On the vast Training Ground.
Xu Yue and Yang Xiong stood dozens of meters apart, facing each other from afar.
"Xu Yue, we've known each other for over a year now. I know your strength." Yang Xiong sounded both admiring and helpless.
"If I suppressed myself to your level, I'm afraid I'd lose in less than one move."
"So," he paused before continuing, "I've decided to calculate your combat strength as being two rings above that of an ordinary Soul Master with an Ultimate Attribute. I'll suppress my Soul Power to level fifty-one."
"As long as you can force me to use power beyond this level, you win. How about it?"
Hearing Yang Xiong's proposal, Xu Yue nodded slightly, a spark of fighting spirit flashing through his eyes.
It was a universally acknowledged fact across the continent that Soul Masters with Ultimate Attributes dominated others at the same rank.
If Yang Xiong truly suppressed himself to Xu Yue's exact level, it would be rather meaningless instead.
Xu Yue immediately clasped his hands toward Yang Xiong in an ancient salute.
"Xu Yue, Martial Soul: Star of Eden, level thirty-four Power-Control Hybrid Soul Elder."
"Teacher Yang, please enlighten me!"
As his words fell, three deep-purple Soul Rings rose beneath Xu Yue's feet.
"Good!"
Yang Xiong laughed and returned the same salute to Xu Yue.
"Yang Xiong, Martial Soul: Soul-Breaking Spear, level eighty-five Power Attack Soul Douluo."
Six purple and two black Soul Rings likewise rose beneath his feet.
In an instant, the Soul Power pressure of a mid-rank Soul Douluo flooded the entire Training Ground like a tidal wave.
Yet that aura did not last long. It rapidly weakened, finally settling at the strength of level fifty-one.
With everything ready, Xu Yue did not hesitate. His second Soul Ring flashed.
Second Soul Skill, Thousand Rocks Firm!
Soul Skill effect: fifty percent amplification to all attributes, one hundred percent amplification to earth-element power, with elemental manifestation ability.
Then, with a thought from Xu Yue.
Countless streams of bright yellow Soul Power began surging and gathering in his hands.
In the blink of an eye, a Rock Spear nearly as long as Yang Xiong's Soul-Breaking Spear silently took shape.
Its entire body was dark gold, as though forged from stone. Platinum light gathered at its tip. It possessed both the sharpness of refined metal and the solidity of the earth.
Vortex Vanquisher!
Combined with Xu Yue's usual black-and-gold attire, it was fair to say that its appearance had already reached perfection.
(White Tassel: Don't you love me anymore?!)
"Teacher Yang, here I come!"
Seeing Yang Xiong standing motionless in the distance, Xu Yue launched the first attack.
With one stomp, the ground of the Training Ground trembled.
His powerful physique, enhanced by his second Soul Skill, directly tore through the air.
He raised Vortex Vanquisher before him and thrust mercilessly toward Yang Xiong.
Screech!
The spear tip ripped through the air with a piercing hum.
"Good!"
Yang Xiong's gaze sharpened at the sight of that strike, and he shouted.
The Soul-Breaking Spear in his hand then surged forth like a Black Dragon emerging from the abyss, meeting Vortex Vanquisher head-on.
Clang!
The harsh sound of metal colliding exploded through the training room, while black and gold Soul Power ripples spread outward like a vortex.
But soon, following the collision of the first strike.
Increasingly dense clashes of metal rang out in rapid succession.
Clang! Clang! Clang...
At the start of the battle, neither Xu Yue nor Yang Xiong used any other Soul Skills. They fought solely with the Soul-Breaking Spear Technique.
Yet this state lasted less than half a minute before Yang Xiong praised him loudly.
"Xu Yue, your Soul-Breaking Spear Technique has already reached mastery. Your attainments are not inferior to mine in the slightest."
"In this regard alone, you have already graduated."
"Then, let us begin our true battle!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he did not wait for Xu Yue to reply. He stepped backward.
