"First Soul Skill: Red Wind Shadow Sweep!"
A yellow Soul Ring immediately appeared around Kirk, and his speed surged. The leopard claws on his hands struck straight at Chen Xuanqing, as though he intended to end the fight in a single blow.
"First Soul Skill: Bloodscale Holy Armor!"
Dark red armor covered his entire body, while Chen Xuanqing's face brimmed with smiles. Most of the diluted blood essence he had consumed had gone toward nourishing his body and Martial Soul, so his Soul Power had only risen by four levels. His strength, however, had undergone a qualitative leap.
Clang!
Sparks flashed across Chen Xuanqing's body, but unfortunately for Kirk, even his full-force claw strike failed to breach the armor's defenses.
Seeing this, Kirk snapped in frustration, "I refuse to believe a little kid like you could be this strong."
"Second Soul Skill: Jade Claw Scale Transformation!"
A flash of blue-green light flickered and vanished. Kirk's hands instantly grew larger, and even his leopard claws looked longer and more slender.
In an instant, Kirk's figure disappeared again, his sharp claws slashing straight toward Chen Xuanqing's neck.
Boom!
With a single kick, Chen Xuanqing sent Kirk flying off the platform. But this was a death match, so naturally, the fight would not end until one of them died.
Chen Xuanqing leaped through the air to Kirk's side, then delivered a spinning kick to his head.
Just like that, Chen Xuanqing ended his first battle and picked up a chance at a prize draw along the way.
The fight had set the spectator stands ablaze, and the audience roared.
"Crocodile God! You're the strongest!"
"What a useless piece of trash! He couldn't even beat a kid more than ten years younger than him. I wasted so much money."
The moment Chen Xuanqing left the competition grounds, two people closed in on him: his master, Golden Crocodile Douluo, and the manager of Azure Cloud City's Soul Fighting Arena.
"Crocodile God, would you be willing to fight a few more matches at our Soul Fighting Arena? How about I put you straight into the main arena?"
"I'll listen to my master."
Golden Crocodile Douluo simply shook his head and walked out with Chen Xuanqing, completely ignoring the arena manager.
Only after they had left the Soul Fighting Arena behind and returned to their inn did Golden Crocodile Douluo speak. "Don't get caught up in all that hollow acclaim. As your teacher, I don't want you doing nothing but Soul Fighting. Understand?"
Chen Xuanqing said, "Got it. I'm not that childish."
Golden Crocodile Douluo nodded in satisfaction. His dear disciple was quite dependable in that regard.
"Disciple, where are we going next, then? We should at least have a goal!"
"Next, of course, we'll roam the land righting wrongs and prepare for you to become a god."
On the Douluo Continent, one became a god at level one hundred; level ninety-nine was merely the starting point. One could either inherit a god's Divine Throne or attain godhood through faith, though the latter was extremely difficult.
But Chen Xuanqing knew that all he needed to do was keep growing stronger. At the rate he was improving, becoming a god probably would not be difficult when the time came.
The next day.
After leaving Azure Cloud City, Golden Crocodile Douluo took Chen Xuanqing beyond Spirit Hall's sphere of influence, and the two began traveling across the continent.
Chen Xuanqing grew stronger while taking part in Soul Fighting, occasionally completing quite a few missions as well.
Of course, he still had to make time each year to return to Spirit Hall Academy for classes. On that point, Chen Xuanqing could not argue with Golden Crocodile Douluo, so he could only obediently attend elementary school.
Four years later.
"Welcome to Nuoding City's Spirit Hall, Lord Chen Xuanqing. I'm Ma Xiunuo, the person in charge here."
Ma Xiunuo looked at the boy before him, who appeared to be in his teens, wondering why Spirit Hall had sent someone like him here.
Chen Xuanqing said, "I'm ten years old this year. I've come to ask you, Hall Master Ma Xiunuo, to arrange for me to study at Nuoding Academy for a while."
Because the Douluo Continent's timeline was somewhat muddled, Chen Xuanqing had no choice but to arrive early.
After four years of traveling, Chen Xuanqing had become a level fifty-four Soul King.
Ma Xiunuo nodded repeatedly. "Then allow me to escort you to Nuoding Academy personally, my lord."
With that, Ma Xiunuo led Chen Xuanqing out. Along the way, he introduced Nuoding City to him, without asking a single unnecessary question.
Under Ma Xiunuo's guidance, they soon arrived at Nuoding Academy, and thanks to his standing, Chen Xuanqing was quickly admitted.
"Teacher, when will this year's work-study students enroll?"
In the corridor, Chen Xuanqing asked about the work-study students. At the very least, he needed to work out how far the plot had progressed.
"Xuanqing, I'm not too sure either, but it shouldn't be much longer."
"All right. Thank you, Teacher!"
And so Chen Xuanqing began whiling away his days at Nuoding Academy. Despite being a Soul King, he attended classes every day alongside children who had not even become Soul Masters.
Chen Xuanqing also ran into Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang quite a few times. Unfortunately, he had little interest in Yu Xiaogang, so the two never interacted.
An agonizing month flashed by, and at last, Chen Xuanqing received news of the work-study students.
"Ah! They're finally here. Now I'll have to go wait at the work-study students' dorm."
As he spoke, Chen Xuanqing got out of bed and headed straight for Dorm Seven, where the work-study students lived.
His own dorm room was not far from Dorm Seven, so he reached its entrance after just a few steps.
Wang Sheng asked, "Brother Chen, what brings you to Dorm Seven? Does a teacher need something?"
Over the past month, Chen Xuanqing had beaten every troublemaker at Nuoding Academy who provoked him, all without releasing his Martial Soul. As a result, no one at the academy dared mess with him.
"Aren't there new work-study students arriving this year? Are they here yet?"
"Yes! One work-study student arrived this year." Wang Sheng called into the room, "Tang San, come meet Brother Chen."
A somewhat short six-year-old boy emerged from the room, looking a little puzzled.
"Brother Chen?"
"Nothing much. I just came to have a look." As he spoke, Chen Xuanqing paid no further attention to either of them and simply looked down the nearby corridor, seemingly waiting for someone to appear.
Seeing this, Tang San and Wang Sheng could only stand in the corridor with Chen Xuanqing and wait. An awkward atmosphere spread among the three.
Before long, an adorable figure appeared before them. Her pink outfit instantly melted Chen Xuanqing's girlish heart.
[Ding! System mission issued: snatch Xiao Wu first. Reward: one chance at a prize draw]
Hearing the system notification, Chen Xuanqing strode forward with a broad smile. "You must be Xiao Wu!"
Xiao Wu looked curiously at the tall figure before her. Her puzzled expression sent Chen Xuanqing, that old lecher, even further over the edge.
"My name is Xiao Wu. Wu as in dancing. Who are you?"
Without another word, Chen Xuanqing took Xiao Wu's hand and led her away, their figures moving farther and farther from Dorm Seven.
Yet Tang San, standing at Dorm Seven's entrance, felt as though something was missing. What was it?
Before you continue