Spirit Hall Academy vs. Shrek Academy

"This is it—the Aromatic Silk Beauty! Once I take it, it'll reshape my Martial Soul Origin, break the innate limits on my Martial Soul, and let it keep evolving. It'll raise the upper limit of my Soul Power, too, so I'll face far fewer bottlenecks in my future training."

Xiao Ran scratched his head sheepishly.

"You brat! You had this much good stuff and didn't bring it out sooner?" Yan clapped Xiao Ran on the back.

Hu Liena, standing beside them, gave a teasing laugh. "Who knew our Xiao Ran was sitting on a fortune?"

"Xiao Ran, you stole quite a few treasures from Dugu Bo's herb garden, didn't you?" Bibi Dong said with a cold smile.

"Stole? Your Holiness, taking herbs isn't stealing... Can anything a Soul Master does be called stealing? It's called using your wits, baby..." Xiao Ran said with a perfectly straight face.

Luckily, no one in this world understood English.

"Your Holiness, whom I hold in the highest regard, I have one more top-tier Immortal Herb reserved especially for you."

"Oh?" Bibi Dong looked at Xiao Ran with interest.

Xiao Ran gently balanced a snow-white Immortal Herb on his fingertips. Its petals spread like a swan's wings, a faint white mist curled around it, and a delicate fragrance drifted through the air.

"This one is called the Snow-Colored Swan Kiss."

"It's an extremely poisonous Immortal Herb from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. It looks elegant, but its poison ranks among the deadliest in the world."

"It's perfectly suited to your Spider Emperor Martial Soul. It can nourish your Martial Soul Origin directly and greatly strengthen all your poison-based abilities, making your toxins penetrate deeper and corrode more fiercely. It's a perfect match for your Martial Soul."

Bibi Dong did not take the Snow-Colored Swan Kiss right away. Her violet eyes narrowed slightly, and her gaze lingered on Xiao Ran's face.

"Reserved especially for me?" she said evenly. "You certainly know how to give away someone else's flowers. Using Dugu Bo's property to win my favor—quite a bargain."

"With respect, Your Holiness, Immortal Herbs have spirits and choose whom they serve. The Snow-Colored Swan Kiss grew in a perilous place like the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. If I hadn't risked my life to pick it, it would either have rotted unseen in the mountains or ended up in a jar of wine belonging to that old man Dugu Bo. You're the one giving it a chance to show its worth."

"By that logic, I should thank you?"

"I wouldn't dare. Serving you is my good fortune."

"You really are cheeky..." The corners of Bibi Dong's mouth lifted.

Three days later, the finals of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament officially began.

A Spirit Hall bishop announced the start of the finals.

The Shrek Seven Devils entered first. The seven of them walked slowly onto the arena platform, all dressed in matching green outfits.

Dai Mubai led the way, with Tang San close behind him. Every one of them had four Soul Rings. Whispers spread through the stands; no one expected Shrek to win.

The Spirit Hall Team came out next.

Six of them wore close-fitting battle clothes. Xie Yue, Hu Liena, and Yan walked at the front, five Soul Rings rising around each of them. The others followed behind, and even the weakest among them was a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor.

"Huh? That's not right. Why does the Spirit Hall Team only have six people?" the elders in the stands asked one another.

Just then, a familiar figure ran out from backstage.

"Sorry, everyone. I'm late." Saving his entrance for last was bound to make an impression.

The next instant, Xiao Ran revealed all his Soul Rings.

Two purple, one black, and one red.

The elders erupted in commotion.

"What?! What kind of monster is he? How could his fourth Soul Ring possibly be a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring?" Gangzi was the first to react, staring at him with feelings he could not put into words.

Dai Mubai's pupils contracted, but he was the first to speak. Through gritted teeth, he said, "Xiao Ran, you'll pay for what you did to Zhu Zhuqing!"

