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"Rumble~"
The smoke cleared.
Yan Shaozhe held a slender boy as he shot Ma Xiaotao an irritated glance. "Be careful—don't be so ruthless!"
"Oh." Ma Xiaotao crossed her arms defiantly, chin held high, her eyes locked on Ling Luochen opposite her.
Yao Haoxuan had been eliminated. With the balance tipped, Su Wen and Ling Luochen's team of six against seven couldn't hold out and ultimately lost.
The moment the match was called, Ma Xiaotao rushed over and yanked Su Wen away. "He's on our team this time!"
The second match began half an hour later, after everyone had recovered to their peak condition.
Su Wen's Ultimate Ice suppressed Ling Luochen so completely that she could barely fight back. Such elemental suppression was as absolute as a bloodline hierarchy; it was no wonder Ling Luochen was so fixated on him. It was like tasting an exquisite dessert—once you've had it, you can't stop thinking about it.
Even Ling Luochen's powerful ice attacks were swiftly neutralized by Su Wen. Despite a twenty-level difference, his ability to dominate was a testament to the power of an ultimate attribute.
But its flaw was also obvious: Ice Sovereign's only skill, "Ice Domain," did not distinguish between friend and foe. The entire arena was slowed to 0.75x speed. Even Ma Xiaotao's Phoenix Evil Fire weakened noticeably. Still, Su Wen had achieved his purpose: a one-for-one trade that nullified the enemy team's controller, Ling Luochen.
He didn't bother using Wind Blade. On a high-level battlefield like this, a common skill was useless, especially against geniuses twenty levels above him. But soon, once Gale evolved, its attributes and power would hopefully increase as well.
Without the combination of Su Wen and Ling Luochen, Ma Xiaotao cut through her opponents like a hot knife through butter. Her boasts weren't empty; even with her impure Evil Fire Phoenix, she could crush geniuses of the same age. If she could one day fully evolve…
"It's over!" Yan Shaozhe clapped, a broad smile on his face.
The participants collapsed onto the arena floor, gasping for breath. The battle had drained not only their soul power but also their physical stamina. Unlike soul power, which yielded results with dedicated cultivation, physical strength was harder to train, with the effort rarely matching the reward.
Shrek's current training methods were only effective in the early stages (before level 40). They were useless later on, as there were no real physical cultivation arts—not even the Body Sect had them. Most Titled Douluo were merely tough and resilient, rather than having truly unlocked their body's potential. Just look at Zhou Yi's training—weighted runs, push-ups, endurance drills. Anyone who didn't know better would think they'd traveled back to ancient times. A pure physical arts genius like Rock Lee from next door had never existed on the Douluo Continent.
However…
Su Wen smirked to himself. He might be the exception.
Being able to synchronize with a soul beast's superior physical attributes was almost absurdly overpowered. A soul beast's body was naturally far stronger than a human's, and the gap only widened as their cultivation increased. He could feel it clearly: in a contest of pure physical strength, he would leave all his peers in the dust.
He shook his head. He could only plan his future path after his third soul beast was secured. He just wondered if he would find the one he was looking for.
The students dispersed quickly, but not before giving Su Wen a warm farewell. In a place like the Inner Court, teeming with monsters, only strength earned respect. Though Su Wen's level was lower, his potential was so immense that even they were in awe.
"Su Wen!" Ma Xiaotao grabbed his ear, her seductive eyes glaring at him.
"Hm?" Su Wen played dumb.
"Hmph! When we get back, you're going to use your Ultimate Ice to help me vent my fire! I want that little witch to know she only gets a trial experience, while I get to use it every day! No sleeping tonight!" Ma Xiaotao narrowed her eyes and let out a cold laugh.
"The whole night?!" Su Wen's eyes went wide. He stared at Ma Xiaotao's body—she was truly a stunning, ripe rose, ready to bloom. But he was only ten! Did she know how torturous it was to just look but not touch? Especially when she insisted on cuddling him to sleep…
His throat bobbed. He felt like dying.
…
The next day.
Su Wen's face was deathly pale as he stood trembling in the ranks.
He had been completely drained over the course of the night—not a single drop of soul power was left. Beside him, Ma Xiaotao was radiant and full of energy, excitedly dragging him around.
"Xiaotao!" Yan Shaozhe shot her a stern look before anxiously checking Su Wen's condition. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that there were no lasting issues and Su Wen's soul power was recovering quickly.
"I'm fine, Dean Yan." Su Wen's mouth twitched. Ma Xiaotao stood beside him with a proud, coquettish smile; her expression clearly said, "I know I was wrong, but I'd do it again."
Besides, using his Ultimate Ice to suppress her evil fire was greatly beneficial to him as well. Both his soul power cultivation and his mastery over Ultimate Ice were soaring. And the feeling of alternating between ice and fire… it was truly exhilarating. In comparison, the quickly-recovering soul power was a small price to pay.
"…" Yan Shaozhe was speechless. "Fine, but you two, take it easy!"
He then turned to take attendance.
Su Wen yawned and glanced around. He didn't recognize many people.
Zhang Lexuan had recently advanced to the Soul Douluo rank and now stood at the pinnacle of the Inner Court, ready to become an instructor at any time. Zhang Yi and the others were still grinding through their graduation tasks, hunting Evil Soul Masters across the land.
Why don't they just go to the Sun Moon Empire? Su Wen thought with a malicious grin. That's the Evil Soul Masters' main nest. Don't tell me they're scared, hehe.
But the thought of Evil Soul Masters made him think of Ma Xiaotao. The Holy Maiden of the Sacred Spirit Church... her martial soul was a hair's breadth from divinity or demonism. After the tournament two years from now, the Church would undoubtedly set its sights on her.
Although she loved to drain him dry, was big-chested and a bit brainless, had an explosive temper, and was endearingly silly…
"Xiao Wen, are you badmouthing me in your head?!" Ma Xiaotao's narrow, beautiful eyes glinted dangerously as she stared at him.
"Ahem, of course not." Su Wen coughed awkwardly.
His gaze softened as he looked into the distance. He would do everything in his power to keep her safe.
"Alright, let's move out!"
With attendance complete, Yan Shaozhe waved his hand.
Unlike Elder Xuan, who was prone to laziness and would hide behind the excuse of "training you," disappearing to who-knows-where to sleep or snack, Yan Shaozhe led the team from the front. He never pulled any so-called "trials" out of thin air, and even when he did, he was always within sight, never leaving the group's vicinity.
The entire team consisted of thirteen people. There were some Outer Court disciples, but none were famous (unmentioned in the original story), so Su Wen paid them no mind, focusing instead on the search for his third soul beast.
(End of Chapter)