Stars Arching the Moon

Xuan Zi rushed into the cave with Wang Yan, only to find Gu Yuena holding Mu Xuanheng, at a loss.

Elements swirled around them, nourishing Mu Xuanheng's body.

Xuan Zi didn't dare use Soul Power to probe his body, afraid of what he might discover. "Hand his body over to me. After all, I raised him." His back hunched a little more, and cloudy tears trickled from his eyes.

"He's not dead. He's just asleep."

Up close, they could hear his noisy breathing.

It was the strongest proof of life. Xuan Zi's mood instantly improved, only to darken again.

"You little rascal, you had me worried sick. I knew you wouldn't die."

He took a pill from his Space Soul Tool and fed it to Mu Xuanheng, speeding up his recovery.

A breeze lifted Mu Xuanheng, and Gu Yuena helped him out of the cave.

Outside, everyone was gathered around the unconscious members of the starting team.

It wasn't that those with lower cultivation had suffered less poisoning. On the contrary, Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng, the strongest among them, had fought so fiercely that they'd inhaled more resentment and suffered the worst poisoning.

"Dean Yan, is there anything you can do?"

Yan Shaozhe had also arrived. Xuan Zi had still chosen to trust Mu Xuanheng, and before leaving, he'd made sure to inform Yan Shaozhe so that he'd come along.

That had proved useful today. In the midst of the fierce battle, Yan Shaozhe had unleashed a Judgment of Light from far away, helping secure their victory.

Yan Shaozhe shook his head. "I've already given them pills. I've never heard of a poison this potent. We can only take them back to Shrek for treatment."

"What about the Soul Fighting Tournament?"

"Forget the tournament. Is one championship more important than their lives?" Mu Xuanheng came to and immediately objected. "The students' lives must always come first. Even if you care that much about whatever glory you're chasing, aren't we still here?"

"Second Old Man, you're fast. Take them back and get them treated right away. The rest of us will compete in the tournament."

Even with three elders present, Mu Xuanheng made the decision without hesitation. With poisoning, every extra moment they stayed here put them in greater danger.

Gongyang Mo knew it was time for him to step up, too. "Exactly. Even without Xiaotao and the others, we can still win and take the championship!"

After Xuan Zi left, everyone began raising their spirits. They couldn't give up before the fight had even begun.

"Don't forget, even if only one of us is a Soul King, we still have two Soul Emperors and a Soul King in terms of combat strength."

"No, a Soul Saint."

Given the terrifying feats of Mu Xuanheng and Gu Yuena, even calling them Soul Emperors was an understatement.

Without Battle Armor, they were top-tier Soul Emperors. With it, they were at the level of newly advanced Soul Saints.

Mu Xuanheng coughed twice. "The two of us just took down a bona fide Soul Saint."

"What?" Yan Shaozhe had always assumed Xuan Zi had killed the Soul Saint. He hadn't realized the two of them had taken down a Soul Saint despite being thirty levels lower.

On the way to Xingluo City, they told everyone about how dangerous the battle had been.

Gu Yuena finally recovered from what had just happened. She slowly moved away from Mu Xuanheng, leaving a fist's distance between them.

She needed to steady her emotions and make sure she didn't fall in love with Mu Xuanheng.

Unlike Gu Yuena, who had to regulate her own feelings, Mu Xuanheng had the Snow Empress reminding him—and she was being very thorough about it.

After registering, they went to their hotel.

The others began preparing for the competition, while Mu Xuanheng rested. After all, he was still a patient.

He lay on the bed with his eyes closed, resting.

In the Spiritual Sea, the Snow Empress asked the same question again. "Who exactly is Gu Yuena? Why do you care so much about her?"

"Snow Empress, once we meet her family, everything will become clear. Trust me—you'll be shocked."

"Hmph. I just hope you don't play with fire and get burned. When you rushed in to save her, I really thought you'd fallen in love with her."

The Snow Empress stopped asking questions, but insisted that he practice the Three Ultimates of the Snow Empress properly. She even told him to develop his own techniques based on them.

