Blazing Flame Army-Breaking Spear

Qin Ye looked down at the red-haired girl from above, his sinisterly alluring eyes as arrogant as an emperor's.

The red-haired girl bit her lip, her small face flushed crimson. Only after a long while did she slowly force out the words, "I won't admit defeat."

The red-haired girl was like the wildest blood-sweating steed on the grasslands. Unless Qin Ye utterly shattered her psychological defenses, she would never concede to him, even in death.

The red-haired girl's chest rose and fell, her face as red as a ripe apple. "Give me another chance, and I'll definitely beat you! I didn't even have time to unleash my Soul Skill. Let me get ready this time, and I'll win!"

"Is that so?" Qin Ye curled his lips. "But I'm afraid a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins won't be enough this time, Miss Redhead." He held up three fingers before her. "Three hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. No bargaining. If you refuse, I'll send you on your way to the afterlife." Qin Ye had also seen her pride. Since she had such a fiery temperament, he would show her who the master capable of taming her was.

Qin Ye watched the girl's resentful, defiant face with amusement, then began applying a little pressure with his foot, making her lower abdomen tingle.

"Y-you greedy bastard." The girl gritted her teeth, her face scarlet, the words "I won't accept this" practically written across it.

This was the closest she had ever come to earning a Bronze Soul Fighter medal. She already had five consecutive wins, so every victory from now on would earn her ten points. As long as she defeated Qin Ye, her total would reach exactly one hundred points, advancing her to Bronze Soul Fighter.

The Great Soul Arena was a place where fish and dragons mingled, and there was no telling how long she would have to wait for another chance to advance. At the thought of the task her family had assigned her, her heart tightened as though a venomous snake had coiled around it, gradually leaving her unable to breathe.

"I-I agree," the girl said through her pain. "I can give you the money, but you have to let me prepare. Otherwise, you won't get a single coin."

A full four hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins-she would have to pay that sum even if she lost. For a girl who was only level nineteen, that was no easy feat, no matter her background.

The girl had accepted Qin Ye's terms with something close to a resolve to die. Tonight, she would either win this match or die in the ring.

"Good. You've got guts." Qin Ye clapped his hands, removed his foot from her body, and retreated several dozen steps, putting a considerable distance between them. "This should be far enough, right? Come on, let me see just what you're capable of."

Qin Ye arrogantly beckoned to her, and that provocative gesture fully ignited the fighting spirit within her. The girl took a deep breath and raised her spear, flames flaring in her fiery-red eyes.

"First Soul Skill: Blazing Flame Army-Breaking Spear!"

The Blazing Sun Nine-Headed Serpent possessed her body. Her eyes became icy serpent pupils, and red serpent scales grew across her skin, looking smooth yet resilient.

"This strike will defeat you!"

The red-haired girl charged toward Qin Ye, utterly certain that her next attack would secure victory. Her family's elders had told her that as long as she could unleash the full power of the Blazing Sun Nine-Headed Serpent, even a Three-Ring Soul Master might not be her match.

Qin Ye was merely a One-Ring Soul Master. The moment he let me build up my charge, he had already lost!

"Take this!" The girl's speed reached its peak, scorching waves of air swirling around her as she swept toward him like a whirlwind of blazing flames, leaving Qin Ye no opportunity to dodge.

"You can't possibly dodge this thrust! Admit defeat!" she shouted at Qin Ye. As she spoke, the spear tip had already pierced the sea of flames and reached him.

"Dodge? Why would I dodge?" Qin Ye tilted his head with a smile. "You don't seriously think I used my full strength just now, do you?"

Qin Ye gave a knowing smile. The red-haired girl's pupils abruptly contracted, her mind instantly ceased to think, and her hands lost their strength, sending the spear flying.

Qin Ye shifted lightly aside to avoid the spear, raised his right hand, and clamped it around the girl's throat.

Bang!

Qin Ye thrust down hard, pinning the girl to the floor. Jolted back to her senses by the pain, she still tried to resist, but he flipped her over as though toying with her, pressing her pretty face against the floor and locking both her hands firmly in place. Even the slightest movement sent pain piercing into her heart and bones.

"Still refusing to admit defeat, miss?" Qin Ye pressed his knee into her back. "Right now, all it would take is a little pressure to cripple your hands so you could never grip your spear again. Now, let me tell you in all seriousness: you lost. Completely and utterly." His taunts were sharper than knives, stabbing deep into her heart.

At his words, tears spilled from the corners of her eyes, and sobs escaped her mouth. "Wah... wah..." The red-haired girl lay helplessly on the floor. She wanted to resist, but her hands would not move. Qin Ye had seen through her every action. Even her most basic dignity had been pinned to the ground and ground into it over and over. She had never suffered such humiliation before. At that moment, she truly wanted to cry.

At that moment, the heart demon that had lurked within her for so long finally appeared.

"Are you crying?"

The girl knelt in a dark space, sobbing uncontrollably. When she heard a voice identical to her own, she instinctively raised her head. A pretty face that looked as though it had been copied from a mirror suddenly appeared before her.

The heart demon smiled and lifted the girl's chin. "Giving up already, Zhu Yan? Don't forget the task your family assigned you. You only have three days left. If you still can't complete the Bronze Soul Fighter medal assessment in those three days, you'll forever lose your chance to become the Zhu Family's heir."

The heart demon had long since seen through every secret buried in Zhu Yan's heart.

The weeping girl before her was named Zhu Yan, one of the contenders to become the Zhu Family's future heir.

The Zhu Family was one of the Seven Great Families behind the Great Soul Arena. They were a third-party power independent of Spirit Hall and the two great empires, wielding tremendous influence throughout the continent.

Zhu Yan possessed the only Blazing Sun Nine-Headed Serpent Martial Soul in her family's current generation. Aside from the family head, who was already a Titled Douluo, she was the only member of the family with any hope of reaching the Titled Douluo realm! Even her own older brother possessed only an eight-headed serpent, and the limit of his lifetime potential was merely Soul Douluo.

Yet her brother had the support of most of the family's elders. There was no other reason for it-only that she was a woman. Those old fossils would never allow the position of future family head to fall to a little girl.

No matter how outstanding Zhu Yan proved herself to be, she could not prevent the elders from pressuring the family head into assigning her an exceedingly difficult task.

She had to obtain a Bronze Soul Fighter medal within seven days. Otherwise, her Martial Soul would be transferred to her older brother through a secret art, and she would lose all eligibility to compete for the position of family head.

When that happened, Zhu Yan would be reduced to a cripple whose Martial Soul was not even complete, utterly becoming a plaything for others to manipulate at will. Her status would likely be lower than even the humblest servant's.

On the Douluo Continent, a cripple whose Martial Soul was not even complete was like a defective object in a garbage heap, an aberration in everyone's eyes-a Black person who had inexplicably appeared in a family of yellow-skinned people!

When that happened, even staying alive would likely become an extravagant hope for Zhu Yan.