There was actually a fundamental difference between Leng Xiyue's simulation module and Huo Yuhao's Simulation: once the armor module simulated a skill, its actual output matched a soul ring of that age. No matter how powerful the observer, they would only see a hundred-year soul skill.
Even so, this was a skill powered by psionic energy, fundamentally different from soul power techniques. Yan only felt his body grow light before discovering, a second later, that he was airborne. Then a surge of excruciating pain struck him, and he crashed heavily to the ground.
A veteran of countless battles, Yan could take a beating. He endured the pain and prepared to roll to his feet and counterattack, but Leng Xiyue seemed to have anticipated him. The club in her hand had already turned into a longsword, its point pressed straight against his throat.
The longsword was so close that the slightest push forward could easily take his life. Yet Leng Xiyue made no further move, simply waiting quietly for the system to announce the result.
Had this been a fight to the death, Yan would most likely have been dead already. But this was only an ordinary match, so the rules stipulated that a contestant lost once their opponent had control of a vital point.
"Contestant Yan's vital point is under Leng Xiyue's control. Assessment confirms that, in a duel to the death, he would have no opportunity to counterattack in this situation. Therefore, Leng Xiyue wins this match!"
"Wait, how do you know that Psi Blade in her hand can break through my armor so easily? What if it's just a trick?" Naturally, Yan refused to accept being taken down in a single move, so he questioned the verdict.
"Ugh." Leng Xiyue shook her head, then pointed the Psi Blade in her hand at his arm, where the armor of his Flame Lord martial soul was thickest.
With just a slight jab, a trickle of blood ran out. What that meant needed no explanation.
Feeling the pain in his arm, Yan's face turned ashen. If she had attacked him with the longsword from the start, he would probably have been hacked into eight pieces by now!
"Come on, young man." Leng Xiyue stood on tiptoe and patted Yan's shoulder, then said with the air of an old veteran, "Victory and defeat are everyday fare for a soldier. There's no shame in losing to me."
Thinking it over, Yan agreed. She had a super martial soul, so losing really was nothing to be ashamed of. Still, he could not help feeling humiliated. He had lost to a six-year-old girl-if word got out, how was he supposed to show his face?
Leng Xiyue had now confirmed that she was invincible among those of her rank. The result did not surprise her. Facing a Soul Grandmaster might not be out of the question either. As long as she took them down instantly before they could unleash any soul skills, they would pose little threat.
This was one of the most absurd things about the Douluo Continent. Take sword moves, for instance: surely, if someone developed a set of sword techniques, any sword-type martial soul could execute them by following the same process. Yet people insisted on letting soul skills restrict them, as though they could not fight without them.
Xie Yue's and Hu Liena's matches soon ended as well, and both had some injuries. As a control-type Soul Master, Hu Liena had relatively weaker combat ability, so the Soul Masters matched against her were slightly lower in level. Still, she had combat experience. Activate her charm, rush in and deliver a savage beating, then keep drawing the opponent in and pulling away-winning was fairly easy.
Xie Yue, on the other hand, had more serious injuries. One look made it clear that he had fought a bitter battle, though he had won as well.
With Leng Xiyue bringing them together, Yan joined their three-person squad, and the group prepared to fight a team match.
Unfortunately, there were simply too few students from their year around at this time, and almost none met all the matchmaking requirements. With no other choice, they had to continue fighting individual matches.
Before long, Leng Xiyue had completed all five matches, winning each with a single move. The other three, however, only fought two more matches apiece before they were nearly spent and could not continue.
Leng Xiyue had originally intended to add Yan to her friend system as well, since they were all members of the Golden Generation. Yan refused, however, as he was eager to fight Xie Yue.
Unexpectedly, they really did get matched against each other. Xie Yue won by the narrow margin of a single move, leaving Yan with two losses in three matches, while Hu Liena and Xie Yue naturally finished with three wins out of three.
After collecting their prize money, Xie Yue wanted to buy some medicine with Hu Liena, then return to their dorms to cultivate and replenish their soul power before coming back to fight in the afternoon. Yan went with them. Leng Xiyue, meanwhile, had suffered no real injuries and had completed her five required matches. She wanted to go out and find a blacksmith shop, but did not quite have enough money on hand, so she turned her attention to the rankings.
Spirit Hall Academy awarded prize money to anyone in the top ten of their year who maintained their position for a week without dropping. That was only a small sum, though. The real money lay in what Xie Yue had mentioned earlier: the prize money offered when others came to challenge them.
Generally, aside from chance encounters through matchmaking, anyone who wanted to challenge one of the top-ranked students by name had to pay. These experts usually would not refuse, either. Their rankings would fall if they fought too few matches, after all, and who would turn down a chance to rake in some money?
But if a higher-ranked fighter lost one of these challenges, the challenger would take their place outright, rather than having to slowly build up their match count and win rate as in the conventional ranking system. It was a chance to ascend to the heavens in a single step, so plenty of people who overestimated themselves challenged the experts on the leaderboard, handing over their money for nothing.
The current top ten were all level-twenty Quasi-Soul Grandmasters. Once they obtained their second soul rings, they would advance to the next year, and their positions would pass down to those below them. They would also receive an advancement bonus from the Arena. Truly, the deep-pocketed Spirit Hall never shortchanged talented people when it came to money; they could collect benefits until their hands went limp.
First place belonged to an eleven-year-old girl named Zhang Ping. Her martial soul was the Golden-Waisted Flying Swallow, and she was an agility attack-type Soul Master. Her record stood at 2,425 wins and 353 losses. Under the Arena's matchmaking system, that win-loss ratio was enough to call her a genius.
The matchmaking records of the experts on the leaderboard were public. Leng Xiyue took a look and, as luck would have it, Xie Yue's first match had been against Zhang Ping. There were no further matchmaking records after that bout. Perhaps Xie Yue had beaten her so badly that she had gone back to rest.
Leng Xiyue did not care about that, though. She went straight to the front desk, paid one hundred Gold Soul Coins, and submitted a challenge to Zhang Ping. The Arena would send someone to notify her. If she accepted, they could fight once both sides agreed on a time. If she declined, the Arena would deduct two Gold Soul Coins as its intermediary fee and refund the rest.
"Are you sure?" Seeing that Leng Xiyue wanted to challenge the top student in her year outright, the young woman at the front desk could not help asking again. Surely even an underdog challenging their betters should not attempt such an enormous leap! She had registered less than two hours ago, and already wanted to challenge the number one student in her year?
Leng Xiyue said nothing and simply handed over her card. After scanning it, the young woman immediately stopped asking questions.
Five wins in five matches, all against opponents at least seven levels above her. A genius of this caliber really would struggle to find another worthy opponent in her year.
The young woman at the front desk quickly finished registering the challenge, and a designated staff member would go notify Zhang Ping.
After Leng Xiyue wandered around the Arena for a while, a staff member brought her the reply. Zhang Ping had chosen two in the afternoon. Naturally, Leng Xiyue had no objections and agreed at once.
After lunch, Leng Xiyue returned to the Arena, ready to hurry up and finish challenging the top student in her year so she could begin her money-raking plan.
Before you continue