Inside the Soul Fighting Arena.
"All right, let me see just how special your soul skills are."
Xiao Hongchen looked at Chen Mo curiously as he spoke.
He wanted to see what kind of soul skills could sweep through the competition, laying waste in every direction.
Meng Hongchen suddenly thought of something fun.
"Wait, just showing them off like this is too boring."
"Then what do you want to do?"
Xiao Hongchen asked in confusion.
"Simple. This is the Soul Fighting Arena, isn't it? Why don't we have a soul fighting match?"
"Xiao Mo and I will be one team, and you'll be a team all by yourself, big brother. How about it?"
Having decided the teams, Meng Hongchen pulled Chen Mo over.
"That's a good idea." Jing Hongchen nodded.
For one thing, it would let the three of them become more familiar with one another.
For another, it would let Xiao Hongchen experience the ingenious uses of Chen Mo's soul skills.
Upon hearing this,
Xiao Hongchen declared confidently, "Meng, are you sure you want to fight me? Even if you team up with Chen Mo, you still won't be a match for me. Believe it or not?"
Both of them were Soul Kings.
But Xiao Hongchen was level 57, making him a high-ranking Soul King.
Not to mention, he had passed the Level Five Soul Tool Assessment and was a bona fide Level 5 Soul Engineer.
Meng Hongchen, by contrast, was only level 53, a low-ranking Soul King.
Her soul engineering level was currently only four as well.
So when it came to strength, Xiao Hongchen firmly held the upper hand over Meng Hongchen.
"Hmph!"
"You arrogant jerk!"
"Since you've gone that far, do you dare make another bet with me, big brother?"
True to her philosophy of swindling her brother to within an inch of his life,
a crafty gleam instantly flashed in Meng Hongchen's eyes.
A brilliant idea for swindling her brother instantly formed in her mind.
"What do you want to bet on this time?"
"I don't have any more money to lose to you."
Xiao Hongchen looked wary.
The previous wager had just cost him his entire month's allowance.
That had made him especially sensitive to the word "bet."
"We won't bet money this time. We'll bet items."
"If Xiao Mo and I beat you together, you'll have to make each of us a level-five soul tool. But if we lose, I'll give back the money I just won from you, plus an extra month of my allowance. How about it?"
Clearly, this was an uneven wager.
A level-five soul tool cost between one hundred thousand and five hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.
Two of them would double that amount.
Meng Hongchen's monthly allowance, however, was only one hundred and twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins.
But Xiao Hongchen, who had already been driven mad by being broke this month, did not care about any of that.
He had absolute confidence in his strength.
He firmly believed that even together, Meng Hongchen and Chen Mo could not defeat him.
The advantage in this battle lay with him.
Chen Mo spoke up then. "Wait, how can I let Senior Meng take all the risk herself? If we lose, I'll give you a month of my allowance too."
"Good! It's settled!"
Xiao Hongchen no longer hesitated and immediately agreed.
Chen Mo and Meng Hongchen then went to a lounge to discuss their tactics.
After a brief discussion,
the two returned to the arena and looked at Xiao Hongchen opposite them.
Meng Hongchen and Chen Mo took their positions, one in front and one behind, ready to fight.
As for the referee for this soul fighting match, that was naturally Jing Hongchen.
"Both sides are ready."
"I hereby declare, let the match begin!"
At Jing Hongchen's command,
Meng Hongchen and Chen Mo moved first.
An ice-blue toad appeared behind Meng Hongchen, and her previously neat long hair was blown into disarray by the release of her soul power.
Her ice-blue eyes now shone scarlet.
Five soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, and black—appeared beneath her feet.
Her entire bearing was completely different from her usual gentle demeanor.
She exuded the commanding air of a mature woman.
The instant Chen Mo activated his Jade-Eyed Three-Flower Pupils,
he immediately unleashed Omnidirectional Detection and Three-Flower Pupils: Illusion Break!
He shared his vision with Meng Hongchen as well.
"That soul ring combination... interesting. But that alone isn't enough to beat me!"
