Soul Fighting Arena, Don't Be Afraid to Lose

At dusk, the Soto Great Soul Arena blazed with light.

From afar, the round building looked like a giant beast crouched in the city. It swallowed Soul Masters and spat out cheers, gold coins, and bone-deep exhaustion. People streamed through its entrance, where sweat, alcohol, and a faint tang of blood mingled in the air. Noise surged back and forth like the tide.

The Shrek group stood before the entrance.

Dai Mubai knew the place well and looked fairly at ease. Tang San and Xiao Wu were there for the first time, and both studied their surroundings. Zhu Zhuqing stood quietly in the shadows, while Ning Rongrong frowned slightly, clearly disliking the jumble of smells.

Ma Hongjun's eyes, on the other hand, gleamed with excitement.

"This place is lively!"

Bai Jin patted him on the shoulder.

"Enjoy the excitement, but don't embarrass me."

Ma Hongjun immediately puffed out his chest. "Don't worry. I'm the Evil Fire Phoenix!"

Bai Jin glanced at him.

"It's mostly your mouth I'm worried about."

Ma Hongjun: "..."

Luo Wenshan followed behind with several young Soul Masters from Spirit Hall. They weren't competing tonight, only watching. Bai Jin called it "learning by watching other people get beaten up." It hardly sounded serious, but Luo Wenshan had learned not to argue.

After all, eight out of every ten things Bai Jin said made people want to punch him. The other two could save lives.

Registration was soon complete.

Bai Jin hadn't chosen their opponents for them, nor had he demanded that they win.

He gave them only three rules.

First, no killing.

Second, don't waste Soul Power just to look good.

Third, no excuses if you lose.

At the third rule, Ning Rongrong's expression shifted.

Bai Jin seemed not to notice. Smiling, he added, "Especially you, young lady."

Ning Rongrong glared at him.

"I don't make excuses anymore!"

"Excellent. Tremendous progress."

"You don't sound like you're praising me at all!"

"How could you say that? My praise is perfectly sincere."

Beside them, Tang San couldn't help laughing softly.

It was a quiet laugh, but Xiao Wu caught it.

She leaned toward him at once. "Little San, you laughed."

Tang San stopped smiling. "No, I didn't."

"You did."

"I didn't."

Bai Jin passed by and remarked, "Lovers' quarrels cost extra."

Both of them froze.

Xiao Wu's face turned bright red, and she kicked at him.

Bai Jin didn't move. Her foot stopped three inches from his trouser leg and would go no farther.

"Senior!" Tang San said helplessly.

"Hmm?"

"Xiao Wu will get angry."

"That's fine. Getting angry is training too."

Xiao Wu ground her teeth.

Dai Mubai fought first.

When the Evil-Eyed White Tiger stepped onto the Soul Fighting stage, his whole bearing changed. He usually seemed lazy, but in a fight, the pride and ferocity in his bones could no longer be contained.

His opponent was a Power Attack System Soul Elder whose Martial Soul was the Iron-Armed Ape. He was no weakling. As soon as they clashed, dull impacts rang across the stage.

Dai Mubai wasted no time testing him. He raised the White Tiger Protection Barrier just enough, drove his opponent back with the White Tiger Fierce Light Wave, then closed in. The Iron-Armed Ape Soul Master's fists were heavy, each blow whistling through the air, but Dai Mubai used his footwork and White Tiger Vajra Transformation to gain the upper hand in close combat. Some spectators began to cheer; others cursed, complaining that the fight was too short.

Bai Jin sat in the stands with a bag of sunflower seeds, cracking them at his leisure.

"Watching a tiger fight is always a treat."

Zhu Zhuqing watched the stage without speaking.

She could see Dai Mubai's strength, and she could see his flaws. He was too accustomed to overpowering people head-on. Against someone faster and better at control, he could easily be led around by the nose. Bai Jin seemed to know what she was thinking.

"Don't worry. You'll fight him later."

Zhu Zhuqing finally turned to him. "Me?"

"Mm."

"The Soul Fighting Arena doesn't arrange matches between teammates."

