Dai Mubai's Challenge, Addressing the Meridian Problem

Outside Shrek Academy, Dai Mubai's expression was far from pleasant—he even looked a little stifled.

Beside him, Ma Hongjun and Oscar were laughing uproariously.

By now, he had already completed his Martial Soul Possession. His golden hair had turned into a mix of black and white, his explosively bulging muscles stretched his clothes taut, and his broad, thick palms were covered in a layer of white fur. With a flick of his ten fingers, dagger-like blades could extend from them.

The three shining spirit rings around him had all lit up once.

Yet... he still could not do anything to that Martial Soul that was neither dragon nor dog!

He had not even forced out its Third Spirit Ring...!

Was it because he could not beat it?

Dai Mubai felt that once he released his Third Spirit Ring, he would be fully capable of going toe-to-toe with it.

But it was as slippery as a loach!

He had no idea who it had learned from, but it never confronted him head-on!

The moment he got close, it would tap the ground with its paws—retreating away from him while occasionally even stepping through the air!

Or it would open its mouth and casually spit out a fierce gale, forcibly driving him back!

Even more insidiously, the bastard was adept at digging up the ground with its legs and claws. After kicking up a cloud of dust, it would immediately spit out a concentrated gale, leaving him with a mouthful of dirt!

Then was it because it could not beat him?

But the threat Dai Mubai felt from it was no less than that of the most formidable Soul Elders he had encountered in the spirit arena!

Those had been Level 39 Soul Elders!

It clearly possessed such strength, yet it still fought like this...?

What kind of freak was this?!

"Mubai's speed still isn't enough! His practical combat experience seems much worse too. Has he fought too many matches in the arena?" Zhao Wuji stood far away in Shrek's village, watching this side from afar as the corners of his mouth slowly curled up.

When he had brought those brats back from Suotuo City, he had sensed Xiao Xian's Martial Soul from a distance.

At the time, Xiao Jue had been spinning, jumping, and swiping its claws nonstop in the open space outside Shrek Village. Several completely dead wild rabbits lay by its feet.

Naturally, he guessed that Xiao Xian had returned and successfully hunted his Third Spirit Ring. Its quality even seemed rather good, judging by how much it had transformed.

Zhao Wuji had casually teased Dai Mubai, telling him to take advantage of Xiao Xian's absence to test its strength, especially its new spirit ring.

After all, an external Beast Martial Soul was quite rare.

Who would have thought that one little test would turn into such entertainment?

Dai Mubai actually could not beat it!

The other side had not even released its Third Spirit Ring, and he was already no match for it.

A Level 36, nearly Level 37 Soul Elder could not even handle a Martial Soul that had just broken through to Soul Elder.

That was absolutely hilarious!

"Special training." Flender shook his head. At some point, he had appeared beside Zhao Wuji.

In truth, he had been watching for quite some time.

The longer he watched, the darker his expression became.

Xiao Jue's methods of fighting were practically identical to the way Xiao Xian had hunted spirit beasts last night!

Insidious and bizarre.

All his effort had gone to waste.

Who would have thought that not only had the Spirit Master gone astray, but even his Martial Soul had learned it too!

Still... this combat ability...

Flender's eyes flickered. He was indeed somewhat surprised.

Could a Martial Soul learn Self-Created Soul Skills too...?

Then what about Luo San Pao?

Flender could not help thinking of the Martial Soul Fusion Skill between himself and Master.

If it really was possible...

If one day the Golden Iron Triangle gathered once more, that Golden Sacred Dragon would no longer be limited to those mere two spirit rings!

A thoughtful look flashed through Flender's eyes.

"..."

Not long after, Xiao Xian flashed several times, passing through a few wooden houses before appearing outside Shrek Village.

"Alright, Boss Dai, stop it. Xiao Jue is rather timid."

Xiao Xian looked somewhat helpless. He had only told Xiao Jue to get used to its strength. Who knew it would end up getting used to it on Dai Mubai?

When Dai Mubai saw Xiao Xian, his expression became even more depressed.

He had secretly fought Xiao Xian's Martial Soul and still lost. That was far too embarrassing!

"Xiao Jue, stop too. Come back!"