He trained under the guidance of a beautiful woman. Outside, the others discussed the competition.

"For the first round, we barely even need to worry, do we?"

Before the quarterfinals, they had virtually no opponents capable of challenging them.

Anyone who drew them could only be called unlucky. After the quarterfinals, they'd only face opponents if they had bad luck.

Their arrival also became a hot topic at the other academies.

But this time, they'd sent far too few people, and their combat strength didn't look impressive, either.

"Is this contempt? Do they think one Soul King and three Soul Ancestors can beat the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy?"

Xiao Hongchen said, "Maybe we won't even need Big Brother Ma to take the match."

"Xiao Hongchen, behave yourself." Elder Ma, the Sun Moon delegation's leader, was also troubled. "I don't know why Ming Hall sent us a combination-type Soul Tool. Its power is probably close to that of a Level 9 Soul Tool. No matter what, we must win."

Compared with Sun Moon, the other academies had it easy. They couldn't win anyway.

The first event was also the opening ceremony, and everyone had to attend.

"Wow, why did Shrek only bring eight contestants?"

"Seriously, they even brought a sickly guy? That's looking down on all the other academies."

"Why is a silver-haired beauty helping him? I'm jealous."

As the biggest focus of attention, Shrek drew countless gazes. Compared with previous years, this time it wasn't just the contestants' low Soul Power Levels that drew attention. Mu Xuanheng's presence was another major reason.

Ever since the orange Soul Ring had appeared at Shrek, there was no way to hide it.

It defied common sense. The story had spread widely, but it hadn't made much of an impact, because too many people refused to believe it.

"Do you think they're looking at you or me?"

Gu Yuena glanced at him. "Just wait. They'll definitely be looking at me soon."

Once the opening ceremony was over, the competition officially began.

The first match was a team battle, and their opponents were Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy. All they could say was that the academy had bad luck.

Their opening formation was clearly the Stars Arching the Moon Formation. It wasn't a Crescent Moon Formation, nor a variation of the Single-Line Snake Formation. The other six were simply arranged like stars, surrounding Gu Yuena.

"What are they doing?"

"Are they looking down on their opponents? I thought their Soul King was a support-type Soul Master?"

No one else understood, but Mu Xuanheng did. This had to be Huo Yuhao's idea.

Unlike Huo Yuhao, Gu Yuena's Soul Rings weren't simulated. Her strength was real.

The referee shouted, "The match begins!"

The Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy team released their Martial Souls. Yellow and purple were the standard colors of their Soul Rings. Their four Soul Ancestors were definitely no weaklings, but not a single one of them was being watched now.

The audience wanted to see what Shrek was up to.

Gongyang Mo, the eldest on the team, was the first to kneel on one knee. The others followed, extending their right hands and drawing every gaze in the stadium toward Gu Yuena.

Gu Yuena activated her Martial Soul, and her yellow, purple, black, and red Soul Rings lit up the entire arena.

Her Soul Rings defied expectations from the second one onward.

The blood-red fourth Soul Ring instantly illuminated the entire competition stage.

Even though there was only one, it was a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring—not a thousand-year or ten-thousand-year one.

The entire crowd of hundreds of thousands gasped. Representatives from the competing academies stood up, hoping to see for themselves whether it was real.

The Star Luo Emperor and his ministers, the tournament's hosts, had already risen to their feet.

A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring on a twelve-year-old girl—and as her fourth ring, no less. Her future was limitless.

The six who had knelt on one knee rose, jumped off the competition stage, and left the entire arena to Gu Yuena.

Her silver hair fluttered, drawing countless envious gazes, while the wind whipped around the arena.

In an instant, all seven members of Tianling Academy were forced down onto one knee. The terrifying wind pressure held them fast. She'd used this move before; now she was simply recreating the scene.

"The match can be called over now, can't it?"

Against someone of the same level, there was no chance of resisting at all.

They would have virtually no opponents in this Soul Fighting Tournament. At most, their later matches might be a little more troublesome.

The titles of invincible among her peers and peerless beauty now belonged to Gu Yuena as well.