: Soul Reaver Tour; Notting City, Here I Come!

Three years later,

Heaven Dou City, Heaven Dou Grand Battle Arena.

"Victory! Ouyang Ling, victory!"

Amidst the deafening roar of the surrounding audience, Ouyang Ling once again defeated his opponent in a one-on-one soul battle. Only after casting his gaze towards a VIP box at the highest point did he leisurely walk off the stage.

Meanwhile, in that VIP box...

"This kid... is naughty..." Qian Renxue, having shed her disguise, was crossing her long legs, picking up a wine glass and taking a sip, in a very pleasant mood.

When she learned that Ouyang Ling had a one-on-one Soul Battle today, she deliberately made time just to see his performance. Ouyang Ling, who has never lost a match, has long been a popular contender in the Grand Soul Battle Arena.

"Elder Shelong, when will your fate be?"

She Long, who was standing to the side, replied, "Young Master, Young Master Ouyang's one-on-one soul battle has ended today."

A hint of regret flashed in Qian Renxue's eyes. "It seems we'll have to come back in a few days. The first phase of the Royal Fighting Team's schedule isn't over yet, is it?"

"Young Master."

At this moment, She Long spoke up again. "For a long time to come, the entire Royal Fighting Team will not participate in Soul Battles at the Heavenly Fighting Arena."

Qian Renxue frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"

"Young Master Ouyang has just broken through."

Her pupils contracted slightly, and joy was revealed in her eyes.

A breakthrough? That would mean...

"I just broke through level 40."

As soon as he returned to the lounge, Ouyang Ling took the juice Ye Lingling handed him, gulped it down, and then announced the news to everyone in the Royal Fighting Team.

"A breakthrough?!"

The news caused a momentary pause, and everyone stared blankly at Ouyang Ling. Even those who knew what was going on couldn't help but be shocked.

Until a voice broke the silence,

"Then I don't have to be a substitute anymore!"

At this moment, Yu Feng was overjoyed!

Heavens above! Earth below!

Three whole years!

He has only appeared in team battles a handful of times!

Today, the nightmare is finally over!

Under everyone's watchful eyes, he suddenly leaped up from the sofa. But somehow, perhaps due to excessive excitement, he lost his balance and stumbled...

"Eh eh eh..."

With a gasp from Yu Feng himself, he then knelt on the ground with a "thump".

Such a dramatic scene prompted someone to burst out laughing, and the "pfft" became the catalyst, making everyone else laugh as well.

"Hahaha—" Among the group, Oslo laughed the most wildly, without restraint whatsoever.

This time, however, Yu Feng lowered his head and didn't refute. Because he felt like he was dead... the society was dead!

"Oh dear, there's no need for such a grand gesture."

Ouyang Ling, whose grin almost reached his ears, quickly stepped forward, pulled Yu Feng up, and patted him on the shoulder as if to say, "Look at you, why did you have to do that?"

Yu Feng's eyes held a resentful look: "..."

"Cough cough—"

Being stared at like that by a grown man made Ouyang Ling feel uneasy. After clearing his throat twice, he said, "Since you want to go, then it's your turn. Perfect timing, I'm planning to go to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt for spirit rings. Once I return, I'll be a Spirit Master, so it won't be appropriate for me to fight in team battles with you guys anymore."

"so…"

"Slap slap—"

Two light taps landed in quick succession. Ouyang Ling feigned seriousness and said, "I'm entrusting the team battle mission of maintaining the Royal Fighting Team's undefeated record to you."

Upon hearing this, Yu Feng instantly got into character. He gripped Ouyang Ling's hand tightly, "Godfather, I will not fail you!"

Ouyang Ling sighed helplessly, "I don't want to be a father..."

However, having received the promise, Yu Feng paid no heed to it. The moment he turned his head, he opened his mouth and "bite".

"Leopard! What are you laughing at!"

Oslo shrugged, giving him a sidelong glance: "It's not just me laughing, look, everyone's laughing. Even the boss and the big sister are laughing."

Yu, the bully who preys on the weak and fears the strong:

"Nonsense! I only heard your laughter!"

Then, yelling and baring its teeth and claws, it pounced on him!

"You're talking nonsense!"

Not to be outdone, Oslo immediately retaliated.

One had its nose pierced, the other was about to unleash a thousand-year-old curse... They rolled around in a heap amidst each other's cries of pain and wails.

