Suotuo City's Great Soul Arena, Infiltrating Shrek!

"The Evil Fire Phoenix is a pretty good Martial Soul. If I steal it, I can create another new identity."

Qin Qi walked onto the arena through the passage, a good idea surfacing in his mind.

He would first steal Ma Hongjun's Martial Soul, then assume another identity and enroll at Blazing Fire Academy.

Then he could secretly steal things at Blazing Fire Academy. Such a huge academy was bound to have plenty of good stuff, right?

"What kind of look is that? Are you looking down on me, young master?"

"Though I'm fat, I'm damn agile!"

Seeing Qin Qi's distracted expression, Ma Hongjun assumed he was looking down on him.

He was instantly annoyed. Their academy's creed was that they had to cause trouble; those who could not cause trouble were mediocrities!

They absolutely could not let anyone look down on them.

"Huh? Me?"

Qin Qi froze for a moment. Had he looked down on the person before him? Why had he not known that himself?

He had merely been considering how to steal his Martial Soul.

If that was the case, he actually thought quite highly of Ma Hongjun. Otherwise, he would not have wanted to steal his Martial Soul.

"Enough nonsense. Take this!"

As Ma Hongjun spoke, he charged forward and punched at Qin Qi.

One-Ring Soul Masters had little Soul Power and only one soul skill. Most battles were still decided through hand-to-hand combat.

Ma Hongjun had not been at the Soul Arena for only a day or two. He understood this principle very well.

"Overestimating yourself."

Qin Qi shook his head. The Golden Saint Dragon emerged behind him, having absorbed Ah Yin's energy.

At that moment, the Golden Saint Dragon stood nearly five meters tall, and its spread wings made it even more massive.

"Roar."

The Golden Saint Dragon hovered behind Qin Qi, watching the little fatty rushing toward him.

Lightning gathered around its tail before it swung it out.

It moved so fast that it tore through the air with a whistle.

Unable to dodge in time, Ma Hongjun was struck head-on by the enormous impact and the numbing force of lightning.

Ma Hongjun collapsed to the ground, unable to move.

"I won that easily?"

Qin Qi looked at the fallen Ma Hongjun and froze again. He had not even made a move to steal Soul Power yet.

How had you already fallen?!

How were you even worse than Tang San?!

"The match is over. Luo Mian wins."

The referee looked over the arena and, after confirming that Ma Hongjun had lost his ability to fight, immediately announced the result.

The medical team came forward to carry Ma Hongjun away, and Qin Qi casually helped them.

While supporting Ma Hongjun, he used the Formless Hand to steal a bit of Soul Power.

"I can't steal his Martial Soul now. He just lost to me, and then his Martial Soul suddenly disappears."

"That would be far too suspicious. I need to find another opportunity."

Qin Qi wore an obedient smile. No one who saw him would think Qin Qi was a bad child.

After the battle ended, Qin Qi wandered around the Great Soul Arena.

He spent the entire morning stealing some more Soul Power.

"I can only fight one soul battle per day. This rule is such a pain."

Qin Qi sighed. The Great Soul Arena had three battle modes.

The first was one-on-one, the second was two-on-two, and the third was team battles.

A Soul Master could only participate in each mode once per day.

Qin Qi had no teammates, so he could only fight one-on-one.

"Still, this works out nicely. I'll use the spare time to scout the place first."

Qin Qi planned to visit the village where Shrek was located and find an opportunity to steal Ma Hongjun's Martial Soul.

On his way out of the city, Qin Qi bought some food. Once outside, he summoned the Golden Saint Dragon.

"Though it's just ordinary food, it tastes pretty good. I'll let you satisfy your appetite."

"Come to think of it, do you even have an appetite?"

Qin Qi rubbed the Golden Saint Dragon's head. Though the fellow looked like a living creature,

it was ultimately still a Martial Soul. It probably would not starve to death even if it did not eat, right?

If so, could the Golden Saint Dragon even feel hungry?

"Roar!"

