Angel Secret Technique

Qin Ming raised his right palm and rapidly poured Soul Power into it. The wolf claws wreathed in Crimson Gold Flame erupted with a destructive aura.

"Get down here!" Qin Ming struck at Qi's chest with a claw.

"Don't even think about it..." Qi's expression changed drastically. In his haste, he frantically gathered all the holy light in his body before him, forming an even thicker Holy Light Shield.

Before he could finish speaking, Qin Ming was already upon him.

The crimson-gold Gray Wolf Sharp Claws, carrying power infinitely close to Ultimate Fire, tore a golden-red trail through the air. Without the slightest hesitation, they slammed viciously into the center of the Holy Light Shield.

Crack—!

The seemingly indestructible Holy Light Barrier shattered like glass before the wolf claws engulfed in Crimson Gold Flame.

The fragments of the shield scattered into countless motes of light. Angel Qi's pupils contracted as he hurriedly raised the longsword in his hand across his chest, desperately trying to block.

A deafening clash of metal rang throughout the arena.

The Light Sword formed from Soul Power shattered on impact. The immense force traveled down the blade and smashed hard into Angel Qi's arms, making his bones creak under the strain.

From above, Qin Ming swung his wolf claws, amplified enormously by his first two Soul Skills, and mercilessly struck across his chest.

"Urgh—ah..."

As if struck by lightning, Angel Qi fell from midair like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily onto the Soul Fighting Arena.

One of Angel Qi's wings was forcibly torn off. Golden feathers mixed with glaring blood swirled through the air before slowly drifting down.

A dull boom echoed through the Soul Fighting Arena. The gilded robe over Qi's chest was instantly blasted open in a charred hole, while the fair skin beneath had been scorched dark brown.

The lofty Angel had been brought down!

The spectator stands fell deathly silent.

Everyone stood frozen in place, their minds filled only with that dazzling purple Soul Ring and that crimson-gold blaze capable of incinerating everything.

Angel Qi, the number one Soul Grandmaster genius on the Spirit Hall Academy's Grandmaster Genius Ranking, had been knocked to the ground by an outsider with a six-level difference in Soul Power.

"Wow, Qin Ming, y-you're so cool!" Bai Heng abandoned his usual shy demeanor and raised both hands in the stands, cheering for Qin Ming like an avid little fan.

Hua Lian beside him was so shocked that her mouth fell slightly open. She came from an extraordinary background and naturally knew more than most. The Two-Winged Angel was a branch of the god-tier Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul, inheriting its flight and holy attributes.

Though it was not on the level of the Seven Kill Sword or Clear Sky Hammer, it still stood at the forefront of ordinary top-tier Martial Souls. Yet Qin Ming's Gray Wolf Fire could burn even the holy light of the Two-Winged Angel.

That meant the quality of Qin Ming's flames surpassed even the holy attribute of the Two-Winged Angel.

Qi clutched his chest and struggled to stand. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and dust covered his sole remaining wing. None of his earlier composure remained.

He stared at the crimson-gold flames surrounding Qin Ming, flames that seemed ready to burn through the heavens, his eyes filled with disbelief and horror.

"The lofty Angel is nothing special after all. Why do you look like a wild chicken now?" Qin Ming sneered, baring his teeth.

"What did you say?" Qi's expression twisted viciously. The Angel's honor was what he valued most, even more than his own life.

Qin Ming's words were no different from grinding his face into the dirt, trampling the pride he possessed as a wielder of the Angel Martial Soul. This was his bottom line.

"Brother Cang Ao, who do you think will win?"

In the spectator stands, several students who often followed Qi gathered around Cang Ao. With Qi absent, Cang Ao was their pillar.

"That Qin Ming isn't simple, but Qi isn't some paper tiger either." Cang Ao stared sharply at the center of the Soul Fighting Arena.

"Boy, you have insulted the Angel. You have chosen death!"

"I admit your Soul Rings are strange and your Martial Soul is powerful, but Spirit Hall has endured for thousands of years, and the Angel's glory has shone upon this continent for thousands of years as well. Its foundation is beyond anything you can imagine!"

With a roar, Qi suddenly gritted his teeth and drove out every last bit of Soul Power in his body. Pale golden holy light surged forth like a tide, enveloping his damaged Two-Winged Angel Martial Soul and shattered longsword.

The cracks in his wings healed at a visible rate, while the blade of the Light Sword became pure white and translucent once more.

Holy Light Silk!

Qi raised the Light Sword high. The two yellow Soul Rings around him flashed wildly as the wings behind him spread wide, pouring every bit of holy light into the blade.

