He opened his eyes.

The dorm was empty.

Because he'd been cultivating, Xie Huanyue had already rushed to the dueling arena to passionately take on the new Class Two students—one-versus-two, even one-versus-three, four, five, six, seven.

Among all the freshmen, soul elders were rare. Excluding Su Wen, who was cultivating, and the support-type Ning Tian, only Dai Huabin was left.

Su Wen stretched, feeling clear-headed and refreshed.

In the Douluo world, you don't need sleep; meditation and cultivation can replenish your spirit. The only downside to cultivation is how boring it is.

"Let me go find Dean Yan first and ask him for a few soul bones to test." Su Wen muttered to himself and headed toward Seagod Island.

…

Dueling arena.

Two figures faced off in the center.

Dai Huabin versus Xie Huanyue.

As two of the very few freshman soul elders, who was stronger between them naturally stirred much debate.

Xie Huanyue specialized in defense—the Rubber Elephant's defensive power was indeed frightening, but its attack… compared to the highly offensive White Tiger Martial Soul, was a bit lacking. It felt somewhat like the former outer court's twin stars, Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi.

The stands were packed.

Mostly freshmen, with a few upperclassmen.

Clearly, becoming a soul elder upon admission—though only the first glimmer of talent—was enough to draw a lot of attention.

"Dai Huabin! White Tiger Martial Soul number one under heaven!"

"So handsome!"

On the sidelines, several fangirls were already cheering.

Compared to the chubby, goofy Xie Huanyue, Dai Huabin had inherited his father's handsome looks; gold hair and golden eyes made for a dashing figure. With top-tier talent and strength, he naturally had no shortage of admirers.

"You're not worried?" Cui Yajie folded her arms, a teasing look on her pretty face as she glanced at Zhu Lu beside her.

Zhu Lu's expression stayed indifferent. "They're just small fry. Huabin and I are childhood sweethearts. He won't spare them a look."

"Tsk tsk, that's true." Cui Yajie sighed. No matter how fervently those girls shouted, Dai Huabin's gaze stayed locked on Xie Huanyue. Zhu Lu had run into a total steel-straight man…

"What a shame my Nine-Tailed Fox Martial Soul can only charm, not truly bewitch men's hearts," Cui Yajie said with a giggle.

"Scram!" Zhu Lu snapped.

But clearly, the two got along well.

On the stage, Dai Huabin's eyes narrowed.

It was as if he filtered out all surrounding noise.

A soul elder of the same realm, famous for defense, had been beaten like that by Su Wen… Was Su Wen's strength far beyond his imagination, or was Xie Huanyue all bark and no bite? They'd soon find out.

"Match, begin!"

With the referee's signal.

Dai Huabin narrowed his eyes and let out a shout. A faint purple soul ring rose from beneath his feet—White Tiger Vajra Transformation!

His hands were covered by tiger claws, the razor edges gleaming coldly. Dense light surged from within, and behind him a white tiger phantom seemed to coalesce, looking down imperiously at Xie Huanyue. The pressure was palpable.

A thousand-year soul skill—marking him as a freshman soul elder!

"Absolute Amplification!"

Xie Huanyue refused to be outdone.

A purple soul ring rose as well.

It enveloped him, and his body puffed up like a rubber ball. If someone had glasses that could see stats, they'd have watched his defense skyrocket.

"Death Roll!"

Another yellow soul ring rose.

With Xie Huanyue's low shout, that huge purple ball rumbled into motion, like a boulder tumbling down a mountain. In mere seconds it picked up speed and slammed toward Dai Huabin.

Screee!!

They collided.

A harsh bang echoed through the arena. As the purple sphere that Xie Huanyue had become slammed into him, Dai Huabin raised his arm and, relying on brute strength, lifted it up. Tiger claws scraped the sphere with a piercing squeal, but couldn't pierce the defense.

Failing to break through, Xie Huanyue hastily braked, leaving a long gouge in the floor behind Dai Huabin.

"What terrifying defense!"

Watching the match, Cui Yajie widened her beautiful eyes in awe as Dai Huabin pressed the attack, using his first and second soul skills on Xie Huanyue.

The fight had entered a white-hot phase.

They had thrown in all the skills they could.

But neither could do much to the other.

Dai Huabin's offense was fierce—he'd once soloed a thousand-year soul beast. Even among offense-type martial souls, his White Tiger was top-tier. But the opponent was just too tough.

Even when Dai Huabin went pale and exhausted himself, unleashing everything, he couldn't leave a mark on Xie Huanyue.

But while the latter was thick-skinned, his attack power lagged. So by now, the likely outcome was a draw; ending it was a matter of time.

"That Su Wen…" Cui Yajie started, only to be glared at by Zhu Lu. She stuck out her tongue. "Fine, I won't say it. That guy's practically become Dai Huabin's inner demon."

"…"

Zhu Lu kept quiet, but her fist clenched slightly.

She knew Dai Huabin too well. Her childhood friend was fiercely competitive. He couldn't stand being overshadowed. He wanted to confront that person's strength indirectly by challenging Xie Huanyue, who had faced him.

But…

The result might be a bit despairing.

"Huff… huff…"

Dai Huabin was panting hard.

His soul power was almost depleted.

Xie Huanyue wasn't any better—soaked in sweat, his third skill's duration had ended, revealing his true form, barely staying upright.

Dai Huabin bent over, hands on his knees to support himself, his hair falling down to hide the fear in his eyes.

He remembered it clearly:

That figure sending Xie Huanyue flying with a single punch.

Even with his third soul skill activated, Xie Huanyue had been pinned down by that man and brutally beaten, utterly helpless. He had once imagined—maybe Xie Huanyue was a paper tiger. But now, after going all out against him, that fantasy was shattered.

It wasn't that Xie Huanyue was weak.

It was that the other man was strong.

So strong he could effortlessly crush a soul elder—at a level he could never catch up to.

So strong he could suppress an entire era…

If he really faced that guy, he wouldn't fare much better than Xie Huanyue.

Plop~

Xie Huanyue finally ran out of soul power, his stamina giving out as he collapsed onto the arena's cold floor. The referee declared Dai Huabin the winner for still standing.

As the cheers crashed like waves through the stands, Dai Huabin felt his legs heavy as lead…

…

At that moment.

In the dean's office.

"Ha~"

Su Wen yawned, bored.

"Yeah, I want Ice Jade Scorpion… Wind Baboon, and Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear as well. Bring however many you can."

Yan Shaozhe: "…"

"You brat think soul bones are cabbages? 'However many you can'..."

"Sigh, before I joined the Martial Soul Department everyone called me Xiao Wen. Now I'm a nameless nobody." Su Wen shook his head mournfully.

"You little—" Yan Shaozhe's mouth twitched.

"You want to test whether pets can obtain soul skills?" he suddenly asked.

"Huh? You figured it out?" Su Wen raised a brow.

"No kidding." Yan Shaozhe turned to leave.

<><><>>><><><><><><><>

Advanced chapter here: p-atreon.com/Sajaboyzzz

<><><><><>><>>><><><><>

Keep the Chapters coming - Support with Power Stones!

Every 200 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com