First Victory

Perhaps because the Great Soul Arena had taken Lu Shiyuan's young age into consideration, his opponent in his first soul battle was not particularly strong.

His opponent was a middle-aged man in his thirties. His Martial Soul was a massive axe, and his Soul Power Level was only 31.

Other than having one more Soul Ring than Lu Shiyuan, he held no advantage in either level or Martial Soul quality.

Looking at the opponent across from him, who wore a mask but was obviously just a child judging from the exposed lower half of his face, Zhou Zhi was a little dumbfounded.

Whose kid had not been watched properly and had run into the soul arena?

The host had received the information in advance, so she was not too surprised. She simply introduced both sides.

"Today's match will be between the level 31 Giant Axe contestant and the level 30 Mo Ran Qianyuan contestant. As this is Mo Ran Qianyuan's first time competing at the Great Soul Arena, please give both contestants onstage a warm round of applause!"

Scattered applause rang out intermittently. Clearly, the audience was not particularly enthusiastic about this side arena.

Naturally. If they could afford tickets to the main arena, who would want to watch this kind of filler?

Zhou Zhi was even more bewildered. This kid was already level 30?

Still, this was not his first soul battle. At the host's command, he immediately summoned his Martial Soul.

Three Soul Rings—white, yellow, and yellow—floated around the giant axe. The axe itself looked to be made of rather ordinary material, but enhanced by the Soul Rings, it occasionally flashed with a cold gleam.

Lu Shiyuan, however, did not summon his Soul Rings. Only a strange light flickered through his Heterochromatic Twin Eyes.

The bell rang, and Lu Shiyuan's first soul battle officially began.

Though soul battles were essentially sparring matches, Lu Shiyuan's goal was victory.

This was not the usual practice match with Xiao Wu, where they fed each other moves. He intended to win with thunderous force.

First Soul Skill, Time Blade Pierce!

A pitch-black blade streaked toward Zhou Zhi at incredible speed. After reaching level 30, Lu Shiyuan's First Soul Skill had become faster, and the blade itself had grown much larger.

Zhou Zhi was startled. He was a close-combat fighter and had no particularly good way of dealing with ranged attacks.

The only thing he could do was close the distance between them as quickly as possible.

But he had barely taken a step when his body suddenly sank, and the weightless sensation of stepping into empty air hit him.

Half of one of his legs vanished into the arena floor. The Soul Power in his body rapidly drained away, and in just a few seconds, Zhou Zhi's face had turned faintly pale.

As for Lu Shiyuan, he had not moved an inch from beginning to end, as though Zhou Zhi were putting on a one-man show.

If not for the two disguised Soul Rings flashing one after another, the surrounding audience might have thought the match was fixed.

Zhou Zhi knew he could not let this continue. Otherwise, before he could even get close, his Soul Power would be almost completely depleted.

He slammed his hand against the ground and used the recoil to break free from the Space-Time Rift.

The next moment, he hurled the giant axe in his hand toward Lu Shiyuan.

The heavy axe flew at Lu Shiyuan with a howling gust of wind. Zhou Zhi had thought that, faced with such an attack, Lu Shiyuan would have to dodge at least once.

As long as his opponent moved, he could seize the opening, close in, and launch a chain of attacks.

Yet Lu Shiyuan remained standing where he was without moving. When the giant axe came within five centimeters of him, a transparent curtain of light blocked the attack.

The Celestial Rail Left Arm Bone skill activated!

Stellar Orbit Bastion could negate all damage for five seconds and convert 60% of the damage received during that time into a shield, continuously protecting Lu Shiyuan.

Zhou Zhi was utterly dumbfounded. He had expected Lu Shiyuan to choose left or right, but Lu Shiyuan had chosen neither.

More importantly, did this kid not have only two Soul Rings? How could he possibly use a third Soul Skill?

Given his experience, the thought that his opponent possessed a Soul Bone never even crossed his mind.

While he was stunned, another Time Blade Pierce struck Zhou Zhi.

Under the dual assault of physical and mental attacks, the level 31 Battle Soul Master's head lolled to one side, and he fainted on the spot.

Lu Shiyuan clicked his tongue in amazement. Being young was nice—he could fall asleep the moment he hit the ground.

The audience below had not even realized what had happened. All they saw was Zhou Zhi leaping around like a monkey while Lu Shiyuan did not move at all.

In the end, the more enthusiastically he jumped around, the faster he lost.

Even the host was stunned for a moment. Fortunately, her professional instincts allowed her to react immediately and announce the result.

Since one could only participate in one soul battle per day, Lu Shiyuan left the Great Soul Arena after just three minutes onstage.

As he passed the front desk, the pretty receptionist spotted him as well.

The receptionist could not help shaking her head regretfully. What a pity for such a little genius.

Instead of hunting for a Soul Ring after reaching level 30, he had come here to participate in some damn soul battle.

Now his confidence had probably been crushed, right?

Only after putting some distance between himself and the Great Soul Arena did Lu Shiyuan remove the mask from his face.

"Fei Yu, how did I do just now?"

"Not bad. Mainly because your opponent was too weak." Xiao Feiyu did not lavish him with praise. After all, it had merely been a spar between two Soul Elders. In her eyes, it was no different from children playing house.

Besides, that battle had been a complete crushing victory based on raw strength. Lu Shiyuan had not displayed anything particularly special.

Simply put, Zhou Zhi really could not beat him.

Lu Shiyuan knew that as well, so he merely smiled and said nothing more.

There were still plenty of matches ahead. If he wanted to complete the mission, he would surely encounter tougher battles, and then he would have plenty of chances to show what he could do.

After meeting up with Xiao Wu, the four of them enjoyed a hearty meal, finally soothing the hardships of half a month spent eating rough meals and sleeping in the open.

As the capital of the New Nation Empire, Star Luo City was the economic, cultural, and political center of the entire empire. The hotels here were of a very high class, and a room cost five Gold Soul Coins per day.

However, the quality of service and food was worthy of that price.

"Brother, can I take part in soul battles too?" Xiao Wu asked expectantly after making an effort to swallow the food in her mouth.

"Of course. My soul battles are easy now, and I can still make time every day to team up with you for a 2v2 match."

2v2 matches did not count toward the consecutive-win streak, so losing would not affect the mission.

Besides, before reaching thirty consecutive victories, he did not believe anyone could pose a threat to him and Xiao Wu.

He and Xiao Wu happened to be at the same level, so they could form a team and participate in 2v2 matches.

Xiao Wu cheered happily. Over the past year, she had either been cultivating or breaking through. After her tremendous breakthrough a month ago, she had barely fought at all.

For someone as lively and active as her, prolonged dull cultivation was little different from killing her.

Now she could finally fight properly, and with her brother at that. Little Rabbit was beyond excited.