Li Qing vs. the Golden Generation!

The morning sunlight was warm but not harsh. The sun's radiance fell upon Pope's Hall halfway up the mountain in the central district of Spirit City, lending this grand, towering building an added touch of mystery.

At the foot of the mountain, in an office within a smaller hall, an elderly man dressed in a Spirit Hall uniform sat at a square desk.

He was reviewing a document in his hands.

As his gaze slowly moved downward, a smile gradually appeared on the old man's face.

"Mm, Brand has done quite well these past few years. It's time to call him back."

The old man stroked the white beard on his chin, his eyes filled with amusement.

Then, he picked up the quill on the desk and began writing swiftly across the paper.

Meanwhile, inside Spirit City's Great Soul Arena, the place was already roaring with activity. The cheers of the audience, the passionate commentary, and the sounds of combat all mingled together.

Li Qing was currently facing the opponent in his third solo match: a level forty-one control-system Battle Soul Sect Master whose martial soul was the Ice Jade Sea Dragon Scorpion. His name was Bing Lanxing.

The battle lasted half an hour, and Li Qing ultimately won by a narrow margin.

During that fight, Li Qing had no idea how many times Bing Lanxing froze him with his soul skills. By the end, even the ice-covered clothes on his body had shattered apart.

Fortunately, his little boxer briefs had been made from special materials and were exceptionally tough, sparing him from the fate of being "naked."

After that battle, Li Qing deeply envied bodies immune to fire and ice. Yes, he meant the formidable physique Tang San would gain in the future after consuming the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot, then being tempered by the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye.

To be honest, Li Qing could have gone to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye before Tang San and obtained those two heavenly treasures, but...

He was afraid that the strength of his protagonist's halo wouldn't be enough to contend with Tang San's fortune as the chosen child of this world. If he croaked while absorbing them, then he really would be...

Dead with no tears to cry!

After fighting Bing Lanxing, Li Qing had almost no spirit power left. Fortunately, he had prepared in advance, and a "Spirit Power Milk Bottle" appeared in his hand from his Storage Ring.

This would greatly speed up his spirit power recovery, allowing him to take part in more soul fights. Otherwise, how could he possibly win ten soul fights in two days?

After draining one milk bottle of spirit power, Li Qing took out another. Once he had absorbed the spirit power from both Spirit Power Milk Bottles, his spirit power had recovered to two-thirds.

However, he did not continue using the Spirit Power Milk Bottles to recover. After doing the math, he only had four bottles in total. If he used three in the morning's soul fights, he would not have enough spirit power for the afternoon.

With two-thirds of his spirit power restored, plus the time spent waiting, it would be enough for him to nearly recover fully.

Time slipped by. Amid the intense soul fights, time always passed unnoticed, and before long, an entire day had gone by.

On the second day of the final assessment, Li Qing fought a total of five soul fights—two in the morning and three in the afternoon. He won all five.

The opponents he encountered that day included all kinds of soul masters: agility-attack types, strength-attack types, control types, and even a defense-oriented support-system soul master.

It was worth mentioning that the defense-oriented support-system soul master was the easiest opponent Li Qing had faced. He dealt with him with almost no effort.

Li Qing simply used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, occasionally slashing him with Scythe. The Judgment attribute activated continuously, armor break +1+1+1+1+1+1+...

In less than ten minutes, the defensive turtle shell that defense-type soul master had been so proud of was broken by Li Qing. It was precisely because of this that he was able to fight three soul battles that afternoon.

As for the evening, he used it to store spirit power in the Spirit Power Milk Bottles.

Of course, he also spent some time selling Popcorn. That's right, you heard correctly—he was selling Popcorn.

The people of Spirit City truly were wealthy. Even after Li Qing priced each bucket of Popcorn at one Silver Spirit Coin, he still sold more than a thousand servings in less than three hours that night!

That was a full thousand Silver Spirit Coins!

Of course, if he had been able to make them faster, even two thousand servings would probably have been no problem at all.

Those thousand Silver Spirit Coins were added to the capital he used to bet on himself winning the soul fights.

