"I already knew about that."
Ning Rongrong frowned. "You don't think my father brought me here without telling me anything, do you?"
"I was just worried you'd forgotten what your father told you. Since you still remember, there's no problem."
Le Bai shifted his gaze away from Ning Rongrong.
"Le Bai, you just said this place doesn't care about our status, standing, or innate things like Martial Souls."
Tang San asked, "Then what does it value?"
"Actual combat!"
Le Bai clenched his fist. "Like I said, this is a place where Soul Masters fight freely. It's not completely lawless fighting, but during a battle, we can use not only Martial Souls, but all kinds of weapons, even Soul Tools. And in fights here, it's possible to kill."
Simple enough.
"Le Bai, besides Soul Masters, I see quite a few ordinary people coming and going here."
Tang San looked around again. "What are they here for?"
"Entertainment."
Le Bai explained as plainly as possible. "To the ordinary people in every city, each Great Soul Arena is a good place to have some fun. They get to watch Soul Masters, whom they normally wouldn't see, fight and kill each other. It broadens their horizons and passes the time. For certain people, it might even give them an outlet for some of the darkness in their hearts."
"So we're just tools for their entertainment!"
Xiao Wu frowned, somewhat agitated. "Why would the Great Soul Arena allow something like this?"
"Of course, for money. Selling tickets to ordinary people so they can watch Soul Fights is the Great Soul Arena's most important source of income."
To make sure Xiao Wu understood as well, Le Bai explained carefully. "Building, operating, and maintaining a Great Soul Arena all consume huge amounts of money. If it couldn't earn income through the Great Soul Arena itself, who would go through all that trouble to run a place like this for no benefit?"
Xiao Wu still felt something was wrong. "Didn't they say Soul Master is the noblest profession on the continent? If they're treated as tools for entertainment, what's noble about that?"
Le Bai smiled and asked, "Then can you tell me why Soul Master is the noblest profession?"
"Of course it's because! Because..."
Xiao Wu said uncertainly, "Because Soul Masters are the strongest?"
"Exactly right. Soul Masters are the noblest profession because they're powerful and possess overwhelming strength that no other profession can compare to."
Le Bai affirmed Xiao Wu's answer, then continued, "So if Soul Masters wanted to display their power to the world and let everyone know how strong they are, what would be the best method?"
Xiao Wu did not answer right away. After thinking for a moment, she understood. "Battle."
"Exactly."
Le Bai spread his hands. "Here, in this Great Soul Arena, Soul Masters tell everyone through battle that we possess power and that we are noble. Since it's meant to be watched anyway, we might as well charge admission. It's a win-win result."
"Why does it still feel like something's strange..."
Xiao Wu sank into thought.
But Le Bai felt that, with this rabbit's brain capacity, she probably wouldn't figure out what was wrong.
"Besides, not every Soul Master cares about this sort of thing. Aren't there Soul Masters like me, born a commoner, with utterly terrible Martial Souls and Soul Rings?"
Le Bai pointed at himself. "To me, the Great Soul Arena is an extremely important stage where I can display my 'value' as a Soul Master."
Tang San was quick-witted. Combining this with what Le Bai had said to Ning Rongrong earlier, he quickly realized, "Could it be that the major powers across the continent all come to the Great Soul Arena to watch matches and scout talent?"
"Of course!"
Ning Rongrong said, "The larger a sect or organization is, the more people it needs to maintain itself. Not all of those people can come from the sect's inner circle, so they need some 'outside' Soul Masters. With a convenient place like the Great Soul Arena, why wouldn't they come here? Would they rather search the entire continent for people?"
As one of the representatives of the "great sects," Ning Rongrong's words were especially convincing.
"For Soul Masters like me, born commoners without any foundation, joining a sect or organization can provide a relatively safe environment and ways to obtain resources. Those things can help us grow more smoothly and quickly. But sects and organizations aren't places you can enter just because you want to. You need to demonstrate a certain amount of value."
Le Bai added, "Most Soul Masters with some skill and brains choose to make their name in the Great Soul Arena. As long as their luck isn't too bad, being noticed by a major sect or a fairly large Soul Master organization basically means they've made it."
Xiao Wu looked thoughtful.
Le Bai could not tell whether she was genuinely thinking or merely pretending.
"Now, you should all understand what kind of place the Great Soul Arena is, right?"
The four nodded.
"Next, I'll briefly explain the Great Soul Arena's competition rules. You can see the counter in the middle of the hall, right?"
Le Bai pointed at the counter some distance away inside the hall. "Every Great Soul Arena has a counter like that, responsible for handling and registering Soul Masters' information. You'll register your identities there later. The staff at the counter will tell you exactly how to register, so don't worry."
"Once you've registered, you can apply at the counter to fight other Soul Masters. Here, that is generally called a 'Soul Fight.' You need to pay when applying for a Soul Fight, so remember that. If you win, you'll get your money back and receive a reward from the Great Soul Arena. The rewards increase with consecutive victories."
"If you think the Great Soul Arena's rewards are too small and have confidence in yourselves, you can also place a bet at the counter on your own victory when participating in a Soul Fight."
"I don't really recommend doing that. The Great Soul Arena matches opponents based on the number of Soul Rings they have, so there's a lot of randomness involved. Occasionally, extreme cases happen, like someone with thirty-first-level Soul Power facing an opponent with thirty-ninth-level Soul Power. So no one can guarantee they'll win."
"As for whether there are any tricks involved, that is entirely up to the Great Soul Arena."
The four silently digested what Le Bai had said.
Tang San understood first and asked, "What kinds of Soul Fights are there? It shouldn't be limited to one-on-one, right?"
"That's right. That's what I'm about to explain."
Le Bai continued, "Soul Fights can generally be divided into two types: one-on-one and multiplayer battles. There's nothing much to say about one-on-one. Multiplayer battles are divided by the number of participants into two-person team battles and Team Battles of three or more people. Every type of Soul Fight can also be divided into three categories: sparring matches, death matches, and wager matches."
"Sparring matches are the most common. Once one side admits defeat, they are not allowed to take the other's life. In a death match, one side must die. Wager matches are more special: there must be a stake between the two sides, and if the stake is too low in value, the Great Soul Arena will not even accept it."
"Also, according to Great Soul Arena rules, a person can only participate in one Soul Fight of the same type per day. So as long as the types differ, you can have one one-on-one, one two-on-two, and one Team Battle each day, provided your Soul Power and stamina can hold up."
After finishing, he gave the four enough time to digest it all.
"That's everything you absolutely need to know about the Great Soul Arena."
Le Bai asked, "Is there anything else you want to know?"
Before you continue