Facing Nan Zhuliu as he hurtled toward him, Xu Sanshi put himself on full alert, focusing intently on every detail of his movements.
He was a defense-type Soul Master. Against an opponent he knew absolutely nothing about, taking the initiative was ill-advised unless he possessed overwhelmingly superior strength.
Most first-year students had one Soul Ring, and quite a few had reached two.
As for three rings, that was a once-in-a-century sight. Rare as it was, the possibility could not be ruled out.
After all, no one knew whether a peerless genius seen once in a century, or even once in a millennium, might suddenly pop up at Shrek Academy, where geniuses gathered like clouds.
Nan Zhuliu had challenged him with such confidence despite knowing he was a three-ring Soul Elder. His cultivation was very likely approaching rank thirty, or he might even have broken through to Soul Elder already.
If he had not reached three rings yet, that would be manageable. But if he really was that once-in-a-century genius...
At that thought, Xu Sanshi suddenly felt this might be tricky.
Tricky though it might be, his own cultivation was already approaching rank forty. Within a year, he would definitely break through rank forty and become a Soul Ancestor.
Xu Sanshi smiled smugly, a conviction rising spontaneously within him: The advantage is mine.
When Nan Zhuliu charged within five meters of Xu Sanshi, he neither released his Martial Soul nor unleashed a Soul Skill. He did not even make any fancy movements, simply swinging his arm forward in a grab.
Xu Sanshi's smile instantly froze on his face.
What had he just seen?
A dragon!??
The next second, Xu Sanshi felt a terrifying, indescribable force pass through the Mysterious Underworld Turtle Shield and instantly spread throughout his entire body.
Bang!
Xu Sanshi flew backward along with the huge, heavy Mysterious Underworld Turtle Shield gripped tightly in his hand, slamming into the soul tool barrier that had risen around the arena.
Silence.
Everyone fell silent.
They did not understand what had just happened, or why Xu Sanshi had suddenly gone flying.
From their perspective, Nan Zhuliu had merely swung his arm and grabbed. He had not even touched Xu Sanshi, yet Xu Sanshi had flown backward as though something had slammed into him.
"Fucking hell, give me my money back!"
No one knew who had shouted it, but cries of "Give us our money back!" soon rose from several corners of the stands.
One stone stirred a thousand waves, and the demands for refunds grew louder and louder.
No one would believe that Xu Sanshi, a Soul Elder who had trained at Shrek Academy for five years and enjoyed great fame as one of the Outer Court Twin Stars, would fail to withstand even a single move and suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of a new student who had only entered the academy through this year's admissions and had not even used his Martial Soul or a Soul Skill.
Huo Lingtong stared at the students around her, all shouting for refunds, utterly bewildered.
Nan Zhuliu had defeated Xu Sanshi, a three-ring Soul Elder. Shouldn't they be praising his strength? Why were they all clamoring for their money back instead?
Meanwhile, on the other side of the stands.
Wang Dong had originally thought she could come watch Nan Zhuliu make a fool of himself. Seeing him somehow send Xu Sanshi flying far away, turtle shell and all, with a single slap made her shudder.
Fortunately, after her clash with Nan Zhuliu on the day she arrived, she had promptly backed down instead of fighting him.
Otherwise, judging by the strength Nan Zhuliu had just displayed, she would probably still be lying in bed now.
Xu Sanshi lay helplessly on the ground in excruciating pain, feeling as though a powerful Soul Beast had abruptly accelerated and smashed him to pieces. His body hardly seemed to belong to him anymore.
In the final second before he lost consciousness, he seemed to catch a hazy glimpse of the referee rushing over.
From the moment his awareness began to blur until he lost consciousness, Xu Sanshi had only one thought: How could anyone possess such terrifying strength?
The referee quickly checked Xu Sanshi's condition, then scooped him up and headed straight for the infirmary.
Watching this, Nan Zhuliu clicked his tongue.
It looked like he would not be getting those three Mysterious Water Pills anytime soon. Had he known, he should have held back a little more.
He had only put a little more strength into it because Xu Sanshi was a defense-type Battle Soul Master with the top-tier Mysterious Underworld Turtle Shield. He had never expected Xu Sanshi to be so unable to take a beating that one slap would knock him unconscious.
Though he could not get the Mysterious Water Pills for now, at least he had half the ticket revenue from this soul duel as consolation.
Xu Sanshi's reputation as one of the Outer Court Twin Stars was quite imposing. This soul duel had actually drawn nearly five hundred spectators.
Admission cost one silver soul coin per person, with the academy and the student splitting the ticket revenue equally.
Thus, Nan Zhuliu received a total income of nearly twenty-five gold soul coins.
Nan Zhuliu arranged to meet Huo Lingtong at the entrance to the Soul Dueling Area, then turned around and ran into a familiar figure skulking about.
Nan Zhuliu went over and patted her shoulder. "You're just in time."
Wang Dong jumped in fright. Seeing that it was Nan Zhuliu, she felt somewhat guilty as she recalled having come to watch him embarrass himself. "What are you doing here?"
Nan Zhuliu said calmly, "Didn't you come here to watch me? I saw you from the stage..."
"Shut up!!!" Wang Dong was beside herself with shame and indignation, and could not help wailing inwardly: Aaaah, this is so embarrassing!
She had come to laugh at someone, only to be caught by that very person. How was she supposed to show her face after this?
At that thought, Wang Dong wished she could find a crack in the ground right there, crawl into it, and never face anyone again.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Nan Zhuliu reminded her "kindly."
Wang Dong glared fiercely at him. "Eat, eat, eat. All you ever think about is eating."
Watching this from the side, Huo Lingtong recalled that Nan Zhuliu had been having dinner with someone else these past few days. Coupled with what Wang Dong had just said, a strange feeling suddenly arose in her heart.
Could Nan Zhuliu have been eating with this person these past few days?
Huo Lingtong wanted to ask and get to the bottom of it, but on second thought, she seemed to have no reason to question whom Nan Zhuliu befriended. She could only bury the matter in her heart, feeling glum.
After treatment from the infirmary's medical teachers, Xu Sanshi soon woke up.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw his best buddy and his best buddy's girlfriend, Bei Bei and Tang Ya, beside his bed.
Xu Sanshi looked around in confusion. "Why am I here? Bei Bei, what are you two doing here?"
Bei Bei explained, "Xiao Ya and I just got back from obtaining a third Soul Ring in the Star Dou Great Forest, and we heard you'd gotten into a conflict with someone. It even went all the way to the Soul Dueling Arena."
"In short, that person beat you up so badly that you were unconscious for several hours. You've only just woken up."
Xu Sanshi gradually remembered what had happened, and a "Holy shit!" slipped out.
"Bei Bei, you have no idea what kind of monster I ran into. That guy didn't even use his Martial Soul. He sent me flying with one slap, and my whole body still feels like it's falling apart."