Entering Heaven Dou, the Azure Luan's First Cry at the Great Spirit Arena

After daybreak.

The rain had passed, and the sky was clear, washed a brilliant blue.

But the ruins of Youjian Inn still gave off a nauseating stench of blood.

Feng Yun turned back, his expression so dark it looked as if water might drip from it.

In silence, he dug the dried corpses of the proprietress and Nannan out of the rubble.

From then on, beside the weather-beaten boulder at the town entrance, there were two new graves, one large and one small.

Feng Yun gently planted the wooden sword he had carved with his own hands before Nannan's grave.

The wooden sword was crude, yet straight as his spine.

"Master, is the world... the same no matter where you go?"

Feng Yun murmured in his heart, a trace of confusion in his voice.

Yun Yun's cool, elegant phantom gave a soft sigh, her voice gentle yet cruel. "Douluo Continent is no different from Dou Qi Continent."

"They are both filled with wicked people."

"The strong prey on the weak all the same."

"Without enough strength, weakness itself is a kind of original sin."

Feng Yun clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms.

In that moment, something in his mindset shifted.

All that nonsense about crossing over, fighting monsters, leveling up, and becoming a god was utter bullshit!

Only becoming stronger mattered!

Only by becoming strong enough that everyone feared him could he grasp his own fate!

Looking at those two graves, he felt a hatred for those Fallen Spirit Masters who committed every evil, a loathing that came from his bones.

Everything that had happened today would be carved into his heart.

Feng Yun delayed no longer and set off for Heaven Dou City.

Four days later.

Dusty and travel-worn, Feng Yun finally arrived at Heaven Dou City.

Looking at the city walls before him, grand as a giant beast, and at the bustling streets packed with carriages, horses, and richly dressed pedestrians, Feng Yun only wanted to find a place to wash up.

By now, after four days of mad rushing and the fierce battle before it, the clothes all over his body were long since torn to tatters, strips of cloth fluttering wildly in the wind, making him look exactly like a beggar who had just escaped from a refugee camp.

Passersby all cast strange looks at him, and even a few noble young ladies covered their mouths and noses in disgust, taking a detour around him.

What are you staring at? Never seen performance art before?

Feng Yun ranted madly in his heart.

His old face reddened, and he hurriedly lowered his head, rushing into a hotel.

Under the suspicious gaze of the receptionist, he directly slapped down gold spirit coins and booked a first-class room.

After taking a thoroughly satisfying hot bath, and changing into a clean, neat set of cyan fitted clothes, Feng Yun finally felt somewhat human again.

A wisp of faint fragrance drifted by, and Yun Yun's figure quietly solidified inside the room.

She shook her head helplessly.

Walking up behind Feng Yun, she reached out with her fair hand, picked up a dry towel, and gently wiped his damp hair.

While Feng Yun enjoyed the warm service of his own cool, beautiful master, his heart drummed with delight, and he could not help asking, "Master, since we rushed all the way to Heaven Dou City like this, could there be some opportunity here?"

Yun Yun's hands paused slightly, and she smacked his head in annoyance.

"All you think about all day is pies falling from the sky."

"There are no opportunities here. What there is, is new training prepared for you."

"Training?"

Feng Yun scratched his head, somewhat confused.

"Let me ask you. In your battle with that Fallen Spirit Master a few days ago, what problems did you discover in yourself?"

At the mention of the Fallen Spirit Master, Feng Yun immediately put away his playful grin.

After pondering for a moment, he summarized seriously, "At first, because I didn't know his abilities or that strange bloody spirit skill, I suffered a hidden loss and was injured as soon as we exchanged blows."

"And my rhythm was led by him the whole time. I fought very passively."

Yun Yun nodded with relief, then said solemnly, "You did indeed accumulate quite a bit of experience fighting those savage spirit beasts in the Star Dou Forest."

"But low-level spirit beasts are still spirit beasts. Their attacks are straightforward and utterly brutal."

"When you contend with human Spirit Masters, especially those cunning old opponents, your real combat experience is far from enough."

"Then what do you mean, Teacher?"

"Go to Heaven Dou City's Great Spirit Arena," Yun Yun said lightly.

"!!!"

Feng Yun instantly came to a realization.

The Great Spirit Arena!

That was a meat grinder where Spirit Masters could fight legally and gain both fame and fortune!

It seemed Teacher intended to use the Spirit Masters of the Great Spirit Arena as whetstones for him.

Heaven Dou Great Spirit Arena.

By the time Feng Yun finished the registration process, he had an extra Group of Demons badge in his hand.

To hide his identity, he deliberately put on a Blue Bird mask and gave himself the code name "Green Phoenix." The martial soul he registered was also the Green Phoenix Sword.

In the passage leading to the preparation area, waves of cheers and screams thundered in his ears.

Lights of every color flashed on the spirit arena not far away.

The air was thick with hormones and the smell of blood.

"Tch, as expected of Heaven Dou City's high-end entertainment program."

"With this atmosphere, anyone with high blood pressure had better stay away."

Feng Yun tugged at the corner of his mouth and muttered to himself.

