Chapter 268: Tianmeng: Elder Cheng is the MVP, Snow Empress is a Lucky Freeloader!

"You're just going to sit back and watch them fight?" Zhang Lexuan glanced over with her beautiful eyes and covered her mouth, chuckling softly.

"What else? The tournament is the perfect opportunity to settle any grudges. If someone rubs you the wrong way, settle it in the arena. But don't underestimate Cain. Reaching the Soul Emperor level at her age means her martial soul must be top-tier," Xu Cheng said, shaking his head helplessly.

The Dark Gold Three-Headed Bat King — the final challenge Tang San faced in the Slaughter City ten thousand years ago.

But...

Xu Cheng coughed lightly. "If you want to compete, wait until the lower grades finish. Then sign up for the Mingde Hall format through Director Lin."

"Hmph!" Wang Qiu'er snorted coldly, arms crossed in front of her chest, leaning against her Golden Dragon Spear which radiated an intimidating, chilling glow.

"..." Gai Yin curled her lips, her pale purple eyes showing no intention of backing down.

Both were absolute prodigies — neither had reason to fear the other.

"Match begin!"

The referee announced enthusiastically.

On the arena...

A girl in a light blue dress appeared. Her delicate features resembled a porcelain doll, but her expression was strangely indifferent for someone her age.

"Give up. You're not my opponent."

Yutianlong gritted his teeth and glanced up at his father's expectant gaze, then down at the soul tool armor he wore.

"Xue Ling'er, you're strong — but I'm no weakling either!"

"Second Soul Skill — Thunderclap! Third Soul Skill — Wrath of Thunder!"

He roared.

All-out attack.

Countless tiny thunder snakes erupted from his body. The Wrath of Thunder skill enhanced his lightning power by 100% and soul power by 50%. With the amplification of his soul tool armor, the power of his second soul skill instantly tripled!

The thunder snakes thickened in a flash, crackling loudly as they surged toward her.

"Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon — worthy of the title as the top beast-type martial soul. That power is terrifying," Xu Cheng said with a smile.

"Heh, not at all. Just making a humble display in front of Your Highness," Yu Yanlong bowed slightly, though the smile at the corner of his lips betrayed his pride.

His son catching the eye of this prince made everything worthwhile.

He knew well that Xu Cheng's circle would form the pinnacle of the continent's future power — people like Juzi, Nana, Xiao Hongchen, and Meng Hongchen.

He didn't expect his son to join their ranks, but even being part of the lower layers of that circle would greatly benefit the Heavenly Dragon Sect.

Xu Cheng only smiled, saying nothing.

The Heavenly Dragon Sect had been one of the earliest to pledge allegiance. Now, in the Royal Soul Tool Corps and among various beast-type Soul Tool divisions, their disciples were everywhere. Even the Royal Soul Tool Academy had accepted many of their students over the years.

Naturally, Xu Cheng wouldn't shortchange such an ally.

"But winning will be hard," Gai Yin commented thoughtfully.

"That girl... even I can't see through her."

"You feel it too?" Yu Yanlong's eyes showed a hint of surprise.

Xu Cheng was briefly stunned.

By all logic, no matter how powerful a soul beast might be, once it took human form and hadn't yet reached the Soul Sage level, it should still be detectable by a Title Douluo. Yet Snow Empress... wasn't being seen through — and under the noses of two Super Douluo at that.

He glanced over at Jing Hongchen, who also looked slightly bewildered.

"I've only heard you mention Xue Ling'er before — this is my first time seeing her in person. But yes, I can't sense anything strange. Are you sure she's a soul beast? Could there be a mistake?" Jing Hongchen said through voice transmission.

Xu Cheng: "..."

A mistake? Could she have been swapped?

"No way."

Inside his spiritual sea, Tianmeng scratched his head. "That's definitely the Snow Empress, no doubt about it. A swap like that? Only a god could pull that off."

"Agreed. I can sense her spiritual origin — she's the Snow Girl. There's no mistake," Ice Empress also confirmed.

The very next second—

Before anyone could react,

Xue Ling'er calmly extended a slender finger and lightly tapped the countless thick lightning bolts coming toward her.

It was as if the world froze.

Frost spread out from beneath the girl's feet, instantly freezing the entire stage, including the grim-faced Yutianlong and the incoming thunderbolts. Beneath the ice, the thunder dragons shimmered with blue arcs of electricity, looking as though time had stopped — frozen in vivid detail.

The arena fell into stunned silence.

Everyone was dumbfounded, staring at Xue Ling'er.

The previous rounds had already shown her crushing her opponents — people even viewed her as a top contender for the second-grade championship. But just like that, she instantly took out Yutianlong, one of the few real threats to her title.

Both were Soul Elders... but how could she be this overpowered?!

"I get it now!!!"

Electrolux suddenly cried out in excitement.

In the spiritual sea, both beasts turned to look, eyes full of curiosity.

"This is the power of Authority!" Electrolux said in awe. "I can't be wrong. When Snow Empress took human form earlier, because of Ah Cheng's involvement, she acquired a trace of divinity. And now, over time, that divinity is slowly becoming real. Snow Empress is the embodiment of ice and snow, a spirit born of heaven and earth, the purest existence. Somehow, through fate and coincidence, she's grasped a fragment of Authority!"

"In this world, only gods can wield Authority. But she's now glimpsed that threshold. If she doesn't become a god in the future, that'd be a bigger surprise."

"She got such a divine opportunity?" Ice Empress was overjoyed for her friend.

"No wonder even Super Douluo can't detect her…" Tianmeng also sighed. "People say I have crazy luck, but dammit, Snow Empress is the real freeloader! She just wanted a normal transformation, got caught by Elder Cheng, brought back, then Ah Cheng boosted her — and boom, now she's basically on a godhood track."

"Yeah, exactly! Hahaha! She just wanted to become human, but got force-fed a divine spark," Ice Empress said, clearly in a great mood.

"As expected... this girl's background is truly mysterious," Yu Yanlong said with a smile, showing no sign of concern even though his son had just been turned into an ice sculpture.

Clearly, as a Super Douluo, he could tell that the girl had held back.

"You'll know who she really is soon," Xu Cheng said with a faint smile.

At this point, hiding it was meaningless.

She now wielded the power of Authority, and could recover half her original strength.

Even Xuanzi might tremble if he saw her.

"Soon?" The various sect leaders looked puzzled. The next event was the big battle — could this girl's identity somehow be tied to the original continent?

But not a single one of them suspected she might be a soul beast...

"The matches for Grades 1 through 6 have concluded!"

As the grade director, Lin Jiayi was naturally responsible for announcing the results. He stood on stage with a soul tool megaphone.

"Top five for Grade One…"

"Top five for Grade Two: First — Xue Ling'er, 15 points. Second — Yu tianlong, 13 points. Third — Xu Shi, 12.4 points. Fourth — Nan Qiuqiu. Fifth — Huyan Nian…"

"Grade Three…"

"…"

Points represented the number of matches won.

(End of Chapter)