Amid the cheers, Su Ling stepped onto the Soul Fighting arena alongside his opponent, Pang Yun.
Almost all the cheers were for Pang Yun. After all, he had already won eleven matches in a row.
Su Ling's record before this had been dismal, and his popularity was practically nonexistent.
Under these circumstances, countless people at the outside betting stalls wagered on Pang Yun to win. Many even staked everything they owned.
Pang Yun did not look particularly old, either, only about twenty-four or twenty-five.
"You're already level forty, yet you haven't gone looking for a soul ring. Looks like you want to use your soul power advantage to win a few more matches in the Soul Elder division. But now that you've run into me, you're bound to lose."
Su Ling said, "Not necessarily."
"Release your martial souls!"
The instant the announcer finished speaking, Pang Yun released his martial soul.
With Martial Soul Possession, crimson flames radiated from his body. It was another tiger-type martial soul.
"A Crimson Flame Tiger?" Su Ling murmured. As he spoke, he also released his martial soul, gripping the Water Moon Bow.
In the spectator area, the sight of his opponent's martial soul seemed to remind Ma Hongjun of something. "I remember Second Brother Dai fought this guy half a month ago. He lost, too."
Dai Mubai was speechless. Ma Hongjun really had to lift the very kettle that refused to boil-did he have to bring up his defeat?
"Pang Yun's crimson flames are extraordinary, and his explosive power is tremendous. Even I have trouble withstanding it," Dai Mubai could only explain helplessly.
"Then won't Brother Su have a hard time winning?" Hearing Dai Mubai say this, Ning Rongrong instead felt a surge of delight. Didn't you hit me earlier today? Now it's your turn to take a beating. Serves you right.
"Begin the Soul Fighting match!" the announcer shouted before withdrawing from the arena.
The next instant, Pang Yun seized the initiative and charged at Su Ling.
Everyone knew that fighting a ranged Soul Master meant closing in for close combat, and Pang Yun was no exception.
Just as Su Ling was about to counterattack, he saw that the charging Pang Yun had already prepared his soul skill.
Two streams of crimson flame shot from his arms, forming walls of fire that sealed off Su Ling's left and right.
With both sides blocked, retreating would send Su Ling off the arena. Advancing meant fighting Pang Yun, while leaping into the air would make him a living target for attacks from the side.
Soul power gathered, and in the blink of an eye, Su Ling fired six arrows straight at Pang Yun.
Pang Yun had not expected Su Ling to retaliate so quickly, much less shoot six arrows in such a short time.
One arrow would have been easy enough to dodge, but six made it much harder.
He had no choice but to abandon his attack and focus entirely on evading Su Ling's arrows.
Yet Su Ling's arrows kept coming like rain, stopping Pang Yun in his tracks. For the moment, Su Ling clearly held the upper hand.
"Your attacks do nothing to me. Why waste your soul power? Let's see how long you can keep this up," Pang Yun jeered as he dodged.
Su Ling was using ordinary attacks. After evading for a while, Pang Yun began smashing his arrows with his fists as well, rather than merely dodging.
This was the limitation of Su Ling's martial soul. It was simply too ordinary, and attacks formed from condensed soul power were indeed weak.
Seeing that Su Ling's attacks posed little threat, Pang Yun unleashed another soul skill, launching a basketball-sized ball of crimson flame at him.
Su Ling fired another arrow at the crimson fireball.
But just then, the crimson fireball suddenly split into more than a dozen fist-sized fireballs that hurtled toward Su Ling at tremendous speed.
"Oh no! Brother Su's in danger!" Xiao Wu exclaimed.
As the fireballs came flying at him, Su Ling moved, swiftly shifting positions. Crimson fireballs streaked past him, yet not a single one struck his body.
Boom after boom rang out as the fireballs exploded behind Su Ling.
"You actually dodged them all?" Pang Yun stared at Su Ling in astonishment, unable to believe he had evaded that attack. It was his second soul skill.
Originally, this soul skill simply attacked with a huge fireball, but through his own research, he had successfully developed variations in how he used it.
He had developed a new attack form within the soul skill's existing stage.
This move had never failed him. Several powerful Soul Elders had fallen to it.
Dai Mubai, watching from the elevated stands, was no exception. This was the very move Pang Yun had defeated him with.
Those crimson flames were immensely powerful. Even recalling them now made his body ache a little.
Whew...
He had nearly been hit by those fireballs. Once one struck him, several, or even a dozen, would explode together.
Before today, Su Ling certainly could not have dodged them. But that very morning, while Ning Rongrong was jogging, he had been studying and practicing Carefree Journey.
That afternoon, while everyone else rested, Su Ling had continued studying the Carefree Journey movement technique.
He also seemed exceptionally well suited to it, managing to grasp the basics of Carefree Journey in just a few hours.
With that beginner-level footwork, Su Ling had successfully evaded the attack.
"Those crimson flames certainly live up to their reputation. Let's continue," Su Ling said.
The Crimson Flame Tiger could develop along either the strength or fire-attribute path, pursue both, or focus on just one.
Clearly, his opponent's first and second soul skills both centered on explosive crimson flame attacks.
"Good. Very good. You're the first opponent in my last five Soul Fighting matches to make me use my third soul skill. I have to claim my twelfth straight victory."
Crimson flames erupted from Pang Yun once more. At that moment, however, Su Ling raised the Water Moon Bow, still without using a soul skill.
He simply condensed a single arrow.
Unlike his previous arrows, this one contained a small portion of the Five-Element Soul Power condensed within his body, and Su Ling's shooting technique had changed as well.
The Water Moon clan had its own inherited techniques. The arrow he loosed spun at high speed.
Yes, it was spinning.
Because the Water Moon Bow lacked offensive power, generations of Water Moon clansmen had spent a hundred years researching archery techniques that could strengthen its attacks.
Spinning Arrow was one of them. By making an arrow rotate at high speed as it flew, it unleashed greater offensive and destructive power.
Combining Spinning Arrow with Five-Element Soul Power made this seemingly ordinary arrow conceal tremendous might.
Pang Yun assumed Su Ling's arrow was as ordinary as all the previous ones, so he naturally treated it with disdain.
After all, Su Ling had not used a soul skill at all, so he paid it no mind.
"An attack like that can't possibly break through my third soul skill's defen-"
Before he could finish, Su Ling's sharp arrow pierced his body.
"H-how... is that... possible? I..."
Su Ling had avoided Pang Yun's vital points. Otherwise, that single strike could have killed him.
Pang Yun dismissed his martial soul. A bloody hole lay just below his shoulder; had it been any lower, he would have lost his life.
Though this was not a fight to the death, accidental deaths were commonplace in Soul Fighting. If someone died, they died.
"Do you want to continue?" Su Ling asked, looking calmly at Pang Yun.
"I... I surrender! Thank you for showing mercy," Pang Yun said.
Silence. The entire arena fell silent. Pang Yun, who had won eleven matches in a row, had actually lost. For a moment, many people could not accept it.
Those who had wagered everything they owned were especially distraught, with some even shouting that the match had been fixed.
It was not just the spectators. Flender, watching from the shadows, was no different. His expression was rather ugly, as though he had lost several thousand Gold Soul Coins.
He knew about this move of Su Ling's, but when had it become so powerful?
Before you continue