Douluo: Opening with a Furious Rebuke of Grandmaster

Despite his unwillingness to accept it, he knew he had lost. Thoroughly lost, whether in methods or wisdom.

"Pfft... thud, thud, thud..."

With one slash, a head flew high into the air before crashing heavily onto the arena.

Separated from its body, it still stared wide-eyed.

"Rumble..."

At almost the same moment, Hundred Eyes' Martial Soul struck the spot where Lu Yu's Shadow Clone had vanished, then exploded into a storm of Soul Power.

The powerful shockwave swept across more than half the arena. Even the residual force threw Lu Yu's breathing into disarray and forced him back again and again.

"Hiss..."

After steadying himself, Lu Yu couldn't help but suck in a cold breath as he looked at the massive crater blasted into the arena.

Damn it.

If his real body had remained there...

That blast would have been enough to send him straight to hell.

Or if he hadn't withdrawn the Shadow Clone in time, he would probably have been seriously injured by now.

The Shadow Clone could perfectly replicate his real body's strength, but it wasn't without side effects.

On the contrary, the side effects were considerable.

Once the Shadow Clone was destroyed, his real body would be implicated as well and suffer serious injuries. He wouldn't be completely incapacitated, but he would definitely lose the ability to keep fighting.

Under normal circumstances, that might not have been a major problem. He could simply find somewhere to hide and recover.

But not today.

Because he still had another battle ahead of him.

Once someone registered for a match at the Great Soul Arena, it could not be canceled.

Even if they knew they were walking to their death, they still had to step into the arena.

For some reason, Lu Yu had no adverse reaction after killing someone. He could even look directly at Hundred Eyes' head and silently feel fortunate.

Luckily, he had been cautious enough. Otherwise, this day next year would probably have been the anniversary of his death.

Damn it, the second match was already this hard.

What about the ones after it?

"Congratulations to Nine Absolutes for defeating his opponent and securing a second consecutive victory..." The Master of Ceremonies hurriedly began praising him after recovering from his shock.

Lu Yu paid him no attention and walked straight off the arena.

"Brother Yu..."

Lu Fei hurried forward to meet him.

Lu Yu instructed him worriedly, "You saw my battle. Remember, never underestimate any opponent. You must go all out—be cautious, then be even more cautious."

The opponent in that first Death Match had been somewhat stronger than he had expected.

At that moment, he regretted it a little.

He shouldn't have let Lu Fei participate in Death Matches.

If Lu Fei had been the one facing Hundred Eyes, he would most likely have died today.

Lu Fei said solemnly, "Brother Yu, don't worry."

Lu Fei had watched the entire battle. His opponent had forced Brother Yu to use every method he had. How could Lu Fei dare be careless now?

Carelessness meant death.

Lu Yu nodded and said no more.

He didn't dare put too much pressure on Lu Fei, or it would only backfire.

Lu Fei went onstage.

The battle began very quickly.

But once Lu Yu saw the strength of Lu Fei's opponent, he let out a sigh of relief.

He wasn't particularly outstanding.

It seemed Hundred Eyes had merely been an exception.

Otherwise, if every opponent were that strong, forget a Silver Soul Badge—even a Bronze Soul Badge would be hard to obtain.

Once he was sure Lu Fei would be fine, Lu Yu left.

His battle with Hundred Eyes had consumed a great deal of energy. If he couldn't recover quickly, the next battle would not be easy either.

Since Lu Fei wasn't in any danger, there was no need for him to keep waiting here. He could leave everything to Hua Yuan.

The Soul Fighting Arena had rooms prepared for contestants to restore their Soul Power. There was nothing special about them, but they were quiet and free from disturbance.

They were what people called lounges.

Very soon, Lu Yu arrived at a lounge under the guidance of a staff member.

He began restoring his Soul Power.

A few minutes later, Lu Fei's battle ended.

However, compared to Lu Yu, he looked much worse.

His face was somewhat pale, as if he had suffered severe injuries during the battle. But it wasn't because his opponent had been too strong or had truly hurt him. It was simply the aftereffects of killing someone for the first time.

The fact that he hadn't vomited was already pretty good.

"Not bad. You didn't even throw up." Hua Yuan smiled and patted Lu Fei on the shoulder.

Lu Fei's condition was indeed quite good.

Even Hua Yuan himself hadn't handled his first time killing someone as well as Lu Fei had.

As for Lu Yu...

There was no need to mention that freak. Hua Yuan even suspected that he might have killed someone before.

Hua Yuan's praise didn't make Lu Fei feel any better. Instead, it made him feel worse, and his stomach churned violently.

