Skysea Alliance tournament : Journey

"You don't know about the Sky sea Alliance Tournament, Our federation has eighteen top cities, split into five parts: north, east, south, west, and center. Each part has important cities, but the center only has two: Heaven Dou City and Shrek City. Even though there are fewer, these two cities are super important. In the east, there's the Sky sea Alliance with five coastal cities. Eastsea City is second among them. They do a big contest called the Skysea Alliance Tournament every three years. They find really smart and strong kids from all the cities. The best ones might even go to a big contest for the whole country held every five years! It's like a huge contest for the whole continent. Have you ever heard about this?" Xie Xie looked at Tang Wulin in confusion and explained everything in detail. Tang Wulin was the only one who felt a bit silly as everyone knew about this.

"The country contest is in Shrek City, right?" Xu Xiaoyan asked in surprise. Xie Xie affirmed "Yep, it's in Shrek City. But lucky for us, Shrek Academy doesn't join, so it's more exciting. They've been the best school on the continent for a really long time ". "So, we might have a chance?" Xu Xiaoyan exclaimed while having stars in her eyes, imagining the thrill of winning such a big tournament.

"Nah, we're still kids. I looked it up. The big contest is next year, and we'll be just eleven. We'd be in a group with ten-to-fifteen-year-olds. We'd be younger than...." Xie Xie stopped talking as he felt a cold gaze from behind , turning around Xie Xie shivered under Wu Zhangkong's piercing gaze.

Xie Xie gulped down a handful of saliva and stammered " ah! I mean we,um, we may be young but we're class zerrro! " seeing that Wu Zhangkong was still staring at him with his cold gaze Xie Xie continued " Y-Yeah ! We are class Zero there is no way we will lose, CLASS ZERO FOREVER! ".

Nero was amused seeing Xie Xie acting like he was going into a battle to defend his country. " vrrr! " Tang Wulin's soul watch vibrated and a few seconds later Tang Wulin exclaimed " Wow!, I am participating in the Sky sea Alliance Blacksmith tournament, Teacher Wu wouldn't this interfere with our games ". Wu Zhangkong shook his head and said " The main fight always happens after all other auxiliary matches as it is the main event ".

"Oh," Tang Wulin said, nodding in understanding. "Teacher Wu, which competitions are we going to take part in? ". Wu Zhangkong took out some sort of document and elaborated "The five-man event in the juvenile division. The Sky sea Alliance Tournament is very large and will have countless events. Obviously there will be events for soul masters, but they're divided into individual and team competitions. Team competitions are either groups of three, five, or seven. You guys should pay close attention to the seven-man matches. You five would participate in the five-man event but Nero wouldn't make a move unless the situation is grave . Your goal is to become the champions."

" I am gonna participate in the individual competition and I think you three should also participate " Nero caught everyone's attention by his decision of participating. " Aren't you concerned about the energy consumption " hearing Wu Zhangkong's question Nero continued " The time interval between the individual and five-man competition is enough for recovery and my demon wings are not for only healing besides it would be a valuable experience ". Wu Zhangkong contemplated for a second and agreed to Nero's decision.

" But, what's the point of us participating if you are gonna win anyways " Tang Wulin asked hesitantly as defeating Nero in 1v1 seemed impossible.

" There would be a price for top thirty " " Count me in ! " hearing the word prize Tang Wulin immediately agreed with sparkle in his eyes. " I will also join " seeing that Tang Wulin was going to participate the lovestruck Dragon also agreed. Xie Xie raised his hand in despair as he wanted to salvage the little amount of dignity he had left.

Seeing that everyone has made their decision Wu Zhangkong announced " Ok , You all can leave now and Start preparing for the tournament as we would be leaving for the Sky sea city in one week ".

[ You don't seem worried at the timeline slowly diverting from original timeline. I mean Class zero was supposed to participate in Three-man competition but now it is a Five-man competition ] Aria asked curiously to Nero who was reading a book before going to bed. Nero smiled hearing Aria and said while closing the book in his hand " I never expected it to remain the same as the moment I woke up, the timeline started diverting just like a butterfly flapping its wings and setting off a chain reaction that alters the entire world around it."

*** 1 Week later ***

As the first rays of sunlight broke through the horizon, Wu Zhangkong and Class Zero assembled at East sea Square, the centre of the city.

Everyone wore Eastsea Academy's uniform except for Nero, who opted for a black shirt and pants with the Eastsea Academy badge. ' Money and connections does help in solving these problems ' as he recalled the principal's easy approval for his request.

"Xiaoyan, let me know if they try to give you a hard time," a blue-haired boy walked past class zero to showcase a display his force. Class Zero wiped sweats off from their foreheads as the blue haired boy apparently Xu Xiaoyan's brother almost bumped into Nero.

Xu Xiaoyan swiftly pulled her brother aside, to prevent him from digging his own grave "Just worry about yourself. At least make it through the preliminaries this time."

Xu Xiaoyan words stiffened her brother's expression. "Of course. Each member of our team has at least three rings this time. We're certain to achieve impressive results." Their team was also set to compete in the team events, particularly the seven-man team competition.

Nero's attention shifted to a golden-haired girl as he sensed a powerful flame energy coming from her.

[

Name: Mu Xi

Age: 14

Martial soul: Shining Sun

Rank: 32

Spirit ring configuration: 🟡🟡🟣

]

Nero's lips twitched seeing the martial soul and inwardly thought ' Which brain dead guy decided to call this fireball martial soul a sun. Her flame energy is strong but comparing it to a sun would be an exaggeration '.

