Zhu Zhuqing's brows furrowed even tighter.
"Yes."
"Dai Mubai and Fatty had both ended up like this, Oscar couldn't fight, and that only left Tang San, Xiao Wu, and me."
She looked out at the night view of Heaven Dou City, her gaze briefly lost before quickly turning resolute again.
"No matter what, we have to fulfill Master's requirement."
"We can only... force ourselves to go through with it."
Meanwhile, in a secluded corner of the contestants' preparation area at Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena.
Ye Lingling stood with her hands behind her back, her fingers nervously twisting together.
"Um..."
Her voice was a little weak, and her cheeks flushed faintly.
Tang Shuo stopped wiping the blood from his hands, turned around, and looked at her calmly.
"Is something wrong?"
"I... I wanted to..."
Ye Lingling took a deep breath and blurted out at lightning speed:
"I want to invite you to form a two-person team with me and compete in two-person soul fights!"
After saying that, she nervously lowered her head, not daring to meet Tang Shuo's eyes.
"Sure."
A crisp, straightforward voice sounded above her head.
Ye Lingling abruptly raised her head.
"Y-you agreed?"
"Mm." Tang Shuo nodded. "I'm getting a little tired of fighting solo matches by myself. Changing things up sounds good too."
Overwhelming joy instantly washed over Ye Lingling.
"That's wonderful! That's so wonderful!"
She jumped on the spot, then realized she had lost her composure and hurriedly resumed a ladylike posture. Still, she could not hide the smile at the corners of her lips.
"Then... what should we call our team?"
Tang Shuo rubbed his chin and pondered for a moment.
His gaze fell upon Ye Lingling's bright, excited eyes, then shifted to the image of her Nine-Heart Begonia martial soul.
"How about..."