"Next, let us welcome the contestants for the next spirit battle!"

The host's voice rang through the entire venue through spirit-power amplification.

"The veteran rank twenty-nine Grand Spirit Master, 'Black Panther,' against the newcomer, 'Green Phoenix'!"

Hearing his own code name, Feng Yun took a deep breath and slowly stepped onto the spirit arena.

His opponent was a lean middle-aged man with fierce, predatory eyes.

When the man saw Feng Yun's somewhat slender build, a cruel smile involuntarily curled at the corner of his mouth.

"Little guy, you're new?"

"The Great Spirit Arena isn't a place for playing house."

"Although it's not a life-and-death match like in the underground spirit arena, broken legs and injuries are still unavoidable."

"It's not too late to admit defeat now."

Feng Yun had yet to speak.

Yun Yun's voice transmission sounded beside his ear.

"Yun'er, in this battle, you are not allowed to use your spirit rings or spirit skills. You may only use the Green Phoenix Sword and battle techniques."

"Huh?"

Feng Yun was greatly shocked inwardly.

Not being able to use spirit skills—wasn't that like cutting off one of his own arms?

But since it was his master's request, he could only brace himself and accept it.

The spirit battle began!

Black Panther let out a low growl, and his Black Panther martial soul possessed him.

Two yellow hundred-year spirit rings instantly lit up beneath his feet.

His hands turned into sharp leopard claws, and his whole body became a streak of black lightning, pouncing before Feng Yun in an instant.

Because Feng Yun could not use spirit skills.

For a moment, the flow of spirit power he had grown used to circulating hit a slight snag, and his body reacted half a beat too slowly.

Riiip—

A black panther claw swept past, grazing his chest.

In an instant, it tore through the new clothes he had just changed into.

"Tch. Couldn't even look cool for three seconds. My brand-new clothes!"

Feng Yun's heart ached terribly.

He borrowed the force to retreat wildly.

But that strike also thoroughly awakened his battle instincts.

So I can't use spirit skills. I've still got movement techniques!

Feng Yun's gaze sharpened. Stepping with the footwork of Wind Soaring Step, his figure began to accelerate.

When Black Panther pounced at him again with bloodthirsty ferocity, Feng Yun did not meet him head-on.

Instead, relying on his keen perception, he dodged away by a hair's breadth.

The Green Phoenix Sword left its sheath, its blade accompanied by a faint green glow.

"Wind Blade!"

Feng Yun slashed repeatedly with his longsword.

Although no spirit ring lit up, as the longsword danced, sharp green wind blades were struck out of thin air one after another.

The dense barrage of wind blades enveloped his opponent.

"!!!"

Black Panther's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly used spirit power to protect his whole body.

But under the endless, extremely fast cutting of those wind blades, the speed he had always been so proud of could not be brought into play at all.

In just moments, countless fine sword wounds appeared all over him.

Black Panther was forced back step by step.

In the end, Feng Yun struck him hard in the chest with a heavy, powerful slash, sending him off the spirit arena with a muffled groan.

A wave of incredulous discussion erupted from the audience below the stage.

"Holy shit? What just happened?"

"That kid didn't even have a single spirit ring light up. How did he release those wind blades just now?"

"Could it be a self-created spirit skill?"

Exclamations rose all around.

Feng Yun stood with his sword withdrawn, hiding his achievements and fame, then turned and walked back to the rest area.

Late at night.

Inside a hotel room in Heaven Dou City.

The lighting was dim.

Feng Yun sat bare-chested on a chair.

Yun Yun was holding a specially made healing ointment, her slender fingers dipped in the salve as she gently applied it to the wounds he had sustained in the fight with the Fallen Spirit Master.

The ointment was cool, but the warmth of his teacher's fingers made Feng Yun's thoughts wander a little.

"Hiss... Teacher, be gentler. It hurts."

Feng Yun deliberately sucked in a breath and put on an act.

"So now you know pain?"

Yun Yun's beautiful eyes glared, though the force in her hand unconsciously softened a little.

Immediately after, Yun Yun's expression became stern.

"Although you won today's spirit fight, your performance was a complete mess."

"Your wind-attribute spirit power output was entirely intermittent. You clearly kept instinctively trying to use spirit skills, wasting at least thirty percent of your spirit power on useless consumption."

"And you don't know how to observe your opponent at all."

"After his first attack missed, his center of gravity was obviously unstable. If you had turned sideways and struck with your sword right then, the battle would have ended long ago. How would he have had the chance to tear your clothes?"

Feng Yun shrank his neck and obediently listened to the scolding.

Inwardly, he muttered, Sure enough, you really can't mess with a cool, aloof big sister when she gets strict.

"In view of your crude control over spirit power, starting tonight, I will teach you some unique Dou Qi usage techniques from the Dou Qi Continent."

As Yun Yun put away the ointment, she said seriously, "These techniques can allow you, during the 'spirit power vacuum period' when you are not using martial soul spirit skills, to unleash the strongest attacks with the smallest consumption."

"Watch carefully. Spirit power should be compressed in the meridians like this..."

The night was deep and quiet.

Feng Yun's studies had only just begun.