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 its innate limits, and let my martial soul keep evolving. It'll raise my soul power ceiling, too, so I'll face far fewer bottlenecks in the future."

Xiao Ran scratched his head sheepishly.

"You little rascal! You had all these treasures and didn't bring them out sooner?" Yan clapped Xiao Ran on the back.

Hu Liena chuckled beside them. "Who knew our Xiao Ran was so loaded?"

"Xiao Ran, you stole quite a few treasures from Dugu Bo's herb garden," Bibi Dong said with a cold laugh.

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

Luckily, no one in this world understood English.

"My most esteemed Your Holiness, I have another top-grade immortal herb reserved especially for you."

"Oh?" Bibi Dong regarded Xiao Ran with interest.

Xiao Ran balanced a snow-white herb on his fingertips. It resembled a swan spreading its wings, with a faint mist curling around its petals. A delicate fragrance slowly filled the air.

"This is the Snow-Colored Swan Kiss."

"A supremely poisonous immortal herb from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. It looks delicate, 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 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 at once. Her violet eyes narrowed slightly, and her gaze lingered on Xiao Ran's face.

"Reserved especially for me?" she asked evenly. "How generous of you to give away someone else's gift. Using Dugu Bo's property to win my favor is quite the bargain."

"Your Holiness, that's not quite right. Immortal herbs have spirits and choose whom they serve. This Snow-Colored Swan Kiss grew in a place as dangerous as 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 steeped in wine by that old Dugu Bo. You've given it a chance to prove 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 bishop of Spirit Hall announced the start of the finals.

The Shrek Seven Devils entered first. All seven walked slowly onto the arena in matching green outfits.

Dai Mubai led them, with Tang San close behind. Every one of them had four soul rings. Whispers rippled through the stands; no one expected Shrek to win.

The Spirit Hall Team entered next.

Six of them wore fitted combat clothes. Xie Yue, Hu Liena, and Yan walked in front, five soul rings rising around each of them. The others followed close behind, all at least four-ring soul ancestors.

"Huh? Wait, why does the Spirit Hall Team only have six people?" The elders in the stands began asking one another.

Just then, a familiar figure ran out from backstage.

"Sorry, everyone. I'm late." A last-minute entrance had to have style.

The next moment, Xiao Ran revealed all his soul rings.

Two purple, one black, and one red.

The elders erupted.

"What?! Impossible! How could his fourth soul ring be a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring?" Gangzi was the first to react, staring at him with an expression beyond 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 back then!"

Tang San's expression tightened as he looked at his former "friend." Anger and jealousy filled his eyes, and his hands clenched into fists—perhaps because of what had happened between Xiao Ran and Xiao Wu.

Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu blushed faintly, though resentment stirred in both their hearts.

Even Ning Fengzhi and Sword and Bone Douluo were stunned.

"Sect Master, when you sent me to capture this boy last time, Dugu Bo was there too, and the boy wounded me badly. It must have been that Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring," Bone Douluo said, explaining his previous failure.

"So be it. Now that this boy has become Spirit Hall's Holy Son, it seems he intends to stand against the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect," Ning Fengzhi said with a long sigh.

Ning Rongrong stood frozen. She hadn't expected Xiao Ran to become so strong. She had always admired him, but that fool Gangzi just had to tattle.

Xiao Ran smiled and waved. "Long time no see, you idiot Gangzi—and you seven Shrek fools!"

"Y-you... What did you say, brat? Don't think a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring means you can do whatever you want! If you anger me, I, Yu Xiaogang, will stop at nothing to destroy Spirit Hall!" Yu Xiaogang pointed furiously at Xiao Ran.

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

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

The instant the words left his mouth, Tang San and Dai Mubai moved together.

Neither looked at Xie Yue, Hu Liena, Yan, or anyone else on the Spirit Hall Team. Their eyes had been fixed on one person from the start—Xiao Ran.

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

Xiao Ran raised his right hand.

"Super Fusion, Ultraman Ginga."

Silver-white light burst from his palm, and the Ginga Lance formed out of thin air. Its shaft was compressed from pure soul power, its surface flowing with galaxy-like patterns of light. 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 washed-up tiger Hu Wei—Get a taste of my Fierce Tiger Ripping Through the Mountain!

Xiao Ran swept his lance sideways. Its shaft struck Dai Mubai's wrist and knocked his claws off course. Dai Mubai grunted as the blow spun him halfway around, but he planted his left foot and raked his right claw back toward Xiao Ran's throat.

Xiao Ran leaned back to dodge, then flicked his lance upward, its silver-blue tip stabbing toward Dai Mubai's ribs. Dai Mubai had to retreat, his feet carving two deep furrows in the floor.

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

Xiao Ran spun his lance, forming a silver-blue barrier around himself. The Blue Silver Grass struck it and was shredded. But Tang San's Eight Spider Lances sprang from his back, seven tips stabbing through gaps in the barrier toward Xiao Ran's vital points.

Xiao Ran pushed off with his toes and launched himself into the air. The Eight Spider Lances missed, and Tang San's Clear Sky Hammer came crashing down after him. Xiao Ran twisted halfway around in midair and brought the Ginga Lance down from above. 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 hurled them both back. Xiao Ran landed and slid one step; Tang San staggered back five or six.

Xiao Ran had barely regained his footing when Blue Silver Grass surged up beneath him again and bound his ankles. Tang San's Clear Sky Hammer came down once more as Dai Mubai's tiger claws slashed in from the side. Attacking from front and flank, they cut off every escape route.

Xiao Ran was trapped.

But he made no hurry to break free.