The eighteen people simultaneously released their martial souls and soul rings; apart from Qian Yuelong, they were all Soul Masters.

Despite being a high-level Soul Master, the audience erupted in commotion the moment two thousand-year Soul Rings appeared.

"The first ring in a millennium!"

"Are you blind? Both of her first and second place winners have thousand-year soul rings!"

"Is this an unbelievable newcomer? I've never seen one before. What's his background? This spirit ring configuration is something else entirely!"

"No wonder the old team of Black Chess would bring along a little kid. I was wondering what Guan Feng was up to. Turns out he was hiding a dark horse."

The noise even drowned out the self-introductions spoken simultaneously by the eighteen people on the battle stage.

Lei Xing, the captain of the Thunder Team, recovered from his shock and mentally increased the threat posed by Qian Yuelong. He then turned his head slightly and gave his teammates a wink.

The group that received the instructions nodded, their eyes subtly fixed on Qian Yuelong.

With an exceptional sensitivity to gazes and hostility, Qian Yuelong naturally noticed several ill-intentioned stares.

It was a look that seemed to be eagerly trying to take advantage of her.

Soaring with fighting spirit, even the host was intimidated by the combined momentum of both teams and retreated to the edge of the battle arena. He raised his hand and gave the order: "Team Battle Spirit Tournament, begin!"

The moment the last note faded, Lei Xing, a powerful offensive Soul Master, shouted in a deep voice. His first Soul Ring flashed, and a layer of scale-like substance grew on the surface of his bulging muscles, faintly shimmering with blue light, as if he were wearing armor.

Behind him, a beast spirit phantom with a deep blue body, a red jewel embedded in its forehead, and a narrow, pointed duck-like beak rapidly grew larger, enveloping Lei Xing. As Lei Xing's center of gravity shifted forward, his webbed feet pushed off the ground, transforming him into a blue arrow that shot out swiftly, rushing towards Guan Feng, the captain of the Black Chess Team, who had also activated his spirit possession.

"Bang bang—!"

A heavy, dull thud, like a punch landing squarely on the head, shook the area.

The Silver Horned Rhinoceros Martial Soul, its body shimmering with silver-gray light, clashed fiercely with Lei Xing's Thunder Duck Martial Soul, as if returning to ancient times, engaging in a contest with the most primal collision.

The dazzling soul skills herald the start of a massive battle.

As the only healing-type Soul Master with little offensive power, Yu Yaya was naturally under strict protection.

"Whoosh—!"

Shenhe's eyes transformed into cold, vertical pupils like those of a snake. His superhuman dynamic vision allowed him to spot two afterimages that swept towards their team's rear like the wind amidst the chaos of the battlefield. His usually stoic expression cracked instantly, and he coldly warned his teammates, "Agile attacker, sneak attack!"

"I saw it with all six eyes!"

Helan Shu snorted coldly, and her third and second soul rings activated simultaneously. Thread-like golden lightning formed a vortex from beneath her feet, radiating outwards from her center. Accompanying this were six fist-sized, crackling golden electric balls. Using the electric net as a slide, she precisely controlled the launched electric balls to avoid her teammates and land on the enemy.

However, although Helan Shu's spider silk spread quickly, it was still slower than the two agility-type Soul Masters who rushed up.

Just as Qian Yuelong used her spiritual vision to capture the movement of the two agility-type Soul Masters and was about to make a move, Mu Yi's light voice came from the side. In the field of vision where there were only two figures moving, another dark blue figure broke in.

"Second Soul Skill, Silver Fortification!"

The lidless cauldron, entirely black and engraved with animal patterns, resembled a rapidly spinning wooden top. Its volume suddenly expanded, and it floated above them, casting a layer of light, gauze-like silver light that enveloped Qian Yuelong, Yu Yaya, He Lanshu, and Mu Yi, who was defending in time.

Strangely, Helan Shu's electric net penetrated the silver light barrier without any rejection reaction, spreading unimpeded across the Soul Battle Arena, giving them a geographical advantage and making the ground instantly scorching hot.

Two sharp, resounding thuds echoed as the wind blades slashing horizontally struck the silver light barrier.

Mu Yi looked at the two agility-type Soul Masters who were searching for gaps in the electric grid to land and look for an opportunity to launch a second attack with a mocking smile, and said with a light sneer: "It's useless. Your soul power is 2 levels lower than mine. You can't break through my second soul skill barrier."

His second soul skill, Silver Solidity, can condense a barrier to protect his teammates while also increasing his own defense by 200%, making him as tough as a tortoise shell.

The two agility-type Soul Masters who failed in their assassination attempt looked grim, but they knew they had lost the initiative and prepared to retreat back to their teammates' circle.

However, they were not the only ones eyeing the assassination plot.

There's also Wen Xing, the agility-type Soul Master from the Black Chess Team!

Amidst the clanging and exploding sounds, during the minute-long stalemate between the two team captains, Wen Xing, fighting two opponents alone, used his third soul skill, Phantom Clone, to exchange several blows with the two agility-type soul masters from the Thunder team in the air.

Of course, no one benefits from this.

He Lanshu's attention was focused on preventing other Soul Masters from launching a sneak attack, while Yu Yaya kept a close eye on Shen He and Guan Feng, who were locked in a fierce battle with their opponents, ready to heal them at any moment.

Qian Yuelong, who should have been busy, had nothing to do and seemed superfluous.

A fake 10 to 8.

A true 10 against 7.

Is this the world of the strong?

Qian Yuelong, who was participating in a team battle for the first time, looked around and then around. Everyone had something to do, and some were even carrying two or three people.

Feeling she could no longer sit idly by and wait for her fate, Qian Yuelong lowered her voice and asked Mu Yi, who was standing in front of her, "Brother Mu, can our teammates pass through your barrier?"

Mu Yi replied without turning her head, "Sure. I control the barrier; I can choose who passes through and who is kept outside."

"That's good."

The weight lifted from her heart, and a hazy golden mist flashed in Qian Yuelong's pale purple eyes. The next second, her petite figure transformed into a blur, leaping out of the barrier and heading straight for Wen Xing, who was fighting two agility-type Soul Masters with three clones. She shouted:

"Brother Wen, get out of the way!"

The moment the words fell, layers of azure light flashed across the Floating World Golden Lotus in his palm, and several palm-sized azure-gold lotus petal phantoms flew out, rushing towards the two agility-type Soul Masters from all 360 degrees like a celestial maiden scattering flowers.

Sensing the danger as well, Wen Xing caught a glimpse of the cyan-gold phantom in his peripheral vision and immediately recalled his other clones, causing the rapidly approaching lotus petals to suddenly explode.

"Boom boom boom—!"

A series of explosions erupted in the air, like fireworks blooming in the night sky, causing the people who were locked in a stalemate on the ground to look up and see that the petite figure moved like a rabbit, appearing behind a Soul Master of Agility and Attack with incredible speed, and then sweeping out a kick that accurately struck the most vulnerable and sensitive part of the human body—the waist!

—A side note—

I fell asleep while staring at the comments [feeling guilty for a second]. I'll postpone the remaining bonus chapter for now, cough.

I'll be adding more chapters tomorrow, mainly because the battle chapters are too mentally taxing and I'm writing them too slowly, lol. But don't worry! I've been adding extra chapters for the past few days, at least five chapters a day!