Dai Huabin lowered his head, shoulders slumped, and stepped down from the stage in defeat. Jiang Qingtong withdrew her martial soul and returned to Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao's side.
Xiao Xiao huffed, "I was all ready to help you with crowd control, but you just went and finished off everyone by yourself. You're incredible!"
Wang Dong crossed his arms and gave Jiang Qingtong a good once-over. "Twin martial souls? So you're one of us, huh? And you hid it so well! We never noticed. Xiao Xiao, she totally fooled us—we've gotta make her treat us to dinner."
Jiang Qingtong laughed and nodded. "Sure, sure. My treat."
Xiao Xiao grinned and added, "Qingtong, could I ask you about your training methods for twin martial souls? You've managed to attach such high-grade soul rings to both of them—and your third ring is even ten-thousand-year level! You must have a unique cultivation method, right?"
Jiang Qingtong smirked. "I'm just a genius. Can't be taught."
"Show-off!" Wang Dong gave her a playful eye-roll and turned to Xiao Xiao. "Still, she's not wrong. Not every training method works for everyone. We can't just go slapping on ten-thousand-year soul rings at our level. If our bodies can't handle it, we'll explode. Not worth it."
He was reminding Xiao Xiao—cultivating twin martial souls isn't something to rush.
Xiao Xiao understood the message and nodded. "Got it."
Nearby, Elder Zhuang walked over and helped the trio recover their soul power. He chuckled, "Little missy, you gave us all quite the surprise! Twin martial souls—and one of them is the Evil Fire Phoenix! Our academy's picked up a real treasure this time!"
Jiang Qingtong tilted her head and teased, "Aren't you the least bit curious why my second martial soul is the same as Senior Sister Xiaotao's?"
Zhuang waved her off with a grin. "What's the use of curiosity for an old man like me? You kids are the ones who get all excited. My job's just to keep your bodies healthy."
As expected of a healing-system Super Douluo—calm, grounded, and committed to self-care.
After revealing her Evil Fire Phoenix martial soul, Jiang Qingtong made no effort to hide it in the subsequent matches.
Though a few of the challengers were also Soul Elders with three rings, none of them formed as formidable a team as Dai Huabin's trio—with all three at Soul Elder level, and supported by the top-tier Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.
As a result, the rest of the matches were far less stressful for the trio.
The month-and-a-half-long freshman arena trial concluded with a complete and overwhelming victory by the defending trio—Jiang Qingtong, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao.
After the final battle, Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao threw their arms around each other and cheered with joy. Then they dragged Jiang Qingtong into their group hug, celebrating together atop the arena stage.
"Tonight, we feast!" Xiao Xiao proposed.
"When haven't we eaten well these past weeks?" Jiang Qingtong laughed.
Ever since they began defending the arena, the academy had been giving them the best meals to ensure they stayed in top condition.
"That's not what Xiao Xiao meant," Wang Dong clarified. "She means let's ditch the cafeteria and go out to indulge—eat whatever we want!"
Xiao Xiao nodded eagerly. "Exactly! The class monitor gets it!"
"Sure, why not?" Jiang Qingtong agreed easily.
Just then, Yan Shaozhe and Cai Mei'er descended from the sky and landed on the stage. Yan Shaozhe looked at Jiang Qingtong with a smile. "You can celebrate later. There's something more important first."
Their sudden appearance caused a ripple of surprise through the crowd. Even Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao stiffened.
These two were the top brass of the Martial Soul Department!
Yes, Elder Zhuang was a Super Douluo too, but he was always so gentle that people tended to forget. Yan Shaozhe and Cai Mei'er, though, radiated authority.
"Something more important?" Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao exchanged nervous glances.
Yan Shaozhe turned toward the audience and made an official announcement: the freshman trials were now concluded—and he formally named Jiang Qingtong, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao as Core Disciples of the Martial Soul Department, granting them access to the inner courtyard.
"The inner courtyard!"
Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao's eyes widened in pure delight.
The inner courtyard!
Though this didn't mean they were officially inner courtyard disciples yet, simply being allowed access was already a monumental opportunity. For geniuses like them, it meant exposure to greater cultivation resources and techniques—a huge advantage.
As for Jiang Qingtong? She was indifferent to the reward.
She had already been entering the inner courtyard freely, and thanks to her transmigrated talents, her cultivation had always gone smoothly. She'd never once encountered a bottleneck.
In fact, Jiang Qingtong occasionally wondered if bottlenecks were even real for her. Would she simply break through all the way to level 100 and ascend to godhood directly? Or would she be stopped at 99 by the rules of the Divine Realm?
But that was a question for another day. For now, she couldn't possibly explore that mystery.
—
After the arena trial ended, Yan Shaozhe and Cai Mei'er didn't immediately approach Jiang Qingtong about her Evil Fire Phoenix martial soul. Instead, they waited until she had celebrated and rested with Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao.
Once the new students began leaving for their vacation, they finally brought it up—with Ma Xiaotao present.
"Qingtong," Ma Xiaotao said, looking straight at her, "can I see your martial soul?"
Jiang Qingtong didn't refuse. She summoned her Evil Fire Phoenix martial soul in front of Ma Xiaotao.
As the familiar heat surged into the air, Ma Xiaotao nodded, her expression confirming what she felt. "There's no mistake. This really is the Evil Fire Phoenix. Qingtong, are you really from the Sun Moon Empire?"
Jiang Qingtong answered plainly, "Yes, I'm from the Sun Moon Empire. Why?"
"That's just… hard to believe," Ma Xiaotao replied. "The Evil Fire Phoenix has been in my family for generations. I'm sure our bloodline never had ties to the Sun Moon Empire, but your martial soul is undeniably the real thing…"
"Well, that's not unusual," Jiang Qingtong said with a shrug. "Martial soul mutations are unpredictable, after all."
She grinned. "Besides, Senior Sister Xiaotao's ancestor—the Phoenix Douluo Ma Hongjun—didn't he mutate from a plain chicken?"
The story of Ma Hongjun's original martial soul being a "grass chicken" had long become folklore—no one knew if it was actually true.
But Yan Shaozhe chuckled and nodded. "She has a point. Even our Martial Soul Department still doesn't fully understand how martial souls mutate. It's not impossible for the same soul to appear at different times and places from completely unrelated people."
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