The next instant, countless strands of holy light, as thin as cow hairs and as bright as gilded gold, erupted from the tip of the Light Sword like a torrential downpour, sweeping across the entire Soul Fighting Arena.

Dense and all-encompassing, they instantly wove into an impenetrable golden net that completely covered the airspace around Qin Ming.

"What is that?" The students in the stands cried out. Though they had known Qi for a long time, they had never seen him use this move.

"Holy Light Silk, a secret technique of the Two-Winged Angel lineage. Qi intends to decide the battle with one strike." Cang Ao explained from the side.

"He never used it before because no one had ever been qualified to force him to use it."

Spirit Hall had endured for thousands of years, and the Two-Winged Angel Martial Soul had followed the Six-Winged Angel like its most loyal servant. Over those thousands of years, many secret techniques had naturally been passed down.

Holy Light Silk was one of them. It transformed holy light into golden threads, turning it into a weapon to attack enemies. But Qi was only at the Second Ring; with the cultivation of a Soul Grandmaster, he could maintain it only briefly. This was his all-or-nothing strike.

Every golden thread gleamed with deadly cold light, sharp enough to effortlessly tear apart the body of a Defense Type Soul Grandmaster. In an instant, Qin Ming was bound layer upon layer by endless golden threads, wrapped tightly into a massive golden cocoon of light.

"He's trapped! He's really trapped!"

"That Qin Ming is finished. He'll definitely lose now!"

The students of Qi's faction beneath the stage instantly cried out, hope reigniting in their eyes.

Bai Heng and Hua Lian, meanwhile, gripped the railing tightly and prayed in their hearts.

Inside the cocoon, the golden threads formed from holy light frantically sliced at Qin Ming's Flame Armor. Piercing scraping sounds rang out without end as sparks flew from the crimson-gold armor.

To maintain the Flame Armor, Soul Power poured from Qin Ming's body like water through opened floodgates.

No, if this keeps up, I'll be the first to run out of Soul Power! Qin Ming cried inwardly.

Using Mental Power, he precisely locked onto the point where every golden thread landed, minutely adjusting the Flame Armor around his body. He condensed flame armor only where the threads cut, withdrawing Soul Power from every other area. With the utmost precision of a needlepoint against a blade, he endured every attack with the smallest possible defensive area.

This was an idea Qin Ming had conceived as soon as he obtained his second Soul Ring. In the original work, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect possessed a Distraction Control Technique based on Mental Power, allowing Spirit Masters of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda to selectively grant enhancements to their teammates and reduce Soul Power consumption.

Qin Ming had similarly envisioned using this principle to control the area covered by his Flame Armor, thereby reducing Soul Power consumption.

This technique was far inferior to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's Heart Separation Control and could only be used on Qin Ming himself.

But it was enough.

There was no excess Soul Power consumption and not the slightest opening exposed. No matter how the golden threads sliced, they could never break through the Flame Armor's defense, thin as a cicada's wing yet unshakable.

Only five breaths later.

The golden threads on the Soul Fighting Arena suddenly dimmed and vanished. The Light Sword in Angel Qi's hand clattered to the ground and dispersed into motes of light.

All strength left his body. His legs gave out, and he dropped to his knees. His Soul Power was completely depleted; he could not even maintain Martial Soul Possession, and the wings behind him vanished instantly.

He could only maintain Holy Light Silk for five breaths.

The cocoon shattered, and the crimson-gold Flame Armor around Qin Ming slowly receded as he staggered onto the ground.

Then he walked step by step toward the kneeling Angel Qi.

"How... how is this possible? We're six levels apart in Soul Power." Qi looked at Qin Ming in despair.

Without any unnecessary movement or wasted words, Qin Ming raised his right fist. Wrapped in the remaining Gray Wolf Fire, it drove straight into Angel Qi's front cheek.

A crisp crack of breaking bone exploded instantly. Qi's face was smashed viciously by Qin Ming's fist, and three bloodstained white teeth shot from his mouth amid a scarlet mist of blood. They arced through the air, landed on the Soul Fighting Arena floor, and rolled several times.

Qi himself was sent flying like a ragged sack by the punch. He traced a pathetic arc through the air before crashing heavily to the ground, his mouth full of blood.

The entire arena fell silent. Only when cheers from Bai Heng, Hua Lian, and several other students rang out from the stands did everyone return to their senses.

Angel Qi, ranked first on the Spirit Hall Academy's Grandmaster Genius Ranking, had been sent flying by a single punch from an outsider Spirit Master and knocked to his knees.

Before long, it would probably spread throughout the entire Spirit Hall Academy.