"Mess with you? You can go to hell, you old fox. You definitely don't have good intentions, so I'm not playing along." Qian Duoduo said irritably.
"What kind of thing is that to say? We've been friends for so many years. Would I really cheat you?"
"Ha!" Qian Duoduo sneered. "Have you not cheated me enough already?"
"I was only protecting the rights of the Outer Court's Martial Soul Department."
"Rights, my ass! Are the rights of my Soul Guidance Department not rights too? My department gives yours so much funding for teaching every year, and what do you do? You use my department's money while denigrating it as worthless. It's like feeding a dog meat buns."
"Cough, cough!" Yan Shaozhe looked a little embarrassed. "A Spirit Master's own strength is what truly counts. What's the point of relying on all those unorthodox tricks? Don't you agree?"
"You stubborn old fool, so set in your ways. Are you really going to wait until the Martial Soul Department's students pay a terrible price for your arrogance before you come to your senses?"
Yan Shaozhe said proudly, "I believe the students of Shrek Academy can rely on their own formidable strength to handle anything that might happen."
"All these years, and you still can't see the truth. What a stubborn fool." Qian Duoduo couldn't help shaking his head.
While the two of them argued, Xu Sanshi had already stepped onto one end of the Soul Fighting Arena.
"Xu Sanshi! Xu Sanshi!..."
The moment Xu Sanshi appeared, students from the Outer Court in the stands began calling his name. When Xia Linyuan entered, they were still shouting for Xu Sanshi.
The referee walked to the center of the arena and said sternly, "First-year student Xia Linyuan challenges fourth-year student Xu Sanshi. If Xu Sanshi loses, he must pay an additional ten Gold Soul Coins. You've presumably already agreed on the terms of your wager privately. Are you both ready?"
Xia Linyuan and Xu Sanshi nodded to the referee at the same time.
"The match begins." After announcing the start, the referee quickly retreated.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Xu Sanshi released his Martial Soul without hesitation. A huge turtle-shell shield appeared in his right hand.
After releasing his Martial Soul, Xu Sanshi seemed to lose some of his restlessness. In its place was a weightiness like that of a mountain.
Xia Linyuan, on the other hand, simply stood still, without so much as a hint of energy fluctuation. He looked just like an ordinary person standing there.
Seeing this, many people wondered what was going on. The match had already begun, yet Xia Linyuan wasn't preparing to do anything. Was he giving up before the fight had even started?
Some students who had no idea how things would unfold even began to look down on Xia Linyuan.
He didn't even dare fight. What was he putting on an act for?
Xu Sanshi, holding the Mysterious Turtle Shield, was also puzzled, but his sharp gaze never left Xia Linyuan. Xia Linyuan might be deliberately letting his guard down, hoping he would grow careless during the fight and leave an opening.
He didn't think he could match the famously brilliant Xia Linyuan in strategy.
Xia Linyuan had honed his strategic ability bit by bit through brutal warfare. It wasn't empty talk learned from books. Xu Sanshi had a little cleverness of his own, but he knew it couldn't compare.
Cautiously, Xu Sanshi began edging sideways, carefully moving closer to Xia Linyuan.
When he had sidestepped to within thirty meters, Xia Linyuan finally moved.
Yellow, yellow, and purple Spirit Rings rose from beneath Xia Linyuan's feet. The shadow beneath him solidified, turning almost tangible. A pitch-black shadow spread rapidly from him, swallowing everything in the Soul Fighting Arena.
When the black shadow covered most of the arena, it began to writhe and gathered behind him into a three-meter-tall humanoid shadow clad in robes and armor, with a weapon in its grasp.
Three rings!
This first-year student, who had only just enrolled, was actually a Soul Elder with three rings!
The stands erupted in an uproar.
A Soul Elder was a level of cultivation that even most fourth- and fifth-year students had yet to reach! Xia Linyuan was a new student, yet he had the same cultivation as the upper-year students. How could they not be astonished?
Xu Sanshi was also shocked. Xia Linyuan was at least three years younger than him, yet his cultivation wasn't much lower. No wonder he'd been confident enough to make a wager with him.
Still, Xu Sanshi wasn't about to lose so easily!
As Xia Linyuan revealed his Martial Soul and Soul Ring Configuration, the crowd held its breath and fell silent, afraid that they might distract the two fighters.
Xu Sanshi let out a furious shout. Though he held a shield at least two meters tall, he wasn't slow at all. In the blink of an eye, he covered dozens of meters.
When Xu Sanshi was still some distance from Xia Linyuan, he slammed the Mysterious Turtle Shield hard against the floor. At the same time, his first hundred-year Yellow Soul Ring lit up.
The black light shimmering across his turtle-shell shield instantly doubled in intensity. A powerful black aura spread from it, covering an area of more than ten square meters.
Mysterious Turtle Shock!
If Xu Sanshi's Mysterious Turtle Shock hit, its impact would knock the target back. Anyone whose cultivation was lower than his might even be stunned as they were sent flying.
Even Beibei wouldn't dare take this move head-on.
But, to Xu Sanshi's surprise, Xia Linyuan didn't even try to dodge his Mysterious Turtle Shock.
As Xu Sanshi released his first Spirit Skill, the first Yellow Soul Ring beside Xia Linyuan also shone brightly.
At the same time, an ancient, solemn light blazed in his golden eyes. As it flared, a shrill metallic clang rang through the Soul Fighting Zone without warning. Thick gray chains, each as wide as an adult's arm and seemingly without end, burst from the pitch-black ground beneath Xia Linyuan.
It seemed as if the chains had drained all color from the world. Everything within sight was a lifeless gray, devoid of vitality.
The instant the rising chains touched the Soul Guidance barrier surrounding the arena, a pinpoint of black erupted from the point of contact, forming a bottomless black vortex that swallowed the chains.
Then, one black vortex after another appeared in midair, and chain after chain shot out of them. Just as they seemed about to pierce through the ground, another black vortex opened, and the chains plunged straight into it.
It was as if they had fallen into an endless Möbius loop, cycling without end, with no way out.
Seeing this, Xu Sanshi's alarm bells rang. He unconsciously pulled the Mysterious Turtle Shield a little closer to his body.
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