"Hey, why are you running late?" Mu Xi jogged over to Tang Wulin and playfully caught him by the ear but before Tang Wulin could respond, Gu Yue swatted away Mu Xi's hand and positioned herself protectively in front of him.

Mu Xi, taken aback, stared at Gu Yue in disbelief before bursting into laughter. "Not bad, Tang Wulin! You're already becoming a rebel at such a young age. Is this your little girlfriend?". "No, no! Senior disciple sister, please don't say things like that," Tang Wulin's voice quivered. Mu Xi's playful banter had attracted the attention of those nearby, causing Tang Wulin to turn as red as a ripe tomato in embarrassment.

"Wow, You're bringing so many people with you," hearing Mu Xi's query Tang Wulin explained, "We're participating in the junior division's soul master's team competition". Mu Xi continued in a mocking tone "The soul master's team competition? You guys?"

Xie Xie retorted indignantly, "Why is there any problem?". "Oh, nothing much. Just that we're also entering the junior division of the soul master's team competition. Do you really think you stand a chance?" in response Mu Xi sneered and revealed her three spirit rings.

" You seem very confident " " of cours.." hearing a voice from behind her Mu Xi turned around while boasting but stopped mid-sentence as she met Nero's eyes which were now transitioned into demon eyes. Mu Xi and in fact every student who happened to look at Nero's eyes felt an invisible pressure gripping them. They felt like they were staring at an abyss of shadow.

"The students of East sea Academy, board your bus now." Hearing the announcement the students came back to their senses and hurriedly boarded the bus. ' What just happened ' Nero inwardly asked Aria as this was the first time something like this happened. [ She was looking down on you and in response you subconsciously used some of the Sparda bloodline power with your demon eyes exerting a spiritual pressure. Iblis also contributed by mixing some of his shadow energy which created the abyss-like effect ] Aria explained the whole process.

" What happened to senior sister? " Tang Wulin asked in confusion as class zero coincidently looked away from Nero when he opened his Demon eyes. " Nothing, she was just in hurry " Nero patted Tang Wulin's shoulder and boarded the bus. ' Senior sister acts weirds sometimes ' Tang Wulin attributed everything to Mu Xi's weirdness and boarded the bus.

Xie Xie was about to sit beside Wulin but Gu Yue came forward and kicked Xie Xie out of the way, plopping down on the seat beside Tang Wulin. Xie Xie could only settle for the next best thing and sat next to Xu Xiaoyan. Unfortunately for him, however, Xu Xiaoyu picked him up and stole the seat beside his sister. "You..." Xie Xie was annoyed, but he could do nothing against the much stronger Xu Xiaoyu. Xie Xie gaze shifted towards Nero to see if he was sitting alone but his hopes were shattered as Nero was sitting with Wu Zhangkong, ultimately Xie Xie sat beside someone from senior class acknowledging that he wouldn't be sitting with Class Zero.

" Why are you sitting beside me " Wu Zhangkong asked Nero as he knew that Nero would prefer sitting alone. " Nothing, just wanted to have a talk with you " Nero replied using Demonic-spirit power so that no one would hear their conversation. " Go on, I am listening " hearing Wu Zhangkong Nero shook his head and elaborated " I meant the soul master Wu Zhangkong not the Wu Zhangkong who is seeking forgiveness and excuses to live ".Wu Zhangkong stayed silent for a moment hearing Nero and then surrounded him and Nero with a spirit energy barrier indicating Nero to continue.

" Don't you think it's enough, You have been stagnant by your lover's death in the past years and now using class zero you are trying to find a reason to live by seeking forgiveness of your teacher. Honestly it's pathetic, what are you even seeking forgiveness for, to me it looks like you regret meeting your lover and your actions imply that all the memories with her seem to be a mistake. Mr. Zhangkong instead of drowning in regrets why not focus on the illusory hope of becoming god and reviving your lover. You should already know that my father stormed Shrek just because Atlas Douluo rejected my aunt but the thing you may not know is that he never regretted doing that, my father never hesitated in doing anything when the situation came to his loved ones. What I'm trying to convey is become the man worthy of your lover " after saying his opinion Nero stood up from his seat to give Wu Zhangkong some time to think about his words and occupied an empty seat.

[ Did the sun rise from the west today? You wouldn't usually bother with something like this so why now ? ] Aria asked with a mix of confusion and curiosity in her voice. " I just saw my previous self in him, suppressing the pain of his loss and trying to distract himself so that the memories related to his lover should never emerge. I know now how you felt watching my previous self, honestly it's infuriating watching someone drown in regrets of actions that they had no control over. I was not trying to be a saint there it's just Wu Zhangkong's future reminded me of my previous self perhaps I wanted to witness a different ending " Nero explained as he watched Wu Zhangkong shed tears and storm out of bus towards a nearby valley.

Before anyone could ask what happened to Wu Zhangkong a powerful surge of spirit energy emerged from the valley Wu Zhangkong went in and quivered the bus slightly. Everyone immediately turned to look out of the window to see what was happening. " Whoa ! " everyone except Nero, whether it was teachers or students gasped in shock as they were left wide-eyed and speechless. Ice rained down from heavens as a brilliant pale blue sword emerged from clouds turning the valley in an ice tundra. Class Zero and Long hengxu were the most shocked as they recognized that the sword was Wu Zhangkong's martial soul.

" Sorry for the inconvenience Principal, We can proceed with the journey " Wu Zhangkong stated as soon he returned , not giving Long hengxu a chance to inquire about what happened. " Thank you " while passing by Nero's seat Wu Zhangkong thanked him, in response Nero just smiled.

After everyone settled down, some people started to whisper as even a fool could tell that Wu Zhangkong broke through. Nero ignored all the gossip and decided to take a rest.

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