Of course, this was only a virtual projection and had no real Secret Acupoint effect, but the penetrating force within it struck solidly home.
The red-haired youth's movements instantly stiffened. His virtual body flickered violently a few times before exploding with a "bang" into countless specks of light and vanishing.
From beginning to end, it had taken no more than three to five seconds.
Situ Xuan stood where he was, looking calmly at the spot where the red-haired youth had disappeared.
He had thought this would be an intense battle to test the results of his training. He had not expected his opponent to be so... weak.
"Hall of Heroes... is that all?"
He delivered the assessment blandly, and for the first time, he began to doubt the difficulty of the Hall of Heroes' trials.
A cold notification sounded at just the right moment:
"First match. Survival time: three seconds. Evaluation: perfect. Preparing second match. Opponent strength increased. Survival time: one minute."
The cold notification was still echoing through the space when white light gathered ahead once more.
This time, the figure that formed possessed noticeably stronger Soul Power fluctuations. Two bright yellow soul rings circled his body—it was the projection of Xu Sanshi at the Soul Grandmaster level.
The Black Tortoise Shell covered a greater area, its color deeper and its defensive aura more powerful.
Yet Situ Xuan could not even be bothered to examine the details of his opponent's soul rings.
The instant the red-haired youth's figure fully solidified and he had just assumed his stance, before he could even release his first soul skill—
Situ Xuan moved.
There was no warning, no buildup. It was as though he had merely taken a casual half-step forward.
But during that half-step, the airflow around him rippled almost imperceptibly, and