Outside the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena, crowds surged everywhere.
Although it was daytime, this was still one of the liveliest places in all of Heaven Dou City.
The city's nobles and wealthy people loved nothing more than coming here to watch Soul Masters fight.
Wang Xian stood across the street and looked up at the massive building.
It was a sprawling complex of towering structures. From where he stood, the central building alone was nearly a hundred meters tall.
Its gray-white walls gleamed with a cold, hard sheen beneath the sunlight. A huge flagpole stood at the top, flying the flag of the Heaven Dou Empire.
The entire structure was oval-shaped and covered an enormous area. The wings stretching out on both sides extended so far that their ends were nowhere in sight, imposing beyond belief.
As the Soul Fighting Arena of the imperial capital, the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena was naturally on a scale no other place could match.
With its main Soul Fighting Arena and dozens of sub-arenas, it could accommodate two hundred thousand spectators at once. There were five hundred VIP boxes alone.
This was not only a place for Soul Masters to spar and exchange insights, but also a stage for every major power to display its strength.
The main entrance was packed with people, and those waiting to enter formed a long, crowded line.
Wang Xian glanced over and saw that there were far fewer people by the side entrance, so he made his way through the crowd.
A sign hung above the side entrance, bearing the words "Contestant Registration Office."
The reason he needed to register again was that, back in Notting City, he had not used his real information when registering in order to conceal his identity.
Now that he had come here, there was no longer much need to hide his identity, so naturally, he needed to register for a Soul Fighting identity using his real information.
He pushed open the door. Inside was a moderately sized hall, where a young girl sat behind the counter, writing something with her head lowered.
Hearing the sound, she looked up at Wang Xian in surprise. She had seen plenty of contestants come to register, but this was the first time she had seen one so young.
"Are you here to register?" the girl asked.
"Mm." Wang Xian nodded.
The girl did not ask any further questions. She took out a form from a drawer and asked for some basic information: name, age, Soul Power Level, and martial soul type.
Wang Xian answered each question, and the girl quickly filled out the form before handing him an Iron Soul Fighting Badge.
"You're registered. There's a match for you today, so go wait in the rest area. Someone will call you when it's your turn." The girl pointed toward a corridor beside her.
Wang Xian accepted the identification badge, thanked her, and followed the corridor inside.
At the end of the corridor was a pair of double doors. Beyond them was a large rest area.
A dark carpet covered the floor, and several rows of sofas stood against the walls. Quite a few people sat on them—some rested with their eyes closed, some chatted quietly, and some checked their equipment.
Wang Xian roughly counted and found that nearly a hundred contestants were waiting here.
When he entered, quite a few people looked up at him, then froze for a moment.
The kid looked no taller than one meter forty. His face was so young he looked like he had just been weaned, and he could not have been more than seven or eight.
His presence in a place like this was certainly eye-catching.
However, those people were only stunned for an instant before looking away and returning to what they were doing.
To them, the younger the opponent, the better. Winning a match meant earning money, and nobody had a problem with that.
Wang Xian ignored their gazes, found a sofa in the corner, sat down, and closed his eyes to rest while waiting for his number to be called.
About ten minutes later, a staff member arrived.
"Contestant Wang Xian, your one-on-one match is about to begin. Please proceed to Sub-Soul Fighting Arena No. 24." The staff member stood at the door and called into the rest area.
Wang Xian, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them, rose to his feet, and walked straight out of the rest area.
Whispers rose behind him.
"That kid? He came to fight at seven?"
"Whoever draws him is lucky. Newbies like that have the least experience."
"Tch, why couldn't I get that kind of luck?"
Wang Xian kept walking, his expression unchanged.
He heard every word clearly, but there was nothing worth caring about.
Once he stepped onto the stage, they would all shut up on their own.
He passed through the corridor and followed the signs until he found Sub-Soul Fighting Arena No. 24.
Despite being only a sub-arena, it was not small. The circular Soul Fighting Platform had a diameter of twenty meters, its floor laid with smooth stone slabs and enclosed by waist-high railings.
The spectator stands surrounded the Soul Fighting Platform. About one-fifth of the seats were occupied, scattered sparsely, but that was already not a small crowd for a sub-arena.
On the Soul Fighting Platform, a middle-aged man in a long robe stood in the center, holding a sound-amplifying Soul Tool.
He cleared his throat and announced loudly, "Next is the third one-on-one Soul Fighting match in our Soul Fighting Arena No. 24. Both contestants are Soul Masters."
He paused and looked over the card in his hand.
"First, the Battle Soul Master with the beast martial soul Ice Mist Bird, Ice Wind!"
Polite applause rose from the audience.
"The other contestant is the Battle Soul Master with the tool martial soul Blue Silver Grass, Wang Xian!" The host raised his voice.
"Worth mentioning is that contestant Wang Xian is participating in Soul Fighting for the first time, and he is only seven years old this year! Who will emerge victorious? Let us wait and see! Now, please welcome both Soul Masters onto the stage!"
The applause from the audience grew somewhat more enthusiastic than before. Seven-year-old Soul Masters were rare, and quite a few people stretched their necks to look toward the Soul Fighting Platform.
Wang Xian was the first to step onto the Soul Fighting Platform, taking his position on the left.
Across from him, a youth wearing an ice-blue robe also walked onto the stage.
He was tall and slender, with refined features. He looked around fifteen or sixteen years old, his light-blue hair falling over his shoulders, and his entire body gave off an icy aura.
Ice Wind walked to the right side of the Soul Fighting Platform and glanced at Wang Xian. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, his expression carrying a trace of disdain.
A seven-year-old Blue Silver Grass Soul Master—wasn't this just free points delivered to his doorstep?
The host retreated to the edge of the Soul Fighting Platform, raised his right hand high, and slashed it down.
"Begin!"
Ice Wind did not hesitate in the slightest. He shook both arms, and pale-blue light surged from within him, instantly covering his entire body.
His figure grew somewhat taller within the light, and his hands began to change.
His fingers lengthened, his nails rapidly extending into hooked claws. A layer of fine ice-blue feathers covered his arms, glittering brightly.
His eyes turned pale blue, his pupils becoming vertical slits as he radiated an icy chill.
A yellow Soul Ring rose beneath his feet and slowly revolved around his body.
A yellow Soul Ring likewise rose beneath Wang Xian's feet. Blue Silver Grass the color of deep blue-green surged from his palms and swayed gently before him.
Ice Wind sneered. The wings on his arms flapped fiercely, and he rose into the air, hovering about three meters above the Soul Fighting Platform.
He looked down at Wang Xian as though he were looking at prey awaiting slaughter.
"Blue Silver Grass? Trash like that dares come to the Soul Fighting Arena?" Ice Wind's mocking voice came from above.
Wang Xian ignored him.
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