As for Oscar and Ning Rongrong, they would have to wait for everyone to finish their one-on-one duels before teaming up with them for two-on-two battles.
Night fell. The Sotuo Grand Battle Arena came alive once more with its nightly bustle. Crowds began streaming in from every direction. As the most traditional and beloved form of entertainment, the arena drew enormous audiences every evening.
The wealthy could enjoy the ultimate experience here, but even commoners with little money could watch the Soul Masters compete. The Grand Battle Arena offered special budget ticket packages for ordinary people at extremely low prices, so anyone who could afford basic necessities was willing to come and watch the duels. After all, simply laying eyes on a Soul Master was enough to satisfy most commoners' vanity. Of course, with their cheap tickets, all they could see were the ordinary matches. The truly spectacular duels were invariably expensive. And Sotuo City never lacked tycoons willing to spend fortunes. Add in the betting establishment run by the Grand Battle Arena, and the duels became a stage for the wealthy and nobility to compete against each other behind the scenes.
At this point, the scheduled time for the Grand Battle Arena's regular duels was fast approaching. Before long, the one-on-one and two-on-two preliminary rounds would begin. After those two events concluded, the most exciting team battles would take the stage.
Just then, a group of ten caught the eye of the crowd preparing to enter the Grand Battle Arena. Seven of the ten wore identical masks.
The green masks looked somewhat comical, though their clothing varied—some wore elaborate outfits, others simple ones.
This group was none other than the seven students from Shrek Academy, along with the two headmasters and the Great Master.
They had come to Sub-Arena Thirteen. Following the plan they had worked out beforehand, each of them registered using their Iron Duel Medals. Under the Great Master's guidance, the five who were participating in both one-on-one and two-on-two duels explained their situation when registering at both venues. The staff adjusted their schedules so the two types of duels wouldn't overlap. At the same time, they each changed the names on their Iron Duel Medals, hiding their real names and using the titles they had come up with during the day. Simply changing the names cost each of them ten Gold Soul Coins. However, since they didn't need to register again this time, that was the only expense. A single victory in a duel would be enough to recoup the cost.
Tang San and Xiao Wu chose to participate in the two-on-two duel first, then the one-on-one, naturally separating from the other five. Oscar and Ning Rongrong had to wait for Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing to finish their one-on-one duels, so they headed to Zone One first as well.
Flandre and Zhao Wuji went with the larger group into the one-on-one zone, while the Great Master followed Tang San and Xiao Wu to the two-on-two zone.
Since there were still more duels to follow, the Three-Five Combination's two-on-two match was scheduled as the second bout in the two-on-two section of Sub-Arena Thirteen. Before long, it was their turn to take the stage.
The Great Master sat in the spectator stands among the audience. Today happened to be a weekend for ordinary people, so the arena was packed with spectators. The sub-arenas drew mostly common folk, who had already been whipped into a frenzy by the first match, their shouts rising one after another.
Tang San and Xiao Wu, of course, had no fame to speak of. When they walked onto the stage under the announcer's introduction, they received sparse applause.
"Now, let us introduce the opponents of the Three-Five Combination—the Cat and Mouse Pair, who have achieved four consecutive victories in two-on-two duels! With their formidable strength, they have achieved unprecedented success at the Soul Venerable level. If they can defeat today's opponents, the Three-Five Combination, they will complete a five-match winning streak. Perhaps the next time they appear at the Sotuo Grand Battle Arena, they will advance to the Central Battle Arena. That would be an enormous honor for any duelist."
Cat and Mouse Pair? At the mention of those words, Tang San and Xiao Wu exchanged a glance. Though they couldn't see each other's expressions through their masks, they could still read a hint of amusement in each other's eyes. From the opponent's team name alone, they could tell that today's adversaries would be an agility-attack-type pair. Whether cat or mouse, both were known for speed. As a Control Type Soul Master, Tang San was the natural counter to agility attackers. As long as their opponents' levels didn't exceed their own by more than ten ranks, the two of them were fairly confident.
Before long, amid enthusiastic cheers and applause, the Three-Five Combination's opponents stepped onto the Battle Arena stage.
The two Soul Masters who came up were one male and one female. The woman was tall and slender, appearing to be in her twenties, with strikingly fiery red short hair, sharp eyes, and fingers that constantly twitched and flexed in subtle rhythm. Seeing this gesture, Tang San immediately identified her as the "cat" of the Cat and Mouse Pair. Dai Mubai had once told him that anyone with a feline Martial Soul would habitually flex their fingers in this manner.
