Practicing Martial Souls

Jia Youcai was dragged along by Yan Lingzhuo and, having no choice, followed her to the registration desk. Yan Lingzhuo's face was flushed with excitement as she quickly filled out the form. Then she looked expectantly at Jia Youcai and said in a crisp voice, "Your turn."

Jia Youcai took the form and filled it out with swift strokes. Then he stood shoulder to shoulder with Yan Lingzhuo as they waited for the match arrangements.

Though the two of them had said they wanted to spar, they had actually registered for a team match, naming their team the Spirit Flame Team.

Jia Youcai had come up with the name. He had thought it over carefully and found that no matter how his name and Yan Lingzhuo's name were combined, they sounded rather strange. So, he simply used the characters from Yan Lingzhuo's name.

Just then, the system displayed a notification. It roughly stated that before every match, he would have one chance to switch Martial Souls; after each match, both his and Yan Lingzhuo's conditions would instantly be fully restored; and as long as they stood on the arena, neither death nor serious injury would occur.

Of course, the system would not grant any rewards regardless of whether they won or lost. Put plainly, this place was for players to practice using various Martial Souls.

However, at the Dou Hun Arena, winning a match would earn them a certain number of Gold Soul Coins.

Jia Youcai opened the system interface. He remembered that when he had drawn from the Clear Sky Hammer Card Pool last time, aside from pulling the SSR-quality Evil Fire Phoenix, he had also obtained several SR-quality Martial Souls. Now was the perfect chance to test them out.

As for the R-quality Martial Souls, Jia Youcai dismissed them without a second thought. He felt they were only fit to gather dust in the warehouse.

Jia Youcai gave them a quick look. He was already highly proficient with the Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul. As for his SR-quality Martial Souls, he currently had five: a great saber, Blue Silver Grass, Ice Crystal Ring, Cloud Breath Fan, and Lightning Lone Wolf.

In this world, no one would be surprised no matter how Jia Youcai switched Martial Souls. But if the same person saw him use the Martial Souls in his first and second slots at the same time, they would assume that Jia Youcai possessed Twin Martial Souls.

Before long, a staff member approached with the match schedule and informed them that their match was next. Their opponents were an old pair of partners who worked seamlessly together.

The moment Yan Lingzhuo heard that, she waved her little fists and declared fiercely, "Hmph, who cares if they're old partners? I'll beat them until they're utterly defeated!"

"Anyone who competes so often at the Dou Hun Arena must have some real skill." Jia Youcai folded his arms and teased, "Just don't hold me back later!"

Yan Lingzhuo puffed up her cheeks and bumped into him.

Jia Youcai staggered from the impact, but he was not annoyed. Instead, he grinned and joked, "Oh, quite the temper. Just make sure you've got the strength to back it up when we get on the field."

Yan Lingzhuo gave a soft snort, turned away, and ignored him.

Soon, the staff member called out, "You two, please follow me. The arena is over there."

The two arrived in the waiting area and made their final preparations. Yan Lingzhuo stretched her limbs at the side, occasionally throwing a few gestures at Jia Youcai. Jia Youcai, meanwhile, closed his eyes to rest and adjusted his condition.

For this first match, he planned to try out the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.

As the host's impassioned voice rang out to announce their entrance, Jia Youcai and Yan Lingzhuo exchanged a glance before striding onto the arena.

At the center of the arena, their opponents were already waiting in formation. They were two men, one tall and one short. The tall man was named Ling Bao. He had an agile build, his Martial Soul was the Gale Leopard, his Soul Power was level thirty-nine, and he had three yellow soul rings. The shorter man was named Tuo Shan. He was broad and muscular, his Martial Soul was the Iron Horn Bull, his Soul Power was level forty-one, and his soul rings consisted of one white, two yellow, and one purple.

When Ling Bao saw Jia Youcai and Yan Lingzhuo step onto the field, a mocking smile curled across his lips. In a strangely affected tone, he said, "Oh? These two little brats dare come here and make fools of themselves? Hurry home and drink some milk."

Though Tuo Shan did not speak, he let out a heavy snort through his nose, his eyes full of contempt.

Yan Lingzhuo instantly flew into a rage. She shouted, "Hmph, don't get cocky too soon! Soon enough, we'll show you how strong we are and see who's really making a fool of themselves!"

The crisp bell signaling the start of the match rang out, and both sides immediately entered combat mode.

Ling Bao shouted and released his Gale Leopard Martial Soul. Sharp, thorn-like claws sprang from his palms. He lowered his body slightly, then charged straight at Jia Youcai with astonishing speed.

Jia Youcai remained calm. Long blue-black vines burst from the ground and wound around him. He controlled several vines as they lashed toward Ling Bao, attempting to bind him.

Ling Bao nimbly dodged aside, easily evading the Blue Silver Grass attack. At the same time, he swept his claws through the air and cut several strands of Blue Silver Grass apart.

Yan Lingzhuo leaped into the air. With Phoenix Martial Soul Possession, she spread her wings and soared into the sky. Her Soul Power was now level thirty-eight.

Very soon, Ling Bao saw a large amount of Blue Silver Grass spreading toward him like a great green net.

"Second Spirit Skill, Leopard Shadow Maze." Ling Bao growled.

In the next instant, Ling Bao's speed abruptly increased. He darted left and right through the encircling Blue Silver Grass, causing every strand that tried to entangle him to miss.

At the same time, Tuo Shan launched his attack. With a loud shout, he used Iron Horn Bull Martial Soul Possession. The horns atop his head gleamed with a metallic luster. Lowering his head, he charged toward Jia Youcai like a heavy war chariot.

Jia Youcai's gaze sharpened as he controlled even more Blue Silver Grass to attack Ling Bao, hoping to disrupt his rhythm.

Above them, Yan Lingzhuo controlled fireballs and bombarded Tuo Shan's position on the ground one after another. Though Tuo Shan's defenses were strong, his agility was poor. Against a Spirit Master flying in the sky, he was like a living target, blasted into a soot-covered mess by the fireballs.

Seeing that Tuo Shan's attention had been drawn away by Yan Lingzhuo, Jia Youcai focused more of his energy on Ling Bao before him.

I'm a control-type Spirit Master. How could I possibly lose to a mere Agility-type Spirit Master? Jia Youcai thought.

"First Spirit Skill, Entanglement."

With Jia Youcai's low shout, the Blue Silver Grass instantly surged outward, coiling toward Ling Bao like nimble pythons. Ling Bao's eyes narrowed as his speed increased once more. He weaved through the gaps in the Blue Silver Grass, trying to break free of the troublesome restraints.

However, Jia Youcai had anticipated this all along. "Second Spirit Skill, Parasitism."

In an instant, Ling Bao's body stiffened. At some point, a dense layer of vines had appeared across his body. Then sharp barbs grew from the surface of those vines and drove viciously into his skin, making him grunt in pain.

"Damn it!" Ling Bao roared as he struggled desperately, but the Blue Silver Grass's binding force was extremely strong. He could not break free for the moment.

Jia Youcai looked at Ling Bao, who had been bound up like a rice dumpling, then glanced at the Blue Silver Grass in his own hand. He felt secretly pleased.

Tang San's Spirit Skills really are useful. But his is the Blue Silver Emperor, while mine is only ordinary Blue Silver Grass.