"Captain!"
Upon hearing Lofchy admit defeat, the people from Balak Academy immediately rushed over to support him. Seeing Lofchy's bruised and swollen face, a few hot-headed ones were even ready to gang up for a fight.
"Stop." Lofchy immediately stopped them and stepped forward to bow to Tianlin. "Sword Prince, thank you for your wake-up call today. I, Lofchy, truly wasn't a good person in the past. From now on, I'll change my ways."
This behavior left the members of Balak Academy completely baffled. They anxiously asked, "Captain, what's wrong with you?"
Lofchy sighed heavily. "Sigh, you don't understand. Every punch Sword Prince landed on me made me feel the pain of those innocent people I once bullied. That pain is like walking alone in a pitch-dark, endless corridor, accompanied only by loneliness and despair. You don't know when, or even if, you'll reach the end!"
"If, at that moment, someone takes your hand and leads you out of that corridor, telling you that as long as you reform, they'll walk a new, bright path with you—wouldn't you feel so warm inside?"
Lofchy's inexplicable behavior left his loyal followers dumbfounded. Was this their infamous Balak Kingdom's number one scoundrel—someone so notorious that even the villain Orby paled in comparison?
"Captain, you just got beaten up. How come you suddenly have such deep insights about life?"
"People are afraid of pain, okay!" Lofchy suddenly became bashful.
At this moment, Yu Tianheng and the others also rushed out. Although they didn't think these people could hurt Tianlin, they couldn't just watch him get ganged up on. Unexpectedly, instead of a fight, they witnessed this scene, which gave them goosebumps.
Yu Tianheng pointed at Lofchy and looked at Tianlin, stunned. "Did you do this to him?"
Turning over a new leaf is a good thing, but why does it also make him so effeminate?
"Absolutely not me," Tianlin quickly denied. He would never admit it. He remembered that when attacking, he hadn't hit Lofcht's vital points. Could it be because it was the first time he used the Kotoamatsukami, and something went wrong?
Oh well, as long as the important parts didn't change. The Lo family's power in the Balak Kingdom was even greater than the Ao family's. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan had a grudge against the Ao family but none against the Lo family.
Now, because of him, Lofchy had become a good person. He'd probably stand up for innocent civilians from now on, which would put him at odds with the similarly bullying Ao family.
Lofchy was the Lo family's only heir and could fully represent them. The two evils of the Balak Kingdom had become one good and one evil. Just thinking about it was amusing. At the very least, life for the commoners of the Balak Kingdom would improve.
After the founding of the Spirit Empire, if they wanted to quickly take the Balak Kingdom through the Ao family as an insider, it wouldn't be so easy anymore.
Because Lofchy stopped them, no fight broke out between the sides. The match continued, and the next to appear was the vice-captain, Orby.
As he passed by Orby, Lofchy suddenly said, "Orby, you'd better watch yourself from now on. I am the son of Balak Kingdom's Minister of Military and Political Affairs. It is my duty to protect the people. If I see you doing evil again, don't blame me for being rude."
Orby thought Lofchy must be out of his mind. In terms of evil deeds, in Balak Kingdom, if Lofchy dared claim second, who would dare claim first?
"Ridiculous!" Orby couldn't be bothered with him and went straight onto the Soul Arena. He knew he wasn't Tianlin's match, but because of the deep hatred between the Ao family and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, he absolutely couldn't surrender in front of Tianlin. Besides, Aldo, who'd had his ear cut off by Tianlin in the past, was his own younger brother.
"Sunflower Bloom!" Orby flamboyantly opened his palm, and a golden sunflower appeared. Four spirit rings—one white, one yellow, and two purple—circulated around him.
It was hard to understand how a heir to such a prominent family could still have a ten-year soul ring.
"First Spirit Ability: Blooming with Fame!"
Orby's first spirit ability was a restricting type. The ground sprouted many sunflowers identical to his martial soul, releasing pollen that slowed opponents.
But Tianlin had eaten immortal herbs, and the sunflowers barely suppressed him. He felt his speed drop by less than one percent. What was the point of this spirit ability against him?
"Hmph, can't move now, can you? Take this—Third Spirit Ability: Solar Eruption." Orby sneered. The sunflowers gathered solar energy and released a dazzling beam of light.
The beam's power was decent. As a third spirit ability, it was about as strong as Dai Mubai's second spirit ability, White Tiger Fierce Light Wave.
"Hmph!" Tianlin waved his hand, directly batting the beam off the arena.
Then, Tianlin flashed in front of Orby—not by using a soul bone's teleport, but by pure speed enhanced by Shu Mountain footwork. "Your first spirit ability is completely useless against me, and I don't have the patience for you."
With that, Tianlin karate-chopped Orby on the back of the neck. Orby staggered forward a few steps and then collapsed unconscious.
"This? It's over already? Orby is a Soul Ancestor, but he couldn't even force Tianlin to reveal his martial soul!" Oscar exclaimed.
Dai Mubai's face was grave, too. "Orby's third spirit ability was as strong as my Fierce Light Wave, but Tianlin just slapped it away with his palm. Even if I went up, I doubt the outcome would be much different."
"The man in the arena is ten times stronger than I imagined," the Grandmaster thought to himself. He now regarded Tianlin's threat as greater than any member of the Spirit Hall's Golden Generation.
To defeat him, there was only one way. The Grandmaster looked at Ning Rongrong. Honestly, he didn't want to teach her his secret techniques, but without them, they had no chance against Tianlin.
The match continued. With Lofchy and Orby, both Soul Ancestors, defeated, Balak's team was left with only five Soul Elders, who stood even less chance against Tianlin and were easily knocked out of the arena.
"Match over! The Emperor Battle Team wins! Tianlin's strength is astonishing—he has achieved the feat of one versus seven!" the referee announced excitedly.
Tianlin left the stage. Salas leaned against his chair, warily watching Tianlin's retreating back. Any member of the Spirit Hall's Golden Generation could defeat the entire Balak Academy team alone, but none could do it as leisurely as Tianlin—he didn't even use his martial soul.
Salas had to admit, that Tianlin's power now surpassed any member of the Golden Generation. Fortunately, Tianlin was only one person, while the Golden Generation had three. In terms of winning odds, Spirit Hall Academy still had the advantage.
As for Gu Ran, the other Soul King of the Emperor Battle Team, while not bad, was still a notch below the top few. His soul power was also unstable, likely the result of shortcuts. In a real fight, he wasn't a match for the Golden Generation.