Chapter 25

Boom~

The smoke cleared.

Yan Shaozhe held a skinny male student in one hand and glared at Ma Xiaotao in irritation. "Watch yourself. Don't go too hard!"

"Oh."

Ma Xiaotao folded her arms across her chest, lifted her chin high, and fixed her eyes on Ling Luochen across from her.

Yao Haoxuan was eliminated.

The scales of victory shifted. Ling Luochen and Su Wen's team was left fighting six against seven, and with one pillar unable to hold up the whole house, they lost in the end.

And the instant the result was announced, Ma Xiaotao could not wait to drag Su Wen away. "This time, he's on our team!"

The second match began half an hour later.

Only after everyone had recovered to peak condition did they begin another round.

Su Wen's Ultimate Ice suppressed Ling Luochen so thoroughly he could not lift his head. This kind of attribute restraint was like bloodline suppression. No wonder Ling Luochen paid so much attention to him. It was like a mouthful of an exquisite pastry—after tasting it once, he could never stop.

Even Ling Luochen's Ice Element attacks were quickly neutralized by Su Wen. Despite a gap of twenty ranks, he was still able to create such an advantage. It truly lived up to the name of an Ultimate Attribute.

But the flaw was also quite obvious. Once the Ice Sovereign's only skill, "Ice Domain," was released, it did not distinguish friend from foe.

The entire field fell to three-quarters speed.

Even Ma Xiaotao's Phoenix Evil Fire weakened slightly.

Still, Su Wen had achieved his purpose: a one-for-one trade that kept the opposing control-type Ling Luochen from playing any role.

As for Wind Blade, he did not use it.

On such a high-level battlefield, an ordinary-attribute skill was useless. Besides, he was an average of twenty ranks behind this group of geniuses. But once he advanced soon, after Hurricane super-evolved, perhaps its attribute would also raise its power along with it.

Without the combination of Ling Luochen and Su Wen, Ma Xiaotao cut through them like chopping melons and vegetables. She truly lived up to her boasting. Even with her current impure Evil Fire Phoenix, she could suppress these geniuses of the same age group until they could not lift their heads. If she could completely evolve one day...

"It's over!" Yan Shaozhe clapped his hands, his face full of smiles.

Everyone instantly sprawled across the arena in all directions, gasping for breath.

What battle consumed was not only Soul Power, but also physical strength.

The latter was different from Soul Power. With Soul Power, every bit of cultivation brought a corresponding result. Physical strength was instead somewhat illusory, because the body was extremely difficult to train, and the cost paid was completely disproportionate to the benefits gained.

Shrek's current training model could only support the early stage before rank forty. It was no use at all in the later stage. Without a Cultivation Technique related to physical arts, not even the Body Sect had one. Most Titled Douluo powerhouses were only strong because they had thick skin and tough flesh, not because they had truly excavated the body's potential.

One only needed to look at Zhou Yi's training to know that it was far too crude: weighted runs, push-ups, stamina training. Anyone who did not know better might think they had transmigrated to ancient times...

A pure physical-arts genius like Rock Lee from next door had never appeared on the Douluo Continent.

However...

Su Wen smacked his lips.

He might be an exception.

After all, being able to synchronize with the advantageous attributes of Soul Beasts... was more or less absurd. A Soul Beast's physical strength was far higher than a human's to begin with, and as their cultivation realm rose, they left humans even further behind.

He could clearly feel that if it truly came down to a contest of physical strength, among those his age, he was absolutely far ahead of the pack.

Shaking his head, he decided everything would have to wait until his third Soul Beast was settled before he could consider his future path.

He just did not know whether he would run into a Soul Beast he had his eye on.

The crowd soon dispersed, but before leaving, they all greeted Su Wen warmly. In a place like the Inner Courtyard, where monsters gathered in piles, only the strong were respected. Though Su Wen's strength was still somewhat lacking, his talent and potential had already reached a level that made even them feel daunted.

"Su Wen!"

