Douluo Continent: I ushered in this era

The Soul Masters in the military region are all selected through rigorous training. Their combat skills are far beyond what Chu Ci, a novice, can match. In addition, their Soul Power level is higher than Chu Ci's. If things go wrong, Chu Ci might really be defeated.

"Furthermore, during combat, the use of all means, including soul tools, is permitted."

Hearing Su Mengjun's words, Chu Ci finally breathed a sigh of relief. With the assistance of the soul tool, his combat power would be greatly enhanced.

"The outcome of the challenge corresponds to the resources the Temple of War will allocate to you. The more and stronger the opponents you defeat, the more valuable the resources the Temple of War will provide. Therefore, I hope you will take this seriously, Ci'er." Su Mengjun finished speaking these last words with a serious expression.

……

On her way home, Chu Ci sat in the car watching the scenery outside the window rush past, her thoughts drifting back to the scenes in the office.

After giving her instructions, Su Mengjun tossed aside a sword manual and said she had an important task to complete before hurriedly leaving.

But Chu Ci looked at Su Mengjun, dressed in fashionable casual clothes and looking excited. He secretly thought to himself, "This important task is probably not shopping."

Branch Director Ya handed Chu Ci a card, telling him that with this card, unless in an emergency such as wartime, the Soul Masters of the military region would not refuse his challenge. He then instructed Luan Xiaochuan to show Chu Ci around the War God Temple branch, while he himself took Bai Tianzhe to find the Spiritual Soul Saint.

Ha, the Temple of War is really generous to have a Soul Master from a military region as their sparring partner.

Sitting in the car on her way home, Chu Ci pulled herself out of her thoughts and flipped through the sword manual in her hand. It was more like a sword practice notebook than a sword manual.

It contains the sword insights of Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun, including their long-term understanding and brilliant ideas after flashes of inspiration. This sword manual, which contains the insights of two sword gods, is absolutely priceless.

But now Su Mengjun has given it to me so easily. Is this the treatment of having someone in high places?

"Tianzhe, how are you doing?" Chu Ci asked, turning his head.

Bai Tianzhe naturally knew what Chu Ci was asking, and replied, "That's right, my communication with that spiritual-type Soul Saint went quite smoothly."

"Alright, a Spiritual Soul Saint is enough to guide you for the next three years." Chu Ci nodded in relief after hearing this.

……

The next day, at the Donghai City Soul Guidance Train Station, a dark blue Soul Guidance Train slowly pulled into the station and slowed down.

The train doors opened, and Tang Wulin got off the train, following the flow of people towards the station entrance.

As soon as Tang Wulin stepped out of the station, he saw Chu Ci standing at the door waiting for him.

"Chu Ci," Tang Wulin ran over happily. Meeting an old friend in a foreign land is always a joyful thing.

Chapter 7 The First Challenge

"Wu Lin, welcome to Donghai City," Chu Ci gave Tang Wu Lin a big hug.

"Chu Ci, I'm so sorry to trouble you to pick me up in Donghai City," Tang Wulin said somewhat awkwardly.

"We're all friends, there's no trouble at all!" Chu Ci patted Tang Wulin on the shoulder. "Let's go, it's time to go to school to register," Chu Ci said, then turned and got into the soul-guided car that Li Lei had driven.

Seeing this, Tang Wulin hurriedly followed. Arriving at the car, Tang Wulin looked at the luxurious soul-guided car belonging to Chu Ci's family. After thinking for a moment, he concluded that this car should be more advanced than the one he had encountered at the platform.

The two quickly arrived at Donghai Academy and successfully completed their enrollment procedures.

Both of them were assigned to Class 5 of the first year. Originally, Chu Ci's soul power should have placed him in Class 1.

But Chu Ci knew that the help Wu Changkong could provide far exceeded that of this so-called "best" class.

Therefore, Chu Ci used the power of the Chu family to manipulate things behind the scenes and successfully got herself assigned to Class 5.

Tang Wulin looked at the dormitory key in his hand, then at Chu Ci beside him who had no keys in his hands, and asked in confusion, "Why weren't you given dormitory keys?"

“I don’t live in the dormitory,” Chu Ci explained.

"Ah, but doesn't the academy require students to live in the dorms?" Tang Wulin was even more confused.

"The college's rules don't apply to me," Chu Ci said casually.

