Recruiting the Lion-Tiger Combination

Li Hu and Zhao Lei exchanged a glance. The two had known each other since they were six, making their way from elementary Soul Master Academy to advanced Soul Master Academy together, and had long since become each other's closest confidant.

After completing their studies, they had not joined any faction. Of course, that was because their characters were too upright; even if they joined a faction, they could never fit into all its twists and turns.

"All right. Even if using that move makes our victory less than honorable, giving it our all is the most basic respect we can show a strong opponent."

When the spectators in the Soul Fighting Arena saw the two of them like this, they all began to cheer.

"White Lion, Black Tiger, use that move!"

"Black Tiger Gouges Heart!"

Amid the cheers of the crowd, the two men's Soul Power began to mingle, then rapidly flowed into Li Hu's body.

Li Hu's presence soared. Within a few breaths, he broke through the Soul Elder bottleneck and reached the Soul Ancestor realm.

"That's... a prototype of a Martial Soul Fusion Skill..."

In the stands, Li Yan was surprised. He hadn't expected the two of them to have such a trick up their sleeves.

"I didn't expect this. They really are wild geniuses. These two are fated to meet me."

Li Yan nodded to himself. The two men had combined their Soul Power, and although the boost was still nowhere near as monstrous as a Martial Soul Fusion Skill's, Li Hu's cultivation was already on par with that of some high-level Soul Ancestors.

An ordinary Soul Elder would certainly have fallen bleeding before this move, but Tang San and Xiao Wu clearly did not count among them.

"Black Tiger Gouges Heart!"

Li Hu launched a fierce attack, hoping to end the fight with this powerful blow.

"Xiao Wu!"

Tang San called out in a low voice.

Xiao Wu flashed forward to face Li Hu's full-force attack head-on.

Li Hu's pupils contracted sharply, and he cursed under his breath.

"Whose unlucky kid is this? Doesn't she know how to dodge?"

He didn't want to kill anyone. He had only used this move to make the two of them keep their distance and eventually admit defeat of their own accord.

Who could have known that this unlucky kid from who knew where would actually meet it head-on?

Li Hu abruptly tried to pull back his strength, but it was too late. He was less than two meters away from Xiao Wu.

"Third Soul Skill, Invincible Golden Body!"

Just as he thought the young girl facing him was about to be gravely injured or even killed by his attack, a golden halo appeared around her. With that halo, she blocked his trump card, a blow powerful enough to rival a high-level Soul Ancestor's full-force attack, without suffering a scratch.

The Soul Fighting Arena erupted in earth-shaking cheers.

"San-Wu Combination!"

"Xiao Wu! Xiao Wu!"

In the stands, Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong, who had been waiting anxiously and holding their breath for Xiao Wu, instantly relaxed.

Thank goodness, thank goodness. Xiao Wu was unharmed.

"Brother Yan, was that Xiao Wu's third Soul Skill?"

"That's right. Xiao Wu's third Soul Skill is Invincible Golden Body. Once activated, it can withstand all damage, but it only lasts three seconds."

"Even though it only lasts three seconds, theoretically it's a conceptual Soul Skill. It ignores all damage within those three seconds. Even I'm very envious of such an exceptional Soul Skill."

Truth be told, although Soul Beasts like the Soft Bone Rabbit could be found everywhere in the Star Dou Great Forest, Xiao Wu, the incarnation of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit, received Soul Skills that were the most invincible of the invincible every time.

Waist Bow, Succubus, Invincible Golden Body, and Teleportation, her fourth Soul Skill in the original story—every one of them was a Soul Skill other Soul Masters could never possess in their entire lives.

But Xiao Wu had them by the dozen.

In the arena, Li Hu and Zhao Lei breathed a sigh of relief. As long as no one had been killed, losing was no great matter.

After blocking that blow, Xiao Wu made no further move to attack, and Zhao Lei likewise stayed where he was.

