Battle with Wu Zhangkong

Wu Zhangkong: "..."

Wu Zhangkong had not expected Tang Wulin to be the first to step forward, and a flicker of surprise crossed his face. In the end, however, he nodded in agreement.

"Gu Yue, Xie Xie, you two join in as well!"

To help everyone present better recognize their own shortcomings, Wu Zhangkong decided to have Gu Yue and Xie Xie join the fight too.

"Teacher Wu, then I won't hold back."

When Xie Xie heard that Wu Zhangkong wanted him and Gu Yue to join in, he immediately began rubbing his fists together eagerly.

Although Gu Yue said nothing, she very consciously took a step forward.

Once the three were in position, Wu Zhangkong took out an utterly ordinary teaching whip and snapped it through the air. He said coldly, "Then begin!"

The moment Wu Zhangkong finished speaking, Tang Wulin and the other two immediately took the initiative.

But even though the three of them coordinated with flawless mastery, no matter how they attacked, Wu Zhangkong handled it with ease.

And when faced with Wu Zhangkong's attacks, no matter how Tang Wulin and the others defended, they would still be ruthlessly lashed by the whip.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!!!"

For a time, Tang Wulin's and Xie Xie's screams filled the area.

Among the three, Gu Yue was the only one in slightly better shape.

Since she was a girl, Wu Zhangkong held back with her at every turn.

He did not treat Gu Yue the same way he treated Tang Wulin and Xie Xie.

"Do you understand where your weaknesses lie now?"

Looking at Tang Wulin and Xie Xie, who had been whipped into pig heads, as well as Gu Yue, whose face was pale and whose forehead was drenched in sweat, Wu Zhangkong asked sternly.

"Mm-hmm."

Tang Wulin and Xie Xie nodded repeatedly like pecking chicks, afraid that even a second's delay would earn them another merciless lashing from Wu Zhangkong.

If he had known it would turn out like this, Tang Wulin would never have been the first to step forward.

"You three should rest properly for now."

After soothing Tang Wulin and the others, Wu Zhangkong turned his gaze to Su Mo. "Will the three of you come together, or...?"

Faced with Wu Zhangkong's scrutinizing gaze, Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi took two frightened steps back when they recalled Tang Wulin and the others' miserable state just now.

But how could they know that Wu Zhangkong had actually been very measured in his attacks?

Tang Wulin and the others had only suffered superficial injuries. They looked like they had been beaten terribly, but it would not affect the next day's lessons at all.

Glancing at Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi, who were huddled together and trembling in fear, Su Mo yawned and lazily walked out from the shade. "Su Mo, Rank 29 Soul Grandmaster!"

"Rank 29?!"

The moment Su Mo announced his cultivation level, the entire training ground fell silent.

Even Tang Wulin, who had always been optimistic, was so discouraged upon hearing Su Mo's level that he did not know what to say.

A nine-year-old at Rank 29—such a terrifying cultivation speed could rank among the best even across the entire history of Soul Masters.

They finally understood why Yu Zhen, despite being the academy's headmaster, had been so humble before Su Mo.

A genius like this would be revered wherever he went.

"You can be considered a genius."

After a long silence, Wu Zhangkong did not stint on his praise.

But before Su Mo could react, Wu Zhangkong changed the subject. "However, on the path of a Soul Master, those who die the fastest are often the so-called geniuses, especially those conceited geniuses."

Faced with Wu Zhangkong's warning, Su Mo could not be bothered to waste words. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're right."

Wu Zhangkong's face darkened. "Very good. I hope you can maintain that attitude in a moment as well."

"Hm?"

Seeing Su Mo charge straight at him without even using his Martial Soul, Wu Zhangkong clearly hesitated for a moment before quickly reacting.

Wu Zhangkong had already made up his mind to use this opportunity to properly discipline Su Mo.

Whoosh!

The teaching whip in Wu Zhangkong's hand was like a sharp blade, slicing toward Su Mo with a piercing whistle.

As if he had expected it, Su Mo sidestepped the strike and grabbed the teaching whip with his backhand.

