Black hair,异-colored eyes, and a curvaceous figure far beyond what her age would suggest.
"Isn't she that young master's female companion?"
Wang Dong'er recognized Zhu Lu at a glance.
At that moment, Zhu Lu looked dejected. When she realized someone was watching her, she looked over at Wang Dong'er.
Seeing her slightly reddened eyes, Wang Dong'er couldn't help feeling guilty. After all, from beginning to end, Zhu Lu had been the victim.
"I'm sorry," Wang Dong'er said softly.
Wang Dong'er's apology left Zhu Lu momentarily stunned. Her resentment toward Wang Dong'er immediately faded, and she shook her head. "This has nothing to do with you. Because of our Martial Soul Fusion Skill, I was chosen as a child to be engaged to him. Perhaps it was the wrong choice from the very beginning."
As fellow users of the Nether Civet Martial Soul, Zhu Lu's personality was somewhat similar to Zhu Zhuqing's from ten thousand years ago.
It was only because there was no longer any royal struggle that she seemed less cold and less strong.
But when it came to not daring to defy her fate, the two were almost identical.
No matter what she truly wanted deep down, if her family decided she would marry someone, she wouldn't dare resist.
Now Dai Huabin had fallen for Wang Dong'er and cast aside his fiancée.
Even though Zhu Lu was angry, she still didn't dare openly reject the engagement. She didn't even dare to berate Dai Huabin.
Because that young master really would hit her when he lost his temper.
As the two spoke, a referee in his fifties climbed onto the competition platform.
He glanced at Dai Huabin's grim expression, then at Feng Piaoling's easygoing demeanor, and said gravely, "First-year student Dai Huabin is challenging first-year student Feng Piaoling. If Dai Huabin loses, he must pay one Soul Ascension Pill. Are you both ready?"
The referee didn't say that Feng Piaoling would be expelled if he lost. The academy would never expel a genius like him.
Most likely, the academy would step in to placate Dai Huabin, then let Feng Piaoling remain at the academy and feel deeply grateful to it.
This was a tried-and-true tactic of Shrek Academy.
Feng Piaoling and Dai Huabin both nodded to the referee.
"The match begins!" At the referee's command, the two released their Martial Souls at the same time.
The noisy Soul Fighting Zone fell silent in an instant. Everyone stared fixedly at the two figures in the arena.
A brilliant pale light burst from Dai Huabin. He stretched his arms out to either side as his muscles swelled rapidly. His arms doubled in size, turning into tiger claws tipped with sharp blades. Broad streaks of white appeared in his hair, and a character resembling "king" emerged on his forehead.
Three gleaming Spirit Rings—two yellow and one purple—rose one after another from beneath his feet. As they slowly revolved, surging Soul Power poured out like crashing waves.
Unlike Dai Huabin's dazzling transformation, Feng Piaoling's body remained unchanged. Not even a trace of Soul Power escaped his skin. Only three Spirit Rings—yellow, purple, purple—slowly rose from beneath his feet.
At the sight of Dai Huabin's Martial Soul and Feng Piaoling's Spirit Rings, the crowd immediately erupted into commotion.
"So this is the legendary White Tiger Martial Soul?"
"I heard Dai Huabin is a descendant of Dai Mubai, the leader of the original Shrek Seven Devils. I wonder if he can defeat Feng Piaoling, who has two thousand-year Spirit Rings."
"Hard to say. Feng Piaoling may have two thousand-year Spirit Rings, and his Soul Power seems higher, but a Martial Soul like Talisman is just like Blue Silver Grass. So far, very few people have managed to cultivate it successfully..."
Before the two had even exchanged blows, a chorus of discussion had already swept through the arena.
Dai Huabin's lips curled into a smug smile. As soon as his Martial Soul Possession was complete, his first Spirit Ring lit up, forming a white barrier around him. At the same time, he swung his two tiger claws and charged toward Feng Piaoling.
Feng Piaoling's expression didn't change. A hint of derision flickered through his mind. As the light of his first Spirit Ring continued to shine, he calmly extended a hand. A thick stack of talismans appeared in his palm, numbering thirty or forty.
Red light flashed in his eyes. He glanced up at Dai Huabin charging toward him. Under the Heaven-Reaching Demon Eye's scrutiny, the flaws in the White Tiger Protection Barrier were everywhere.
Feng Piaoling couldn't be bothered to engage him at length. He rubbed his hands together, then flung them up.
Amid a sea of red light, thirty or forty basketball-sized fireballs shot from his hands in a swarm, hurtling densely toward Dai Huabin.
"Ah!" At the sight of so many fireballs, nearly every spectator cried out at the same time.
The referee was no exception. Perhaps it was his imagination, but Feng Piaoling's attack reminded him of Phoenix Meteor Shower, the fifth Soul Skill of the Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul wielded by Ma Xiaotao, one of the current Shrek Seven Devils, who had already reached the Soul Emperor realm.
By then, Dai Huabin had covered half the distance and was less than five meters from Feng Piaoling. He was just about to leap up and knock him flying with a claw when a blaze of red light suddenly filled his vision. Dozens of fireballs crashed onto the white barrier all at once.
Amid a string of deafening explosions, Dai Huabin could barely see. His White Tiger Protection Barrier lasted only a moment before shattering with a painful crack.
The terrifyingly hot fireballs were about to surge toward him and swallow him whole.
Though this young master of the White Tiger Duke's family had been carefully trained by his elders since childhood, when had he ever faced such a life-or-death crisis?
"No! I'm done fighting! I give up..."
His face turned pale with terror, and he spun around to flee.
But at that critical moment, Dai Huabin suddenly felt his collar tighten. His body shot upward, and he was lifted straight into the air.
The fireballs swept beneath him. Flames surged skyward, and a fiery mushroom cloud seven or eight zhang tall rose from the center of the Soul Fighting Arena.
Still shaken, Dai Huabin looked back and saw that the referee, a man over fifty, had grabbed him by the back of his collar with one hand.
A pair of green wings beat slowly behind the referee. His Soul Ring Configuration was two yellow, two purple, and three black. He was clearly a Soul Saint of the Agility Attack System with a flying Martial Soul.
The referee stared at the fiery mushroom cloud ahead, the corners of his mouth twitching violently despite himself.
This kid had completely shattered his understanding of the Talisman Martial Soul.
It was only a first Soul Skill. Even with a Spirit Ring far older than those of other Soul Masters at the same level, it shouldn't have been this powerful.
In terms of its area of effect alone, it already rivaled the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Skills unleashed by powerful Martial Souls.
Forget Dai Huabin, a mere Soul Elder—even some Soul Kings who weren't defense specialists would struggle to endure it.
At the thought, the referee looked at Feng Piaoling again, his eyes filled with undisguised approval. He announced loudly, "Feng Piaoling wins."
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