Soto Great Soul Arena

After Flender finished speaking, he led everyone straight out of the academy. Their destination was naturally the Soto Great Soul Arena in Suotuo City.

They had both completed the task of running twenty laps, but Lu Qian felt nothing at all, while Ning Rongrong fared far worse. Fortunately, Zhu Zhuqing was relatively kind and supported her practically the entire way.

Flender naturally knew, but he said nothing.

Given the differences in their strength, Lu Qian naturally claimed the lead without yielding to anyone. Tang San came second, Xiao Wu third, followed by Ma Hongjun, with Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong bringing up the rear.

Soon, Flender stopped at Suotuo City's gates and waited for everyone to catch up.

Although it was already dark, Suotuo City seemed to have just woken up, and was even livelier than it was during the day.

Every shop on both sides of the streets was brightly lit. The small vendors who only did business at night had also found their usual spots to sell snacks, trinkets, and the like.

Lu Qian had already explored Suotuo City, so it no longer felt particularly novel to him. Tang San was much the same.

Xiao Wu, on the other hand, was rather excited.

Of course, someone was even more excited: Ma Hongjun. As for what excited him, it certainly was not the sort of nightlife everyone saw before them!

As for Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong at the back, no one knew what the two girls were thinking. Both wore relatively placid expressions.

"Follow me."

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Flender led them straight toward the Soto Great Soul Arena.

It was a vast complex of towering buildings. From Lu Qian's angle, he could only see that the building stood nearly a hundred meters tall. Immense beyond compare, it loomed dark and imposing in the night.

Moreover, light could faintly be seen flickering within that enormous building.

If Lu Qian's guess was correct, this was the Soto Great Soul Arena.

Indeed, during his few days in Suotuo City, Lu Qian had explored practically the entire city apart from the Soto Great Soul Arena.

Naturally, he had not explored this place because, over the next few years, he would be coming here for soul fighting matches practically every day.

Thus, Lu Qian felt it hardly mattered if he came here a few days later.

As they drew closer and closer to the Suo Tuo Soul Fighting Arena, Ma Hongjun realized Flender's intention.

"Dean, they're going to the Soto Great Soul Arena on their very first day here?"

Flender, however, said calmly:

"Remember, you're all monsters, not ordinary people. Since you're monsters, you must train like monsters!"

At this point, Flender paused, then continued in a deep voice:

"Your martial souls are all different, and each of you has your own method of cultivation. What the academy can teach you is how to use your martial souls better, help you obtain better soul rings and gain more actual combat experience, and develop your potential as much as possible."

"The rest consists of knowledge about every aspect of martial souls and the situation of Soul Masters across the continent. Of everything you need to learn, I consider actual combat experience the most important."

"With equal levels and strength, the amount of actual combat experience will inevitably be the key to victory or defeat. Moreover, only through constant actual combat can you improve your ability to adapt in battle as much as possible."

"So, your first lesson tonight is actual combat! And that place will be your classroom!"

Ma Hongjun looked at Lu Qian and the others with an expression that told them they had best pray for their own good fortune.

Apart from Lu Qian, everyone else looked at Ma Hongjun in utter puzzlement. Why was this fellow acting so strangely?

Flender then explained to everyone the purpose of the Great Soul Arena's existence, placing particular emphasis on introducing the Suo Tuo Soul Fighting Arena before them.

Then, in response to Tang San's questions, he explained the arena's various rules in detail, including the competition format, badges, and so on.

Finally, once Flender had more or less finished his introduction, he told them:

"The task I'm giving you is to obtain at least a Silver Soul Badge before you graduate. Understood?"

"And don't think obtaining a Silver Soul Badge is easy. Ma Hongjun, tell them your record, and explain the rules while you're at it."

"Oh, all right. My record is thirty-three matches, with twenty-one wins, twelve losses, and nine points."

"The specific rules for advancing are as follows: advancing from Iron Soul Fighter to Bronze Soul Fighter requires one hundred points. Each victory or defeat adds or deducts one point. Advancing from Bronze Soul Fighter to Silver Soul Fighter requires one thousand points, but each victory in a battle between Bronze Soul Fighters earns ten points."

"But if your winning streak exceeds five matches, every additional consecutive victory adds ten points outright. Once your streak exceeds ten matches, another victory adds one hundred."

"Does everyone understand? Then let's go inside."

Seeing that it was about time, Flender led everyone straight into the Soto Great Soul Arena.

The Soto Great Soul Arena was oval in shape and reached a height of one hundred and twenty meters. Its interior was divided into one main Soul Fighting Arena and twenty-four subsidiary Soul Fighting Arenas, with room for sixty thousand spectators at once, including one hundred VIP boxes.

This was not only a place for Soul Masters to spar and exchange knowledge, but also a place for various factions to display their strength!

With Ma Hongjun's help, everyone soon completed registration. Registering for soul fighting here was very simple: they only had to fill out a form listing their name, age, birthplace, and martial soul to receive their initial Iron Soul Badge.

However, registration also required each person to pay ten gold coins as a registration fee, and they had to undergo a soul power test similar to the Spirit Hall's to determine their respective levels.

Moreover, every time Soul Masters came to participate in soul fighting, they had to take a soul power test first before their opponents could be determined.

Soon, everyone began waiting in the Soul Fighting Zone for their respective match assignments.

However, since Ning Rongrong was a support-type Soul Master, she could not fight one-on-one by herself. Lu Qian thought for a moment. "How about teaming up with someone and registering for two-on-two?"

"Well..."

"Never mind. Since I suggested it, I'll go with you."

Only after speaking did Lu Qian realize that what he had just said seemed somewhat inappropriate.

Tang San and Xiao Wu would definitely team up with each other. As for Zhu Zhuqing, Lu Qian did not particularly want the two girls constantly getting mixed up with each other.

As for Ma Hongjun, Lu Qian felt that his fighting ability might not be enough to win this match with Ning Rongrong in tow.

Losing her very first match would probably deal quite a blow to Ning Rongrong's confidence.

After thinking it over, Lu Qian could only take action himself.

However, his plan met with opposition from Ma Hongjun.