Ma Xiaotao grabbed Su Wen by the ear, her charming eyes glaring angrily.

"Hm?" Su Wen played dumb.

"Hmph! When we get back, use your Ultimate Ice to help me vent my fire! I want that little bitch to know that she only has the right to experience your Ultimate Ice, while I can use it every day! You're not allowed to sleep tonight!" Ma Xiaotao suddenly narrowed her eyes and let out a cold laugh.

"A whole night?!!" Su Wen's eyes widened.

He stared at Ma Xiaotao's body. Her figure really was extraordinary, already like a delicate, dewy rose, a flower bud just waiting to bloom. But he was only ten years old! Did she know how painful it felt to only look and not be able to do anything? Especially when this woman just had to like holding him while she slept...

His throat bobbed, his face filled with utter hopelessness.

Just let me die instead.

The next day.

Su Wen's face was a little pale.

He stood shakily in the line.

An entire night. He had really been drained dry, without a single drop of Soul Power left. Beside him, Ma Xiaotao looked radiant instead, lively and bouncing as she dragged Su Wen all over the place.

"Xiaotao!"

Yan Shaozhe glared at her in irritation.

He anxiously examined Su Wen's condition, and only let out a breath of relief when he saw that there was nothing seriously wrong and that his Soul Power was rapidly recovering.

"I'm fine, Dean Yan."

The corner of Su Wen's mouth twitched.

Because Ma Xiaotao, beside him, had an arrogant look on her face. That expression clearly said...

I was wrong, but I'll dare do it again.

Besides, when he used Ultimate Ice to suppress Evil Fire, it was also greatly beneficial to himself. Whether it was the increase in his Soul Power or his control over Ultimate Ice, both improved by leaps and bounds along with it. And that sensation of Ice and Fire Twin Heavens... was truly amazing.

By comparison, the Soul Power that would recover soon enough really did not amount to much.

"..."

Yan Shaozhe was speechless.

"Fine. No matter what, you two had better take it easy!"

After that, he went to check the number of people on the list.

Su Wen yawned and looked around.

There really were not many people he knew.

Zhang Lexuan had advanced to Soul Douluo not long ago, and her strength already stood at the peak of the Inner Courtyard. She could withdraw at any time and take up a position as an Inner Courtyard teacher. Zhang Yi and the others were still bitterly completing their Inner Courtyard graduation missions, chasing Evil Spirit Masters all over the world to kill them.

But why not go to the Sun Moon Empire?

Su Wen thought with no small amount of malice.

That place was the Evil Spirit Masters' lair. They couldn't be too scared to go, right? Heh.

But the moment he thought of Evil Spirit Masters, he thought of Ma Xiaotao.

This Holy Maiden of the Holy Spirit Cult had a Martial Soul whose nature could become divine or demonic in a single thought. After the tournament two years later ended, she would inevitably be targeted by the Holy Spirit Cult...

Although she really liked squeezing him dry, was all chest and no brains, had an explosive temper, and was rather silly, still...

"Xiao Wen, are you badmouthing me in your head?" Ma Xiaotao narrowed her long, beautiful eyes and stared dangerously at Su Wen.

"Ahem, how could I?"

Su Wen coughed awkwardly twice.

His gaze drifted calmly toward the distance, but he would still do everything in his power to keep her safe and sound.

"All right, move out!"

Roll call ended.

Yan Shaozhe waved his hand.

Compared to Xuan Zi, who was used to slacking off and hiding in the back under the excuse of "training you," leaving people utterly insecure as to whether he was sleeping or sneaking off to eat something delicious, Yan Shaozhe led the team the whole way. There was never the slightest so-called "tempering." Even if there really was "tempering," it happened within his field of vision, and he would never leave everyone's sight.

There were thirteen people in the entire team.

There were also some Outer Court disciples, but most of them were not famous (they were never mentioned in the Original Work), so Su Wen did not pay them much attention either and focused on searching for his third Soul Beast.