Poison Attack

Thousand Hands Great Buddha instantly hurled ten energy fruits.

The moment those fruits reached the air, they exploded, transforming into seeds that scattered across the ground.

The instant the seeds touched the ground, they rapidly grew. In the blink of an eye, a small patch of woodland had formed.

Zhu Zhuqing narrowed her beautiful eyes, her figure flashing continuously as she evaded the vines and branches winding toward her.

Although Yang Qianjun was not as fast as Zhu Zhuqing, every one of his attacks was broad and forceful, constantly destroying the plants around him.

One in front and one behind, the two charged straight at Li Xun.

As members of the same team, they already had some understanding of this skill of Li Xun's.

Thus, their strategy was for Yang Qianjun to restrain Li Xun's skill while Zhu Zhuqing directly attacked Li Xun himself.

After only a few flashes, Zhu Zhuqing had broken through the woodland and pounced straight at Li Xun. "Hell Stab."

Watching the little kitten rushing toward him, Li Xun smiled and transformed into an afterimage.

Zhu Zhuqing's attack instantly missed. She reacted swiftly, changing direction the moment she landed.

But before she could make out what lay ahead, she felt a warm palm grip the back of her neck.

"Zhuqing, next time, you should quickly retreat from where you are instead of counterattacking on the spot."

Li Xun gave the back of Zhu Zhuqing's neck a squeeze, then withdrew his hand, indicating that he had already dealt with her.

"Mm, I understand." Zhu Zhuqing's body trembled as she slowly rose to her feet, lowering her head as she walked to Li Xun's side.

"The strategy you came up with this time wasn't bad."

Li Xun lightly stomped his foot, and Yang Qianjun's earlier efforts were immediately rendered useless.

The path Yang Qianjun had cleared through the woods was instantly filled by new plants, which continuously compressed the space in which he could move.

This was an ability Li Xun had developed. As long as there were still seeds in the ground, he could cast the skill without forming hand seals.

"Break!"

Yang Qianjun raised his spear, condensing Soul Power and pouring it endlessly into the Breaking Soul Spear.

With a sweeping strike, the surrounding trees instantly shattered, creating a small open space.

"Go!" Yang Qianjun raised his spear again, gathered strength in his legs, and thrust out. His entire body shot forward along with the spear.

At that moment, he seemed to have merged with his weapon, unstoppable as every plant blocking his path was smashed to pieces by the impact.

Watching Yang Qianjun charge straight toward him, Li Xun smiled faintly and lightly tapped the ground with his toe. A dense corridor of vegetation instantly grew before him.

Yang Qianjun's skill was immensely powerful. As he charged, the corridor was destroyed as easily as rotting wood.

Yet the trees kept growing without end, and his momentum gradually weakened. In the end, the plants on both sides of the corridor hoisted him into the air.

"What an aerial acrobat." Li Xun laughed as he walked over to Yang Qianjun's side and carefully observed his pose in midair.

The others also gathered around at this point.

"Brother Yang, that pose of yours is pretty impressive!" Shi Mo and Shi Mo teased him from the side.

"How about you two try it?" Yang Qianjun said, struggling to turn his head as he bared his teeth at the two brothers.

Shi Mo and Shi Mo quickly wiped the smiles from their faces. They had already experienced Li Xun's skill firsthand.

They were defensive Soul Masters, lacking both speed and destructive power. They simply could not break through the woodland's blockade, while staying in place only meant being battered around.

Yang Qianjun said with a pained expression, "With our team's lineup, I said we need at least four people..."

Li Xun chuckled and released the restraints. "I just happen to counter Brother Yang. With Brother Yang's destructive power, if he were paired with three more powerful teammates, I'd just admit defeat outright."

Dugu Yan rolled her eyes at Li Xun. "You just happen to counter Yang Qianjun? Even Zhuqing, a speed-attack type, couldn't do anything to you.

"Tell me, then—who on this team isn't countered by you?"

As a control-type Soul Master herself, Dugu Yan was completely on the receiving end of a beating whenever they fought. Li Xun's skill covered too wide an area; nowhere she stood was safe.

Li Xun smiled awkwardly.

