First Encounter with a Control System Soul Master

Night had fully fallen, and Suotuo City seemed to have just awakened, becoming even livelier than during the day.

Flander checked the sky and decided the time was about right. After paying for the tea, the group of seven left the tea shop and headed toward the Soto Great Spirit Arena.

Neither Tang San nor Xiao Wu had ever been to a Great Spirit Arena before, and they were immediately stunned by its scale.

Zhu Zhuqing's expression remained unchanged. Of course, she always wore that cold, indifferent look; it had never changed.

Tang San looked at Dai Mubai beside him and asked curiously, "By the way, Mubai, the academy requires us to earn a Silver Spirit Soul Arena Badge before graduation. What rank are you now?"

Dai Mubai said, "I started competing at the Soto Great Spirit Arena when I was level twenty-nine. So far, I've fought two hundred and seven matches, with eighty-seven wins and one hundred twenty losses. I currently have one hundred and five points and have just earned a Bronze Spirit Soul Arena Badge."

Tang San knew something of Dai Mubai's strength, so he was secretly startled by this. "Mubai, with your strength, how could you have more losses than wins? Your Martial Soul should be among the strongest Beast Martial Souls."

Dai Mubai gave a bitter smile. "When I had just broken through to Soul Elder, I thought that with my powerful Third Soul Skill, even if I wasn't invincible among Soul Elders, I should at least win more than I lost. So I came to fight at the Great Spirit Arena every day during that time. In the end, I lost more than I won for several months and nearly developed a trauma from losing."

"Which Soul Master in the Great Spirit Arena hasn't fought countless battles? Unless you're invincible within your rank, no one dares claim they'll definitely win. Especially when you run into a powerful Control System Soul Master—they can wear you down until you have no temper left."

"Still, after I broke through to level thirty-five, I started winning more often. My points finally barely stopped being negative."

"That's because Big Boss Dai never uses Xiaofeng's Flash Step in battle. Otherwise, he would've been invincible at the Soul Elder level long ago." Ma Hongjun had been eavesdropping nearby, and he could not help but cut in.

"Flash Step?" Tang San was immediately interested. From Ma Hongjun's words, it sounded like some kind of movement technique.

"Yeah. It's similar to that Self-Created Soul Skill of yours that lets you dodge all over the place, except Xiaofeng's Flash Step focuses more on explosive speed over short distances." Dai Mubai knew Tang San had never seen the Flash Step Wang Xiaofeng had invented, so he explained it to him.

Ma Hongjun added, "I use Flash Step in every battle, so my record looks much better than Big Boss Dai's. I've fought thirty-three matches now: thirty wins, three losses, and seventy-two points. I'll surpass Big Boss Dai soon enough."

Tang San became even more interested in Wang Xiaofeng. This was the first time he had encountered someone his age with such talent. Unfortunately, the Tang Sect's secret arts could not be passed on to outsiders. But perhaps after he founded the Tang Sect in the future, there might be a chance...

Just as Tang San was setting his sights on Wang Xiaofeng, the subject of their conversation had gone to the barbecue shop beside the Great Spirit Arena and bought a huge pile of meat skewers.

"Xiaofeng, this is..." Tang San and the others, who had never seen Wang Xiaofeng's appetite before, stared in surprise at the enormous number of meat skewers in his hands.

"This is my after-dinner snack. Want some?" Wang Xiaofeng held a large bucket in his right arm and a meat skewer in his left hand, eating as he spoke indistinctly.

Tang San and the others hurriedly shook their heads. They had just eaten dinner and drunk several pots of tea; they truly were not hungry. Wang Xiaofeng's appetite, on the other hand, had rather frightened them.

"How can you have the strength to fight if you don't eat enough?" Wang Xiaofeng curled his lip.

Dai Mubai and the other two were already used to it. They had considered that one reason Wang Xiaofeng's physical qualities improved so quickly was because he ate so much. Unfortunately, they could not imitate that, and could only secretly envy Wang Xiaofeng's extraordinary talent.

After bringing them to the Great Spirit Arena, Flander disappeared. Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun took Oscar to the Betting Area, while Wang Xiaofeng led Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Zhu Zhuqing to the Registration Office to complete their registrations. They also successfully signed up for a 1v1 match.

"If you want to gain points quickly, you can sign up for an extra 2v2 match. But keep a close eye on your Soul Power consumption. It wouldn't be good to give away points for nothing."

