As soon as Huo Wu finished speaking, a young man with short silver hair and a black face mask leaped onto the platform.
"Huo Wu, little sister, you can't possibly challenge this many people alone. How about this? Our four academies fight in pairs, then the winner fights you. What do you think?"
The young man spoke very gently. Who else could it be but Feng Xiaotian?
"Not a bad suggestion. Then I'll be your first opponent."
A young man leaped straight onto the Soul Fighting Platform.
"You are...? Why didn't Yu Tianxin from your academy come?" Feng Xiaotian asked quietly.
"I, Lei Dong, am more than enough to deal with you."
"Fine, fine! In that case, let's fight," Feng Xiaotian said.
Huo Wu looked at Feng Xiaotian, feeling both helpless and exasperated.
Why did this guy take it upon himself to decide? My goal was to challenge more people.
The fight was about to begin, and Lei Dong and Feng Xiaotian had both released their martial souls. She could only step down.
There was still a long time before the Advanced Soul Master Tournament-roughly a year and a half or more.
So Feng Xiaotian's soul power was not at rank forty-four yet. He was only just at rank forty-one, despite already being over twenty-two years old. If he were at Shrek, he would not even qualify to graduate.
Of course, that had to do with Feng Xiaotian spending most of his time studying the Gale Thirty-Six Continuous Slashes.
Besides that, there was another possible explanation: the Creator God of the Douluo World needed to arrange a decent stepping stone for the destined protagonist at this stage.
Lei Dong's soul power was not high either, at rank thirty-nine.
The difference seemed to be only two ranks of soul power, but lacking a thousand-year soul skill still made the gap rather large.
In less than a minute, Feng Xiaotian knocked him off the platform.
"Hmph, if Yu Tianxin had come, I might have needed a little time. But you... aren't worthy." Feng Xiaotian was confident, and just as arrogant.
"That match is over. Now it's my turn."
Boom!
Even the Soul Fighting Platform shook. The newcomer was a burly man over two meters tall who, judging by his build, probably weighed at least two hundred kilograms.
"I am Huyan Li of the Elephant Armor Academy, a rank thirty-nine Soul Elder. Little sisters from the Skywater Academy, which of you will come play with your big brother? Don't worry, I won't use too much force," Huyan Li said.
Huyan Li was covered in solid slabs of muscle, though everyone knew that muscle size did not necessarily equate to strength.
"I'll go."
A woman with short blue hair leaped onto the platform. At present, Shui Bing'er and Xue Wu had the highest soul power in the Skywater Academy.
Shui Bing'er did not go up, perhaps because she did not want to reveal too much about herself.
Xue Wu was a support Soul Master, so naturally she did not need to take the stage either. That left the rank thirty-eight Yu Hairou.
Yu Hairou was a power attack system Soul Master, but her martial soul was only an ordinary Coral Barracuda. It could not withstand Huyan Li's diamond mammoth at all, and the fight ended in about a minute.
At the Skywater Academy, Shui Bing'er stood in a league of her own. Without her, the Skywater Academy could only be considered second-rate among all the advanced soul master academies in the Heaven Dou Empire.
"Feng Xiaotian, come up," Huyan Li said.
"All right, as you wish. Do you need to rest for a while?" Feng Xiaotian asked.
"No need," Huyan Li said.
"Then let's begin."
Feng Xiaotian released his Gale Twin-Headed Wolf martial soul again. Facing Huyan Li's charge, he dodged at incredible speed, then whipped up a surge of wind that actually helped send Huyan Li charging right off the Soul Fighting Platform.
Having landed below the platform, Huyan Li looked somewhat embarrassed. "This Soul Fighting Platform is too small. I can't show what I'm capable of at all."
It was only an ordinary sparring match, so Huyan Li said nothing more. There would be a team battle later anyway, and that would not take place on such a small Soul Fighting Platform.
"Huo Wu, little sister, it's our turn," Feng Xiaotian said.
