Inside the Great Soul Arena, a young man and a young woman bowed to each other. Then, without another word, they waited as time ticked by.
The young man wore black robes and looked a little frail, but he was handsome and dashing, with a delicate beauty like that of a woman.
The girl opposite him was breathtakingly beautiful. Her long silver hair flowed down her back, its texture like silver crystal. She wore a lovely long white dress and knee-high white boots, accented by golden metal ornaments, giving her a dignified, noble air. Most striking of all were her limpid purple eyes, sparkling and translucent like amethysts, as though they could draw in a person's soul.
The two youngsters continued to bow to each other, but the spectators had no such patience.
Their behavior could not have been more at odds with the Great Soul Arena's noisy, wild atmosphere. The spectators and the other Soul Fighting teams shouted at them to "either fight or get off the stage." Yet Xiao Yan and the silver-haired girl finished their bows, then gazed at each other for a long while. Neither said a word, each looking at the other's face with a thousand thoughts in mind.
Xiao Yan had never intended to put on such a "lovey-dovey" display. The reason was simple: he didn't even know her. But the silver-haired, purple-eyed girl's eyes seemed to hold countless stars. Xiao Yan was reluctant to admit it, but he was drawn to her, as though a force rooted deep in his bloodline was calling to him. That force made him feel that, in this world, only the girl before him was worthy of speaking with him. As for what she was thinking, he didn't know, nor could he possibly guess.
"Shall we begin, then?" The girl parted her red lips, her elegant, noble voice flowing out like a clear spring. Everyone present listened in a daze, Xiao Yan naturally included. Fortunately, his soul power far surpassed that of others, and he was the quickest to realize he had lost his composure. Scratching his head, he answered in a clear voice, "Beautiful miss, please go easy on me." With that, Xiao Yan stamped his right foot, lingered lightly in the air for a moment, then followed through with a graceful spinning kick, sending the Heavy Xuan Ruler beneath his feet flying. It spun fiercely through the air like a massive full moon, heading straight for the silver-haired girl.
The silver-haired girl chuckled and stepped forward with her right foot. Pointing the dragon spear in her hand at the oncoming Heavy Xuan Ruler, she gave it a light flick and caught it spinning on the tip of her spear, bringing the fierce attack under control. Then she took several light steps, turning in graceful arcs around herself as though dancing with the spinning ruler. Using its own momentum against it, she sent it steadily back toward Xiao Yan, returning his attack to him.
Xiao Yan couldn't help laughing at the sight. He knew how heavy the Heavy Xuan Ruler was; even Yan couldn't budge it in the slightest. Yet this seemingly frail girl had not only caught it but had strength to spare to throw it back. Xiao Yan spread his legs slightly and reached out with his right hand, catching it firmly. To the onlookers, he seemed relaxed, his expression unchanged. Had the force and air currents of the incoming blow not gouged two long, bottomless furrows into the Great Soul Arena's fighting stage, everyone might well have thought the mottled Black Ruler truly wasn't heavy. After catching the Heavy Xuan Ruler, Xiao Yan swung it onto his back and said to the silver-haired girl:
"Nice catch."
"You weren't bad yourself," the silver-haired girl replied with a smile.
"How strong are that little girl's hands? That huge slab of iron came flying at her, and she just caught it!"
"That boy's no slouch either. He kicked a slab of iron that big flying in one go, and he can hold it with just one hand."
"Neither of them is ordinary..."
A fierce debate erupted among the spectators. Clearly, this Soul Fight had drawn every eye present as soon as it began. Everyone knew that no matter whom they supported or bet on, this was bound to be a spectacular fight. They had certainly gotten their money's worth.
"Then I won't hold back from here on out!" Xiao Yan called. He lightly tapped his fists together, then shot forward. The sound of wind and thunder rang out, and in the blink of an eye, he was in front of the silver-haired girl, ready to punch her in the face.
The silver-haired girl's gaze froze. Clearly, even with her experience, she had not expected Xiao Yan to be so fast, especially while he still had the Heavy Xuan Ruler on his back. How fast would he be if he put it down?
