Taking the Fast Route

Shrek Academy, Soul Fighting Arena area.

A second-year student, Xiao Lingchen, had challenged a newcomer who had only been enrolled for two months.

It was a noteworthy bit of news in the Outer Court.

People naturally loved a spectacle, so the Soul Fighting Arena area was packed, buzzing with noise.

If Lu Lin had been there, he would have spotted plenty of familiar faces.

Dai Xichen, Zhou Rui, most of Class Two, and some of Xiao Lingchen's classmates and friends were all there.

Even Long Chenyu, Lu Lin's mysterious roommate, had come.

As a new student with the Holy Light Dragon Martial Soul and the strength of a Three Ring Soul Elder, Long Chenyu was naturally also Class One's class leader.

The two were roommates. Though they didn't talk much, they got along very well.

Long Chenyu knew quite a bit about Lu Lin.

For example, Lu Lin was Class Two's Vice Class Leader. He could even guess that Lu Lin had once taken a Mysterious Water Pill.

Of course, Lu Lin seemed somewhat mysterious to Long Chenyu, too.

After Lu Lin returned from a month's leave, he seemed even more mysterious in Long Chenyu's eyes.

During Lu Lin's first few days at the academy—or after he took the Mysterious Water Pill—Long Chenyu had sensed that Lu Lin's Soul Power was around level twenty.

So it was perfectly normal for Lu Lin to take leave and go out to obtain his Second Soul Ring and break through his bottleneck.

Normally, however, a soul master could only advance one or two levels at most after obtaining a Second Soul Ring.

But Lu Lin was clearly an exception.

The Soul Power fluctuations Lu Lin gave off while cultivating in the dormitory at night suggested he was around level twenty-five.

This surprised Long Chenyu.

But since it concerned Lu Lin's privacy, Long Chenyu didn't feel right asking him about it, even though he was curious.

So when word suddenly spread that Xiao Lingchen wanted to fight Lu Lin, Long Chenyu was naturally interested and came to watch.

Before long, Lu Lin and Qin He arrived at the arena area.

"Vice Class Leader, you've got this!"

A little girl with freckles stood by the entrance, looking around. When she spotted Lu Lin, her eyes lit up, and she hurriedly waved her little fists to cheer him on.

Her cheer set off a chain reaction.

The freckled girl's bright voice instantly broke the brief silence at the entrance to the Soul Fighting Arena.

Dai Xichen, Long Chenyu, and even Xiao Lingchen, who stood on the platform, all turned to look toward the entrance.

Lu Lin and Qin He walked into the arena area and found themselves facing this scene.

Lu Lin's mouth twitched. Where had all these people come from?

What a pain.

What surprised him, though, was that Xu Yaoyao wasn't there.

Was she that confident in him, or did she have no confidence in him at all?

After all, normally, a second-year student had the advantage over a new student.

In terms of age, strength, and battle experience, the newcomer was at a disadvantage.

Just then, Zhou Rui—the boy who had fought Lu Lin during the new student assessment—pushed through the crowd and came up to him. He said earnestly,

"Vice Class Leader, good luck. We're all rooting for you."

Zhou Rui had lost to Lu Lin back then.

Naturally, he respected Lu Lin as their Vice Class Leader.

As Zhou Rui spoke, the other students beside him also called out their support.

"That's right! Show that guy what our Vice Class Leader can do!"

"Vice Class Leader, you've got this!"

Even Dai Xichen gave a barely perceptible nod of encouragement.

Faced with Zhou Rui and the other students' support, Lu Lin felt conflicted.

After a long silence, Lu Lin sighed.

"Fine. Thanks. I'll do my best."

Xiao Lingchen, one of the main figures in this affair, came down from the platform and stopped in front of Lu Lin. Looking down at him with an arrogant expression, he said,

"I thought you wouldn't dare show up."

Xiao Lingchen was a second-year student, a year older than Lu Lin and about the same age as Xu Yaoyao.

Lu Lin gave a lazy nod and looked Xiao Lingchen up and down.

Objectively speaking, Xiao Lingchen was quite handsome, with regular features. He also seemed to come from a well-to-do family, perhaps even one of the noble houses of the Star Luo Empire.

Otherwise, he likely wouldn't have been in a position to pursue Xu Yaoyao.

Lu Lin paid no mind to Xiao Lingchen's provocation. He merely said,

"Let's get started. I'm in a bit of a hurry."

Xiao Lingchen frowned.

"Yaoyao isn't someone a commoner like you should be getting close to.

"If you lose, I hope you'll keep your promise and stay away from her from now on."

Xiao Lingchen had looked into Lu Lin's background and learned that he came from Frostwind City in the empire.

In his eyes, it was outrageous that a commoner would dare cozy up to Xu Yaoyao.

