Xu Sanshi the Clown

There was no doubt that victory still belonged to Lin Ming's team.

In the next match, Lin Ming encountered an interesting character.

Lin Ming's opponent in the next match was a team from Class Five.

The moment he stepped onto the arena, Lin Ming heard a voice from below the stage.

"Nannan, go! You're the best!"

A red-haired youth was shouting loudly beneath the arena.

Unable to hold it in, Lin Ming let out a snort of laughter.

Those familiar words and that familiar appearance—wasn't that Xu Sanshi?

This character had been quite interesting in the original story, a complete joker.

Xu Sanshi's appearance also let Lin Ming know who his opponent would be this round.

On the other side of the arena, the three members of Class Five stepped onto the stage.

Leading them was a girl with long golden hair. Paired with her exceptionally long legs, she drew the attention of quite a few boys in the spectator area.

Although she was only twelve years old, she already exuded a mature sort of beauty.

She was Jiang Nannan, known as the number one beauty of the Outer Court.

Faced with Xu Sanshi's shouts from below, Jiang Nannan showed neither anger nor delight. As though she had heard nothing, she chose to ignore him.

"One minute to activate your Martial Souls. Begin!"

Following the referee's command, the three on Jiang Nannan's side released their Martial Souls at the same time.

All of their Spirit Rings were yellow. Jiang Nannan's team consisted of three Soul Grandmasters, with no Soul Elder among them. It was a fairly ordinary lineup.

Two Spirit Rings pulsed beneath Jiang Nannan's feet. With the Soft Bone Rabbit Martial Soul Possession, she became even more strikingly beautiful.

Lin Ming could sense that Jiang Nannan's Soul Power Level was not particularly high. She was around the upper ranks of Soul Grandmaster, which was above average among the freshmen of her year but absolutely not among the very best.

Originally, Lin Ming's team had decided to send Beibei out for this match, but upon seeing Jiang Nannan, Lin Ming changed his mind.

He stopped Beibei, who was about to step forward. "Lao Bei, I'll take this one!"

Beibei was somewhat confused. "Didn't we agree that I'd fight this round?"

Lin Ming made a shushing gesture. "Don't worry about it. You can go up next round."

Beibei did not insist any further.

Lin Ming stepped forward, Sky-Propping Spear in hand, followed by four Spirit Rings in an absurd configuration of yellow, purple, purple, and black.

Seeing Lin Ming personally take the field, Jiang Nannan was not afraid, but Xu Sanshi beneath the stage became anxious first.

"Nannan, if you can't do it, just stop fighting! That guy over there is too monstrous. There's no shame in admitting defeat!"

Xu Sanshi had watched Lin Ming's match against Feng Xiu. He believed that with his current strength, having only just broken through to Soul Elder, it would be nearly impossible for him to take Feng Xiu's thirty-sixth strike of the Thirty-Six Gale Demon Wolf Slashes. Unless he briefly awakened the Black Tortoise Bloodline, but the cost of that would be far too great.

And when he saw that Lin Ming had actually taken Feng Xiu's thirty-sixth strike and still won the match completely unscathed, he had only one assessment of Lin Ming: "This guy is simply a monster."

That was why he was so anxious now that Jiang Nannan was about to face Lin Ming.

Xu Sanshi's loud shouting drew the attention of many students.

Yet, rather than disagreeing with him, most of them actually shared his view.

After all, let alone among the first-years, even in the entire Outer Court, it would be difficult to find someone who could thoroughly defeat Lin Ming. There might not even be anyone who could barely beat him.

"Xu Sanshi, shut up!" Jiang Nannan was finally angered by Xu Sanshi and snapped furiously.

"Alright, Nannan, don't be angry. I'll stop, I'll stop!" Seeing Jiang Nannan get angry, Xu Sanshi immediately shut his mouth and quietly watched from below the stage.

Jiang Nannan took several deep breaths and adjusted herself before darting toward Lin Ming.

She was an agility-type Soul Master, and speed was what she took the most pride in.

Although she was only a Soul Grandmaster, in terms of speed alone, she had already surpassed most Soul Elders.

But what use was being faster than a Soul Elder? Lin Ming was not a Soul Elder—he was a Soul Ancestor.

It could be said that Jiang Nannan's prized speed was simply not worth mentioning before Lin Ming.

Lin Ming merely stood there, Spear Intent circulating around him. Its sheer presence alone kept Jiang Nannan from daring to attack rashly.

Her two teammates were respectively assault-type and control-type Soul Masters.

Just as Jiang Nannan hesitated to advance, the control-type Soul Grandmaster made his move.

His Martial Soul was the Ghost King Vine. As his soul skill activated, countless Ghost King Vines covered in poisonous thorns lashed toward Lin Ming.

Faced with those thick vines, Lin Ming did not dodge. He gripped the butt of the Sky-Propping Spear with one hand, the muscles in his right arm bulging as he suddenly exerted force.

With one horizontal sweep, he instantly severed all the vines.

The lingering force from the spear tip even reached Jiang Nannan some distance away, forcing her to retreat several more steps.

Then Lin Ming used the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, charging toward the Ghost King Vine Soul Grandmaster at a speed even faster than Jiang Nannan's.

The other assault-type Soul Grandmaster activated his second soul skill and stepped forward to block him, only to be casually sent flying off the arena by a single thrust from Lin Ming. The tremendous force carried him straight off the stage.

Had Lin Ming not withdrawn his strength at the last moment, that assault-type Soul Grandmaster would have been pierced clean through.

Then Lin Ming moved forward like a ghost, quickly arriving before the Ghost King Vine Soul Grandmaster.

Lin Ming did not attack with the Sky-Propping Spear. Instead, he extended his hands.

His hands turned jade-like as he struck at the other boy.

The Ghost King Vine Soul Grandmaster knew Lin Ming was going easy on him, so he did not defend at all and allowed Lin Ming to knock him off the arena.

At this point, Jiang Nannan's side had only her left.

The match seemed to hold no more suspense.

Yet even so, Jiang Nannan still did not want to give up. She accelerated desperately and attacked Lin Ming again and again.

Lin Ming was even faster than Jiang Nannan at full speed. Thus, every one of her attacks was precisely blocked and countered by him.

Jiang Nannan was only a Soul Grandmaster, after all. Trying to outlast Lin Ming, a Soul Ancestor, was simply asking for trouble.

In the end, she ran out of strength and was sent flying by a spear strike from Lin Ming, falling off the arena.

"Class One's representative team wins!"

With the referee's announcement, the result of the match was decided.

Lin Ming stepped down from the arena and was about to leave when someone blocked his path.

"You injured Nannan. You have to apologize to her!"

The newcomer was none other than Xu Sanshi the clown.

Lin Ming looked at Xu Sanshi with utter disdain.

In truth, Lin Ming had already restrained himself greatly during his fight with Jiang Nannan. A Soul Ancestor fighting a

Soul Grandmaster, he had been fully capable of deciding the match in a single strike. He had exchanged more than ten moves with her only because he was afraid he might fail to hold back and skewer the little rabbit.

But Lin Ming only kept those words to himself and did not say them to Xu Sanshi. After all, Xu Sanshi was not worthy of hearing them.

"Move aside. Don't make me repeat myself."

Lin Ming's tone was calm, but his eyes were filled with contempt.

Xu Sanshi became even more worked up upon hearing that. The terror of a love-struck fool was on full display. "I said apologize to Nannan, or don't even think about leaving!"

He even released his Martial Soul.