Wang Xiaofeng gave Tang San and Xiao Wu some advice. After all, with their level twenty-nine Soul Power and strength, they could crush opponents at the Great Soul Master stage. It was good to build up more wins now, since after breaking through to Soul Elder, the huge gaps in Soul Power could easily lead to a losing streak.

Tang San nodded, then took Xiao Wu to register for 2v2 on the other side.

"Wang Xiaofeng, did you sign up for 1v1 too?"

A cool voice came from behind Wang Xiaofeng. He turned and saw that Zhu Zhuqing was asking him.

Wang Xiaofeng nodded. This was also the first time he had spoken with Zhu Zhuqing. "No one says a Support System Soul Master can only stand in the rear and can't fight, right?"

"The reason Soul Masters of other systems are stronger than Support System Soul Masters is nothing more than that they have powerful offensive methods and control methods, or ghostlike speed that makes them impossible to guard against. Their Soul Skills also tend to be geared toward combat."

"If a Support System Soul Master makes up for those shortcomings, then they can be considered a Battle Soul Master as well."

Zhu Zhuqing could not help nodding at that, acknowledging that Wang Xiaofeng's words made sense.

"Don't listen to Xiaofeng spouting nonsense. I dare say there's only one Support System Soul Master like Xiaofeng on Douluo Continent." Dai Mubai had somehow walked over and mercilessly exposed Wang Xiaofeng's bluff.

Zhu Zhuqing gave a cold snort and walked to one side, ignoring Dai Mubai.

"Who says so? Isn't Oscar a perfect example?" Wang Xiaofeng said indignantly.

Then he pulled Oscar out from behind Dai Mubai and dragged him into the middle, pointing at him as he said, "Oscar clearly meets every requirement of an Agility Attack System Soul Master now. His Third Soul Skill lets him use Clone Invisibility, and with my Flash Step, aside from lacking much offensive ability, do you dare say Oscar can't count as an Agility Attack System Soul Master?"

"That does make sense!" Dai Mubai could not help falling into thought.

"So physical strength and Soul Power are the foundation," Wang Xiaofeng concluded.

Tang San and Xiao Wu walked over, though Xiao Wu looked somewhat unhappy. "We were assigned to the 22nd Branch Soul Arena. We can go get ready now."

Tang San and Xiao Wu had just returned from the 2v2 registration area when they encountered a staff member on the way, who told them they could now head to the Waiting Area.

"Zhuqing, look at this name. It sounds awful. I'm definitely changing it someday." In the Waiting Area, Xiao Wu held the badge engraved with Three-Five Combo and complained to Zhu Zhuqing.

Tang San could not help smiling helplessly beside her. It was only that the name on the badge had been engraved wrong. What was there to care about? He truly could not understand such strange creatures as girls. Even Xiao Wu, whom he had lived with for six years, was the same.

"Xiao San, you're hopeless." Ma Hongjun shook his head at Tang San. He had not expected someone as straight-laced as Tang San to have such a beautiful girlfriend as Xiao Wu. Meanwhile, he, Ma Hongjun, was handsome yet could not find true love. Heaven was truly too unfair to him.

A staff member nearby began announcing the names of the contestants in the next match, and Wang Xiaofeng was the first name called.

"All right, I'm up first. Since this is your first time at the Great Spirit Arena, you can watch from the side and see how battles are fought here."

Wang Xiaofeng patted Tang San on the shoulder before walking onto the Soul Battle Stage.

At the center of the Soul Battle Stage stood a middle-aged man dressed in a tuxedo. He cleared his throat and announced loudly, "Next is the first one-on-one Soul Battle of our 22nd Soul Arena. The two contestants are both Soul Elders. They are Wang Xiaofeng, wielder of the Green Calabash Tool Martial Soul, versus Fan Wu, wielder of the Blood Thorns Tool Martial Soul, who has already won seven consecutive matches. Will Fan Wu continue his brilliance and achieve Eight Consecutive Wins, or will the newcomer Wang Xiaofeng emerge victorious? Let us wait and see."

Some of the spectators in the stands called out Fan Wu's name, but most seemed uninterested. In their eyes, Fan Wu would surely win with ease. There was nothing worth watching in such a one-sided match.

"Blood Thorns Martial Soul... It sounds like a Plant Martial Soul of the Control System. Come to think of it, I've never fought a Control System Soul Master before." Wang Xiaofeng looked at the young man opposite him, who appeared to be seventeen or eighteen. At such a young age, he was probably a genius from some faction out gaining experience.