Two and a half days passed in a flash, and during that time, Li Luo also received a formal challenge from Xiao Chenyu.
That morning, Li Luo, Tang San, and Xiao Wu led the other work-study students to the sports field in a grand procession.
When Li Luo arrived, the group of senior students suddenly parted to either side, and a student with a menacing air strode out.
He was none other than the leader of the group, the bully among Notting Academy's students, and the son of Nuoding City's City Lord—Xiao Chenyu.
"So you're the new work-study student, kid. I hear you're pretty cocky! You dared to beat Liu Long so badly he was injured. Don't you know whose lackey he is?"
Xiao Chenyu walked up to Li Luo and reached out to jab him in the shoulder.
"Hiss!"
But how could Li Luo let Xiao Chenyu poke him? He slapped his hand away. Li Luo hadn't used much strength, but Xiao Chenyu still felt a sharp pain. He hurriedly pulled his finger back with a cry of pain and instinctively put it in his mouth to suck on it for a while, trying to ease the sting.
But he seemed to realize that this would tarnish the dignity of Notting Academy's little tyrant. Xiao Chenyu hurriedly pulled his finger out of his mouth and put on a fierce expression again, glaring fixedly at Li Luo.
Still, Xiao Chenyu retreated two steps, stopping about two and a half meters away. After backing up, he even paced off the distance with his foot, afraid Li Luo might slap him again without a word.
"Damn, this kid's strong. No wonder Liu Long got beaten so badly he couldn't get out of bed."
Xiao Chenyu was a little scared and regretted challenging Li Luo.
But the situation left him little choice. His lackeys were all waiting for him to teach Li Luo a lesson. If he ran away, what would become of his authority as Notting Academy's little tyrant?
"Ahem."
Xiao Chenyu cleared his throat twice.
"I admit you've got a lot of brute strength, kid, but brute strength alone isn't enough for a Soul Master. Your Martial Soul is what matters."
As he spoke, the phantom of a wolf appeared behind Xiao Chenyu, and a white Soul Ring rose beneath his feet.
"Martial Soul Possession!"
"Xiao Chenyu, Wolf Martial Soul, eleventh-level Battle Soul Master. Please instruct me!"
There was an unwritten rule on Douluo Continent: before sparring with Martial Souls, both sides had to announce their Martial Souls and levels.
This was basic etiquette in a Soul Master Duel.
"Kid, so you can fight, huh? What the hell does that matter? In the Soul Master World, it's your Martial Soul that counts, your Soul Ring!"
"You're a work-study student. I bet your Martial Soul's that Blue Silver Grass you see growing everywhere by the roadside, right? Hahahaha! I advise you to admit defeat while you can. Get on your knees, kowtow to me three times, and call me Grandpa three times. If I'm in a good mood, I might even let you off."
Just then, Xiao Chenyu's gaze fell on Xiao Wu behind Li Luo. He licked his lips, and a wicked thought crossed his mind.
"Oh, and you'll have to hand over the little girl behind you, too. She's so cute—I'll keep her as a pet and take good care of her!"
"Hahahahahaha!"
Though Xiao Chenyu was young, his thoughts were truly vile.
He wanted to imitate those disgusting nobles and keep a person as a pet.
Although Xiao Wu wasn't human, she had taken human form, so she counted as a person now.
"Ptooey! Disgusting!"
After hearing such a vicious insult, Xiao Wu jumped out from behind Li Luo.
"Brother Luo, let me teach this Xiao Chenyu a lesson!"
Li Luo held Xiao Wu back and stepped forward himself. A Soul Ring, yellow with a hint of purple, rose beneath him, and a thick stalk of Prismatic Blue Silver Grass appeared in his right hand.
"Oh, look at that. My Martial Soul really is Blue Silver Grass!"
"Li Luo, fifteenth-level Battle Soul Master, Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul. Please instruct me!"
Seeing the Soul Ring on Li Luo's body, yellow with a hint of purple, everyone present—including Xiao Wu—drew in a sharp breath.
"Hiss!"
"Am I seeing things? This new work-study student is already a Soul Master?"
"You heard right. He said he's level fifteen!"
"Level fifteen? How is he so powerful? Right, that Soul Ring of his is a Century Soul Ring. They say only top geniuses can absorb a Century Soul Ring as their First Soul Ring!"
"No wonder his Soul Power is so high. A Century Soul Ring—terrifying!"
"Is Boss Xiao in trouble? A Century Soul Ring, level fifteen... He doesn't look like a new work-study student at all. Could he be the son of some great noble, here in Nuoding City for fun?"
All at once, the students grew restless. They whispered among themselves, speculating about Li Luo's identity.
However, they didn't know enough to recognize that this Soul Ring, yellow with a hint of purple, was already nearly a Thousand-Year Soul Ring.
So Li Luo didn't have to worry about the fact that his First Soul Ring was nearly a thousand years old being exposed so soon.
These noble students cared about saving face. They wouldn't go around boasting about how powerful their opponent was.
What no one noticed was that Xiao Chenyu's face had gone almost green. The moment he saw the Century Soul Ring on Li Luo, he regretted picking a fight with him.
As the City Lord's son, he naturally understood what it meant for someone so young to be a Soul Master with a Century Soul Ring as their first.
Li Luo must have a background far more powerful than the City Lord of this little Nuoding City.
And that was indeed the case. Apart from the Notting Dean, who intended to invest in Li Luo, there was also his Soul Ancestor-level strength, which put him on par with Nuoding City's City Lord.
Above Li Luo and the others, a middle-aged man in a tattered black robe watched everything unfolding below in silence.
He was none other than Tang Hao, the Clear Sky Douluo. A Titled Douluo—now tell me, was that a powerful background or not?
After Tang San came to study in Nuoding City, Tang Hao had secretly followed him, guarding him the whole time. He had only planned to leave after the Notting Dean took Li Luo and Tang San to obtain their First Soul Rings.
But before leaving, he decided to stay by Tang San's side for another two days, just in case anything unexpected happened.
Tang Hao had naturally noticed that Xiao Wu was a wild Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast who had taken human form. Seeing Li Luo, Tang San, and Xiao Wu together brought back old memories.
"Big brother, Ah Yin."
Tang Hao could tell that Xiao Wu was closer to Li Luo, calling him big brother, while Tang San also regarded Li Luo as his big brother—or at least, that was how Tang Hao saw it.
He had witnessed with his own eyes how Li Luo had looked after Tang San in every way, so he didn't resent Xiao Wu for being close to Li Luo.
After all, he, Tang Xiao, and Ah Yin had once been the same way. But in the end, hadn't Ah Yin chosen the second brother—Tang Hao himself?
So Tang Hao naively believed that Xiao Wu would choose Tang San in the end.
"Li Luo has no ill intentions toward Xiao San. On the contrary, he looks after him in every way."
"When Xiao San takes revenge on Spirit Hall in the future, Li Luo will be a great ally."
"As long as he doesn't join Spirit Hall, I can treat him like my own son. When Xiao San returns to the Clear Sky Sect someday, Li Luo could even become Xiao San's 'most loyal servant'—his very own 'Tai Tan.'"
Tang Hao planned to watch the children's clash before leaving to attend to his own business.
But Tang Hao didn't know that while he saw Li Luo as a future "servant" of Tang San, Tang San had already become Li Luo's personal contracted beast, and had completely taken on Li Luo's appearance.