The Great Soul Arena

"Reporting to Your Holiness the Pope: from my brief encounter with him, he didn't seem like a Soul Beast. Or rather, he didn't seem like a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. He casually used his power at the time, attacking me with a leaf. That one strike could have killed a Soul Douluo instantly. If I fought him, I wouldn't be his match." Gui Mei reported respectfully.

"What?" Bibi Dong's expression darkened slightly. She knew Gui Mei's strength better than anyone.

If even he said he wasn't a match, then Ye Xuan's strength would rank among the best in Spirit Hall. With strength like that, he certainly didn't seem like a transformed Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

According to the information they had, Soul Beasts became weak after taking human form, and their strength would be greatly reduced. If Ye Xuan still possessed such formidable power, then if he was a transformed Soul Beast, he had to be at least several hundred thousand years old.

"When you brought up the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast and told him to keep an eye out, how did he react?" Bibi Dong asked.

"Your subordinate noticed that he seemed affected, but in the end, he still agreed," Gui Mei replied.

"He seemed affected? Then it's highly likely that he is a Soul Beast," Bibi Dong said.

"Your Holiness the Pope, when should we move in and surround him?" Gui Mei asked.

"There's no rush. Let's wait until he's finished reading those books about Martial Souls. He surely doesn't know much about Martial Souls, and with so many experts from Spirit Hall having planted traps in those books, there's no way he'll discover them. If he starts cultivating, he'll certainly leave himself with flaws. Then we'll be on much surer footing when we attack," Bibi Dong analyzed.

"Yes!" Gui Mei accepted the order.

Far away in Suotuo City, Ye Xuan had no idea that the Soul Beast Spirit Hall suspected wasn't Xiao Wu, nor was it anyone they had learned about through a new source of information. They suspected that he was a Soul Beast.

Ye Xuan simply cultivated at home as usual, occasionally helping Spirit Hall deal with some trouble.

At the same time, Zhu Zhuqing's strength continued to improve day by day.

She told Ye Xuan of her own accord that she hoped to go to the Great Soul Arena and improve through combat.

So that day, Ye Xuan accompanied Zhu Zhuqing to the Great Soul Arena.

When they arrived, Zhu Zhuqing had only planned to register for the singles arena, but Ye Xuan said to her, "Sign up for doubles too! I'll team up with you."

"Th-this... All right, Big Brother Ye."

Zhu Zhuqing froze for a moment, then was delighted.

Being able to fight alongside Ye Xuan was naturally wonderful.

Ye Xuan registered as well. He was a level 30 Soul Grandmaster now, just like Zhu Zhuqing. It was a perfect match for them to team up.

Ye Xuan had decided to team up with Zhu Zhuqing because he wanted to collect some information.

By teaming up with her, he wanted to study how to form a Martial Soul Fusion Skill.

Once he managed to form a Martial Soul Fusion Skill between Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong, it wouldn't just be something he could use while teamed up with Zhu Zhuqing. He could use it all by himself.

After all, by then, he could have the 'Mimic: Zhu Zhuqing' and 'Pseudo-Ning Rongrong' summoned by his first Soul Skill perform a Martial Soul Fusion Skill.

Although none of this would increase Ye Xuan's strength for now, it would greatly help him understand the rules of this world.

After they registered and waited for a while, Zhu Zhuqing's singles match came up first.

As Zhu Zhuqing stepped onto the arena, Ye Xuan watched from the side.

At that moment, Ye Xuan noticed a familiar person walking toward him.

"Young Master Ye, did you bring Zhuqing to the Great Soul Arena for some training?"

The newcomer was none other than Flender.

Ye Xuan calculated that it had been three months since they left Shrek Academy.

It wasn't strange for Flender and the others to bring their students here for training.

"Mm!" Ye Xuan nodded.

Flender looked down and couldn't help exclaiming, "Huh, that girl's already reached level 28? She's caught up with Fatty."

"After leaving Shrek Academy, she worried she wasn't working hard enough and would fall behind everyone at the academy, so she trained even harder," Ye Xuan said.

That wasn't really true, of course. In the original story, hadn't Zhu Zhuqing worked hard?

She had worked just as hard, but at this point in time, she was only level 27.

She had reached level 28 naturally because Ye Xuan had helped her.

Ye Xuan hadn't read all those books for nothing. He hadn't merely skimmed them, either.

He could reflect on what he read, understand it, and even create new things from it.

And Zhu Zhuqing had received his guidance in full, so of course her improvement had been so obvious.

"Hard work? I'd say there's some guidance from you involved too, Young Master Ye!" Flender wasn't someone who could be fooled so easily.

Hadn't everyone at Shrek Academy worked hard?

Flender had watched them himself. How hard they worked was something he knew very well.

If Zhu Zhuqing could surpass them in cultivation speed just by working hard, wouldn't that mean she had greater talent?

But in fact, that wasn't the case.

"I gave her a little guidance," Ye Xuan admitted.

"By the way, Young Master Ye, why didn't you have Zhuqing wear a mask or something?" Flender asked.

"No need." Ye Xuan shook his head.

Was he afraid of causing some unnecessary trouble?

To Ye Xuan, nothing could really count as trouble.

"Uh..."

Flender was at a loss for words for a moment.

That was true. Ye Xuan certainly had the right to say that.

"Dean, so you're here. Huh, Young Master Ye!"

Just then, Ma Hongjun walked over from nearby.

He had come to call Flender, never expecting to run into Ye Xuan here.

"Mm!" Ye Xuan nodded, saying nothing more.

"Young Master Ye, I'll head back first." Flender said goodbye to Ye Xuan, then left with Ma Hongjun.

Not long after they left, Zhu Zhuqing finished her match too.

Ye Xuan went over to wait beside the arena. When she came down, she smiled at him and asked, "Big Brother Ye, how did I do?"

"Not bad. But next time you fight an opponent, I hope you can finish them off faster," Ye Xuan said seriously.

"I will." Zhu Zhuqing nodded slightly.

"Let's go watch from the stands. It'll be a while before our doubles match," Ye Xuan said.

"Big Brother Ye, I think I just saw Dean Flender. Are they here too?" Zhu Zhuqing asked.

While fighting her opponent, she had glanced outside and spotted Ye Xuan, as well as Flender.

"Mm, they've come here for training too. We might even see them compete," Ye Xuan said.

They went to the spectator area. Before long, they really did see Shrek Academy competing in a 2v2 match.

Since Zhu Zhuqing had left, Ning Rongrong no longer had a team. She could either team up with Ma Hongjun or give up on the singles and doubles arenas.

Ye Xuan had no idea how she had persuaded Flender, Yu Xiaogang, and the others, but in the end, she hadn't competed.

As Ye Xuan watched Xiao Wu and Tang San fighting in a 2v2 match, he noticed Ning Rongrong running over.

As soon as she arrived, she said excitedly, "Zhuqing, you really are my savior! Would you team up with me? How about we win Silver Spirit Badges together? I'll support you, and we'll be unstoppable."