20+ Advance chapters on Patreon
When they stepped back into the Las Grand Soul Arena and saw the opponent details sent by Zhu Qing, everyone froze in shock.
The Rampant Leopard Team.
Captain: Zhang Miao, Martial Soul: Rampant Leopard, Level 45 Assault System Battle Soul Master.
Vice-Captain and team: all above Level 41, a Silver Soul Fighting Team.
But that wasn't the real kicker. What hit them hard were the three blood-red words scribbled on the side: "Life and Death Battle!"
At the sight of those words, Zhu Zhuqing, Ye Lingling, and Ning Rongrong went pale. Even Zhu Qing, their team leader, couldn't hide her unease. None of them had ever taken a life.
"Ning Tian, do we really have to go through with this?" Ning Rongrong asked, swallowing hard. Even the usually calm Ye Lingling and Zhu Zhuqing looked shaken.
"Don't worry, I've got you covered," Ning Tian replied with a playful grin. "You won't even need to lift a finger this time. I'll handle it all."
He planned to take down most of the Leopard Team himself, leaving just a few for the others to finish. But before he could say more, Zhu Zhuqing stepped forward, her voice firm. "No. I'll fight too."
"We're in as well," Ye Lingling and Ning Rongrong added, stepping up beside her.
"Fine then!" Ning Tian nodded. "Zhuqing, let loose with your external soul bone this time. Rongrong, Lingling, back us up. I'll leave two for you to take out."
He turned to Zhu Qing. "Teacher, could you handle the betting?" He pulled a gold card from his storage soul tool, loaded with about 100,000 gold soul coins; his savings over the years.
Zhu Qing stared, dumbfounded. Even now, he was so relaxed about it all.
But money was money. Who'd say no to that?
........
The Las Grand Soul Arena buzzed with energy. The central soul fighting stage was packed, all eyes drawn to a rare Spirit Ancestor-level life and death battle. Nobles from Las City and wealthy outsiders flooded in, eager to watch.
The Rampant Leopard Team: all above Level 41, led by Captain Zhang Miao, Martial Soul: Rampant Leopard, a Level 45 Assault System Battle Soul Master.
The Qingzhu Team: aside from the captain and vice-captain, the other five hovered just shy of the Spirit Ancestor rank, not yet at Level 40.
The gap in soul power was clear as day.
The betting odds reflected it too: one-to-one for the Leopard Team, ten-to-one for Qingzhu. But then someone dropped a massive 500,000 gold soul coin bet on Qingzhu, slashing the odds to five-to-one in an instant.
Soon, both teams took the stage under the staff's guidance.
The Qingzhu Team appeared as seven shadowy figures, cloaked head-to-toe in black robes. You could barely tell there were four men and three women; nothing else gave them away.
The four men were Ning Tian and his three clones, registered as Han Yi, Han Er, Han San, and Han Si. Ye Lingling, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing went by Han Wu, Han Liu, and Han Qi.
Facing them, the Rampant Leopard Team fielded seven beast martial soul masters. Their captain, Zhang Miao, wielded a rare mutated martial soul, the Rampant Leopard; cruel and fierce. The others had lion, tiger, black bear, hyena, wolf, and fox martial souls; decent, if not elite, in quality.
These weren't soft opponents. Known as the Brutal Team, they'd earned a reputation for crippling or killing foes, leaving no one willing to face them outside these deadly matches.
The host barely finished the introductions before darting off the stage. "Team soul fight, life and death battle: Qingzhu Team versus Rampant Leopard Team. Begin!"
The Rampant Leopard Team didn't waste a second. All seven summoned their martial souls, their soul rings flaring to life. Some had white, yellow, yellow, purple; others yellow, yellow, yellow, purple; no perfect setups, but that didn't mean they were weak. In a fight to the death, only the tough survived.
They lit up all four soul rings at once, aiming to overwhelm Qingzhu from the start.
Ning Tian moved the instant their soul rings glowed. He closed the gap in a single step, brushing past Zhang Miao, the Leopard Team's strongest.
His three clones followed, slicing through the lion, tiger, and black bear soul masters like shadows.
Zhu Zhuqing was a blur, second only to Ning Tian. Her martial soul flared, and she unleashed her Black Widow external soul bone, driving it straight through the hyena soul master's chest.
Ning Rongrong and Ye Lingling stayed back, skipping their martial souls. Instead, they flung a storm of hidden weapons crafted by Jiansheng over the past few days, coated with the corrosive toxin of the Eight Spider Lances at the wolf and fox soul masters.
The Leopard Team charged forward on momentum alone, stumbling a few meters before their bodies gave out.
Zhang Miao and the lion, tiger, and black bear soul masters caught a fleeting glimpse of their own backs, their last thought before Ning Tian's lightning-fast sword ended them.