Tang San tensed as well. Looking at his former "friend," he clenched his fists, his eyes filled with anger and jealousy—perhaps because of what had happened between Xiao Ran and Xiao Wu.

Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu blushed faintly at the side, but resentment rose in their hearts too.

Even Ning Fengzhi and the Sword and Bone Douluo were stunned.

"Sect master, when you sent me to capture this brat last time, Dugu Bo was there too. The brat even left him badly wounded. It must have been that Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring," Bone Douluo said, explaining his previous failure to Ning Fengzhi.

"So be it. Now that this brat has become Spirit Hall's Holy Son, it seems he means to stand against our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect." Ning Fengzhi sighed.

Ning Rongrong stood frozen. She had not expected Xiao Ran to become so strong. She had always looked up to him; it was just a shame that fool Gangzi liked to tell on people.

Xiao Ran smiled and called out a greeting. "Long time no see, you idiot Gangzi—and you seven Shrek fools!"

"You... What did you say, brat? Don't think a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring lets you do whatever you please! If you anger me, I, Yu Xiaogang, will spare no cost to destroy Spirit Hall!" Yu Xiaogang pointed at Xiao Ran furiously.

"Destroy Spirit Hall? Gangzi, did you eat too many mushrooms?" Xiao Ran kept taunting him.

The bishop glanced at Gangzi, then announced, "The match—begins!"

The instant his voice fell, Tang San and Dai Mubai moved together.

They did not look at Xie Yue, Hu Liena, Yan, or anyone else on the Spirit Hall Team. From beginning to end, their eyes were fixed on one person—Xiao Ran.

"Xiao Ran!" Dai Mubai's roar seemed to shake the arena platform. He activated White Tiger Vajra Transformation in an instant. White fur burst through his skin, his pupils narrowed to slits, and he lunged straight at Xiao Ran like a tiger charging down a mountain.

Xiao Ran raised his right hand.

"Super Fusion: Ultraman Ginga."

Silver-white light erupted from his palm, and the Ginga Lance formed out of thin air. Its shaft was compressed from pure Soul Power, with patterns of light flowing across it like a river of stars. At its tip, a mass of silver-blue light burned like a star.

Dai Mubai's tiger claws came at him.

He looked just like that caged tiger Hu Wei—Take this grandpa's Fierce Tiger Ripping Through the Mountain!

Xiao Ran swept his weapon across. The shaft of the Ginga Lance struck Dai Mubai's wrist, knocking his claws aside. Dai Mubai grunted as the blow spun him halfway around, but he pushed off with his left foot and raked his right claw back toward Xiao Ran's throat.

Xiao Ran leaned back to evade it, then flicked his lance upward. Silver-blue light stabbed toward Dai Mubai's ribs. Dai Mubai had to retreat, his feet gouging two deep tracks in the ground.

Tang San's Blue Silver Grass arrived. More than a dozen arm-thick vines surged from the ground and shot at Xiao Ran from every direction.

Xiao Ran spun his lance, forming a silver-blue barrier around himself that shredded the Blue Silver Grass on contact. But Tang San's Eight Spider Lances sprang from his back. Seven spearpoints thrust into gaps in the barrier at once, aiming straight for Xiao Ran's vital points.

Xiao Ran pushed off with his toes and vaulted into the air. The Eight Spider Lances missed, and Tang San immediately brought down his Clear Sky Hammer. Xiao Ran turned halfway over in midair and chopped downward with the Ginga Lance. Its tip met the hammerhead, and silver-blue light and black Soul Power exploded at the center of the arena.

"Mountain-Splitting Strike!"

The shockwave drove them both back. Xiao Ran landed and slid one step; Tang San retreated five or six.

No sooner had Xiao Ran steadied himself than Blue Silver Grass surged up beneath his feet and bound his ankles. Tang San's Clear Sky Hammer came down again while Dai Mubai's tiger claws slashed in from the side. One attacked from the front, the other from behind, sealing off every path of retreat.

Xiao Ran was trapped.

But he did not rush to break free.