Su Ling and Ning Rongrong's partnership

The outcome of a Soul Fighting match brought joy to some and sorrow to others, but this was only one of many matches.

After Su Ling left the stage, the next contestants stepped onto the Soul Fighting Platform to continue fighting.

"Big Brother Su, congratulations on winning this match," Zhu Zhuqing, who rarely spoke, said of her own accord.

"Thank you. Actually, Pang Yun, the Crimson Flame Tiger, was very strong. Perhaps seeing me use no soul skills made him lower his guard, and that let me beat him," Su Ling said.

"Big Brother Su, the arrow you shot last seemed to be spinning?" Tang San looked at Su Ling in puzzlement.

"Tang San, that's one of Boss Su's signature moves, Spinning Arrow. Its power is no weaker than some soul skills."

Before Su Ling could speak, Oscar jumped in to explain. In the end, Su Ling merely nodded in confirmation.

"The one-on-one matches are over. The two-on-two matches should start in another half hour or so. Discuss things with your partners again, and let's try to win every match tonight," Su Ling said.

"Okay!" everyone replied.

Just then, Flender arrived as well, looking thoroughly miserable.

"Dean!" several of them called out together.

After arriving, Flender still managed to squeeze out a smile. "Good, very good. You all performed very well."

He truly could not feel happy, because he had lost his bet.

He had placed smaller bets on the others, but he had generally bet on their side to win.

Fortunately, none of them had disappointed him. Everyone had won.

Those five matches had earned him over five hundred Gold Soul Coins from his bets, whereas he had wagered two thousand Gold Soul Coins on Su Ling's match alone.

The crucial point was that he had bet on Su Ling losing and Pang Yun winning.

Based on their past records, his research, and his understanding of Su Ling, the chance of Su Ling losing was over ninety percent.

Thus, betting on Su Ling's defeat in this match had cost him two thousand Gold Soul Coins in one stroke. How could his heart not ache?

"Su Ling, that was a fine fight just now," Flender said.

Su Ling smiled. "Mostly because my opponent was careless. Otherwise, I couldn't have won so easily."

Eight people, four teams!

Half an hour later, the two-on-two matches began at the Soul Fighting Arena.

The first match was Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing's. One was rank twenty-nine, the other rank twenty-seven, and they once again won easily in the Soul Grandmaster division.

After another match, it was Tang San and Ma Hongjun's turn. They likewise won without so much as lifting a finger.

After these two matches, Flender's expression improved considerably.

He had bet on both matches and won both times.

The following matches were all in the Soul Grandmaster division, so Dai Mubai and Su Ling still had a long wait before their turns.

This time, Flender approached Su Ling himself. "Su Ling, are you and Ning Rongrong confident you can win?"

Su Ling glanced at Ning Rongrong. "Of course. With Rongrong here, I'm sure we can win."

"Dean, have you been placing bets too?"

"What about it?" Flender asked.

"Dean, I have two thousand Gold Soul Coins here. Bet them on me and Rongrong winning." As he spoke, Su Ling took out two bags filled with Gold Soul Coins.

"You still have Gold Soul Coins?" Flender looked astonished.

"Hehe, wasn't I saving them to get married someday? My marriage fund." Su Ling deliberately made up an excuse.

"Then shouldn't you pay me back?" Flender asked.

"You can have all the winnings. With Rongrong and me pairing a Soul Elder with a Soul Grandmaster, the odds should be pretty good, right?"

Flender thought for a moment. "They are. Are you sure you can win?"

Su Ling said, "Look at how much I'm betting. Do you even need to ask?"

"All right, then. I'll trust you this once," Flender said.

Taking the Gold Soul Coins Su Ling handed him, Flender returned to the betting area. Su Ling and Ning Rongrong's opponents were two Soul Elders above rank thirty-five.

A Soul Elder bringing along a Soul Grandmaster was clearly at a disadvantage, no matter how one looked at it.

With a wager of two thousand Gold Soul Coins, a victory would earn another two thousand, enough to repay what he owed Flender.

Although he knew Flender had fleeced him, the man had at least done everything he could to keep him alive for over a month. This little bit of money did not matter.

Without Flender's help, he might not have survived twenty-four hours after crossing into this world.

Those healing Soul Masters' treatments had been quite useful. They could not cure him completely, but fortunately, keeping him alive had posed no problem.

Ning Rongrong said, "Su Ling, with so much money riding on this, aren't you afraid I'll deliberately make you lose?"

As though she had found something to hold over him, she grew smug. After all, Su Ling had called her a little brat earlier that day.

Su Ling said mildly, "As a member of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, I imagine you should have the bearing expected of someone from a great sect, shouldn't you?"

"You... didn't you say I was still little? Children don't need that much bearing. Hmph!" Ning Rongrong said indignantly.

Su Ling said, "Really? We're going out there together. If you don't pull your weight, do you want to get beaten up and lose?"

"Uh, then... never mind," Ning Rongrong said. Losing a match to annoy Su Ling was fine, but taking a beating herself was out of the question.

After roughly an hour's wait, the two-on-two Soul Grandmaster matches ended, followed immediately by the Soul Elder matches.

Dai Mubai and Oscar appeared in the second match, but unfortunately, their luck was not very good.

Their opponents were two rank thirty-eight Soul Elders, one of whom had previously defeated Dai Mubai in a one-on-one match.

