Sunset, Youth Begins to Roar!

"Phew—"

Tilting his head back, Ning Wuque slowly exhaled a breath of stale air. He opened his eyes and looked toward the Elder Seats in the distance.

Compared to before, there were now three more figures there: the Sect Master, Wu Feng's father, and... an unfamiliar old man.

He withdrew his gaze, looked at Wu Feng, who was poised to strike in the distance, and Ning Tian, who stood quietly waiting, then spoke.

"I said that today, I would show you everything I have. I'll make you understand just how unfortunate it is to become my friend."

With that, instead of flinging off his clothes as he had before, he calmly unbuttoned and removed them, revealing the Soul Guidance Training Gear beneath.

He raised his left hand, pressed it against the bracer on his right wrist, and gave it a slight twist. The restraints came undone, and he tossed it onto the ground. As he slowly removed the training gear from his body, his voice rang out across the deathly silent arena.

The spectators had long since stopped talking, stunned by his words. They all realized they were witnessing some incredible gossip! Everyone fell quiet, eager to hear more, as Ning Wuque's voice echoed in their ears.

"Ever since I awakened my Martial Soul, I understood that my life was destined to be ordinary. But sometimes, true ordinariness means willingly sinking into mediocrity. From that day on, I racked my brains for a way to become stronger, unwilling to accept my weakness and ordinariness.

"I succeeded. I found a path that could lead me to the summit, but... it came with a price. A price that demanded I give everything I had. A price that could kill me at any time, anywhere."

As Ning Wuque spoke, he had already removed all the training gear from his limbs.

He held his arms flat at his sides. With a surge of Soul Power, the chestplate released itself and naturally fell backward with a tremendous crash.

"Spring rain strikes my face, yet I do not fall; through summer's scorching days, my body becomes iron.

"Autumn winds pass me by, yet my form does not bend; through winter's bitter cold, my soul becomes steel."

Ning Wuque softly recited the hardships he had endured over the past three years. A purple Soul Ring slowly rose beneath his feet.

Martial Soul Possession!

Whoosh—!

In the stands, everyone who had been unaware was utterly stunned. What had they just seen? A thousand-year First Soul Ring!

Ning Wuque actually possessed such a terrifying thousand-year First Soul Ring! It was simply... simply... simply unheard of!

How had he done it? Why could he do it?

Even true geniuses had never possessed such a privilege. A thousand-year second ring was still within the bounds of common understanding, but a thousand-year first ring... the entire audience was shocked!

Up ahead, Ning Tian's pupils contracted slightly. Though she had known about Ning Wuque's thousand-year First Soul Ring for a long time, seeing it with her own eyes still left her somewhat incredulous.

At the same time, the verses Ning Wuque had just recited echoed in her ears, while memories of his day-after-day extreme training played over and over in her mind.

"H-How is that possible?!"

Wu Feng cried out. She had consumed the Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Blubber her father had prepared for her, yet her First Soul Ring was only a little over five hundred years old.

Though it was a high-grade fire-attribute Dragonkin Soul Ring, this... she could not accept it!

Why was Ning Wuque allowed to shine so brilliantly?!

"I gave everything I had! I gave everything I had to prepare for all of this! I spent all my time training, cultivating, destroying my body again and again, then forcing it to heal itself through pain time after time, feeling every moment of the process with perfect clarity."

As Ning Wuque spoke, his aura suddenly erupted. An unmatched gale spread outward as he mobilized all the Soul Power in his body.

Even Ning Tian, more than ten meters away, could feel the wave of air brush against her face.

"This is the first time I've used this soul skill. Watch carefully, Ning Tian—its power, and... the price it demands!

First Soul Skill: Blood Activating Body."

The Soul Ring flashed.

Hmph!

A muffled groan followed. Ning Wuque's pupils shrank, and the purple Soul Ring beneath his feet exploded brilliantly like fireworks!

Bang~

His soul wailed! The sound of the explosion rang clearly in everyone's ears. Their gazes went blank as they watched Ning Wuque blast apart his own Soul Ring.

"Ninefold Yama Gates, First Gate: Blood Surge Gate, open for me—!!!"

Roaring furiously, Ning Wuque controlled the enormous tide of Soul Power produced by Ring Blasting as it surged through his body. Like a wolf king leading its pack, he drove the astonishing Soul Power through the blood vessels he had simulated countless times before.

Vast Soul Power flowed through his limbs and bones, swelling every meridian and blood vessel in his body as it shattered the first shackle binding him—Blood Surge!

Ning Wuque's body instantly expanded, shooting up to a full meter sixty. His skin turned a blood-red color under the extreme enhancement of his blood.

Soul Power poured into him, coursing through his blood vessels and meridians to connect his entire body, spreading outward to stimulate and activate all his blood. In that instant, his surging blood granted him a full three-hundred-percent increase in blood essence.

His speed, strength, and self-healing ability instantly soared to the limits of this body!

His physical defense and overall constitution also rose by fifty percent under the baptism of Ring Blasting!

But it was not over yet!

Something no one had expected happened—including Ning Wuque!

Dazzling Blood Gold light radiated outward from his body. Beneath the setting sun, he looked like a golden dragon crawling from a pool of blood.

That was a Soul Ring—a Blood Essence Soul Ring, a Blood Gold Blood Essence Soul Ring!

"What... is that?"

At the Elder Seats, Ning Fengxiao stared in confusion. This had completely exceeded the limits of his understanding.

That Soul Ring—that Blood Gold Soul Ring—what the hell was it?!

"A Blood Essence Soul Ring?"

Ning Wuque frowned. He stared in disbelief at the Soul Ring that had re-formed beneath his feet, but he could not sense any soul skill granted by it at all.

He only felt that it was connected to his bloodline, as though it were a switch—a very large switch!

But before he could think any further, the price brought by the Ninefold Yama Gates interrupted his thoughts.

Pain! His entire body was in pain!

He had turned his Martial Soul into support for himself, using his body to bear the large portion of Soul Power that should have been borne by his Martial Soul.

The price was that he needed immense willpower just to move this body right now! He had that willpower! But he no longer had the mental capacity to spare for thought.

He looked at the two girls ahead, roaring in fury, as savage as a lion!

"Come! Give it everything you have! Feel the struggle I have made against fate—!"

The referee was already dumbstruck.

But when he saw Ning Tian release her Martial Soul, he still dutifully shouted,

"Begin!"

Boom—!

The stone bricks shattered. With one step, Ning Wuque crushed the Jade Stone Bricks beneath his foot to pieces. Like a bullet fired at high speed, he swung his fist and charged at Ning Tian and Wu Feng.

The distance of more than ten meters took him less than two seconds to cross. In an instant, he flashed before the two girls.

His savage expression and overwhelming presence bore down on Wu Feng in an instant.

Boom! Boom, boom, boom, boom—!

With the first vicious punch thrown, Ning Wuque stopped merely twenty centimeters away from Wu Feng and began unleashing a relentless barrage of fists.

Ten punches! Thirty punches! Seventy punches! A hundred punches in an instant! They filled Wu Feng's vision like a city wall!

The force of his fists even formed currents in the air, striking Wu Feng with fists of wind and battering her back without giving her the slightest chance to resist, until she fell into Ning Tian's arms.

Thud~

The two fell to the ground together, but Ning Wuque's fists continued to leave afterimages as they pressed down before their eyes again and again, crushing them until their bodies went limp, crushing them until they could not move!

Beneath the setting sun, the youth of a young man roared!

Youth had begun to burn! It would never stop until it reached its climax!