Qian Renxue's Shock!

Ning Fengzhi's voice suddenly became deeper and slower, as though every word carried immense weight:

"And as for his true talent..."

He paused deliberately, his gaze fixed firmly on Xue Qinghe.

"According to my observations and verification from multiple sources, his current Soul Power has likely reached—"

"Rank 89, Soul Douluo!"

"What?!"

Even with Xue Qinghe's (Qian Renxue's) composure, her mind was violently shaken at that moment, roaring with disbelief.

She was twenty-three this year. With the absolute advantage of innate Rank 20 Soul Power and the full support of Spirit Hall's resources, her Soul Power had reached Rank 62.

Although many of her cultivation sessions had to be conducted in secret due to her infiltration of the Heaven Dou Empire, greatly slowing her progress, she had calculated that even if she gave it everything she had, she would at most be around Rank 75 by now. Breaking through Rank 80 by the age of twenty-six would already be difficult.

Yet this Fu Shiyan, who had appeared out of nowhere, was already approaching the threshold of a Title Douluo?!

His cultivation speed was terrifying beyond belief!

However, Ning Fengzhi did not stop. His words struck at the defenses around her heart like a succession of heavy hammers:

"But this merely reflects his talent in cultivation speed.

What truly makes him terrifying is his almost monstrous ability to develop and control his Martial Soul."

Ning Fengzhi sank into recollection and spoke slowly:

"Previously, Tang San fell into danger when Tai Tan of the Strength Clan stepped forward for his grandson, Tai Long. I had intended to ask Uncle Gu to intervene.

Yet before Uncle Gu could appear, Fu Shiyan used an unheard-of Self-Created Soul Skill—the Wood Dragon Technique—to effortlessly suppress Tai Tan, who was renowned for his strength, in an instant!"

"Afterward, Tai Tan recognized Tang San's Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul and immediately pledged allegiance to him. But after Gu Rong learned that Tang San was Tang Hao's son, he briefly revealed a trace of killing intent.

At the time, Fu Shiyan seemed to show no reaction. We all thought he had not noticed."

Ning Fengzhi's tone became more solemn than ever before:

"Until, on our way back, he actually blocked the road alone!

Without any unnecessary words, he directly challenged Gu Rong.

Qinghe, I will never forget that scene—"

"A young man who appeared to be only in his twenties slowly revealed eight Spirit Rings around himself.

And that Spirit Ring configuration..."

Ning Fengzhi drew a deep breath, as though he still found it impossible to believe what he had seen that day.

"It was unprecedented: yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, red, red!"

"That's impossible!!!"

Xue Qinghe could no longer maintain his composure. He abruptly rose from his seat, and the chair beneath him let out a piercing scrape from the sudden movement and the uncontrolled fluctuation of his Soul Power.

His pupils contracted sharply as he stared at Ning Fengzhi in utter shock, his voice rising slightly from extreme disbelief.

"Teacher! Do you know what you are saying?!

A Soul Douluo in his twenties is already shocking enough!

A thousand-year second ring and a ten-thousand-year fourth ring... that completely violates the common sense of the Soul Master world!

Not to mention... two Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Rings?!

That is absolutely impossible! Nothing so absurd has ever appeared in the entire history of the continent!"

Ning Fengzhi was not surprised by Xue Qinghe's intense loss of composure. He shook his head heavily, bitterness and lingering fear on his face.

"Qinghe, I understand your shock.

If I had not witnessed it with my own eyes, and if Uncle Gu had not experienced it personally, I would never have believed that such an... unreasonable genius could exist in this world."

He paused before delivering the final and most impactful fact.

"And the most unacceptable part is that he...

At the time, as a Rank 88 Soul Douluo, he completely defeated Uncle Gu, who had gone all out, in less than a minute!"

The tea room fell into deathly silence.

Ning Fengzhi's voice carried a faint, barely perceptible tremor as he continued.

"Even now, when I think back on that battle, it still sends chills down my spine.

I keep thinking that if not for Rongrong's relationship with Tang San, which made him show mercy in the end...

You and I likely would not have the chance to speak here today."

Qian Renxue felt a chill shoot up her spine. No matter what, she could not accept this fact—

A Soul Douluo in his eighties had defeated Gu Rong, a Rank 95 Title Douluo renowned for his strange defensive abilities, within a single minute!

This had completely overturned her understanding of the hierarchy of Soul Master strength.

"How... how is that possible?"

Her voice trembled slightly, though she did not even notice it herself.

"The difference in their ranks was so enormous, and Senior Gu Rong is known for his defense. How could he not even last one minute?

How exactly did he do it?"

At that question, the bitterness on Ning Fengzhi's face deepened, as if he had returned to the scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.

He slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again. A trace of lingering fear remained in his gaze.

"How did he do it?"

He repeated Qian Renxue's question, his voice low.

"Actually, rather than saying he won in one minute, it would be more accurate to say... he only used one move."

"One move?!"

Qian Renxue cried out in shock. This answer was even harder for her to accept than a defeat in one minute.

"That's right. Just one move."

Ning Fengzhi drew a deep breath, as though recalling and describing what came next required immense courage.

"I still remember it clearly. He merely stood there calmly and formed a strange hand seal—his ten fingers interlocked and clasped together.

Then, the vast Soul Power around him surged madly into the earth beneath his feet like a flood breaking through a dam!"

His speech unconsciously quickened, carrying the urgency of recounting a horrifying past.

"In an instant, the ground trembled violently. Countless gigantic wooden pillars, incomparably thick, glowing with a deep blue luster and covered in strange patterns, burst out of the earth!

They grew, intertwined, and merged at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow!

Within only a few breaths, they... they actually condensed into a colossal wooden giant that towered between heaven and earth!"

Ning Fengzhi's voice rose slightly with agitation.

"That wooden giant stood a hundred meters tall, towering like a mountain. Its entire body bore the unique color and patterns of Blue Silver Grass. Most terrifyingly, it had four arms growing from its shoulders, and every arm contained horrifying power capable of shaking mountains!

He called this technique—Blue Silver Four-Armed Vajra!"

He looked at the pale-faced Qian Renxue and spoke each word distinctly.

"The most terrifying part was that although it was a construct made of Blue Silver Grass wood, both its defense and attack had reached an unimaginable level.

Uncle Gu's Ninth Soul Skill, unleashed at full power—a Spirit Skill capable of tearing space apart...

That four-armed wooden giant merely raised one of its arms and... and effortlessly blocked it!"

By the end, Ning Fengzhi's voice carried a tremor even he could not control.

"So that was not a one-minute battle at all...

It was a full minute of complete and utter... crushing and humiliation!"

He practically gritted out the final word, as though he could still feel the bone-deep helplessness and shock from that day.