Ye Xinglan Falls

The moment the words left his mouth.

Qian Gu Dongfeng sank into his stance, his whole body moving as one. The Coiling Dragon Staff hummed and trembled in his hands, dragon cries ringing out as though it had come alive.

He launched Battle Heaven and Earth, the first move of the Unyielding Staff Technique. It was a plain, unadorned strike.

But as the Coiling Dragon Staff swung out, it set off a string of piercing sonic booms. A visible wave of white air blasted toward Ye Xinglan.

Ye Xinglan's pupils contracted. She hadn't expected him to be able to use a Self-Created Soul Skill.

Cheating was impossible in the Life-and-Death Arena. That meant Qian Gu Dongfeng had mastered a Self-Created Soul Skill at twelve. How could someone as proud as her accept that?

Someone had actually been more outstanding than her at twelve.

She had come to Shrek Academy to be number one, to stand above everyone else.

Her sword could cut through any obstacle and sweep all opposition aside.

"Falling Star Sword!"

She didn't dare hold back. Her third Soul Skill flared, and starlight condensed into a sword that shot up from above her head before slashing toward Qian Gu Dongfeng's attack.

The giant sword of starlight collided with the force of his staff in midair.

Clang!

A metallic crash exploded through the air. The staff's force ground the stardust filling the sky to pieces.

The giant sword she had formed was split in two by his strike, then shattered into glittering fragments that scattered through the air.

But Qian Gu Dongfeng's staff did not stop. It drove steadily toward Ye Xinglan's chest.

Her expression changed sharply. She retreated at once and held the Stargod Sword across her chest, barely blocking the blow. Tremendous force surged through the blade and into her arms, sending a stab of pain through the webs between her thumbs and forefingers.

She steadied herself and looked down. Both had split open, and blood dripped down the sword's hilt.

Her Martial Soul hummed and trembled in her hands, on the verge of flying from her grip.

She had fallen behind after a single exchange?

How was that possible?

Ye Xinglan looked up in disbelief.

"We're both Soul Elders. How can you be so strong?"

Qian Gu Dongfeng walked toward her step by step, Coiling Dragon Staff in hand, his lips curled in mockery.

"There are differences even between Soul Elders."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Qian Gu Dongfeng flashed forward and closed in again.

He had no interest in wasting words on her. He knew villains died from talking too much.

He unleashed the third move of the Unyielding Staff Technique: Thousand-Jun Strike.

He raised the Coiling Dragon Staff high and smashed it down. The force of the blow pressed upon her like a mountain.

Ye Xinglan's breath caught. It felt as though the sky itself were falling.

Gritting her teeth, she held her sword across her body to block. The instant the Stargod Sword met the Coiling Dragon Staff, her arms sank and her knees buckled. The blow drove her down onto one knee.

Cracks spread across the arena floor beneath her in a vast spiderweb.

Pfft.

Ye Xinglan could hold it back no longer. She spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground before her, a chilling sight.

No. I can't hold on.

But why?

I'm a student of Shrek. I'm one of Shrek's peerless geniuses.

You're not even from Shrek. You're just from that lousy Spirit Pagoda.

We're the same age. Why can't I beat you?

I refuse to accept this.

Ye Xinglan snapped her head up, eyes bloodshot, breathing hard. She forced herself to burn through everything she had, draining every last bit of her Soul Power.

She unleashed Falling Star Sword, Sword God Net, and Sword God Star all at once.

The move would inevitably deal severe damage to her foundations, but she no longer cared. This was a fight to the death.

A single cold star shot ahead, followed by a sky-filling net of swords. Finally, a giant sword of starlight three times larger than before descended from above. The three attacks flowed one into the next, sealing every route Qian Gu Dongfeng might take to escape.

Outside the arena, everyone who saw it drew a sharp breath.

Ye Xinglan was only twelve?

And she could chain her Soul Skills together so perfectly?