Only Li Hu and Tang San, whose fighting spirit was running high, remained in the fight.

Tang San still held that long spear, which clashed fiercely with Li Hu's tiger claws.

"Just who is the contestant 'Myriad Senluo'? His Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass, but how did Blue Silver Grass acquire such a formidable Soul Skill? And can he defeat the Lion-Tiger Combination and complete the rookie king's comeback?"

The host's commentary brought the entire fight to its climax. Countless people had seen Tang San use a Soul Skill from a Yellow Soul Ring at the beginning, after which the long spear had appeared in his hand.

Tang San fought Li Hu fiercely. It had been a long time since he had experienced such an exhilarating battle.

Back in Nuoding City, he had never been able to find a suitable opponent. Once Li Yan went all out, he could simply ignore Tang San's Blue Silver Grass, while sparring with Xiao Wu meant Tang San had to take care not to hurt her.

The man before him was a fine whetstone.

The two fought for an entire incense stick's worth of time, every attack exhilarating to behold. The spectators cried out that the trip had been worthwhile.

Zhu Zhuqing swallowed. She had thought Li Yan was an exception, but she hadn't expected these three siblings to be more monstrous than the last.

"It's over!"

Tang San struck with all his strength, knocking Li Hu, whose Soul Power was exhausted, off the platform.

After they left the arena, Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing's combination was up for the second match.

They were lucky: their opponents had only just entered the Soul Grandmaster realm, and fell to the two of them in just a few moves.

With Ning Rongrong's support providing a boost of as much as thirty percent, Zhu Zhuqing's combat strength had reached the Soul Elder level. Coupled with her speed, which neither gods nor ghosts could fathom, she dealt with their opponents without the slightest effort.

After waiting through several more matches, it was finally Li Yan's turn.

His opponent was a high-level Soul Ancestor whose Martial Soul was a crocodile. He had no other abilities, but his rolling and biting techniques had reached the height of perfection.

Naturally, he was no match for Li Yan, who descended from the sky with his Dragon Halberd and finished him in an instant.

As for the remaining time, Li Yan teamed up with Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong in turn, taking each of them through a match to earn points. He also taught Zhu Zhuqing a great deal about fighting, which benefited her immensely.

During that time, Li Yan, finding the matches insufficiently challenging, also teamed up with Tang San to challenge a Soul King team above their level.

The result was no surprise. His Dragon Halberd sent those Soul Kings with Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings fleeing with shit and piss streaming. The name Dragon Halberd became famous in a single battle.

After fighting several matches in a row, Li Yan found it rather dull and decided to leave.

This time, his ten thousand Gold Soul Coins had compounded into a profit of two million Gold Soul Coins, and that was despite the person in charge of the Soul Fighting Arena refusing to let him bet on his own match against the Soul King combination.

"Alas, the heroes beneath heaven are truly as numerous as crucian carp crossing a river..."

"What does that mean?"

Xiao Wu asked. She was uneducated.

"It means that the heroes beneath heaven are like crucian carp. I can defeat them with a casual wave of my hand."

"That sounds about right, but why do I want to hit you so badly?"

Li Yan ignored her and left, preparing to meet Li Hu and Zhao Lei, the two talents he had taken a fancy to.

"I'm going to take care of something. Wait here for a moment."

He left the room where they had been resting and, led by a staff member, came to the two men's room.

"Huh? Brother Li, Dragon Halberd has come looking for us."

"Dragon Halberd? We haven't had anything to do with him, have we?"

After losing to the San-Wu Combination, neither of them had gone back onstage that evening. They had watched the matches the whole time, so they naturally had a good understanding of Dragon Halberd's true combat strength.

He was clearly only a high-level Soul Ancestor, yet he had fought two Soul Kings without the slightest effort.

The two opened the door and invited Li Yan inside.

Once Li Yan entered, he got straight to the point.

"You two, I hear you haven't joined any faction. I'd like to recruit you."