In the lounge of the Soto Great Soul Arena.
Yu Tianheng and the others sat together, discussing what to do next.
Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan sat off to one side, with no intention of joining in.
To be precise, neither of them would be taking the field.
Originally, only Ye Lingling's unusual circumstances had led Fang Xuan to take her place. But after Dugu Yan came to her senses, she suddenly realized that she could sit out too.
Fang Xuan was a Soul King. Filling in for two Soul Elders would be a piece of cake.
Even if he concealed his strength and suppressed his level, no Soul Elder could compare to him.
After all, he had used so many different identities without being discovered, which meant he must have some special means.
A clone alone wouldn't be enough, after all. His face and build wouldn't change.
As it happened, she wanted to chat with Ye Lingling, so the original seven-person team had become a six-person team.
Yu Tianheng had no objection. The teacher leading the group had initially been a little opposed, but after learning that Fang Xuan was a Soul King and hearing about his impressive record, he had immediately agreed.
As for the others, most of them knew of Fang Xuan to some extent. Dugu Yan had already told them about him and Ye Lingling.
Not everyone had gone to see Ye Lingling that day, so some of them had no idea what had happened.
A few were even among Ye Lingling's admirers. When they heard that someone had gotten together with their goddess, they were furious and gritted their teeth, all clamoring to fight Fang Xuan to the death.
But as soon as they heard their rival was a Soul King, their expressions changed faster than anyone's.
Compared with their goddess, they cared more about keeping their own hides intact.
"Here's what we know about the other team. Brother Fang Xuan, what do you think?"
Yu Tianheng asked Fang Xuan directly. He was the strongest among them, and had the most experience.
After all, the other team had dozens of gold Soul Arena badges, and apparently several purple-gold ones too.
[Soul Arena Badge Ranks: Iron, Copper, Silver, Gold, Purple-Gold, Ruby, Sapphire, Diamond]
The highest rank any of them had reached was silver. There was no comparing them to Fang Xuan, so they were better off listening to him.
"No special thoughts. We'll just beat them up."
His answer was simple, direct, and brutal. They didn't even need anyone else in the match. He could take the whole team down by himself.
"Th-that's it? Isn't that a little too hasty? What about a strategy or something?"
Yu Tianheng was clearly surprised. Was this the legendary way of reaching the Great Dao by keeping things simple?
"A strategy? For those guys? I beat them up just yesterday. They were nothing special."
"I remember that fat guy, Ma Hongjun, was badly injured when I beat him. He probably can't compete. I taught the others a lesson too, so they might just forfeit later."
At that, everyone gaped at Fang Xuan in disbelief.
He'd taken down the whole team by himself? And just yesterday?
"Lingling, did you get into a fight yesterday? What happened?"
Dugu Yan turned to Ye Lingling, asking her what had happened.
"Yesterday?"
"Oh, right. A few people came to make trouble. There was a fat guy who looked at me in a really disgusting way. Ah Xuan warned him, but they wouldn't listen, so he beat them all flat."
Ye Lingling remembered it clearly. That incident was what had made her willing to accept Fang Xuan completely.
"Ooh, 'Ah Xuan.' You two are making me sick."
They'd only known each other for two days, and they were already like this.
One of them kept calling her "Lingling," while the other kept calling him "Ah Xuan."
Dugu Yan was both envious and annoyed. She envied her best friend for finding such a good partner, and was annoyed that her own man wasn't making a move.
She knew she was the reason things had turned out this way, but why couldn't Yu Tianheng bring himself to slip her a love potion?
She'd practically spelled it out for him. Did she really have to make the first move herself?
Wasn't there a successful example right in front of him? Was he not attracted to her?
She asked herself: she wasn't any less beautiful than Ye Lingling, was she? He just had to be a little braver.
"What a useless man."
After teasing Ye Lingling, Dugu Yan turned and insulted Yu Tianheng.
The others' eyes lit up. This gossip was delicious.
Fang Xuan could only laugh helplessly. He hadn't wanted things to go this way either. Who knew what had gotten into those people, that they'd insisted on provoking him?
