Over the past month, no one had seen Lin Qian's fourth Soul Skill. They had all been knocked off the platform by his third.
There was no other reason: coming up with names was just too hard!
You could say that what gave Lin Qian a headache every day was not his Soul Fighting opponents, but thinking up names for his Soul Skills.
If a Six-Ring Soul Emperor had not shown up today, he would have stopped at his third Soul Skill at most.
"We finally get to see the Ice Jade Scorpion King's fourth Soul Skill!"
In the stands, the spectators also marveled at the "fourth Soul Skill" he had unleashed.
On the fighting platform, countless masses of ice rose from the ground, carrying a towering blizzard as they gradually took shape, freezing the entire platform. Yu Wenmu, too, was frozen into an ice sculpture.
"What's going on? I can't move!"
He had thought that, with his strength, he would be stronger than a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor no matter what. Only after experiencing it himself did he realize how absurd this was.
Had he known his opponent was this tough a nut to crack, he would never have taken the job. For a measly thirty thousand Gold Soul Coins, he had utterly disgraced himself as a dignified Soul Emperor!
Yu Wenmu regretted it so bitterly his guts turned green, but he could not move a muscle. He had a feeling that this move was immensely powerful. If he did not respond soon, he would be the one to suffer.
Yet he had already unleashed his sixth Soul Skill, and it had been frozen along with him. Even begging for mercy required being able to speak!
Fortunately, that moment was not far off now.
Lin Qian raised one hand, striking an incredibly cool pose, then clenched his fingers. "Shatter!"
It was a skill similar to Corpse Explosion. Once he finished speaking, the ice received its command and began acting on the person caught in the blast.
Boom!
An enormous explosion resounded across the fighting platform. As it shattered Yu Wenmu's sixth Soul Skill, the ice also exploded across his body.
"Aaargh-"
Despite having braced himself, Yu Wenmu still screamed. As the snowstorm swept him off the platform, he sprayed a rain of blood along the way.
Quite a few spectators failed to dodge in time and had blood splashed all over their faces.
Lin Qian had held back an entire ocean with this move. Otherwise, Yu Wenmu would already have shattered into icy fragments.
Even so, after healing-type Soul Masters provided emergency treatment, Yu Wenmu remained sprawled out, unconscious.
Before passing out, however, he mustered his last breath to tell the Soul Fighting Arena staff, "Don't tell Blue Tyrant Academy... whatever you do..."
As for what those words meant, only he knew.
The announcer declared, "I announce that the winner of this match is-the Ice Jade Scorpion King!"
By the end, even his voice was trembling, and he looked more despondent than Yu Wenmu.
"He is also the first person in the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena to hold a hundred consecutive victories! Under the rules, he will receive a prize of fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins. Let us congratulate him!"
Thunderous cheers erupted.
At the mention of prize money, everyone in the Soul Fighting Arena except Lin Qian grew excited, as though they were the ones getting paid.
After a hundred consecutive victories, Soul Fighting no longer had any meaning, so he decisively forfeited his third match and stepped off the platform.
Backstage.
The announcer crept about furtively, looking left and right. Only after making certain no one was around did he head outside with relief.
"Stop."
A voice came out of nowhere. It was not loud, yet it struck like thunder.
The announcer's face twisted in anguish, but when he turned around, it was wreathed in smiles again. "Ice Jade Scorpion King, what can I do for you?"
Lin Qian smiled too. "What do you think? You paid a teacher from Blue Tyrant Academy to fight me-a Six-Ring Soul Emperor, no less. Shall we settle that account?"
The announcer's smile vanished. He dropped straight to his knees, pleading through tears. "I've been wronged, sir..."
Then he spilled the Soul Fighting Arena's entire plan, stabbing his boss in the back.
What else could he do? He had not lived long enough yet!
They were all under the same roof, and Lin Qian did not want to make too much trouble, but he would not accept a single missing bit of the compensation he was owed.
"I'm not asking much. A hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins for emotional distress, and I won't be coming here again."
The announcer had been wearing a bitter expression, but his eyes lit up at the last part. "What did you say? Did I hear that right?"
After giving his home address, Lin Qian left without looking back. "Send the money there. I don't want to say it twice."
"Right away!"
As long as the other party stopped coming, he could no longer fleece them. In that case, never mind a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins-they would pay five hundred thousand!
Once Lin Qian was gone, the announcer turned around and happily went to report the news.
Blue Tyrant Academy.
By the time Yu Wenmu woke, it was already late.
Candlelight flickered. He unsteadily sat up, his whole body aching as though wheels had rolled over him.
Ice Explosion counted as an area-of-effect skill. When it struck him, ice had attacked his entire body, driving shards into his flesh. He had been wrapped up like a mummy, a truly miserable sight.
But he had no time to grieve, because someone had been waiting beside his bed for a long time.
"You're awake?"
Before passing out, he had repeatedly insisted that the academy not be informed. But this was such a major incident, and he had been gravely injured and unconscious. Many students had seen him being carried in, and the news had spread instantly.
When he saw the person before him, Yu Wenmu desperately wanted to pass out again and never wake up!
The woman emerged from the shadows. Her face was quite beautiful, but her demeanor was rather forceful. One look told him her temper was not particularly good.
"Dean..."
Left with no choice, Yu Wenmu still greeted her.
This was the dean of Blue Tyrant Academy, the illegitimate daughter of Yu Luomian, second-in-command of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect-
Liu Erlong.
She took her mother's surname, while her Martial Soul came from her father's clan and had mutated into a Red Fire Dragon.
Perhaps it ran in the family, but she had a bad temper. Coupled with her high Soul Power Level (seventy-seven), no one in the academy, or even all of Heaven Dou City, dared provoke her. Her nickname was "Mother Tyrannosaurus."
At this moment, she looked at her fellow clansman and subordinate, her tone unusually gentle. "I heard you took a job during the day."
Yu Wenmu's heart lurched.
Liu Erlong continued gently, "A dignified teacher of Blue Tyrant Academy, a Six-Ring Soul Emperor, skipped his perfectly good classes to take a job for thirty thousand Gold Soul Coins, fought a mere Four-Ring Soul Ancestor, and lost. These are words in the Douluo language, aren't they? Why can't I understand them when they're put together?"
With every sentence, Yu Wenmu's heart sank further. At last, disregarding his injuries, he dropped to his knees with a thud. "Dean, hear me out..."
"Hear you out, my ass!"
All that gentleness had been leading up to this moment, when the dagger finally emerged from the unrolled map. Liu Erlong swung to the opposite extreme, erupting in fury as though possessed by a tyrannosaurus!
"A teacher of Blue Tyrant Academy taking private jobs during class time! Has the academy shortchanged you or something? Are you so poor that you have to earn those thirty thousand Gold Soul Coins?
"Fine, you went onstage to fight. But against some Soul Ancestor brat of unknown origins, you had an advantage of two whole Soul Rings and still lost?
"Why don't you just go die!"
Smack!
The more she spoke, the angrier she became. She slapped him across the face, sending stars dancing before Yu Wenmu's eyes and nearly killing him.
Lin Qian had held back when hitting him, but Liu Erlong showed no mercy. Her blow was vicious, and he deserved it if he died. He had utterly disgraced Blue Tyrant Academy!
A Six-Ring Soul Emperor against a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor, and he had actually lost!
As she hit him, she thought about the boy who had fought Yu Wenmu.
Twelve years old, an Ice Jade Scorpion, a rare ice-type Beast Martial Soul, the minister of internal affairs' nephew...
Just where had he come from?