Another Gangzi

Lu Zheng was still somewhat rational. Though furious, he didn't dare make a move inside the Soul Fighting Arena.

Seeing the calm look in Xiao Chen's eyes, without the slightest hint of fear, he immediately demanded in a stern voice, "Mystic Spear! Why did you show my grandson no mercy?"

"Are you stupid?" Xiao Chen replied coolly. "We signed a life-or-death contract. If I didn't kill him, was I supposed to wait for him to kill me?"

"You..." Lu Zheng's face darkened. His fists clenched so tightly they creaked, yet there was nothing he could do to Xiao Chen.

"You're far stronger than he is. Even if he offended you, you could've just beaten him up as punishment. Why did you have to take things so far?" Lu Zheng continued.

"Take things too far? When he crippled other people, why didn't you speak up?" Xiao Chen said evenly.

At those words, Lu Zheng's pupils suddenly contracted.

He knew his grandson's ways all too well.

In battles at the Soul Fighting Arena, injuries and crippling were perfectly normal.

So he had only warned his grandson not to kill anyone in the arena. As for his other behavior, he had always turned a blind eye.

He gathered his thoughts and recalled the Soul Masters his grandson had crippled. Nearly all of them had lacked any backing.

Xiao Chen's words made Lu Zheng certain that he had deliberately struck such a deadly blow in the arena to avenge some Soul Master his grandson had crippled.

Lu Zheng didn't argue with Xiao Chen about it. Instead, he said, "Since you dared to kill my grandson, why hide your identity? Do you have the nerve to take off your mask and show your real face? If you're scared, you can tell me which power is backing you!"

"Idiot!"

Xiao Chen glanced sideways at Lu Zheng, his eyes full of contemptuous indifference. "If you want revenge for your grandson, go ahead and attack. If you don't have the guts, then get lost. A good dog doesn't block the road!"

With that, Xiao Chen calmly walked right past him.

Lu Zheng's face turned livid. His fists were clenched tight, and he ground his teeth, but there was nothing he could do.

In the end, all he could do was glare at Xiao Chen's retreating back and shout in a low voice, "You'd better stay inside the Soul Fighting Arena for the rest of your life!"

Lu Zheng had wanted to see which lounge Xiao Chen would enter, but Ji Chuan stopped him.

"Lu Zheng, Mystic Spear is very popular and extremely important to the Xilu Great Soul Arena. I won't interfere with what you do outside the arena, but inside it, you'd better not harass him again—including anyone from the Lu Family!" Ji Chuan warned him.

Lu Zheng looked darkly at Ji Chuan. After staring at him for a while, he slowly nodded, his voice restrained. "Fine. Since you've spoken, Lord Ji Chuan, I promise I won't harass him again."

Then he changed the subject, fixing Ji Chuan with a sharp gaze. "But Lord Ji Chuan said earlier that you wouldn't favor either side. I trust you won't secretly spirit this man away, will you?"

"Of course not!" Ji Chuan replied steadily, his expression open and sincere.

After leaving the Fighting Soul Arena, Xiao Chen didn't return to the lounge. When he'd signed up for the Soul Fighting matches earlier, he'd said he would fight three matches that day.

In his next two matches, Xiao Chen was paired with opponents at level twenty-six and level twenty-five, so both battles ended very quickly.

After the final Soul Fighting match, Ji Chuan secretly arranged for Xiao Chen to avoid everyone in the arena and slip back to the VIP lounge.

Ji Chuan's arrangement wasn't favoritism at all. It was simply the kind of treatment a popular fighter at the Soul Fighting Arena deserved.

Afterward, Xiao Chen competed in both the doubles Soul Fighting match and the team Soul Fighting match under the identity of Absolute String, winning both with ease.

Once the team match ended, the four of them left the arena and returned to the hotel.

In their hotel room, Xiao Chen and the others were looking through information on the Lu Family that Ghost Douluo had secretly gathered.

Nearly every elder, senior clan member, and powerful direct-line member of the Lu Family had dirty hands.

Relying on their family's power, they bullied weaker Soul Masters, seized treasures by force, and monopolized cultivation resources;

To fight for positions of power within the family, they even framed their own kin and persecuted members of collateral branches;

The branch led by Lu Zheng, in particular, was full of bad people.

Only a few minor collateral branches had stayed out of those vile deeds, largely because they lacked the strength to take part.

"Rotten from the top down. The whole clan's become this corrupt, committing every sort of evil and hiding every sort of filth. A family like this deserves to be wiped out completely!" Yan said, anger in his voice.

"This is a perfect chance for real combat. Yue Guan has already started making arrangements. Are you confident you can take on a level-sixty-eight Soul Emperor?" Ghost Douluo asked with a smile.

"Of course!" Hu Liena replied with a smile.

In the past, she would never have dared to say something so confidently.

Her and Xie Yue's Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Enchantress, was certainly powerful, but the gap in Soul Power Levels was far too great.

They had only the slimmest chance of standing up to a level-sixty-eight Soul Emperor head-on.

But now, the Triple Martial Soul Fusion Skill she and Xiao Chen could unleash together far surpassed the Enchantress she and Xie Yue had used.

And because it consumed very little Soul Power, they could unleash their strongest attack several times in succession. They had a good chance of defeating a level-sixty-eight Soul Emperor.

"Good. Prepare yourselves, then. Head to the arena first thing tomorrow morning to compete. Once the matches are over and your Soul Power has recovered, leave Xilu City immediately," Ghost Douluo said.

The four of them nodded and returned to their rooms.

Early the next day, Xiao Chen and the others arrived at the Great Soul Arena.

This time, Xiao Chen first competed in the doubles Soul Fighting match with Hu Liena. Then the four of them took part in the team match, and finally Xiao Chen competed in three individual matches as Mystic Spear.

During his third individual match, Xiao Chen encountered an unexpected surprise.

As soon as his opponent entered the arena, he announced that he was from the Lu Family and told Xiao Chen not to hold back.

The moment Xiao Chen saw his Martial Soul, he recognized who he was.

Ghost Douluo's intelligence had mentioned him.

His name was Lu Xiao. He was twenty years old, and his Martial Soul had mutated. It was somewhat like Gangzi's: he'd been stuck at level twenty-nine, unable to break through to level thirty.

His Martial Soul was a blue chicken. The moment he released it, the system detected that its true nature was an Ice Phoenix, a Top-Grade Martial Soul with divine-level potential.

Although Lu Xiao was a member of the Lu Family, his relationship with them had long since fallen apart.

He'd once been a genius of the Lu Family, reaching level twenty-nine at just fourteen and earning the elders' deep affection.

However, once the Lu Family realized he was stuck at level twenty-nine and could no longer make any progress, his branch was cast aside.

Three years ago, Lu Xiao's parents had died under mysterious circumstances. The truth was closely guarded, and no one knew what had really happened.

All anyone knew was that Lu Xiao had caused a huge scene within the clan at the time, only to be gravely injured. After that, he disappeared without a trace.

Lu Xiao was very strong, fully capable of matching a Soul Elder at around level thirty-three. Unfortunately, Xiao Chen had a cheat on his side. Otherwise, it would've been hard to say who would win.

Xiao Chen could tell that Lu Xiao had come prepared to die.

It seemed he didn't intend to go on living, no matter who won the match.

So Xiao Chen didn't kill him. He only knocked him unconscious, after which members of the Lu Family took him away.

As soon as Xiao Chen returned to the lounge, he had Chrysanthemum Douluo contact Ghost Douluo and follow them.