"Alright, go away and stop fooling around." Yu Tianheng couldn't stand it anymore and kicked the two idiots aside.

He then looked at Ouyang Ling, who was picking and choosing on the table, and said with a sigh, "I really don't know how you cultivated? You're only 12 years old and you've already broken through to level 40. It's true what they say, comparisons are odious."

"Don't be jealous."

Ouyang Ling casually peeled open a peanut, tossed it into his mouth, then propped his arms up on the sofa and joked, "I'm going to be a legend from now on. Got it?"

Yu Tianheng was speechless.

"You call yourself a brother? You're younger than all of us."

Ouyang Ling said smugly, "But I'm stronger."

"You really have gone too far with that statement."

Dugu Yan leaned against Yu Tianheng and asked, "Where do you plan to hunt for your fourth spirit ring? If you're going to Sunset Forest, I'll tell Grandpa; he knows it well."

"No, I don't plan to go to Sunset Forest." Ouyang Ling shook his head, dissatisfied with this option.

"The soul beast I want isn't there."

"Shall we go to the Star Dou Great Forest then?"

"Yes, I plan to tell Brother Xue."

As she spoke, Ouyang Ling estimated the travel time, "I should be back in about half a month at most."

"Actually, you don't need to go alone."

At this moment, the door to the lounge opened, and Qin Ming walked in. Upon seeing him, Ouyang Ling and the other eight people all bowed to him.

And those were exactly what he said.

"Teacher Qin, are you planning to go too?"

Yu Feng made a joke with a grin, but Qin Ming, who had just entered, immediately admitted it.

"That's right, I'll go too." But his gaze swept over everyone, "but it's not just me going, every one of you has to leave Heaven Dou City."

Ouyang Ling's heart skipped a beat, and she already had a guess: "Is it time to move on to the next stage of training?"

"That's right."

Qin Ming gave Ouyang Ling an affirming look, "It seems like there are still three years until the next All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament, but in reality, there's only one year. Because in the last two years, you need to conserve your strength and make a final push in your soul power cultivation. So, in the remaining year, you will leave Heaven Dou City and travel to various cities to compete in soul battles."

At this point, Qin Ming couldn't help but laugh and said, "Actually, according to the original plan, your Soul Tournament was supposed to start in about seven or eight months. But you did very well in the first phase, and you have no defeats in the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena, so the academy wants to bring forward the second phase."

"This way, you'll be exposed to a wider variety of tactics and more ruthless opponents, making you better prepared for the upcoming Soul Master Tournament. It will also save you more time to prepare for the tournament. Coincidentally, one of the cities on the planned Soul Tournament route is located near the Star Dou Great Forest."

After saying that, he looked at Ouyang Ling.

"Ouyang, what do you think?"

"No problem," Ouyang Ling readily agreed.

Anyway, it won't make a difference if it takes a little more time.

Moreover, the next spirit ring he plans to obtain comes from a ten-thousand-year-old spirit beast, which can be considered a dragon species. Without absolute certainty, he wouldn't dare to act rashly, so having more time to prepare is always a good thing.

"Okay, it's decided then."

As he spoke, Qin Ming walked to the sofa behind the table and sat down. A flash of light appeared in his hand, and he spread a piece of cloth on the table. "Take a look, everyone. This is the route for this trip."

Upon hearing this, the members of the Royal Fighting Team quickly gathered around and looked at the route map. Ouyang Ling, standing closest to the center, scanned the map and noticed that the cities marked with red dots were the locations of the major battle arenas, as well as some smaller towns they passed through. For example… Notting City!

Nottingham.

Ouyang Ling chewed on the name of the city.

Tang San, Xiao Wu, and that so-called master…

Haha, maybe we should meet sooner rather than later.

interesting!

In that case…

……

"Do you need patrolling battle spirits?"

"That's right."

Ouyang Ling and Qian Renxue sat together, exchanging questions and answers. It turned out that earlier that evening, when Ouyang Ling returned to the mansion, he found that Qian Renxue had not only returned but had also personally cooked for him.

"How's the food? Is it to your liking?"

Qian Renxue leaned on the table, her face full of anticipation.

Ouyang Ling nodded repeatedly, "It suits my taste, it's delicious!"

Then he immediately used his chopsticks to shovel two mouthfuls into his mouth.

