Desperate Dai Mubai

In just one month, Ye Han and the others had all earned Silver Spirit Arena Badges.

Although they won most of the time during that month, they occasionally encountered bizarre Martial Souls that caught Ye Han and the others off guard.

It was a lesson for them as well.

Early in the morning as usual, everyone headed straight into the Great Soul Arena.

"Xiao Han, did you hear? Someone else is wearing masks to compete in Soul Fighting, just like us!" Yoruichi had become quite the know-it-all lately, digging up every last bit of intelligence on the entire Great Soul Arena.

As expected of the former leader of the Execution Force—she had an extraordinary talent for this sort of thing.

And Ye Han actually knew exactly who the masked people were this time!

"Want to cross paths with the current protagonist group?" Ye Han asked teasingly.

This was not the first time Ye Han had used the term "protagonist," and Yoruichi and the others had learned roughly what it meant from him.

"You mean those masked people are Tang San and the others?" Lia's doubts were finally cleared up. Tang San's age really could cause unnecessary trouble.

Esdeath, meanwhile, was not concerned with that. "If they're the protagonist group, they must have some ability. Let's find Manager Ao and have him put us back in the rotation!"

Ye Han thought that would be interesting too, so naturally, he did not stop them.

Soon, today's Soul Fighting matches officially began. By sheer coincidence, the announcement came: "Next, contestant Evil Eye White Tiger and contestant King of Britain, please proceed to Arena Number One!"

The moment they heard the announcement, everyone instinctively made their way to Arena Number One.

Before long, Dai Mubai and Lia stood facing one another, both wearing masks. Thanks to Ye Han, Lia knew that the person before her was Dai Mubai.

But Dai Mubai did not recognize Lia. After all, Ye Han had always been the one taking the lead back then.

"To my left is the level 38 War Soul Grandmaster, contestant Evil Eye White Tiger! To my right is the level 39 contestant King of Britain! Both are immensely powerful and have suffered few defeats these past days! Both contestants are wearing masks—what sort of Soul Fighting will they bring us today? I won't waste any more words. Let the match begin!"

As soon as the host finished speaking, Dai Mubai and Lia swiftly summoned their Martial Souls.

Both sides had two yellow rings and one purple ring, and neither was lacking in momentum.

Lia stood calmly where she was, gripping the Sword of Promised Victory concealed by the Wind King Barrier. She intended to respond to every change by remaining unchanged.

Dai Mubai, on the other hand, could not hold back. He charged directly at Lia, intending to test her out.

Facing Dai Mubai's punch, Lia sidestepped it and brought down the sword in her hand.

Warning bells immediately rang in Dai Mubai's heart. Though he had no idea what Lia was holding, the instincts of his White Tiger Martial Soul told him that if he did not defend himself, he would be seriously wounded in an instant.

"First Soul Skill, White Tiger Protective Barrier!"

A white glow enveloped Dai Mubai. Even so, he was knocked back and suffered a minor injury.

"Sharp battle instincts, but his combat awareness is somewhat lacking. Does someone like that really count as a protagonist?" Esdeath gave the most objective assessment.

Ye Han merely smiled faintly. "People need to grow. Didn't I also make my way here step by step?"

Shrek was also watching Dai Mubai's first match from the sidelines.

"Damn! What did Dai Boss get knocked back by? That girl actually hid her weapon! Isn't that way too underhanded?" Ma Hongjun said indignantly.

Only Tang San and Ning Rongrong felt that the girl seemed familiar. But Lia had changed clothes and was wearing a mask, so they simply could not place her.

"Your future enemies will come in all shapes and forms. If merely hiding a weapon counts as a difficult problem, can you still call yourselves monsters? What you should truly be observing is that girl's exquisite martial skill!" Grandmaster sternly reprimanded them.

On Arena Number One, Dai Mubai grew more alarmed the longer they fought. His storm-like barrage of attacks was calmly blocked by his opponent.

"What exactly is in your hand?" Dai Mubai could not help asking.

Lia replied calmly, "Who knows? Maybe it's a sword, maybe an axe, or perhaps even a blade."

Lia's answer genuinely left Dai Mubai uncertain. An invisible weapon—he could not see its attack trajectory, nor did he know its length.

"In that case, a ranged attack. Second Soul Skill, White Tiger Light Wave!"

Lia frowned at the light wave Dai Mubai released so rashly. With a flash of her body, she easily dodged it and slowly walked forward.

To be honest, Ye Han's description of the protagonist group had made Lia take things slightly more seriously. Unfortunately, aside from his sharp battle instincts, Dai Mubai truly was not particularly impressive.

"Damn it! The gap is too huge!" Fine sweat covered Dai Mubai's forehead. He did not understand how, after being away from the Soto City Great Spirit Arena for only a month, such a monster had appeared.

