If You Don't Blast, I Don't Blast, When Can the Little Fish Grow Up

"Little San, I know you just broke through to Soul Elder and are eager to test your current strength, but remember, you must absolutely not expose your external soul bone."

Outside the gates of the Soto City Soul Dueling Arena, three figures stood quietly at the roadside.

At the head was a middle-aged man with a flat top. A simple and unpretentious grey scholar's uniform set off his slender figure, and with the decadent yet arrogant temperament exuding from his entire body, he was none other than the ultimate source of all evil in the Douluo Continent, Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang.

As for the other two, one was a youth with short black hair whose looks could only be considered passable, belonging to the completely inconspicuous sort when placed in a crowd.

The young girl beside him, however, was his complete opposite.

A head of light brown long hair was braided into an exquisite scorpion braid, draping down along her spine. Though her features and appearance had not yet fully matured, carrying a bit of tender greenness, one could already glimpse the peerless and breathtaking beauty of her future.

"I understand, Teacher. Relying solely on my own soul power and soul skills, in this soul duel, no one can be my match; there is no need to use the Eight Spider Lances."

Tang San's tone carried confidence mixed with steadiness. They had just finished the first stage of training, and logically, the original seven-day rest period should have been spent taking a break.

It was just that Tang San somewhat wanted to truly test his strength after his breakthrough. After all, how could the effect of sparring among the Shrek Seven Monsters compare to a real battle?

"Third Brother, when you finish your solo soul duel, remember to come find me, and we'll go fight a duo soul duel!" Xiao Wu chimed in crisply from the side.

Although she was somewhat exhausted from just finishing the first stage of training, her interest in fighting was likewise not small. How could a rabbit possibly stay quiet?

"No problem." Tang San chuckled upon hearing this, bringing Xiao Wu along as he strode toward the front desk of the soul dueling arena to register for the competition.

Yu Xiaogang shook his head and chuckled. He turned and walked toward the inn, holding absolute confidence in the strength of this disciple of his. Among soul masters of the same age group, no one could shake Tang San's position, let alone defeat him.

On the street not far away, Chen Ling cradled a rust-mottled long sword, quietly watching this scene with curiosity filling the depths of his eyes.

He was a transmigrator, only his luck was exceptionally bad—he did not land in any familiar starting point, but rather in a small border city of the Star Luo Empire.

With no father and no mother, he was an orphan, and moreover, because of the remote location, the local Spirit Hall master was an eccentric who even embezzled soul master subsidies.

His innate soul power was only rank three, and his martial soul was a rust-covered iron sword. After struggling along the way, he had just broken through to Soul Elder not long ago.

Looking at the two figures walking into the soul dueling arena not far away, Chen Ling pondered for a moment and chose to follow them in.

Anyway, this time he came precisely to earn some gold soul coins through the soul dueling arena. With Tang San going up to fight, it saved him the effort; he could just place bets on Tang San and make a ready profit.

Thinking this in his heart, Chen Ling stepped into the soul dueling arena.

Only, the moment he walked in, a ding sound rang abruptly in his mind.

[Protagonist Tang San detected; the fish-blasting system has been enabled.]

In that instant, Chen Ling simply wanted to roar up to the heavens. Eighteen years! Eighteen years! Do you know how I spent these eighteen years? Do you know?!

A massive wave of pleasant surprise washed over his entire body. Suppressing the wild joy in his heart, he walked quickly to a secluded corner of the arena to stand still, focusing his mind to investigate the system's function.

After a round of understanding, Chen Ling figured out how to use it, and the corners of his mouth couldn't quite be controlled.

The system mechanism was extremely simple and straightforward: as long as he encountered an opponent whose comprehensive strength surpassed his own—covering all dimensions such as soul power level, soul ring quality, soul bone, cultivation methods, and secret techniques—he could trigger the fish-blasting mechanism and instantly obtain corresponding rewards.

Once this thought came up, his mind instantly ran wild with ideas. Wouldn't that mean he could directly seek out Qian Daoliu of Spirit Hall, blast fish on the spot to overtake him, and ascend straight to a god's throne?

As it turned out, things were naturally not as a matter-of-course as Chen Ling thought. Triggering it naturally had conditions. As the saying went, blasting fish was the goal, not the means; only by first becoming a fish could one understand the essence of fish-blasting. (Combat power will not be suppressed, rest assured about this.)

To put it bluntly, it was playing the pig to eat the tiger.

Chen Ling inwardly muttered a complaint, yet he also completely set his mind at ease. Although this rule had restrictions, it was already heaven-defying enough; after all, even if he didn't seek them out, someone would come looking for him.

[Host: Chen Ling]

[Age: 18 years old]

[Martial Soul: Rusted iron sword.]

[Quest: Complete the first fish-blasting, reward Sword Intent: Falsehood-Piercing, taking piercing as the intent, piercing through everything.]

Chen Ling raised his eyes to look toward the stage, discovering that Tang San's solo soul duel had not yet begun, making it an absolute prime opportunity. He immediately stood up and walked quickly toward the registration desk in the front.

If you don't blast, I don't blast, when can the little fish grow up.

A strange smile hung on the corners of Chen Ling's mouth as he stepped into the match preparation area.

On the soul dueling stage, a middle-aged man wearing a swallow-tailed coat stood in the center. He cleared his throat and said in a ringing voice, "Next, we will conduct the first match of our ninth soul dueling arena's one-on-one soul duels. Stepping onto the stage will be two Soul Elders; they are respectively the Soul Elder Tang San, who possesses the Blue Silver Grass martial soul, and Chen Ling, who possesses a sword martial soul."

Chen Ling had originally planned to temporarily fabricate a false name to participate, but upon second thought, it seemed there was no such necessity. After all, compared to himself going out to look for fish to blast, wasn't it better to wait for the fish to come to his door?

If he deliberately concealed his identity, it would instead easily cause him to miss the opportunity.

His mind made up, his expression turned calm as he stood up and calmly walked up onto the stage step by step.

Tang San opposite him looked at Chen Ling, who was walking over slowly, a trace of imperceptible contempt flashing through the depths of his eyes.

In his view, the person before him was far older than himself, yet his soul power barely matched his own, which was enough to show that his aptitude was mediocre.

Thinking this in his heart, Tang San wore the same confident smile as Gangzi.

This wave, the advantage is mine, and I hope you can last a little longer.

In the spectator stands, Xiao Wu saw Tang San take the stage and immediately waved her hands energetically, shouting loudly to cheer him on.

Hearing the sound, Tang San looked back and waved to signal her, his eyes full of the certainty of victory.

Unlike Tang San's arrogant confidence, a light and breezy faint smile consistently hung on Chen Ling's face.

[Invincible enemy to the host detected; comprehensive win rate 1%, anti-fish-blasting gift package has been issued.]

The prompt tone that rang out abruptly in his mind made Chen Ling almost twitch the corners of his mouth on the spot.

He knew well that he indeed could not match Tang San at the present stage, but System-chan, could you please not be so direct? However, before his thought of complaining could even arise, successive system prompt tones rang out slowly, beginning to recite a menu of dishes.

[Tang San, Clear Sky Hammer detected, host's martial soul evolves into Qingming Sword]

[Tang San, Twin Martial Souls detected, host obtains second martial soul Fallen Star Locust]

[Tang San, Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record detected, host obtains Jiyuan Balance Control Art]

[Tang San, external soul bone Eight Spider Lances detected, host obtains external soul bone Nether Mirror Insight Eyes]

The corners of Chen Ling's mouth ultimately could no longer be held down. He lacked nothing anymore.