Crushing Xu Sanshi, Two Mysterious Water Pills

"Ahhh—!!"

With a miserable scream, the massive blast wave violently sent Xu Sanshi flying.

He crashed heavily onto the ground outside the arena, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The entire venue fell silent.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at the Young Master of the Mysterious Underworld Sect lying outside the arena, his entire body charred black, then looked at the boy on the stage, completely unharmed—not even the hem of his clothes was disturbed.

An instant kill?

A one-ring Soul Master instantly killed a three-ring Soul Elder?

The referee stood frozen for several seconds before finally raising his hand as if waking from a dream.

"Winner of this soul duel: Huo Yuhao—"

"Wait!"

An angry roar interrupted the referee's announcement.

Xu Sanshi abruptly scrambled to his feet.

He looked utterly miserable. His school uniform had been blown to tatters, leaving him dressed like a beggar. His face was blackened in patches, and wisps of smoke still rose from his hair.

Yet the fury in his eyes burned even stronger than before.

"I refuse to accept this!"

Xu Sanshi brushed the dust from himself, pointed at Huo Yuhao on the stage, and roared through gritted teeth.

"This brat just got lucky! He took advantage of my carelessness to ambush me!"

"I demand another match!"

As one of the Outer Court Twin Stars, losing to a one-ring freshman was simply the greatest humiliation imaginable.

If he did not win back his pride today, how could he continue to show his face in Shrek? How could he pursue Jiang Nannan?

The referee frowned slightly and looked toward Huo Yuhao.

"Huo Yuhao, are you willing to accept his proposal? According to the rules, since he has already fallen out of the arena, you are the winner. You may refuse."

Huo Yuhao folded his arms and looked down at the disheveled Xu Sanshi below.

What showed in those Sharingan was undisguised contempt.

"Dragging out your last breath, yet refusing to admit defeat..."

Huo Yuhao tilted his head slightly, his tone cold as ice.

"How ugly."

"What did you say?!" Xu Sanshi was completely enraged by those words, veins bulging on his forehead.

He pulled another porcelain bottle from his robes.

"I'll add another Mysterious Water Pill!"

"If you can still defeat me this round, both Mysterious Water Pills will be yours!"

"Well? Do you dare accept?!"

Huo Yuhao looked at the two Mysterious Water Pills, and the corner of his formerly indifferent lips slowly curled into a mocking sneer.

"That's more like it."

Huo Yuhao assumed a fighting stance once more.

Xu Sanshi leaped back onto the arena. This time, he put away every trace of contempt.

"Second round, begin!"

At the referee's command.

This time, Xu Sanshi did not rashly activate his exchange ability. Instead, he immediately raised the Black Tortoise Shell Shield in his hand and warily watched Huo Yuhao's every movement.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Huo Yuhao did not waste a word. With a flick of his wrist, several more shuriken flew from his hand.

"The same move again?"

Xu Sanshi sneered. "Just attacking blindly? Do you think the same trick will still work on me?"

He held the massive shield horizontally before himself.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The shuriken struck the shield with crisp rings and were all knocked away.

"So I was merely too careless before." Xu Sanshi hid behind the shield, his voice full of mockery. "Your attacks may be strange, but they're too weak. They can't break through my defenses at all!"

However.

Just as he thought he had everything under control.

A scorching aura suddenly came from his blind spot behind him.

What?

Xu Sanshi whirled around.

The shuriken had somehow collided with one another in midair, ricocheting at unbelievable angles around his shield and shooting straight toward his back!

What terrified him even more was—

Crimson flames had ignited on those shuriken out of nowhere!

Uchiha-style Manipulated Shuriken Technique!

Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Claw Crimson!

"Damn it!"

Xu Sanshi's expression changed drastically. The attack angle was far too tricky; simply raising his shield could not block it.

"Don't underestimate my martial soul! You're far too naive!"

"Second Soul Skill, Mysterious Underworld Shield Formation!"

Bzzz—!

His yellow hundred-year soul ring lit up at once.

The shield in Xu Sanshi's hand instantly split apart, transforming into countless black shield phantoms that rapidly circled around him, forming a dark green energy barrier with no blind spots in all directions.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The flaming shuriken struck the shield formation, bursting into showers of sparks, yet they could not break through that heavy defense.

Watching the flames remain blocked outside, Xu Sanshi sighed in relief before bursting into laughter.

"Hahahaha! Useless!"