"I'll arrange one when we get back."

If Dai Mubai had heard that, even a win tonight would have tasted sour.

Tang San fought second.

His opponent was an Agility Attack System Soul Master with a Gray Falcon Martial Soul, and he was fast. Seeing how young Tang San was, some spectators laughed at once, certain the match would be one-sided.

Tang San paid them no mind.

He stood on the stage, Blue Silver Grass trailing from his palm, as calm as if he were in class.

The referee had barely announced the start when his opponent rushed at him in a gray blur.

Tang San stepped back half an inch.

Blue Silver Grass sprouted from the floor.

Not a broad carpet. Just three strands.

One blocked the left foot, one cut off the retreat, and one hid in the opponent's blind spot.

The Gray Falcon Soul Master was fast, but the faster someone moved, the more vulnerable he was to being anticipated.

He dodged the first two strands of Blue Silver Grass, but the third had already wrapped around his ankle.

Tang San gave him no chance to break free. His Second Soul Ring lit up, and Parasitism activated. Blue Silver Grass tightened instantly, pinning the man at the edge of the stage.

The arena fell silent for a moment.

Then applause and boos erupted together.

He had won too quickly.

And without nearly enough spectacle.

Bai Jin, however, nodded in approval.

"Not bad."

Xiao Wu immediately beamed with pride. "Of course! Little San is the best!"

Bai Jin cracked another seed. "I meant he saves money."

"Huh?"

"The faster the fight, the fewer injuries. The fewer injuries, the lower the medical bills."

Ning Rongrong couldn't help asking, "Is there anything in your head besides money and candy?"

Bai Jin considered it seriously.

"Yes."

"What?"

"Food."

Everyone fell silent.

Standing in the back row, Luo Wenshan struggled not to laugh aloud.

The night deepened.

The Shrek students took their turns onstage, winning some matches and losing others. Ma Hongjun won by the skin of his teeth but laughed loudly afterward. Oscar didn't enter an individual Soul Fighting match; instead, he kept track of everyone's expenditure and injuries. During a team match, Ning Rongrong, for the first time, didn't simply give her boosts to the strongest person. She switched between Tang San and Dai Mubai as the situation changed.

She still wasn't switching quickly enough.

But she had begun to read the fight.

Bai Jin didn't praise her.

He merely tossed her a piece of candy.

Ning Rongrong caught it and snorted. Without unwrapping it, she tucked it into her sleeve.

When the Soul Fighting ended, Bai Jin suddenly looked up.

A gaze vanished into the crowd.

So quickly that anyone else might have missed it.

But before the Six Eyes, the words "almost missed" were a joke in themselves.

Bai Jin stood.

"You go on ahead."

Tang San looked at him at once. "Something wrong?"

"A rat."

"I'll come with you."

"No need."

Bai Jin smiled.

"Tonight's lesson is over."

He turned and walked into the crowd. Amid the lights and clamor, his figure flickered once and disappeared.

A moment later, in the alley behind the arena.

The Gray-Clothed Man had just climbed over the wall when he found Bai Jin crouching atop it, looking down at him.

"Good evening."

The Gray-Clothed Man's face changed abruptly.

He was about to bite down on the Poison Sac between his teeth when an invisible force clamped his mouth shut.

Bai Jin reached out and pulled a blood-red Ghost Mask badge from inside his collar.

"Ghost Face Society."

Fear surfaced in the Gray-Clothed Man's eyes.

Bai Jin smiled faintly.

"Relax. I'm a man who follows the rules."

He raised a hand and hung the man upside down.

"Questions first. Beating afterward."

The Gray-Clothed Man: "..."

Those rules didn't sound much like rules at all.

Half an incense stick later, Bai Jin emerged from the alley with a damaged route map in hand.

It bore no complete place names, only codenames circled in red. Suotuo City, the outskirts of Star Dou, Heaven Dou's southern road: three points joined in a crooked line, as though someone had lightly drawn a knife across the map.

Bai Jin studied it for a while, then put it away.

This was getting troublesome.

But trouble was trouble.

He still had to eat breakfast tomorrow.