Perfect Misunderstanding (Third Watch)

"It's Dugu Yan! Xiao Wu, Zhuqing, let's go over and take a look."

Hearing the name Dugu Yan, Ning Rongrong immediately perked up; the woman had spent the entire morning in the group chat cursing Qian Renxue.

Although the argument had ended somewhat anticlimactically, they were still very curious about what exactly had happened.

Xiao Wu and Zhuqing naturally had no objections, as both of them still owed the other party hundreds of thousands of points.

Besides, since they were fellow group members, it was only right to greet her if they ran into each other.

The three of them immediately hurried toward the Third Soul Arena Branch.

After completing their daily, weekly, and ongoing monthly missions over the past few days, they had all successfully broken through to level thirty.

Ning Rongrong, in particular, had reached level thirty-seven, and her third soul ring was already of ten-thousand-year caliber.

As for Xiao Wu and Zhuqing, because they owed Dugu Yan points for their Immortal Herbs, half of their earnings had gone toward repayment, leaving their soul power at level thirty-three.

However, their third soul rings were the same as Ning Rongrong's—both were ten-thousand-year rings.

After all, the visual impact of a thousand-year ring versus a ten-thousand-year ring was incomparable; since it was something they could afford by gritting their teeth, neither of them wanted to shortchange themselves.

If points weren't so scarce and impossible to buy with money, Ning Rongrong would have wanted to equip a hundred-thousand-year soul ring right away.

Even so, she had upgraded her second soul ring to a thousand-year one, achieving the Yellow-Purple-Black configuration, the same as Wu Xing's first martial soul.

This was the power of "money-ability"—no matter which world one was in, it provided an unimaginable advantage.

"It really is Dugu Yan. I wonder what her soul power level is now."

Arriving at the spectator stands of the Third Soul Arena Branch, the three girls happened to see Dugu Yan stepping onto the stage.

Wu Xing and Ye Lingling, who were also watching the match, subconsciously looked over when they heard the sudden voices nearby.

Ye Lingling was slightly surprised; she naturally recognized the three girls, as the memory of losing to them at the Soto Great Soul Arena not long ago was still fresh in her mind.

That had been a significant blow to her, especially since that team included a support soul master with a Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.

Wu Xing, on the other hand, was extremely surprised; he never expected such a coincidence that he would run into the three girls here.

His gaze swept over the three of them before settling on Xiao Wu. This little rabbit wasn't bad; she had taken his advice and changed into her outfit from five years later, which made her look much more pleasing to the eye.

When Ye Lingling and Wu Xing looked over, the three girls noticed them and subconsciously looked back.

Then, all three girls froze in unison. They also recognized Ye Lingling and knew she was Dugu Yan's companion.

However, this was their first time seeing the man Ye Lingling was holding onto, which made them feel a bit curious.

During the soul fighting tournament, this boy hadn't stepped onto the stage, and for him to be held so intimately by a Nine Heart Begonia support soul master, he couldn't be anyone simple.

But soon, they noticed Wu Xing nodding slightly at them, followed by him unabashedly staring at Xiao Wu.

The expressions of all three girls changed. To be so blatant about staring at other girls while having a female companion by his side made them feel an instant sense of disgust.

"He looks decent enough, but he's actually a lecher!"

Ning Rongrong snorted coldly, her impression of Wu Xing dropping to the absolute bottom.

She couldn't understand how the girl with the Nine Heart Begonia martial soul could have taken a liking to such a guy; her taste was terrible, completely incomparable to her own Brother Wu Xing.

Zhuqing frowned slightly and nodded in agreement: "His behavior is frivolous; it is indeed unpleasant."

Xiao Wu was even more direct; she immediately glared fiercely at Wu Xing and didn't forget to spit on the ground.

She then turned her head away to look at the arena below.

"Hey! My temper!"

