To find out what Flender was doing with their money, Zhao Wuji, the other Shrek Academy teachers, and Dai Mubai secretly followed him to the Soto Great Soul Arena.
When they saw Flender stake all their money on a match, their hearts sank halfway.
There was no other reason: Flender had a terrible eye and had never won at this sort of betting.
After Li Ye entered the arena, Dai Mubai, Zhao Wuji, and the others sat down beside Flender.
"Dean, you spent all that money betting on that kid. Is this really going to work?"
"Shut up. Do you think everyone's like you? Fourteen years old and only rank 32, and I still had to go rescue you with Zhao Wuji when you ran into robbers!"
"Dean, didn't we agree not to bring that up again?"
The mention of what had happened last time sent lingering fear through Dai Mubai. He had spent so long picking up girls, but that had been his first time getting picked up by men.
If Flender and Zhao Wuji hadn't arrived quickly enough, those burly men would have had their way with him.
Remembering that day's miserable ordeal and those men's practiced techniques sent a chill through him.
"Say, boss, this Feng Yeli wouldn't happen to be that Li Ye you're always talking about, would he? So young, four years younger than Mubai, and already at rank 44 soul power. Isn't that a little monstrous?"
"Wait, Zhao Wuji, who did you just say was Xiao Ye?"
"Feng Yeli. Isn't that the name the kid registered under?"
"How could that be? Could it just be a coincidence? How could Xiao Ye have the strength to save Erlong, much less withstand an attack from a fifty-thousand-year soul beast?"
Recalling the name Liu Erlong had mentioned in her letter, then looking at Li Ye in the arena, Flender couldn't help shaking his head with a bitter smile.
Though he didn't want to believe it, the name Li Ye had given himself was identical to that of Liu Erlong's rescuer, right down to the surname.
But thinking it over carefully, Li Ye had gone to obtain his third soul ring at exactly the same time Liu Erlong had gone to obtain her seventh, and Li Ye had specifically traveled to Sunset Forest to find a Three-Eyed Demon Fox capable of creating duplicates.
At that thought, Flender's heart sank halfway. He wished he could rush into the arena right then and ask Li Ye whether he knew a girl named Liu Erlong.
Unlike the worried Flender, Zhao Wuji and the others looked puzzled. They had no idea what had suddenly gotten into him, though of course, they didn't dare ask.
As for Dai Mubai, after hearing the conversation between his two deans, he felt utterly out of sorts.
Four years younger than him, yet twelve ranks higher in soul power. What kind of monster was that?
But the next instant, a sight appeared that made everyone present widen their eyes.
The burly Doug standing in the arena activated his Qian Jun Ant martial soul, along with his five soul rings: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, purple.
Li Ye, meanwhile, took out his Demonic Flame Spear and released four heaven-defying soul rings: yellow, purple, purple, black.
"Ten thousand years! That's impossible!"
"That has to be fake! How could a monster like that exist? What faction raised him?"
"..."
Unlike everyone else's shock, Flender remained perfectly calm. He had long known that Li Ye would hunt down a ten-thousand-year soul ring for his fourth, so naturally, he wasn't particularly surprised.
"Yellow, purple, purple, black. Does a genius like that really exist?" Seeing Li Ye's soul ring configuration nearly shattered Dai Mubai's view of the world, and he kept muttering incessantly.
As everyone knew, a Grandmaster from Spirit Hall had published a book many years ago titled Martial Soul Ten Core Competencies Theory, detailing the soul beasts generally suitable for various martial souls and the approximate soul ring ages that could be absorbed at each stage.
Though many considered the book this Grandmaster had published a joke, the validity of most of its theories could not be denied.
The book explicitly stated the maximum soul ring ages ordinary soul masters could absorb. Since almost no soul masters could break the highest records listed in the book, many people subconsciously treated its contents as the ultimate limits for all soul masters.
Yet very few people read Yu Xiaogang's Martial Soul Ten Core Competencies Theory carefully. It clearly explained that when a soul master's soul power, spiritual power, and physical constitution exceeded their current rank, they could absorb soul rings beyond that rank's limits.
Because Yu Xiaogang was always saying there were no trash martial souls, only trash soul masters, many people mocked him when they saw his cultivation, believing he was spouting bullshit.