Shrek Academy really did accept only geniuses. Her talent was terrifying.

Qian Gu Dongfeng's expression finally grew a little solemn.

"She can still muster this much strength? Interesting."

Qian Gu Dongfeng stood his ground and used Coiling Dragon Protection, the second move of the Unyielding Staff Technique. Staff shadows circled him, forming an impenetrable screen.

None of Ye Xinglan's attacks could break through. They were ground to pieces without raising so much as a ripple.

Then, as her strongest starlight sword bore down on him, a dragon's cry rang from within Qian Gu Dongfeng's Coiling Dragon Staff.

"Dragon Soul, emerge!"

At his command, the Coiling Dragon Staff shuddered. A golden dragon-shaped phantom slowly rose from it, coiled around the shaft, and let out a deafening roar.

Roar!

The golden dragon wheeled through the air and blasted all of Ye Xinglan's attacks away.

"Is that a spirit soul? No, it isn't..."

"Of course it isn't a spirit soul. It's a Dragon Soul."

Qian Gu Dongfeng had no intention of telling Ye Xinglan that this was a secret technique passed down through the Qian Gu Family: housing a Dragon Soul within the Coiling Dragon Staff, awakening the Break Evil Dragon Soul upon reaching adulthood, then devouring it to double the staff's power.

He had been nurturing this Dragon Soul since he was six. By twelve, he had raised it for six years and could finally call on it. Against someone his own age, it was an overwhelming advantage.

Empowered by the Dragon Soul, Qian Gu Dongfeng swung the Coiling Dragon Staff once and shattered Sword God Star.

Before the Dragon Soul-infused staff, those cold stars were fireflies facing a brilliant moon. They broke at the slightest touch.

His second strike tore Sword God Net apart. His third smashed the starlight sword from the sky.

Three strikes broke three skills, swift and decisive.

With her attacks destroyed, Ye Xinglan suffered the backlash. Qian Gu Dongfeng walked slowly toward her.

"What's wrong?"

"Is that all you've got?"

"Weren't you so arrogant just now?"

"Didn't you say that, as a fellow Soul Elder, you could slaughter me like a dog?"

"Who's slaughtering whom now?"

Ye Xinglan knelt on one knee, leaning on the Stargod Sword. Wounds covered her body, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

Her Spirit Rings had dimmed until they were nearly invisible. The sword formed by her Martial Soul had grown insubstantial, as though it might vanish at any moment.

She raised her head to look at Qian Gu Dongfeng, her eyes filled with bitter unwillingness.

"Cheating?"

"Your Spirit Pagoda cheated?"

"You're all cheating bastards!"

Qian Gu Dongfeng gave a cold laugh.

"Cheating?"

"Isn't Shrek the one that likes to cheat?"

"This is the Life-and-Death Arena. It's absolutely fair."

"You Shrek people live in a well and think it's the whole sky. Do you really believe there are no geniuses in this world besides you?"

"Shrek never taught you this, so I'll teach it to you with your life: never underestimate an enemy. You're strong, but your arrogance cost you the fight."

With that, Qian Gu Dongfeng delivered his final blow: Thousand-Jun Strike.

Vast Soul Power gathered in the strike, and the Dragon Soul roared.

Ye Xinglan tried to block it, to make one last struggle. But she no longer had the strength to raise her hand. She could only watch as the Dragon Soul-wreathed Coiling Dragon Staff grew larger and larger in her vision.

Clang!

The Stargod Sword went flying. The staff kept coming and slammed into Ye Xinglan's chest.

Pfft!

Ye Xinglan coughed up a great mouthful of blood. Her ribs shattered one after another, and the blow hurled her away. She never rose again.

A peerless prodigy fell that day.

After Ye Xinglan died, a crimson light emerged from her forehead. It became the mark of the Red-Level Nine Trials and transferred perfectly to Qian Gu Dongfeng.

The Red-Level Nine Trials were his.