Li Changsheng quickly found the Exchange Battle ring.
Soul Fighting Platform No. 1084.
Unlike the others,
the platform set aside specifically for Junior Soul Master Academies and their students wasn't very large, covering only about a hundred square meters. Some Soul Masters might find it difficult to fight there.
Compared to the Level 8 Soul Tool platform in the very center, it was like comparing heaven and earth.
But that was only natural.
The students at Junior Soul Master Academies were all children under twelve.
At most, their Exchange Battles were one-on-one.
Team battles were little more than a vague concept to them.
Coordinating with other Soul Masters required not only a long period of practice, but also making sure their Martial Souls didn't interfere with one another in battle.
What child could handle that so well?
At the edge of the platform, a staff member from the Spirit Soul Grand Soul Fighting Arena, dressed in a uniform, had already been waiting.
Li Changsheng glanced at the staff member's clothes.
Five deep-blue waterlike streaks were embroidered on the robe.
They indicated the fifth rank of Soul Masters: a Soul King.
Having a Soul King serve as the referee showed they were willing to spend.
Wang Hehe, walking ahead of Li Changsheng, reached the foot of the platform.
He glanced back at Li Changsheng, who was heading toward the stairs, and a flicker of disdain crossed his eyes.
Then he turned away and suddenly sprang into action. His thick, slightly chubby legs bent, as though weighed down by a thousand jun. With a thud, his plump figure leaped straight onto the five-meter-high platform.
Li Changsheng had, of course, seen it.
He shook his head with a laugh.
He had no idea why Wang Hehe had done that.
Was he showing off how sturdy he was?
Li Changsheng moved lightly, as if stepping on a breeze. His smile bloomed like that of an immortal, his grace reaching its utmost.
Step by step, he climbed the stairs and reached the platform.
The Soul King referee paid the display no mind.
Instead, he looked at Li Changsheng and Wang Hehe, standing at opposite ends of the platform, and spoke in a deep voice:
"This is an Exchange Battle. Stop once you've made your point, and don't use any Soul Tools designed to cause serious harm. The winner's prize is one-tenth of the registration fee. If you've placed any private bets, decide among yourselves how to split them. If you're ready, you may begin."
The winner received prize money.
That was right. Exchange Battles were much like ordinary Soul Fighting matches between Soul Masters, and the victor received Soul Coin rewards too.
Li Changsheng stood alone, his gaze focused as it finally settled on Wang Hehe, not far away.
Wang Hehe's plump frame also settled into a comfortable stance.
His large eyes were fixed on Li Changsheng. Though they still held a trace of disdain, he didn't dare underestimate him.
After all, his opponent was also a student at Nuoding Primary Soul Master Academy. He just didn't know what year he was in.
But anyone who dared step onto the platform for an Exchange Battle had to be at least a One-Ring Soul Master. They could only be higher, not lower.
He studied Li Changsheng for a while. Then his brows twitched, and he spoke at once:
"Wang Hehe, sixth-year student at Nuoding Primary Soul Master Academy. Martial Soul: Bag Flower. A level-twelve One-Ring Control-Type Battle Spirit Master."
Li Changsheng had just been thinking that his opponent might suddenly attack.
But who would have thought the other party would introduce his Martial Soul instead?
Li Changsheng nodded slightly.
Announcing one's Martial Soul was a way of showing respect to one's opponent.
It was also a good way to learn about an unknown opponent.
As Wang Hehe's voice faded, a layer of pale-green light mist suddenly enveloped him.
He held out his slightly pudgy palm. A plant—a very unusual one—sprouted from it as if his palm were a patch of fertile soil. It rapidly grew taller before his eyes, putting out leaves. Then the Bag Flower bloomed. Like a Venus flytrap, it opened a black, pouch-like maw, while a pale-yellow Soul Ring drifted around Wang Hehe.
A flower.
A Bag Flower.
When Li Changsheng saw the Martial Soul, he was reminded of plants like the Venus flytrap from his previous life.
A plant-type Control Martial Soul. That could be a little troublesome.
Li Changsheng's gaze sharpened. He didn't underestimate his opponent.
Standing straight, he lifted his head. A childish voice emerged from beneath his cold mask.
"Nameless, fifth-year student at Nuoding Primary Soul Master Academy. Martial Soul: Painting. A level-thirteen One-Ring Tool Soul Master."
Li Changsheng didn't give the full name of his Martial Soul. He only said, "Painting."
After thinking it over, he had also decided to say he was in his fifth year.
Across from him, Wang Hehe stared blankly at the words.
