"This time, it was all thanks to you."
After stepping off the stage, Ning Tian thanked Jiang Bai.
They had won so easily mainly because of Jiang Bai. The cold had restricted the Lan Sisters' circulation of Soul Power.
Otherwise, faced with their overwhelming barrage of hair, even if Ning Tian had supported Wu Feng with all her strength, it would not necessarily have gone well. One careless mistake and they would have been defeated.
"It's nothing. You could have beaten them with someone else too."
Jiang Bai replied. With Ning Tian's support and Wu Feng's flames, even that agility-attack Soul Master from the original story could have easily gotten around Huang Chutian at the front and tried to take out the Lan Sisters.
"Not necessarily."
Ning Tian shook her head. She could still have won without Jiang Bai, but she did not think replacing him with someone else would have made the victory so effortless, unless they had replaced him with a battle-type Soul Elder.
"Why didn't you use your weapon during our previous sparring matches? Were you looking down on me?"
An annoyed voice came from beside him. Jiang Bai turned to see Wu Feng approaching, covered in minor injuries.
They had sparred before, but he had never once taken out his weapon.
Wu Feng glared at Jiang Bai angrily.
Was he looking down on her?
Fire-type Soul Masters always had such violent tempers.
Jiang Bai merely shrugged indifferently.
"There was no need."
Against a simple-minded, physically capable Soul Master like Wu Feng, Jiang Bai could have stabbed her four times and left eight holes in her body in the instant she blinked.
"You!"
Seeing Jiang Bai's unconcerned expression, Wu Feng wanted to flare up again, but Ning Tian pressed down the hand she had just raised.
"Enough. We still have another fight this afternoon. Focus on recovering."
The elimination rounds had one match in the morning and one in the afternoon each day.
Their afternoon battle was also resolved easily, though Jiang Bai was forced to reveal some of his strength.
Just as Ning Tian had expected, after releasing one yellow and one purple Soul Ring, Wu Feng and Jiang Bai defeated their opponents the moment they were stunned.
That concluded the day's matches.
That evening, Xiao Xiao went to return books with Jiang Bai.
Jiang Bai had already finished reading the Soul Beast encyclopedia they had borrowed before and planned to read the next one.
"Wang Dong and Yuhao suddenly have an inexplicably good relationship." Xiao Xiao walked ahead, gazing at the moon in the sky as she suddenly sighed.
"Isn't that a good thing?"
Jiang Bai said. After gaining a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, wasn't it only natural for their relationship to improve?
"They've excluded me."
Xiao Xiao said indignantly. The two of them were getting closer and closer, but it seemed as though nothing had changed for her.
Their relationship kept getting better, but her relationship with them seemed unchanged. The three of them had once acted together, but now those two had become a unit of their own, while she felt like an unnecessary extra.
Whenever the three of them were together, Xiao Xiao felt as though she was shining brilliantly.
Jiang Bai suddenly stopped walking. Xiao Xiao did not notice and ran straight into his back.
"What are you doing? Why did you suddenly stop?"
Rubbing her slightly aching forehead, Xiao Xiao looked at Jiang Bai and found that he was extremely serious.
In the open space before the library stood a scruffy old man. He wore a grimy gray robe covered in oil stains and holes, his hair was a tangled bird's nest, and his face was covered in stubble.
He held a half-eaten chicken leg in one hand and a wine gourd in the other. His cloudy eyes were exceptionally bright in the night, fixed on the two of them.
Or rather, fixed on Jiang Bai.
Jiang Bai could feel that gaze resting directly on him.
"Kid, release your soul skill."
The scruffy old man commanded him. His tone was filled with authority and held not a trace of emotion.
Xuan Zi.
Jiang Bai recognized him at a glance. Shrek Academy's madman, the Taotie Douluo, a level ninety-eight Super Douluo.
He had an eccentric temperament and acted tyrannically. He could walk through the academy however he pleased, and no one dared stop him.
"Senior, may I ask who you are?"
Jiang Bai knowingly asked, and Xuan Zi's answer did not surprise him.
"You are not qualified to know my name. Release your Soul Rings. Do not make me repeat myself."
Hearing that, Jiang Bai felt a little anger rise within him.
Should I find an opportunity to have Ye Guyi kill this vicious-beast Douluo? I wonder if he counts as an Evil Soul Master. By The Unrivaled Tang Clan's standards, Taotie is definitely an evil Martial Soul.
"Yes, Senior."
Seeing Jiang Bai release his two Soul Rings, Xuan Zi merely nodded.
