Blazing Fire Academy! Damn it! You've thoroughly enraged me! Another wager of one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins!

"I'm not dodging. What, am I supposed to stand here and admit defeat?"

"Save the pointless chatter until after you beat me!"

Qian Renxue gave a cold snort.

She'd grown rather disgusted with this long-winded, cynical young man.

"Damn you! You're asking for death!"

The Goat-Horned Youth's temples bulged with veins at her retort. He roared and charged at her again.

This time, he wore a pair of brass knuckles.

Cold light gleamed along his knuckles, and they sliced through the air with a sharp whistle.

Though Qian Renxue couldn't use her Martial Soul or Soul Skills,

which Great Enshrined of the Six-Winged Angel family hadn't been a master swordsman?

She'd been raised under Qian Daoliu's influence from childhood. Her swordsmanship was naturally no weak point.

The Goat-Horned Youth attacked fiercely several times,

but each time, she managed to fend him off by the skin of her teeth.

In the tense, heated clash, Qian Renxue gradually understood the care behind Ling Xiao's plan.

Her once-clumsy swordsmanship grew more and more practiced.

At the critical moment,

her body's potential flared in the instant between life and death, driving her to react faster and more accurately than she ever could in ordinary circumstances.

But they were, after all, evenly matched in cultivation, and her opponent had the boost of a Soul Skill.

No matter how well she defended, a gash more than a dozen centimeters long was carved into her arm.

Blood dripped from her snow-white sleeve, one drop at a time.

"Damn it! You've thoroughly enraged me!"

After failing to bring her down despite his relentless assault, the Goat-Horned Youth heard the spectators jeering and finally lost his temper.

"Second Soul Skill—Sky Treading!"

His Second Soul Ring lit up abruptly.

The Goat-Horned Youth charged forward several steps, then stamped down hard with both feet.

His whole body soared into the air.

He turned half a circle in midair, then used the force of his fall to drive both fists down at Qian Renxue's crown with the weight of a thousand jun.

Qian Renxue tried to dodge, but she saw his Third Soul Ring quietly light up.

His eyes glimmered with an eerie black light!

A mental-type Soul Skill!

Qian Renxue's mind wavered.

But although she hadn't summoned her Martial Soul, the purifying effect inherent to her Angel Martial Soul was still there, granting her a natural immunity to illusions.

She quickly came to her senses and tried to evade.

But she was half a beat too slow!

His massive fists came crashing down with the wind behind them. She could only raise her sword to block.

Clang! Clang!

An immense force surged through the blade.

Qian Renxue was blasted four or five meters away, and her left arm was nearly dislocated.

Yet at the very instant she was sent flying,

she gritted her teeth and endured the pain.

Her right hand whipped forward!

The greatsword flew from her grasp, turning into a streak of white light that shot toward the Demon Sheep with a sharp whistle.

The Demon Sheep had just used two Soul Skills in quick succession. His Soul Power and mental strength were both nearly spent, leaving him at his most vulnerable.

A streak of cold light plunged from the sky. His eyes widened as he tried to dodge, but his body no longer obeyed him.

Thud!

The greatsword pierced his thigh and pinned him to the arena floor.

"Argh—!!"

The Goat-Horned Youth let out a bloodcurdling scream. The pain made his vision go black,

and he nearly passed out on the spot.

When he finally managed to come to, a cold face was already right in front of him.

Qian Renxue's left arm hung limply at her side, but her right hand had already closed around the sword hilt!

Unlike a Sparring Match, a Wager Match had no rule against killing your opponent.

As long as a fighter hadn't admitted defeat, the referee wouldn't intervene.

Looking into Qian Renxue's icy eyes,

he remembered his taunts and insults before the match. Fear finally crushed what little pride he had left.

He collapsed to the floor, wailing and howling:

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"

"I give up!"

"I give up—!!!"

Seeing this, Qian Renxue said nothing. She pulled out her sword.

Blood poured from the wound, and the Goat-Horned Youth nearly passed out from the pain.

"The winner of this Wager Match—Fei Xue!"

The host roared with excitement.

"Congratulations to Fei Xue! She has won a total of one hundred thousand and one hundred Gold Soul Coins in this Wager Match!"

"Let's give both contestants a huge round of applause—"

"They've given us an absolutely spectacular battle!"

The crowd below the arena, however, was a different story.

It was in an uproar.

Some marveled that Qian Renxue had made history.

She'd defeated an opponent of the same rank without using her Martial Soul or even a single Soul Skill!

It was a feat worthy of going down in the Soul Fighting Arena's annals!

Others said Qian Renxue had been playing the helpless prey, and that the Heaven-Treading Demon Goat had been pathetic.

Still others thought that by refusing to summon her Martial Soul or use Soul Skills, she'd insulted every Soul Master. They shouted for her to apologize.

Qian Renxue didn't hear a word of it.

She sheathed her sword and turned without expression, walking step by step toward the backstage area.

"Now that you've finished a match, how do you feel?"

Ling Xiao appeared beside her with a leisurely gait and handed her a pill.

"Exhausted. Completely exhausted..."

Qian Renxue took the pill.

At once, she felt her exhaustion melt away like snow in the sun.

The wound on her arm tingled and visibly began to heal.

"But strangely, I feel exhilarated!"

"I can tell I've improved a lot. My swordsmanship has advanced, and my body feels lighter too."

"That's because you've gained greater control over your body."

"Every movement, every step, is more precise. Naturally, you waste less effort and move more lightly."

"That's why only danger and crises can bring out your potential."

Qian Renxue nodded in agreement.

"In that case—"

Ling Xiao changed tack, his tone once again leaving no room for argument.

"Let's keep going!"

"You're sure you want to continue?"

The staff member at the registration desk stared at Qian Renxue in astonishment.

Anyone with eyes could see

that Qian Renxue had been seriously injured in the previous fight.

No one expected her to enter another Wager Match, especially with another hundred-thousand-Gold-Soul-Coin wager,

and no conditions on the match.

Either she had more money than she knew what to do with, or she was a complete battle maniac.

But the other person looked so refined and gentle... It didn't seem likely!

The news flew into the waiting hall as if it had grown wings.

The noisy hall fell silent for a moment, then erupted.

"What does Fei Xue think she's doing?"

"She just finished a fight, and she hasn't even taken time to recover before going back to the registration desk?"

"And she's wagering a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins again—"

"Does she think we're all beneath her?"

A broad-shouldered, muscular man slammed his hand on the table and rose to his feet.

Sure, that Demon Sheep had been mediocre, and his fighting skills had been laughable. But he'd still been beaten without Qian Renxue using her Martial Soul or Soul Skills.

They admitted she had some real skill.

But did that give her the right to slap everyone in the face in public?

"She's issued a challenge. Whoever wants to be a coward can be one. I won't."

"If you've got the guts, come with me!"

A one-eyed man gave a cold snort

and headed for the registration desk,

ready to cancel his previous Sparring Match and switch it to a Wager Match!

"Hmph, count me in!"

"Me too!"

A group of Soul Masters who regularly took part in Soul Fighting strode angrily toward the registration desk.

"Huh? A hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins? A Wager Match? What are they doing?"

A group of boys and girls dressed in crimson outfits, with the characters "Blazing Fire" embroidered on their chests, happened to pass shoulder to shoulder with the angry Soul Masters.

Even Huo Wushuang, at the head of the group, couldn't help turning around to look.