Nameless, fifth year? Level thirteen? Who was that? How had he never heard of him?
A fifth-year genius with level-thirteen Soul Power?
As a student about to graduate, he hadn't paid much attention to his junior schoolmates. Now he regretted not learning more about them.
"You're in fifth year? And your Soul Power is level thirteen?" he asked.
Li Changsheng didn't answer. He proved it through his actions instead.
"Senior Wang Hehe, please step into the painting."
Li Changsheng clenched his hand. The Soul Power flowing quietly inside him suddenly grew restless.
In the blink of an eye,
the scene around them changed.
Wang Hehe was the first to notice.
"It's so hot! Ah!"
His cry rang out.
For some reason, he found himself in a world where scorching magma flowed all around him.
The searing heat pressed down on his Bag Flower Martial Soul until it withered. The Bag Flower growing beneath his feet had already been scorched to ashes by the blazing waves.
Then someone else cried out.
It was a deep, startled shout.
Wang Hehe was still searching for Li Changsheng when the cry caught his attention. He turned to look.
It was the Soul King.
The shoes on his feet were already burning.
He had somehow ended up standing right in the flowing magma.
But the Soul Power of a Soul King erupted from him at once, firmly suppressing the searing magma that continued to burn around him.
Still, the soles of his shoes had melted completely. He now stood barefoot, and even his trouser cuffs had been charred.
Wang Hehe's pupils contracted sharply.
At this point, he understood what was happening.
This was that Nameless fellow's Soul Skill?
It could even affect a Soul King? Was it a Control-type skill too?
He tried to put his foot into the magma ahead.
Sizzle.
The moment he lifted his foot, the scorching air turned into tiny fire serpents and swallowed his entire leg.
"Ah!"
His plump body shuddered, and a scream burst from him.
The heat scalded like boiling water, numbing his skin the moment it touched.
The worst part was that the Soul Power circulating through his body seemed to burn away in an instant. He could no longer maintain his Martial Soul's enhanced form, and he fell onto a small patch of broken ground beneath his feet.
"Senior Wang Hehe."
Li Changsheng's voice suddenly sounded beside him.
Wang Hehe, who had fallen to the ground, jolted.
He was already drenched in sweat.
He had no idea what had happened.
Gather his thoughts?
What was there to gather?
From the moment this Nameless fellow said something like "step into the painting," he had suddenly appeared in this world full of flames—and then... nothing. That was it!
He turned his head and saw Li Changsheng bending down on the flowing magma, smiling and beckoning to him.
The smile on his face was so innocent, but in Wang Hehe's eyes, it sent a cold sweat breaking out across his back.
"I surrender. I surrender! Let me out!"
He panted, then roared with all his strength.
Li Changsheng, the one who'd caused it all, darkened.
He lowered his hand and looked at Wang Hehe, who seemed ready to be scared to death. With some helplessness, he snapped his fingers.
Crack.
As the sound rang out,
the scorching heat faded, and the broken world of magma returned to the Soul Fighting platform.
The Soul King referee's expression had turned just as dark.
There was no other reason: his shoes and trousers were ruined!
If he hadn't released his Soul Power quickly enough, the flames would have set all his clothes alight!
He was a little angry, but Li Changsheng's Soul Skill alarmed him even more.
Perhaps its attack power wasn't that strong, but what was with that terrifying range?
And what a despicable Soul Skill. It burned clothes right away instead of attacking the opponent first!
He looked at Wang Hehe, slumped on the ground and trembling nonstop, then glanced at Li Changsheng and announced the result.
Li Changsheng had won.
Li Changsheng's expression was calm.
Too weak.
Far too weak.
He hadn't even used a Soul Skill, and Wang Hehe was already wilted!
Besides, this time, Li Changsheng had placed him on solid ground. He hadn't tossed him straight into the magma.
Otherwise, at best, he'd be sitting naked on the platform right now. At worst, every hair on his body would have been burned clean off.
"Sigh..."
He'd gotten some satisfaction, but not quite enough.
Li Changsheng's expression dimmed as he walked down the stairs from the platform.
That was enough for today, he thought.
Besides, he could only take part in one Exchange Battle a day.
And his opponent had been too weak. It hadn't felt like much.
"Maybe I should find a Hundred-Year Soul Beast and try it out..."
Though Li Changsheng's methods had been astonishing, few people had seen them.
After all, there were too many Soul Fighting platforms here.
And to outsiders, Li Changsheng had simply stood there. The next moment, Wang Hehe was on his knees, shouting that he surrendered.
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