Soul Engineer (Part 1)

"Team battle? Just what I wanted!"

Ma Xiaotao's and Dai Yueheng's gazes clashed fiercely in midair, and the entire Soul Arena seemed to echo with a tiger's roar and phoenix's cry.

She had told Dai Yueheng in the most straightforward way possible: I'm taking the captain's position, no question about it!

Du Gu Lin admired her emerald-green, slender nails and said leisurely, "If Ling Bai participates, I'll participate."

"Hm?"

Everyone's expressions suddenly turned strange. In perfect unison, they tilted their heads, looking as though they were saying, Something's going on between you two.

Ling Bai glanced at Du Gu Lin helplessly. "As long as you aren't afraid of exposing your trump cards early, I don't care."

"What's there to fear!"

Tai Xing pounded his chest loudly and said in a gruff voice, "Let's fight them first and talk later!"

Chu Qingtian, Zhou Sen, and Pan Tao also supported the team battle. They did not fear the official Seven Monsters at all, despite the latter's average Soul Power being six ranks higher than theirs!

No matter whether they won or lost, they would get to observe the official Seven Monsters' fighting habits and the effects of their soul skills. Once they returned, they could make full use of the next six months for targeted training.

The seven challengers had reached a unanimous decision, and the official Seven Monsters had long been prepared as well. This team battle needed no referee. All fourteen of them took their stances, rubbing their fists and gathering momentum!

"Brothers, go!"

A tiger's roar erupted from Dai Yueheng's mouth. An impassioned, almost scorching aura burst forth. Accompanied by the crackling of his bones like popping beans, Dai Yueheng's muscles instantly swelled. Sharp claws sprang from his tiger paws, and six soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black—rose beneath him. His blade-sharp gaze brimmed with wildness!

Martial Soul Possession, White Tiger!

Target locked: Ma Xiaotao!

"Good!"

A blazing light burst from Ma Xiaotao's pink eyes. The searing heat of the Phoenix Flame formed waves of high-temperature fire, warping the surrounding air in the distance. Phoenix wings spread behind her, and six soul rings in the same optimal configuration rose beneath her feet. Like a flaming meteor, she streaked forward in a straight line and crashed toward Dai Yueheng!

After Ma Xiaotao, the second challenger to move was Chu Qingtian. He and Xi Xi transformed into two bolts of lightning that constantly tangled together. The Lightning Maniac Panther and Lightning Leopard were both agility attack-type martial souls specializing in speed, and electric afterimages from their attacks and defenses could be seen throughout the arena!

Vines surged from Zhou Sen's palms. He and Pan Tao formed a two-person team against Gongyang Mo and Yao Haoxuan. At some unknown moment, his First Soul Ring lit up silently. Ghost Vine rapidly grew and extended, thick and nimble like giant pythons as they coiled toward the giantized Yao Haoxuan from every direction!

On the other side, Chen Zifeng summoned his Soul-Chasing Sword. Seeing two figures—one from the sky and one from the ground—rushing toward him, he could not help saying gloomily, "Wait, do I really look that easy to bully?"

The Six-Winged Angel and Great Strength Gorilla were both assault-type martial souls, so Ling Bai and Tai Xing had coincidentally chosen to attack Chen Zifeng!

Question: If one day you were being ganged up on by a Six-Winged Angel and a Great Strength Gorilla, what should you do?

Chen Zifeng's solution was simple. He took a deep breath, filled his lungs with air, raised his lung capacity UP UP, and then roared at the sky:

"Someone help! They have no martial virtue—they're bullying a lone man!"

"..."

Tai Xing stumbled and nearly fell, while Ling Bai froze for half a second. He did not know whether to laugh or cry at this oddball. A wise man knew when to yield, and Chen Zifeng surrendered with remarkable speed!

The squeaky wheel got the grease. Chen Zifeng's shout really did bring help. Snowflakes drifted down from the sky, while a thick layer of solid ice spread across the ground. The high temperature brought by Ma Xiaotao's Phoenix Flame plummeted at an astonishing rate.

Ice Element, Ling Luochen!

Ling Luochen held an Ice Staff and wore ice armor, standing prettily amid ice and snow. Her expression was cold, her features as flawless as jade, like an inviolable goddess of ice and snow. As her purple Fourth Soul Ring flashed, Ling Luochen pointed her Ice Staff forward. Elemental Ice transformed into a savage ice dragon that bit toward Ling Bai!

"I told you, Elemental Ice is useless in front of me."

