Overwhelming Victory

The instant the fireball was launched, Yang Dong gripped the Immaculate Sword and used Five-Stage Slash, instantly leaving his previous position and closing in diagonally on Charcoal.

Even now, he had not released his martial soul. Beneath the sword's gleam, a figure flickered.

What incredible speed!

Charcoal's heart sank, but with his extensive combat experience, he did not panic. Instead, he stood where he was and waited for Yang Dong to approach. He had faced many opponents who wanted to engage him in close combat.

Little did they know, his First Soul Skill was merely a feint. His next three soul skills were all ferocious close-range soul skills. Anyone who treated him like a ranged fighter would suffer badly.

He was here. Closer.

A smug smile appeared on Charcoal's face as the three Soul Rings behind him lit up in succession. Flames suddenly erupted within thirty feet of him, their terrifying heat enough to scorch a person to ash. This was his prized skill, Flame Burst.

The moment the flames erupted, a massive flaming palm slammed down toward where Yang Dong stood. Its enormous power drew repeated cries from the surrounding spectators.

"Boring. Charcoal is too strong. He should advance to Silver-Rank Soul Duelist already. Isn't he just bullying people down here in Bronze-Rank?"

"He's only taking advantage of people not knowing his information. If they knew his skills, there's no way he could defeat opponents this easily."

Discussion broke out around them. Normally, Charcoal would have cheered along with the crowd, but now he sensed something was wrong. A figure charged out from within the flames.

The sword light was like a cold moon hanging high in the sky, bringing endless chill to Charcoal. How was this possible? How could someone walk out of Flame Burst completely unscathed?

Yang Dong's face beneath the mask remained expressionless. Inside the flames just now, he had used the sword technique Po Jun Sheng Long Strike. Borrowing the hyper armor effect of that sword technique, he had emerged so easily.

"Slash!"

Yang Dong was incredibly fast. What astonished everyone even more was that, even now, he had yet to reveal his martial soul. The only weapon he used was a sword.

"Get lost! Flame Burst!"

Charcoal directly unleashed the attack again. Flames exploded around his body, and the terrifying heat even set his clothes ablaze.

Soul Devour!

Instead of retreating, Yang Dong advanced, pressing directly against Charcoal's side. His left hand grabbed Charcoal's head with overwhelming force.

Judgment successful!

The flames could not harm Yang Dong in the slightest. But that was not the most terrifying part for Charcoal. The blood in his body was rushing uncontrollably toward his head, as though his head would burst like a firework the next second.

"Do you surrender?"

Yang Dong's voice beneath the mask did not fluctuate in the slightest. He knew that the person in his grasp had already felt the power of this attack.

"I surrender! I surrender! I surrender!"

Charcoal hurriedly shouted, afraid that if he called out too slowly, his life would be in danger.

"Arena No. 3, Dugu Qiubai wins!"

The referee announced the result somewhat hesitantly. He had not seen clearly what had just happened.

Only after hearing the referee's voice did Yang Dong release the left hand gripping Charcoal's head. Even so, Charcoal, whose blood and qi had surged throughout his body, felt terrible all over. The moment Yang Dong let go, he left the arena without saying a word.

"What happened? It's over already? That wasn't even a minute, was it?"

"This newcomer defeated Charcoal? It doesn't feel real."

The people in the stands could not make sense of it. They only cared about the time. Less than a minute had passed, and there had been nothing to watch.

Compared to the audience, some of the soul masters below saw things a little more clearly. But they also did not know how Yang Dong had defeated Charcoal within Charcoal's Flame Burst.

In any case, they had begun to take Yang Dong seriously.

"Would you like to defend the arena, or rest first?"

Once the lingering flames on the arena dissipated, the referee in charge of Arena No. 3 walked up to Yang Dong and asked.

Defending the arena meant remaining on this arena as its champion. After achieving five consecutive victories, one could receive a gift from the Grand Soul Arena, while ten consecutive victories would allow one to directly become a Silver-Rank Soul Duelist.

For Yang Dong, naturally, he would choose the more difficult option.

"I choose to defend the arena."

The referee smiled and nodded. He quickly spread the news that Yang Dong would defend the arena, while the spectators outside began placing bets. Naturally, most of them bet that he could not do it.

Inside the lounge,

Only Bai Jiajia and several accompanying people remained in the room. Tang Hao and the others had also gone to the battle area.

"The odds for betting on Yang Dong to get five straight wins are three to one, while the odds for him to get ten straight wins are ten to one?"

Bai Jiajia looked at the betting device before her, raising an eyebrow slightly. She inserted a card into the device and placed thirty thousand Gold Soul Coins on ten consecutive victories.

"Go tell Yang Dong that if he doesn't get ten straight wins, I'll make him regret it!"

After placing her bet, Bai Jiajia's gaze fell on one of her attendants as she spoke lightly.

The attendant left the lounge, but rather than heading straight for Yang Dong's arena, he went to a betting station.

"Twenty Gold Soul Coins on Yang Dong getting ten straight wins!"

Victory did not seem difficult for Yang Dong. In just fifteen minutes, he had sent three more challengers off the arena with overwhelming force. Now, he only needed one more victory to achieve five consecutive wins.

The spectators had already remembered his name: Dugu Qiubai!

"Come on! Someone beat him already! My Gold Soul Coins!"

"Keep it up! Beat one more, hahaha! I'll win everything back this time!"

Some rejoiced while others despaired. Not only did the spectators display all manner of reactions, but even the challengers' section had fallen silent.

After four matches, the useful information they had obtained was pitifully scarce.

What worried them most was that, up to this point, the man calling himself Dugu Qiubai had not even revealed his martial soul.

"Who's next? Which one of you wants to go up?"

An assistant walked over to the soul masters and asked.

Silence reigned. These Bronze-Rank soul masters stared off into space, and no one wanted to face someone as monstrous as him.

"All right, I understand."

The assistant glanced helplessly at the crowd and walked outside. He had encountered this kind of situation before; it was nothing unusual.

"Supervisor, those people below are too afraid to go up. Should we ask those people to make a move?"

The assistant entered a room and spoke respectfully.

Those people referred to highly famous Soul Duelists, each of whom had a reputation no weaker than Charcoal's. The reason they had not allowed them to appear all along was to give those below a chance.

Now, it seemed that they could not seize that chance.

"Fine."

The supervisor agreed to the plan. Five consecutive victories were acceptable, but ten consecutive victories could not be achieved so easily!