With no time to think, she thrust out her left hand to meet Xiao Yan's fist.
Xiao Yan was startled. Is this girl really planning to meet my fist with those slender hands of hers? Judging by appearances, his punch would probably put a hole through her hand. Though Xiao Yan had stirred up trouble in the Soul Fighting Arena, he had only done so to test his strength after so long. He had held back in every one of his previous Soul Fights. Far from killing anyone, even when he injured someone, he deliberately aimed for non-vital spots and stopped after inflicting a minor wound. It was just Soul Fighting; everyone was here to earn a little money, so why risk their lives? Xiao Yan had no intention of risking his life, and of course he had no intention of taking anyone else's. So he reined in his strength, clearly unwilling to cripple his opponent's hand over a mere Soul Fight. His steps came to an abrupt halt, and his fist, once like a raging dragon, continued toward the silver-haired girl with only thirty or forty percent of its force remaining.
Yet in a battle between Soul Masters, one could never judge by appearances.
Xiao Yan's fist abruptly stopped. It wasn't because he had held back; he discovered that an invisible force had stopped his fist from advancing another inch.
Green light swirled before his eyes. Xiao Yan knew full well that it was the power of wind. Wind as powerful as a tornado had gathered in the silver-haired girl's palm, stopping his surging fist.
"Well?" The silver-haired girl raised an eyebrow at him. "You're surprisingly kind, holding back against your opponent even in a Soul Fight. Don't hold back. Let me see your full strength."
"Is that so?" Xiao Yan gritted his teeth. Green flames spontaneously sprang to life out of thin air, enveloping his fist. He let out a shout, and his fierce punch broke through the wind and slammed into the silver-haired girl's shoulder.
"In that case, don't regret it!"
The green flames took the lifelike form of a dragon and blasted the silver-haired girl all the way to the edge of the fighting stage before she barely managed to stop herself. When the dust cleared, everyone saw that her shoulder had turned ash-gray, with thick layers of rock peeling away. Beneath them, fine traces of blood seeped from her shoulder. She had clearly been injured after all.
Those with a discerning eye could already guess that the silver-haired girl had instantly condensed countless layers of sturdy earth-element armor in front of herself. In the end, Xiao Yan's flames had pierced every layer, injuring the girl behind them.
"Miss, your Martial Soul is truly rather unusual. Wind, earth, and now you're using the light element too... I've never heard of a Martial Soul that can control so many elements."
Xiao Yan walked slowly, one measured step at a time, toward the silver-haired girl, who had fallen into a sitting position. She had placed her right hand on her left shoulder, and a faint light flickered in her palm. Clearly, she was using the light element to heal herself. Seeing Xiao Yan approach, she said softly:
"Your Martial Soul is extraordinary too. Those flames... I've truly never heard of anything like them."
The moment Xiao Yan used the Green Lotus Core Flame to break through the wind, the silver-haired girl had tried to seize control of the fire element on his fist. But after several fruitless attempts, she had no choice but to summon an earth-element shield as quickly as she could, and even that had failed to protect her completely.
I've never heard of flames that can escape my control, unless those flames are of a higher order than I am. But even a god-tier Martial Soul can't do that.
The silver-haired girl couldn't figure out why Xiao Yan's flames were beyond her control, no matter how much she thought about it. By then, Xiao Yan had reached her side. He held out his hand to her and said:
"Get up. You're strong, and I really enjoyed fighting you, but it'll be trouble if I've given you a hidden injury. You're exceptionally gifted, and you have a rare special Martial Soul. If you joined Spirit Hall, you'd surely shine. I wonder if you're interested? If you are, I can introduce you to my teacher, the Pope, after the Soul Fight."
Xiao Yan's heart was full of admiration for talent. Clearly, he was thinking of himself as Spirit Hall's Holy Son, his mind occupied with recruiting an extraordinary genius for Spirit Hall. The silver-haired girl took his hand and used his support to stand, then brushed the dust off herself. But instead of accepting his invitation, she said, "The fight hasn't been decided yet. I'm very interested in your Martial Soul too. How about this? If you beat me, I'll do as you say and go take a look at Spirit Hall." With that, she overlapped her hands before her chest. Her third pale-gold soul ring emitted a faint glow, and seven elemental spheres began to revolve around her before gathering into one enormous ball of light. As it churned, seven colors seemed to intertwine and overlap within it, creating a sense of harmony.