Over those two days of the final assessment, he had even doubled his savings by betting on the outcomes of soul fights!

Even if he stopped being a soul master in the future, Li Qing would still be able to live a wealthy life.

Under the night sky and bright moonlight, within the Advanced Soul Master Division of Spirit City Academy, more than a dozen soul masters stood with their heads lowered, dejected and unwilling to look directly at the figure standing before them.

These dozen or so people were the senior students Li Qing had faced at Spirit Hall's Great Soul Arena. The person in front of them was Han Mingye, the head of their Advanced Soul Master Division.

Li Qing's senior brothers and sisters all kept their heads down, and the scene was silent. Even when a mosquito landed on one of them, he did not dare move in the slightest, allowing it to drink its fill and swagger away as if drunk.

Yet in the next moment, just as the mosquito was still reveling in the delicious blood it had drunk, suddenly...

Han Mingye casually flicked a finger, and a burst of force shot directly toward the pitiful mosquito. In an instant, it not only spewed out the blood it had just sucked, but also lost its miserable little life.

"Hoo..."

Han Mingye took a deep breath and tried hard to suppress the anger in his heart.

"Fine. I never expected several students from our dignified Advanced Soul Master Division—students ranked within the top two hundred in strength, with some even in the top fifty—to be unable to beat a few little brats?"

Han Mingye glared at them, sweeping his furious gaze across the group.

"If people hear about this, I'll be humiliated beyond measure!"

Among them, a man in black, a woman with light green hair, a blue-haired man, and three others—a total of six people—showed a flicker of grievance in their eyes.

That was right. These seven students were the ones who had fought Li Qing in soul battles, and without exception, all of them had lost.

As for why they felt wronged?

There really was a reason. It truly was not because they were weak. How could anyone ranked in the top hundred of the Advanced Soul Master Division be weak?

But their opponent had been Li Qing—a damn super freak!

That's right—freak, not monster. For some reason, people in Spirit City used the word "freak" to describe anyone ridiculously awesome. It was simply too strange!

"Alright, I know what you're all thinking." Han Mingye was very strong, and he had long noticed the changes in the gazes of these students.

"I admit that student named Li Qing is fucking a little too freakish, but what about the others? Aren't they just so-so?"

Clap clap clap clap~

Han Mingye clapped his hands. "All of you, raise your heads and look at yourselves! Take note: in tomorrow's match, give me two hundred percent of your focus when dealing with them!"

"Do you understand?" Han Mingye shouted. His booming voice instantly drew the attention of all the students.

"Understood!" More than a dozen students shouted in unison.

"Didn't you eat?" Han Mingye raised his voice again.

"Understood!"

The dozen or so students immediately raised their voices as well. The two words "understood" were practically roared out.

"Good." Han Mingye narrowed his eyes. "You don't need to worry about that student named Li Qing. I've already found someone else to deal with him!"

Han Mingye's gaze was profound. He did not believe Li Qing could still defeat the students he had found this time. After all, Lin Qianxin had specifically gone to Pope's Hall for her spirit battle with Li Qing and brought two of those trainees back!

However, Han Mingye was rather curious about one thing. Why had it been so easy this time? In the past, those trainees would never have been allowed to come out.

"Forget it. The competition is what matters most!"

In this world, the most valuable thing was time, and the least valuable thing was also time. What people regretted most was time, yet what they most often failed to take seriously was also time.

The night passed in an instant. After Li Qing had filled the Spirit Power Milk Bottle with spirit power, the next day's sunlight had already streamed in through the windowsill.

"It's the last day!"

Li Qing sat at the small table beside the window, letting the warm sunlight fall across his face as he enjoyed the beauty of the morning.

Today was the final day of the end-of-term assessment, and Li Qing only needed three more spirit battle victories.

Yan, on the other hand, did not have such strength. Like Li Qing, he was challenging opponents above his rank, but because he was not as powerful as Li Qing, he was still seven victories short of ten consecutive wins. There was an eighty percent chance that he would not meet the requirement of ten victories.

It was the last day. Li Qing's sixth sense told him that things would not be so simple. Something bad was about to happen.

