Soul Emperor Awakening

Lin Xuan’s declaration was incredibly arrogant. It was as if he were trying to redeem the name of the Demon Fox Race, proving their abilities were not lacking and their strength was certainly not low!

His words immediately caused a huge uproar. The first to be enraged were the members of the Giant Bear Race. Their companion had just been knocked unconscious, and their hearts were now burning with fury. Being defeated by a member of the Demon Fox Race was a major disgrace, so one of them immediately charged down and leaped into the Martial Arts Arena without hesitation.

"Damn it, I’ll take you on myself! Let’s see just how arrogant you can be!"

The moment he entered the arena, the protective shield reappeared. The shield would only disappear when one side surrendered or was defeated. Now that someone had entered, it activated at once. This Martial Arts Arena actually had a major flaw: as soon as someone stepped inside, no matter who it was, a match would begin instantly.

It would not deactivate unless someone surrendered or was defeated. This meant that as long as someone charged in, a battle would be forced to start, regardless of whether the opponent consented. The match would not end until one side admitted defeat.

Therefore, after fighting consecutive battles, one had to be vigilant. If someone took advantage of the small window of opportunity and rushed in, another match would begin back-to-back. Fighting became much more difficult if one’s Elemental Power was depleted. For this reason, it was best to leave the Martial Arts Arena immediately after a fight. Otherwise, if someone exploited this loophole, you’d be left with nothing but regret.

"Perfect timing!"

Lin Xuan let out a great laugh and charged forward without hesitation. He didn’t draw any Weapon, simply balling his fist and throwing a heavy punch. As he activated the Cloud Return Technique, his body swelled slightly, and his strength skyrocketed.

"ROAR!"

The Giant Bear roared and swiped its massive paw at him. Having seen its companion defeated, it attacked with its full strength this time. But a bear was still a bear; it didn’t use any Martial Arts, relying only on a simple, brute-force attack.

A purely power-based attack wasn’t inherently a weakness, but when it was all you had, it became your greatest flaw.

"Extreme Point Inch Light!"

A red glint flashed in Lin Xuan’s eyes. His fist seemed to transform into the head of a cudgel, glowing with a brilliant crimson light. He became a streak of red, shooting forward with such speed that the Giant Bear Race member couldn’t react at all!

"DONG!"

The power, focused into a single point, struck the Giant Bear’s body hard, sending it flying with a single punch. Its massive frame slammed against the hard protective shield, and the terrifying rebound force sent it crashing face-first to the ground. With a tremendous thud, the colossal body hit the floor with immense weight.

Immediately following, the Energy from the Ice and Snow Badge floated over and seeped into his body. The emblem on his arm instantly grew by a third, and it was now close to forming a complete badge. This brought a flicker of joy to his heart. ’My Cultivation hasn’t increased, but I can feel more Energy gathering on my arm.’

’It feels like the Yulan Sacred Fire, but it’s purer than what I can currently release. If it really finishes condensing, will it become a Yulan Pearl? If so, does that mean I’ll have two Yulan Pearls?’

"Impossible! My turn!"

Another Giant Bear leaped into the Martial Arts Arena, and the shield rose once more. Lin Xuan had just snapped out of his thoughts when the new challenger came on stage. It charged aggressively, once again swiping its paw at him and unleashing its strength to the absolute limit.

"Scram!"

Lin Xuan gave a cold smirk, once again transforming into a streak of red light as he charged. With another heavy punch, he effortlessly one-shot the Giant Bear. As it was defeated, the Energy of an Ice and Snow Badge floated over and flowed into his arm. At last, he had two complete Ice and Snow Badges!

Once it formed, he immediately felt a stream of pure Yulan Sacred Fire surge into his body and begin to circulate. The amount was minuscule, however—just a tiny wisp. He could control it completely, but its power was so small that if he released it, it would at most make his opponent feel a slight chill. The effect was negligible.

From this, however, Lin Xuan could tell that once he accumulated more Ice and Snow Badges, the effect would be terrifying. It would absolutely be comparable to the power one gained from possessing a Yulan Pearl. But this power would disappear after leaving this place, since the Ice and Snow Badges would be reclaimed.

To truly possess this power, there was only one way: to obtain ten Ice and Snow Badges. There were no other options. Well, one could choose to stay here forever, which would allow them to wield the Energy from up to ten badges—a considerable boost to their strength.

The only problem was that this would keep one’s Cultivation stuck at the Peak of the Essence Pill Stage. While suppressing one’s Cultivation like this would build a very stable foundation for a future breakthrough to the Spirit Pill Stage, it also meant you wouldn’t be able to jump straight to the Third or Fourth Layer of the Spirit Pill Stage. In the long run, holding back one’s Cultivation just wasn’t worth it.

Suppressing it for a short period was fine, but for too long would be a complete waste of time.

"No, impossible! I refuse to believe I can’t beat you!" Another member of the Giant Bear Race leaped out. His Cultivation Level was no different from the last one.

But the moment he landed, a red streak shot toward him. Before the bear could even react, a single punch sent him flying. His speed was dumbfounding; the newcomer was defeated the instant he entered the arena, causing the Ice and Snow Badge on his arm to dissolve into a stream of Energy that flowed into Lin Xuan.

This time, Lin Xuan noticed the increase to his third Ice and Snow Badge was just a tiny, almost negligible amount. ’Based on this,’ he thought, ’I’ll probably have to defeat dozens, maybe even hundreds of people just to reach the three-badge Level.’

Lin Xuan frowned. ’It only increased by this little? This really isn’t worth my time.’

While he was lost in thought, more members of the Giant Bear Race entered the Martial Arts Arena. They were determined to defeat Lin Xuan at any cost; they couldn’t bear the shame of losing! But it was pointless no matter how many of them came. Their strength was simply too low, and they had no technique to speak of. Truly, he would defeat as many as they could send.

And so, Lin Xuan went on a rampage, defeating one after another. Incredibly, he defeated all dozen or so members of the Giant Bear Race who had just arrived in Ice and Snow City! They had only just gotten here and were already being kicked out. They would probably get a beating when they returned to their clan.

If someone had multiple Ice and Snow Badges, they would lose all but one upon defeat. If they only had a single badge, it would disappear, and they would be kicked out of Ice and Snow City, forbidden from ever returning. This made the elimination process on the First Layer particularly brutal. Fortunately, the Demon Race was numerous; otherwise, there wouldn’t be enough people to weed out.

’It’s still only increasing by this little. It’s not worth it at all...’ After defeating all the members of the Giant Bear Race, Lin Xuan chose to leave the Martial Arts Arena, no longer content to just stand there.

This scene left every member of the Demon Race in the audience dumbfounded. If defeating the first Giant Bear could be dismissed as a fluke, then defeating all the newly arrived members of the Giant Bear Race was definitely not. His strength was simply on another level!

Could this be the rise of the Demon Fox Race?