Reaching the Top

Zhang Ping was in a bad mood today. Or rather, she was in a bad mood every day, but it had never been quite this bad.

She was not one of those children from impoverished backgrounds. Her family was very wealthy: her father was a Red-Robed Bishop at the Martial Soul General Hall, while her mother was a prominent merchant in Spirit City whose clothing shop ranked among the city's top three in terms of business scale.

Unfortunately, both were busy with their own work every day, and their schedules differed as well. As a result, they rarely had a chance to share a meal throughout the year. Eventually, her father, unable to bear the loneliness, had an affair with a young female clerk.

In Spirit City, this sort of thing hardly even counted as news. After all, plenty of men married several wives. Her mother, however, was far too independent to tolerate such a thing, so she divorced him without hesitation.

Her parents each started a new family, and neither wanted to raise her. Although Spirit Hall Academy was a boarding school, its relaxed rules allowed students to go home whenever they liked. She, however, was now effectively homeless, unwanted whichever home she visited.

She still had no worries about food or clothing, and both parents sent her substantial living allowances, but financial comfort was not what she wanted.

Under these circumstances, she gradually developed a combative personality. With her ruthless techniques, she climbed step by step to first place in the Grade Rankings. In just a few more days, she could apply to hunt for a soul ring, then advance to the third year in a blaze of glory.

Yet that very morning, when she skipped class as usual to enter a Matchmaking Match, a new student had utterly defeated her. And now, a little girl who had only just reached level eleven actually dared to challenge her by name.

"So, little one, I'll give you another chance. Step down from the platform now, and I can pretend none of this ever happened," Zhang Ping said, narrowing her eyes at Leng Xiyue across the platform.

She was hardly someone who cherished beauty and spared the delicate, but she found it difficult to bring herself to strike such an exquisitely doll-like little girl. Besides, she was nearly four years older. Winning would feel rather like bullying, and it would hardly sound good if word got around.

Leng Xiyue, however, said cheerfully, "It's fine. If I lose, I'll just count it as gaining experience."

Unlike ordinary Matchmaking Matches, Challenge Matches were generally held in venues with several hundred spectator seats. It was already afternoon, and upon hearing about such an intriguing match, students from the same year flocked to the venue. Xie Yue and Hu Liena were among them. Knowing Leng Xiyue's strength, the two found a wealthy student willing to act as bookmaker and placed a small bet. But the odds were nowhere near as lopsided as they had imagined, sitting at only 1:1.5.

Although the details of her matches were unavailable, her record of five wins in five matches on the day she registered was still displayed. She was clearly a dark horse, and for a time, the outcome of this match seemed far from certain.

"Both contestants are in position. Please activate your martial souls." Once it detected that both sides had reached their combat positions, the familiar mechanical female voice rang out.

The Arena was not an entertainment venue like the Great Soul Arena, and there were no hosts anywhere in it. A host's incessant chatter might enhance the entertainment, but it would also interfere with people watching matches to learn.

Hearing the system's voice, both immediately activated their martial souls.

A swallow with golden feathers appeared in Zhang Ping's hand, while her body remained unchanged. This surprised Leng Xiyue somewhat. Although her opponent had a beast martial soul, it felt more like a summoned creature such as Luo Sanpao, offering no enhancement to its user. Yet Zhang Ping was undeniably an agility-type Soul Master.

Zhang Ping also frowned. The girl before her was clearly no easy opponent. This fight probably would not be the crushing victory she had expected.

"Three, two, one! Begin!"

The instant the system finished speaking, Zhang Ping charged forward. With a flick of her wrist, the Golden Feather Swallow in her hand flew toward Leng Xiyue along a crescent-shaped arc.

"Flash Slash!"

Naturally, Leng Xiyue charged straight in again. Who cares whether she's an agility type? If this move hits her, she's bound to lose!

Although Zhang Ping was an agility-type Soul Master, her speed fell short in the face of Leng Xiyue's charge. A moment later, she was launched into the air.

Just as Leng Xiyue thought she had succeeded, the figure she had locked onto suddenly vanished. Zhang Ping's figure flickered, the yellow soul ring behind her lit up, and she appeared where the swallow was, completely unharmed.

"My turn!" Seeing that she had successfully baited out her opponent's skill, Zhang Ping smiled faintly, then began relentlessly pursuing and attacking Leng Xiyue.

Although Leng Xiyue was fast enough, her reflexes could not keep up at all. She was essentially flailing her weapon around to defend herself. Her opponent, however, possessed excellent speed and reflexes, and soon found an opening in Leng Xiyue's defenses, unleashing a furious assault.

At that moment, Leng Xiyue suddenly realized that despite seeming nearly invincible with the enhancements of psionic energy and armor, she still had major weaknesses. Her present predicament was one example. If her reflexes matched her speed, she would surely have opportunities to counterattack even while her skill was on cooldown.

But now, she could only endure being beaten back. Counterattacks that seemed unexpected to her were easily dodged by her opponent. After several failed attacks, Leng Xiyue had no choice but to run away while waiting for her skill to come off cooldown.

Zhang Ping did not underestimate her and continued attacking with everything she had. Unfortunately, Leng Xiyue simply refused to fight and focused entirely on fleeing. The platform was fairly spacious, making it difficult for Zhang Ping to keep up.

After fleeing in a bedraggled state for a while, Leng Xiyue felt that her skill had finished cooling down. She abruptly turned around and met her opponent head-on.

"Flash Slash!"

Zhang Ping was startled. She had never imagined that Leng Xiyue's skill could finish cooling down so quickly. Soul skills had extremely long cooldowns, and in matches between opponents of the same level, it was rare to see someone use the same skill twice.

Yet today, she witnessed exactly that.

Launched into the air once more, she had no skill available this time to teleport her away. An agility-type Soul Master's defenses were also considerably weaker than those of a power attack system Soul Master. Leng Xiyue gave her no chance to land, sending her flying with a single blow of her staff and knocking her outside the platform.

The entire fight was swift, ending in roughly three minutes. To Leng Xiyue, it had been a rather bedraggled performance. To everyone else, however, it was a genuine one-hit knockout: a young girl had taken down the strongest student in the year with a single move. Animated discussion immediately erupted in the stands. Some people memorized Leng Xiyue's appearance, determined not to provoke her in the future, while even more could not hide the excitement on their faces.

Zhang Ping rose from the ground, looking somewhat dazed, but soon accepted the result. After a sigh, she quietly left through a passage to the side.

I got busy yesterday and forgot to update, so there's an extra update today~