The Incompetent Husband

Ma Xiaotao did not dwell too much on Yang Jian's dark history. She quickly pulled Yang Jian and Gongyang Mo to sit nearby, watching the battle between Dai Yueheng and Ling Luochen on the stage with great interest.

Before long, Yao Haoxuan, Chen Zifeng, and Xi Xi also gathered around.

After a brief round of introductions, the group began to watch the match intently.

Yao Haoxuan appeared to be a very thin and small man. His martial soul was the Heaven-Shaking Ape, a relatively rare type that combined support and control. When he released his martial soul, his originally short stature would suddenly surge, becoming tall and strong.

At the same time, he was the unluckiest member of Ma Xiaotao's generation of Shrek Seven Devils.

In the future, the accident that would leave Xuan Zi with lifelong regrets and lead to him becoming an honorary vice-sect master of the Holy Spirit Cult resulted in one death and six injuries. The only one who died was this unlucky fellow, Yao Haoxuan.

Sitting beside Yao Haoxuan was Chen Zifeng. His appearance was unremarkable, but his figure was as slender as a sword. His eyes were sharp like an eagle's, and he exuded a piercing, keen aura.

As for the last one, Xi Xi, her figure was petite and exquisite. Even sitting among the others, she didn't have much of a presence, save for those eyes, which were agile and sharp.

Although this generation was called the Shrek Seven Devils, in reality, only Ma Xiaotao could be considered a top-tier genius. Even while troubled by her Evil Fire, her Soul Power Level left the others far behind.

Next was Dai Yueheng. Although he had always managed to keep up with Ma Xiaotao in terms of Soul Power Level, there was still a certain gap in their strength. As Ma Xiaotao's martial soul defect was remedied, the gap between them would gradually widen.

As for the remaining five, being able to enter Shrek Academy, become reserve members of the Shrek Seven Devils, and enter the Inner Court meant they naturally possessed talent, but they were quite a bit behind Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng.

By the time they participated in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament three years later, only Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng would have broken through to become Soul Emperors.

"Luochen is about to lose... the gap is still quite large."

Yao Haoxuan shook his head helplessly.

Following Yao Haoxuan's gaze, Yang Jian saw the beautiful figure on the verge of defeat.

"That guy Dai Yueheng has improved quite a bit recently! It's making my hands itch."

Ma Xiaotao rubbed her wrists, looking completely eager to jump into the fray.

However, there was no point in fighting Dai Yueheng.

If she were to fight, she wanted to fight someone ranked above her in the Soul Fighting Arena points!

Ma Xiaotao's gaze searched around, skipping over one person after another, before finally landing on a slightly lazy figure.

"That's the one!"

With that, Ma Xiaotao left the group behind and strode toward the girl leaning against the back of her spectator seat.

"Who... is she?"

Yang Jian looked puzzled.

"Oh, she's the senior whose soul fighting points are one rank above Ma Xiaotao's. She's also a senior who has already completed twenty-nine Supervision Group missions. As long as she successfully completes her final mission, she will graduate from the Inner Court."

Gongyang Mo explained, "With that senior's six-ring Soul Emperor cultivation, the final Supervision Group mission should be very simple."

?

I advise you to take that back.

The moment you said that, I suddenly felt like a health bar appeared over that senior's head. Nine times out of ten, something is going to go wrong with that final mission.

"If Ma Xiaotao wants to challenge this senior who is about to graduate, their situation counts as an inter-level challenge. If Ma Xiaotao wins, she will receive double the points. The point gap between them isn't large, so if Ma Xiaotao can win... and win one more match, their positions on the points board will shift slightly."

Gongyang Mo patted Yang Jian on the shoulder and instigated, "How about it, Second Brother? Any interest in going up for a round?"

As he spoke, Gongyang Mo looked Yang Jian up and down.

The last time he returned to the Offering Hall of the Star Luo Empire was two and a half years ago. At that time, Yang Jian had already obtained his second soul ring, his Soul Power Level was pushing thirty, and his strength was already heaven-defying.

Now, two and a half years later, Yang Jian's strength must be even more terrifying, right?

"I'd like to, but I'm not an Inner Court student yet. Can I still participate in soul fighting directly like this?"

"Of course, no problem. Our Soul Fighting Arena doesn't have that many rules. However, in your case, it's highly likely that an opponent will be assigned to you automatically, unless you can negotiate with someone else. Only if both parties agree can you designate a specific person as your opponent."

As he spoke, a look of vigilance appeared on Gongyang Mo's face: "I'm warning you, don't pick me! I'm a support-type soul master; I can't handle being tossed around by you."

Hearing this, Yao Haoxuan and the others nearby looked on with curiosity.

Gongyang Mo had the highest Soul Power among them, aside from Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng, and because of the unique nature of his martial soul and his powerful support effects, his status among them was not low.

To be able to make Gongyang Mo speak in this tone, and to seem to have such a good relationship with Ma Xiaotao...

What exactly was this boy's background?

Curiosity appeared on everyone's faces. Xi Xi, the only woman among them, said quite kindly, "You can designate me as your opponent. I don't think I would refuse."

Not to mention that Yang Jian was a friend of Ma Xiaotao and Gongyang Mo, just looking at that handsome face made her not want to refuse.

"Second Brother, aside from me, you can pick any of these three. I guarantee they won't refuse."

Gongyang Mo smirked, pointing at the three of them one by one: "Yao Haoxuan, level 47 control-support type battle Soul Ancestor, martial soul Heaven-Shaking Ape."

"Chen Zifeng, level 49 assault-type tool Soul Ancestor, martial soul Soul-Chasing Sword. And Xi Xi, level 47 agility-attack type battle Soul Ancestor, martial soul Lightning Leopard."

Although their strength was a bit inferior compared to Zhou Yi, Yang Jian did not refuse this kindness.

After all, if he were matched randomly, he wouldn't know what kind of opponent he would get; he might even end up matched against a Soul Saint-level student at the top of the leaderboard. It was precisely because of this that Gongyang Mo suggested he challenge his teammates.

Although Yang Jian did not fear facing a Soul Saint-level opponent, it was, after all, Gongyang Mo's good intention.

"Then I'll choose Senior Chen, is that alright?"

Yang Jian cast a polite glance at Chen Zifeng, who stood there like a sharpened blade.

Compared to the agility-type Xi Xi and the control/support-type Yao Haoxuan, he still preferred to spar with the power-attack-type Chen Zifeng.

"Of course, no problem."

Chen Zifeng agreed readily, a hint of curiosity flickering in his eyes.

He was eager to see what exactly Yang Jian was relying on to dare challenge an Inner Court student while still being an Outer Court student.

Yang Jian's choice happened to be overheard by Dai Yueheng, who had just returned to the spectator stand to find his teammates after finishing his own soul duel.

Although Dai Yueheng was surprised to see Yang Jian here, what he found even more unacceptable was that Yang Jian hadn't chosen him as his opponent, but had picked Chen Zifeng instead!

He felt like an impotent husband, watching helplessly as Yang Jian and Chen Zifeng headed toward the Preparation Area.