Chu Ci had to go to the military region for training and challenges every day, so living at the school was very inconvenient. Therefore, he simply asked his father to tell the dean of Donghai Academy that he would not live in the academy dormitory.

Upon hearing this, Tang Wulin couldn't help but sigh, "Is this what city people are like? They can't even follow school rules."

After completing the enrollment procedures, the opening ceremony is tomorrow. Having nothing to do in the afternoon, Chu Ci went to the military region.

As soon as Chu Ci entered the military region, he sensed that something was wrong.

Chu Ci was treated like a precious treasure the whole way, and passersby looked him overtly or covertly, whispering among themselves.

Moreover, Chu Ci sensed a fiery emotion in their eyes, as if they were eager to fight him, rubbing their hands together.

Chu Ci stopped walking, thought for a moment, then took out her phone and sent a message to Luan Xiaochuan to ask him something. Chu Ci had added Luan Xiaochuan as a friend as early as yesterday.

Luan Xiaochuan soon sent a message that left Chu Ci speechless. It turned out that the military region's instructions regarding Chu Ci's challenge also included a clause that military region soul masters who won the challenge would receive a considerable reward.

The issuance of this order, coupled with the news that the challenger Chu Ci was only a nine-year-old child, made many Soul Masters in the military region eager to try their luck at challenging Chu Ci.

Good heavens! Levels, rewards—this is really increasing the challenge for me in every way! Chu Ci thought to himself as he looked at the message in his hand.

At that moment, a burst of unrestrained laughter erupted from the side.

Three burly men leaned against the wall, shouting, "I really don't know what the Temple of War was thinking, sending some greenhorn to challenge us. We could probably scare him so badly he'd wet his pants just by standing in front of him. Don't you think so? Hahaha..."

As one of the men spoke, he gave Chu Ci a provocative look, and the other two echoed him loudly.

Suddenly, the man's laughter stopped abruptly, a look of terror flashing in his eyes. A card had grazed his throat and embedded itself in the wall beside him.

The man looked at Chu Ci, who was still in a throwing stance, and shouted, "You little brat, what do you think you're doing?"

“A very clumsy attempt at provocation,” Chu Ci said coldly, but to be honest, he was quite susceptible to it. “Therefore, I hereby issue you a challenge.”

The man pulled out the flying card, which was the challenge card. He threw the challenge card back into Chu Ci's hand and grinned maliciously, "Very good, kid, I accept your challenge."

At this moment, Luan Xiaochuan also arrived. After learning that Chu Ci had issued a challenge, he led the two to the training ground in the military region.

Chu Ci and Luan Xiaochuan stood facing each other, with Luan Xiaochuan presiding over the event, while a large crowd of onlookers gathered around them.

The man clenched his fists so tightly they cracked, and said fiercely, "Kid, remember this: the guy who'll teach you a lesson later is called Zhang Tai."

Chu Ci didn't speak, but his expression grew even colder, and his aura slowly surged.

"Challenge begins!" With Luan Xiaochuan's command, Zhang Tai roared, his Black Tiger Martial Soul activating. His muscles bulged, his military uniform ripped, his hands enlarged to reveal sharp claws, and two ancient energy chakras rose beneath his feet.

His spirit rings revealed his full spirit power of twenty-seven.

Not to be outdone, Chu Ci unleashed his level 22 soul power.

A hint of apprehension flashed in Zhang Tai's eyes. Having received years of training in the military, he naturally knew the principle that even a lion uses its full strength when hunting a rabbit.

A claw-shaped melee soul tool appeared in Zhang Tai's hand as he lunged at Chu Ci, simultaneously using his first soul skill, Black Wind Claw.

Zhang Tai pounced on Chu Ci in an instant, his black claws slashing fiercely at Chu Ci.

Faced with this overwhelming aura of ferocity, Chu Ci remained unfazed. His scales rose and fell, and a pair of dark gold gloves appeared in his hands.

To everyone's surprise, Chu Ci did not choose to avoid the sharp edge, but instead confronted it head-on.

Chu Ci unleashed a punch, its force terrifying, seemingly accompanied by the roar of a dragon, and containing an aura of dominance.

This move is a self-created soul skill that Chu Ci comprehended after reviewing the sword manual last night, and it is called "Emperor Dragon Fist".

