The Great Soul Arena, Liu Jiayi's Anomaly

And so, Liu Jiayi fought incessantly, growing stronger.

However, human talent is finite, a fact he had to acknowledge. No matter how hard he tried, he still could not overcome the hurdle of defeat.

Then came the scene from a few chapters ago, the one where he was dodging debts...

"Prove it to me."

The man in the black robe said to him, handing him a pill.

This pill was also pitch black, faintly emitting an unsettling aura.

"What is this?"

"Swallow it, and gain power."

Seeing no other way out, Liu Jiayi swallowed the pill.

In an instant, he felt his body surging with strength. But even so—or rather, precisely because of this—he felt the immense power of the man before him.

The man standing there was definitely not someone a small fry like him could contend with.

"How does it feel?"

"I feel like my whole body is filled with power."

Liu Jiayi answered truthfully, noticing the black mist rising from his hands.

"This pill is still in the research phase; it has side effects that cause mental instability and physical wounds. But I suppose those are nothing compared to gaining power, right?"

The black-robed man said, letting out another strange laugh.

Liu Jiayi nodded.

Of course it was nothing.

Of course it was nothing... was it?

Over the next few days, he was nearly undefeated at the Great Soul Arena, occasionally losing control and severely injuring a few people. Some went home to recover, while others died from their wounds.

That had nothing to do with him; his opponents were simply less skilled.

Liu Jiayi comforted himself, yet he felt increasingly uneasy about the pill. Fortunately, the daily pill was gradually being perfected, his own strength was growing, and he had earned enough for the two elders' medical bills...

Seeing the wounds appearing on his body and his mind beginning to haze, Liu Jiayi lost his senses once again.

He remembered the expression on the two elders' faces the last time they saw him lose control after a match—it was a look of terror, like seeing a monster.

When he went mad, he seemed to be filled with feelings of disgust toward everything in this world. Why was this? Why was this...

"Do you crave power?"

The black-robed man's voice echoed in Liu Jiayi's ears, and Liu Jiayi felt as if something was about to sprout from his body.

"Power... no, that's not right, quick, run—"

He let out a roar, his eyes losing their luster.

His body split open in many places, and strange, twisted vines grew out. The vines grew continuously, gradually covering a quarter of the soul arena. At the same time, a white mist emanated from his body, perfectly blanketing the perimeter of the arena and pushing the referee away.

As the white mist surged, that twisted silhouette finally became completely clear. Ning Rongrong raised the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda in her palm, and the moment its pearly white light shone, she trembled slightly at the horrific sight before her.

Liu Jiayi no longer possessed a shred of human form.

He was unrecognizable; his facial features were squeezed into a distorted mess by the vines, his eye sockets pushed out by two thick vines with translucent purple sacs blooming at their tips. His arms and palms had vanished, replaced by thick vines with blade-like tips. His legs were driven into the stone floor of the arena, roots digging deep into the cracks. His skin and flesh were split in many places, and the deep, bone-revealing gashes held no blood, only ink-green and dark-purple vines burrowing out. The vines were slick and covered in dense, tiny barbs; the faint, scraping sound of those barbs against his bones as they twitched was heart-wrenching.

Flesh and vines intertwined into a deformed giant, all vine tips aimed directly at Ning Rongrong.

"Swish!"

A vine grazed Ning Rongrong's cheek, leaving a cut. Had she not dodged in time, a deeper wound might have disfigured her.

[Fallen One, Liu Jiayi, Level 38]

It had been a long time since Lu Ma had seen such a prompt—at least two hours.

"A boss fight? What a coincidence."

The real Ning Rongrong was also awakened from her death-like dream by this voice.

Her own voice couldn't wake her, but someone else's might, and Lu Ma's voice was special; it could wake her up if it shouted at the right time.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw the monster before her and trembled in fear.

What is this again...

How is it that every single day you're either fighting a Man Faced Demon Spider above your level or fighting a monster? Is this right?

But she suddenly realized she wasn't that afraid.