In the gap between attacks, his body suddenly swept through half a circle, and the Soul-Breaking Spear in his hand swept toward Xu Yue's side.
Soul-Breaking Spear Technique: Black Dragon Tail Whip!
At the same time, the purple Soul Ring beneath his feet flashed.
First Soul Skill, Quake. Second Soul Skill, Explode.
The two Soul Skills activated simultaneously.
In an instant, the already sharp Soul-Breaking Spear was enveloped in dense black light, its overwhelmingly tyrannical aura rushing straight at Xu Yue's face.
Twenty thousand years ago, the Breaking Clan had already been renowned across the continent for its ultimate offense.
And in this era, Soul-Breaking Spear Soul Masters had pushed the attribute of attack to its very limit!
In this regard alone, there might truly be few Soul Masters on the continent who could surpass them at the same rank.
Seeing the Soul-Breaking Spear coming at him, Xu Yue's gaze sharpened, yet his feet did not retreat.
He raised Vortex Vanquisher horizontally to block it, and his first Soul Ring flashed.
First Soul Skill, Jade Shield.
Boom!
A bright yellow shockwave erupted from around him, sweeping across a five-meter radius.
However, the First Soul Skill was fundamentally a defensive Soul Skill, and its accompanying attack was not particularly powerful.
Naturally, it could not inflict much damage on the charging Yang Xiong.
The instant Jade Shield rose, Yang Xiong's Soul-Breaking Spear smashed heavily into the shaft of Vortex Vanquisher.
Boom!
A tremendous crash rang out.
Dense black light erupted into powerful shockwaves.
Even Jade Shield flickered continuously.
Yet,
under Yang Xiong's blow, Xu Yue did not shift a single step. He remained firmly rooted where he stood.
It was as though Yang Xiong had not struck a person, but a towering mountain that had stood unfallen for tens of millions of years.
The combined effect of his First and Second Soul Skills carried a special effect.
Stone-Solid Tyrant Body!
Thousand Rocks Firm, Heavy Barrier Unmoved!
Yang Xiong was naturally not surprised that his strike had failed.
If he could win that easily, then the past year of teaching would have been wasted.
The next moment,
Xu Yue's gaze narrowed. He lightly swung Vortex Vanquisher aside, knocking away the Soul-Breaking Spear, then said in a deep voice, "Teacher Yang, it would be discourteous not to return the favor. My turn now!"
"Good..."
Yang Xiong had barely uttered the word when he felt as though he had plunged into a bottomless sea.
An all-pervading force began squeezing his entire body, shackling everything from his skin and muscles to his internal organs with crushing weight.
If he used the strength of a Soul Douluo, he could ignore it. But at the level of a Soul King, it was difficult to break free.
For a moment, both his speed and attack power dropped by more than twenty percent.
And Xu Yue's attack had already reached him.
The dark-gold spear shaft resembled a rock dragon bursting from the earth, crashing down with the oppressive force of a collapsing mountain.
Yang Xiong did not dare ignore this strike. He raised the Soul-Breaking Spear in his hand, using offense as defense!
However,
at the instant Vortex Vanquisher and the Soul-Breaking Spear collided again.
Xu Yue twisted his wrist lightly. An invisible force coiled around the spear shaft, and its attack speed abruptly increased.
Gravity Domain, Eightfold Amplification!
The Rock Spear, condensed from Ultimate earth element, had already been incredibly heavy, weighing several hundred jin.
Speed, pressure, and the amplification of the Gravity Domain—how could the force of this strike be merely several tons?
In an instant, Yang Xiong's expression changed slightly. Yet the shift was too sudden, leaving him almost no time to react.
Boom!
The two long spears collided heavily.
Screech!
Yang Xiong staggered back three or four meters, while the Soul-Breaking Spear in his hands shook violently.
Even when he forcibly pressed it down, he could not eliminate the trembling of the spear shaft in a short time.
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