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**
Two days had passed since the day Ling Xiao went to the Saintess Palace. On this day, inside the Spirit Hall Academy's Arena District, Ling Xiao stood high on a distant platform.
He watched a massive crowd of students either sparring under the guidance of instructors to hone their skills, or spontaneously challenging one another to gain experience and learn different combat styles.
For some reason, even though he himself was only fifteen years old, looking at these students who weren't much younger than him—some were even older—he couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
It truly was great to be young.
Thinking of this, he shook his head slightly. Ling Xiao felt that he was increasingly ceasing to view himself as a mere student. At the very least, these academy spars that used to bring him excitement and thrills now only felt amusing and relaxing.
According to what Her Holiness the Pope had said, all he needed to do next was cultivate freely within the academy. However, regarding his cultivation for the next four years, he didn't just want to bury his head in bitter, reclusive training.
He also wanted a rather special kind of experiential learning—or rather, a thrill. With this thought, Ling Xiao's gaze gradually drifted away from the students below, a sharp edge radiating from his eyes.
"Ling Xiao, why did you call me here?"
Yan's voice suddenly echoed from behind.
Ling Xiao didn't turn around; he wasn't surprised by Yan's arrival in the slightest. He merely said calmly, "Yan, for your cultivation over the next four years, do you plan on just training directly here at the academy?"
Hearing Ling Xiao's words, Yan's expression shifted.
Having competed against each other for many years, they understood one another thoroughly. Since Ling Xiao put it this way, he definitely had some different ideas in mind.
"Ling Xiao, do you want to go do something?"
With a gentle smile, Ling Xiao turned his body sideways, looking at Yan as he said, "Although we've gone out for experiential training many times before—and encountered countless crises inside the Mystic Trace Canyon—"
"We don't lack combat experience or the ability to adapt to enemies. However, we've basically been fighting soul beasts. We're still somewhat lacking when it comes to fighting human soul masters. Don't you want to make up for that?"
"Fighting soul masters?" Yan's eyes flashed, a flurry of thoughts instantly crossing his mind.
"Right now, we've both already reached the Soul Ancestor cultivation level. Among those close to our age in the academy, the highest cultivation is merely at the Soul Elder rank, which can't give us any pressure at all."
"As for those students over twenty years old, although there are a few at the Soul Ancestor level, breaking through to the Soul Ancestor realm at that age means they will exceed the age limit by the time the Continental Elite Young Soul Master Tournament begins."
"Therefore, they generally leave the academy very quickly to be dispatched to positions within Spirit Hall, rather than staying here."
"Could it be that you want to go to the Great Spirit Arena to train for a period of time? That actually is a pretty good idea. The Great Spirit Arena inside Spirit City can be considered the largest in scale across the entire continent."
"The number of soul masters participating in spirit fights there every day is countless. One can indeed gain a lot of experience there and increase their familiarity with fighting different kinds of soul masters."
Yan spoke with a hint of excitement.
"No."
Ling Xiao looked at Yan and shook his head.
His eyes shone intensely as he said, "I have no interest in going to the Great Spirit Arena just to let people treat my battles like a performance. Furthermore, I don't need those spectators cheering and applauding for me."
"Though the Great Spirit Arena does have a great tempering effect for soul masters, allowing them to encounter different opponents of the same cultivation, accumulate experience, and even earn a large amount of money to aid their cultivation if they are strong enough…"
"For us, if we want to improve our experience in fighting soul masters, the Great Spirit Arena is not the optimal choice. We have a better option."
"What option?"
"Yan, you must understand that while the Great Spirit Arena allows you to battle a large number of soul masters of the same cultivation level to unleash your inner potential."
"You should also realize what kind of people make up the majority of those who fight there for experience. The vast majority are commoner soul masters with no factions to rely on, or soul masters who hail from minor factions."
"Either their Martial Soul talent is lacking, leading to slow cultivation—meaning even if they share the Soul Ancestor rank with us, their age is definitely much greater than ours—or the ones who can actually pressure us will basically just be those soul masters who rely on their age advantage to vastly surpass us in cultivation."
"Alternatively, they lack a systematic education and rely on their own trial and error to cultivate. They might not correctly grasp the direction of their Martial Soul's cultivation, and their mastery over their Martial Soul is questionable."
"Some don't even pay attention to mastering their Martial Soul, walking completely off the beaten path to purely chase higher soul ring years."
"While people like them can extract the maximum value available to them from the Great Spirit Arena, it also means that, overall, the standard and quality of soul masters there are not high. Or rather, they lack inspiration and creativity."
"Granted, it's not like they don't exist. There are commoner soul masters making a name for themselves in the Great Spirit Arena who possess extraordinary natural talent, using its resources to constantly grow stronger and eventually become famous powerhouses of their regions. But their numbers are simply too few."
"Meanwhile, those young soul masters who truly hail from great sects and grand clans, carrying deep heritages, will generally not frequent the Great Spirit Arena. Even if they do go there for experiential training, they are often quite scattered and sporadic. We might not even run into a handful of them."
"Therefore, even if we were to go to the Great Spirit Arena to duel other soul masters, it wouldn't necessarily bring us much harvest."
As Ling Xiao spoke, a brilliant light erupted from his eyes, and a playful smile played at the corner of his lips.
"But what if our opponents were the younger generation from the major factions across the soul master world? What do you think would happen then?"
Hearing Ling Xiao's words, Yan's pupils instantly shrank as he gasped, "Ling Xiao, do you want to challenge the young disciples of the major sects in the soul master world?!"
"Exactly. And it's not just the major sects. Those powerful soul master clans that haven't established sects, as well as the prominent soul master academies, are all within the scope of my plan."
"I want to see just who among the younger generation of this continent's soul master world can contend with me, Ling Xiao!"
The moment these words left his mouth, his speech exuded absolute confidence in his own strength, alongside a heroic pride to discover who under heaven could truly be his match.
Listening to Ling Xiao's declaration, even Yan, who had always been exceptionally proud and battle-hungry, couldn't help but be shocked and won over by the sheer boldness in Ling Xiao's words.
It made his eyes light up as excitement pumped through him. At the same time, he tightly clenched his right hand into a fist, instantly throwing his previous idea about the Great Spirit Arena to the back of his mind.
Indeed, the outstanding successors of the major factions in the continent's soul master world were not characters the soul masters of the Great Spirit Arena could compare to.
"Ling Xiao, it seems I really underestimated you. I used to think that out of the four of us, I was the most arrogant. But who would have thought that when it comes to being unbridled and proud, you far surpass me."
Yan nodded, looking at Ling Xiao with deep admiration, before his brow furrowed slightly. "If that's the case, they would truly make for excellent opponents. However, as far as I know, among the major sects and soul master clans right now, the most exceptional younger generation haven't all reached the Soul Ancestor realm."
"Some of them haven't even cultivated to the four-ring realm yet. If that's the case, wouldn't we just be suppressing them with our cultivation? There would be a lingering suspicion of winning unfairly."
Ling Xiao smiled faintly.
"Yan, what I want to challenge this time is the absolute finest of the younger generation among the major factions in the current soul master world. If they are older than me and their cultivation is above mine, I will challenge them."
"If their cultivation hasn't reached the Soul Ancestor rank, as long as they earn my acknowledgment, I will still go and challenge them to experience the Martial Soul they inherited. That alone will make the trip worthwhile. It's not strictly about fighting opponents of the exact same cultivation level."
**
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