Is it because I'm used to it? That's truly pathetic.

She thought.

"What is going on!"

In the audience, countless people were dissatisfied with this. But upon closer inspection, it didn't seem to be the Great Soul Arena's fault; even the referee had been forced to leave the competition area.

"An unexpected situation has occurred at the Great Soul Arena, all matches are suspended! I repeat, an unexpected situation has occurred at the Great Soul Arena, all matches are suspended!"

The official announcement rang out as staff members organized the evacuation of the audience, forcibly suspending all other matches at the Great Soul Arena.

Staff members had already attempted to enter the white mist, but they could not break through the barrier at all.

Some of the participating contestants were filled with indignation, but upon seeing this scene, they abandoned any thoughts of resistance and obediently evacuated.

"What the hell is this!"

Flender stood beside the white mist and kicked at it several times, yet the barrier remained completely unmoved.

Earlier, he had already tried numerous soul skills against it.

To tell a joke, he had arrived outside the soul fighting stage the very instant the white mist appeared, but the barrier was already in place. The white mist was not a component of the barrier, but rather something meant to prevent outsiders from observing the scene within, much like the white mist in the Star Dou Great Forest.

"Sir..."

"Cut the crap! My students are still inside!"

Flender pounded heavily against the barrier.

In the spectator stands, only the six members of Shrek Academy remained, every one of them trembling with anxiety.

"What is going on?"

Tang San racked his brains, but he had no idea what this situation was; the Grandmaster had never told him anything about this.

Moreover, even Dean Flender could do nothing about this white mist. It was an existence that could make a Soul Saint wary—something done by a Soul Douluo, or perhaps even a Titled Douluo.

It had happened so silently, right under their very noses.

Who was it?

"We have to do something!"

Dai Mubai quickly assessed the situation and spoke these words, yet he had no idea what they could actually do.

Indeed, if even Flender could not handle this, what could they possibly accomplish?

"Black mist."

Zhu Zhuqing spoke up.

"The moment that person turned into a monster, I saw black mist."

"Black mist? What does that mean?" Xiao Wu asked from the side.

"It means this barrier is related to that black mist. We must find the source of the black mist," Tang San explained before Zhu Zhuqing could.

"Isn't the source the opponent? That black mist was overflowing from Ning Rongrong's opponent," Xiao Wu countered.

"This..." Tang San was momentarily at a loss for words; he had held the same opinion.

"No," Zhu Zhuqing shook her head. "The opponent was only a Soul Elder, after all. The master of the black mist is someone else; we must find him."

Clap, clap, clap.

The sound of applause rang out, perfectly timed.

"A fine deduction. Good news—you guessed correctly."

"It's you—that refined man!"

Tang San recognized the man before them instantly and grew vigilant.

"Did you do this?"

Zhu Zhuqing instinctively lunged forward. The man before her looked weak; if he was the mastermind, she would surely be able to—

The world froze.

A second before Zhu Zhuqing could make contact with the refined man, the person standing behind him simply extended a finger and pressed it against her forehead, rendering her completely unable to move.

Only then did they notice another person behind the man. That aura was far more powerful than Zhao Wuji's. It was at least at the Soul Douluo level—no, at least at the Titled Douluo level.

"Who exactly are you people?"

The remaining five surrounded the man with caution.

The man merely smiled.

"Who I am is not important. What matters is that if you keep surrounding me, that fellow Flender is going to suffer."

The group scattered, only to discover that down below, Flender was already engaged in a fight and was faintly gaining the disadvantage.

Throughout the entire soul fighting arena, all the staff had vanished, leaving only them, the refined man, and a hunched figure in a black robe.

"Who are you? A Soul Douluo, and so young... You are an Evil Soul Master!"

After a few exchanges, Flender saw through the identity of the person before him. He just hadn't expected that the Evil Soul Masters, who had only been a concept in his mind, would actually be encountered by him.

"As expected of the dean of Shrek Academy, your eyes are sharp."

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Seventh Elder of the Holy Spirit Sect, Zhao Asi, level 81."