Soul Duel

The staff quickly arranged Di Hong's soul duel.

"Your soul duel will be held on the Seventh Soul Arena. Please go to the lounge and rest for now."

He accepted the badge respectfully handed over by the staff member, then left.

When he arrived at the lounge, more than a dozen Spirit Masters were already waiting there. Without exception, they were all waiting for the soul duels to begin. There were both men and women among them, but their Soul Power Levels were generally not high. Most of them were Soul Grandmasters.

There were only two Soul Ancestors and four Soul Elders.

After Di Hong entered, their gazes turned toward him at the same time, but no one spoke. As Spirit Masters themselves, they could all sense the pressure Di Hong gave off. The two Soul Ancestors in particular could tell that his Soul Power Level was above theirs.

Di Hong went to sit in an empty corner.

The Spirit Masters in the lounge sat in small groups and chatted, but no one dared approach Di Hong. After all, he gave off the feeling of keeping everyone at arm's length, and with his mask, he looked extremely mysterious.

Perhaps he was some family's secretly cultivated genius.

As they waited, the number of Spirit Masters in the lounge gradually dwindled. From there, they could clearly hear the thunderous cheers from the audience seats around the Soul Arena. Di Hong felt his blood stir with excitement. In both his past and present lives, this was his first time attending such an event.

By evening, only Di Hong remained in the lounge.

Just then, a staff member pushed open the door.

"My lord, your soul duel is next. Please follow me."

Di Hong followed him to the passage leading to the Soul Arena. The duel on the platform had not yet ended; two Spirit Masters were still fighting. The cheers he heard here were even clearer and more fervent than those in the lounge.

He leaned against the wall and waited in silence.

The duel on the Soul Arena soon ended.

The two Spirit Masters left the platform, and the host stepped onto it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let us welcome the next soul duel with a thunderous cheer."

"I believe this will be the fiercest and most thrilling soul duel of the day."

"One-on-one, Soul Duel Match Eighteen."

"Battle Soul King Shi Heng, beast martial soul, Gale Leopard."

After the host's introduction, a lean, middle-aged man stepped onto the Soul Arena. His gaze was extremely sharp, and he wore blue clothes. An unparalleled confidence radiated from him, while a faint smile rested at the corners of his mouth.

The moment he appeared, the entire audience erupted. Clearly, they knew Shi Heng.

"Shi Heng!"

"Shi Heng!"

"Shi Heng!"

The audience shouted at the top of their lungs. Shi Heng also savored the atmosphere of the moment. He was a frequent visitor to the New City Spirit Arena, and his record was mostly wins with few losses.

Before this soul duel, he had already secured nine consecutive victories. If he won this match, he would become the first Spirit Master since the New City Great Soul Arena was established to achieve ten consecutive victories. He had not originally been scheduled for a soul duel tonight, but unexpectedly, an Iron Spirit Spirit King had arrived.

The arena had no choice but to arrange for him to take the stage. Among all the Spirit Kings in the arena, he was the strongest, with a Soul Power Level of 57.

He was not particularly nervous about this match, but neither did he underestimate his opponent. The arena's management had told him that although his opponent wore a mask, he appeared extremely young. To have already reached the Spirit King level at such a young age, he had to be a genius, so Shi Heng naturally had to take him seriously.

Although his opponent was only Level 53.

After the cheers from the audience seats died down, the host continued, "And Shi Heng's opponent tonight is Battle Soul King Ling Guang."

"Beast martial soul, Vermilion Bird."

Di Hong walked onto the Soul Arena unhurriedly. Although this was his first soul duel, the cheers from the audience were still extremely intense. Some people had already bet on him to win because the odds were high. If he won, those who had bet on him would become rich overnight.

Looking at Di Hong's long red hair tied up and his piercing red eyes, which resembled rubies, Shi Heng could not help but frown.

Although Di Hong had released no pressure or Soul Power, Shi Heng still sensed a pressure from him. His opponent was definitely a powerful expert.

Seeing that both men were ready, the host immediately announced the start of the soul duel and left the Soul Arena.

"Martial Soul Possession!"

Shi Heng activated his martial soul first. His entire body then dropped into a crouch, and he fixed his gaze on Di Hong like a hunting leopard. Immediately afterward, a purple Spirit Ring lit up around him.

"Fourth Spirit Skill: Gale Speed!"

In an instant, he vanished from where he stood. A gust of wind swept across the entire Soul Arena. It was not a spirit skill, but wind produced by Shi Heng's extreme speed. Clearly, he did not intend to defeat Di Hong head-on. Instead, he planned to use his speed to whip up a gale across the Soul Arena, blowing Di Hong into the air or directly sweeping him off the platform.

However, he seemed to have overlooked one thing: Di Hong's martial soul was the Vermilion Bird. That meant he could fly.

"Vermilion Bird Possession!" Di Hong called softly, activating his martial soul possession. Flames immediately ignited around his body, and a pair of crimson wings covered in fire appeared behind him.

With a single leap, he flew into the air above the Soul Arena and looked down. In his field of vision, Shi Heng ran around the edge of the platform like a swift leopard. By now, the entire Soul Arena was enveloped by the wind generated by his movement.

"Releasing his Fourth Spirit Skill right from the start. You really think highly of me." Di Hong mocked himself aloud.

The wind on the Soul Arena grew stronger and stronger, but it consumed a considerable amount of Shi Heng's Soul Power as well. Di Hong had already flapped his wings and flown beyond the range of the vortex.

After Shi Heng stopped, he looked up at Di Hong and let out a long sigh.

"The thing I hate most is Spirit Masters who can fly."

"So what if you can fly? Come down here and let's fight head-on."

"You come up." Di Hong replied.

"You come down."

"You come up."

"You come down."

"You come up."

The two traded barbs back and forth. Di Hong simply refused to come down, while Shi Heng could not get up. The spectators in the audience were rendered speechless.

"Seriously, are you two going to fight or not?"

"I paid money to watch you fight, not trade insults! Fight! Use your spirit skills!"

At last, Shi Heng could not take it anymore.

"Second Spirit Skill: Gale Twin Blades."

His purple Spirit Ring lit up, and Shi Heng released two crescent-shaped wind blades formed from cyan Soul Power at Di Hong above him.

Di Hong easily sidestepped them. Just when he thought he had dodged them, the two cyan Soul Power wind blades suddenly turned back. When he looked behind him, Di Hong hurriedly flapped his wings to evade them. However, the twin blades formed from Soul Power seemed to possess tracking abilities and continued pursuing him.

Seeing that he could not shake them off, he had no choice but to stop.

"First Spirit Skill: Li Fire Bodyguard."

A shield of flames instantly protected him. The two Soul Power wind blades struck the Li Fire shield and dissipated at once.

Immediately afterward, his second Spirit Ring lit up.

"Second Spirit Skill: Fire Feathers."

He slowly raised his right hand. Countless flaming feathers condensed around him. As he gently pressed his raised hand downward, the flaming feathers shot toward Shi Heng.