Recognition!

Inside a Soul Fighting Arena outside Spirit City.

"Hey! You dragged me out of my room by force, and now you're pulling me into this awful place where all sorts of riffraff gather. What exactly are you trying to do?!"

Xiao Bai rubbed her wrist, which had been pinched red, and glared irritably at Li Yingxue, who seemed to have limitless energy.

That morning, Xiao Bai had finally sorted through that pile of complicated accounts and had been planning to take advantage of the quiet to cultivate the Cold Ice Art and Void-Striding Steps in seclusion for a while.

Who would have thought that before she had even warmed her seat, Li Yingxue had dragged her out.

"Come on, don't be such a stick-in-the-mud, Xiao Bai." Li Yingxue waved with a grin, her lively eyes gleaming with anticipation.

"I've been cooped up at home so long I'm about to grow mushrooms. Fighting a couple of Soul battles here and loosening up a little sounds fun!"

Ever since she had switched to cultivating the Fire Virtue Yang Qi Art, Li Yingxue's strength had skyrocketed as though she had boarded a rocket.

The moment she began cultivating, she crossed the Mortal Fire Realm and entered the Li Fire Realm, while her Soul Power Level surged straight to level thirty-nine.

With the Li Family's vast resources piled upon her, she smoothly broke through level forty and advanced to Soul Ancestor.

Two days earlier, Yang Wanqing had personally found her a nine-thousand-seven-hundred-year-old Fire Cloud Sparrow as her fourth Soul Ring.

(In this era, the spiritual shock brought by ten-thousand-year Soul Rings was far too dangerous. Whale Rubber was merely a rare item that strengthened the body; it did not strengthen spiritual power.)

The moment she acquired her fourth Soul Ring, Li Yingxue swept through the arena at Spirit Hall Academy.

Although several tough opponents had indeed been troublesome, whenever Li Fire appeared, the situation instantly turned around, often leading to astonishing comebacks.

"Can't you spar at the academy? Do you really have to come to a place this chaotic?"

Xiao Bai frowned, warily scanning the ill-intentioned Soul Masters around them as she lowered her voice. "There are all kinds of people here. What if we expose our identities...?"

"Hehe, that's exactly why I came!" Li Yingxue smiled mysteriously, flipped her wrist, and somehow produced two finely crafted silver masks, tossing one to Xiao Bai.

"Look, I just picked up these special masks. They can conceal our auras to some extent. Once we put them on, who here could recognize us?"

Before Xiao Bai could object, Li Yingxue swiftly fastened the mask over her face and darted toward the registration counter.

Xiao Bai sighed helplessly. Looking at that resolute figure, she could only silently follow.

The Soul Fighting Arena's spotlights shone upon the center of the stage as enormous pillars of Soul Power rose beside the two combatants.

Li Yingxue's first opponent turned out to be a middle-aged man in blue robes. His martial soul was a water-attributed martial soul that countered fire—the Water Snake.

Though the mask concealed her face, Li Yingxue's distinctive petite figure and proud bearing were difficult to hide completely.

The middle-aged man opposite her had sharp eyes and immediately saw through the situation. He cupped his fists and smiled, his tone carrying the disdain of an elder toward a junior. "Little girl, this is your first time leaving home to see the world, isn't it? With skin as soft and delicate as yours, you must be some spoiled flower raised by a great family."

He puffed out his chest and stepped forward, confidently displaying his level forty-three Soul Power.

"Your level is lower than mine, and your martial soul's attribute is completely countered by mine."

"You're a newborn calf that doesn't fear the tiger. I suggest you admit defeat, unless you want to get hurt and cry later."

"After all, I don't want people saying I bullied the weak."

His words sent the audience below the stage into roaring laughter, and they nodded in agreement.

In this era, when Soul Power cultivation was still immature, people generally believed that elemental restraint was an ironclad law, while level suppression was an insurmountable gulf.

The gamblers placed their bets frantically, chips falling like snowflakes onto the Water Snake Soul Master's side.

In the entire Soul Fighting Arena, only a shadow in the corner was an exception.

That person silently took out one thousand Gold Soul Coins and placed them, without a sound, on Li Yingxue's name.

Should've brought more. I only brought the salary I just received!

On the stage, facing the overwhelming mockery and doubts, Li Yingxue's expression remained unchanged. She merely stood quietly where she was, as though the surrounding clamor had nothing to do with her.

The next second, she moved.

Without any superfluous flair, four Soul Rings rose from beneath her feet—yellow, purple, purple, purple!

"That's... a thousand-year-quality second Soul Ring?!"

"My god, am I seeing things? Which great family's young lady is she?"

"This is crazy, completely crazy!"

Even the middle-aged man, who had been certain of victory, had his pupils abruptly constrict, his face filled with disbelief.

"Nothing is impossible." The corners of Li Yingxue's lips lifted slightly, her cool voice emerging through the mask.

"Just as you said, my level is lower than yours, and my attribute is countered by yours. Yet aren't I still standing here?"

She raised her head, blazing flames dancing in her eyes. "Perhaps the outcome of this Soul battle will also contain an 'impossible.'"

"Hmph! Putting on airs!" The man's face darkened, enraged by this sudden turn of events.

"So what if you have a thousand-year Soul Ring? It still won't change the fact that you're doomed to lose!"

With a low shout, his whole body turned into a streak of blue light, pouncing toward Li Yingxue like Gui Mei, determined to end the battle in the shortest time possible.

Yet Li Yingxue's response to that ferocious attack was astonishingly swift.

Her figure swayed, her footwork profound and elusive, and she narrowly evaded the lethal blow by a hair's breadth.

Then, without the slightest hesitation, her first and second Soul Rings lit up at once!

"First Soul Skill: Sky-Soaring Fire!"

"Second Soul Skill: Wind-Fire True Power!"

The dazzling crimson flames were not used to attack directly. Instead, they instantly wrapped around her arms and legs.

Like Zhang Qingxuan, all of Li Yingxue's Soul Rings were pure attribute-enhancement Soul Rings. There was no flashy control or intricate technique—what she pursued was the ultimate enhancement of herself!

In that instant, her speed was as swift as thunder, and her strength as violent as fire.

"Take a punch from your grandaunt!"

Li Yingxue gave a low shout. Borrowing the explosive force granted by Wind-Fire True Power, her body spun half a turn like a top, and her right fist, trailing a crimson afterimage, drove straight into her opponent's abdomen without any flourish!

The air hissed from friction beneath that punch, and the scorching force of it even swept the dust from the stage into a small whirlwind.

Boom!

Scorching Yang Qi and icy water currents collided violently on the stage, and a tremendous blast shook the entire venue. The Water Snake Soul Master, who had seemed to hold every advantage, was actually sent flying backward by that punch!

The entire arena erupted!

A battle that had appeared to be a one-sided fight with no suspense had suddenly undergone a shocking reversal!