Soul Fighting Zone

Qin Ming's eyes were filled with admiration; polite, obedient, possessing exceptional talent and heaven-defying luck—he was truly an enviable, perfect genius.

He refocused his gaze on Yu Tianheng and the other two, asking, "Since you've come to the Soul Fighting Zone, do you intend to hold the ring or spar with one another?"

"We already sparred on the Soul Fighting Arena yesterday, so we shall hold the ring today," Yu Tianheng replied.

There were five arenas in total within the Soul Fighting Zone.

The main arena in the center was the largest, with a diameter of fifty meters, while the four surrounding arenas were thirty meters in diameter. All five were paved with sturdy Black Tortoise Stone. Surrounding the area were rows of neatly arranged seats, which served as the spectator zone.

Aside from Qin Ming, there were four other teachers present; two were Heaven Micro Grade teachers, and two were Heaven Supreme Grade teachers.

The four of them registered their information and then waited in the spectator zone.

The registration was primarily to establish the order for using the arenas; otherwise, it would have been complete chaos.

On every arena, students were already engaged in soul fighting, though their combat levels varied wildly.

A small minority were decent; they knew when to release their soul skills, understood how to seize opportunities, and fought with a sense of rhythm.

Most, however, were simply painful to watch. They treated soul skills like turn-based moves, and they had no concept of how much soul power to expend when releasing them. Once they used their skills, they were essentially drained of soul power and forced to concede.

Yet, they still felt quite pleased with themselves. The referee teachers often wanted to correct their mistakes, but these students only wore expressions of impatience.

To them, soul fighting was nothing more than a fun game; why would they want to listen to a lecture? Especially when certain teachers pointed things out, their words were often blunt, making the students feel as though they were completely useless.

For instance, on the No. 3 arena near Ling Yun, the teacher was a middle-aged man with knotted muscles, a thick beard, and fiery red curly hair. His eyes were filled with frustration at their lack of progress.

"This student, you are a flying soul master with a Blazing Bird martial soul. Just because he provoked you a few times, you abandoned your aerial advantage to trade soul skills directly with a Variegated Cat soul master, and you almost lost!"

"Do you enjoy challenging your own weaknesses that much? Can't you fully utilize the advantages of your martial soul and kite him to death?"

"Is it that you don't feel a sense of accomplishment unless you win without effort?"

"And you, with the Variegated Cat martial soul—the soul ring you added also boosts speed, which means you are on the agility-attack path. Why were you just standing there stunned while he was releasing his soul skill? With your speed, you could have easily rushed in to interrupt him while he was charging his skill."

"Both of you have very obvious problems. Go reflect on what I said, and I hope to see some improvement in your next soul fight."

"You must remember, your parents sent you to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy in the hope that you would become even more outstanding."

"..."

The student with the Variegated Cat martial soul lowered his head, looking as if he were about to shut himself off from the world. Ling Yun hadn't expected this rugged-looking teacher to be such a chatterbox; every word was well-intentioned, but he simply said too much.

The student with the Blazing Bird martial soul was visibly impatient and could no longer hold back. "Teacher, what you're saying has no practical meaning. I don't think I did anything wrong. When emotions run high, anyone would act like me."

"Besides, my Innate Soul Power is only level four. No matter how hard I work in this life, I'll only reach the Soul King realm at best. Being 'decent' is enough."

"I'm not trying to compare myself to those geniuses!"

Having said that, the Blazing Bird student turned and walked off the arena, his face full of annoyance.

He only knew that he had won his match, and being lectured after winning made him feel extremely indignant.

The burly teacher shook his head, wanting to say more but stopping himself, and let out a sigh. Those who could humbly accept criticism were, in the end, a minority.

He looked at the Variegated Cat student, his expression softening. "Reflect on this after you go down. What is the advantage of your martial soul? Your biggest problem is a lack of clarity regarding your own positioning."

The Variegated Cat student nodded and silently left the Soul Fighting Arena.

"Xiao Xiaohua, Lin Ting, take the No. 3 Soul Fighting Arena." As the announcement rang out, two randomly matched opponents stepped onto the stage.

Similar scenes were playing out on the other arenas. After a match ended, if a teacher was willing to offer guidance, they would say a few words; if not, the next soul fight would begin immediately.

Ling Yun could only shake his head as he watched.

After about half a cup of tea's time, the content of the announcement made Ling Yun subconsciously look toward the No. 5 arena.

"Yu Tianheng, take the No. 5 Soul Fighting Arena to participate in the ring-holding battle."

Hearing the words "ring-holding battle," most of the student spectators became excited, especially at the name "Yu Tianheng."

This made them even more agitated, and quite a few left the spectator stands to go sign up immediately. These soul masters were all two-ring Soul Grand Masters.

A ring-holding battle was essentially a gauntlet. If the preceding students could wear Yu Tianheng down enough, then whoever happened to be next in line could potentially win the match.

This was a chance to defeat a genius student.

Those in the audience near Ling Yun who had similar ideas also ran to sign up; they hadn't forgotten about Ling Yun's thousand-year second soul ring.

Since Yu Tianheng had signed up for the ring-holding battle, it was highly likely that Ling Yun, who had come with him, would do the same.

The thought of having a chance to defeat Ling Yun made them even more excited.

On the No. 5 arena, Yu Tianheng's first opponent wore a solemn expression; she was facing Yu Tianheng at his peak state.

Qin Ming personally acted as the referee. "This is a friendly spar, so you may use your full strength. If I intervene to save you, it means you are eliminated."

"You have one minute to release your martial souls. After one minute, the soul fight begins!"

The minute passed quickly, and following Qin Ming's command to start, Yu Tianheng lunged toward the blue-haired girl opposite him.

The blue-haired girl was one meter seventy-five tall, her long hair tied into a ponytail, her eyes burning with fighting spirit. Her martial soul was a long spear; the tip was three inches and five fen long, the shaft five feet, and the butt three inches. It was entirely blue and radiated a cold chill, with two yellow soul rings circling the shaft.

Yu Tianheng's two soul rings were circling his dragon-transformed right arm.

Neither of these two followed the conventional path of having their soul rings circle their waists.

A few breaths later, the two collided.

The blue-haired girl's spear tip struck like a streak of azure light, slamming fiercely against Yu Tianheng's Thunder Dragon Claw.

Focusing all her power into a single point, she shattered the Thunder Dragon Claw, sending arcs of electricity scattering in every direction.

It looked just like an exploding firework.

"Senior Sister Mu Shuang, go! Defeat Yu Tianheng!"

"Yu Tianheng, come on! I'm rooting for you..."

Someone shouted in excitement, and where there was one, a second and third soon followed.

On the two adjacent arenas, the competing students were affected, their focus drifting as they fought half-heartedly.

The referee had no choice but to raise a spirit power barrier to block out the noise. "To be so easily distracted—what kind of behavior is this! Continue!"

The two students' minds had already flown away; how could a mere spirit power barrier and a few words call them back? They stopped instantly, refusing to fight any longer.

The referee was furious; these two students lacked any composure! He silently retracted the spirit power barrier and let the two leave the arena.

The pair quickly ran up to the spectator area, joining the others in their cheering, watching the battle between Yu Tianheng and Mu Shuang with bated breath.