Mystic Tremor

Huo Yuhao had not rested for long in the Rest Room before he received a notice telling him to hurry to the Soul Duel Stage.

"Chico, beat him up good. That brat is much slower than you—remember to play to your strengths."

Jie Chu stepped forward to high-five Huo Yuhao, while Bei Bei cheered him on from the side.

"Yuhao, do as I told you before. That guy and I are evenly matched when we fight. Without his Second Soul Skill, he's just a dumb mule. Use your Soul Tools to beat him."

"Don't worry, Brother Bei Bei. I'm very confident."

Huo Yuhao nodded, resting his Left Hand on the katana at his waist as he slowly stepped onto the stage.

The Soul Duel Zone was exceptionally lively at the moment. More than eight hundred people had come to watch this duel, including quite a few first-year freshmen who would be participating in the New Student Tournament in a few days.

"Go, Little Yuhao!"

"Get him, Little Yuhao! Beat Xu Sanshi into a pighead!"

The cheers from beneath the stage made it clear that Xu Sanshi's boorish personality did not seem to earn him much favor among the other students. At the very least, he was nowhere near as popular as Huo Yuhao, who had built an image of an independent, hardworking student. Most of the cheers were directed at Huo Yuhao.

"Kid, you're pretty popular with the girls, but it won't do you any good. Once I smash up that pretty little face of yours, crying to those senior girls won't help you anymore."

Listening to all the cheers being directed at Huo Yuhao, a trace of malice flashed through Xu Sanshi's eyes.

The Referee Teacher walked to the center of the arena and said solemnly, "Fourth Grade student Xu Sanshi has issued a challenge to outsider Huo Yuhao. If Xu Sanshi loses, he must additionally pay ten Gold Soul Coins."

"Huo Yuhao's victory condition is to hold out against Xu Sanshi for one minute. Xu Sanshi's victory condition is to defeat Huo Yuhao within one minute without using his Second Soul Skill. You have already agreed privately on the stakes for victory and defeat. Are you both ready?"

Huo Yuhao and Xu Sanshi nodded at the referee at the same time.

"The match begins." The referee swiftly retreated after making the announcement. At the same instant, Xu Sanshi released his Martial Soul.

The previously noisy Soul Duel Zone fell silent in an instant, and everyone's gaze focused on the two figures in the arena.

Xu Sanshi's eyes abruptly sharpened, fury blazing from his tiger-like gaze as two yellow soul rings rose from beneath his feet.

His originally fair skin immediately darkened, his muscles swelled, and his entire body grew a size larger. Most strikingly, a black tortoise-shell shield roughly one and a half meters in diameter appeared in his right hand.

"You still aren't releasing your Martial Soul? Did I scare you limp, kid?"

Xu Sanshi did not seem concerned about the passing time. In his eyes, dealing with a kid who had only just obtained his First Soul Ring would not even take ten seconds.

"Here I come."

Huo Yuhao lowered his head slightly. The gentle, approachable air around him—the sort that made people want to hold him in their arms and dote on him—faded away, replaced by an icy, merciless presence.

At that moment, Huo Yuhao no longer felt like a living, breathing soul master. He felt like a cold killing machine, one that could take an enemy's life with the utmost efficiency.

Just staring at Huo Yuhao, Xu Sanshi felt an utterly terrifying pressure. Only then did he realize that Huo Yuhao had not dared to step into the ring with him on a whim—he truly had the ability to overturn him.

"Why did Yuhao charge straight in?!"

In the spectator area, Bei Bei stood up anxiously. He had fought Xu Sanshi many times, and before the match, he had thoroughly explained Xu Sanshi's Martial Soul and soul skills to Huo Yuhao so that Huo Yuhao could make use of his mobility and focus on stalling.

But no matter how anxious Bei Bei was, Huo Yuhao had already shot toward Xu Sanshi like an arrow loosed from the bow.

"Arrogant! Utterly arrogant!"

Seeing Huo Yuhao dare to charge directly at him, Xu Sanshi flew into a rage. With a roar, he clenched his right fist, veins bulging as he prepared to send this ignorant brat flying with a single punch.

However, Xu Sanshi had clearly underestimated Huo Yuhao's agility. Huo Yuhao neither dodged nor retreated, charging head-on into Xu Sanshi's heavy punch. The instant Xu Sanshi threw his fist, Huo Yuhao leaped a step ahead of him. The toes of his other foot precisely tapped the web between Xu Sanshi's thumb and forefinger, and he used the force to kick off, launching himself another meter into the air.

"What?!"

Xu Sanshi had not expected Huo Yuhao to pull something like that. He jerked his head up to look at Huo Yuhao soaring high above him, and in his panic, he could only raise the black tortoise-shell shield in his hand over his head.

In the next instant, Huo Yuhao's Left Hand swept across his waist. A flash of light appeared, and a Soul Guidance Hand Axe weighing roughly ten jin was already in his hand. The fan-shaped axe blade emitted a faint black glow, while two dark holes on the back of the axe suddenly spewed two blazing jets of flame as Huo Yuhao poured Soul Power into it.

BOOM!!!

Gripping the Soul Guidance Hand Axe, Huo Yuhao used both the momentum of his falling body and the acceleration from the jets on the back of the axe to raise its kinetic force to a terrifying level before smashing it heavily into Xu Sanshi's black tortoise-shell shield.

The tortoise-shell shield, formed from Xu Sanshi's Martial Soul and famed for its defensive power, actually cracked under Huo Yuhao's overwhelming blow!

The entire audience was stunned by the incomprehensible sight. A One Ring Soul Master, without even releasing his Martial Soul or soul ring, had used only brute strength and the specially installed jet-acceleration device on a Soul Tool to crack the Martial Soul of a Defense System Soul Grandmaster nearing the Soul Elder realm. What terrifying attack power was this?!

One had to know that Xu Sanshi's Martial Soul was no ordinary defensive Martial Soul. It was a genuine Mystic Tortoise Martial Soul. Its defensive power might not have been invincible among those of the same rank, but it had few rivals. Yet a mere level-eleven soul master had managed to smash a crack into it?

Xu Sanshi himself was also deeply shaken by Huo Yuhao's terrifying blow. The power Huo Yuhao had unleashed with that strike was no weaker than that of an ordinary Power Attack System Soul Elder.

If not for the limitations of a level-eleven soul master's physical condition, then even if Huo Yuhao had merely been at the same level as him, that fierce three-meter leap off his fist and the force of the descending strike might have shattered his Martial Soul outright!

"Yah—ha!"

Xu Sanshi shifted from holding the Mystic Tortoise Shield in one hand to gripping it with both hands. The First Soul Ring beneath his feet flashed as he raised the Mystic Tortoise Shield above his head and slammed it down.

This was Xu Sanshi's First Soul Skill, Mystic Tremor—a wide-range knockback skill with a certain stunning effect. If an enemy's cultivation was lower than his, they would be knocked back and stunned at the same time. Even if their cultivation was higher, they would at least be forced back, widening the distance between them.