For Caelus, this was an excellent reference point, allowing him to more clearly gauge his current strength level.
This Soul Duel, sparked by roasted fish, unexpectedly piqued his anticipation.
The Soul Dueling Area holds a pivotal position within Shrek Academy.
It is located in the northwest corner of the Martial Soul Department, near the direction of Shrek City, and not far from the Soul Tool Department's spirit tool testing area.
This is a place frequently visited by many upper-year students, and the air seems permeated with lingering Soul Power fluctuations.
The entire Soul Dueling Area is a standard hexagon, covering a vast area that can almost rival Shrek Plaza.
In the center of the area is a massive open space paved with special Materials capable of withstanding high-intensity Spirit Ability bombardments; this is the stage where students compete.
Surrounding the competition grounds are rings of spectator seating extending upwards, which by a rough estimate, can accommodate about three thousand people watching at once.
Here, students can engage in various forms of combat, with specialized teachers serving as referees responsible for determining victory or defeat, protecting student safety, and providing emergency aid and treatment when necessary.
Of course, these services are not free; for a Soul Duel match, both parties must pay at least ten gold coins as a venue fee.
Despite this, many students still never tire of it.
Because fighting in the Soul Dueling Area is almost unrestricted, and there's no need to worry about irreversible consequences from using too much force, as the experienced Referee Teacher will precisely control the limits.
More importantly, winning here earns valuable Soul Dueling credits, which provide extra points during grade-level assessments.
Starting from the fourth grade, one must accumulate enough Soul Dueling wins to advance, and by the sixth grade, Soul Dueling credits are one of the key indicators for entering the Inner Court.
Matches in the Soul Dueling Area are open to all students for observation, requiring only a one silver coin ticket fee.
And today, this duel between Xu Sanshi and Bei Bei, the 'Outer Court's Number One Defense' versus the 'Outer Court's Number One Attack,' was undoubtedly a focus battle.
The academy even made an announcement across the entire Outer Court via spirit tool broadcast, attracting a massive crowd of students to watch.
When Caelus arrived at the Soul Dueling Area with Lan Susu, Lan Luoluo, and Ye Guyi, the stands were already packed with people and the clamor was deafening.
They finally managed to find a relatively empty spot to sit down.
Scanning the bustling stands, Caelus unexpectedly spotted a familiar figure—Gu Yuena.
She stood alone not far away, her amethyst-like eyes calmly scanning the stands, seemingly looking for a suitable seat.
She was clearly also drawn here by this high-profile Soul Duel.
A gentle smile appeared on Caelus's face as he waved in Gu Yuena's direction.
Gu Yuena noticed Caelus's signal, her gaze lingering for a moment on him and the several people beside him, a flash of hesitation appearing in her eyes.
But compared to being squeezed in with the surrounding strange, excited, and noisy students, it was clearly more reassuring to sit next to relatively familiar classmates.
After a brief hesitation, she stepped toward where Caelus and the others were located.
"Sister Gu Yue, over here, over here."
Seeing Gu Yuena, Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo immediately displayed their'social butterfly' nature, enthusiastically inviting her to sit while their little mouths kept praising her:
"Sister Gu Yue, you came to see the match too? You look so beautiful today."
"Yeah, yeah, even this school uniform looks different on you."
Faced with such blunt and enthusiastic praise from the twin sisters, even someone as cool and proud as Gu Yuena found it hard to handle; a rare trace of helplessness appeared on her always calm and beautiful face.
She nodded slightly and sat down in the empty seat next to Caelus.
She hadn't come to watch just to join the fun.
As the Co-ruler of Soul Beasts infiltrating the human World, observing the strength, fighting styles, and Mind and nature of the top young generation of humans was one of her objectives.
This duel, claimed to be between the Outer Court's strongest defense and strongest attack, happened to allow her to intuitively understand just how much weight the 'Geniuses' cultivated by this so-called number one human academy actually carried.
Caelus looked at Gu Yuena and Ye Guyi sitting side by side next to him, along with the chattering twin sisters, and couldn't help but be amused.
He wasn't surprised that the twins knew Gu Yuena; after all, these two girls had practically identified every single freshman.
Even if they couldn't find out Martial Souls or Soul Power Ranks, appearances and names were no trouble for these two social experts.
The Soul Dueling Area was bustling with people, and the stands were fully occupied.
Just as this heated atmosphere reached a small climax, two figures stepped out almost simultaneously from the contestant tunnels on both sides, stepping onto the wide Soul Dueling stage.
Coming from the left tunnel was Bei Bei, wearing a purple school uniform and possessing an elegant and gentle temperament.
He wore an unhurried smile on his face and had a steady gait, as if the upcoming event wasn't an intense duel but a friendly sparring session.
However, his appearance caused the students supporting him in the stands to burst into enthusiastic cheers and whistles.
Shouts of his nickname 'Thunderbolt Bei Bei' rose and fell.
Almost simultaneously, from the right tunnel, Xu Sanshi walked out in a black sixth-grade school uniform.
His expression was much colder, with a faint trace of arrogance at the corner of his mouth, sharp eyes, and a steady, powerful stride, each step seeming to carry the weight of a thousand catties.
He had just as many supporters, especially many students who valued defensive capabilities, and the shouts of his name were equally loud.
The appearance of the two protagonists instantly ignited the atmosphere of the entire venue.
They stood at opposite ends of the Soul Dueling stage, their gazes meeting in mid-air; though they hadn't moved, an invisible aura had already begun to collide, as if sparks were crackling.
The Referee Teacher stood in the center of the grounds, scanning the two with a serious gaze, and after deeply announcing the rules, his arm swung down abruptly:
"Match—Start!"
In an instant, the entire Soul Dueling Arena fell silent, all eyes focused on the two figures inside who moved instantaneously.
On Bei Bei's body, blue-purple electric light erupted. Amidst countless snaking bolts of electricity, the sleeve on his right arm instantly burst, and the arm's length increased by more than half a foot; the entire arm became extremely thick, covered in blue-purple scales, the hand turned into a claw, and two yellow and one purple spirit rings spiraled up.
It was indeed his Martial Soul—the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon.
A powerful Dragon pressure mixed with a violent lightning aura spread out.
On the other side, Xu Sanshi was equally unwilling to be outdone. Accompanied by a low roar, a massive tortoise shell shield appeared in his hand.
The shield was pitch black in color, with ancient and heavy patterns on it, and the edges of the shield shimmered with a metallic luster.
Two yellow and one purple spirit rings shone brightly, as an aura as heavy as a mountain stood its ground against Bei Bei's violent Dragon pressure.
This was precisely his Martial Soul—the Mysterious Underworld Tortoise.
------------------------
I've posted 40+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/DaoistRoeoNQ
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"