Xiao Jue, which had been confronting Dai Mubai, slowly backed away. Only after retreating to Xiao Xian's side did it lower its guard.

It shot Dai Mubai one last vicious glare, looking thoroughly untouchable, before vanishing from where it stood and merging back into Xiao Xian's body.

Dai Mubai could only awkwardly withdraw his martial soul as his body gradually returned to normal.

"Brother Xian, your martial soul is this strong too?" Oscar exclaimed. Even Boss Dai, as powerful as he was, had been unable to do anything to Xiao Xian's martial soul?!

Dai Mubai was clearly thinking further ahead. Brushing the dust off himself, he asked, "Xiao Xian, your martial soul can use soul skills on its own... and can even fight alongside you?"

Xiao Xian nodded with a smile. "Yeah, it can. My situation is rather special. I'm not actually an Assault System Soul Master, but rather... a Summoning System Soul Master."

"Summoning System..."

A thoughtful look flashed through Dai Mubai's eyes.

Ma Hongjun and Oscar had clearly heard the term for the first time as well.

Ma Hongjun in particular asked with excitement and curiosity, "Then, Brother Xian, when you fight, can you just let your martial soul do it for you? You wouldn't even have to move—you could just hide in the back?! That'd be amazing!!"

"Yeah..." Xiao Xian nodded again, though he seemed somewhat helpless as he said, "But there are always Soul Masters fast enough to get around my martial soul, so I end up becoming a weakness instead."

"A weakness?" Dai Mubai gave Xiao Xian a long look. He might be able to fool others, but could he fool the three classmates who had watched him fight for ten months?

Dai Mubai walked over and patted Xiao Xian on the shoulder. "Since you've already broken through, I won't shamelessly bully you. Let's have a proper face-to-face match tomorrow."

He had been looking forward to it for a long time—or rather, he had simply been eager to test himself against a worthy opponent.

Before this, though, it had not been appropriate for him, a Soul Elder, to challenge a Soul Grandmaster.

And the fight just now had been far too boring.

Xiao Xian did not refuse. "I'm a little tired from just getting back. Some other time, when we're free."

"Mm, then it's settled!" Dai Mubai said decisively.

He refused to believe this fight would fail to happen.

"..."

Xiao Xian stored the rabbits Xiao Jue had bitten to death in his Soul Tool. Then the group returned to Shrek Academy. After their excitement faded, they were all somewhat tired. After all, it was already late—indeed, it was past midnight.

The four wished one another good night before returning to their respective dormitories.

Xiao Xian had slept for half the afternoon and half the night, so he was not particularly sleepy.

Once Oscar had fallen asleep, he quietly rolled out of bed and left the dormitory.

Purple light flickered in Xiao Xian's eyes as he carefully scanned the surroundings. After thinking for a moment, he headed toward a small wooden cabin several dozen meters outside the dormitory.

He easily opened the door. Inside were only two wooden beds and some miscellaneous items. There was a great deal of dust, and it clearly had not been cleaned in a long time.

Xiao Xian took out a mask from his Soul Tool, quickly put it on, and began cleaning thoroughly.

The Suction Palm and Blowing Fire Palm were truly unparalleled for housecleaning.

Before long, the little cabin was spotless—even the beds had been dismantled and stuffed into his Soul Tool.

Xiao Xian took the rabbit corpses from his Soul Tool and examined them.

Then...

"Come out, Xiao Jue."

The cabin was fairly spacious, over four meters in both length and width—more than enough to accommodate Xiao Jue's mere 2.7-meter body.

Xiao Xian had Xiao Jue lie on the floor, then directly placed his Third Spirit Ring around it before making it flash fiercely!

Xiao Xian felt the Soul Power within his body drop sharply!

A violent surge of Soul Power erupted, and Xiao Jue's gaze turned vicious!

A grim purple glow quietly spread over its fangs, faintly spilling outward to form an illusory Dragon Mouth one size larger, which enveloped its jaws!

Xiao Xian's expression abruptly calmed.

He sat cross-legged in front of Xiao Jue's huge mouth.

He reached one hand into its mouth, gripped one of its fangs with the other, and viciously stabbed it into his own wrist!