The man was short, but to Tang San and Xiao Wu's surprise, he was extremely fat—even more exaggeratedly rotund than Ma Hongjun. His entire body looked like a big round ball, with both his head and torso being perfectly spherical. Only his squinting little eyes gave him a somewhat mouse-like quality.
A skinny cat and a fat mouse—rather comical.
As the Cat and Mouse Pair took the stage, they naturally observed Tang San and Xiao Wu across from them. When they spotted the masks on their faces, both froze for a moment. While some Soul Masters who participated in duels did disguise their identities, wearing masks was still a rare sight.
The skinny cat girl snorted disdainfully. "Hiding your faces—playing mysterious."
As the duel was about to begin, the audience surrounding the arena had been fully riled up. In the heated atmosphere, the announcer didn't dare waste time and immediately declared the start of the second two-on-two duel at Sub-Arena Thirteen.
At the announcer's signal, the Cat and Mouse Pair simultaneously activated their Soul Power, their bodies transforming rapidly. After reaching the thirty-rank threshold, the physical changes during Martial Soul Possession were far more dramatic for beast-type Soul Masters.
Just as Tang San had predicted, the girl's Martial Soul was a cat. Razor-sharp blades extended from her fingertips, streaks of bright silver appeared among her red hair, her pupils narrowed into vertical slits, her upper body crouched low, her ears pricked up, and a layer of fine silver fur sprouted along her arms. One white, one yellow, and one purple Soul Ring glowed simultaneously. A third Soul Ring reaching the thousand-year level clearly indicated that the soul skills she had acquired were quite formidable.
The fat mouse's transformation, on the other hand, was somewhat comical. His mouth jutted out and became pointed, several whiskers sprouted from his upper lip, and two enormous buck teeth protruded beneath it. His small eyes went from slits to perfectly round. His chubby body crouched down as well, his forearms thinned, and black claws shot out from his fingertips. His three Soul Rings were also one white, one yellow, and one purple.
Seeing their opponents reveal their Martial Souls, Tang San and Xiao Wu didn't stand idle. Xiao Wu deftly sprang into the air, planting one foot on Tang San's shoulder to steady herself. Both of them activated their own Martial Souls simultaneously.
Long rabbit ears, white fur, elongated legs, and those distinctive red eyes—all of Xiao Wu's hallmarks. Compared to before, she too had sprouted some fur along her arms, though it was finer than the skinny cat girl's.
The same two yellow and one purple—a total of six Soul Rings suddenly appeared around the Three-Five Combination, instantly provoking a wave of astonishment from the audience.
These spectators who regularly watched duels were intimately familiar with the hierarchy of Soul Rings. Two hundred-year and one thousand-year—the Three-Five Combination clearly outclassed the Cat and Mouse Pair in that regard. The audience members who had been heavily favoring the Cat and Mouse Pair saw their expectations shift, but the atmosphere grew even more charged. The more evenly matched a duel, the better it was to watch.
If the audience could see the power of the Three-Five Combination's Soul Rings, the Cat and Mouse Pair across from them could too. But the duel had begun—they were arrows on the string with no choice but to fly.
The skinny cat girl's form streaked forward, her legs moving in a rapid rhythm as she became a ground-hugging whirlwind, sweeping toward Tang San and Xiao Wu. Her first two Soul Rings lit up simultaneously. Her claws swept out in alternating strokes, ten brilliant silver claw-images slicing through the air, attacking both members of the Three-Five Combination at once.
At the same time, her speed reached a terrifying degree, the pressure from her Soul Power surging to its peak in an instant.
One soul skill boosted her speed; the other was a claw attack. Though he didn't know their names, Tang San had already made the correct assessment. He shrugged his shoulder, and Xiao Wu, perched atop it, used the momentum to leap into the air, soaring directly toward the fat mouse behind her. Meanwhile, Tang San circled his hands in front of him, activating Ghost Shadow Phantom Trail under his feet and Crane Control Dragon Catch in his hands—he wanted to test just how strong the opponent's Soul Power really was.
A flash of light and shadow swept past. Tang San's body was sent stumbling, and inwardly he was shocked. No wonder the Cat and Mouse Pair had won four consecutive matches—this skinny cat girl's Soul Power had probably reached a level comparable to Dai Mubai's. Fortunately, Tang San had used Ghost Shadow Phantom Trail and Crane Control Dragon Catch simultaneously, not only dodging the frontal assault but also using his Mysterious Heaven Skill's internal energy to deflect the attack's trajectory.
(End of Chapter)