Of the three grilled fish, Ning Rongrong ate two all by herself!
"Big Brother Su, I'm sorry about earlier. I was being willful and didn't train properly." Ning Rongrong actually took the initiative to apologize to Su Ling.
Su Ling said, "It's fine. Just cultivate properly from now on. You don't need to apologize to me, either. You only need to do right by yourself."
While resting and eating grilled fish, Ning Rongrong had thought about a great deal.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would surely be placed in her hands in the next generation.
If she didn't work hard, how could she shoulder the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's heavy responsibilities in the future?
No one had ever told her these things before. Her father, Sword Douluo, and Bone Douluo had all cradled her in their palms. She had never thought so far ahead, simply living as a carefree young heiress.
Only after Su Ling's reminder did she realize that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect really did seem to have a gap between its old guard and its rising generation.
Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo supported it now, but once they grew old, could the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect still count among the Upper Three Sects?
"Big Brother Su, if you leave the academy someday, you can come to our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. I'll definitely offer you generous terms," Ning Rongrong suddenly said.
"Really?" Su Ling said with a smile.
"Of course. Don't tell me our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect isn't good enough for you," Ning Rongrong said.
Su Ling suddenly put on a serious expression. "I heard that joining the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect means marrying into the family of one of its direct disciples. Are you asking me to marry you? If I marry into your family, does that mean I'll be your bride?"
"Sure! Ah, no, that's not what I meant." Ning Rongrong stared at Su Ling, speechless, and hurried to explain.
"I meant I'd introduce you to a suitable female disciple from the sect."
"Really? I thought you meant yourself. You gave me a fright," Su Ling teased.
"What? Am I not good enough?" Ning Rongrong demanded angrily. What was that look on Su Ling's face? Was she somehow beneath him?
Leaving aside Su Ling's innate talent, his failed fourth soul ring alone already made it difficult for him to reach any great heights.
Never mind her-even any random woman from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would be a suitable match for Su Ling.
Su Ling looked Ning Rongrong up and down. "Still too little. You're just a little brat. Come on, we should head back to the academy."
"Su Ling, what do you mean? What's little? Who are you calling a brat? Stop right there!" Ning Rongrong puffed out her chest, but unfortunately, Su Ling didn't even turn around to look. She could only follow him back to the academy helplessly.
That afternoon, Flender had everyone rest instead of cultivating. Su Ling knew that Flender planned to take everyone to Suotuo City's Great Soul Arena that evening, so he hadn't scheduled any lessons.
Around three or four in the afternoon, Flender gathered everyone together.
Flender glanced at Ning Rongrong without saying anything further.
"Today's lesson will be held tonight. We're going to Suotuo City's Great Soul Arena for practical combat. Hmm, Su Ling, you lead everyone there again. I have some other matters to handle, so I'll arrive a little later."
"I..." Su Ling was speechless.
"Is there a problem?" Flender asked.
"No, no problem," Su Ling replied. Flender had damned well turned into a hands-off boss. Apparently, Su Ling existed just to serve as his assistant!
Under Shrek's rules, he had less than nine months before he had to leave. They really were squeezing every last drop of usefulness out of him.
Helpless, Su Ling could only accept the task. He looked at everyone and said, "Come on. Let's head to Suotuo City first!"
"Big Brother Su, what is this Great Soul Arena?" Tang San asked curiously. Having come from Nuoding City, he knew nothing about the Great Soul Arena.
Su Ling said, "The Great Soul Arena is a place where martial souls clash-in other words, where soul masters fight each other. You all have tremendous talent. As the dean says, you're all monsters, so monsters need to train differently. Compared with theory, the dean places more emphasis on actual combat."
"As for the rules, we can discuss them on the way."
On the way there, Su Ling gave everyone a detailed introduction to the Great Soul Arena. Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun also shared their records.
Dai Mubai had twenty-nine wins and twenty-seven losses!
Ma Hongjun had twenty-one wins and twelve losses!
Only Su Ling hadn't said anything, making Ning Rongrong unable to resist asking.
"Big Brother Su, what about your record?"
Su Ling recalled his past record and said, "Twenty-five wins and forty-six losses!"
"Big Brother Su, you're so strong, but your win rate isn't even over fifty percent?" Tang San asked in surprise.
Su Ling could easily defeat Dai Mubai, yet Dai Mubai's win rate was only just over fifty percent. The Great Soul Arena really did have some serious competition.