Seeing Ning Rongrong's disdain, Zhuqing's disgust, and Xiao Wu's provocative spitting, Wu Xing almost rolled up the sleeves of his Heaven Dou Royal Academy uniform, ready to step forward and argue.

This was outrageous! Give them an inch and they take a mile; they dared to be this arrogant in front of their Group Leader? Just wait until later—see if he didn't deduct their points one by one!

"Wu Xing, do you have a grudge against them?" The three girls' reactions left Ye Lingling slightly stunned.

Didn't Yan Yan say that these three had all joined that place of opportunity? Why was their attitude toward Wu Xing the exact opposite of Yan Yan's?

"No, these three little girls must be looking for a beating." Wu Xing shook his head, unable to fathom why their reactions were so intense.

In reality, it was a misunderstanding on both sides. Wu Xing was viewing things from the perspective of their Group Leader, subconsciously nodding at the three girls and checking out Xiao Wu.

The three girls, conversely, were viewing things from the perspective of Ye Lingling's partner—thinking that since he already had a beautiful companion, his lack of restraint toward them made his behavior truly detestable.

It could only be said that this was a perfect misunderstanding.

Hearing Wu Xing's reply, Ye Lingling smiled gently and didn't press the matter further, simply holding his arm and quietly turning her gaze back to the soul fighting stage below.

On the stage, the match officially began.

Dugu Yan's martial soul manifested instantly, the phantom of a Jade Phosphorous Serpent coiling around her body. Two yellow, one purple, and one black soul ring emerged from beneath her feet in sequence, and a faint, toxic mist began to spread quietly.

Her opponent was also a Soul Ancestor—a level forty-five assault-type Soul Ancestor, slightly higher than Dugu Yan.

Upon learning that his opponent was Dugu Yan, who had been on a winning streak at the arena these past few days and possessed a ten-thousand-year fourth ring, he launched an assault the moment the match started. His offensive was fierce, attempting to catch her off guard.

He knew clearly that even though his soul power was one level higher, his opponent possessed a ten-thousand-year fourth ring and a poison-based martial soul.

The longer the fight dragged on, the more disadvantageous it would be for him. After all, poison had a distinct characteristic: as it invaded the body, the accumulated toxins would cause damage that deepened exponentially.

By taking advantage of the brief window where his soul power could suppress her, he had to strike with all his might before his body was eroded by the toxins, in order to have even a sliver of a chance to take her down.

The idea was sound, but he had overlooked the immense power bolstered by Dugu Yan's ten-thousand-year soul ring, and even more so, the potent paralytic effect carried by her poison.

The moment he was tainted by the toxin, his body began to stiffen; not only did his speed plummet, but his originally sharp offensive became sluggish and clumsy.

Dugu Yan moved with composure, her fourth soul ring gathering power in one fluid motion, its ten-thousand-year radiance shining brilliantly across the arena.

In just a few short seconds, her opponent's entire body went numb, his soul power completely stagnated, and unable to hold on any longer, he collapsed straight onto the stage, his skin flushed with a terrifying cyan-purple hue—a clear sign that the poison had taken deep root.

"So powerful; she is countless times stronger than she was at the Soto Great Soul Arena."

Seeing Dugu Yan easily resolve the match without ever launching a proactive strike, relying solely on her poison to render a Soul Ancestor completely incapable of combat, Xiao Wu and the other two girls all gasped in shock.

Her poison, under the augmentation of a ten-thousand-year soul ring, had become even more terrifying!

Yet, having finished all this, Dugu Yan's expression remained unchanged from start to finish, as if the outcome had been expected all along.

It was only after the referee announced the end of the match and her victory that she impatiently ran off the stage, heading toward the spectator stands with an excited look on her face.

Seeing Dugu Yan appear, Ning Rongrong and the others were about to step forward to greet her, only to see that she seemed not to notice them at all.

She bypassed them as if they were invisible, heading straight for the man they had just been despising and resenting, grabbing his arm and calling out in a sugary-sweet voice.

"Brother Wu Xing, how did I perform?"