Defense Breaker Specialist

"First Soul Skill."

Chen Li's voice was as calm as the deep night.

But in that instant, deep within the Soul Ring behind him, disguised as yellow by the Heart of Illusory Thunder, its true purple radiance opened its eyes like a sleeping beast.

At the edge of the field, Xie Yue's pupils abruptly shrank to pinpoints.

Hu Liena's hand, which had been propping up her chin, froze in midair.

That was—

Bzzzzzzzzzz!!!

"Lightning Strike - Law Breaker!!!"

An incomparably condensed purple bolt, so deep in color it was almost uncanny, blossomed from Chen Li's palm!

It did not surge forth. It did not erupt. It was not any conventional kind of release.

It was more like a piercing strike—or rather, a puncture.

That purple lightning possessed neither the imposing thickness of a pillar nor earthshaking thunder.

It was merely...

A line.

A purple ray as thin as a strand of hair, yet sharp enough to sever every rule of defense.

It met Yan's massive fist, covered in Granite Rock.

Then...

It passed through without a sound.

There was no explosion. No stalemate. No evenly matched collision of energy.

Only penetration.

Like a red-hot steel needle piercing solidified wax, like a beam of noon sunlight passing through thin mist.

Before Yan's disbelieving eyes, that purple lightning pierced straight through the defense of his prized second Soul Skill without the slightest resistance. It punched through the rocky armor on his arm, armor capable of withstanding a full-force strike from an assault-type Soul Elder, and at the edge of his fist,

left behind a charred wound as thin as a hair, yet deep enough to reveal bone.

Then, that purple lightning did not disperse.

It nimbly circled around Yan's body like a fish, elegantly drawing an arc through the air behind him before slipping back into Chen Li's palm.

As if it had merely completed an insignificant stroll.

The entire training ground fell deathly silent.

Yan remained frozen in his punching stance.

He lowered his head and looked at his right arm, still enhanced by Granite Rock. Blood slowly seeped from the tiny charred wound on his fist. The wound was not deep; for a Soul Master renowned for his powerful physique, it did not even count as a minor injury.

But it had pierced through.

Among those his age, almost no one could break through the defense of his second Soul Skill head-on. Even Xie Yue needed the sharpness of the Moon Blade, combined with overwhelming Soul Power, to accomplish it.

Yet Chen Li—

A brat who had only just reached level twenty, who had not yet obtained his second Soul Ring, and who was five whole years younger than him,

had used a hair-thin bolt of purple lightning that came and went,

to pierce through it.

As easily as piercing a sheet of paper.

Yan's throat bobbed. He wanted to say something, yet could not force out a single word.

His gaze fell on Chen Li's face.

The six-year-old child was withdrawing his hand, the lightning around him slowly receding.

His breathing was somewhat more hurried than before, clearly indicating that the attack had consumed a considerable amount of Soul Power. Yet his eyes remained calm, carrying even a trace of... contemplation.

He was recalling the feel of that attack.

He was evaluating the performance of Lightning Strike - Law Breaker in actual combat.

He was considering how to use it better next time.

He paid absolutely no attention to Yan's shock and humiliation.

At the edge of the field.

Xie Yue slowly lowered the arm he had kept in a guarded position. An exceptionally complicated expression appeared on his usually cold face: shock, gravity, and an almost imperceptible... acknowledgment.

"That lightning just now..." His voice was low, as though he were speaking to himself. "It wasn't speed-based, nor strength-based, nor was it even any conventional offensive Soul Skill. It was... penetration. Penetration on the level of rules."

He paused, seemingly choosing his words carefully.

"His first Soul Skill is specifically for breaking defenses. And it is an extremely high-level kind of defense breaking—not through overwhelming Soul Power, not through attribute suppression, but... by directly negating the very validity of defense at the level of rules."

He looked toward Hu Liena, a questioning glint in his red eyes.

Hu Liena did not respond to her brother's gaze.

She still sat with her chin propped in one hand, her posture as lazy as before. But if anyone had drawn closer at that moment, they would have seen an intensely focused light burning deep within her seductive fox-like eyes.

She rapidly calculated in her mind.

At level eighteen, Chen Li's first Soul Skill had already possessed such an effect.

Now that he was level twenty, the power, consumption, and upper limit of its defense-breaking ability had surely improved further compared to a month ago.

And he still did not have his second Soul Ring.

Once he obtained his second Soul Ring, once he reached Soul Elder, Soul Ancestor...

Hu Liena softly drew a breath.

She remembered Bibi Dong's teachings.

"Nana, you must learn to see a person's future outline while he is still weak. Because once he truly shines with brilliance, it will be too late if you wish to draw close."

She looked at the boy in the field, silently regulating his breathing and utterly unaware of Yan's shock.

Then the faint smile that had always lingered at the corner of her lips finally became a little clearer.

On the training ground, the silence amid the wreckage continued.

Yan was still frozen in place. The wound on his right arm had already stopped bleeding and was beginning to scab over under the Flame Lord's powerful regenerative ability. But clearly, his mindset had not recovered as quickly as his wound.

Chen Li glanced at him, confirming that the other party had no intention of attacking again.

He said nothing and did not press his advantage.

He merely stood there quietly, all lightning around him fully withdrawn. The Heart of Illusory Thunder gem at his neck glimmered faintly beneath the sunlight, faithfully continuing to disguise the Purple Soul Ring that was gradually calming down as an unremarkable bright yellow.

His mind rapidly reviewed that attack.

The effect of Lightning Strike - Law Breaker was even better than he had expected. Against a Soul Skill like Granite Rock, renowned for its pure physical defense, it had almost directly pierced through while ignoring the level of defense altogether.

Its weakness was its high consumption. With his current total Soul Power at level twenty, he could use that attack at full power no more than three times in succession.

Its strength was equally clear: the deterrent power of that strike far exceeded its actual lethality. Just like now—although Yan had suffered only a superficial wound, the fact that his defense had been broken had severely shaken his fighting spirit.

"That's enough." Xie Yue's voice rang out at the right moment, breaking the deadlock on the field. He had already regained his usual composure, as though that moment of shock had never existed. "Today's spar ends here."

Yan opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something. But he lowered his head to look at the thin, scabbed mark on his fist and ultimately said nothing. He withdrew his martial soul, turned, and walked toward the edge of the training ground without looking back.

Chen Li also put away his martial soul.

He did not look at Yan's departing back, nor did he look at Hu Liena's increasingly meaningful gaze from the sidelines. He simply walked calmly toward the training ground exit, his steps steady, just as they had been when he arrived.

As he passed Xie Yue, he heard the leader of the Golden Generation murmur in a voice only the two of them could hear:

"Your first Soul Skill is very interesting."

Chen Li did not stop. He merely nodded slightly.

"Thank you."