The ice dragon, snowflakes, frost mist—everything in its path was shattered by the Evil-warding Slash unleashed from the Angel Holy Sword. Blazing golden eyes lit up amid the boundless ice and snow. Ling Bai looked down from above at the stubborn woman on the ground, and his Angel Wings suddenly beat, about to recreate the instant defeat from the Soul Arena the other day.

"Stop!"

A furious shout rang out from somewhere in the Soul Arena, followed by two intense beams of incandescent light!

The spiritual network of Spider Emperor Perception pinpointed their positions. Of the two white beams, one targeted Ling Bai's sword-wielding right hand, while the other targeted the spot where he would rapidly move two seconds later!

The shooter's aim was exceptionally precise, but he did not seem to intend to seriously injure Ling Bai. Otherwise, he would have targeted vulnerable human areas such as the chest or head!

Theoretically, Ling Bai's safest response would have been to stop and evade the second beam while focusing on neutralizing the first. But his choice was...

Evil-warding Double-edged Slash!

Boom! Boom!

The sword aura split into two, as though equipped with automatic targeting, and struck the two beams with perfect accuracy. After the explosions, ripples of white air currents spread outward.

As the aftershocks faded, the tower-like, muscular Qian Fufu slowly stepped out. The compact Soul Tool on his wrist emitted white smoke from Soul Power overload.

A hero stepping forward to save a beauty in distress should have been a classic scene, yet Ling Luochen instead shouted angrily, "Qian Fufu!"

The moment Ling Luochen opened her mouth, Qian Fufu's eyes immediately widened like bronze bells. He pricked up his ears, unwilling to miss a single word from the goddess.

"Are you sick? What right did you have to interfere in my battle with him?"

Boom—

Ling Bai watched as the light in Qian Fufu's eyes went out. If this were an anime, it would have looked as if his entire body had petrified from top to bottom before cracking apart. The expression on that tall, imposing man's face was as fragile as a child's.

"Y-yes, sorry, Luochen, I..."

Qian Fufu said dryly.

"My name is Ling Luochen!"

Ling Luochen cut him off coldly. With a swing of her Ice Staff, Du Gu Lin, who had been quietly watching the show nearby, suffered an undeserved disaster!

Ling Bai's pitying gaze fell on Qian Fufu. This brother's emotional intelligence was far too low. No wonder he would end up with nothing after all that simping. He had not even realized that the originally agreed-upon team battle had been tacitly divided by the two sides into numerous one-on-ones and two-on-twos.

Ma Xiaotao versus Dai Yueheng—the two assault-type soul masters fought to determine the captain.

Chu Qingtian versus Xi Xi—the only agility attack-type soul masters on their respective teams faced each other.

Zhou Sen and Pan Tao versus Yao Haoxuan and Gongyang Mo—the support-types formed two-person teams and began their contest.

Tai Xing versus Chen Zifeng—another great battle between assault-types.

Du Gu Lin's intended opponent had been Ling Luochen. Since Ling Luochen had blocked Ling Bai for Chen Zifeng, Du Gu Lin had been unable to join the battle. Now, she had finally gotten her wish, and Jade Phosphorous Absolute Poison began corroding the Ice Element step by step.

Strangely enough, although the rules stated that everyone in the Seven Monsters challenge had the right to challenge Soul Engineer Qian Fufu, they had all consciously or unconsciously ignored him, leaving Ling Bai and Qian Fufu staring at each other.

Suddenly, Ling Bai said, "To be honest, I've never fought a Soul Engineer before."

According to the rules, the official Seven Monsters Ling Bai could challenge one-on-one were Dai Yueheng, Chen Zifeng, and Qian Fufu. Since Ma Xiaotao and Tai Xing had beaten him to Dai Yueheng and Chen Zifeng, he did not mind giving his first time to Qian Fufu!

For Qian Fufu to stand out among so many disciples of the Soul Guidance Department and secure the Shrek Seven Monsters' sole Soul Engineer slot despite the immense pressure from the Spirit Soul Department students was enough to prove that he was far from ordinary.

In a direct contest of combat power, this adopted son of Dean Qian Duoduo and the inner court's number one Fifth Level Soul Engineer was even stronger than Ling Luochen!

At those words, Qian Fufu immediately understood. He exhaled a breath of turbid air and said in a deep voice:

"I won't disappoint you."

With that, he slowly retreated. Most Soul Engineers had relatively poor martial soul talent, and their soul skills primarily enhanced Soul Power. Thus, distance was the most important factor in battles between Soul Engineers and soul masters.

Keep a certain distance, prevent the soul master from closing in, and bombard them with cannons—that was the only truth!