"Xu Sanshi!!!"
"Su Wen, you got this!"
The spectator area was packed with several hundred people. Many freshmen had come to watch. Bullying of freshmen by upperclassmen was rare within the academy, and there wasn't much real conflict between the two sides. Still, that didn't stop the Soul Battle Arena's host from fanning the flames. With just a few words, he whipped up the new vs. old rivalry into a frenzy.
The Soul Battle Arena was the outer court's dueling ground.
One-on-one live combat. The winner earned one victory point; the loser got nothing. These victory points in the arena were significant—valuable bonus points for advancing grades, and even for entering the inner court.
All it took was paying the academy a ten gold soul coin venue fee to fight freely. The academy provided a referee, post-fight treatment, and so on.
"Alright, let's wait and see—will the dark horse freshman rise, or will our upperclassmen remain dominant?"
Accompanied by the referee's impassioned voice—
The stands erupted in cheers.
Countless gazes fell on Su Wen. He was the boy who shocked the entire freshman class on day one, even faintly making a name for himself in the outer court. Yet for some reason, he'd kept a low profile since enrollment. That air of mystery was hard for anyone to ignore.
"Match… begin!"
At the same time, Xu Sanshi curled his lips into a smile, lifting his chin proudly toward Bei Bei in the stands.
A near–Soul Ancestor-level powerhouse like him? This was going to be a stomp, wasn't it?
Bei Bei's pupils shrank sharply. He urgently called out, signaling Xu Sanshi to be careful. But Xu remained nonchalant, even waving to a few acquaintances in the audience.
The next instant—
"Pft~"
A mouthful of blood spurted out, along with a few teeth.
Before Xu Sanshi could even attach his martial soul, his face took a heavy punch (a fist literally as big as a sandbag). In slow motion, his cheek was hammered, facial muscles shuddered and rippled, and his body was sent flying backward.
Just as he was about to fall out of the ring, a thick, white-furred hand grabbed his calf, stopping him midair and keeping him inside the bounds.
Bei Bei's mouth twitched; he turned his face away, unable to watch.
"Crap…" At the instant Xu Sanshi tried to invoke his martial soul, the Gale threw him skyward again, rudely interrupting his skill.
And in a blink, the Gale turned into a blur of white, sweeping into the air like the wind. As Xu Sanshi's uncontrolled body dropped into range, the Gale drove another heavy punch into his abdomen.
Boom!
Xu Sanshi's body slammed to the ground like a torn sack.
The entire arena trembled.
Countless people stared, stunned.
"Is that… a Wind Baboon?!"
"No! More like a mutation of the Wind Baboon. A normal Wind Baboon can't be this strong!"
"What exactly is his martial soul? Wind Baboon doesn't have this much raw power. And is it a detached martial soul? Wouldn't that make his main body weak?"
An uproar broke out.
Everyone had expected a close fight. Many knew Su Wen's soul power level from the entrance exam, so they figured it would be Soul Elder peak versus Soul Elder peak—who would edge out whom?
But the tone completely flipped. The moment that Wind Baboon appeared, the situation changed drastically.
This was nothing like an ordinary Wind Baboon!
"…"
"Xuanming Turtle!"
Xu Sanshi stared in disbelief. Ignoring the blood at the corner of his mouth and gritting through the pain in his abdomen, he scrambled up and performed martial soul attachment. A nearly three-meter-tall phantom of a profound turtle slowly formed behind him.
"Power of Xuanming!"
"Xuanwu Shield Array!"
With two low shouts—
Two soul rings, one purple and one yellow, rippled beneath his feet.
A dense water element power surged around him, forming what seemed like a domain of water element. Even his martial soul seemed to change—the turtle phantom's back faintly gathered a small snake.
At the same time, dozens of condensed shields wrapped around him. Only then did he feel a hint of safety.
"Roar~!"
The Gale rumbled, glanced back at Su Wen.
Su Wen nodded slightly.
The Gale bared its teeth in a grin. With a swing of its arm, several pale cyan wind blades condensed around it, exuding a razor-sharp destructive aura, and shot toward Xu Sanshi.
"No!" Xu Sanshi watched, aghast, as those pale cyan blades sliced through shield after Xuanming shield, tore through the water domain, and came hacking straight at him. His face paled. He finally understood Bei Bei's look—he was genuinely afraid Xu Sanshi might die!
In the stands, the referee's pupils contracted. His figure blurred as he shot toward Xu Sanshi.
Those wind blades were too fast, too sharp.
It all happened in an instant.
He truly hadn't expected a battle between two Soul Elders to reach this level!
What kind of monsters were these?!
The referee's mouth twitched as he glanced at Su Wen—still standing calmly in place, sleeves unsullied.
At the same time, the Gale's nearly four-meter-tall figure moved.
Massive yet not bulky, light as the wind.
It flashed to Xu Sanshi's side.
With one punch it shattered a shield beside him, then grabbed him by the collar and yanked him out of the path of the wind blades before they landed.
Wind blades weren't boomerangs that the caster could freely redirect.
The Gale released Xu Sanshi's collar and dropped him.
His feet hit the ground—
His knees buckled; he staggered several steps.
Boom!
Boom!
Explosions rang out as the cyan wind blades slammed into the protective barrier.
The referee froze, staring in disbelief.
And the entire arena fell into a strange silence…
"…"
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