He had only been polite so Yang Qianjun would not feel too embarrassed. Why was Dugu Yan taking it seriously?

"If you ask me, to deal with Brother Li, you need either a numbers advantage or an overwhelming level advantage."

"Mm... Elemental Soul Masters and flying Soul Masters would work too."

Yang Qianjun straightened his clothes. "Brother Li's skill covers too wide an area. At the same level, Soul Masters with even slightly poorer mobility have no chance of escaping. They can only be slowly worn to death."

"I suggest that in future sparring matches, we should form teams of no fewer than four people. Otherwise, there won't be any training value at all."

Yang Qianjun deeply agreed with Dugu Yan's words.

After several sparring matches, he had already roughly figured out the gap between himself and Li Xun.

With his current attack power, he simply could not quickly destroy the plants continuously surging toward him.

The slightest lapse in attention would see him drowned by Li Xun's skill. Even if he luckily broke through the skill's blockade, Li Xun's strange movement technique would swiftly pull away.

It left him with no chance to get close.

"Brother Yang, you've analyzed my abilities quite thoroughly," Li Xun said with a smile.

Yang Qianjun had considered all of those points himself.

Setting aside level and numbers, he could use the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to make up for the weaknesses of his elemental Martial Soul.

But when facing Soul Masters who could fly, he truly had no good solution. The only thing that could threaten opponents in the air was still his Second Martial Soul.

However, his Second Martial Soul currently had a flaw: it could only be thrown in a straight line. Although its range was great, it was easily avoided.

Moreover, if he wanted to maximize his strength in the future, he definitely could not add Soul Rings to his Second Martial Soul yet.

"If I keep getting beaten up, shouldn't I reflect on it?" Yang Qianjun grinned and scratched his head.

Everyone burst into laughter.

"Alright, this round, Rongrong, Sister Yan, and Brother Yang will be one team."

"Zhuqing, Shi Mo, and Shi Mo will be another." After chatting with everyone for a while, Li Xun began arranging the training.

He was now the team captain, as well as half of the team's lead Teacher.

The reason he was only half of one—

Was because Qin Ming was rarely seen these days.

Ever since Yu Tianheng took Ye Qianqian, Osler, Yu Feng, and the others away, Qin Ming seemed to have had his backbone pulled out. He looked listless all day and no longer paid much attention to the team.

Only when Zhu Zhuqing and Yang Qianjun joined the team did Qin Ming excitedly come over for a look.

Yet when he saw their ages and Soul Power Levels, Qin Ming left again in disappointment.

Regarding this matter, Meng Shenji had even called Qin Ming in for a talk.

But Qin Ming refused to accept it.

In the end, it caused quite a stir over the selection of a lead Teacher.

After Li Xun learned of it, he pleaded with the three Teaching Committee members on Qin Ming's behalf for the sake of his own freedom.

Li Xun sat in his chair, took a sip of tea, and comfortably watched the group fighting.

Being the team's lead Teacher did not require much skill. The training methods they promoted were things anyone could think of.

Its only function was perhaps helping students obtain Soul Rings.

But Li Xun was not worried about that at all. It was not as though his family lacked experts.

"Looks like in the future, Brother Yang can only take on one person at a time." Li Xun glanced at the situation in the arena.

Yang Qianjun was currently suppressing the Shi brothers.

With the support of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and Dugu Yan, Yang Qianjun was like a man on drugs. He did not fear the Black Tortoise Turtle's reflected force at all, and every attack was broad and powerful.

It was not that Yang Qianjun was fiercer than Yu Tianheng. Rather, as the team's sole assault-type Soul Master, he naturally stood out this much.

Meanwhile—

Zhu Zhuqing, who should have taken advantage of Yang Qianjun being held back by the Shi brothers to attack the enemy Support Soul Masters, was instead stopped by Dugu Yan.

Every time she attacked Ning Rongrong, Dugu Yan's snake venom blocked her.

There was already a gap in their levels, and the deterrence of the Jade Phosphor Serpent venom made Zhu Zhuqing feel as though she had nowhere to begin.

The two sides traded several more rounds. Just as Zhu Zhuqing once again felt that she would come away empty-handed—

Dugu Yan suddenly stumbled, seeming unable to keep her footing.