The Master Appears

The giant axe swung forward, accompanied by the stench of blood. Qingxi executed her "Shadow Chaser" footwork, and in a single breath, she appeared behind the burly man, leaving a lingering afterimage at her previous position.

"Too slow..." Before the words had even faded, Qiankun was already out. With a thunderous bang, a massive figure slammed into the inner wall beneath the spectator stands before collapsing onto the ground.

The previously arrogant man now lay sprawled on the floor, unconscious. If not for the slight twitching of his limbs, one would have thought he was dead.

For a moment, the entire Grand Arena fell silent.

The speed was too fast; the entire sequence had taken less than two seconds.

"He has fallen off the arena floor. You may announce the result." Qingxi looked up at the female Spirit Master hovering in mid-air.

"Ah?" The female Spirit Master finally snapped out of her daze, her voice trembling with excitement. "Let us welcome the Spirit Master Qiankun Mingxin to her victory in this match! As a newcomer to the Grand Arena, to fight with such speed without even using a spirit skill—I believe she will bring us even more surprises in the near future. Let us wait and see!"

Only then did the spectators in the stands regain their senses, erupting into thunderous applause.

Amidst the crowd, a middle-aged man with a rigid expression silently kept his eyes on the stage.

Qingxi left the arena and walked to the registration desk, placing her Iron Spirit Master badge on the table. "Registration: Death Match."

"One moment, please." The staff member took the badge, tapped on the machine, and returned it to her. "I am terribly sorry, honored Spirit Master. The rules of the Soto City Grand Arena state that a Spirit Master may only participate in one match per day. You have already competed today. My apologies."

"Is there no other way?" Qingxi frowned slightly; she hadn't had enough fun yet.

"You have already participated in a 1v1. You may still register for 2v2 or team battles," the staff member replied with a polite smile.

"2v2 and team battles?" Qingxi lowered her head in thought. 2v2 and team battles—it was a pity she was alone.

"Many thanks." She thanked the staff member and turned to walk into the arena.

When she reappeared in the spectator stands, she had already removed her mask and changed her outfit. With milk tea in one hand and grilled meat in the other, she watched the matches below with great interest.

Since she was bored anyway, she might as well watch some more.

The interior of the Soto City Grand Arena was massive. The sixteen sub-arenas alone included four for death matches and four for sparring, totaling eight stages.

To her surprise, she spotted an acquaintance this time.

The person had been wearing a mask, and she had only felt a sense of familiarity. After activating her Spirit Eyes, she realized it was the group she had encountered at the restaurant outside the Star Dou Great Forest.

It was that quiet little girl who resembled a cat, though she possessed the best figure of them all—curvaceous and shapely.

Her opponent was a Plant-type Spirit Master.

Qingxi watched for a while. This match was more exciting than the previous ones; both sides were capable Spirit Masters, and the Plant-type was particularly cautious. It was a pity that he still ended up defeated by the little cat.

"Next up, please welcome the Beast Spirit Evil Fire Phoenix and the Beast Spirit Spirit Cat to the stage! Both are level 28 Battle Spirit Masters. Who will emerge victorious this time?"

As the previous match ended, a chubby boy stepped onto the stage wearing a mask, blowing kisses to the supporters.

"Pretty lady, are you free for a drink tonight?" Ma Hongjun looked at the shapely female host, and his "evil fire" flared up instantly.

The host ignored his lecherous gaze and continued to introduce both sides in a professional manner.

Qingxi rested her chin on her hand, watching the stage with amusement. She hadn't expected to run into this fatty. Since he was here, were the others nearby as well?

Ma Hongjun stared at the female Spirit Master opposite him, his eyes gleaming. During the fight, he took every opportunity to grope her, drawing cheers from the male spectators.

Qingxi's gaze darkened. She rose to leave the stands and wandered through the other sub-arenas. As expected, she found the others.

After watching the entire match, she had to admit that these children had some talent. From a Spirit Master's perspective, they would surely achieve great things in the future.

For the final grand finale, the Shrek Team faced off against the Mad Battle Team. Watching the participants take the stage, Qingxi rushed to the betting area in the final minutes and wagered one thousand Gold Soul Coins on the Shrek Team to win.

Even though she felt their character was lacking, it didn't stop her from making money.

What surprised her was that soul from another world, who managed to win six-on-one.

Over the next few days, she continued to participate in death matches and bet on the Shrek Team for the finale. After five or six days, she had already won two or three thousand Gold Soul Coins.

What frustrated her was that with her level 28 spirit power, the arena only arranged matches against level 20-30 Copper Spirit Masters, which was somewhat dull.

Because these were death matches involving life and death, most participants were desperate outlaws; there were too few with genuine talent.

On the eighth day, Qingxi arrived at the arena as usual. Today, she didn't participate in a death match but went to the sparring area instead.

"My friend, please wait."

A middle-aged man's voice sounded from behind her.

Qingxi didn't think he was calling her, as no one here knew her.

She ignored him and continued toward the sparring area in District 16.

"Please wait a moment." Yu Xiaogang hurried forward, blocking Qingxi's path.

He had spent the day waiting for her in the death match area, but when she never appeared, he realized she must have come to the sparring area.

"Something the matter?" Qingxi looked at the middle-aged man and frowned slightly. He had a corpse-like face, devoid of expression, and his smile even felt lecherous.

"My friend, I see you have great potential. Are you interested in joining our academy?" Yu Xiaogang wore what he considered a proper smile.

Judging by her voice, the girl before him was around thirteen or fourteen. Yu Xiaogang had been observing her for many days—she was a loner, on a six-match winning streak, and could easily defeat opponents without even using a spirit skill. Such a person was qualified to join their Shrek Academy.

Although he was slightly annoyed that she hadn't stopped despite his repeated calls, he suppressed his impatience and extended the invitation.

"Sorry, not interested."

Qingxi took a step back, putting some distance between them.

Although she knew one shouldn't judge a book by its cover, his face already looked like a corpse's, and the fact that he insisted on smiling made it truly difficult to compliment.

"Young lady, do consider it. You should know that our academy is filled with geniuses just like you. I simply cannot bear to see you waste your time; join our academy, and within your lifetime, I will certainly be able to cultivate you to the level of a Title Douluo," Yu Xiaogang said, brimming with confidence.

When it came to geniuses, he even felt a hint of disdain toward this girl. After all, his disciple possessed twin martial souls, and the only reason he was inviting her was that he felt she had some strength.

While she couldn't compare to his disciple, she was more than enough when measured against others.

Yu Xiaogang's goal was the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament, which required a team of seven participants and three reserves, totaling ten people.

He had been fretting over where to find the other three when he discovered this unpolished gem. Fast, accurate, and ruthless—for six consecutive days, she had spent less than a minute on stage from start to finish. He was certain no one else could achieve that, his disciple excepted, of course.

After all, Xiao San was a genius who possessed twin martial souls and an external spirit bone. Furthermore, the matches he participated in were against experts at the Spirit Grandmaster level, with opponents whose spirit power was generally six or seven ranks higher than his own.

As for this girl's ability to win, in Yu Xiaogang's view, it was nothing more than a reliance on that Ghost Asynchronous Method.