Shrek suffered its first defeat of the evening.

The very next match was Su Ling and Ning Rongrong's.

"Let's go. It's our turn," Su Ling said.

"Oh!" Ning Rongrong stood and slowly followed behind Su Ling. This was her first time experiencing a fight like this, and she felt both nervous and excited.

Looking at the tall figure ahead of her, she thought, This guy will protect me in a moment, won't he?

After entering the arena, Su Ling and Ning Rongrong saw their opponents for the day.

One man and one woman.

The man was a rank thirty-seven Soul Elder with the Gale Wolf martial soul. The woman was rank thirty-six, and her martial soul was a Green Snake.

The former specialized in agility attacks, the latter in control.

"Release your martial souls!"

Both sides released their martial souls: Su Ling his Water Moon Bow, and Ning Rongrong her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.

The moment Ning Rongrong's martial soul appeared, it drew many eyes. After all, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul was renowned throughout the continent.

Its appearance also ensured that she would be the first person their opponents sought to take down.

Ning Rongrong realized this too. She did not want to get beaten up.

"Big Brother Su, I understand. I'll support you with everything I have," Ning Rongrong said.

She did not want to get hit, and at this point, she could only rely on Su Ling. She would have to be out of her mind not to support him properly now.

"Begin the match!"

As soon as the words rang out, Su Ling moved directly in front of Ning Rongrong.

Ning Rongrong immediately released her soul skills, applying strength and agility boosts to both Su Ling and herself.

Both increased by thirty percent in an instant. This was Su Ling's first time receiving support like this, and it felt incredible.

No wonder every team liked to bring a support Soul Master. It really was necessary.

Moreover, Su Ling's physical strength and agility were already at the Soul King level.

With another thirty-percent increase, he could utterly overwhelm the two opponents in the arena.

"Brother Wolf, be careful. I watched his match earlier. He defeated Pang Yun with a single arrow," the woman said.

"Sister Snake, don't I have you here?"

With Martial Soul Possession active, the woman flicked out her tongue, then unleashed her soul skill, murmuring, "Green Snake Entanglement."

The next instant, a Green Snake shot straight toward Su Ling.

The man with the wolf martial soul also charged over at tremendous speed. The problem was that Su Ling could not dodge away, because doing so would put Ning Rongrong behind him in danger.

Generally, few people brought support Soul Masters into two-on-two matches, and those who did faced a very high chance of defeat.

Under these circumstances, the Green Snake still coiled around Su Ling's body.

Ning Rongrong was so frightened that she did not know what to do.

"Big Brother Su, you..." Ning Rongrong said worriedly.

Yet the man with the wolf martial soul, who had come to attack Su Ling, instead moved around him to attack Ning Rongrong behind him.

In the stands, everyone was worried about Su Ling and Ning Rongrong.

Only Dai Mubai was hoping that Su Ling would lose a match.

That would make him feel a little better about his own defeat just now.

Flender's brow furrowed even more. Were the two thousand Gold Soul Coins Su Ling had put in, along with the thousand he had added himself, about to be poured down the drain again?

Once Ning Rongrong lost the ability to fight and Su Ling lost her support, he would be like a lone tree trying to hold up the sky.

Besides, this Soul Elder's control was not so easy to break free of.

In fact, Su Ling had anticipated this. If he could not rely on the Water Moon Bow, he would simply have to rely on strength.

"Little girl, you've lost." The wolf martial soul user's enormous fist was about to land on Ning Rongrong.

Suddenly, the woman with the Green Snake martial soul shouted, "Brother Wolf, watch out!"

"What?" The instant he turned his head, there was a bang.

Su Ling's fist struck him squarely in the face, sending his entire body flying.

"Big Brother Su, weren't... weren't you immobilized?" Ning Rongrong exclaimed delightedly.

Just a moment earlier, Su Ling had put away his Water Moon Bow and pulled apart the Green Snake binding him with his bare hands.

It had been effortless, as though the Green Snake had no strength at all.

Su Ling said, "Isn't that thanks to your support? With my strength increased, this little bit of control couldn't stop me. But why didn't you dodge just now?"

"I..." Ning Rongrong felt embarrassed by Su Ling's words. She really had failed to handle things properly just now!

Su Ling said, "If I'd been even a little slower, you would've been in danger."

"You actually have the ability to buy yourself some time. That's the whole point of having you train."

"Although you can't defeat a Soul Master attacking you, you can train yourself to buy a little time at a critical moment. Then whoever comes to save you will have more time. Do you understand?"

"I understand!" Ning Rongrong nodded.

Now she truly understood why support Soul Masters needed to train.

After finishing his remarks to Ning Rongrong, Su Ling turned toward the woman with the Green Snake martial soul. "Let's continue."

[Ding... Ning Rongrong's affection +3. Obtained White Chest ×1, Yellow Chest ×1]

Not bad. Her affection increased, which means Ning Rongrong took my words to heart.

"I surrender!" The woman with the Green Snake martial soul withdrew it as soon as she spoke.

Only then did Su Ling realize that Ning Rongrong was standing near the edge of the Soul Fighting Platform.

On top of that, he had put too much force into his punch, knocking the man with the wolf martial soul straight off the Soul Fighting Platform.

Anyone who left the Soul Fighting Platform could not return to continue fighting.

Thus, their opponent simply chose to surrender, and Su Ling's team won. The entire match had lasted less than a minute.