How Could a Level 20 Soul Grandmaster Have Two Thousand-Year Purple Rings Under Her Feet?

Chu Yuan led Keqing, Mona, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ning Rongrong over at a leisurely pace, stopping less than two zhang away from them.

As Chu Yuan approached, an invisible yet supreme primordial divine might quietly spread through the air, accompanied by the vast pulse of life unique to [Irminsul].

Xiao Wu, who was supporting Tang San, shuddered!

The previous two times, at Suotuo City's night market and on White Stone Long Street, several zhang and a noisy crowd had always separated her from Chu Yuan.

But now, Chu Yuan stood less than two zhang in front of her!

At such close range, the presence emanating from Chu Yuan swept over her!

It was the presence of the supreme divine tree that ruled over the Ley Lines of countless worlds and nurtured the origins of plants and living beings!

To any plant or Soul Beast, [Irminsul] was the source of life and the supreme sovereign above all bloodlines!

A thunderous boom rang through Xiao Wu's mind. The original bloodline of the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit, which had been deeply concealed by the laws of transformation, now trembled completely beyond her control!

An intense sense of closeness and attachment welled up from the depths of her soul and bloodline, along with an instinct to submit, to fall prostrate and worship him at once. Like a flood bursting through a broken dam, it instantly overwhelmed her reason!

Her breathing suddenly grew rapid and hot, and a hazy blush spread uncontrollably across her fair, delicate cheeks.

Even her hands on Tang San's shoulders unconsciously loosened their grip. Xiao Wu slowly raised her head, her large, watery eyes gazing dazedly at Chu Yuan, so close before her.

In her eyes, the handsome black-haired youth in white before her seemed to become the only source of light and the only destination in the world.

As long as she could get close to him, touch him, or even just breathe in his presence, the original vitality she had lost by taking human form and cultivating anew would leap for joy, filling her with an unprecedented sense of comfort!

"X-Xiao Wu?"

Though Tang San, leaning in Xiao Wu's arms, was temporarily blind in both eyes, how could he not be intimately familiar with her presence?

Feeling Xiao Wu's hand suddenly loosen its grip on him and hearing her breathing grow rapid and strangely unlike anything he had heard before, Tang San's heart sank.

Enduring the searing pain in his eyes, he relied on sound to locate them and his keen senses to perceive clearly that Xiao Wu was now staring unblinkingly at Chu Yuan, who stood before them!

Not only that, but from the moment Chu Yuan walked over, Xiao Wu had seemed to lose her soul. Her delicate body trembled slightly, and she had even instinctively leaned half a step toward him!

How did that posture show even a trace of shared hatred for an enemy?

It was unmistakably the submissive response of a lowly life-form before a supreme ruler, mingled with intense longing, attachment, and obedience!

Why?!

Xiao Wu was the younger sister who clung to him and depended on him most. How could she show such an almost bewitched attachment to the enemy who had left him gravely injured and utterly defeated?!

An indescribable panic and bone-deep jealousy and hatred bit into Tang San's heart like venomous snakes, making him suffer a hundred times more than the injury to his eyes!

"Xiao Wu! What are you looking at?! Wake up!"

Tang San reached out with his trembling right hand and seized Xiao Wu's wrist in a death grip, his nails nearly digging into her flesh as he growled hoarsely and urgently.

The sharp pain in her wrist finally jolted Xiao Wu out of the trance of her bloodline instincts.

"Ah...? Brother..."

Xiao Wu gasped softly like a startled fawn and lowered her head in a fluster, not daring to look again into Chu Yuan's eyes, deep as an abyss.

But even with her head lowered, her chest still heaved violently. The strange urge to approach Chu Yuan and submit at his feet had not faded; instead, it grew wildly in the depths of her heart, leaving her ashamed and flustered.

Chu Yuan had taken in every bit of Xiao Wu's strange reaction, and the corners of his lips curved almost imperceptibly.

A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit in human form?

Before the supreme life status of [Irminsul], no Soul Beast bloodline could escape its natural suppression and attraction. This little rabbit would sooner or later become a servant in the Heavenly Principles Divine Court's grasp.