More importantly, Xu Yaoyao clearly treated Lu Lin differently. That was something he absolutely couldn't tolerate.

Lu Lin couldn't be bothered to waste words.

He turned and walked toward the Soul Fighting Platform without slowing down.

Clearly, he hadn't taken Xiao Lingchen's words to heart at all.

Xiao Lingchen's expression darkened, and a flicker of anger crossed his eyes.

But Lu Lin was already on the platform, so he could only snort and follow.

The referee, a teacher standing at the center of the Soul Fighting Platform, had been waiting for some time.

Since this was an official soul-fighting match, they naturally needed a teacher to serve as referee.

The teacher was a slightly plump, middle-aged man in his thirties.

When the two stepped onto the platform, he immediately announced in a loud voice, "The match begins!"

Below the platform, Zhou Rui and the Class One students cheered again.

Dai Xichen remained expressionless,

while Long Chenyu looked somewhat expectant.

Xiao Lingchen took his position and released his Martial Soul, the Azure Rainbow Sword.

At the same time, two yellow Soul Rings appeared around him.

As expected, he was only a two-ring Soul Grandmaster.

Lu Lin's gaze was calm as a deep pool. He raised his right hand slightly, and the Pure Fire Green Lotus Martial Soul quietly appeared.

At the same time, Soul Power surged around him, and two Soul Rings—one yellow and one purple—slowly appeared.

Seeing the Soul Rings around Lu Lin, Xiao Lingchen's pupils contracted.

A thousand-year purple Soul Ring? How was that possible?

The moment Lu Lin's Soul Rings appeared, it was as if someone had hit the mute button on the entire arena. The crowd fell into complete silence.

This was the first time Lu Lin had shown his Soul Rings in public since returning from leave.

Everyone in the Soul Fighting Arena fixed their eyes on Lu Lin.

More precisely, they were staring at the yellow and purple Soul Rings slowly revolving around him.

Dai Xichen's face showed little expression, but he was deeply shocked.

His Second Soul Ring was purple, too—he had obtained it after encountering the mysterious Yan Jun at the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena.

The two purple Soul Rings had spurred Dai Xichen to risk absorbing a thousand-year Soul Ring himself.

But the difference was that he came from the White Tiger Duke's Mansion and had access to far more resources than an ordinary person.

The White Tiger Martial Soul was also one of the continent's top beast-type Martial Souls, and he had once taken thousand-year Whale Rubber.

It was only thanks to all these factors that he dared to absorb a thousand-year Soul Ring as his second.

Even so, his Second Soul Ring was only just over a thousand years old.

The process of absorbing it had been incredibly dangerous.

Even with his temperament, he still shuddered when he thought of the risk he had taken in absorbing a Soul Ring above his limit.

What he couldn't understand was how Lu Lin had dared to do the same—and succeeded.

After all, when Lu Lin first enrolled, he had been only level seventeen, with an Innate Soul Power of just four.

Plant System Martial Souls didn't grant any physical enhancement, so this unexpected development was truly baffling.

If Dai Xichen was shocked, the others were even more so.

Only Qin He seemed out of place among the crowd—he had already learned about Lu Lin's Soul Rings on the day Lu Lin returned.

But Lu Lin had told him not to say anything, and Qin He had struggled to keep it to himself.

A flicker of surprise crossed the referee teacher's eyes as well.

This new student called Lu Lin was interesting.

But enough about the crowd's reaction.

On the platform, Xiao Lingchen took a deep breath, and his gaze cleared.

At the same time, the second Soul Ring around him lit up. So what if Lu Lin had a thousand-year Soul Ring? A battle between soul masters wasn't decided by Soul Rings alone.

That was what Xiao Lingchen thought.

Judging by the Soul Power fluctuations around Lu Lin, he was clearly weaker.

"Second Soul Skill, Azure Edge Slash."

Xiao Lingchen gave a quiet shout. As soon as the words left his mouth, the Azure Rainbow Sword in his hand let out a clear, ringing hum.

The next moment, his figure became a streak of Azure Shadow as he charged at Lu Lin at high speed. The longsword in his hand traced a blue arc as it thrust toward Lu Lin's vital points.

"Green Lotus Instant Body."

When Xiao Lingchen attacked, Lu Lin's expression remained as still as a calm well. The purple Soul Ring around him lit up.

The lotus floating above his right hand swiftly transformed into a Glazed White Jade Lotus, spinning rapidly in his palm.

The instant Xiao Lingchen closed in, Lu Lin activated his second Soul Skill. His figure vanished from Xiao Lingchen's sight like a ghost.

Only the faint illusions of Light Lotuses remained beneath his feet, a striking sight.

After his strike missed, Xiao Lingchen stared blankly. Just as he was standing there in a daze, a voice suddenly came from behind him:

"What are you looking at?"