The hyena soul master didn't even feel the pain. The Black Widow's neurotoxin paralyzed him the moment it pierced his heart, leaving him to die in shock.
The wolf and fox soul masters weren't so lucky. The hidden weapons only scratched them, but the Eight Spider Lances' toxin spread fast. They watched their skin rot before collapsing.
The crowd sat stunned. No one had expected such a one-sided slaughter.
The dust hadn't even settled when Ning Tian spoke up. "Han Wu, Han Liu, finish them off quick."
Ye Lingling and Ning Rongrong hesitated, fighting their unease. Then, pulling small blades from their sleeves, they slit the throats of the last two Rampant Leopord members.
That was it. The Rampant Leopord Team was wiped out. The Qingzhu Team stood victorious.
...…
In the VIP room, Zhu Qing's eyes widened in disbelief. Jiansheng, calm as ever, said, "Ning Tian's fine. You can tell this isn't his first life and death fight. But those three girls, they're not holding up as well."
"I'll go check on them," Zhu Qing muttered, heading out.
...…
After the host declared Qingzhu's win, the team left the arena. Ning Tian kept the girls steady with quiet words all the way back to their hotel.
Dinner was rich as always, but no one touched it. Still, Ning Tian's encouragement slowly brought them around.
By morning, they left Las City behind.
Their journey continued with soul fights in new cities. They'd start with regular team battles, one-on-one, and two-on-two matches. Training by day, fighting by night, meditating after. Each city ended with a life and death battle.
Four months flew by, and everyone grew stronger.
After three months of soul fights, Ning Tian hit Level 46, and Ning Rongrong reached Level 39. Zhu Zhuqing and Ye Lingling along with Zhu Qing leveled up too.
Zhu Zhuqing broke through to Level 40. Crossing into Spirit Ancestor rank was no small feat, tougher than climbing from Level 38 to 39 or even 41 to 42. It took her the full four months.
Zhu Qing reached Level 55, a slow climb from 54 over half a year. Ye Lingling, though, jumped to Level 44 in just four months; an auxiliary soul master's pace that left everyone stunned.
With Zhu Zhuqing's breakthrough needing a soul ring, they paused their soul fights and headed to the Sunset Forest the next day. Ning Tian figured he could visit Ah Yin while they were at it.
Ah Yin's Blue Silver Domain led them to a surprise: a Fear Claw Bear, a rare offshoot of the Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear, nearly 6,000 years old. It hid in a misty mountain hollow only emerging at night. Without Ah Yin's keen senses as a soul beast, they'd never have found it.
Together, they brought it down. With Ning Rongrong and Ye Lingling's support, Zhu Zhuqing absorbed the soul ring past her limit, gaining a fierce new skill: Nether Fear Claw.
When she used it, her Nether Spirit Cat's claws turned dark gold. A cross-slash unleashed a devastating claw mark, rivaling some ten-thousand-year soul skills. Up close, it patched her weak spot as an agility attack soul master.
After the hunt, they lingered in their old cave, training while waiting for Ning Rongrong's breakthrough. Four months in, with the lingering Qiluo Tulip effects, she hit Level 40.
Following the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's rules, Ning Tian picked a nearly 5,000-year-old Mystic Crystal Turtle for her, a gem-type soul beast that gave her a defense-boosting skill.
Over those months, the rest of the team grew too. Their levels now stood at:
Jiansheng, Martial Soul: Dark Fragrance Sword, Soul Power Level 91, Soul Rings: Two Yellow, Two Purple, Five Black.
Zhu Qing, Martial Soul: Dark Fragrance Sword, Soul Power Level 55, Soul Rings: Two Yellow, Two Purple, One Black.
Ning Tian, Martial Soul: Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword, Soul Power Level 47, Soul Rings: One Yellow, Two Purple, One Black.
Ye Lingling, Martial Soul: Sacred Heart Begonia, Soul Power Level 45, Soul Rings: Two Yellow, Two Purple.
Ning Rongrong, Martial Soul: Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, Soul Power Level 41, Soul Rings: Two Yellow, Two Purple.
Zhuqing, Martial Soul: Nether Spirit Cat, Soul Power Level 42, Soul Rings: Two Yellow, Two Purple.
Everyone had reached Spirit Ancestors and above. Ning Tian, not even fourteen, sat at Level 47.
With less than five months until the Continental Advanced Soul Master Competition, it'd been nearly a year and a half since they'd left Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.
They departed the Sunset Forest to resume soul fighting. New soul skills weren't enough; they had to master them in battle.
Meanwhile, back at Heaven Dou Imperial Academy's grand field, the Shrek Team lined up.
Dai Mubai, Oscar, Tang San, Ma Hongjun, and Xiao Wu stood out on the left. Yu Tianheng, Shi Mo, Shi Mo, Yu Feng, and Osler held the right.
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━━━━━━
patreon.com/DUKE3500 for advance chapters for all the novels i translate for 2$