Battle on the Arena

Battle on the Arena

As noon approached, quite a few faculty members and students were in the cafeteria. Aside from a very few food fanatics, nearly everyone had been drawn to what was happening with Chen Ming. Many people did not even bother eating, simply watching the show from the sidelines.

Under the eyes of the crowd, Chen Ming and Yu Tianheng arrived at the arena and stepped onto the platform.

The one-on-one platform was not large, a square twenty meters long and wide. The distance was too short for long-range Soul Masters, but just right for ordinary close-combat and mid-range Soul Masters.

Whether they were Agility Attack System or Control System Soul Masters, this platform gave them room to show their abilities.

By the time the three Education Committee Members arrived, Yu Tianheng and Chen Ming were already standing at opposite ends of the platform, glaring at each other. Though they looked ready to strike at any moment, they had not actually started fighting.

Because the platform lacked a referee.

After bringing Yu Tianheng and Chen Ming over, Qin Ming immediately hid off to the side under the excuse that treating the students earlier had consumed too much Soul Power. No matter what anyone said, he refused to go up there and serve as a sacrifi—referee.

There were quite a few other instructors present, but every one of them found an excuse to decline. No one dared to truly involve themselves in this matter. In the end, they had no choice but to wait for the three Education Committee Members to arrive.

Seeing this, Bai Baoshan, Meng Shenji, and Zhi Lin could only sigh helplessly.

The three looked at one another, but no matter how they considered it, they could not come up with a suitable solution.

There were simply too many onlookers. There were nearly a hundred students alone, almost one-fifth of the entire academy.

If there had been fewer people, the three of them could have stepped in and suppressed the matter. But now, practically the whole academy was watching. They could not simply force it down.

Having been together like conjoined triplets for decades, the three could communicate through the simplest glance. After a brief silent discussion of exchanged looks, Meng Shenji ultimately had no choice but to step forward, climb onto the platform, and take on the role of referee.

"Both sides, step back and dismiss your Martial Souls. You may summon them again only after my signal!"

"This battle is merely a spar between students. Both sides must show restraint and must not take lives."

"No outside assistance or sneak attacks are permitted in a one-on-one match. Violators will face severe punishment."

"Level twenty-three Soul Grandmaster Chen Ming versus level thirty-two Soul Elder Yu Tianheng. Prepare..."

Since he had only broken through a few days ago, everyone still believed Chen Ming to be a level twenty-three Soul Master. Even the Education Committee Members had not noticed that Chen Ming's rank had advanced.

As he spoke, Meng Shenji himself felt embarrassed for Yu Tianheng. His Soul Power Level was nearly ten levels higher, yet he still wanted to step onto the platform against Chen Ming. That was rather shameless.

"Begin!"

At the command, Chen Ming and Yu Tianheng charged toward each other in an instant, activating Martial Soul Possession as they sprinted.

Yu Tianheng completed his Martial Soul Possession quickly, but Chen Ming was even faster.

Just as Yu Tianheng finished possessing his Martial Soul and before his Soul Rings could even light up, Chen Ming's First Soul Ring was already blazing. He slammed into Yu Tianheng like a Mud Truck.

Twenty meters was a distance that elite athletes on Earth could cover in around two seconds. Chen Ming and Yu Tianheng both possessed Soul Power, and they were charging directly at each other. Their first collision took less than a second.

A vast amount of green poison mist surged from Chen Ming's body, forming a circular poison zone around him under his control. Soul Power flowed through Chen Ming's hands as they collided with Yu Tianheng's arms, while the scorpion tail behind him silently swept through an arc and stabbed toward Yu Tianheng's calf.

The impact of that collision startled both Yu Tianheng and Chen Ming. Their first impression was that the other's strength was no weaker than their own.

Yu Tianheng possessed the supreme Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul. Its elemental abilities were at the peak, while its speed and strength were likewise outstanding. The Medicinal Bath he had used was a grade higher than Chen Ming's, he was a Soul Elder who had absorbed his Third Soul Ring, and his Soul Power was eight levels above Chen Ming's current level.

From every angle, Yu Tianheng held an obvious advantage. By all logic, even if Chen Ming possessed the Jade Scorpion King Martial Soul, he should have been sent flying by Yu Tianheng in their first exchange.

But in reality, Chen Ming had consumed Whale Rubber for years to strengthen his body. His Martial Soul had also been enhanced several times, and he had absorbed a thousand-year External Soul Bone. His physical condition was completely beyond what an ordinary Soul Grandmaster could comprehend.

Although his Soul Power was nearly a major realm below Yu Tianheng's, Chen Ming was actually slightly stronger in terms of physical strength.

Their clash of strength entered a brief stalemate, followed immediately by a clash of attributes.

At such close range, there was no way Yu Tianheng could avoid the Poison Cloud Chen Ming unleashed. Faced with this situation, Yu Tianheng could only release a wide range of lightning-attributed Soul Power around himself to prevent the poison from corroding him.

