A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring!
It was something countless Soul Masters could only dream of, never obtain!
Even though she was the young mistress of Spirit Hall,
it would still be an arduous undertaking.
There were only a few places where Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts could be found.
Star Dou Forest, the Far North, and the ocean.
And Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts weren't stupid. They huddled together for warmth.
Trying to kill one alone
was tantamount to making an enemy of an entire gathering of Soul Beasts. The difficulty was self-evident.
In the past hundred years, the only ones fortunate enough to obtain Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Rings had been Tang Hao of the Clear Sky Sect and her mother, Bibi Dong.
Even the several Great Enshrined of Spirit Hall had never enjoyed that honor.
Tang Hao's case had been a special one.
And she knew better than anyone the terrible price Spirit Hall had paid to obtain that Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring for Bibi Dong back then.
"But, Teacher, even if you can help me get a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring... I still wouldn't be able to absorb it, would I?"
Qian Renxue suppressed her excitement and spoke.
Of course, she didn't doubt Ling Xiao's abilities. After all, he'd even helped her evolve her Angel Martial Soul.
But absorbing a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring at level sixty—
that was simply too far beyond common sense.
Even Yu Xiaogang, that Grandmaster who spouted nothing but nonsense, probably wouldn't say something like that, would he?
"You don't need to worry about that. Your teacher has a plan."
Ling Xiao said mildly.
If Martial Souls and Soul Rings weren't part of this world's rules, and lacking a Soul Ring didn't leave one stuck at a bottleneck,
he wouldn't have given a damn about Soul Rings!
"Well? Does it still seem difficult now?" Ling Xiao gazed at Qian Renxue with a smile in his eyes.
"Teacher... you..."
Qian Renxue hesitated and struggled with the decision for a long while, but in the end, she gritted her teeth and nodded.
"I'll do my best to try."
"Not 'try.'"
Ling Xiao's tone abruptly turned stern.
"This is a test for you!"
"If you can't even get past this, then go back to being your crown prince and inheriting Spirit Hall!"
"I'll pretend I never took you as my disciple!"
"This disciple won't let you down, Teacher!"
Stung by Ling Xiao's words,
and with the temptation of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring dangling before her, Qian Renxue immediately declared with firm resolve,
determined to make Ling Xiao look at her in a new light.
Sure enough, with a bet of one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins hanging in front of them,
and no minimum wager set for the opposing side, they were quickly matched with an opponent.
"Ladies and gentlemen—"
The young host, wearing glasses, stood on the main stage, his voice brimming with passion.
"The next match can only be described as tonight's main event!"
"The wager is a staggering—"
"One hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins!!!!"
"And the one who proposed this wager is none other than a debuting—rookie contestant!"
At those words,
the entire Soul Fighting Arena erupted.
"Holy crap! One hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins! You could sell me and I wouldn't be worth that much!"
A Soul King in the audience cried out in astonishment.
Indeed, one Gold Soul Coin was enough to support an ordinary family of three for a month.
One hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins was the entire fortune of most Soul Saints—
though penniless wretches like Zhao Wuji and Flender didn't count, of course.
"Just how much hatred is there between them? Why not fight a Death Match?"
"What hatred? What grudge?
"I heard in the waiting area just now that the wager is one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, and there's no limit on what the opponent can stake. Anyone can enter the Wager Match!"
A well-informed young Soul Master edged closer, his face full of regret.
"Guess some young master from a wealthy family has more money than he knows what to do with."
"Seriously? Why didn't you say so earlier?!"
"I'm a Soul Elder too!"
His companion stared at the match information on the screen and slapped his thigh so hard he nearly broke it.
"Now, please welcome—"
"Heaven-Treading Demon Goat and rookie Fei Xue!"
"Take the stage!"
With the atmosphere suitably heated, the host shouted,
and two spotlights instantly shone on the waiting areas on either side of the arena.
Everyone's eyes were drawn toward them.
On one side stood a young man in a white fighting outfit, wearing a half-wing mask. He was tall and straight-backed,
with an indescribable air of elegance.
On the other stood a young man with his head wrapped in white cloth, constantly swinging his legs and kicking about,
his whole body practically screaming with irritability.
"That's Demon Sheep!
"I've seen his matches. Five wins and three losses. He's pretty capable!
"What a windfall for him!"
"Huh? So that's rookie Fei Xue? He really is a pretty boy. I bet he won't last a single round."
At the sight of Qian Renxue's delicate features, a chorus of boos rose from the stands.
Qian Renxue had no time to pay attention to the hubbub.
All her thoughts were fixed on her opponent, and she was on full alert.
"Fei Xue, level thirty-nine Battle Soul Elder, Martial Soul: Flying Snow Goose."
"Heaven-Treading Demon Goat, level thirty-six Battle Soul Elder, Martial Soul: Black Mountain Ram."
Heaven-Treading Demon Goat gave a perfunctory introduction, but his face was openly filled with disgust and disdain.
"A pretty boy thinks he can enter the Soul Fighting Arena? With one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins?"
"I hate privileged young masters like you most of all—the kind who prey on ordinary people and never know when they have enough.
"Let's get started. I'll show you that
"a fight isn't some game of house the way you people imagine."
"Heh, I'm looking forward to it too."
Qian Renxue coldly replied to his provocation.
"The match begins!"
At the referee's command,
Heaven-Treading Demon Goat instantly used Martial Soul Possession—
his eyes turned bloodred,
the white cloth wrapped around his head suddenly burst apart,
and a pair of huge, pitch-black horns, curling upward, ripped through the cloth and emerged, radiating an eerie aura.
His entire body turned savage as well.
Because of Ling Xiao's restriction, Qian Renxue didn't summon her Martial Soul.
Instead, she pulled a half-man-high greatsword from her Storage Soul Tool and held it across her body.
Gold and silver jewels were set into the blade, making it dazzlingly luxurious.
Death Matches and Wager Matches had few rules, so Demon Sheep wasn't surprised that Qian Renxue had brought a weapon.
But the fact that she hadn't summoned her Martial Soul deeply wounded his pride.
He took it as contempt and provocation!
"You arrogant brat, you're asking for death!"
"First Soul Skill—Ram Charge!"
The white Soul Ring hovering around him flashed, and his whole body shot forward like an arrow.
Though his first Soul Skill was less than a hundred years old, it could instantly increase his speed by fifty percent,
and enhance his physique by ten percent.
If his opponent continued to underestimate him like this, he'd teach him a lesson he would never forget.
Facing Demon Sheep's furious charge, Qian Renxue gripped her jeweled sword tightly and made no rash move.
Just as her opponent lunged forward—
she swung horizontally, instantly disrupting his attack, then took a quick sidestep,
neatly dodging his blow.
"That brat's got the luck of the devil. He actually dodged it!"
"Demon Sheep's not much good either. How could he be so careless?"
"Arrogant fool! Heaven-Treading Demon Goat, teach him a lesson!"
Qian Renxue's deft dodge,
not only failed to earn her cheers, but drew even more scorn and angry shouts.
After all, in the eyes of countless people, Soul Masters were symbols of nobility. Soul Masters themselves also cared deeply about their dignity,
and held more than a little to the spirit of chivalry.
In their eyes, Qian Renxue's move was crude, rude, and arrogant.
And on top of that, her earlier display of casually throwing around a fortune had instantly set her against everyone in the arena.
"You're so arrogant, are you? Then don't dodge if you've got the guts!"
His attack having been evaded by Qian Renxue, the Goat-Horned Youth's face burned with humiliation. He roared furiously.
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