Moonlit Light Dance

"Pfft. Your points are actually negative? Big Tiger, that's pretty bad." Xiao Wu counted on her fingers. "How many matches do you have to win to get a diamond-level badge?"

Dai Mubai's mouth twitched. "I started competing in the Great Soul Arena at level twenty-nine. After a few wins, I reached level thirty, and then all my opponents were in their thirties. I'd only just advanced, so of course I lost a lot."

"To get a diamond-level badge, you need over a hundred million points. In theory, seventy-seven straight wins would do it. But to keep winning against opponents at the same level, you'd basically have to be a Soul Master only two or three levels from advancing. A low-level Soul Master would have advanced to the next realm long before that. Someone who hasn't advanced usually started near the bottom of that realm, so winning every match is hard. And once your Soul Fighting Badge ranks up, you can barely find anyone at the same level with a matching badge. Then you'd have to challenge someone above your rank. Take the Soto Great Soul Arena. The highest badge here is around Gold Soul Fighting Badge. If a Soul King tried to rank up through higher-ranked challenges, he might have to fight a Titled Douluo to reach diamond. Never mind whether a Soul King could beat a Titled Douluo—where would the Soto Great Soul Arena find one willing to fight him?"

(The original book barely describes the later stages of Soul Fighting. If a winning streak tops out at a hundred points, I worked out that even winning three matches every day would take over a thousand years. But if later badge levels grow at the same rate as Iron and Bronze Soul Fighting Badges, Tang San wouldn't have stopped at Gold. I was stumped and spent two days wrestling with it. In the end, this was the only way I could make it work. ε=(´ο｀*))))

"Huh? It's that hard?" Xiao Wu was a little dissatisfied. How could a genius like her settle for a mere Silver Soul Badge? How embarrassing.

"Come on, Xiao Wu." Qin Muchu patted her head. "For us, the Great Soul Arena is just a place to gain combat experience. Only mediocre talents who can never advance to the next level spend all their time raising their Soul Fighting Badge rank."

Qin Muchu's words made Xiao Wu feel much better at once.

Everyone followed Flender to register. Along the way, Qin Muchu saw the enormous stone monument densely inscribed with the names of those who had died in the Soul Fighting Arena.

Registering at the Great Soul Arena was simple. All they had to do was fill in a form with their name, age, birthplace, and Martial Soul to receive an Iron Soul Badge. Apart from their Martial Soul, the information was merely kept on record; whether it was true did not matter.

After they paid twenty Gold Soul Coins, the Soul Fighting Arena tested Qin Muchu's and Xiao Wu's Soul Power. Once their exact levels were confirmed, the staff assigned them to an arena. Since they had arrived together, both were assigned to Arena Twelve.

Though they shared an arena, their opponents would be at different levels. Ma Hongjun was a Soul Grandmaster, Dai Mubai a Soul Elder, and Qin Muchu and Xiao Wu were Soul Ancestors.

Just as they were about to head over, Flender stopped Qin Muchu and Xiao Wu. Rubbing his hands, he said, "Little Chu, Xiao Wu, why don't you sign up for two-on-two Soul Fighting too?"

Qin Muchu and Xiao Wu exchanged a look. "Why?"

"Because Teacher wants to bet on you to win," Ma Hongjun answered first.

"You little brat! I'm raising funds for the academy." Flender smacked Ma Hongjun hard on the back of the head.

Qin Muchu struggled not to laugh. Flender really was greedy for money. A man who loved money but not women was a rare creature indeed.

He and Xiao Wu followed Flender to the two-on-two registration desk and signed up.

"The registration fee is ten gold coins. You'll receive ten Gold Soul Coins for each win." The woman at the desk had a sweet face and pink hair.

Since they had already registered, they only needed to show their Iron Soul Badges. They handed the badges to the staff member, who tapped something into the machine beside her.

"Give your team a name."

Qin Muchu had thought of one before coming. "Moonlit Light Dance."

"All right, the Moonlit Light Dance Combination is registered." The staff member returned their badges. Six new characters had been added: Moonlit Light Dance Combination.

"Why did you call us the Moonlit Light Dance Combination?" Xiao Wu asked curiously on the way back.

"Legend says the most beautiful fairy in the Moon Palace holds a jade rabbit in her arms. Your Martial Soul is a rabbit, while I took the name of my Martial Soul, the Dancing Shadow Sword, from a poem about dancing beneath the moon. Both my Martial Soul and your name happen to contain the word 'dance,' so I thought it suited us best."

"I see." Xiao Wu blinked her large eyes. "You know so much."

"Ahem. We'd better hurry. The one-on-one matches will start soon. We can do our two-on-two match afterward." For once, Qin Muchu blushed.

Not long after they reached the one-on-one Soul Fighting Zone, it was Xiao Wu's turn to enter.

"Hello, everyone! I'm your host for this match, your good friend Doudou. Up next is Arena Twelve's first one-on-one bout, featuring two Battle Soul Ancestors: Soft Boned Enchanting Rabbit and Lin Mu! Soft Boned Enchanting Rabbit is a newcomer making her Soul Fighting debut, while Lin Mu is an old friend with five straight wins, aiming for his sixth. Will Lin Mu continue his glorious run, or will our newcomer make a stunning debut? Let's wait and see! Please welcome them both to the stage!"

The speaker was a woman with chin-length hair, wings on her back, and slightly round cheeks. Microphone in hand, she flew above the stage and delivered her spirited introduction on the giant screen. Qin Muchu had no idea where a world centered on Soul Masters had gotten things like microphones and giant screens.

"Little Chu, I'm off." Xiao Wu waved, excitement plain on her face.

"Go on. You've got this." Qin Muchu made an encouraging gesture.

"How many moves do you think Sister Xiao Wu will need?" Ma Hongjun asked as he watched Xiao Wu skip toward the Soul Fighting platform.

"Two or three should do it," Dai Mubai and Oscar replied. Xiao Wu might look soft and delicate, but when she first joined the academy, she had taken Zhao Wuji's punch head-on and kicked him back several steps.

Xiao Wu had reached the platform. Across from her stood a young man of average build, around twenty-five years old. He was her opponent, Lin Mu.

Lin Mu studied Xiao Wu gravely. She wore a mask, but her build still gave him some idea of her age. Though Xiao Wu was more developed than most girls her age, she was only eleven and could not look much older. A Soul Ancestor so young had to be a genius, and her Martial Soul was surely far superior to his.

"Lin Mu. Tool Martial Soul, Ghost Vine. Level forty-four Control System Battle Soul Ancestor."

Since he had introduced himself so politely, Xiao Wu released her Soul Rings as well. "Soft Boned Enchanting Rabbit. Beast Martial Soul, Soft Bone Rabbit. Level forty-seven Power Attack System Battle Soul Ancestor."

Hearing that she belonged to the Power Attack System, Lin Mu quietly let out a breath. Everyone knew the Control System countered the Power Attack System. That advantage could easily make up for a small gap in Soul Power.

At the host's call to begin, they attacked at the same time.

"Second Soul Skill: Bind!"

Several green vines appeared around Xiao Wu, weaving together in an attempt to restrict her movements.

"Third Soul Skill: Instant Teleportation!"

The bindings would have given any other Power Attack System Soul Ancestor a headache, but Xiao Wu did not even look at them. She used her third Soul Skill, and every vine lost its target in an instant. Lin Mu froze. By the time he remembered he was still in a fight, a small, pale fist had stopped less than three inches from his face.