And walking beside him was a middle-aged man of about forty years old. The man wore a robe as white as snow, his face looked like jade, and he possessed an air of refined scholarly grace while leaning on a blue gemstone scepter.
As for the last person, it was an extremely tall elder.
The elder looked quite lean, even giving people the impression that only a skeleton remained of him. His long black hair was scattered behind his back, and his facial features were sharply defined.
Even though this elder was not releasing any soul power and made no deliberate show of imposing aura, when the surrounding crowd came close to him, they would instinctively feel an indescribable sense of oppression, subconsciously putting some distance between themselves and him.
The three of them entered the Great Soul Arena all the way.
The young man walking ahead looked at the bustling surroundings and suddenly smiled as he said,
"Teacher, it has been quite a while since we last came to the Great Soul Arena."
Hearing this, the middle-aged man in white beside him likewise smiled slightly and said,
"Coming to take a look at the soul fighting of the younger generation on occasion is not bad either."
Saying this, his gaze swept casually across the soul-fighting roster hanging nearby.
Suddenly, the middle-aged man's footsteps paused slightly, and his sight stopped on one of the upcoming two-on-two soul fights.
"Teacher, what is the matter with you?"
Seeing him suddenly stop in his tracks, the young man beside him looked somewhat puzzled.
The middle-aged man did not answer immediately, but instead narrowed his eyes slightly, carefully examining the soul-fighting information hanging on the wall. He saw that the information for both sides of one of the two-on-two soul fights tonight was startlingly written as:
[Gu Ling, Ye Lingling VS Yu Tianheng, Dugu Yan]
Directly behind the names of several people, the soul-master information left when they registered was also simply noted.
Bone Dragon Martial Soul, Nine-Heart Begonia, Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, Jade Phosphorous Serpent.
When he saw the two words "Bone Dragon", the middle-aged man's previously calm expression underwent a noticeable change. Immediately afterward, his gaze fell once more upon the name Gu Ling.
"Gu Ling... Bone Dragon Martial Soul?"
The middle-aged man murmured the name softly, as if suddenly realizing something, and immediately turned his head to look at the tall and lean elder beside him, a trace of astonishment showing on his face as he said,
"Uncle Gu, take a look here."
Hearing this, the elder immediately looked toward the nearby spot. When he saw the words "Gu Ling" and "Bone Dragon", that pair of previously somewhat lazy eyes narrowed slightly as well.
The middle-aged man could not help smiling and said,
"Interesting. To think someone actually has a martial soul identical to yours, and shares the surname Gu as well?"
"Isn't this a bit too much of a coincidence? Could it be that you secretly..."
Hearing this, the expression on the elder's face also evidently took on a few more parts of surprise. The Bone Dragon Martial Soul was extremely rare to begin with, and true possessors of this martial soul across the entire continent were very few in number.
And now.
A young soul master with the Bone Dragon Martial Soul had suddenly appeared in the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena.
What was even more coincidental was that the opponent also happened to share the surname Gu!
The elder stared at that name for a few seconds, then gently rubbed his chin and spoke in a low voice,
"Fengzhi, don't joke with me. I have never heard of the name Gu Ling before. I'm not the only one who possesses the Bone Dragon Martial Soul either, but..."
Saying this, his gaze fell once again upon the two characters Gu Ling.
"This kid also surnamed Gu, now that is indeed rather interesting."
Seeing the two of them chatting animatedly, the young man beside them evidently grew interested as well, smiling as he said,
"And his opponent is even Yu Tianheng of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul."
"Bone Dragon versus Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon."
"This soul fight seems even more interesting than the ones we were just planning to watch."
Hearing this, the corners of the elder's mouth curved upward slightly as well.
He might not hold much interest in the soul fights of other young soul masters, but he naturally could not help feeling curious about a youth who possessed the exact same martial soul as himself and also shared the surname Gu.
"Since it's such a coincidence, let's go take a look."
The middle-aged man smiled faintly, nodded, and said with a serious expression,
"I was thinking the exact same thing. To be arranged to fight Yu Tianheng in a two-on-two soul fight, this Gu Ling probably isn't just any ordinary soul master."
With that, the three of them changed their original direction and walked toward the sub-soul arena where this two-on-two match was taking place. Soon, they arrived at a VIP section situated above the spectator stands.
The elder still did not speak much, but within his mind, he had already begun recalling things.
A few minutes later.
As the spectators entered one after another, the atmosphere of the entire sub-soul arena gradually grew lively.
Inside the VIP spectator area.
The three people who had just entered the soul arena had already taken their seats respectively.
And these three were none other than Ning Fengzhi, the Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Gu Rong the Bone Douluo, and Xue Qinghe, the current Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire!
The three of them had originally just come to the Great Soul Arena out of leisure to watch the soul fights between young soul masters, but they had not expected to run into a young soul master whose martial soul was also the Bone Dragon and who shared the surname Gu the moment they entered.
Therefore, even for Gu Rong, he could not help harboring a bit more interest at this moment.
"Uncle Gu."
Ning Fengzhi sat upright in his seat, his gaze falling upon the soul-fighting stage below as he smiled and said,
"There aren't many young people who can manage to spark your interest."
Hearing this, Gu Rong curled his lip and said,
"Old me is merely curious."
"The Bone Dragon Martial Soul is rare to begin with, and this kid just happens to be surnamed Gu."
"I naturally have to see whether his martial soul is truly the exact same kind as old me's."
Xue Qinghe sat to one side, a gentle smile still hanging on his face as he spoke in a low voice,
"To be able to appear in the two-on-two soul-fighting arena alongside Yu Tianheng, he should presumably also be a student of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy. If that truly is the case, we can have someone look into it later."
Hearing this, Ning Fengzhi nodded slightly, and it seemed he was thinking along the exact same lines.
Just as the three of them were conversing.
On the soul-fighting stage below, Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan had already taken the lead in walking out from a side passageway.
Following the appearance of the two, a wave of cheers instantly rang out from the surrounding spectator stands.
Clearly, as members of the Imperial Dou Team of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, the two of them had already participated in quite a few soul fights within the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena and thus possessed a certain degree of fame.
Not long after, from the passageway on the other side.
Gu Ling and Ye Lingling also slowly walked out.
Seeing Ye Lingling, Ning Fengzhi did not feel any surprise. Although the Nine-Heart Begonia Martial Soul was extremely rare, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect naturally possessed some understanding of such top-tier support-type martial souls.
What truly caused him to focus his attention and take notice was instead the black-robed youth standing beside Ye Lingling.
Clad in simple black tight-fitting battle attire, around twelve years of age, with a slender figure, he showed no trace of nervousness on his face despite facing the watchful gazes of several thousand surrounding spectators.
Gu Rong stared at Gu Ling for a few moments, raised a hand to rub his chin, and said in a deep voice,
"So this kid's martial soul is the Bone Dragon?"
Hearing this, Ning Fengzhi nodded slightly.
"That should be correct."
Right at this moment, the referee at the center of the soul-fighting stage suddenly stepped forward. First casting a glance at the personnel of both sides to confirm there were no issues, he then spoke in a loud voice to announce:
"Both sides prepare!"
"Two-on-two soul fight—now begin!"
As his voice fell!
Yu Tianheng took a step forward almost instantly and shouted in a low voice:
"Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul! Avatar!"
Before you continue