I Am Lightning!

After struggling to break free from the embrace, Tang Ya's face remained flushed. She smoothed out the messy strands of hair on her forehead, winked playfully at Mu Guiyun, and chuckled, "I'm going to place my bets now. I'll introduce you to a new friend later—she's a real beauty!"

"That's that, see you later!"

"See you."

The two waved goodbye with smiles. Watching Tang Ya's skipping figure, Mu Guiyun couldn't help but feel a wave of emotion.

One could only say she was a true Plant-type Soul Master; even her body carried a faint, lingering fragrance.

As for the new friend Tang Ya mentioned, Mu Guiyun could make a fairly accurate guess.

It must be Jiang Nannan. I wonder how her mother's illness is doing now.

On the other side, Tang Ya hurried to the betting hall, accompanied by a melancholic girl with blonde hair and rabbit ears.

Looking at the staff member, Tang Ya emptied her entire savings, including the bag of Gold Soul Coin that Mu Guiyun had lent her.

"I want to place a bet. Put it all on Mu Guiyun winning at Arena No. 4!"

"Please wait a moment."

The staff member lowered his head to silently count the Gold Soul Coin. A moment later, he looked up again. "Hello, you have bet 504 Gold Soul Coin at odds of 1:1.7. Here is your receipt, please keep it safe!"

"Huh? The odds are that low?"

Learning that the odds didn't meet her expectations, Tang Ya's mood instantly turned gloomy.

Mu Guiyun's first opponent was a veteran Soul Elder from the outer courtyard. Aside from a few gamblers taking desperate risks, there shouldn't have been many people betting on Mu Guiyun.

Forget it, forget it. I'll still earn several hundred Gold Soul Coin, which is enough to feed me for a long time.

She didn't know yet that Mu Guiyun had crazily bet over ten million on himself, single-handedly dragging the odds down significantly.

Tang Ya carefully tucked away the receipt and turned to her friend, asking in confusion, "Nannan, why aren't you placing a bet?"

The girl was Tang Ya's best friend, Jiang Nannan.

Hearing this, Jiang Nannan's expression became hesitant. "This... I think I'll pass."

Her situation was no better than Tang Ya's. The money she earned from her part-time job each month was barely enough to cover her mother's medicine.

"Hehehe!"

Tang Ya giggled, then leaned in close to Jiang Nannan's ear, whispering mysteriously, "I know this Mu Guiyun guy. His strength is super high. Trust me, betting on him is a guaranteed win!"

A guaranteed win?

The rabbit ears on Jiang Nannan's head twitched twice, and she fell into a dilemma.

Seeing her friend still hesitating, Tang Ya patted her chest with full confidence and promised, "Don't worry, Nannan! Today, we are definitely going to make a huge profit!"

Seeing this, Jiang Nannan nodded firmly, as if she had made up her mind. "Alright, then I'll give it a try."

Although Tang Ya was sometimes unreliable, as her only best friend, Jiang Nannan ultimately chose to trust her.

Leaving the betting hall, the two held hands and walked to the spectator area to wait quietly for the match to begin.

The requirements for the Inter-grade Challenge Tournament were very loose. As long as one was a student from the second to sixth grade of the outer courtyard and confident in their own strength, they were free to participate.

The rules were simple and brutal: one-on-one, the winner advances, the loser is eliminated, and the participants were matched through random draws.

This method of relying on luck could be considered extremely unfair, but in Soul Master duels, there was never any such thing as fairness.

"Will both participants, Mu Guiyun and Li Jiahao, please proceed to Arena No. 4!"

As the staff member's voice rang out, Mu Guiyun slowly opened his eyes.

Thinking of what was about to happen, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl upward.

He hadn't spent much time in the outer courtyard, and he hadn't even participated in a proper Soul Fighting Arena match. Other than knowing his name was Mu Guiyun, everyone else had a blank slate regarding his information, even his Soul Power Level was still listed at level 29.

Now, it was time to test his acting skills!

At this moment, the Soul Fighting Arena was already packed, with people squeezed even along the edges of the aisles. The noise from the crowd rose and fell, eventually turning into layers of sound waves that surged madly toward the ring.

Compared to other academies, the Shrek Academy Soul Fighting Arena was open to the public. As long as one spent one Silver Soul Coin, they could enjoy a tense and exciting duel. Of course, one could also choose to bet on the Soul Master they favored.

"Both participants, please take the stage!"

As soon as Mu Guiyun stepped onto the ring, the entire spectator area instantly erupted into chaos.

Mu Guiyun's outstanding temperament and peerless appearance made many male spectators feel a tinge of jealousy.

"Damn it, why is he so handsome? This isn't fair!"

"To be honest, I had planned to grow up looking like that, but he stole the look..."

The female spectators were much more direct, shouting and cheering at the top of their lungs.

"Go, handsome! Charge, charge, charge!"

"Baby, Mommy loves you!"

"Little handsome, if you win, big sister has a private reward for you!"

The jeering from the crowd didn't affect Mu Guiyun in the slightest. He was currently observing his opponent quietly.

"State your names!"

"Mu Guiyun, second grade, class one."

"Li Jiahao, fifth grade, class one."

The screams of the girls cheering for Mu Guiyun from the sidelines stirred a deep sense of envy, jealousy, and hatred in Li Jiahao's heart. He spoke with a sour tone, "Kid, a Soul Fighting match isn't a beauty contest!"

"That's not something you need to worry about."

Seeing the tension between the two, the referee didn't delay and immediately announced the start of the match.

As the referee's voice faded, Li Jiahao was the first to activate his martial soul. A curved blade appeared out of thin air in his hand, and three soul rings with the optimal configuration floated behind him.

"Blades have no eyes, watch yourself!"

Li Jiahao sneered, and a faint blue light surged from the curved blade in his hand as the single purple soul ring behind him lit up.

He intended to use a Lightning Element strike to quickly defeat Mu Guiyun, so that those shallow girls in the audience would realize that on the Douluo Continent, being handsome is useless!

Out here in the world, it's all about strength!

"The winner is Mu Guiyun!"

As the referee announced the end of the match, deafening jeers erupted from the spectator area; clearly, many had wagered a significant amount of Gold Soul Coins on Li Jiahao.

"I won!"

Mu Guiyun gasped for air, deliberately putting on a show of being exhausted and having pushed himself to his limits, even swaying a few times as if he might collapse at any moment.

"Damn it, it was just a hair's breadth away..."

Li Jiahao cursed under his breath, feeling deeply unwilling to accept the outcome.

He never expected to lose to a junior three grades below him, and a Soul Engineer he looked down upon at that!

To make a killing, Mu Guiyun had used a melee Soul Tool throughout the entire fight; he hadn't even released his martial soul, let alone his soul rings.

Seeing the referee announce the result, Mu Guiyun wobbled off the stage, looking as if a gust of wind could blow him over.