Chapter 43: line with translation of title

Under the blare of the soul amplifier, Gu Xuan and Feng Xiao Tian walked one after another onto the Dou Hun Tai; as the two currently in the spotlight, even though it was just a one‑on‑one Soul Battle, the audience seats were already erupting in cheers.

One is the monstrous Gu Xuan with twenty‑six consecutive wins, the other is the genius Feng Xiao Tian with fifteen straight victories.

Why call Gu Xuan a monster? Because his soul power is only rank thirty‑three, yet he has defeated opponents whose soul power reached rank thirty‑nine, overcoming a six‑rank gap and still winning—what else could that be but a monster?

Feng Xiao Tian is equally formidable; his soul power has already reached rank forty, just a hair's breadth from the threshold of a rank‑forty Soul Ancestor, the only thing missing being his fourth soul ring.

Of course, if Feng Xiao Tian had already obtained his fourth soul ring, he could not face Gu Xuan, because they would no longer be on the same level—one would be a Soul Ancestor, the other a Soul Elder, making them incomparable.

In fact, before coming to the Grand Soul Battle Arena, Feng Xiao Tian was still only rank thirty‑nine; he had just broken through recently.

Originally he had no intention of coming to the Grand Soul Battle Arena to fight, since he was about to break through to rank forty, so the academy's instructors directly led the Divine Wind Team to the Sunset Forest to obtain Feng Xiao Tian's fourth soul ring.

However, midway Feng Xiao Tian somehow learned that Huo Wu was fighting at the Tian Dou Grand Soul Battle Arena, so he decided to go see her first; after all, ever since they met when Huo Wu was twelve, he had taken a liking to that girl and begun his relentless pursuit.

But Huo Wu seemed indifferent to him, yet who is Feng Xiao Tian? He's the number‑one sycophant of the Douluo Continent, or perhaps a mutant sycophant with two heads like the Swift‑Wind Twin‑Headed Wolf; the more Huo Wu ignores him, the harder he tries.

Well, Huo Wu rolled her eyes—losing the team match to the Royal Battle Team was bad enough, then she was matched with Gu Xuan in the individual bout and lost again, and then in the doubles match with her brother Huo Wushuang, facing Gu Xuan she lost yet again! That's infuriating—how can a mere rank‑thirty‑three Soul Elder be so formidable? Even with a support, he could beat her and Huo Wushuang together.

The proud and arrogant Huo Wu was naturally unwilling to accept it; for someone like Gu Xuan, the more formidable he is, the wilder he becomes, her inner desire to conquer blazes like a fierce flame! Moreover, that brat Gu Xuan even teased her? Saying she's big‑brained and brainless, a fire‑type Soul Master who doesn't bother learning how to attack, just because she has a third soul skill with a bit of control she wants to become a control type!

Having made her cry was bad enough, then he unleashed a torrent of verbal abuse; the fifteen‑year‑old Huo Wu, a treasured jewel of the academy's elders, had never suffered such humiliation—she burst into tears, and after crying she declared she would definitely make Gu Xuan regret it, forcing him to sing the song of conquest before her.

And just then Feng Xiao Tian arrived, so she directly told him to stay for a Soul Battle, to snipe Gu Xuan and give him a taste of his own medicine! Upon hearing that Huo Wu had actually made a request of him for the first time, Feng Xiao Tian was overjoyed—he didn't even care about the soul ring, declaring outright that he would avenge Huo Wu and beat that Gu Xuan black and blue.

After winning fifteen straight singles matches, Feng Xiao Tian finally had the chance to avenge Huo Wu, and he could even shine in front of her, letting her see his excellence, then fall for him, ultimately stepping on Gu Xuan, winning the beauty, and from then on achieving a lovely tale! Gu Xuan naturally had no idea of this, but he could roughly guess that Feng Xiao Tian had come for Huo Wu—after all, the title 'King of Sycophants' isn't just empty talk.

Haven't you heard the saying? You can miscall a name, but never a nickname.

