily on the commands given by their Contract Soul Masters… Yet, this fellow definitely has considerable fighting experience. He doesn’t look like a high school student or a beginner in soul pet fights at all. Even if he recognises every single soul skill like the back of his hand, there’s still no way he could have calculated his opponent’s every step so accurately.”

The blind old man clapped his hands in excitement. “There’s something strange, there’s definitely something going on here! Back when I participated in the Enlightenment Cup, I barely made it to the top ten… Even then, I only won all my matches by just a tiny edge. Look at him, he’s practically trampling on his opponents, who can’t fight back at all.

“There aren’t many soul pets here today that I can say with certainty are stronger than this green caterpillar.

“Let’s take the Triangular Hard Rock for example. It knows two soul skills, and is at its second stage of evolution already. Many people assumed that it would be able to get a solid position among the top four, and yet, it was destroyed in just a few strikes! It didn’t even have the chance to use any soul skills!”

“On top of that, I’ve never seen a green caterpillar learn to use the Rumbling Tail Strike either.”

Professor Yan had a solemn look on his face.

“Alright, blind old man, let’s continue watching. If nothing goes wrong, there’s a high chance that this kid will be competing with Miss Xi.”

The competition went on.

Wang Che’s luck was pretty good. In the second round, he managed to get the free pass.

Then, the names of those in the top four were released.

Wang Che, Yuan Xiaole, Lin Xi, and a youth from Xingyue High School.

When he saw this, Wang Che couldn’t help but think that if the Triangular Hard Rock had been in any other district, Yuan Xiaole would have surely been kicked out of the top four.

Besides Lin Xi, the one from Xingyue High School also had an extremely rare soul pet.

Wood Warlord.

Wang Che had seen it for the first time when he visited the soul pet base.

An extremely powerful and rare infant soul pet.

Nevertheless, Wang Che’s luck was still pretty good.

His opponent in the third round was Yuan Xiaole.

Meanwhile, Lin Xi had to face the young man from Xingyue High School.

So… Wang Che won the third round very easily.

Since Yuan Xiaole admitted defeat before it even began…

Regardless, it would have only taken him half a minute to deal with the Kuka Beast anyways.

It was already afternoon.

After his short lived match with Yuan Xiaole, Lin Xi also defeated the Wood Warlord.

That, however, made Wang Che frown.

Throughout the course of the match, neither side gave in, and they ended up fighting for more than ten minutes before Lin Xi finally won with a slight edge.

The deciding factor was the powerful attribute soul skill that Lin Xi’s Cloud Cap Snake learned during the battle.

Seed Bomb!

This caused the entire audience to burst into loud cheers!

“Alright… Learning a new move right in the middle of a match, she really must be heaven’s chosen one,” Wang Che thought to himself and smiled.

Besides training, the comprehension of a soul skill also relied on the soul pet’s own intelligence and ability.

Normally, extremely rare soul pets would need to reach the age limit and go through intense training in order to learn an attribute soul skill.

In turn, the attribute soul skill they learn would be far stronger than that of soul pets that were more common.

However, that also meant it would be much more difficult to comprehend a new soul skill.

In this regard, the Cloud Cap Snake was obviously very perceptive.

It was aware that its future potential was limitless.

Moreover, its growth was quite impressive even for extremely rare soul pets.

As the green caterpillar watched the battle with its own eyes, it began to send Wang Che signals.

‘Can I win?’

Wang Che simply smiled back at it. As the final round was about to begin, he brought the green caterpillar into the arena.

The Enlightenment Cup was considered to be relatively niche, since it was only a competition held by the major schools for their youths who aspired to become Contract Soul Masters.

As such, in the past, there wouldn’t be much of an audience in attendance, or even official commentators.

However, it was clearly different this time.

The battle platform for the finals began to transform.

Right now, the most eye-catching thing in the arena was the huge trophy on the ground, which had a brain-like symbol on it.

It was Dino Technology’s logo, since they were the sponsor of this competition after all.

Due to their prestige, the champion of this Enlightenment Cup would definitely get a huge boost in their scores whenever they took part in any college entrance examinations in the future.

Although it was only an entry level event in the soul pet world, participating in this competition would be undeniably useful and meaningful in the future.

Meanwhile, Wang Che and Lin Xi stood opposite each other on the competition stage.

“I didn’t expect this to happen.”

A smile appeared on Lin Xi’s lips. She looked somewhat astounded.

Seeing this, Wang Che wasn’t sure if she was still surprised by the new soul skill that her Cloud Cap Snake had learned in the middle of a fight, or the fact that Wang Che had managed to fight his way to the top.

“To be honest, I didn’t expect this outcome either,” Wang Che said, while nodding slowly. “I assumed you would lose to that Wood Warlord.”

From its name, one could tell that this was no ordinary soul pet.

The girl before him was incredible.

Since Skyheart City was not a big city, those who managed to emerge victorious in this competition were naturally no ordinary people.

Apart from Yuan Xiaole, of course.

“Yet, I still won in the end.”

Lin Xi continued, “Ever since winter break, you have managed to climb up to this stage. I have to admit that, in terms of training soul pets, you are much more skilled than me. Judging from the results of your previous battles, I can tell that you are much stronger than the opponents I’ve faced before this.

“You even trained your green caterpillar to learn the Rumbling Tail Strike.

“As expected of you.”

These words made Wang Che feel a little uneasy.

Without giving him time to respond, Lin Xi added.

“Nevertheless, you’ll have to beat me now…”

Lin Xi’s gaze suddenly intensified as a strong aura began to condense around her. “That will be impossible!”

As if on cue, the referee gave the order:

“Begin!”