Long Tianwu was given the title "Emperor's Sword," which, as the name suggests, contained a strong imperial aura in his sword intent. Chu Ci gained insights into this imperial aura from the sword manual and, combined with the fist technique he had accidentally created before, created the first move of the Emperor Dragon Fist, Dragon Shakes a Hundred Miles.

Chu Ci threw a punch, causing the surrounding air to surge, which collided with Zhang Tai's tiger claw.

With a "boom," the two of them retreated simultaneously, Chu Ci taking three steps back and Zhang Tai taking four.

The surrounding crowd erupted in an uproar. Zhang Tai steadied himself, his eyes filled with disbelief. Physical prowess had always been a point of pride for Zhang Tai, but in the previous battle, he had been slightly outmatched.

Little did people know that Chu Ci never neglected physical training, and often used the Scales of God to enhance his physical fitness.

"Again!" Chu Ci shouted and stepped forward once more.

Not to be outdone, Zhang Tai also attacked with his claws.

But as the battle progressed, Zhang Tai became increasingly alarmed. He discovered that Chu Ci's fighting skills were improving at an alarming rate.

From initially being disorganized and somewhat clumsy in his attacks, he has now become more adept, with increasingly fierce punches and more tricky angles.

At this moment, Chu Ci forgot about the soul tool and the martial soul, focusing solely on his fists. Like a sponge, he frantically absorbed and learned the opponent's fighting techniques from every collision.

Indeed, real combat is the best form of learning. The benefits are especially pronounced when fighting opponents of similar levels. This is the true meaning behind the challenges arranged for Chu Ci by the Temple of War.

Chapter 8: Victory in Battle, Understanding the Power of a Fist

Zhang Tai knew that continuing the fight would be disadvantageous for him, so he feinted with his claws and took advantage of Chu Ci's block to jump backward.

His second spirit ring lit up, signaling his second spirit skill, Tiger Roar.

Zhang Tai opened his mouth wide and roared, spitting out rings of energy containing murderous intent.

Chu Ci's gaze was firm. He circulated all his soul power, his waist and abdomen becoming one, and he threw a punch.

A divine dragon coiled around his right arm, his fist whistled, and the resulting vortex exploded, the dragon's roar resounding throughout the entire arena.

This is the complete first move of the Emperor's Dragon Fist, Dragon Shakes a Hundred Miles.

To Zhang Tai's horror, the air wave he exhaled was shattered by the dragon's roar, and he was sent flying out of the arena in the vortex.

Just as he was about to land, Luan Xiaochuan suddenly appeared beneath him and caught him steadily, dissipating the force of the punch.

Chu Ci knelt down helplessly. Although her right arm ached, she could not hide her joy. She had gained a lot from her first challenge.

At this moment, on the first basement floor of the War God Temple branch, Ren Ya watched Chu Ci's challenge process on the screen in front of him, his eyes full of admiration.

"Old Wang, you've been bragging about how elite your fleet is every day, and this is it!" Ren Ya laughed heartily, teasingly addressing a bald man beside him.

This bald, burly man was none other than Wang Zhen, a Federal Senior Colonel and the commander-in-chief of the East China Sea Fleet stationed here.

"Hmph!" The bald, burly man felt a burning pain on his face. He was relatively dissatisfied with Chu Ci's ability to challenge anyone in the military region at will. Initially, he shared the same thought as the defeated Zhang Tai, believing that using his own troops to train a mere kid was a complete waste of talent, but the first battle proved him wrong.

As Wang Zhen listened to the laughter, he thought about the next three years, when apart from a few high-level Soul Masters such as Soul Emperors and Soul Saints, everyone else in his military region would likely be defeated by a kid who hadn't even grown up yet. His face turned even more ashen.

Wang Zhen summoned the communications soldier and announced, "Inform all soldiers that starting today, the training volume will be doubled, no, tripled."

Ren Ya patted Wang Zhen on the shoulder and said earnestly, "We're all family, there's no need to be so anxious."

"roll!"

……

Chu Ci hung a soul tool resembling a jade pendant around his waist. The jade pendant emitted a faint light, and Chu Ci immediately felt a warm sensation all over his body as a surge of soul power flowed into his body.

This is a soul-storing jade pendant invented by Chu Ci. It contains an excellent soul power compression technology, which makes the stored soul power more gentle and easier to absorb.

Chu Ci slowly rose, looked around, and the surrounding crowd gradually quieted down. The army was a place that admired strength, and Chu Ci had demonstrated enough power to earn their respect.