The Golden Saint Dragon did not understand Qin Qi's question, but it enthusiastically rubbed its huge head against Qin Qi's hand anyway.

Then it opened its mouth and swallowed the food in one bite, revealing a delighted expression after it finished.

Master was so good, even buying me tasty food.

I like Master the most, awooo, awu!

At Shrek Academy.

"Fatty, I heard you got instantly defeated by a kid at the Great Soul Arena."

"Isn't that way too embarrassing?"

Dai Mubai hooked an arm around Ma Hongjun's neck and spoke with a grin.

"I was careless, alright? And who knew that guy could summon a dragon?"

"One swing of its tail knocked me unconscious."

Ma Hongjun looked deeply displeased. At the time, he had not even realized what was happening.

Then he had been knocked flat. When he woke up, he found himself lying in the infirmary.

"Don't worry. If I run into that kid later, I'll definitely avenge you."

Dai Mubai was now ten years old, a One-Ring Soul Master with more than ten levels of Soul Power. He was not far from becoming a Two-Ring Soul Master.

"Then I'll be counting on you, Boss Dai."

Ma Hongjun said.

"Alright, stop thinking about it. Big brother will take you out to find some girls and have fun."

"Little Ao, do you want to come too?"

Dai Mubai happened to spot Oscar as he said this and invited him.

"No. The dean told me to help clean up, so I'm not going."

Oscar shook his head. He did not really want to go, and he also had cleaning to do.

"Alright, then we're leaving."

After saying that, Dai Mubai left with Ma Hongjun, both of them wearing lecherous grins.

Just as they went out to have fun, Qin Qi arrived. After looking around, he found Oscar.

"Where are this academy's teachers? Why isn't there a single one here?"

"Is it really okay for an outsider like me to come and go freely?"

Qin Qi walked through the village, confusion in his eyes.

What exactly was wrong with this world? It was one thing for Tang Hao not to set traps in his cave.

That man was powerful, so his confidence was understandable.

But what was Shrek doing? Why was there not even a gatekeeper?

"I was actually thinking about infiltrating this place earlier. What a waste of emotion."

Qin Qi could not help shaking his head. There was not a single teacher in this dump, much less a guard.

No, it was not that there were none. The teachers had all gone elsewhere.

Shrek's students were being completely neglected!

"Oscar, a food-type Soul Master. His soul skills are decent, but there's nothing worth stealing from him for now."

Qin Qi watched Oscar, considered it, and gave up on making a move.

Oscar was truly of no use to him at the moment. Stealing this Martial Soul would not help him much.

It would also easily alert the enemy, so he would leave him alone for now.

"Where did that fatty go?"

Qin Qi circled the area but failed to find Ma Hongjun. However, he did find Shrek's dormitories.

"These dorms are even worse than our work-study student dorms!"

"This academy can't be that poor, can it? The dean is a Soul Saint, after all."

"He could make money doing practically anything."

Qin Qi could not help complaining inwardly. This academy had far too many problems.

He really did not know why so many people came to apply. Anyone without a hole in their head would not come here, right?

Any random junior academy would be better than this place!

Qin Qi waited in the village for an entire day. It was only at night that Dai Mubai returned with Ma Hongjun.

"They're finally back, and they look all muddled. Did they drink?"

"Forget it, it has nothing to do with me. This is a good opportunity. Move!"

Qin Qi silently used the Formless Hand, but halfway through extending it, he suddenly thought of something.

"No, stealing two Martial Souls at once would cause too much of a disturbance."

"Besides, stealing it directly like this has no style. I need to show off some technique."

Qin Qi withdrew his hand. The highest realm of theft was stealing something without letting the victim notice.

To achieve that, he had to learn forgery. The Thieving Heaven Inheritance contained superb techniques for counterfeiting.

After stealing from Yu Xiaogang, Qin Qi had begun considering forgery, planning to pull off a Deceive Heaven, Cross the Sea.

But back then, he lacked both strength and resources, making forgery impossible.

But now he had strength. He could try forging one.