Soul Fighting

"Little miss, this is your first time at the Soul Fighting Arena, isn't it? Want to place a bet?"

"How does it work?" Qingxi asked, eyeing the attendant with interest.

The woman covered her mouth and chuckled. Judging by her clothes, the girl was probably some young lady who'd slipped out from home. Such a fat lamb was too good to pass up.

"Come with me." She led Qingxi to the betting counter with an elegant stride.

A male attendant in reading glasses was bent over, counting the money on the table.

"The next match is between the Mad Battle Team and the Leopard Battle Team. The Mad Battle Team is a regular here, and they've won two matches in a row so far. If you're interested, little miss, you could place a small bet." The woman smiled courteously.

Qingxi looked at the odds displayed on the board. Plenty of people had bet on the Mad Battle Team, while the Leopard Battle Team's odds were as high as four to one.

"One thousand on them." She pulled a bag of Gold Soul Coins from her Storage Bag, tossed it onto the table, and pointed to the Leopard Battle Team, which had the highest odds.

As the saying went, fortune favored the bold!

"Just a moment!" The woman's face lit up. She filled out a betting slip for Qingxi and handed it to her. "If you win, you can bring this here to collect your winnings."

Qingxi nodded, took the little ticket, and returned to her seat in the stands.

Next came the thrilling Soul Fighting match. Amid the audience's cheers, the Mad Battle Team claimed its third consecutive victory.

Qingxi shook her head in disappointment. "Too weak."

Most of them had Ten-Year Soul Rings and Hundred-Year Soul Rings...

Thousand-Year Soul Rings were mostly found on Soul Masters above level thirty, and even then, they only appeared now and again. As for the so-called top-tier Soul Ring Configuration, aside from Spider Woman of the Mad Battle Team, she hadn't seen anyone else with one.

"Weak? You don't know what you're talking about, little miss. They're Soul Masters! Soul Elders over level thirty, at that! People like us can only look up to them." A young man beside her couldn't help arguing back.

For commoners like them, just seeing Soul Masters was enough to satisfy their vanity. How could they dare speak disrespectfully?

"If you're so capable, why don't you go down there yourself? Spider Woman is gorgeous." After speaking, the man stared down at the Spider Woman Soul Master, her revealing figure and heavy makeup drawing stars into his eyes.

"Thanks for the suggestion." Qingxi's gaze flickered. She rose from her seat.

After watching for so long, she was itching for a fight.

She took a white smiling-face mask from her Storage Bag, put it on, then headed to the registration desk. After paying ten Gold Soul Coins, she received a form.

Qingxi filled it out and handed it to the attendant, then took a Soul Power test to confirm her Soul Power Level.

"I want to enter the Death Match!"

"Mingxin, is that right? You want to enter the Death Match?" The attendant glanced at the young Soul Master before him, clearly a newcomer, looking surprised. But when his gaze landed on her mask, he struggled to hold back a laugh.

"That's right! The Death Match." Only when facing life and death would she hold nothing back.

"Just a moment. You've been assigned to the Death Arena in District Sixteen. You can go over there to draw lots and get ready." The attendant looked at the mask she wore in surprise, then handed her the lowest-ranked Iron Soul Fighting Badge, trying to stifle his laughter.

"Thanks!" Qingxi thanked him and headed for District Sixteen.

Not long after she left, three women and four men arrived at the registration desk together. They wore mustard-yellow outfits, with images of slimy-looking green monsters on their backs, and dark green masks over their faces.

Behind them stood three middle-aged men dressed in different styles. On the left was a stocky, muscular man who wasn't very tall. In the middle stood a man with half-gray hair and gold-rimmed glasses, his eyes betraying a hint of greed. The one on the right had a crew cut and stiff facial muscles. If not for his lack of a smile, he might even have seemed lecherous.

These three were clearly their teachers.

"Whoa! What a looker!" The short, chubby young man among the seven had a lecherous glint in his eyes as he ogled the women passing by.

That was Ma Hongjun, the same person whose face had been swollen from a beating earlier. Apparently, he hadn't learned his lesson.

"Hey! We want to register!" Xiao Wu, her pink hair tied in a ponytail, rapped on the desk. Her expression was haughty, yet still held a girl's innocent charm.