"Third Soul Skill, Elemental Fusion."
"Catch this, and the Soul Fight is yours!"
The enormous ball of light flew out slowly, yet despite its speed, it traveled several meters in the blink of an eye. Clearly, it had to contain the space element.
The sight felt extraordinarily familiar to Xiao Yan, and he laughed for no apparent reason. For a long time, he had been the one using this method of combining various sources of power to produce an exponentially stronger explosion against others. This was the first time he had encountered such an attack himself. How could he not be delighted? Xiao Yan closed his eyes slightly and formed hand seals. Six flames swiftly circulated around him, forming what looked like a multicolored halo. After revolving several times, the immense fused flames settled in his palm, taking the shape of a lotus.
"Little lady, don't think you're the only one who knows that trick."
"If you can withstand my Six-Colored Buddha's Fury Fire Lotus, why shouldn't the victory be yours?"
The beautiful six-colored lotus swept forth and collided with the enormous ball of light.
Compared with the ball of light, the lotus was pitifully small. But the moment the two collided, the silver-haired girl already knew.
In this clash of techniques, she had lost.
When the lotus collided with the ball of light, a violent explosion surged toward every corner of the Soul Fighting Arena. The Soul Emperors belonging to the Great Soul Arena sensed that something was wrong and immediately intervened, blocking the full force of the blast's aftermath. In the end, it took the combined strength of four Soul Emperors to barely protect all the spectators present.
The silver-haired girl at the center of the explosion had no time to dodge. In truth, an explosion of that magnitude was no great problem for her body, but her vision blurred, and she found herself high in the air, held in Xiao Yan's arms as he flew using the bone wings on his back, sparing her from the blast.
"What happened? Why did you space out?"
Xiao Yan spoke softly. She didn't know the girl's background and had clearly assumed she had been frightened witless, so he had spread his bone wings and used the incredible speed of Three Thousand Lightning Movement to save her.
But the girl said nothing, merely staring at him in a daze-or more precisely, at the bone wings on his back.
Some time passed, and the Soul Emperors had completely cleared away the effects of the explosion. Only then did Xiao Yan land and set the girl, still lost in thought, on the ground.
The Great Soul Arena's owner came charging over in a fury. He had never intended to let this young boy enter a seven-person team Soul Fight on his own; it was against the rules. But the boy had produced a token worth more than the owner's head, leaving him no choice but to comply and let him enter alone. As for the silver-haired girl, he had even less idea where she had come from, or whether he had been bewitched into agreeing to let her enter the seven-person team fight alone as well. The owner thought about it for a long time, but couldn't remember when or by what he had been persuaded to let her exploit that loophole.
Xiao Yan naturally knew why the furious owner had come. He promptly pulled out a personal letter and tossed it to him, saying, "Ask Spirit Hall for compensation." Then he took the distracted silver-haired girl to a quiet private room in the Great Soul Arena and sat down with her. Clearly, he had not given up on the chance to recruit the gifted girl.
The girl, however, simply studied him with her limpid purple eyes, beautiful as amethysts, without saying another word, as though she wanted to see what lay beneath his skin. Her stare made Xiao Yan's skin crawl. For some reason, he even felt that her discerning eyes had already seen through to Yan Xiao's existence.
"Miss, what exactly do you want to know? Why don't you just ask me? You're scaring me a little," Xiao Yan said with a wry smile. He had feared neither heaven nor earth all his life, but being stared at so intently by a beautiful young girl was still too frightening. "If you want my body, forget it. My heart already belongs to someone."
The silver-haired girl's pretty face flushed at his bizarre, nonsensical remark, but she offered no retort. Clearly, she knew her behavior had been a little improper. She coughed lightly and smiled charmingly.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Gu Yuena."
"Sir, if I'm not mistaken..."
"You have a dragon-type Martial Soul, don't you?"