For now, though, there was still the earlier wager to settle.

Chu Yuan withdrew his gaze from Xiao Wu and glanced indifferently at Flender and Zhao Wuji, whose faces were ashen as they held the unconscious Dai Mubai:

"The outcome has been decided. Flender, as for the wager made on Long Street three days ago, does your Shrek Academy intend to act on its own, or will you have my people do it for you?"

At those words, the clamor throughout the arena fell silent once more.

Everyone remembered the stakes that had spread throughout the city before this Soul Fight began-

If Shrek Academy lost, Dai Mubai would cripple both his own arms in public to apologize to Zhu Zhuqing, and Shrek Academy would put up a sign admitting defeat and get out of Suotuo City!

Flender's face turned pale, then livid, veins bulging on his forehead.

Dai Mubai was a prince of the Star Luo Empire, and Zhu Zhuqing had already gravely injured him. If his arms were crippled in public as well, how could they answer to the Star Luo Imperial Family?

But tens of thousands of pairs of eyes were fixed on them, and even Suotuo City's lord and the Great Soul Arena's upper management were watching from the stands. If Flender dared to go back on the wager in public, not only would Keqing and the others immediately strike with the force of thunder, but Shrek Academy's reputation would be dragged through the mud for good!

"Your Excellency, when you can spare someone, spare them!"

Flender drew a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and stepped forward. Steeling himself, he lowered his head and said:

"Today, my Shrek Academy was indeed outmatched. This old man has no objection whatsoever to putting up a sign admitting defeat! But Mubai is already gravely injured, his bones and sinews broken. He has received the lesson he deserved. This old man is willing to offer five thousand Gold Soul Coins in compensation in place of crippling his arms. I hope Your Excellency will show mercy!"

To save Dai Mubai's arms, Flender, miserly to the core, was forced to bleed money of his own accord, taking out the five thousand Gold Soul Coins he had saved up over many years!

Standing beside Chu Yuan, Zhu Zhuqing gave the unconscious Dai Mubai a cold glance and spoke softly to Chu Yuan:

"Master, Dai Mubai is already a dead man in my eyes. Having defeated him in public today, Zhu Zhuqing has untied the knot in her heart. When Zhu Zhuqing returns to the Star Luo Empire in the future, she will take his life with her own hands."

Chu Yuan smiled faintly.

"In that case, we'll do as you wish."

He waved a hand, motioning for Ning Rongrong to step forward and accept the gold card worth five thousand Gold Soul Coins that Flender handed over with great reluctance. Then he cast a cold glance at Tang San, whose eyes were tightly shut and whose face was full of venomous resentment and unwillingness, and at the distracted Xiao Wu:

"Remember your wager. By daybreak tomorrow, I do not want to see Shrek Academy's sign anywhere in Suotuo City."

With that, Chu Yuan spared the pack of defeated dogs no further glance. He turned, wrapped one arm around Keqing's slender willow waist, and took Mona's soft little hand with the other. Accompanied by Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong, who held the gold card and smiled until her eyes curved, he left the Soto Great Soul Arena at ease, watched by tens of thousands of spectators looking up at him in awe.

Left behind were Flender and Zhao Wuji, their faces ashen with humiliation beneath the Soul Fighting platform, and Tang San, who gripped Xiao Wu's wrist tightly as jealousy and hatred surged together in his heart.

Half an hour later, at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's residence deep on Poplar Street in eastern Suotuo City.

The old servant guarding the gate had been dismissed, and the secluded, elegant courtyard was brightly lit.

As soon as Ning Rongrong entered the courtyard, she eagerly presented the crystal card worth five thousand Gold Soul Coins with both hands. Then she lifted her fair, delicate face and looked expectantly at Chu Yuan, who sat in a grand armchair in the main hall:

"Master, Sister Keqing and Zhu Zhuqing were so magnificent tonight! They beat Shrek Academy until its flowers fell and its waters flowed! Um... Master promised Rongrong before that once things at the Great Soul Arena were settled, you would help baptize Rongrong's Martial Soul..."