Academy Arena

After passing through the arena gates, the three of them headed to the registration desk.

Xie Yue handed over their student IDs, then asked respectfully, "Hello, the three of us would like to sign up for Soul Fighting. Are there any procedures we need to complete?"

The receptionist seemed to be a senior student working part-time. Seeing how young they were, with even a six-year-old girl among them, she was visibly startled.

Still, that clearly was not her concern. She took their student IDs, and after looking them over, she could not help giving Leng Xiyue a few extra glances.

As she entered their details, she explained, "To participate in Soul Fighting, you'll need to link a card here. From then on, you can take that card straight over there to enter matchmaking. Unlike the Great Soul Arena, our academy's arena offers three- to six-person matches in addition to singles, doubles, and seven-person team matches. That's to better accommodate support-type Soul Masters and give them more opportunities to compete."

"If you want to participate in seven-person team matches, you'll need to register a team. That part is much the same as at the Great Soul Arena."

"Every win will raise the weighting used to match your next opponent. It's perfectly normal to face someone of a higher or lower level. Winning will not only improve your ranking within your year, but also earn you academy points. You can exchange those points for treasures at the academy's Treasure Pavilion or sell them to other students for money. You're free to do either."

With that, the receptionist handed back their three student IDs along with three brand-new cards. Leng Xiyue glanced at hers. It was just an ordinary plastic card, much like a bank card.

"Once your match record meets the upgrade requirements, you can come back here to exchange your card for a higher-tier one and collect an upgrade reward."

"All right, thank you." Seeing that others were still waiting in line behind them, Leng Xiyue asked no further questions and pulled Xie Yue and Hu Liena aside.

"So, big brother Xie Yue, are we teaming up or fighting solo?" Leng Xiyue could hardly wait. Their earlier fight had not been particularly exciting without being able to use their Martial Souls. Now that they could cut loose, a proper fight was undoubtedly the best choice.

"Let's each try a singles match first and see how strong our opponents are. If the matchmaking really works the way she described, Nana should be able to find a suitable opponent too," Xie Yue suggested.

"Okay."

Registration for arena matches was handled through a soul device resembling a ticket machine, though its functions were quite simple. They only had to insert their newly issued cards, and the system would automatically assign suitable opponents based on the level information stored on them. Checking their match records, however, required a different machine.

While waiting for their matches, the three of them looked through the introductory booklet.

At their level, matchmaking generally took place every five minutes. The system sorted everyone who had registered during that interval by strength, then assigned opponents. The stronger the contestants, the longer matchmaking took, which also had to do with how long each match lasted. Usually, the next round of matchmaking was only completed after the previous round ended. At present, they were only at the Soul Master rank and had just one Soul Skill each. Once those were used, both sides could only fight hand to hand. If neither could overcome the other, the system would automatically decide the winner based on their performance, so battles naturally ended quickly.

The combat rules were much the same as those of the Soul Master Tournament: no external aids were allowed. After all, the arena's original purpose was to improve the students' combat ability. Anyone caught using underhanded tricks would face more than a simple loss; they could be suspended or even expelled outright.

To avoid the awkwardness of being matched against acquaintances, the arena also supported a friend system. As long as a group registered together, they would not be matched against one another in singles or doubles. Of course, with that system in place, the punishment for fixing matches was even harsher than for using those underhanded tricks. Unless both sides conceded and accepted a loss, anyone caught farming points through one-sided surrender would be expelled outright, with no chance of getting away with it.

After reading that, Leng Xiyue hurriedly took Xie Yue and Hu Liena to register. Although they were unlikely to be matched together, it was not the ten thousand ordinary cases one feared, but the one exception. If they really did run into each other, who could bring themselves to strike?

The five minutes passed quickly, and the three of them followed the instructions on the large screen to their respective fighting platforms.

To accommodate more simultaneous matches, each one-on-one fighting platform was housed in an enclosed room without spectators. Only popular bouts between experts or matches with multiple participants could take place in the Soul Fighting Arena with spectator seating.

Leng Xiyue pushed open the door and immediately spotted a familiar face. Her face lit up with a smile. "Oh, isn't this big brother Yan? How did you end up matched against me?"

"You? How is that possible?"

Yan frowned deeply at the sight of Leng Xiyue. He was level nineteen, practically a Soul Grandmaster already, and would soon break through to level twenty. How could he have been matched against Leng Xiyue, a Soul Master who could be no more than level eleven or twelve?

His Martial Soul was the Flame Lord, an ancient, top-tier Martial Soul comparable to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon or the Evil-Eyed White Tiger. It would have been fortunate enough not to be matched against someone above his level, yet the system had given him a six-year-old child?

Although he had seen Leng Xiyue and Xie Yue's group beat that crowd of people earlier, he had not thought much of it. He would not have feared those people either. After all, back in the training camp, Xie Yue had still lagged behind him in various respects. Besides, their opponents were spoiled brats with talent but no fighting skills. With Martial Souls forbidden, anyone could have beaten them into submission.

Yet this matchmaking system had operated at Spirit Hall Academy for decades, and he had never heard any rumors of it making a mistake. That meant that if there was a vast gap in Soul Power, his opponent's Martial Soul had to be at least an entire tier above his-not merely a better Martial Soul within the same tier. It could only be one of the legendary super Martial Souls.

Before he could think any further, a mechanical female voice rang out in the room:

"Both contestants are in position. Please activate your Martial Souls."

Hearing that, Yan hesitated no longer and let the Flame Lord possess him. Whether she was truly powerful or merely putting on a show, one fight would tell him!

Leng Xiyue did not hesitate either. Her Martial Soul possessed her in an instant, and she condensed a long staff in her hand. Her eyes positively shone as she looked at Yan with his Martial Soul activated.

What did a top-tier fire Martial Soul mean? It meant exactly the high-quality worker she desperately needed right now! If she could bring Yan into the fold, wouldn't he obediently help her forge anything she wanted?

So how could she win over such a proud, high-spirited young man?

Leng Xiyue turned it over in her mind, but there was only one word for it-fight!

"Both contestants' Martial Souls have been detected as active. Beginning countdown."

"3"

"2"

"1"

"Begin the match!"

The mechanical voice had barely faded when Yan moved, but Leng Xiyue was faster. In a flash, she was right in front of him.

"First Soul Skill, Flash Slash!"