Referee! We Forfeit! The Ultimate Flatterer! A Breakthrough? It Was a Feint to Lure the Enemy In!

Behind Huo Wu,

a thirty-meter-tall Flame Giant slowly rose into view.

"No—Huo Wu, don't! Don't be so impulsive!"

Huo Wushuang spotted the Flame Giant from afar, and his face turned deathly pale.

He knew Huo Wu had been secretly studying a Self-Created Soul Skill, and she'd made some progress.

But the skill was wildly unstable.

She might not manage to use it even once in ten tries. The slightest mistake could bring on a backlash so severe it might cost her life!

"Referee! Referee! We forfeit!"

Feng Xiaotian panicked too, shouting desperately toward the ring.

But the referee only gave them a cold glance and didn't move an inch.

Once a match began, no outside force could stop it,

unless a competitor forfeited.

Otherwise... even her parents could come and it wouldn't make a difference!

"Huo Wu..."

"Vice-captain..."

Huo Wushuang, Feng Xiaotian, and the others could only pray that Huo Wu would successfully use the skill. That way, even if there were side effects, they wouldn't be as severe.

In the stands,

the sight of three Soul Rings merging into one, with a Flame Giant rising behind Huo Wu,

and the suffocating pressure it gave off made countless spectators' eyes widen.

They had never seen anything like it.

Soul Rings could fuse too? What kind of Soul Skill was this?!

On the ring,

Qian Renxue's brows were knitted together. She had never seen a Soul Skill like this either.

It could actually fuse Soul Rings together.

Feeling the heart-pounding aura of the Flame Giant, she didn't know if she could withstand it.

But she had no way back.

She focused every ounce of her energy, concentrating her mind as she entered a state of clarity unlike anything she'd ever experienced.

She poured Soul Power into her sword!

At the same time,

Huo Wu finally completed the Ring Fusion. The fiery giant shadow behind her suddenly opened its eyes.

Huo Wu raised her hand, and the shadow raised its hand too.

A palm, carrying the might to destroy heaven and earth, crashed down toward Qian Renxue.

Sword light and fiery shadow collided head-on—

Though Qian Renxue had gained an initial grasp of some techniques by combining the Battle Qi System with the Soul Master System,

her Soul Power was only in the thirties,

so the power she could unleash was limited—not even as strong as her third Soul Skill.

Huo Wu, however, had fused three Soul Rings with a combined age nearing three thousand years.

It was no weaker than the fourth Soul Skill of some Soul Ancestors.

Qian Renxue's sword light held for only a moment before it was about to crumble.

But just then—

the Flame Giant behind Huo Wu suddenly shuddered.

Its power plunged, and it nearly vanished!

Feeling the overwhelming pressure suddenly ease by more than half,

a flash of light gleamed in Qian Renxue's eyes.

She had no time to think about what had happened, or wonder whether Ling Xiao had secretly intervened.

Her body reacted first.

She poured every last trace of Soul Power into her blade without holding back.

The sword light flared brighter,

and slashed straight at the wavering fiery shadow!

Outside the ring,

Huo Wushuang and Feng Xiaotian turned pale.

"Oh no—"

"Huo Wu used up too much Soul Power earlier, and now she's forcing herself to use her Self-Created Soul Skill. She can't keep it going!"

"The backlash!"

The people below saw something was wrong too, and angrily cursed.

"What's going on?! Why did she drop the ball at the crucial moment?"

"Fix!"

"This has to be rigged!"

Just as everyone thought Qian Renxue was about to win this match with another "arrogant" display—

the fiery shadow that was about to vanish suddenly steadied.

And not only did it steady,

it swelled to more than twice its former size!

The Flame Giant threw its head back and roared, its wild, arrogant voice ringing throughout the entire Soul Fighting Arena.

"Hahahaha! Didn't see that coming, did you? This lady broke through in the middle of the fight!"

"Hahahaha!"

"Thanks, pretty boy!"

"To show my gratitude, I'll gladly accept this final victory, along with the hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins..."

"I'll be taking them!"

Before her words had even faded, the fiery shadow surged forward, wrapped in an aura even more terrifying than before.

It punched out.

The blow came crashing down like Mount Tai.

Qian Renxue didn't have time to react.

Even if she had, she wouldn't have been able to withstand a strike far stronger than the last.

All she could do was raise her sword to shield herself—

Boom!

She was blasted away and landed in a heap outside the ring.

The battle's twists and turns left even the seasoned host stunned for a moment. Then he finally announced with fiery enthusiasm:

"The winner—Flame Queen!"

"Congratulations to the Flame Queen for winning an extraordinary wager of one hundred thousand five hundred Gold Soul Coins!"

The audience finally came to their senses. Cheers and curses blended into a cacophony:

"Holy crap! She won, she won! They finally beat that kid!"

"One hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins! That pretty boy's probably crying his eyes out in the bathroom!"

"Let's see him act all arrogant now!"

Qian Renxue dragged her injured body toward the backstage area, one step at a time.

Though she'd known from the start that she might lose,

she'd never imagined she'd be struck down right when victory was within reach.

She couldn't accept it.

She really couldn't accept it.

"Well, you really were unlucky just now. Who'd have thought that little girl would break through mid-fight?"

Ling Xiao appeared again, handing her a recovery pill and casually feeding her a bowl of chicken soup.

"But you've also found your way toward combining the Battle Qi System with the Soul Master System. I'm sure things will go much better from here!"

Sure enough, after hearing Ling Xiao's words,

Qian Renxue drew a deep breath, her eyes growing firm once more.

"You're right, Teacher. It was only one loss. It doesn't mean anything."

"I won't be discouraged!"

Even when she'd beaten that Goat-Horned Youth earlier, she hadn't felt confident.

But this time,

she'd truly seen a path to victory.

In the contestants' hall,

the moment Huo Wu stepped inside, the Blazing Fire Academy team swarmed around her, faces alight with excitement and pride.

"Vice-captain, you were amazing! One hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins—that's enough for us to live it up for half a year!"

"Hey, you're thinking too small!"

"Do you think we care about Gold Soul Coins?"

Huo Yun glanced at Huo Lie, whose eyes were nothing but dollar signs, and said disdainfully,

"We fought for our pride!"

"To show him there's always someone greater, and a higher heaven beyond the one above!"

The other Soul Master contestants in the hall gathered around too, offering Huo Wu their congratulations from all sides:

"Congratulations! The Blazing Fire Academy lives up to its reputation. There's no smoke without fire!"

"Hmph, that kid should know by now what happens when you look down on all the Soul Masters in the world!"

Everyone was thrilled that someone had finally taken down that show-off, and envied her for winning such a huge wager.

Why hadn't they been the ones picked earlier?

One hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins!

It hurt just to think about it!

"Hmph, it was nothing, nothing at all. When I'm on the job, how could I possibly lose?"

Huo Wu raised her chin slightly. She said it was nothing, but she couldn't hide her smugness.

Just as she was enjoying everyone's praise,

Huo Wushuang stepped forward, worry still lingering on his face:

"What happened just now?"

"Wasn't your Ring Fusion running out of steam and about to fail? How did it suddenly spring back to life?"

"Come on, Captain, you just don't get it!"

Huo Yun, Huo Wu's "number-one flatterer," jumped in with the answer.

"Vice-captain was using a feint to lure the enemy in!"