But getting his hands on a top-tier pill more precious than a Black Water Pill, something money could not buy in the soul master world, would not be so easy.
Xu Shanshi thought this, then turned and headed toward the Soul Arena.
The ends of her black princess-cut hair swayed gently behind her shoulders. Her steps were unhurried, seemingly carrying an innate sense of pressure.
The spectators automatically cleared a path, like a tide parting around a reef.
The attendant who had been slapped away was still groaning on the ground, unable to get up even after all this time. Xu Shanshi did not spare him a backward glance, merely tossing out a bland remark: "Find the infirmary yourself."
Gu Xingyue tilted his head toward Huo Yutong. "Pack up the stall first. I'll be right back."
Huo Yutong opened her mouth, but swallowed back what she wanted to say.
Looking at the breezy expression on Gu Xingyue's face, she finally nodded.
She knew perfectly well that the situation before them could no longer be resolved with words alone.
The Soul Arena was an open-air, circular stone platform, surrounded by eight Soul Guidance Lamp Pillars that kept it brightly lit even at night.
By the time the two reached the center and took their positions, over a hundred people had already gathered around.
Word traveled fast. Xu Shanshi, one of the Outer Court's two outstanding talents, had been challenged. A spectacle like this would make headlines on any day.
Xu Shanshi stood opposite him and flexed her wrists.
Her movements were calm and graceful, as though she were doing something utterly ordinary.
She raised her eyes to Gu Xingyue, her gaze carrying a condescending scrutiny. "Junior, give me your name. I don't fight nobodies."
"Gu Xingyue, Class 1."
Xu Shanshi raised an eyebrow slightly. "A newborn calf has no fear of tigers. That saying really is true. But... I am the Eternal Defense, and I shall suppress every foe in the Outer Court!"
"You're merely a mortal who wasn't born in my year. In my eyes, you're nothing but a fish on the chopping block!"
With that, both of them simultaneously invoked martial soul possession!
Xu Shanshi pressed her right hand to her chest, and a dark radiance abruptly erupted from within her.
Within that light, the phantom of an ancient, heavy tortoise shell slowly appeared behind her. Its surface was densely etched with ancient patterns, emanating a pressure as solid and weighty as a mountain.
The Netherworld Shield.
A top-tier defensive martial soul.
A low wave of astonished cries rose from the watching students as they thought, Getting to see Xu Shanshi display her might like this would be worth the price of admission even if we died!!!
On the platform, Gu Xingyue looked at the phantom tortoise shell, but a memory suddenly flashed through his mind.
In the original story, the conditions for awakening the Black Tortoise Shield were extremely unusual: one had to do it with a woman to successfully awaken it.
In the original story, going through the wrong entrance had resulted in only a partial awakening.
Now, could she need to do that with a man to awaken it? But surely she couldn't go through the wrong entrance again this time.
After all, the Netherworld Sect was powerful, so she could not possibly have been forced into doing that or anything. A flicker of curiosity crossed Gu Xingyue's mind as he wondered what state she was in.
Meanwhile, Xu Shanshi had been observing Gu Xingyue all along. Instinctively finding his gaze somewhat offensive, she wondered whether she should hit him a little harder in a moment.
Gu Xingyue snuffed out those thoughts and prepared for battle.
In the shadow of a lamp pillar at the edge of the arena, a figure huddled at the very back of the crowd.
Jiang Nan wore a school uniform jacket washed pale with age, his eyes fixed nervously on Xu Shanshi atop the platform.
His hands clutched the hem of his jacket, his knuckles white and his lips tightly pressed together.
He had harbored a secret crush on Xu Shanshi for a long time, starting before he even entered Shrek.
But he had never dared approach her, speak to her, or even appear in front of her.
He only dared watch from afar, just like now, hiding behind the crowd and silently cheering his senior on in his heart.
He told himself, She'll win.
A super martial soul, a high-level, three-ring Soul Elder, one of the Outer Court's two outstanding talents-her opponent was merely a freshman. No matter how he looked at it, there was no reason she would lose.
Then he saw Gu Xingyue move.
Purple lightning burst across the platform like a bolt from the blue.
Gu Xingyue's figure nearly blurred into an afterimage as he charged straight at Xu Shanshi.
His right fist thundered out, dense lightning wrapping his knuckles as it slammed into the Black Tortoise Shield's dark-golden surface.
Boom-
The instant his fist struck the shield, the lightning erupted in a dazzling blaze of purple.
Xu Shanshi's expression changed. She felt an exceptionally pure lightning element.
Its penetrating power far surpassed ordinary lightning, carrying an almost ultimate sense of purity.
She abruptly drove her soul power into reinforcing her defense. Dark-golden light surged, and the tortoise-shell patterns closed together again.
But in the instant she diverted her attention to reinforcing the shield's surface, Gu Xingyue had already appeared directly above her.
Lightning gathered in his right hand to form a long saber, its blade composed entirely of purple-white thunderbolts.
Gripping the saber with both hands, he cleaved straight down with enough force to split Mount Hua.
Xu Shanshi had no time to dodge. She could only shift the shield overhead and take the blow head-on.
Blade met shield.
The purple-white lightning collided with the shield's surface, producing a tremendous, muffled boom.
The aftershock cracked the platform's stone slabs, sending dust billowing everywhere.
Her pupils contracted sharply.
The power of this strike far exceeded her expectations.
She clenched her teeth and poured soul power madly into the Black Tortoise Shield.
But Gu Xingyue gave her no chance to catch her breath.
His left hand curled around empty air, and several fist-sized lightning balls formed before his palm. The Ball Lightning floated eerily, then smashed into the shield one after another.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom-
Five lightning balls exploded in succession within an extremely short span, their radiance nearly swallowing Xu Shanshi's entire field of vision.
The surface of the Netherworld Shield was already beginning to split apart.
Xu Shanshi's expression changed completely.
She abruptly withdrew her shield and retreated, taking several steps back to open up some distance.
But Gu Xingyue was much faster than she had imagined.
She had only just steadied herself when a purple figure closed in right before her.
Gu Xingyue reached out with his right hand, lightning condensing into a point of light no bigger than a thumb.
"Break!"
Tiny though that point of light was, it radiated a destructive aura that made Xu Shanshi's heart quail.
"You-" She had no time to finish.
Gu Xingyue pressed that point of light against the Black Tortoise Shield.
A soundless explosion.
The shield's surface began to disintegrate like shattered colored glass, fragments flying everywhere before dissolving into a sky full of light particles that faded into the air.
The aftershock sent Xu Shanshi flying backward.
Her Netherworld Shield had shattered.
The Soul Arena fell so quiet that a falling pin could have been heard.
Xu Shanshi lowered her head and stared at her empty hands, breathing rapidly as fine beads of sweat seeped from her temples.
She raised her head to look at Gu Xingyue across from her, complex emotions churning in her eyes.
At the very back of the crowd, Jiang Nan's breath stopped for a beat.
His senior had lost.
She had lost to a freshman, decisively and cleanly, without the slightest drawn-out struggle.
In the distance, Gu Xingyue withdrew his martial soul and walked down from the platform. Huo Yutong had already gone to meet him, with Bei Bei and Tang Ya following...
Bei Bei stood to the side with her arms crossed, an "I knew it" expression at the corners of her mouth.
Tang Ya poked his head out from behind Bei Bei and gave Gu Xingyue a thumbs-up.
"I'll give you the Black Tortoise Divine Pill tomorrow." Xu Shanshi's voice drifted over from far off on the other side, though she sounded very weak. "I keep my word."
Without even looking back, Gu Xingyue raised a hand and waved casually to show he had heard.
Before you continue