"What's that? Lots of people are going in." Ice Empress pointed ahead, turning sideways to look.
"Doesn't the sign say? The Soul Fighting Arena."
Xu Lanqing looked up. The immense, silver-white circular building rose more than twenty meters high, with three golden characters—"Soul Fighting Arena"—standing atop it.
"I'm not blind. I'm asking what it's for."
"Um... simply put, it's a place specifically for fighting, with people gathered all around to watch."
"Isn't that like being watched by a bunch of monkeys?" Ice Empress imagined the scene. "I never knew humans had that kind of hobby."
Xu Lanqing led the way toward the Soul Fighting Arena's entrance, casually defending it as he went. "Have you heard the phrase 'showing off in front of a crowd'? That overwhelming sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when you pull off a successful flex in an instant is pretty intoxicating."
"What's there to compete over when they're a bunch of brats who haven't even reached Soul Saint?" Ice Empress said, clearly unconvinced.
"That feeling doesn't have much to do with how strong you are. It's about the emptiness inside you..."
"You sound like you know a lot about it. Have you done it yourself?"
"Have you forgotten what happened six years ago? It's basically the same thing." Xu Lanqing made a few chopping motions with his hand. "I had a blast cutting them down back then."
"..."
Ice Empress suddenly felt a little itchy to fight, too.
The Soul Fighting Arena held a huge circular platform made entirely of silver-white metal. It stood two meters high and measured three hundred meters in diameter, with more than a dozen rows of spectator seats around it.
The entire arena could hold up to twenty thousand people, far more than an academy would ever need.
As they spoke, they