Spirit Soul Badge

When they stepped outside, the sky had turned completely dark, yet Soto City seemed to have just woken up, appearing even more bustling than it was during the day.

Unlike when she was alone, Zhu Zhuqing wore a cold expression after coming out, as if everything in the outside world had nothing to do with her.

This was a typical emotional breakdown caused by post-traumatic stress, and Oscar understood this well.

Coincidentally, he also had the intention of letting Zhu Zhuqing clear her mind, so he spoke up:

"Since we're here, let's have some fun. Soto City at night is much more interesting than it is during the day."

The shop was located in the old district of Soto City, a relatively underdeveloped area. To reach the Soto Grand Spirit Fighting Arena, the city's landmark building, they had to cross half the city.

On both sides of the street, all the shops were brightly lit, and small vendors who only operated at night had found their usual spots to sell snacks or small trinkets.

"Hmm..."

Zhu Zhuqing hesitated for a moment, but she did not refuse Oscar's kindness.

The three of them headed north. Along the way, Oscar kept buying local snacks for Zhu Zhuqing, and her little belly gradually began to bulge.

Correspondingly, Zhu Zhuqing's mood improved significantly; she would even puff out her cheeks and glare at Oscar in mock annoyance from time to time.

Unlike the two interacting, Ma Hongjun spent the entire walk counting on his fingers, which was completely different from his usual gluttonous habits.

Oscar clearly noticed this. After handing a skewer of charcoal-grilled lamb to Zhu Zhuqing, he turned to look at Ma Hongjun and asked:

"Junior brother, how many points are you away from the Silver Spirit Fighting Badge now?"

The Spirit Fighting Badge was a symbol of rank in the Grand Spirit Fighting Arena, and it was recognized across all major cities on the continent.

It served as a supplement to one's spirit power level. While spirit power levels represented the strength of a Spirit Master, they could not precisely indicate the gap in combat ability between Spirit Masters of the same level.

The Spirit Fighting Badge went beyond that, further distinguishing a Spirit Master's combat prowess.

The higher the badge rank, the higher the Spirit Master's combat capability among their peers. Spirit Masters who reached a certain badge level could even fight against opponents of higher ranks!

This was often a powerful testament to a Spirit Master's talent. Spirit Masters with high-level badges would be treated as honored guests by various factions and heavily cultivated, even if their spirit power level was slightly lower.

'Silver' was one of the grades of the Spirit Fighting Badge. Categorized by mineral quality, the ranks from lowest to highest were: Iron, Copper, Silver, Gold, Purple Gold, Sapphire, Ruby, and Diamond. There were eight levels in total.

Any Spirit Master entering the Grand Spirit Fighting Arena was simply referred to as a "Spirit Fighter." After winning their first match, they would receive a badge. Thereafter, every victory would grant a certain number of points, and once the points reached a certain threshold, the badge rank would increase.

Advancing from an Iron Spirit Fighting Badge to a Copper one required one hundred points.

Each victory earned one point, but losing a match would deduct one point accordingly.

If a winning streak exceeded five matches, every subsequent victory would grant an additional ten points. Once the streak exceeded ten, each win would grant an additional one hundred points.

Even if one reached the points required to advance to Copper, falling below one hundred points would result in the loss of the Copper status.

Advancing from a Copper Spirit Fighting Badge to a Silver one required one thousand points.

In matches between Copper Spirit Fighters, each win granted ten points, and each loss deducted ten points. The bonus ratio for winning streaks was the same as that for Iron.

Although the point system suggested that one could quickly increase their badge rank through winning streaks, the Grand Spirit Fighting Arena was not an easy place to survive.

There were three ways to compete here. The one Oscar and Ma Hongjun frequently participated in was called Sparring. It was friendly in nature and grouped participants by rank, or more specifically, by the number of Spirit Rings they possessed.

Once a Spirit Master gained an additional Spirit Ring, they could only participate in the next group's Sparring.

The best way to maintain a winning streak here was to forgo hunting for a new Spirit Ring when one's spirit power reached the promotion threshold, choosing instead to stay at a lower level to farm wins. However, basically only those who made a living off the Grand Spirit Fighting Arena did this.

But the reason Ma Hongjun and Oscar entered the Grand Spirit Fighting Arena was primarily to hone their combat skills, so they naturally didn't want to waste precious time on that.

Therefore, it had taken Ma Hongjun a year of entering the Soto Grand Spirit Fighting Arena to raise his badge to Silver, and even that speed was terrifying!

It was so rare that it was even recorded in the annals of the Soto Grand Spirit Fighting Arena!

Of course... Oscar was still more outrageous than him; his badge had already reached the Gold level, and that was even while he hid his Feng Hou Qi Gate and part of his Taiji Sword Technique!

Otherwise, he would have already become a holder of the Purple Gold Spirit Fighting Badge!

"About three matches away, if I can keep the winning streak going."

Ma Hongjun was currently on a four-match winning streak and was two hundred and nine points away in total. As long as he could win three more matches and take advantage of the streak bonuses, he might be able to promote to Silver tonight.

"No need to rush the promotion. Stay steady. Keep hiding half of your Taiji Sword Technique, just like before."

Ma Hongjun nodded. Following his gaze, not far from the alley entrance, there was a vast expanse of tall buildings. From their angle, they could only see that the structure was nearly a hundred meters high. It was enormous, appearing extremely imposing in the night.

From within that massive building, faint lights flickered.

This was the Soto Grand Spirit Fighting Arena. Buildings like this could only be found in major cities; its scale could be said to be a symbol of a city's, or even a nation's, prosperity.

And this was also one of the hardest nuts for the Sky Net to crack in Soto City. The Grand Spirit Fighting Arena had its own complete system and could be considered a unique faction in its own right.

It was jointly founded by the seven most prestigious Spirit Master families on the continent and was not affiliated with the two great empires or the Spirit Hall; it could be called a third-party force.

It was wealthier than a nation!

Moreover, the forces behind it had once guaranteed that as long as you fought according to the rules inside, you didn't need to worry about retaliation, even if you killed the heir of a great family!

They had even truly practiced what they preached!

Fortunately, although the forces behind the Grand Spirit Fighting Arena were powerful, they minded their own business regarding other factions in Soto City and had no conflict of interest with the Sky Net for the time being.

Of course... it was most likely that they hadn't discovered the existence of the Sky Net yet. After all, apart from the true core, most of the current members of the Sky Net were from the ranks of commoners, merchants, and farmers.

Coming here again, Oscar let out a deep breath. Although his meditation had reached a certain level, he still felt the blood in his body begin to boil when he heard the cheers echoing through the thick walls!