Fierce God Team

The staff member hesitated, then asked again to make sure:

"Um... you three, are you sure you want to fight seven against three? Team Soul Fighting here always has seven members. We don't have three-person matches.

"That means you'll be facing seven people at the same Soul Power rank as you, all at once.

"If this is your first time at a Soul Fighting Arena, you could try a solo or doubles match."

Seeing the three of them, the staff member couldn't help trying to dissuade them.

Su Yun waved a hand. He was only here to have fun with his little dove anyway. Fighting was just a chance to relive what it had felt like to battle Hilichurls.

If he hadn't been afraid of creating an embarrassing memory that would haunt him forever, he would have pulled out his gun and started twirling it like some show-off.

After all, the moment he had gotten his hands on the gun, he had gone straight back to Windrise and started showing off his gun-twirling right in front of Venti.

Meanwhile, at Wanmin Restaurant, a crowd had gathered around Venti. Even Xue Beng, who had slunk away earlier, had slipped back and was listening from the edge of the crowd.

"Back then, Director Su Yun had Shatanya's Pale Silver in his hands, and he was twirling that gun like mad right in front of me.

"How do I even describe it to you?

"He looked like a total try-hard—you know what I mean by 'try-hard,' right?

"He was trying so hard to look cool that he just looked ridiculous."

Venti even used Elemental Power to draw an animated image in the air.

Su Yun twirling an ice rifle while trying to look cool.JPG

Xue Ke watched Su Yun twirling the gun like mad and couldn't hold back a snort of laughter. Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling followed right after her.

It was hard to imagine such a powerful elder doing something like that.

Venti was still describing Su Yun's antics:

"After he finished twirling it, he took Klee to Stormterror's Lair and kept shouting something like, 'I'm here to play with you!'

"Then he was sliding around and jumping backward with his bow drawn.

"He had no idea that I wasn't the only one there. Varka, Jean, and Rosaria were there too.

"We watched Su Yun with our own eyes—

"jump backward and draw his bow at empty air,

"devour a few Sweet Madames,

"open a few treasure chests,

"release a few Primogems back into the wild,

"and lose a fifty-fifty to Columbina."

Columbina was still at the Great Soul Arena, but her Luonnotar had remained at Wanmin Restaurant the whole time.

Columbina had been utterly lost through the first part of the story, but when she heard "lost a fifty-fifty to Columbina," the corners of her mouth lifted at once.

What would Su Yun do if he knew she was the one who sent him the Primogems from his monthly pass, too?

Unfortunately, she couldn't reveal that secret yet.

Back at the arena, the three of them had not been called up yet.

On the arena floor, fourteen Soul Masters summoned their Martial Souls and waited for the referee to announce the start of the match.

Soul Master battles did look spectacular, rather like the Sacred Flame Arena in Natlan, except the people here fought with Martial Souls.

"A little unbelievable. This is definitely worth studying carefully."

As Sandrone spoke, she took out a notebook and began recording her observations.

Su Yun casually pulled an Akasha Terminal from his Serenitea Pot and fitted it over Sandrone's ear:

"This is Sumeru's Akasha technology. Nahida, the main server, isn't here, and neither is Aru, but it can still take notes just fine."

As he spoke, he activated the Akasha Terminal for Sandrone.

Once Sandrone was connected, she couldn't help remarking:

"I've always heard Sumeru called the cradle of scholars and the nation of wisdom. It seems that was true."

Columbina stood behind Sandrone like a curious child, peering this way and that.

Su Yun simply pulled another Akasha Terminal from his pocket and fitted it over Columbina's ear:

"You can record everything for now. The Akasha Terminal has a video function. Once Nahida gets here, maybe she can even add a battle-analysis feature."

The feature would be somewhat like Havoc's brain-computer interface. With Nahida's wisdom, she could surely make it work.

Su Yun had once been curious about Before Sun and Moon and had taken Columbina to meet Nahida.

At the time, Su Yun had even suspected that Nahida had failed to grow taller because a ravenous Columbina had nibbled on her.

After all, Before Sun and Moon recorded the "Year of the Dove Bearing a Branch." Didn't that mean Columbina had nibbled on Nahida?

The suspicion was backed by solid evidence, all right!

Columbina knew Nahida too, and the two of them were good friends.

"When can Nahida come over? She doesn't have to stay locked in a cage like Sun Wukong anymore, does she?"

The corner of Su Yun's mouth twitched. This was from a bedtime story he had told Columbina before.

Later, when Columbina and Nahida became friends, she had learned that Nahida had been imprisoned for five hundred years.

What had Columbina said back then?

"Locked up for five hundred years... are you Sun Wukong too? Does that make Su Yun Tang Sanzang?"

That was how the two little ones had met. He had heard that when Columbina was working as an "old construction dove" on the moon, Nahida had even drawn up the blueprints.

The battle on the arena floor finally ended. Sandrone had also gained a rough understanding of the Soul Masters' combat system. It was somewhat similar to a Vision, though it offered far less variety in how its power could be controlled.

Their abilities had to be anchored by Soul Rings, while Vision bearers used their Visions to manipulate Elemental Power. Nearly everyone's abilities were their own creations.

"Why are their abilities limited by what their Soul Rings anchor?"

Sandrone didn't quite understand.

Different amounts of Soul Power should surely affect how an ability could be controlled. She would need to study that carefully.

The Doctor might be better at that sort of thing. After all, he had once experimented with swapping the consciousnesses of animals and humans.

But Su Yun had said The Doctor seemed to have designs on his body. Better not revive him again.

Setting off fireworks with Irminsul at his own funeral had been spectacular enough.

Sandrone's assessment of The Doctor came down to two letters: CS.

[Next match: Teyvat Academy Team versus Fierce God Team]

Su Yun, who had been loosening up, froze. The Fierce God Team—was it the team he remembered?

Weren't they in Suotuo City?

Why were they in Heaven Dou City? Still, the story probably hadn't begun yet, and professional Soul Fighting teams often traveled between cities. It was only natural for them to be here.

When Su Yun and the other two stepped onto the fighting platform, a wave of murmurs swept through the Soul Fighting Arena. Three people—one man and two women, and both women were stunning.

Quite a few nobles in the stands immediately started whistling.

"Did you come up here to die? Boy, if you want to throw your life away, don't drag two such beautiful companions into it!"

"Let the two beauties come down! You can die on your own!"

By then, the seven members of the Fierce God Team had begun stepping onto the platform as well.

The seven of them were a little dumbfounded by the sight of three soft-skinned opponents across from them. Fortunately, they kept their heads. Thinking these might be the children of some great noble family here for training, one of them quietly asked toward the entrance tunnel:

"Are we supposed to win this one?"

The person in the darkness was bewildered too. After glancing at the three opponents, they said quietly, "I'll ask around. Stall for now."

At those words from behind them, the Fierce God Team put away their savage expressions and adopted ordinary ones instead. If anyone from Suotuo City had seen it, they would have been too shocked to speak.

Since when had the Fierce God Team ever worn expressions that pleasant?