The Weak Resort to Tricks; the Strong Care Only About Their Fists

Ye Hua raised an eyebrow slightly. "What happened?"

"Those... those guys," Ning Rongrong panted, "actually matched you against a Soul Ancestor-level opponent!"

"And he's a level 47 defense-type Soul Ancestor! He's already won twenty-three straight matches and only needs one more to advance to Silver Douluo!"

"Oh?" Rather than getting angry, Ye Hua smiled, looking genuinely interested. "Even better."

Oscar was being dragged along at a run, panting heavily. Hearing that, disbelief filled his face.

"Teacher Ye, don't be reckless! That's a level 47 Soul Ancestor!"

"Your Soul Rings may be unprecedented, but that's still an entire rank gap!"

Ye Hua shrugged. "Crossing ranks is what makes it interesting. Shrek has monster students, so it should have monster teachers too. Fighting above my rank is just the right way to savor the thrill of battle."

Seeing how unconcerned Ye Hua was, Oscar and Ning Rongrong exchanged glances.

"Didn't I disguise my Soul Rings because I wanted to catch them off guard too?"

"Enough, don't overthink it. The weak resort to tricks; the strong care only about their fists."

"Since they arranged a Soul Ancestor opponent for me, I just have to beat him off the stage."

Knowing they could not persuade Ye Hua, the two could only smile helplessly. "Then shall we go place bets for you first?"

"To win back a round, the Great Spirit Arena has set the odds extremely high. But this time, they favor your opponent, so you need to be careful."

"Don't worry." Ye Hua stretched lazily and leaped toward the arena. "I'm not about to spit out meat that's already in my mouth."

On the arena stage, Lei Yan had long since readied himself.

He was a short, stout middle-aged man, with dark yellow stone armor covering both arms. Two yellow and two purple Soul Rings slowly revolved beneath his feet.

When he saw Ye Hua step onto the stage, he grinned, revealing smoke-yellowed teeth.

"Kid, I know you're strange, but don't think beating that trash Iron Mountain in an instant makes you anything special!"

"Before my Black Tortoise Shield, your staff isn't even worthy of scratching an itch!"

Ye Hua remained expressionless. The Coiling Dragon Staff spun once in his hand, and his Soul Rings lit up, still the commoner's configuration of "white, yellow, purple."

Lei Yan sneered and clapped his hands together. His third Soul Ring lit up, and earth-yellow Soul Power condensed into a heavy rock shield before him, protecting him completely.

This was the defensive Soul Skill he took the greatest pride in: Profound Rock Barrier. Even assault-type Soul Masters below level 45 found it difficult to break.

"Come on, kid! Let Grandpa see what you can do!"

Ye Hua narrowed his eyes. "Fire Dragon's Roar."

His first Soul Ring burst open, and True Dragon Flames surged forth, slamming hard into the rock shield.

Boom—

The instant the flames collided with the rock shield, the temperature on the stage rose by several degrees.

Lei Yan's smile froze. He could clearly feel his Profound Rock Barrier crumbling at an unbelievable speed.

Attack against defense, dominance against dominance—it all came down to who had the greater power!

Before the Coiling Dragon Staff, the Black Tortoise Shield was clearly powerless!

Crack.

The rock shield shattered.

Before Lei Yan could react, Ye Hua's second strike had already arrived.

The Coiling Dragon Staff smashed into the ground. His second Soul Skill, [Heaven-Shaking Stonebreak], sent out a shockwave that knocked Lei Yan's feet off the ground and threw him off balance.

Then came the third strike, [Mountain-Severing Bull-Striking]. Soul Power pierced through the air and struck his chest.

Bang!

Lei Yan was sent flying violently, his internal organs seeming to shift out of place as he crashed heavily near the edge of the arena.

But to Ye Hua's surprise, he barely managed to stand again and even assumed a counterattacking stance!

Ye Hua shook his head in slight disappointment. "Looks like my combo still can't instantly defeat a Soul Ancestor."

At that moment, Lei Yan roared and charged at him, earth-yellow Soul Power rolling over his body. He clearly intended to seize the opening after Ye Hua had just finished his combo, when his old strength was spent and his new strength had yet to arise, staking everything on one attack.

An ordinary person would likely have suffered badly!

But was Ye Hua ordinary?

