Surrender / Competition

Following his instincts, he looked over and saw a boy watching him. The boy had short silver hair slicked back, wore a high-necked undershirt and a black mask embroidered with silver. His amber eyes looked pale in the sunlight, yet at that moment they were strikingly vivid.

Pledge of Allegiance

Qian Renxue looked at the boy. Raised to be cheerful and outgoing, she asked whatever came to mind.

"Why do you keep staring at me?"

A straightforward question was the best way to catch someone off guard. When the boy heard Qian Renxue ask, he went from craning his neck to sneak a look at her to suddenly getting nervous.

His hands fumbled awkwardly. He wanted to explain himself but didn't know what to say. His masked face looked cold, but the tips of his ears had already turned red.

"I—I just wanted to get to know you, little girl. No, I mean, my name is Feng Xiaotian. Can we be friends?" He stumbled over his words, but it was still clear enough what he meant.

He really liked this little girl and wanted to be with her.

But...

Looking at the girl in a beautiful white-and-gold dress, with golden hair falling smoothly over her shoulders and down to her waist, flawless fair skin, and a faint pink blush on her cheeks—

He couldn't bring himself to say, "I like you. Please be with me."

Love could make people confident and brave, but it could also make them feel inferior and cautious.

Feng Xiaotian didn't yet understand what love was.

But he did understand status and the gap between people. If the person he liked had a similar family background and level of strength—or even if they were a little below him—he would bravely pursue her.

But facing the golden-haired angel before him, the girl he couldn't take his eyes off, he felt his own weakness for the first time. He had always been called a genius and regarded as his family's pride.

Qian Renxue watched his clumsy attempt at making friends and burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, my name is Qian Renxue. It's nice to meet you. You're Feng Xiaotian, right?" Qian Renxue found this silly boy rather amusing, and he didn't seem to mean any harm.

"Xiao Xue, we're leaving!" Xiang Yu called from up ahead when he noticed Qian Renxue had fallen behind.

"Got it, I'm coming." Then Qian Renxue looked at her new friend. "My family lives in Spirit City. You can come visit me sometime. Bye!"

She waved goodbye, then trotted to catch up with her teammates.

"Goodbye! I'll come see you in Spirit City!" the boy shouted, watching the girl's light-footed figure with his amber eyes.

Hidden in the shadows, Qian Daoliu furrowed his brow and glared at the white-haired brat who had taken a liking to his granddaughter.

Qian Daoliu didn't oppose his granddaughter falling in love. The Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul had to be passed down.

And as the owner of a god-level Martial Soul on the Douluo Continent, Xiao Xue would be settling for someone no matter whom she ended up with. Qian Daoliu didn't have particularly high standards for the young man's background; he wouldn't be above Xiao Xue's in any case.

What worried him was whether falling in love so young would affect Xiao Xue's cultivation and state of mind, or even interfere with her divine trials.

The Douluo Continent had produced many exceptionally gifted female Soul Masters, but few had grown up to become Titled Douluos.

Some had been born into families too weak to protect them and were abducted and sold at auction to become playthings. Others married and had children along the way, their state of mind changing until they stopped focusing on cultivation and wasted their time and energy on family life.

Bibi Dong herself was a living example. The golden years of cultivation were the best time to devote oneself to training, break through, and pursue the divine trials.

She had the Spirit Hall providing her cultivation resources and had nothing to worry about, yet she had gone astray and fallen in love, wanting to marry—while still serving as the Spirit Hall's Saintess and potential successor.

Honestly, when Qian Daoliu first learned what had started it all, his mind had gone blank for a moment.

Now, he didn't want his granddaughter to follow in Bibi Dong's footsteps.

He memorized Feng Xiaotian's appearance and decided to look into the boy. If he turned out to be a womanizing freeloader who would hinder her cultivation, like Yu Xiaogang, Qian Daoliu would nip the danger in the bud.

When Qian Xunji returned with the Spirit Hall's hall master and the others, everyone wore broad smiles.

Spirit Hall Academy had won, and it had crushed its opponent with overwhelming strength. Naturally, they were delighted.

The one-against-seven match might have seemed rather disrespectful.

But Spirit Hall and Skywater Academy had no need to worry about saving face with each other.

Of the Four Element Academies, only the Feng Clan of Godwind Academy had quietly approached Spirit Hall to express interest in becoming its subordinate.

The other three academies were arrogant, convinced that Spirit Hall feared the Heaven Dou Empire and the Upper Three Sects and wouldn't dare do anything too outrageous.

They didn't even have a single Titled Douluo and had never won the Advanced Soul Master Tournament, yet they were full of confidence.

The old hall master couldn't understand their thinking. Bound by Spirit Hall's rules and lacking the strength to take direct action, he had ultimately chosen to use the Elephant Armor Sect to put them in their place.

By evening, the old hall master received a sealed letter bearing a wax stamp. After reading it, he immediately smiled and went to find Qian Xunji.

Inside a guest room that had been hastily prepared for Spirit Hall—

The old hall master stroked his grizzled beard and introduced Feng Yang. "Feng Yang, the current clan leader of the Feng Clan, has the Gale Demon Wolf Martial Soul and is an eighty-third-rank Soul Douluo. He's also the dean of Godwind Academy. He's been in contact with Spirit Hall for some time and has shown an interest in joining us, but because of the Four Element Academies, he's never officially pledged himself."