But that mockery made no sense at all. Whether a martial soul was trash had no bearing on one's future achievements; what mattered was one's innate soul power and personal effort.
Even with a trash martial soul, provided your innate soul power was high enough, as long as you were willing to cultivate diligently, keep growing stronger, and absorb soul rings, that trash martial soul would one day grow into a top-tier martial soul, and you could pass your strengthened martial soul down through your bloodline.
That was why most soul masters chose relatively powerful partners and were only willing to have children once they themselves were strong.
Unfortunately, Yu Xiaogang had only half a rank of innate soul power. Otherwise, he wouldn't have wasted half his life only to remain a rank-29 Soul Grandmaster.
And since a trash martial soul was unlikely to possess powerful innate soul power, so many people condemned Yu Xiaogang's theory as bullshit.
"I never expected you to be a genius, kid. But today, I'll make sure a genius like you falls right here!"
Seeing Li Ye's soul rings, Doug was consumed with envy. What he hated most in life were geniuses from illustrious backgrounds, people who were stronger than him from birth and could surpass his half a lifetime of hard work without putting in much effort.
If he had been a genius too, born into a top-tier faction, how could he possibly have ended up hunting down only a thousand-year fifth soul ring?
"Heh, who do you think you are, spouting wild claims about making me fall here? You really don't even know how the word 'genius' is written!"
With that, Li Ye shook his spear. His first and fourth soul rings lit up simultaneously, releasing two enhancement soul skills in succession, before he casually thrust his spear at Doug before him.
"Looking down on me? Today, I'll show you what I'm capable of!"
Seeing how casual Li Ye's attack was, Doug immediately activated his first, second, third, and fifth soul skills, all four of them enhancements. He intended to block the thrust, then deliver a fatal blow with his fourth soul skill.
But before he could strike, he sensed an intense threat from the tip of Li Ye's spear, frightening him into instinctively moving his body to dodge.
Yet how could Li Ye's spear be so easily avoided? Just as the thought of dodging arose, before his body could act, Li Ye's spear suddenly vanished, then plunged into Doug's heart in an instant.
"Why was it so fast?"
Looking at his heart, pierced through by Li Ye, Doug felt his life draining away rapidly, his eyelids growing heavy.
He had released four enhancement soul skills and gathered all the soul power in his body, yet he couldn't withstand a casual thrust from Li Ye. Was this the gap between him and a genius?
As Li Ye withdrew the Demonic Flame Spear, Doug's body instantly crumpled to the ground, his flowing blood forming a ghastly blossom on the floor.
If he could do it over, he would never dare provoke Li Ye. If he could live another life, he would make sure he was reincarnated as a genius!
Killing Doug stirred not the slightest ripple in Li Ye's heart. He would show no mercy to someone who dared provoke him and wanted him dead.
Showing mercy to someone like that meant being irresponsible toward himself and those around him.
Doug's death brought no sorrow to anyone. There were only the chest-beating and foot-stamping of those who had lost money because of his defeat, and the unrestrained laughter of those who had won.
As for whether anyone suspected Li Ye and Doug of fixing the match, that remained unknown.
Doug: I'm already dead, and you're still suspecting this crap? What genius would use his own life to earn that little bit of money? You can't even spend it once you're dead, and you're still talking about fixing the match.
Once Li Ye stepped down from the arena, Flender immediately sought him out, dragged him into a small corner, and asked anxiously, "Xiao Ye, tell your martial uncle the truth. Do you know a very beautiful older woman named Liu Erlong, with a particularly good figure, whose martial soul is a Red Dragon and whose strength is at the Soul Saint level?"
Hearing Flender's words, Li Ye knew he couldn't hide it anymore, so he simply stopped pretending. "I do, Eldest Martial Uncle. Do you know Long'er too? I'm planning to marry her in two years. What, did you hear the news from Long'er and come to drink at our wedding feast?"
"What?! You're saying you want to marry her? Do you even know who she is, talking about marrying her?!"
Hearing Li Ye's words, Flender was utterly beside himself and immediately roared at him.
"She's the dean of Blue Tyrant Academy and my girlfriend. Why can't I marry her?" Li Ye said, feigning confusion.
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