Soul Fighting Arena!

Qin Ze moved quickly, taking less than five minutes to settle everything.

After getting dressed and leaving his room, he waited outside his door like the other children.

About five minutes later, a middle-aged man walked over and said sternly, "Children, line up in order according to your room numbers and follow me."

At his words, the roughly one hundred children on the fourth floor immediately formed a line based on their room numbers.

Qin Ze glanced at his room number. One hundred!

Once everyone had lined up, he realized that he was actually last.

Following the middle-aged man outside the hotel, they found several carriages waiting quietly there.

Each carriage could hold twenty people.

Since Qin Ze was at the end of the line, he was naturally the last to board.

Clip-clop!

The sound of hooves echoed softly through the quiet streets as the carriages slowly headed toward the Soul Fighting Arena.

Unlike the preliminary rounds, the Promotion Tournament was held at the Soul Fighting Arena.

Nine Treasures City's Soul Fighting Arena was about five kilometers from the hotel, a vast oval-shaped structure.

The entire building could accommodate nearly twenty thousand spectators. It contained one main battle arena and seven smaller battle arenas.

By the time Qin Ze's carriage arrived, the flat plaza was already packed with countless children, along with many managers from the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.

Unlike the preliminary rounds, where one match decided victory or defeat, the Promotion Tournament rules stated that those selected would be divided into groups and fight within their groups. Anyone who won three matches could directly advance and join the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, with fifty spots available.

Those who failed to achieve three victories would have to take part in the Playoff, which would recruit a total of twenty people.

In truth, everyone's talent was about the same. What mattered in battle was practical combat experience and whether one possessed a fearless heart.

Even if someone was talented, if their mind was weak, they would not go far on the path of a Soul Master.

That was why the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect had not directly admitted children with exceptional talent into the sect.

They had seen too many children with great talent but no strong heart.

They had believed before, and they had been disappointed before.

Take Mad Saber Douluo, one of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's current guardian elders. His Innate Soul Power had only been rank six, yet through his own hard work and an unyielding heart, he became a Titled Douluo at the age of eighty!

After the carriages arrived at the plaza, this final batch of children was divided into groups of fifty just like those who had arrived earlier.

Qin Ze was assigned to the fifth group.

This group had a few more people, fifty-five in total.

Five hundred and thirty people had participated yesterday. Half had been eliminated, leaving two hundred and sixty-five. Fifteen were randomly distributed among these five groups.

After the groups were assigned, a beautiful woman in her forties walked up before Qin Ze's group. Her voice was magnetic as she said, "My name is Qin Xue, and I am the person in charge of your group. Next, follow the referees into Battle Zone Number Five. Understood?"

Qin Xue's gaze was gentle, and the children in Group Five relaxed somewhat upon seeing her.

Three referees stepped forward. One of them held a stack of cards and walked to the front of the line, handing them out row by row.

Qin Ze received a card as well. Lowering his head, he saw that it was ordinary, bearing only a simple number: one.

After the last card had been distributed, the three referees led the fifty-five children of Group Five into the Soul Fighting Arena in an orderly fashion.

After passing through a hundred-meter-long passageway, a Battle Platform roughly two meters high came into view. The Soul Fighting Platform was one hundred meters long and one hundred meters wide, more than enough room for the contestants to fight.

After the referees brought them to the spectator area, the children of Group Five quietly sat down. Qin Ze swept his eyes over them and saw that quite a few were extremely nervous. That was normal, considering they were only seven or eight years old.

Several referees were discussing arrangements with Qin Xue, the group leader. The numbers on the cards would determine the order in which contestants entered the arena.

Qin Xue nodded to the referees, then turned to the children of Group Five and said, "Children, the numbers on your cards correspond to the order in which you will fight today. For example, Number One will face Number Fifty-Five. If Number One wins, Number Fifty-Four will come up next. If Number One loses to Number Fifty-Four, then Number Two will take over. Do you understand?"

The children looked at one another, finally understanding the meaning of the numbers marked on their cards.

"Going first isn't bad." Qin Ze was Number One, so he would soon face Number Fifty-Five.

Very soon, a middle-aged man who looked to be around fifty stepped forward. Standing atop the Soul Fighting Platform, he shouted, "Now, Numbers One and Fifty-Five, come up!"

Hearing this, Qin Ze immediately rose to his feet and walked down the stairs toward the Soul Fighting Platform.

In an instant, countless eyes turned toward him. The next second, less than ten meters away from Qin Ze, a little boy stepped out as well. He calmly glanced at Qin Ze and headed toward the Soul Fighting Platform.

The two took their positions on opposite sides, silently watching each other.

The referee did not waste any words and directly called out, "Begin!"

The little boy facing Qin Ze was named Sun Qinian. The instant the referee's voice fell, he summoned his Martial Soul.

"Shadow Wolf Possession!" Sun Qinian shouted in a low voice. A Yellow Soul Ring rose from beneath his feet. After the Martial Soul Possession, Sun Qinian's body became strangely more illusory, like a black shadow.

The Shadow Wolf was a very unusual wolf Martial Soul. It belonged to the agility attack type and was extremely fast, though its offensive power was somewhat lacking.

Qin Ze reached one arm downward, and a blade condensed in his hand. A Yellow Soul Ring rose beneath his feet as well.

"Whoosh!" Without a word, Qin Ze shot forward the instant his Soul Ring lit up, nearly closing the distance to Sun Qinian in the blink of an eye.

"So fast!" Sun Qinian's pupils contracted. He was shocked that his opponent's speed seemed no weaker than his own.

"First Soul Skill, Shadow Wolf Slash!" Sun Qinian bent slightly at the waist. A curved streak of light appeared over his right arm like a scimitar. Pushing off with his heel, he flashed forward as well, faint black afterimages appearing around him, blurry and indistinct.

Qin Ze wanted a quick resolution. Watching Sun Qinian charge toward him, he immediately threw his blade. Although his opponent was fast, Qin Ze was even faster after using his First Soul Skill.

Unlike the spectators, who could only see a blurry black shadow, he clearly caught his opponent's movements.

The blade flew out and directly sealed off Sun Qinian's path forward. Startled, Sun Qinian realized that his attack route had actually been seen through.

However, seeing his opponent throw away his weapon, he swung his arm in confusion and slashed at the incoming blade. With a clang, the blade was knocked away. Yet before Sun Qinian could make his next move, countless bolts of lightning erupted from the blade like electric snakes and struck directly onto his body.

His body immediately shuddered, and his reactions slowed by half a beat. Not good, lightning-type control!

Unlike Zhu Ganglie, whom Qin Ze had faced before, Sun Qinian was not paralyzed for long. He reacted quickly and hurriedly circulated his Soul Power to dispel the lightning's control.

But with a swish, a figure had already arrived before him.

By the time Sun Qinian broke free of the lightning's control, a fist had already reached his face.

Bang!

Qin Ze's fist slammed into Sun Qinian's unguarded stomach. The terrifying force sent him flying, while another burst of lightning crackled and flashed, looking especially terrifying.

Before the lightning could strike Sun Qinian again, the referee directly interrupted its continued assault and announced, "Number One wins!"

Thanks to Cruel Angel's Name for the monthly ticket. Boss, you're here!

Thanks to Dawn Morning Light Dragon for the monthly ticket.