Fortunately, he held it in.

Even by the time Lu Yu emerged from the lounge, Lu Fei still hadn't recovered.

Lu Yu didn't say much about Lu Fei's condition.

He didn't know why he felt no discomfort at all. Even now, when he thought back on it, he felt a faint thrill of excitement.

Maybe he had been born a freak.

Who knew?

Soon, the two of them began their third battles.

This time, however, Lu Yu's opponent was entirely ordinary.

There was little difference between him and the opponent from the first Gambling Match.

At most, he had more combat experience and attacked more ruthlessly and decisively, but it was completely useless against Lu Yu.

Lu Yu dealt with him easily.

Lu Fei's third match was the same. He finished even faster than in his second match, though his face looked even worse.

Thus, the two of them successfully completed their schedule for the day.

Three consecutive victories, for a total of three points.

However, Lu Yu wasn't in a hurry to return. Instead, he wandered around the Great Soul Arena.

He watched matches while gathering information.

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. Lu Yu was asking about obstacles on his path forward—namely, some of the stronger opponents.

This information wasn't hard to obtain.

As long as someone had some strength and wasn't a newcomer like them, they would usually have some reputation in the Great Soul Arena.

It was easy enough to ask around.

Lu Yu was at level twenty-four. Because his Soul Power Level was relatively low, the opponents matched against him were generally below level thirty.

Only after he had accumulated more consecutive victories would the Soul Fighting Arena consider matching him against level-thirty opponents, and even then, only those just above level thirty.

Therefore, there were basically no Iron Soul-level opponents worth his attention. There wasn't even anyone as threatening as Hundred Eyes.

So a Bronze Soul Badge was practically already in his pocket.

While there were none at the Iron Soul level, there were a few Copper Fighting Badge-level opponents worth noting.

These were all top-tier Soul Elders at levels thirty-eight or thirty-nine. Whether in Soul Power Level, Soul Ring configuration, or Martial Soul, they were all quite impressive.

They might not threaten his life.

But they would be extremely troublesome.

Furthermore, based on what he had learned, if he wanted to obtain a Silver Soul Badge through consecutive victories, the Soul Fighting Arena had a certain chance of arranging Soul Elder-level opponents for him.

Of course, they would ask for his opinion.

But calling it a request was really just a formality. He could refuse, but they could likewise claim they couldn't find him an opponent and prevent him from continuing to fight.

For a Soul Grandmaster to face a Soul Ancestor...

Even with the Nine Absolutes Sword Technique, it would be extremely difficult.

After all, the gap in Soul Power Level was right there.

If he wanted to win, he could only rely on Lingbo Microsteps and the Shadow Clone.

Even the Nine Absolutes Sword Technique wasn't all that reliable.

With the quality of his current Soul Power, the Nine Absolutes Sword Technique he unleashed could at most rival a thousand-year Soul Skill in power.

Who didn't have thousand-year Soul Skills?

Over the next two days, Lu Yu and Lu Fei went to the Soul Fighting Arena every evening. They fought three matches a day, and everything went smoothly. They never encountered another particularly powerful opponent.

Their winning streak reached nine matches!

As his victories continued to pile up, coupled with Lu Yu's eye-catching thousand-year Second Soul Ring, the name Nine Absolutes soon resounded throughout the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena.

Moreover, as numerous spectators carried the news out of the Great Soul Arena, Nine Absolutes' name gradually spread throughout Heaven Dou City.

Now, many Soul Masters knew that a genius had suddenly emerged from the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena.

Not only was he young, but his strength was extraordinary.

Furthermore, he had shattered the traditional theory of the maximum Soul Ring limit for Soul Masters. His Second Soul Ring was already a thousand-year ring, shocking countless Soul Masters.

Naturally, there were also some who harbored ill intentions. But none of them ever returned, as Hua Yuan dealt with them all.

Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

"You've all heard the news about Nine Absolutes, haven't you?" Qin Ming stood at the front, his gaze sweeping one by one over Yu Tianheng and the others.

Wherever his gaze passed, Yu Tianheng and the others lowered their proud heads one after another.

Qin Ming said coldly, "What's wrong? Weren't you all usually so proud? Why is no one saying anything today?"

Qin Ming both loved and hated Yu Tianheng and the others.

When it came to talent, there was nothing to criticize.

He had personally selected them after carefully choosing from among countless students. Even looking across the entire Douluo Continent...

They could be considered among the very best.

But precisely because of that, every one of them was arrogant and looked down on everyone else. Sooner or later, that kind of pride would make them suffer badly.