Wu Zhangkong immediately infused Soul Power into the whip, attempting to shake Su Mo away.

But what Wu Zhangkong had not expected was that Su Mo had the very same idea.

Under the enormous pressure created by the collision of the two surges of Soul Power, the fragile teaching whip instantly burst apart into countless fragments.

Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon.

The instant the teaching whip exploded, the Mysterious Heaven Skill began circulating within Wu Zhangkong. His right hand seemed to possess some kind of magic, drawing every fragment in the air into his palm.

Watching Wu Zhangkong display such a method, Tang Wulin and the others were too shocked to say anything. Their eyes were filled with envy.

Even Gu Yue, who had always been proud, had a strange glimmer flash through her beautiful eyes when she saw Wu Zhangkong use Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon.

As the Silver Dragon King, Gu Yue knew better than anyone that Wu Zhangkong had achieved this move solely through precise control of his Soul Power.

"Go!"

Wu Zhangkong thrust his right hand forward, and the fragments in his palm instantly transformed into countless sharp blades that shot toward Su Mo.

Faced with Wu Zhangkong's fierce and dense attack, Su Mo's mind raced. In the end, he chose to use the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm to neutralize the attack.

"Ha!" Su Mo shouted as he fiercely thrust his right palm forward. An Air Cannon, almost invisible to the naked eye, instantly erupted from his palm.

Su Mo's violent palm wind brushed past Wu Zhangkong's cheek, severing several strands of his long hair.

"Is that externalized Soul Power?"

Wu Zhangkong was inwardly horrified. He had not expected Su Mo, at such a young age, to possess such an astonishing degree of control over his own Soul Power.

In Douluo Continent, the most common method of externalizing Soul Power was pressure.

But releasing pressure required not only externalized Soul Power, but also the mobilization of spiritual power to support it.

A method like Su Mo's, using pure externalized Soul Power to attack, was something even ordinary Titled Douluo might not necessarily master.

At that moment, the contempt in Wu Zhangkong's eyes had completely vanished, replaced by utter seriousness.

Wu Zhangkong now desperately wanted to know just how far Su Mo could go.

Having made his decision, Wu Zhangkong no longer held back. His entire aura changed instantly.

An icy, murderous aura spread from Wu Zhangkong's body, and the surrounding temperature immediately dropped by several degrees.

Even the ground was covered by a thin layer of frost under the influence of that aura.

Tang Wulin and the others, watching from the side, felt as though even breathing had become difficult under the pressure of Wu Zhangkong's aura.

"Is this the Tang Sect's Mysterious Heaven Skill?"

Watching Wu Zhangkong's entire presence become sharper, his eyes emitting a pale purple glow, Su Mo silently pondered.

Su Mo also wanted to know just what was so profound about the Mysterious Heaven Skill passed down by Tang San that it had stood firm on Douluo Continent for twenty thousand years.

Wu Zhangkong's figure, stepping through mysterious footwork, suddenly became hazy. Then it split into countless phantoms that surrounded Su Mo from every direction.

The move Wu Zhangkong had used was precisely one of the Tang Sect's inherited secret arts, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.

"How will Su Mo deal with it?"

Looking at the countless afterimages of Wu Zhangkong, Tang Wulin and the others, who had just suffered from this move, stared intently at Su Mo, wanting to know how he would respond.

Facing Wu Zhangkong, who had surrounded him completely, Su Mo's eyes darted rapidly, yet he could only barely catch sight of Wu Zhangkong's figure.

Of course, if Su Mo were willing to use the Sharingan, he could not only easily see through Wu Zhangkong's Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track with its perceptive power,

but also use its copying ability to replicate Wu Zhangkong's Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.

But since he had already decided not to use his Martial Soul, Su Mo would not break his word over such a trivial matter.

Moreover, in Su Mo's view, the Tang Sect's Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track had much in common with Shisui's Phantom Body Flicker Technique.

The only difference was that the phantoms created by Shisui's Phantom Body Flicker Technique would not dissipate when attacked and could even attack together with the real body.

Still, to achieve such an effect merely through footwork, there was a reason Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track could become the Tang Sect's signature secret art.