When he saw Chen Mo's outrageous soul ring combination,
Xiao Hongchen was visibly stunned for a moment.
But he quickly recovered.
What good was an impressive soul ring combination? The gap in soul power between him and Chen Mo was nearly twenty levels.
That was not something soul rings could make up for.
He clenched his fists, and powerful soul power erupted from him.
A Three-Legged Golden Toad appeared behind him.
Meng Hongchen made the first move.
With the all-around vision Chen Mo provided, along with the markings highlighting her opponent's openings,
her fighting style changed completely.
She abandoned her usual probing exchanges at the start of a fight.
Instead, she launched a fierce assault straight away.
"Third soul skill—Ice Refraction!"
Using the refraction of light through the mirrorlike ice discs she released, she instantly flashed in front of Xiao Hongchen.
"My foolish little sister, recklessly charging forward isn't a good idea."
"This isn't like your usual fighting style."
"Watch my carpet bombardment!"
As Xiao Hongchen unleashed his soul skill, he also fired a barrage of soul cannon shells.
He was certain that under such a dense, close-range bombardment,
Meng Hongchen was bound to be hit.
Then he would secure victory with a single strike.
But what he had not expected was that
Meng Hongchen seemed to have foreseen it all, dodging every shell with graceful, precise movements.
"How is that possible?!"
Xiao Hongchen cried out in disbelief.
Knowing his little sister as he did, she could not possibly possess such an ability.
So what was going on?
Suddenly, his gaze caught sight of someone a short distance behind Meng Hongchen.
It was Chen Mo, his eyes radiating jade-green light.
A rough guess formed in his mind.
Could it be... him?
No... impossible. That kid is only a Soul Elder in his thirties. He couldn't possibly have an ability like that.
While Xiao Hongchen was wondering whether Chen Mo was the reason his sister's fighting style had changed so drastically,
Meng Hongchen had already charged right up to him, a level-five soul-tool greatsword gripped in both hands.
Without a word or the slightest mercy, she swung it down at her own brother.
"Holy shit! Meng, are you trying to murder your own brother?!"
By the time Xiao Hongchen reacted,
the Soul Tool Shield on his body had already activated.
With a hum,
Xiao Hongchen's level-five Soul Tool Shield was cleaved apart, ruined outright.
He himself was knocked back several meters.
Meng Hongchen smiled. "That's what you get for letting your attention wander when you know you're in a fight, big brother. If this were a real battlefield, you might already be dead. So I had to teach you a lesson, to keep you from making the same mistake again."
"Uh..."
Xiao Hongchen had never expected his sister to say that.
For a moment, he could not find any way to argue back.
Still, although he had temporarily fallen into a disadvantage,
his chances of winning remained high.
That was because Meng Hongchen's most threatening ability, her deadly poison, had no effect on him, since he also possessed a toad-type martial soul.
So he would eliminate Chen Mo first, then deal with his sister steadily and methodically.
The ultimate victory would surely be his.
Having worked out his strategy,
Xiao Hongchen immediately aimed all his soul tools at Chen Mo.
Just as he was about to fire,
an unexpected stab of intense pain shot through his brain.
Naturally, Meng Hongchen would not let such a fine opportunity slip away.
She rushed forward, her fifth soul ring flashing.
"Fifth soul skill—Ice-Fire Poison Dragon Drill!"
This was currently her strongest single-target attack.
Xiao Hongchen had only just recovered when he saw another attack bearing down on him.
His last remaining level-six Soul Tool Shield activated automatically.
Although it blocked the Ice-Fire Poison Dragon Drill, Meng Hongchen instantly appeared before him.
Pressing her sword against her brother's waist, she said gently, "My foolish big brother, you've lost."
And just like that, the match ended.
Xiao Hongchen lost the match at the cost of two Soul Tool Shields.
Throughout the entire battle,
there had been almost no suspense. Meng Hongchen had utterly steamrolled him.
"I declare the match over! The winners are Meng Hongchen and Chen Mo!"
Jing Hongchen delivered his final verdict.
Before you continue