"My Black Tortoise Shell Shield is a top-tier defensive martial soul! As long as I want to defend, no one can break through it!"

Huo Yuhao stopped moving and looked at the barrier, which resembled a turtle shell.

"A turtle hiding in its shell?"

"Do you think I can't do anything to you just because you're hiding inside that shell?"

Huo Yuhao formed hand seals once more.

This time, his hand seals were faster than ever before.

The Chakra within him surged wildly.

Water Release: Water Shockwave!

Whoosh—!

Before the stunned eyes of every spectator.

A massive waterspout suddenly rose from the soul duel arena out of thin air!

Raging water currents spiraled around Huo Yuhao.

"Go!"

He pointed with one hand.

The waterspout instantly transformed into a towering wave, crashing toward Xu Sanshi's Mysterious Underworld Shield Formation with overwhelming force.

"Oh my god!"

A wave of shocked cries erupted from the spectator stands.

"That one-ring Soul Master... can actually create such a large-scale water-attribute soul skill out of thin air in an arena without water?!"

"How is that possible? Can he even afford that much Soul Power consumption?"

Not only were the students dumbfounded, even the referee was stunned speechless.

A "soul skill" on this scale should require at least a three-ring Soul Elder to unleash, right?

Faced with the roaring tidal wave, Xu Sanshi was not alarmed but delighted.

"Idiot!"

He shouted from inside the shield formation, "My Black Tortoise Shell Shield is naturally dual-attributed to water and earth! Water-attribute attacks will be greatly weakened against me!"

"Your move is useless against me!"

The enormous wave instantly swallowed Xu Sanshi, completely enveloping him and his shield formation in water.

Just as he had said, the Mysterious Underworld Shield Formation not only did not shatter in the water, but became even more solid from the nourishment of the same attribute.

However.

Huo Yuhao stood atop the waves, looking at the "turtle shell" beneath the water as the cold smile on his lips grew increasingly cruel.

"Oh? Useless?"

"Then what if... I add this?"

Crackle, crackle, crackle!

Huo Yuhao did not stop.

The instant Water Shockwave was released, his hands had already formed a new set of seals.

This time, it was lightning!

The Chakra in his body compressed to the limit, gathering in his palm as a dazzling blue-white electric glow.

Lightning Style: False Darkness!

Boom!

Huo Yuhao thrust both hands forward.

A lightning beam as sharp as a spear instantly plunged into the water below.

Water conducted electricity.

The moment the violent Lightning Style Chakra touched the water surrounding Xu Sanshi, the effect underwent an immediate qualitative change.

The once-gentle current now became the deadliest conductor!

In that instant, the entire soul duel arena was illuminated by blue electric light.

"What?!"

Xu Sanshi's pupils shrank sharply underwater.

He saw the lightning rapidly spreading toward him along the current.

"You can actually control the lightning attribute too?!"

"A third attribute?!"

How was that possible?!

He had thought this brat's martial soul was special, that at most he could wield fire- and water-attribute attacks.

But now, this deadly lightning shattered all his illusions.

Crackle—!!

The lightning instantly pierced through the Mysterious Underworld Shield Formation.

Xu Sanshi's defense was as fragile as paper before Huo Yuhao's dual assault.

"Ahhhhh—!!!"

An even more miserable scream echoed throughout the venue.

The Mysterious Underworld Shield Formation instantly collapsed.

Xu Sanshi convulsed violently in the water, every strand of his hair standing on end. Foam spilled from his mouth, and black smoke rose from his entire body.

Only two seconds passed.

The waves receded.

Xu Sanshi lay sprawled on the soaked arena like a lump of mud, his entire body charred black as uncontrollable spasms still ran through him.

His rolled-back eyes stared blankly as unconscious groans escaped his mouth. He had completely lost the ability to fight.

"No... impossible..."

"You... are only... one ring..."

Even until the moment before he lost consciousness, he could not accept this reality.

The referee swallowed and looked at the cold-faced boy standing amid the pooled water.

Too strong.

This kind of attribute combination was practically art.

"The winner has been decided!"

"Huo Yuhao achieves a complete victory!"

Cheers erupted belatedly.

Huo Yuhao ignored the surrounding uproar.

He walked over to Xu Sanshi and took the porcelain bottle containing the two Mysterious Water Pills.

"Your defeat is my truth."

With that said.

Huo Yuhao turned and left, leaving behind only an arrogant silhouette.