First Victory

After knocking Crackrock back, Xiao Chen spun the Long Spear in his hand, activated Shadow Step Dash, and charged straight at him.

Before Crackrock could react, he realized the tip of Xiao Chen's spear was already right in front of him.

"Rock Skin Hardening!"

Crackrock didn't dare be careless in the slightest and immediately activated his first Soul Skill.

Gray-brown stone armor instantly spread over him in layer upon layer, covering Crackrock's upper body and forcibly withstanding Xiao Chen's thrust.

However, the moment the spear tip struck the stone armor, tiny chips of rock burst from it. The powerful Soul Power impact forced Crackrock back several more steps.

Xiao Chen pressed his advantage, giving Crackrock no time to react. Still, Crackrock had managed to win five consecutive matches in the Soul Fighting Arena, so he clearly had some ability.

Although he couldn't keep up with Xiao Chen's speed, he could roughly predict the direction of Xiao Chen's attacks.

He swung his Great Axe and clashed repeatedly with Xiao Chen. The sounds of spear and axe colliding rang out one after another, echoing throughout the arena.

Everyone in the stands was dumbfounded, especially the man who had mocked Xiao Chen earlier. He could hardly believe his eyes.

For a moment, he even wondered if Crackrock was throwing the match. But Xiao Chen's astonishing speed was impossible to fake.

He had watched Crackrock fight many times, so he knew Crackrock was nowhere near as fast as his opponent.

Crackrock's second Soul Skill, Rock Fury Slash, was powerful, but if he couldn't hit his opponent, all that power was useless.

Xiao Chen, by contrast, had kept only one Spirit Ring lit from start to finish. Relying on his astonishing speed, he swept through the arena with his Long Spear.

At first, Crackrock could still swing horizontally and block, barely keeping Xiao Chen's attacks in check.

But he was too slow, and his Great Axe moved sluggishly. After a few clashes, the gap in speed quickly put him on the defensive.

Under Xiao Chen's relentless attacks, openings in Crackrock's defenses kept appearing.

Xiao Chen's spear repeatedly slipped through those gaps, striking Crackrock's stone armor again and again.

This drained Crackrock's Soul Power rapidly. Before long, he could no longer maintain his first Soul Skill—Rock Skin Hardening.

Crackrock's movements grew increasingly sluggish, and his breathing became heavy and ragged. The force behind his axe as he blocked grew weaker and weaker, and his once-steady defense gradually fell apart.

Xiao Chen, on the other hand, attacked with ever greater speed and ferocity. Crackrock could only take the repeated blows from the Long Spear until Xiao Chen finally swept him off his feet with a single strike. Crackrock hit the ground and could no longer get up.

"In this one-on-one Soul Fighting match, the final winner is... Mystic Spear!" The host's booming voice rang throughout the arena. "Congratulations to Mystic Spear for decisively ending Crackrock's five-match winning streak and claiming his very first Soul Fighting victory!"

The host's announcement came at just the right moment, and a wave of cheers immediately erupted around them.

It wasn't unusual for someone to defeat an opponent of a higher level in the Soul Fighting Arena. But it was rare for someone like Xiao Chen, who had two White Spirit Rings, to dominate an opponent two levels above him from beginning to end.

The extreme contrast in their strength instantly set the crowd ablaze, and everyone grew feverishly excited.

Only in the area where Hu Liena and the others were sitting did the occasional angry curse rise from those who had lost their bets. But the surging cheers around them quickly drowned the curses out.

At the same time, the system's voice rang out.

"Ding! Congratulations, Host, on participating in Soul Fighting for the first time. Reward: special skill—Spirit Ring Concealment!"

"Skill effect: When a Soul Skill is activated in actual combat, the Spirit Ring will remain invisible!"

The reward was decent. It didn't increase his combat strength, but it would keep people from mocking Xiao Chen every time he revealed his Spirit Rings.

As his strength continued to grow, the ability to conceal his Spirit Rings would become more and more useful.

After all, Xiao Chen was the only person on the Douluo Continent whose Spirit Rings were all ten-year rings. The moment his White Spirit Rings appeared, everyone could guess who he was, and that was the last thing Xiao Chen wanted.

When adventuring in another world, keeping his identity hidden was important. He didn't want people to recognize him every time he made a move.

"System, do you have a skill that can change the color of Spirit Rings?" Xiao Chen asked.

"Yes! However, that skill goes against the purpose of the ultimate mission."

"If the outside world learns that the Host can alter Spirit Ring colors, it will become much harder for the Host to guide others to accept and fuse with White Spirit Rings in the future. Therefore, this system will not unlock that skill for the Host," the system explained.

"That makes sense!" Xiao Chen nodded. He wasn't fixated on getting a skill that could change Spirit Ring colors. After all, it was only useful for showing off or scaring people. Once a fight started, it would be completely useless.

As an archer, Xiao Chen would inevitably keep his distance from his enemies when fighting them in the future.

From far away, even if the color of his Spirit Rings was unusual, his opponent might not be able to see it.

After collecting his reward, Xiao Chen left the Fighting Soul Arena.

He had made a name for himself with one fight, but Soul Fighting participants below level fifty were restricted to one match per day in each mode.

If not for that rule, Xiao Chen could easily have fought dozens of matches in a single day at his current level.

Hu Liena and the others had known Xiao Chen would win, but they hadn't expected him to win so easily.

They were especially impressed by Xiao Chen's close-combat skills.

If they hadn't already known that Xiao Chen was a Ranged Weapon Soul Master, they would have mistaken him for an Agility Attack System Soul Master with a deep foundation.

"Hey, did you see that? So what if his Spirit Rings are white? In the end, true strength depends on the person wielding them!" Hu Liena said, looking at the young man who had mocked Xiao Chen earlier.

The young man wanted to argue, but the facts were right in front of him, leaving him nothing to say. In the end, he could only force out, "If he had Century Spirit Rings, this fight would have been even easier!" Then he left.

After leaving the Fighting Soul Arena, Xiao Chen headed to one of its private lounges.

As soon as he entered, Hu Liena held up several money pouches and jingled them. "Junior Brother, thanks to you, we just made a killing!"

As she spoke, she tossed two bags of Gold Soul Coins to Xiao Chen. "Here, these two are yours!"

Xiao Chen had just taken the pouches when Yan came over with a smile. "I've suddenly found a way to make money!"

Yan wasn't usually short on money, but who would complain about having more?

"Yan, you're clearly trying to turn Junior Brother into a money tree!" Hu Liena said with a slight frown, displeased.

Yan grinned. "Nana, just tell me if you want to invest!"

"I do. Why wouldn't I?" Hu Liena replied firmly. She knew Xiao Chen would definitely participate in more matches, so they might as well all profit together instead of letting Yan keep the money to himself.

"How about this: Xiao Chen gets forty percent of the Gold Soul Coins we make from now on, and each of the three of us gets twenty percent?" Hu Liena proposed.

"No problem!" Yan readily agreed.

After that, Yan began coming up with strategies for Xiao Chen, telling him not to win so easily in his future matches.

Xiao Chen readily agreed. Making money together would also bring them closer and strengthen their friendship.