"It wasn't a loss."
Zhu Zhuqing spoke with unwavering certainty.
Lu Ning raised a hand to interrupt the two of them.
"It's almost time."
"Let's go."
The money had already been given away.
There was no chance of getting it back. Rather than discussing whether it had been a loss, they might as well settle down and watch Zhu Zhuqing's match.
Zhu Zhuqing headed to the preparation area.
Meanwhile, Ning Rongrong and Lu Ning bought tickets and entered the spectator stands.
As coincidence would have it,
Grandmaster and Xiao Wu were also in the stands at that moment, though their seats were some distance from Lu Ning and Ning Rongrong's.
Lu Ning and Ning Rongrong were in the front row.
Xiao Wu and Grandmaster were in the unreserved seating at the back.
"Huh?"
"What's Lu Ning doing here?"
"Grandmaster, could Lu Ning be copying your method, having Zhu Zhuqing take part in Soul Fighting to gain practical combat experience too?"
The moment Xiao Wu spotted Lu Ning's figure, the words popped straight out of her mouth.
Yu Xiaogang glanced at that figure he loathed and spoke without a change in expression.
"He can't learn it."
"Experience doesn't come from blindly charging ahead."
"Experience requires reflection. If you just charge ahead blindly, even ten thousand matches won't do you any good."
"He can't learn that kind of reflection."
Xiao Wu nodded, only half understanding.
"Mm, Third Brother said something like that too."
"I just wonder who Zhu Zhuqing's opponent will be tonight."
Yu Xiaogang's expression remained calm.
When he had first arrived, he would have made a point of learning about the opponents.
After all, only by knowing yourself and your enemy could you win a hundred battles out of a hundred.
But after seeing Tang San's terrifying dominance within the Soul Elder Realm, he no longer cared who the opponents were. He preferred Tang San to encounter unexpected opponents, earning money while developing his ability to adapt on the fly.
"It makes no difference who it is."
"Xiao San won't lose to any Soul Elder opponent."
"Xiao Wu, did you place the bet on Xiao San like I told you to?"
Xiao Wu stuck out her tongue.
She was equally confident that Tang San would win.
"I did."
"I've bet all the private savings Third Brother and I had."
"The odds are three to one. If Third Brother wins, we should get about sixty Gold Soul Coins. If he loses..."
"We won't even have money left to buy carrots!"
Despite her words, there wasn't a trace of worry on Xiao Wu's face. Just as she thought to herself, she didn't believe Tang San would lose this match.
"Mm, we just need to believe in Xiao San."
Grandmaster sat with his legs crossed.
His posture was haughty.
Suddenly,
the lights in the Soto Great Soul Arena alternated between bright and dim.
The entire crowd instantly erupted.
Tang San stepped onto the Soul Fighting platform under the focused lights.
His recent winning streak
had made him a new dark horse at the Soto Great Soul Arena.
The name Thousand-Hand Asura
had become renowned throughout the Soto Great Soul Arena, and he had almost become an idol to young Soul Masters.
"Ladies and gentlemen!"
"Tonight's first one-on-one match!"
"Thousand-Hand Asura versus... Hell Spirit Cat!"
The announcer called out the two names.
In the stands, Yu Xiaogang leaned forward slightly. Upon hearing that name, he immediately understood who Tang San's opponent was. There was only one person in Suotuo City who could go by that name.
-Zhu Zhuqing!
"Third Brother's opponent is... Zhu Zhuqing?!"
Xiao Wu covered her mouth.
This was the first time a Shrek internal battle like this had happened.
Back at the academy, it had amounted to training and disagreements at most.
But since coming to the Soto Great Soul Arena, this was the first time something like this had happened!
Even when she and Tang San entered the one-on-one matches at the same time,
they wouldn't necessarily be matched against each other!
"Is it a coincidence?"
Xiao Wu asked. Yu Xiaogang narrowed his eyes and snorted. "Not necessarily."
"What dirty trick wouldn't someone like him pull?"
"But when did Zhu Zhuqing break through to Soul Elder?!"
On his first night at Shrek, Yu Xiaogang had learned everyone's Soul Power Level and basic information. What level had Zhu Zhuqing been then? Level twenty-six, or level twenty-seven at the absolute most!
Tang San had relied on the energy remaining within the Eight Spider Lances, as well as Yu Xiaogang's medicinal baths,
to barely reach level 32 Soul Power.
He had only just managed to advance one level.
But Zhu Zhuqing... had gained far more than a single level!
"That's right!" Xiao Wu noticed the clue now too. Tang San was a Soul Elder, and under the Soto Great Soul Arena's rules, Soul Elders could only fight other Soul Elders. Unless the lower-ranked fighter issued a challenge, they would not be matched together.
And Zhu Zhuqing couldn't possibly be that stupid.
A Soul Grandmaster challenging Tang San, who was invincible within the Soul Elder Realm?
Not even Luo Sanpao would do something like that!
Then there was only one possibility.
Zhu Zhuqing had become a Soul Elder!
"Isn't that rate of improvement a little too fast?"
Xiao Wu spoke.
But Yu Xiaogang harbored some doubts.
"Let's watch first."
"If she really has reached the Soul Elder Realm, then I'll have something to say."
"For a Soul Master to improve so terrifyingly in such a short time, there's only one possibility..."
"She's become a Fallen Soul Master!"
"When the time comes, it won't be me or Flender who eliminates her, but the true powerhouses of Spirit Hall!"
Xiao Wu nodded.
Although she hadn't understood what a Fallen Soul Master meant,
from what Yu Xiaogang said, this was serious, not something to joke about.
On the platform,
Tang San looked at Zhu Zhuqing before him, his face equally full of confusion.
"Zhu Zhuqing?"
"You've reached the Soul Elder Realm?"
Zhu Zhuqing ignored him.
She looked at the announcer on the main stage and said calmly, "Announce the start."
Only after speaking did she slowly turn to Tang San.
"You'd better use your full strength."
"Don't even think about holding back."
Seeing Zhu Zhuqing's coldness that kept others a thousand miles away, Tang San said no more.
There was absolutely no way he would hold back.
He and Xiao Wu had bet all their private savings on this match.
He had even sold some of the materials inside Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges. He absolutely could not lose this match.
"Uh..."
"It seems both contestants are in quite a hurry."
"Then... let the match begin!"
Both released their Martial Souls at the same time.
Tang San's Martial Soul was Blue Silver Grass.
Three Soul Rings circled him.
Yellow, yellow, purple.
That purple Soul Ring was far more intense in color than an ordinary Soul Master's third ring.
This was not a purple Soul Ring that had only just reached a thousand years.
It was the Man Faced Demon Spider Soul Ring he had forcibly absorbed beyond his body's limits!
Zhu Zhuqing released her Martial Soul as well.
Three Soul Rings likewise appeared.
Yellow, yellow, purple.
What was astonishing was that
Zhu Zhuqing's third Soul Ring was actually every bit as intense as Tang San's. The difference was so slight that the naked eye couldn't distinguish it at all!
Even Yu Xiaogang, who prided himself on his profound research into Martial Souls, couldn't tell which of their Soul Rings was older at that moment.
"How is this possible?!"
"Could my theory be wrong?"
"How could Zhu Zhuqing's Soul Ring color be so close to Xiao San's?"
Yu Xiaogang's eyes widened.
He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Zhu Zhuqing reaching three rings in such a short time had already made him suspicious of her. Now, the appearance of this Soul Ring left him completely unable to sit still.
Zhu Zhuqing...
How exactly had she done it?!
Before you continue