Lone Wolf VS Shrek Dragon

In another resting room, a short-haired youth in green was lowering his head over a dossier in silence. Qin Ming's photograph and some basic information were printed on it.

"Roger, you've been looking at that for ages. You won't get anything more out of it no matter how long you stare. Come, have some Wind Bell Fruit."

"This Soul Fighting Arena sure is generous. They're giving us such good stuff for free. It'd be a huge loss not to eat it!"

Flender held a green fruit in his right hand and offered it to Roger. With his other hand, he was stuffing another fruit into his own mouth. His cheeks were puffed out, and fruit pulp still clung to the corners of his mouth.

It was clear that he was eating with all his might, afraid that the Gold Soul Coins he had gotten for free might slip away.

Roger accepted the fruit from Flender and nodded in thanks. "Thank you, Teacher."

"Roger, this isn't like you. You're actually studying your opponent's information before a match. Even when you fought Abu half a year ago, you went straight into the arena."

"Why are you studying a One-Ring Soul Master over and over now?" Flender asked.

In his impression, this prized disciple had never paid attention to his opponents' information before a match. He always went straight onto the Soul Fighting Arena to settle things.

"Teacher, I feel like he's different. And didn't you say he's a genius with greater talent than mine?" Roger looked straight at Flender, as though asking for confirmation.

"That may be true, but you have one more Soul Skill than him. Even if you were at the same rank, you might not necessarily be inferior to him!" Flender said forcefully, his hands clasped behind his back.

At first, Flender had indeed wanted to take Qin Ming as his disciple. For the first few weeks, he had waited outside the Martial Soul Main Hall every day, hoping to get a chance to speak with Qin Ming.

However, Qin Ming was engrossed in cultivation and did not come out for several weeks. Later, when Shrek Academy recruited students, Flender found the little genius Roger. His desire for Qin Ming was no longer as strong, and the matter eventually came to nothing.

To be honest, Flender was still uncertain of Qin Ming's true strength. He had watched all of Qin Ming's Soul Fighting matches.

Without exception, Qin Ming had won every one of them with ease. He had never even fought with his full strength.

Moreover, Flender was certain that Qin Ming was still hiding something. His preliminary judgment was that Qin Ming possessed the strength of a high-level Soul Grandmaster.

But as for the specifics...

"You're right, Teacher. Compared to him, I have one more Soul Ring after all. I was getting too fixated on this," Roger said quietly.

Roger came from an ordinary farming family. His parents were common people who made their living from the land. At the age of six, he awakened the Rock Ridge Earth Dragon, with innate Soul Power at level seven, and entered the Junior Soul Master Academy as a work-study student.

Fortunately, the principal of the Soul Master Academy thought highly of him and helped him obtain two Hundred Year Soul Rings.

After graduation, he had wanted to enter an intermediate Soul Master Academy to continue studying, but the tuition was too expensive for his family to afford.

Although he was highly talented, most of the leaders and students in Soul Master Academies were noble-born. Seeing that he came from a commoner background, they made things difficult for him in every way. Even though the academies had policies specifically for talented commoners, when it came to Roger, there was always one reason or another to reject him. Even if he had managed to enter such an academy, he would likely have faced nothing but exclusion.

But he and his family had heard that there was a Shrek Academy outside the city. Its tuition was half that of other academies, and its principal was a Soul Emperor. With the mindset of giving it a try, Roger came to Shrek Academy and was successfully admitted. Flender not only gave him leeway on his tuition, but also promised to provide him with Soul Rings.

If Roger had to name something in his life that he absolutely could not "let down," it would be his parents' expectations, Teacher Flender's expectations—those gazes filled with hope for him...

He had actually heard the other teachers at Shrek Academy mention Qin Ming. Flender had originally wanted to take Qin Ming as his disciple, but later settled for taking him instead.

So he had always held one thought: he wanted to prove that Flender had not made the wrong choice, that he was no worse than Qin Ming!

Qin Ming... Roger stared at the dossier in his hands with blazing eyes, unable to look away for a long time.

Time passed in the blink of an eye. Under the attention of countless spectators, this battle between geniuses was about to begin.

Qin Ming walked through the corridor leading to No. 1 Soul Fighting Platform. No. 1 Soul Fighting Platform was the largest platform in the entire Soul Fighting Arena and could hold fifty thousand spectators.

This was Qin Ming's first time fighting here. He had heard that the other Soul Fighting Platforms had also suspended their matches and were broadcasting the battle through Soul Guidance Screens to earn more from ticket sales.

"The peak clash between two geniuses is about to begin!"

"Will the Inferno Grey Wolf's flames burn hotter, or will the Rock Ridge Earth Dragon's Scale Armor prove sturdier? Everyone, witness the outcome!"

Under the Host's incitement, the atmosphere reached its peak. Waves of cheers rose higher and higher, seemingly ready to overturn the entire Soul Fighting Arena.

"Both sides, summon your Martial Souls!"

"Lone Wolf, level seventeen Power Attack Type Battle Soul Master. Martial Soul: Inferno Grey Wolf." Qin Ming cupped his fists toward the green-clad youth opposite him.

"Shrek Dragon, level twenty-three Defense Type Battle Soul Grandmaster. Martial Soul: Rock Ridge Earth Dragon." Roger returned the gesture.

"Begin!"

At the referee's command, Roger rapidly widened the distance between himself and Qin Ming. Earth Element surged around him, and earthen-yellow Scale Armor grew across the surface of his body.

First Spirit Skill, Body of Rock!

A strengthening Soul Skill that greatly enhanced defense and strength.

Qin Ming's lips curved upward. The standard approach for a Defense Type Spirit Master facing a Power Attack Type Spirit Master was to widen the distance, defend while attacking, look for an opening, then counterattack with an explosive burst. But that tactic was useless against him.

Qin Ming's feet blurred as his figure flickered. After a few leaps, he had caught up behind Roger.

Thousand Spin Steps!

At that moment, Qin Ming stared coldly at Roger. Dark red flames rose from his entire body, while his crimson eyes held an indifference as chilling as hell itself.

First Spirit Skill, Crimson Blood Body!

Qin Ming's aura surged. His right hand had already transformed into Wolf Claws, their tips glinting with a trace of blood-red sharpness as they swung straight at Roger's back.

Seeing the scarlet claw light flare behind him and feeling the terrifying heat burning against his back, even the battle-hardened Roger could not remain calm.

The claws revealed their full edge, their light fierce and sharp. Gray Wolf Fire was scarlet as blood, as though it would burn away all life. This was Qin Ming's full-strength strike. He had to hold back when fighting other Spirit Masters, but now he no longer needed to worry about that.

Qin Ming's claw strike howled toward him. Roger hastily stopped moving and, as he turned around in a rush, could only cross his arms before his chest.

"Humph..." Roger let out a muffled groan. The Scale Armor on his arms was torn into gleaming golden fragments. Even strands of muscle were ripped away, and blood ran down his arms.

"What? That was an attack from a Spirit Master?" In the stands, Flender abruptly rose to his feet. Staring at the blood-red gleam on Qin Ming's right hand, he immediately saw the power behind that blow with the eyes of a Soul Emperor. It was no weaker than Abu in Berserk Bear State.

To unleash such an attack required physical strength that a One-Ring Soul Master could never possess. The immense backlash force alone after the strike was something a One-Ring Soul Master's body should have been unable to withstand, yet Qin Ming looked completely unaffected.

Why was his physical strength so terrifying? Flender's hawk-like eyes stared fixedly at him, as though trying to see through his entire being.