He understood that the academy had made him challenge opponents above his rank.

A tiny red light slowly approached the cannon fuse. The moment it touched it, the fuse was lit.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle~

The fuse grew shorter and shorter...

Finally, a few seconds later, a tremendous bang erupted from the cannon barrel.

The firework shell shot into the sky.

After rising nearly two hundred meters above the ground, the firework shell...

exploded.

Accompanied by a thunderous boom that echoed across the heavens, the fireworks burst open in the silent night sky, blooming with seven-colored beauty. Massive fireworks blossomed overhead, their petals falling like rain.

The vivid colors reflected different hues in Qian Renxue's bright eyes. Seeing such dazzling fireworks, Qian Renxue was stunned.

At the same time, she was not the only one frozen in place. So were Wu Jian and Ailaso, who was hidden in the shadows protecting Qian Renxue.

One firework shell after another rose into the sky and exploded in midair.

Grand clusters of fireworks bloomed in the night sky like enormous umbrella-shaped flowers; they shone like dazzling lamps; they were like clusters of blossoms opening and scattering golden powder.

The fireworks bloomed one string after another in the night sky, before finally streaking across it like countless meteors with long tails, reluctant to leave.

Qian Renxue held out her hand, seemingly wanting to catch the falling meteors, but all that landed in her palm was a faint trace of warmth.

"Is this what fireworks are?"

Qian Renxue murmured. Something seemed to have appeared in her eyes without her noticing, but as she gazed up at the sky, it ultimately did not slide down her beautiful face.

Judging from the reactions of Qian Renxue, Wu Jian, and Ailaso, this fireworks display had undoubtedly been a success. But for Li Qing, the performer, the effect of the fireworks still had not met his expectations.

Relying on its steel-hard claws, the King Kong Wolf gripped the Moon Bear's arm tightly. In an instant, the Moon Bear's arm was torn open, flesh split apart, and blood poured out.

This King Kong Wolf was actually so vicious, trading injury for injury. Yet threads of spirit power radiance emanated from its body, and its aura returned once more to its previous level.

The self-healing factor within the King Kong Wolf's body had taken effect.

Li Qing could not help but feel startled. Not only did this King Kong Wolf share the name of a hero from a comic on Earth in his previous life, but even its abilities were so similar.

Suddenly, the King Kong Wolf opened its bloodthirsty maw and bit down on the Moon Bear's arm.

Its sharp teeth tore directly through the thick skin on the Moon Bear's arm. Blood splattered across the King Kong Wolf's face and into its eyes, making it look even more ferocious.

The Moon Bear roared in pain. Then it desperately swung its arm, trying to throw the King Kong Wolf off. But the more the Moon Bear struggled, the tighter the King Kong Wolf's teeth clenched, and the deeper and longer the wounds carved by its claws became.

Blood dyed the Moon Bear's white fur red and dripped onto the ground, forming blossoms of blood.

The Moon Bear gave a great shout. Its other arm, the one that had not been bitten, swung out fiercely and struck the King Kong Wolf heavily on the head. Instantly, bright red blood flowed from the King Kong Wolf's nose.

The King Kong Wolf cried out in pain and finally gave up tearing at the Moon Bear's arm. The Moon Bear flung it dozens of meters away.

Relying on its steel-hard claws, the King Kong Wolf gripped the Moon Bear's arm tightly. In an instant, the Moon Bear's arm was torn open, flesh split apart, and blood poured out.

King Kong Wolf was shockingly vicious, trading injury for injury. Yet threads of Soul Power aura radiated from its body, and its presence once again recovered to its previous level.

The self-healing factor within King Kong Wolf's body had taken effect.

Ling Qing could not help but feel startled. Not only did this King Kong Wolf share a name with a hero from a certain comic on Earth in his previous life, but even its abilities were remarkably similar.

Suddenly, King Kong Wolf opened its blood-filled jaws and bit down hard on Moon Bear's arm.

Its sharp teeth tore straight through the thick skin on Moon Bear's arm. Blood sprayed everywhere, splattering across King Kong Wolf's face and into its eyes, making it look even more savage.