"Just a moment." The attendant registered the group.

Xiao Wu took her badge and looked at it, then hooked her arm around the boy beside her and gave it a playful tug. "Third Brother, we're all in District Thirteen. If we run into each other, you have to go easy on me."

"Xiao Wu and Third Brother are so close." Ning Rongrong, standing beside her with long hair draped over her shoulders, covered her mouth and giggled.

"Don't worry. We'll draw lots separately later, so we won't run into each other." Tang San gently ruffled Xiao Wu's hair, his eyes holding an affection that went beyond that of siblings.

"Come on, let's go. The matches are about to start." Dai Mubai coughed twice. Watching the two act so tenderly toward each other, he couldn't help glancing at Zhu Zhuqing beside him.

Zhu Zhuqing was as aloof as ever. Dai Mubai swore to himself that sooner or later, he'd win her over!

Everyone nodded. Xiao Wu looked back and stuck her tongue out at the attendant, then hopped away.

Meanwhile, Qingxi arrived at the Death Arena in District Sixteen. The third match was already underway, and dried blood still stained the massive stage. Though it was a separate Soul Fighting platform, the arena was still quite large. Only about a quarter of the audience seats were occupied, yet the spectators' cheers and shouts rang out without pause.

Compared to sparring matches, life-or-death battles attracted more people. These brutal fights were accompanied by the Soul Masters' blood and deaths.

Qingxi drew her lot from an attendant. She was in the sixth match, so she found a seat in the stands and sat down.

Her comical white smiling-face mask kept drawing the attention of those around her.

"That person's strange..."

"Those squinty eyes. Either a pervert or a nutcase."

Whispers rose around her from time to time. Qingxi didn't care in the slightest, calmly watching the battle below.

To be honest, at this level, she could win with ease even without using her Soul Skills.

On the Soul Fighting platform, a young woman in a short skirt hovered in midair, her voice sweet. "Next up is the fourth one-on-one match in our District Thirteen Soul Fighting Arena. The two contestants are both Soul Grandmasters. One is Jiang Bei, a level-twenty-eight Battle Soul Master with a Dagger Tool Spirit. The other is Lu He, a level-twenty-nine Battle Soul Master with a Mantis Beast Spirit..."

As the host introduced them, two male Soul Masters entered the arena through passageways on either side of the stage. They immediately revealed their Soul Rings: one white and one yellow each.

The thin, middle-aged man's gaze was sinister. A dagger appeared in his hand, still stained with fresh blood. He licked the blade with a bloodthirsty air, fixing his sights on the Beast Spirit Master opposite him.

At the host's countdown, the battle erupted. Blood sprayed across the stage. With their lives at stake, both men fought with all their might. Unlike the brutal combat, the audience below grew more and more excited, their eyes bloodshot as they shouted wildly.

"Kill him, Lu He!"

"Kill! Kill..."

When the blade cut across the Mantis Soul Master's throat and blood sprayed everywhere, the crowd fell silent for a moment, then erupted into even louder cheers.

After watching two dull matches, Qingxi rose and headed backstage.

"Next to enter the arena is..."

Hearing her name, she strode onto the Soul Fighting platform. Her opponent was a hulking giant of a man, with massive muscles exposed and a hideous slash-shaped scar across his chest. A murderous aura radiated from him.

"A little girl? Hahaha..." Seeing his opponent, the hulking man burst into laughter. He pointed the giant axe in his hand at Qingxi. "Little miss, this isn't a place for kids like you. And look at you, wearing a mask. Take it off and let me have a look, and maybe I'll spare your life."

"Mad Axe, tear her apart..."

The white mask concealed the girl's face. A comical smile was painted on it, leaving only her clear black-and-white eyes visible.

"After you!" With the Universe Staff strapped to her back, she raised a hand and made an inviting gesture.

"What a brazen little brat. She thinks she can look down on Mad Axe..."

"Don't know your place, do you, little brat? Don't come crying when I beat you to a pulp!" Mad Axe roared and charged at Qingxi, giant axe in hand. Two Soul Rings, one white and one yellow, pulsed around him. "Second Soul Skill: Mountain Splitting Slash!"