On the Dou Hun Tai, Gu Xuan glanced at Feng Xiao Tian with an indifferent look; one had to admit, this guy is formidable in both strength and talent—in the original story, during the Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament he was only rank forty‑four and already twenty‑four years old, his cultivation talent hardly having anything to do with genius.

Yet by age twenty‑four he had already created his own soul skill, and it was exceptionally strong—able to contend with the Chaos Wind of the Haotian Hammer, though he ultimately lost.

But that's not even the most impressive part; five years later his cultivation became as formidable as that of the Seven Monsters of Shrek who had consumed immortal herbs, and by then he was already twenty‑nine years old at rank sixty‑one.

Isn't it said that cultivation slows down in the later stages? This kid has neither immortal herbs nor an External Plugin, yet his cultivation rises as smoothly as if he were using a cheat.

Gu Xuan sometimes wonders: if this kid had devoted himself to cultivation from the start instead of wasting time on creating his own soul skill, just how terrifying his achievements would be? In five years he went from rank forty‑four to sixty‑one; subtracting the two ranks gained from absorbing soul rings, he averages at least a three‑rank increase per year. And this isn't just a Grand Soul Master—he's already in the Soul Elder realm, and we're talking about the Soul Ancestor and Soul King levels.

Even such a growth rate would be considered fast in the ten‑ to twenty‑rank range; normally, gaining one rank per year after the Soul King level is already regarded as extraordinary talent, so by that standard Feng Xiao Tian's talent is indeed terrifying.

So in this match against Feng Xiao Tian, he also feels pressure, because this time period is three years earlier than Feng Xiao Tian's debut in the original story—there's no way this kid could already be able to use his own created soul skill, right?

Besides, he's already rank forty while I'm only thirty‑three; damn, as fellow geniuses Gu Xuan's physique and foundation are surely superior, but a seven‑rank gap in soul power isn't easily bridged.

"Both soul masters have one minute to release their martial souls!" Without further ado, the host's voice rang out.

Feng Xiao Tian had also been sizing up Gu Xuan, then he whispered, "Rank thirty‑three, martial soul: Bone Dragon—could you be a junior of the Bone Douluo predecessor from the Seven Treasure Glazed Sect?"

Gu Xuan gave a slight smile and replied, "Oh, you're sharp? I hid it so well, yet you still found it?"

Hearing that, Feng Xiao Tian felt a black line across his forehead—"Damn, is that what you call hiding well? You've been strutting around like a peacock this past month, your tail practically sticking up to the sky."

Of course Feng Xiao Tian wouldn't actually say that; he merely nodded thoughtfully: "No wonder you're so strong—with only rank thirty‑three soul power you managed to defeat Huo Wu, who is rank thirty‑seven."

After muttering that, Feng Xiao Tian stopped wasting words, since his Huo Wu was still watching the match! "Feng Xiao Tian, martial soul: Swift‑Wind Twin‑Headed Wolf, rank forty, strong‑attack Battle Soul Elder, please!"

As his words fell, Feng Xiao Tian let out a sharp wolf howl; on one side, blue wolf hairs sprouted one by one, another wolf head appeared on his left shoulder, three soul rings—two yellow and one purple—rose slowly from his body, his hands turned into a pair of sharp wolf claws, his aura exploded, and he was determined to win this battle.

Because Gu Xuan's previous record was terrifying, Feng Xiao Tian didn't let his guard down even though Gu Xuan was only rank thirty‑three.

Gu Xuan shook his head helplessly, stepped forward, and as three soul rings—two yellow and one purple—rose in succession from his body, his hands transformed into large silver‑white bone claws, and a thin layer of silver‑white gauze covered his skin, like a battle‑qi robe.

"Gu Xuan, martial soul: Bone Dragon, rank thirty‑three, strong‑attack Battle Soul Elder, please advise!"

As both released their martial souls and assumed attacking stances, the host's voice rang out again: "The match… begins!"

ps: Typos will be corrected first, then revised.

In the original story, Feng Xiao Tian wasted his cultivation time creating his own soul skill; now, with the setup of breaking through from rank thirty‑nine to forty, it's about the same—over the next three years of tournaments he'll gain one rank per year, spending the rest of his time developing his self‑created soul skill.

(End of chapter)