In truth, the original Su Ling's record was already quite good. After all, he had relied only on archery and his first soul skill in battle, never using his second or third soul skills.
Ma Hongjun said, "That's all because of Boss Su's martial soul. He can only use his first soul skill in matches. Otherwise, how could his record look like that?"
Su Ling said, "All right, I've already gone over the basic rules. Now let's discuss today's practical combat assignment."
"Go ahead, Big Brother Su." Tang San had already developed an interest in soul fighting.
Su Ling said, "Aside from Oscar and Ning Rongrong, the six of us will each take part in one individual, one-on-one soul fight."
Hearing that she didn't need to participate, Ning Rongrong felt a burst of delight.
But a moment later, she could no longer smile as Su Ling continued, "There are exactly eight of us, so we'll also pair up and each fight one two-on-two match."
"We have to participate too?" Oscar asked.
Su Ling nodded. "That's right. Support-type soul masters need to enter the arena too. You can't neglect practical combat."
"Then I'll team up with Xiao Wu," Tang San said.
"I'll take Zhu Zhuqing," Dai Mubai added.
"No, I don't agree," Zhu Zhuqing immediately refused.
"Zhu Zhuqing, this isn't a joke. You can get hurt in soul fights," Dai Mubai said, walking over to her.
Zhu Zhuqing instead took Xiao Wu by the arm. "Xiao Wu, could you team up with me?"
Xiao Wu glanced at Tang San. Although she wanted to team up with him, she couldn't bring herself to refuse Zhu Zhuqing's request. Tang San spoke up of his own accord. "Then team up with Zhu Zhuqing, Xiao Wu."
"Okay!" Xiao Wu nodded.
Su Ling said, "Tang San, you'll team up with Ma Hongjun, then."
"All right!" Tang San offered no objection.
"Dai Mubai, those two are both Soul Grandmasters, and support types at that. Let's each take one," Su Ling said.
Having been rejected by Zhu Zhuqing, Dai Mubai had nothing more to say. Normally, he would certainly have wanted to take Ning Rongrong, but now he feared displeasing Zhu Zhuqing. He could only settle for his second choice and team up with Oscar.
That left Su Ling with no choice but to pair up with Ning Rongrong.
They reached Suotuo City without incident. Since it was still early, they strolled around the shopping district and ate dinner before slowly making their way toward Suotuo City's Great Soul Arena.
Registration, sign-up, payment-the formalities were soon complete.
Not long after Su Ling signed up, Flender was already elsewhere, examining the match list for Su Ling and the others.
Holding a Gold Soul Coin card, he carefully studied the odds for every match.
But when he saw Su Ling's opponent, a trace of confusion crossed his face.
"Su Ling's opponent is actually a level thirty-nine fellow with eleven consecutive wins? That's not right. How could Su Ling's record get him matched against someone like this?"
Not long after Su Ling and the others finished signing up, the matches began.
The one-on-one fights started with the Soul Grandmaster division.
Xiao Wu was the first to enter, winning her first match in less than two minutes. Tang San, Ma Hongjun, and Zhu Zhuqing followed.
Without exception, everyone won easily. Then the Soul Elder division's matches began.
Dai Mubai was the first to enter. His opponent's soul power was comparable to his own.
Perhaps because he didn't want to lose face in front of Zhu Zhuqing, he went all out from the start. Under his full-force assault, he too secured a victory.
After Dai Mubai's match ended and another two soul fights had passed, the announcer finally called Su Ling's name.
"Today's third Soul Elder match pits Moon in the Water, whose soul power has just broken through, against Pang Yun, who already has eleven consecutive victories! Pang Yun's soul power is level thirty-nine, but Moon in the Water has raised his to level forty. This is destined to be a spectacular showdown!"
Moon in the Water was the stage name the original Su Ling had chosen. It had a somewhat literary flair.
"My turn!" Su Ling headed straight into the Soul Fighting Arena.
In truth, he was somewhat puzzled too. With his record, he shouldn't have been matched against an opponent like this.
Could it be because my soul power reached level forty?
Up in the stands, Dai Mubai watched Su Ling enter the arena, an inscrutable smile touching his lips. There was no telling what he was thinking.
However, Zhu Zhuqing happened to notice that smile from a short distance away.
She knew Dai Mubai far too well. Nothing good could come of that smile. Could he have deliberately found someone to arrange this?
During registration, Dai Mubai seemed to have left for a while on some pretext.
Was it really you?
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