He flipped around and struck with his staff, unleashing the strongest shield-breaking move of the Nine Heavens Staff Technique: [Thunderous Staff Strike].

At the instant they collided, he shattered the Soul Power around Lei Yan's body and sent him flying, directly off the stage.

A level 47 defense-type Soul Ancestor had not even lasted two exchanges before crashing to the ground, limbs sprawled wide, foaming at the mouth and unconscious.

The spectator stands fell silent once more before erupting again.

"Damn it! Refund our money!"

"It's rigged! It has to be rigged!"

"He won instantly again? That was a level 47 Soul Ancestor!"

"Damn, I thought this guy could withstand the Winning-Streak Killer's overwhelming assault, but he didn't even last half an hour!"

"Streak Ender! Is this guy here specifically to end winning streaks?"

Ignoring the uproar from the stands, Ye Hua calmly withdrew his staff and stepped down beneath the referee's stunned gaze.

When he returned to the waiting area, Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing had already been waiting for some time. Worried, Xiao Wu rushed over, looking him over from left to right. Only after confirming that Ye Hua was unharmed did she finally sigh in relief.

"Brother, are you tired? If you are, you can rest with your head on my lap."

"Sure!" Ye Hua naturally did not stand on ceremony and lay down on Xiao Wu's lap without hesitation.

Zhu Zhuqing used a towel to wipe the sweat from his forehead, making the other battle Soul Masters in the waiting area green with envy.

Damn it, this brat wasn't just here to crush weaklings—he was here to flaunt his romance too. Was there no justice in this world?

A moment later, Ye Hua spotted Ning Rongrong running over with the betting slips. He smiled and nodded. "How were the returns?"

Ning Rongrong slapped the betting slips onto a chair. "We made a killing again! Making money like a snowball rolling downhill feels amazing!"

"You have no idea. We started with fifty Gold Soul Coins, and now it's multiplied a hundredfold. We've got around five thousand already!"

"Even one of our family's medium-sized businesses only earns that much in a week!"

"Basic operation." Ye Hua turned his head and noticed that Oscar was not behind her. "Where's Xiao Ao?"

Ning Rongrong did not care. "Him? He bet on you to win too. He went to collect his money!"

"But we won too many Gold Soul Coins, so we can only exchange them all together after tonight's spirit battles are over!"

"That works." Ye Hua did not insist and simply got to his feet. "Come on, let's do two-on-two."

"Xiao Wu and Zhu Qing will be a team. I'll team up separately with Rongrong and Xiao Ao. Once we finish, we're done for the day!"

Yet while some rejoiced, others worried. Ye Hua had earned a fortune, but the Great Spirit Arena had completely lost its composure.

The presiding referee stood trembling in the manager's office, receiving a furious scolding.

"What the hell happened? Didn't I tell you to arrange some powerful opponents and end his winning streak?"

"The gamblers outside are rioting. They all say our Great Spirit Arena is rigged and cheating them out of their money!"

"If this keeps up, who will come to watch the matches?"

The referee's eyelids twitched wildly. "Manager Yang, it really isn't our fault! We've already done everything we could. We can't exactly send a Soul King onto the stage, can we?"

"Then send one!" Manager Yang slammed the desk and sprang to his feet. "As long as we can end his winning streak!"

"But what if he wins?" the referee blurted out. "Wouldn't that only confirm that we rigged things?"

"If he loses, having a Soul King bully a Soul Elder would damage our reputation too!"

Manager Yang rolled his eyes. "Then make your move in the two-on-two matches. His teammates can't all be strong, can they?"

"Don't touch the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect disciple. We can't afford to offend Sect Master Ning. Target him when he teams up with that Soul Master with the Sausage Martial Soul!"

The referee no longer dared argue. He hurriedly left with the order, afraid he would be called back for another scolding.

But as he hurried toward the drawing area and passed a corner, a shadow suddenly lunged out!

Squelch!

A dagger pierced his throat!

"You..."

The referee stared in disbelief. He had never expected anyone to dare cause trouble inside the Great Spirit Arena, and he had been completely unguarded.

He did not even have time to cry for help before his windpipe was cut and his lung punctured, leaving him able to make only weak, gurgling sounds.

Thud!

The corpse fell to the ground!

The shadow dragged him into the corner and stripped off his clothes without a word.

A while later, the "referee" emerged from the corner. After confirming that no one had noticed, he headed toward the drawing area...