Not long afterward, news arrived that Shrek had forfeited.
Just as Fang Xuan had predicted.
Since Shrek had withdrawn, everyone who had bet on the Imperial Fighting Team won.
The Soto Great Soul Arena took a massive loss, and now they were blaming it all on Shrek.
"If you weren't up to it, why accept the match? You forfeited without even fighting. You might as well have handed everyone else free money."
Most people had bet on the Imperial Fighting Team, so now the arena had to pay them all.
The worst part was that Shrek had sworn they could win before the match was arranged.
They'd convinced the arena to set up the match, then backed out just as it was about to begin. The outcome was obvious.
Tang San and the others hadn't come looking for trouble with Fang Xuan today. That was probably why. They could barely deal with their own problems, so how could they worry about anything else?
"By the way, when are you planning to head back?"
"What, are you in such a hurry to meet your future mother-in-law?"
At Fang Xuan's question, Dugu Yan's first thought was that he was eager to meet Ye Lingling's mother.
Ye Lingling heard her and couldn't help blushing. Truthfully, she still hadn't figured out how to tell her mother about them.
"What else?"
The sooner they settled things, the sooner they could make it official. He couldn't keep freeloading forever, even if it felt pretty good.
There was also the problem with the Nine Star Begonia. What if Ye Lingling got pregnant one day? That would cost someone their life.
Not Ye Lingling's, but her mother's.
Only two Nine Star Begonias could exist at a time. When a third appeared, one of the others would wither.
In other words, from the moment Ye Lingling became pregnant, her mother's life would start counting down.
Yesterday, when Ye Lingling agreed to be with him, she had made just one request: she didn't want to conceive a child.
She had even wanted to find some birth control medicine the day before, in case she got pregnant the first time.
To put those worries behind them for good, they needed to get to Heaven Dou City soon and pluck some Immortal Herbs from Dugu Bo's garden.
Immortal Herbs were probably the only things that could solve Ye Lingling's problem.
Whether it was the Aromatic Silk Beauty or Lovesick Heartbreak Red, he didn't care. Eating more Immortal Herbs wouldn't do him any harm.
Dugu Bo didn't know their value anyway, so Fang Xuan might as well take as many as he could.
"Look at you, so impatient. It's only a few more days before you can make it official. Are you worried she'll run away?"
With Ye Lingling, that would be the day hell froze over.
"If things go quickly, we'll leave tomorrow. Can you get ready by then?"
Knowing it was a serious matter, Dugu Yan stopped teasing him.
"That's fine."
Fang Xuan didn't have much to pack. His money was all in the bank, and he could take or leave his house. It was in a remote spot, so it wouldn't fetch much anyway.
Once they had agreed on the exact time and place, Fang Xuan left on his own to pack.
The next day, Fang Xuan left the city he'd lived in for over a decade with a group from Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
And just half a day after Fang Xuan left, people surrounded his house.
A large crowd charged inside to look for him, but the place had long been empty. There was no way they'd find anything.
When the people she'd sent out returned empty-handed and reported back, Ning Rongrong nearly died of anger on the spot.
"Damn it! He sure ran fast. Let this young lady catch you, and I'll tear your tendons out and strip the flesh from your bones!"
Ning Rongrong was so furious she could have burst a lung. No one had ever bullied her like this before.
When Fang Xuan had beaten her, he'd aimed every blow at her face and slapped her several times. She'd nearly been disfigured.
Then, because her group had been injured, they hadn't been able to compete, and people from the Soto Great Soul Arena had come right to her door.
If she hadn't used the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's connections to settle the matter, who knew what would have happened?
Now, old grudges and new grievances piled together. Ning Rongrong wanted nothing more than to chop Fang Xuan into mincemeat to vent her fury.
But the enemy she was thinking about was on his way back to his hometown.
And he was already planning how to raze the entire Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to the ground.
Since they'd made an enemy of each other, he might as well make it final.
Either do nothing, or finish it completely. That was Fang Xuan's usual way of doing things.
"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect—I see you've got a death wish!"