A lean, straight-backed figure leaped from the stands onto the arena. His feet struck the stone with a heavy thud, scattering tiny chips.
The man wore a finely tailored noble's robe trimmed in dark gold. His skin was the deep bronze prized by the Sun Moon Imperial Family, gleaming beneath the sunlight—a stark contrast to Huo Yuhao's cool, pale complexion.
The Sun Moon Empire's royal circles had always revered dark skin as a symbol of strength and nobility. Huo Yuhao's cool, fair complexion, by contrast, found little favor by their standards of beauty.
The common people were not nearly so strict about it, even as the imperial family continued seeking ways to improve their complexions.
The young noble raised his eyes to Huo Yuhao. An arrogant smile curved his lips, and his voice carried a teasing challenge. "You're Huo Yuhao, right? If you can't take it and start crying once we fight, don't blame me for hitting too hard."
Soul Power surged around him. Dense, hard purple-red scales raced over his neck and arms, covering his skin. Wisps of scorching purple flame flickered between the scales. His pupils abruptly narrowed into vicious dragon slits, and a vast, searing dragon's aura swept across the arena.
This was Xu Wen. His Martial Soul was not the Sun Moon Imperial Family's orthodox Purple Brilliant Heaven Destroying Dragon, but a mutation: the Purple Flame Abyss Dragon, a name he had chosen himself!
It had not inherited the Purple Brilliant Heaven Destroying Dragon's terrifying attribute of The Destruction, but its formidable flames came close to crossing the threshold of Ultimate Fire.
Ultimate Attributes were exceedingly rare, and most were held by Shrek Academy. The Sun Moon Imperial Family dreamed of producing someone with Ultimate Fire, and Xu Wen was the promising talent on whom they