I've got a big ol' banana.
As Wang Billy made this bizarre declaration, a faint yellow glow condensed in his hand, eventually forming into a fully ripe banana.
The moment his words dropped, even the expressions of his teammates—Zhang Yangzi and the others—visibly twitched. The arena was spacious, yes, but since all of them were Soul Masters, Nan Fusheng's team naturally heard him loud and clear.
The four of them turned to look at Wang Billy with expressions that could only be described as... complex.
How should one put this? Soul incantations used by food-type Soul Masters were always a little strange, but when paired with Wang Billy's current posture, it was... something else entirely.
This was a tall, heavily built, dark-skinned man—yet he was holding his conjured banana with a delicate orchid hand gesture, and that smile he gave as he handed the bananas to his teammates...
At least in Nan Fusheng's eyes, that smile was radiating something deeper. Something philosophical.
His gleaming white teeth stood out starkly against his dark skin, impossibly bright.
Food-type Soul Masters had always been a unique class in the Soul Master world. Their Martial Souls came in all shapes and sizes.
It was said that twenty thousand years ago, a high-ranking food-type Soul Master could become an irreplaceable asset to any major faction, capable of single-handedly sustaining an army's food supply.
As times changed, so did the forms of food-type Martial Souls. It was almost as if these Martial Souls evolved with the trends of society.
For example, when candy was first invented, food-type Soul Masters wielding candy-based Martial Souls soon emerged.
When cigars were first manufactured, not long after came Soul Masters whose Martial Souls were... cigars.
But one truth had always held:
The stronger a food-type Martial Soul, the more ridiculous it was.
And its Soul Incantation? The more obscene.
Just like the once-famous Oscar of the original Shrek Seven Devils, who became the God of Food…
Or like the more recent Shrek member "He Caitou," known as the Source of Destruction, who wielded weaponized sausages.
Compared to those, Wang Billy's Banana Martial Soul might not seem that powerful, but it was top-tier quality in its own right.
His innate Soul Power was level six, and even now, his Soul Power was only level fourteen. Among battle-type Soul Masters, that might only count as moderate talent.
But for a support-type Soul Master, that was genius-level.
The controversy, however, wasn't about his Soul Skill. It was about the man himself.
If it were just a gross incantation, Zhang Yangzi and the others could deal with it. At worst, they'd just suffer a little auditory trauma.
But Wang Billy as a person?
That was another matter entirely.
If it weren't for the fact that today's match required four participants, and if it weren't for Wang Billy having the highest support value in Class One, Zhang Yangzi and the others would never have chosen him as their teammate.
Wang Billy was a local of Eastsea City. From the moment he awakened his Martial Soul and joined the junior division, he'd developed a habit of offering other students his Martial Soul-produced bananas.
Which… wasn't inherently bad. Sharing was a virtue.
And most kids at that age were too young to pick up on anything weird about his soul incantation.
The problem was: every single time he offered his banana, he'd flash that same bizarre smile.
If it weren't for the fact that the banana came from his Martial Soul, some students would've thought he was poisoning them.
And even with that confirmation, his creepy smile and constant banana gifting…
Coupled with his unusually tall build for his age and his dark skin, had earned himself a lonely reputation throughout both the junior and intermediate divisions.
There were even rumors that, ever since he enrolled, his dormmates would sleep each night tightly wrapped in their quilts, fearing what strange things might "invade" them while they slept—all because of that smile.
For many, Wang Billy's entire existence radiated "philosophy".
In fact, in Class One, he was unofficially known as "the teammate no one wants."
Wang Billy's first Soul Skill:
"Energetic Big Banana" – Restores Soul Power, puts the user in an energized state, and enhances mental resistance.
When Ye Yingluo (Class One's teacher) heard that her sister Ye Yingrong's Class Three had lost to Class Five, she designed the team lineup for this match.
In her opinion, Class Three's loss was largely due to Nan Fusheng's spiritual abilities.
She had watched the match between Class Five and Class Two. From her perspective, whenever Nan Fusheng's Soul Ring flickered, the enemy would fall into a trance and then be instantly eliminated.
She didn't have a great counter for a spiritual-type Soul Master either.
However, Nan Fusheng was still just a one-ring Soul Master, and his spiritual power had a ceiling. Wang Billy's first Soul Skill, which induced an energized state, could help boost resistance to mental-type attacks.
Couple that with the three Soul Grandmasters in her team?
What could Class Five possibly do to stop them?
In the arena, after Zhang Yangzi and the others ate Wang Billy's bananas, their Soul Power slowly began to recover.
"This has gone on long enough,"
Zhang Yangzi said to his teammates.
"We're Class One—the strongest. Let's end this quickly."
The scare from nearly being eliminated earlier had left him deeply unsettled. He wanted to finish off Class Five in one clean sweep, before anything unexpected could happen again.
Coincidentally, Class Five was thinking the same thing.
From the back, Nan Fusheng spoke up:
"We need to end this fast. They've got a food-type Soul Master, and his skill looks like a recovery-type. The longer this drags on, the worse it is for us."
"Agreed,"
Tang Wulin nodded.
"We target Wang Jinxi first. Take him out if we can. If not, we focus on the food type."
That was the correct strategy.
Zhang Yangzi and Wei Xiaofeng were both nimble and evasive types—not easy to pin down.
But earlier, when Tang Wulin clashed directly with Wang Jinxi, he'd noticed that his own Dragon Claw was highly effective against him.
Which made Wang Jinxi the softest target to crush first.
At that moment, Zhang Yangzi suddenly unfurled his wings again. A surge of black energy spread outward like a dome, shrouding his team.
Gu Yue's lips curled into a smirk.
"Dark-element field control?"
She reached out and grabbed Tang Wulin to stop him from charging forward, then stepped two paces ahead, positioning herself at the front of the team.
A yellow Soul Ring lit up beneath her feet—and in that instant, her eyes gleamed brilliantly.
A faint silver light flashed deep in her pupils as she raised her right hand. A brilliant golden glow erupted from her palm like she were holding a miniature sun. Intense light-element energy burst from her body.
The lingering dark-element energy clinging to Xie Xie from earlier—courtesy of Zhang Yangzi's second Soul Skill—instantly vanished in the glow. His body felt warm and energized, his spent Soul Power slowly recovering.
Xie Xie's Light Dragon Dagger was inherently aligned with light, and his Shadow Dragon Dagger had spatial attributes. Bathed in this radiant aura, it was like he'd been revitalized.
Zhang Yangzi's dark dome began to falter under the assault of Gu Yue's light element, slowly weakening until the three figures inside became faintly visible again.