At the dormitory building, Shangguan Qing glanced around, ensuring no one was nearby, before turning and heading out of the academy.
As her figure disappeared, a translucent shadow slowly emerged from the nearby wall.
In his room, Lin Xiao, sitting on his bed, suddenly opened his eyes, deep in thought.
Shangguan Qing's movements hadn't escaped him. Though she had mentioned meeting again later, her actions suggested that the Common Alliance placed considerable importance on him.
And why wouldn't they? Due to the Spirit Ascension Ceremony, the Holy Spirit Sect had operated in Mingdu's underground market for so long, yet the Common Alliance knew little about them beyond their identity as evil soul masters. Their usual methods of dealing with others had proven ineffective, so Shangguan Wei'er was naturally anxious.
Now that they had finally found Lin Xiao, a Holy Spirit Sect disciple who seemed more open, they would naturally pay close attention to him.
For Lin Xiao, this was also a good opportunity. Because of his influence, the Common Alliance's business was far broader than he remembered. With Nightmare Douluo's backing, he could interact with them confidently.
Moreover, trading information meant he could gain much of what he wanted without sacrificing anything significant—a deal that was clearly in his favor.
However, Shangguan Qing's mention of another matter caught his attention. Several evil soul master strongholds had been destroyed. It sounded like something the Shrek Inspection Team might do. Had they come to the Sun Moon Empire?
Oh well.
Unable to reach a conclusion, Lin Xiao let it go. Whoever was responsible, and whether they would provoke the Holy Spirit Sect, it didn't matter much to him at the academy.
Instead of dwelling on that, he'd rather think about how to approach Nana.
Since he had taken on this task from Nightmare Douluo, he needed to act. But he had to contact her without letting others suspect his ulterior motives, which required careful planning.
"Go, Sister Nana!"
The next morning, the soul tool testing area of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Tool Academy was as lively as ever. On the arena, combat control soul engineers were engaged in practical battles. Near one of the stages, a group of new students gathered, cheering in unison.
As usual, Lin Xiao arrived at the testing area but didn't immediately test soul tools. Instead, he stood by the arena, watching the matches between students.
Many other students were doing the same—some observing to improve their skills, others just there for the spectacle.
Some still remembered Lin Xiao's battle with Ji Juechen and, recognizing him, approached excitedly to talk.
Lin Xiao glanced at the arena, catching sight of Nana as her first and second soul rings lit up in succession. Her speed surged, and her figure split into three, attacking her opponent from three directions.
Her opponent couldn't even track her movements before being struck by her dagger, forcing them to concede and leap off the stage.
"Sister Nana! Sister Nana!"
A wave of cheers erupted from the group of new students.
"Want to spar? I'm game," a voice called from behind.
Lin Xiao turned to see Ji Juechen approaching alongside Jing Ziyan.
"No, I'm just out of ideas for improving my soul tools, so I came to watch," Lin Xiao said, waving off the offer.
Ji Juechen took a few more steps forward, and the nearby students quickly stepped aside, avoiding his gaze as if afraid he'd drag them onto the arena.
"That junior seems to be called Nana, right? She's only been here a few days and already beat two second-year students. She's quite famous among the freshmen," Jing Ziyan said, following Lin Xiao's gaze to the arena. "Not sure what her martial soul is, though. Seems related to shadows or something."
Lin Xiao's eyes narrowed slightly. Unless someone had experience with soul-related entities, it was indeed hard to identify Nana's martial soul just from watching her fight.
With only two soul skills now, it would be easier to discern her abilities once she gained more ghost-related powers.
"Not bad," Ji Juechen said, nodding slightly with just two words, unclear who he was evaluating. He nodded at Lin Xiao and headed toward another arena.
"Sorry, he's always like this. He's got a match with someone else today," Jing Ziyan said apologetically, following Ji Juechen.
"No worries, I get him," Lin Xiao said with a smile, shaking his head as he watched Ji Juechen clear a path through the crowd.
Since their last spar, followed by Ji Juechen's deep meditation, his sword intent had lost its former sharpness, like a blade sheathed in its scabbard. But the more subdued he seemed, the more others feared him, and his reputation had only grown louder recently.
"Senior Lin, you're Senior Lin, right?"
The student Nana had just defeated noticed the commotion and pushed through the crowd to approach.
"You know me?" Lin Xiao asked.
The student scratched his head. "Not really, but I heard from other seniors that you defeated… Senior Ji in one move on the arena."
His voice lowered when mentioning Ji Juechen, as if unsure of the impression Ji Juechen left on him.
"It was just luck. One match doesn't prove anything," Lin Xiao said.
"Then, Senior Lin, can you tell me where I went wrong? I couldn't even figure out her martial soul."
Lin Xiao glanced at the arena, noticing that Ji Juechen's presence had drawn more attention, and even Nana on the stage was looking his way.
"You focused too much on her martial soul. When fighting an opponent, you don't always need to fully understand their martial soul. It's enough to roughly determine its type," Lin Xiao said gently, not refusing the question. "Clearly, against an agility-attack soul master, when you can't predict her attack direction, the priority is to protect yourself, not to lose your composure."
Hearing Lin Xiao's words, the student scratched his head again, a bit embarrassed.
Lin Xiao didn't mind. They were just kids, after all, with limited combat experience. It was natural to get nervous in the arena and make mistakes.
"For agility-attack soul masters, it's not just about pursuing speed," Lin Xiao continued, looking up at the arena. "In team battles, their role is to strike at the opponent's weak defenses and control the enemy. But to do that, besides speed, they need a certain level of attack power."
"Of course, combat control soul engineers can use soul tools to compensate for the lack of attack power in agility-attack soul masters, but attack accuracy depends on the soul master's own practice."
Lin Xiao smiled as he looked at Nana, who seemed deep in thought on the arena.
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