What did it mean to pledge oneself officially?

It meant putting everything on the line and joining Spirit Hall, instead of acting like a fence-sitter and keeping one's options open.

Take the Elephant Armor Sect, for instance. Not only did its sect master obey Spirit Hall, but the clan had also followed Spirit Hall's instructions to establish the fifth Element Academy, Elephant Armor Academy, in Element City. Many of its disciples had joined Spirit Hall as well, working on its behalf.

The old hall master had put quite a bit of effort into winning Feng Yang over, but thankfully, it had paid off.

"So what is he offering as a sign of his sincerity?" Qian Xunji asked as he worked overtime, reviewing urgent documents sent from Spirit City.

"He's willing to have his gifted son, Feng Xiaotian, join Spirit Hall Academy. Feng Xiaotian has Innate Full Soul Power, and his Martial Soul has undergone a beneficial mutation into the Gale Two-Headed Demon Wolf. He's also willing to have Godwind Academy forfeit its upcoming exhibition match."

That would be tantamount to publicly announcing his intention to join Spirit Hall.

Feng Xiaotian would not only become a great asset to Spirit Hall in the future; for now, he could also serve as a hostage to keep Feng Yang and the Feng Clan in line.

A child with Innate Full Soul Power and a beneficially mutated Martial Soul was the clan's hope for the future, with the potential to become a Titled Douluo.

No one would gamble with their clan's future like that.

It was fair to say that this was a very generous offer.

Qian Xunji sighed. He'd lost one more chance to show off; his opponent had forfeited outright.

"Fine. You handle the details of the negotiations."

Competition

With his orders in hand, the old hall master went to write a reply, relieved.

Night passed, and dawn broke.

Qian Xunji finally finished reviewing the pile of paperwork that had accumulated over the past few days. His Super Douluo physique left him feeling no fatigue at all.

Today's exhibition match, according to the schedule, was against Blazing Fire Academy.

After watching Skywater Academy's match the day before, the Blazing Fire Academy students had gone back and spent a long time discussing tactics with their teachers to counter Spirit Hall Academy.

Because of their Martial Soul attributes, most Blazing Fire Academy students were strong-willed and hot-tempered. Watching the match hadn't made them afraid to fight.

This left Dean Huo Rutian both pleased and troubled.

As a Soul Douluo, he had a far broader perspective than his students.

Blazing Fire Academy and Skywater Academy were evenly matched, with little difference in strength.

Since Spirit Hall Academy had crushed Skywater Academy, defeating Blazing Fire Academy would be no difficult task either.

Especially after yesterday's one-against-seven match, where a single Soul Grandmaster had taken down all seven members of the Skywater Academy Team.

The golden-haired, twenty-ninth-rank Soul Grandmaster behind her and the two owners of the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul hadn't even taken the field.

That was more than enough to prove the gap between them.

"But at this point, the arrow's already on the string," Huo Rutian said with a sigh.

Blazing Fire Academy had already agreed to the exhibition match with Spirit Hall. Suddenly backing out would only make them look afraid to fight, and they'd lose face either way.

It would also damage the morale of the Blazing Fire Academy students.

Sometimes, being defeated was one thing; refusing to fight and conceding outright was another.

Huo Rutian's own Martial Soul made him hot-tempered and fond of fighting, so he could better understand how the students felt.

"Even if our opponents are strong, we still have to put up a good fight. We can't tarnish the reputation of Blazing Fire Academy. Every one of you is a genius of our academy!" Huo Rutian stood on the platform and roused the Blazing Fire Academy Team, who were about to compete.

"Yes!" the seven team members answered in unison.

At the entrance to Blazing Fire Academy—

Qian Xunji once again went through the familiar exchange of greetings, offering a few polite words.

Once the pleasantries were over, they got down to business and headed for Blazing Fire Academy's arena.

The arena was mostly red, giving it a warm, passionate feel.

The first match, as usual, was the team event.

After Skywater Academy's defeat the day before, Blazing Fire Academy had devised a specific strategy.

The team members with flight skills would harass the two Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul users, preventing them from unleashing their terrifying, wide-area sword-qi slashes.

They had noticed that, although it was brief, Xiang Yu did need to gather strength before unleashing Overlord Slash.

As long as a ranged Soul Master or a flying Soul Master harassed him and disrupted his buildup, they ought to be able to interrupt the Soul Skill.

As for the others, the Huyan brothers from Elephant Armor Academy were tough to injure, but far too slow. The two of them couldn't form a defensive circle, so they could be bypassed and dealt with last.

They had also gathered information on Dugu Yan. She was a thirty-second-rank Soul Elder whose Soul Skills affected both friend and foe alike, so she was just there to make up the numbers and didn't need to be taken seriously.

Dongfang Jing's ability to appear and disappear and her powerful attacks had indeed given the Blazing Fire Academy team plenty to discuss.

They had considered using their Control-type Soul Master to counter her.

But the defeated Control-type Soul Master from Skywater Academy had already shown them how that would go.

With Dongfang Jing's speed and Soul Skills, it would be far too difficult to control her.

They could only put that plan aside, adapt as things unfolded, and watch out for her mirror-image clones and her true self.