NOVEL NEXT Chapter 214: Firefly's Proposal
The Body Sect was overwhelmingly strong—a Soul Emperor paired with several Soul Kings. Even when the three Elemental Academies tried to gang up on them, they were crushed with ease, losing several teammates in the process.
Now, none of the three Elemental Academies' teams were at full strength. Many members had been eliminated by the powerful Body-type soul masters during the fight.
Huo Wu helped the injured Huo Wushuang, whose left arm was broken, to sit down. She took out some recovery potions they'd collected to restore both soul power and heal wounds.
Thinking back to the battle, Huo Wu couldn't help but recall the golden-haired girl. That girl had claimed to be a Body Martial Soul user as well and even invited Huo Wu to join the Body Sect.
Huo Wu's martial soul was the Fire Shadow, a mutated version of the Shadow martial soul with a focus on fire attributes. Calling it a Body Martial Soul wasn't entirely wrong.
However, Huo Wu had never even heard of the Body Sect before and flatly refused the invitation. Predictably, her refusal was followed by a brutal beating.
If not for the selfless sacrifice of her teammates, everyone but Shui Bing'er from the three academies would have been eliminated. After all, only Shui Bing'er had reached the Soul King rank, and with the help of her Stigmata, she was barely able to stand against the Body Sect's strong fighters.
Of course, even she wasn't a match for that Body Sect Soul Emperor. In the end, Shui Bing'er and Xue Wu had to use their fusion skill to temporarily restrain the Soul Emperor, allowing everyone else to escape.
However, in their rushed retreat, they failed to recover their teammates' revival chips. That area was now covered by the poison zone, making retrieval impossible.
"This tournament is way too hard. There's even a Soul Emperor!" Shui Yue'er grumbled, leaning against Shui Bing'er.
She had high hopes for this tournament, believing Skywater Academy could shine thanks to Shui Bing'er's strength. But right out of the gate, they'd run into such formidable foes, shattering all her confidence.
Just then, a roaring fire shot up from the direction they'd just fled; waves of hot air swept their way.
"Someone's fighting?" Huo Wu and the others looked back, immediately thinking of the Body Sect team that had crushed them.
"I'll go check!" Feeling the intense energy fluctuations, Shui Yue'er guessed the Body Sect had run into a tough opponent. She quickly took out a soul tool telescope, climbed a tree, and looked toward the battle.
Soon, she could see—through the telescope—a Body Sect Soul Emperor fighting a silver-white mecha.
At the sight of the mecha, Shui Yue'er's pupils shrank in shock. It looked exactly like the one from that filth point which had almost taken her aunt away, only a different color.
Clearly, she was seeing the real deal this time.
"Guess who I just saw!" she exclaimed, jumping down excitedly.
…
Meanwhile, in the Body Sect's camp, Long Aotian was sent flying like a broken kite, smashing through several trees.
"So strong!" Long Aotian emerged from the dust, eyes blazing with fighting spirit as he stared at the silver-white mecha, ablaze with fire.
The opponent's strength, defense, and speed were all far above his own. As the Body Sect's young master, his physical power surpassed even top-tier Beast Martial Soul users of the same rank—he could even take on a Soul Sage. Yet before Firefly, he'd been completely overwhelmed in just a few moves, especially by that deadly fire.
"That's enough, Aotian, Firefly, stop it!" Weina hurried between them, looking exasperated.
Long Aotian always loved challenging the strong, so seeing Firefly ignited his battle spirit. Firefly didn't refuse, and their fierce fight had just erupted.
"Firefly, are you alone?" Weina turned to ask after calming Long Aotian.
She remembered Firefly normally stuck close to Robin and March 7th.
"We're not interested in the championship—just wandering around." As the flames faded and the mecha vanished, Firefly landed lightly.
She'd just happened to pass by and stopped to greet Weina, whom she barely considered a friend.
"Not interested in the championship?" A glint flashed in Weina's eyes.
She was sharp; from this short sentence, she sensed a lot. The prize for this first simulated universe tournament was unprecedented—ten-thousand-year soul bones and Stigmatas. She'd thought Haiyuan City must have rigged things for St. Freya Academy to win. But now it seemed they really intended to give away these top prizes.
Weina had interacted with Robin and knew how strong they were. With teammates just as powerful, Weina couldn't think of any team that could beat St. Freya Academy.
But since when did Haiyuan City get so rich? Even among the Body Sect or the empire's royal family, a ten-thousand-year soul bone was a priceless treasure, unthinkable as a competition prize.
Still, with Snow Moon Douluo and Lady Herta backing Haiyuan City, maybe it wasn't impossible.
"Firefly, want to team up with us?" Weina schemed. If she could bring Firefly and Long Aotian together, the Body Sect would basically have the championship in the bag.
Firefly fell silent. She'd already toured the island once, and not a single opponent had piqued her interest. It was too boring—she'd considered quitting the tournament outright.
But Weina's invitation sparked a new idea. The other teams were no match, but her own friends—Castorice, Jinhsi, Lu Jingming—were all worthy opponents. Why not split up and compete against each other?
With this thought, Firefly agreed to Weina's invitation and sent her plan to Lu Jingming and the others.
…
"Did I spoil Firefly?" Lu Jingming thought wryly on receiving the message. It was hard to imagine Firefly suggesting such a mischievous for fun competition.
But it was a good idea. Rather than muddle through as bystanders, why not compete with each other? Only equally powerful teammates could truly challenge one another.
"Firefly!"
On the beach, Jinhsi looked surprised at the message. If this had come from Lu Jingming, she wouldn't be shocked—he always liked to mess around. But for Firefly to suggest it was a real surprise.
The prize: the final winner could ask Lu Jingming to grant a reasonable wish. Jinhsi smiled knowingly—Firefly's intentions were obvious to everyone.
Even Firefly couldn't resist stirring up a fight as Lu Jingming's coming of age approached. Jinhsi felt her own fighting spirit ignite—first, she needed to pick a reliable team to support.
"This sounds fun. Robin, let's support Guyi and Qiu'er!" March 7th was instantly excited. She loved games, and Firefly's proposal was right up her alley.
Robin, however, saw deeper. She looked at March 7th seriously, "This time, we absolutely cannot lose!"
March 7th blinked innocently. Since when did Robin care so much about winning?
…
Elsewhere, Qian Renxue watched Castorice warily, with Hu Liena and the others not daring to breathe. Even if they didn't recognize Castorice, their soul master instincts screamed at them to stay away.
Qian Renxue, who did recognize her, was deeply cautious. Castorice's power was a huge threat. She recalled how even the formidable Clear Sky Douluo met his end after taking just one soul skill from the black Castorice—a move imbued with the power of death.
So, Qian Renxue was extremely vigilant. Against Castorice, only she might survive.
"Want to team up? I don't want the prize." Castorice's soft, sweet voice contrasted sharply with her deathly aura, completely catching them off guard.
Hu Liena and the others nearly stumbled. You blocked us just to talk about teaming up?
Qian Renxue, both helpless and curious, asked, "Why?"