"Do not rely on external things. Only your own strength is true strength. Cultivate properly."
After saying that, Xuan Zi left. A Detached Martial Soul was unimpressive even with a thousand-year Soul Ring.
"Who was that? Why was he so fierce?!"
Xiao Xiao said angrily. She had been so suppressed by his presence that she had not dared speak and had immediately hidden behind Jiang Bai.
This was the second time. The last time had been Old Gong, but Xiao Xiao knew Old Gong was a good person. He had been polite to both of them afterward, at least not using his status to bully others.
But that old man just now had been nothing more than a rogue, hadn't he?
"I don't know, but he was very strong."
Jiang Bai did not know Xuan Zi's identity right now.
"Don't worry. I'll definitely help you get revenge in the future."
Cultivating a Detached Martial Soul was difficult. Xiao Xiao had learned that from the dorm supervisor, but it did not matter. Once she had cultivated enough in the future, she would help Jiang Bai take revenge.
"Keep it up."
Seeing Xiao Xiao's righteous expression, Jiang Bai could only encourage her.
Xuan Zi was currently level ninety-eight. Without Huo Yuhao's help, he would never reach the Limit Realm in this lifetime.
Xiao Xiao's Twin Martial Souls... reaching the Limit Realm would be difficult, but reaching level ninety-eight should not be a problem.
Although the quality of her Martial Souls would not be much higher than Taotie, Xiao Xiao had two of them. If the two fought, it should not be difficult.
After returning the books, the two returned to the dormitory.
"Senior, do you know someone in the academy who looks like a beggar?"
Xiao Xiao immediately ran over to complain to the senior downstairs.
"Why are you looking for him?"
Hearing Xiao Xiao's description, the old man immediately guessed that she was talking about Xuan Zi.
Thinking of Xuan Zi's temperament, the old man felt somewhat helpless as well.
"He was too much!!"
She told the old man about what had just happened. Although she exaggerated it a little, it was more or less accurate.
"Mm... he is indeed a little muddleheaded."
Thinking of some of Xuan Zi's past actions gave the old man a headache, especially that incident last time. If Zhang Lexuan had not been lucky, then...
And now Xuan Zi was using his power to bully others, suppressing the weak with strength...
It was time to teach him a lesson.
"Are you confident that you can take first place in this competition?"
"Uh... sigh, without a Soul Elder, it'll be difficult."
At the mention of the competition, Xiao Xiao became dejected.
"You don't know, Senior. I saw two Soul Elders today, and I even fought and defeated a defense-type Soul Elder. If that defense-type Soul Elder hadn't had such weak offensive power, I might have already lost."
One of them was Xie Huanyue, and the other was Ning Tian.
"How is that Jiang boy doing?"
The old man asked curiously. Jiang Bai was rather special. He could sense that Jiang Bai had been suppressing his strength all along. If he erupted with everything he had, he might be able to fight a Soul Elder.
"Him? He's incredibly strong. He stood up there with his weapon, one yellow and one purple Soul Ring, holding off ten thousand alone. A control-type Soul Master who can fight even better than some assault-type Soul Masters."
Mentioning this, Xiao Xiao could not help praising him. Jiang Bai had not continued hiding his strength that afternoon, and even the spectators had been stunned.
"Your physique has been improving very quickly recently. It isn't only because of Red Jade, is it?"
"Hm? There's also this."
Knowing what the old man meant, Xiao Xiao took out a piece of Cold Marrow. The Cold Marrow, once the size of a fist, was now only as large as a little finger.
"Mm, this is quite useful."
This Cold Marrow was quite pure, but its quality was insufficient. Otherwise, it could have helped that child Xiaotao...
Thinking of Ma Xiaotao, the old man felt another wave of disappointment. If she could evolve her Martial Soul into Ultimate Flame, Shrek could retain another three hundred years of brilliance.
Unfortunately, it was too difficult.
Now, he could only wait and see how this little girl named Xiao Xiao would develop in the future.
A level ninety-eight Super Douluo with Twin Martial Souls, guided by him, should be strong enough in the future to contend with a Limit Douluo.
"We still don't know who we'll fight tomorrow. Xiao Xiao, you have to do your best!"
Xiao Xiao cultivated diligently on her bed, striving for tomorrow's battle.
"Hehe, you actually got matched against our class. You don't even have a single three-ring Soul Master. Zhou Yi, it looks like you're destined to lose this time."
At Examination Area Eight's viewing platform, Mu Jin looked at the six people below the stage.
Mu Jin looked provocatively at Zhou Yi. In her eyes, victory was already assured.
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