Huo Wu's expression was rather unpleasant. She looked coldly at Feng Xiaotian and said, "Just call me by my name. Drop the 'little sister.'"
She was furious and swore she would give Feng Xiaotian a thorough beating.
Huo Wu released her martial soul, and a Flame Shadow resembling her appeared behind her. That was her martial soul.
At this point, Huo Wu was not a Soul Ancestor either. Her soul power was also around rank thirty-nine.
Huo Wu clenched her fist and strode forward, charging at Feng Xiaotian.
But Feng Xiaotian's acting was truly abysmal. He simply chose to take a punch from Huo Wu, then drifted away on the wind and landed directly below the Soul Fighting Platform.
That left Huo Wu speechless. Even if you're letting me win, surely this isn't how you do it?
It was far too fake.
Su Ling nearly laughed aloud at the sight. Taking simping this far left him speechless too.
Not only would it fail to make Huo Wu think more highly of him, it would actually annoy her. No wonder Feng Xiaotian had pursued her for so long without winning her over.
Only after the Advanced Soul Master Tournament ended did he finally win her over, and even that took several years.
In truth, Huo Wu did not have many choices by then. She liked Tang San, but Tang San already had someone in his heart and had no interest in her.
She had high standards and would never settle for someone whose talent and strength were below her own. On top of that, she had seen Feng Xiaotian's efforts by then, which was why the two finally got together.
So Su Ling felt that if Huo Wu had a better choice, she most likely still would not choose Feng Xiaotian.
Unable to quell the nameless fire of anger inside her, Huo Wu shouted, "Will anyone else come up and fight me?"
She wanted to beat someone up to vent the anger in her heart.
But Huo Wu's soul power was at rank thirty-nine, and she had quite a reputation at the Blazing Fire Academy. Everyone from her own academy knew what she intended to do next, so naturally no one stepped forward.
The people from the other four academies had no reason to go up either. After all, they had already fought once, and each match had ended quickly.
There was another reason, too: none of them wanted to reveal too many of their hidden cards, and there was no need to fight again. Taking part at this point was merely a way of showing the Blazing Fire Academy some courtesy.
For a moment, the crowd of several hundred spectators fell silent.
Just as Huo Wu was about to announce the end, a voice stopped her.
"Please make some room. Let me give it a try."
Who else could it be but Su Ling?
He had arrived rather late and could only watch from the outermost edge of the crowd.
Hearing that someone was issuing a challenge, the people on either side made a path for him.
"Who's that?"
"Judging by his clothes, he doesn't look like he's from the Five Elements Academy."
All five academies had their own identifying insignia, and Su Ling clearly belonged to none of them.
Hearing that someone was coming, Huo Wu thought that finally, someone dared to fight her.
"Come on up. As I said before, anyone here can take part. It isn't limited to our five academies," Huo Wu said.
He walked toward the platform, step by step.
Su Ling's appearance came into full view of the crowd.
"Sister, look! He's so handsome! How can anyone be that handsome?" Shui Yue'er's eyes were filled with nothing but Su Ling, as though she had fallen for him in an instant.
Once Su Ling came up, the goddesses' baseline affection scores appeared.
Huo Wu's affection was 5. That was a fairly good starting value, perhaps because Su Ling dared to come up and fight her. Of course, it might also have had something to do with his appearance.
Shui Bing'er's affection was 4, which was also good.
Bing Yuhuang's affection was 3, a normal value!
Shui Yue'er's affection was 30. She was the very picture of a fangirl, an absolute sucker for a handsome face!
But for Su Ling, that was not a good thing.
Doesn't that mean I've lost out on a whole bunch of treasure chests again? Su Ling felt the sting.
According to the system's rules, initial affection did not yield treasure chests.
"Su Ling, rank forty-three Battle Soul Ancestor. Do you dare to fight me?"
After stepping onto the Soul Fighting Platform, Su Ling introduced himself as well. He did not conceal his name or soul power, because there was no need to do so in front of these goddesses.
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