The lightning attribute of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon was of extremely high quality, and lightning itself somewhat restrained poison. For the moment, it truly blocked Chen Ming's poison mist. However, the cost was that Yu Tianheng's Soul Power drained away like water.

Because he had once paid close attention to Dugu Yan, Yu Tianheng understood quite a bit about poison-attributed attacks. From the very beginning, he had tightly protected vulnerable areas such as his nose and mouth, preventing himself from being instantly defeated the moment they clashed.

This was the greatest issue with Poison System Soul Masters. They were virtually unstoppable in situations such as sneak attacks. If used properly, poison could allow them to defeat opponents several major realms above them.

But once the opponent came prepared and the poison failed to take effect immediately, the threat posed by a Poison System Soul Master would diminish exponentially. The battle would gradually be dragged into a war of attrition that was unfavorable to them.

"First Soul Skill, Lightning Dragon Claw!"

At that moment, Yu Tianheng finally unleashed the First Soul Skill he had been preparing. Though its power was somewhat diminished by the hurried activation, the fierce lightning still posed no small threat.

Yu Tianheng barely blocked Chen Ming's attack, then quickly leaped back several steps. He unleashed a lightning strike at the tail stabbing toward him from an eerie angle, sending the scorpion tail that was about to pierce him flying away.

A bad personality was one thing. While most people believed that someone with a terrible personality would also have problems with their abilities, ability and personality were not entirely connected.

Even if some people had awful personalities, that did not change the fact that they were highly capable.

Yu Tianheng was not so composed in battle that he could completely disregard his own emotions and fight in the most rational state possible like a cold machine.

However, because he had undergone specialized training before, he could still minimize the interference of unnecessary emotions and display the bearing expected of an outstanding Soul Master.

Yu Tianheng's Soul Power was excellent, and he lacked no combat experience. Born into a great clan, he had received specialized training from a young age, and after entering the academy, he had accumulated plenty of battle experience.

Yu Tianheng had fought opponents that flew through the sky and ran across the ground. Only those that swam in the water were something he had rarely faced.

When he had previously seen Chen Ming's Martial Soul and its tail, Yu Tianheng had paid special attention to Chen Ming's scorpion tail, considering it an enormous threat. During the battle, he devoted part of his attention to its movements, so naturally, he would not be taken down in a single exchange.

However, Chen Ming's scorpion tail was already the toughest part of his body, and it was further strengthened by the External Soul Bone. Its hardness and sharpness were simply beyond ordinary imagination. Even a sudden thrust carried tremendous power.

If it landed, it could easily pierce Yu Tianheng's body. The scales that had grown across his body and his own flesh could not stop the scorpion tail from penetrating him.

Although Yu Tianheng had knocked the scorpion tail away in his haste, he had not expected it to contain such immense force. His entire arm went numb from the shock, and even his arm bones faintly ached with stabbing pain.

Though he only lost control for a few seconds, that was a considerable opening in an intense close-range battle. Chen Ming had no reason to let such an opportunity pass.

Chen Ming pressed forward with the momentum, unwilling to give Yu Tianheng a chance to counterattack. Yu Tianheng gritted his teeth and released his Third Soul Skill, Wrath of Lightning, immediately following it with his Second Soul Skill, Thunderous Fury.

"Wrath of Lightning! Thunderous Fury!"

Wrath of Lightning caused Yu Tianheng's Soul Power to surge wildly, increasing his lightning attribute by one hundred percent and his Soul Power by fifty percent. Its effect was exceptionally powerful, significantly enhancing Yu Tianheng's first two Soul Skills while active.

But this Soul Skill had one flaw: it consumed an enormous amount of Soul Power.

With Yu Tianheng's level thirty-two Soul Power, using this Soul Skill made him feel the Soul Power in his body being rapidly drained away. It could likely only last around ten minutes before all of his Soul Power was exhausted.

As for Thunderous Fury, it was an extremely powerful area-of-effect skill that could greatly display the lightning might of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

Though it was an area-of-effect attack, its single-target destructive power remained astonishing. Its only flaw was its immense Soul Power consumption; even a Soul Elder would not dare to use it casually.

Using two highly costly skills at once was practically the same as having a huge chunk of Yu Tianheng's Soul Power carved away out of thin air.

Under the enhancement of his Third Soul Skill, the lightning winding around him became even more brilliant. After slightly adjusting his stance, he took the initiative to meet Chen Ming's attack head-on.

Though he was somewhat lacking in strength, the Thunderous Fury enhanced by Wrath of Lightning completely covered that weakness.

The intense lightning pierced through the Soul Power protecting Chen Ming's body and struck heavily against the shell that had appeared on him due to Martial Soul Possession. Though it did not inflict serious damage, the fierce lightning attribute made Chen Ming's body go numb, slowing him for a moment.

I released three chapters at once. Every chapter had extra word count, and it was still fighting scenes...

If people still say I'm padding, then there's really nothing I can do...