To be honest, Qian Renxue's cooking skills are at best edible and won't kill you, but they have nothing to do with "delicious".

But with the thought that "she won't cook much in the future" and "she's finally cooking for herself once in a while," Ouyang Ling chose to go against her conscience.

"Really? Let me try it."

Before Ouyang Ling could stop her, Qian Renxue had already picked up a chopstick and put it in her mouth.

The next second, her expression changed drastically.

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey—what is this thing!?"

Even though she made it herself, she gave the food a disgusted look and stopped Ouyang Ling, saying, "Alright, if it tastes bad, don't eat it."

"And why didn't you say it was so awful?"

"Actually, it's still..."

Ouyang Ling was about to say "not bad," but then immediately remembered something and quickly changed her words, "Although the taste is indeed not good, it's edible. It's your first time cooking, so it's already very impressive that you managed to do it."

Qian Renxue stared into his eyes, and after a long while, she smiled:

"lie."

Despite saying that, what Ouyang Ling said clearly put her in a very good mood.

"Alright, let's get back to business."

After the joke, Qian Renxue put on a serious face.

"You just said you're going on a Soul Tournament. Should we have Elder Thornblood or Elder Shelong accompany you? After all, you'll need to hunt for your fourth Soul Ring once you get to the Star Dou Great Forest. That way, I can feel more at ease."

"I think I'll pass."

After thinking about it, Ouyang Ling chose to refuse.

He feared that if they passed through Notting City, either the Title Douluo Ci Xue or She Long would discover Xiao Wu's identity and be discovered by Tang Hao. In that case, relying on just one Title Douluo wouldn't be enough.

As for the claim that Tang Hao entrusted Tang San to Yu Xiaogang and then disappeared without a trace…

Just listen to those kinds of words and forget about them!

Don't believe it!

Therefore, to deal with this reasonably, we must lure them into a trap.

However, Qian Renxue frowned slightly upon hearing this reply.

"What about Soul Hunter? Are we relying on Qin Ming?"

"Don't forget, what you're hunting isn't just a four or five thousand year old soul beast, but a genuine ten-thousand-year-old soul beast, and a sub-dragon at that."

When she said the last sentence, Qian Renxue's tone clearly showed dissatisfaction. Obviously, she did not agree with the risky decision to absorb ten thousand years' worth of energy at the fourth ring.

But Ouyang Ling, just like last time, had her test him. Including actual combat, the final result was clear. Even when Ouyang Ling was level 39, his physical strength was sufficient to withstand equal pressure.

As for the soul shock, Ouyang Ling chose to conceal it.

Otherwise, Qian Renxue would absolutely disagree.

Pretending not to understand her older sister's dissatisfaction, Ouyang Ling thought for a moment. It was indeed inappropriate for Qin Ming to lead the soul hunt. Although he had already broken through to the Soul Emperor realm, the Star Dou Great Forest was fraught with danger, and moreover, hunting ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts would require venturing deep into the mixed zone…

How about this?

In the end, Ouyang Ling came up with an idea and told Qian Renxue about their route for the Soul Tournament.

"...that way, when we arrive in Soto City, either Bloodthirst or Grandpa Shelong will be able to estimate the time of our arrival."

That's feasible.

So Qian Renxue nodded, "Okay."

After the matter was settled, Qian Renxue ordered her servants to remove the table and instructed the chef to prepare it.

During this time, Qian Renxue also took the opportunity to chat with Ouyang Ling about the Royal Chamber of Commerce so far.

Regarding this matter, it was Ouyang Ling who suggested that Qian Renxue do it after Ning Fengzhi became Grand Tutor.

To this day, the Royal Chamber of Commerce, established in the name of the Crown Prince, has already brought many nobles that Qian Renxue wanted to win over onto its fold, and has received "active" support from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.

As for the markets to seize, they are naturally those merchants with bad reputations, or nobles who oppose Qian Renxue.

So in just three short years, the newly established Royal Chamber of Commerce has already become very successful.

Just as Ouyang Ling and Qian Renxue finished discussing the matter, the chef brought out the dishes.

A moment later, a sigh rang out:

"You need someone specifically to cook!"

As dinner ended, Qian Renxue donned Xue Qinghe's disguise. Upon returning to the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, she issued an order: "Elder Ci Xue, have the Spirit Hall keep a close eye on the Royal Fighting Team along the way."

"Yes, young master."