My Arts Evolve When Perfected

But even knowing the immense disparity, Zhu Weiyi was helpless. To put it bluntly, he was still a slave, with no way to interfere and no power to protect Jiang Qiu. In fact, he was the one who needed protection.

He felt a sense of powerlessness, a complete inability to do anything. In the end, he could only hope Jiang Qiu would deliver some kind of surprise. He prayed that Soul from the Celestial Star Arena would fight conservatively and not inflict too much damage on Jiang Qiu.

...

Jiang Qiu had no idea what was happening with Zhu Weiyi. He was currently waiting for the challenge to begin, and in truth, he wasn't particularly worried about his opponent's strength.

He had already learned that his opponent was Soul, a member of the Soul Race, a race renowned for its Soul Strength.

This meant that the Soul Race was exceptionally powerful when it came to soul-based abilities. However, Jiang Qiu possessed the Dragon Spirit Secret Realm Space, giving him a natural advantage against soul-based experts.

He had confirmed this personally when Celestial Star had sought him out and tried to probe his body.

Even back then, he had sensed that he could absorb the Harmonization Realm expert's soul into his Dragon Spirit Secret Realm Space.

'If I were to do that, it would be my home turf. Their soul would be mine for the taking.'

He was very clear about the power of the Dragon Spirit Secret Realm Space. After all, the Netherworld Monarch, a Harmonization Realm expert, had brought many other masters of the same Realm into the Dragon Spirit Secret Realm Space, and all of them had been dealt with by him and Snow.

Inside the Dragon Spirit Secret Realm Space, he was the absolute King. He couldn't possibly lose to any Soul Body.

The Dragon Spirit Secret Realm Space was, after all, inherited from a True Dragon. How could beings who had yet to achieve Transcendence possibly resist the pressure of a True Dragon that emanated from within it?

Even though Snow was still gestating, he could still mobilize a significant portion of its power. Dealing with a Fusion Realm enemy shouldn't be an issue; of that, he was certain.

Therefore, he wasn't terribly concerned about losing to the Fusion Realm expert, Soul, on a spiritual level.

In the time before the challenge, he began to condition himself, doing everything possible to hasten the condensation of Snow's body.

She was, after all, a part of his strength. If the two of them could fuse once more, he would be able to break through to a new Realm: the Fusion Realm.

If he could reach the Fusion Realm, his own power would become formidable. He would be able to traverse the Great Realms with ease and reach the Nine Venerable Great Realm more quickly.

He had already wasted a great deal of time here in the Desolate Realm. If he wanted to catch up to Venerable Zuo Xuan's Teleportation Ship from the Nine Venerable Great Realm, he would need to get much faster.

Besides, he needed enough power to defeat Venerable Zuo Xuan, and there was still a considerable gap between them.

His most urgent task was to increase his strength quickly. The only path to that right now was to wait for Snow's body to form, fuse with her, and then step into the Fusion Realm.

He wasn't sure what changes would occur after he entered the Fusion Realm, but he could sense that it would be no ordinary breakthrough. After all, he was walking the path of two great Daos.

The miracle that could be born from the fusion of two great Daos was likely immeasurable. With just one Dao, he was already this powerful; with two, his personal strength would more than double.

Thus, Jiang Qiu eagerly awaited the arrival of that day, and so he waited as time passed.

「In the blink of an eye, the day of the challenge arrived.」

He appeared as scheduled at the Celestial Star Arena's largest room: Arena 1.

Challenges rarely took place here, but the space was vast, as if one had entered a small world. In other words, it was a magical Grotto Heaven Blessed Land.

The dimensions of the space within were impossible to gauge, and its detection methods were brilliant. The moment Jiang Qiu stepped inside, he could feel the space secretly probing his Realm.

'But it's still unable to see through me.'

His opponent, Soul, stood in the distance. He seemed to have merged with spacetime itself, standing there quietly—man-like, yet not a man. His form was indistinct, his body drifting with the wind and creating strange ripples in the air.

This was a unique feature of the Soul Race. They lacked a fixed form, and their faces shifted according to the observer's imagination, making it incredibly difficult to identify individuals by their appearance.

Thus, Soul was a being without a fixed form.

The two of them had just stepped into Arena 1 and hadn't yet exchanged a word, but the live stream's comment barrage was already scrolling at a frantic pace.

Soon, the viewer count reached a terrifying number. Tens of millions of spectators poured in, with a steady stream of new viewers constantly arriving.

After a week-long promotional campaign by the Celestial Star Arena, this was a battle everyone had been eagerly anticipating. It had even attracted members from other arenas, who had specially registered here just to watch this challenge.

Everyone was immensely excited for the battle between Jiang Qiu and Soul. One was a first-level Spirit Body Realm young genius with a 49-fight winning streak. The other was a peerless prodigy with over 40 consecutive wins, as well as a monstrous talent of the Soul Race at the Peak of Fusion Realm.

Both could be called geniuses. Moreover, one was an absolute expert in soul-based combat; no one in the arena currently dared to challenge him, unless a master at the Harmonization Realm descended. However, a Harmonization Realm expert fighting in the arena was practically unheard of. They wouldn't stoop to fighting for such paltry fame; they had their pride.

So, the challenge now fell to Jiang Qiu, the peerless genius with 49 consecutive wins.

Both were on winning streaks, and both possessed the ability to instantly defeat their opponents. Some said Jiang Qiu could effortlessly one-shot experts at the Peak of Dao Entry Realm and might even be able to clash with a Fusion Realm powerhouse.

Now was the time to witness his true strength. Everyone was eagerly looking forward to this fight.

"Holy shit, holy shit! The day is finally here! Jiang Qiu, you have to destroy Soul! Get that 50-win streak!"

"What nonsense are you spouting? You think he can beat Soul?"

"There's an insurmountable chasm between the Spirit Body Realm and the Fusion Realm. How could he possibly defeat Soul?"

"Just shut up and watch the fight."

"Screw you! You forget Jiang Qiu got here on a winning streak too, one-shotting all his opponents. Given that, it's not impossible he could take on Soul."

"Heh, heheh. You guys are just full of it. How is a Spirit Body Realm supposed to fight a Fusion Realm?"

"Are you asking an ant to fly to the heavens and take a bite out of the moon? It's impossible!"

While the comments flew back and forth, the challenge between Jiang Qiu and Soul was about to begin. Not a word had passed between them. Soul seemed to be a silent being, merely floating in place, his body flowing with the wind.

Jiang Qiu, not knowing how to communicate with such a being, had offered a simple "Hello." When he received no response, he decided to say no more.

Then, just like that, the challenge began. The instant it started, he felt a torrential wave of soul pressure crashing toward him from the distance.

There was no hint of holding back; it seemed intent on devouring him whole in a single blow.

The intensity of the attack caught Jiang Qiu by surprise. If not for the enhancement from the True Dragon Residual Breath, he nearly wouldn't have been able to withstand the impact.

He was like a candle flame in a raging storm, flickering, faltering, on the verge of being extinguished at any moment.

However, he was no pushover. He immediately activated the absorption function of his Dragon Spirit Secret Realm Space, pulling all of the opponent's soul aura inside. Without a moment's hesitation, he dragged Soul's main Soul Body in as well, leaving no room for escape.

After all, his opponent wasn't attacking conservatively as Celestial Star had described. He was coming to devour him!