"We're only one level apart. Why can she dodge my attacks so easily?" Dai Mubai was unwilling to accept it, and a trace of ruthlessness surfaced in his heart.

This really was not Dai Mubai's fault. Lia's extensive combat experience and her instinctive intuition were practically the perfect counter to a fighter like him.

"Third Soul Skill, White Tiger Vajra Transformation! First Soul Skill, White Tiger Protective Barrier!"

Dai Mubai's muscles bulged all over his body, and his speed rose another level as he charged straight at Lia.

Lia simply dodged to the side again and swung the Holy Sword. This time, however, Dai Mubai did not retreat after being struck. Instead, he endured the injury and grabbed hold of the invisible Holy Sword.

Got it! Dai Mubai rejoiced inwardly, seizing the chance to punch Lia in the face with his right hand.

Lia was not nervous in the slightest. She mobilized her Soul Power. "Second Soul Skill, Wind King's Hammer!"

The Holy Sword that had been seized suddenly erupted with massive Soul Power, sending Dai Mubai flying and slamming him brutally out of the arena.

Just as everyone thought Dai Mubai was about to turn the tables, Lia stood calmly in place, holding the golden Holy Sword.

"I now announce that the winner is contestant King of Britain!"

Neither side said anything as they stepped down from the arena and returned to the lounge.

"How did it feel?" Yoruichi asked with a smile.

Lia thought for a moment before answering calmly, "A little immature, but his battle instincts are sharp, and he knows how to make choices."

That was already a fairly good evaluation.

"Dai Boss, you were way too weak! We were counting on you to give us a strong start, but you got completely crushed! She didn't even use her Third Soul Skill!" As his good brother, Ma Hongjun naturally could not let such a perfect opportunity pass.

Dai Mubai's expression stiffened before he said irritably, "Hmph! When you run into that girl next time, I'll see you avenge me!"

"Hehe, I'm only level 28. How am I supposed to run into her?"

"Enough, Fatty. Stop needling Mubai!" Tang San was somewhat helpless as he watched the two bicker. "Mubai, how do you feel about that battle?"

When the conversation turned serious, Dai Mubai's expression grew solemn. "She's strong. To be honest, I was even a little helpless. Throughout the entire fight, it felt as though the girl in front of me had completely predicted my attacks, moving and striking before I could! In short, I feel like I was utterly crushed in every aspect!"

No one had expected the usually proud Dai Mubai to openly admit that he was inferior to someone else, but it was a good thing as well.

"Don't be discouraged. You only suffered because you lacked information. That girl's first Soul Skill should be concealing her weapon, while her second Soul Skill is a sweeping attack. It truly caught people off guard, but it also means she has one fewer Soul Skill available!" Grandmaster comforted Dai Mubai.

But Grandmaster also knew that the girl possessed extremely rich combat experience. Dai Mubai would need time before he could defeat her.

This did not affect the continuation of the Soul Fighting matches. No one knew whether the Great Soul Arena was doing it deliberately, but Ye Han and the others perfectly avoided Shrek Academy.

Naturally, Ye Han did not care about that. His goal had never been to bully Shrek. That was merely incidental; his main goal was the Gold Spirit Badge.

The days passed one after another. Every day, there would be a one-on-one or two-on-two match against Shrek.

Among them, Tang San performed the best. Relying on several techniques from the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, his losses were not too ugly.

Dai Mubai had it the worst. For several consecutive days, he ran into Ye Han's group. Aside from Ye Han, he fought every one of them.

Naturally, he had no chance of encountering Esdeath, Lia, Todo, or Yoruichi.

Then he encountered Kurumi, only to be slowly worn to death by Kurumi's First Soul Skill. He had been completely ground down, and he could not accept it.

But the very next day, he encountered Honjou Kaede, and something even more unacceptable happened. Honjou Kaede stood there and let him attack, yet he could not break through her defenses.

That was the real killing blow, though Honjou Kaede had not done it on purpose. Dai Mubai had activated his Third Soul Skill from the start, and she simply could not keep up with his speed. Or rather, her eyes could keep up, but her body refused to cooperate.

She could only stand there and take the hits, but in the end, Dai Mubai was the one who surrendered because he realized that if he did not, he would exhaust all his Soul Power.

"What kind of monsters are these?! She didn't even use a single Soul Skill, so why can't I beat such a weak girl?!" Dai Mubai was now seriously doubting himself.

The others did not know how to comfort him. Dai Mubai was already the strongest attacker on the entire team.

"Mubai, perhaps it's a trait of her Martial Soul! Train hard, and sooner or later, you'll break through her defenses!" Tang San was trying to comfort him, but this nearly gave Dai Mubai a psychological disorder.

Grandmaster also looked troubled. His notebook recorded every battle, but whenever they fought masked opponents, whether one-on-one or two-on-two, they had not won a single match.