A dozen Martial Souls were released at once.
The glow of Soul Power in every color lit up the arena.
Lei Tian stood at the very front.
He was the strongest student in the intermediate class.
His Level 19 Soul Power surged out without restraint.
The Raging Thunder War Bear possessed him.
Blue arcs of electricity flickered across Lei Tian's body.
His frame instantly grew taller.
His muscles strained against the sleeves of his shirt.
A yellow Hundred-Year Soul Ring spun rapidly beneath his feet.
"Attack!"
Lei Tian shouted.
More than a dozen elite students with Soul Power above Level 15 launched their attacks at once.
Two control-type students struck first.
Thorn-covered green vines burst from the cracks in the arena.
They whipped toward Su Chen's legs from every direction.
Three agility-attack students blurred into afterimages.
They pounced at Su Chen's back from different blind spots.
The remaining power-attack students followed close behind Lei Tian.
Several beams of violent Soul Skill energy slammed straight toward the center of the arena.
It was a flawless team effort.
The instructors in the stands nodded slightly.
With firepower blanketing every direction like this,
even a Level 25 Soul Grandmaster would have to temporarily avoid the brunt of it.
They didn't believe Su Chen could still withstand it with nothing but his body.
Su Chen's expression remained calm.
The Million-Year Head Soul Bone in his mind stirred.
His tangible spiritual power instantly covered the entire arena.
Under his immense spiritual perception,
everyone's movements seemed to slow.
The vines' growth paths were clear as day.
The agility-attack students' landing spots were completely exposed.
Su Chen moved.
He didn't retreat.
He stomped his right foot against the Adamantine Rock floor.
A terrifying force of two thousand jin surged into the arena.
Boom.
A dull thud rang out.
The hard Adamantine Rock floor split with cracks over a wide area.
A powerful shockwave spread along the ground.
The vines that had just emerged were instantly shattered by the shockwave.
They broke into countless green fragments that scattered through the air.
The two control-type students suffered a backlash from their Soul Power.
They both spat out blood.
Then collapsed to the ground.
Su Chen used the recoil to leap into the air.
He dodged several beams of Soul Skill energy hurtling toward him head-on.
The attacks crashed into empty ground.
A cloud of dust burst into the air.
Su Chen twisted his waist in midair.
He met the three agility-attack students who had tried to ambush him from behind.
The three students were aghast.
They hadn't expected Su Chen to be faster than them.
Su Chen made no wasted movements.
He kicked three times in midair.
Each kick struck one student squarely in the chest.
Crack.
The sound of breaking bones rang out one after another.
The three agility-attack students flew backward even faster than they had charged in.
They sailed over Lei Tian's head.
Then crashed heavily into the protective barrier at the edge of the Martial Arts Arena.
They passed out instantly.
Su Chen landed steadily.
Lei Tian had already charged right up to him.
"First Soul Skill: Wild Thunder Heavy Strike!"
Lei Tian's eyes were bloodshot.
He concentrated all his Soul Power into his fists.
Blinding blue lightning wrapped around their surface.
He leaped high into the air.
With the force of Mount Tai bearing down, he brought his fists crashing toward the top of Su Chen's head.
This was Lei Tian's strongest attack.
He had once used this move to defeat a Level 21 Soul Grandmaster despite the difference in levels.
Su Chen looked up at Lei Tian.
He still didn't release his Martial Soul.
He slowly raised his right hand.
His five fingers curled together into a fist.
A faint current of Bloodline Power flowed around it.
Su Chen punched straight upward.
The two fists, one large and one small, collided fiercely in midair.
Bang.
The dull impact resounded through the Martial Arts Arena.
Blue lightning instantly spread from Su Chen's arm across his entire body.
A smug smile appeared at the corner of Lei Tian's mouth.
His lightning carried a powerful paralyzing effect.
Anyone struck by it
would briefly lose the ability to move.
But his smile froze instantly.
Su Chen's body didn't falter at all.
The moment the violent blue lightning touched his skin,
it was like a stream flowing into the sea.
It stirred not the slightest ripple.
The body rebuilt by the Marrow Cleansing Pill
had extremely high resistance to the elements.
Lightning of this low a level couldn't hurt him at all.
Then,
a force like an overwhelming avalanche surged from Su Chen's fist.
Lei Tian felt as though his arms had slammed into a steel fortress moving at full speed.
His arm bones groaned under the strain.
A wave of agony flooded his nerves.
Su Chen's right arm suddenly straightened.
His power burst forth completely.
Lei Tian's towering body was blasted straight into the air.
His arms bent at unnatural angles.
His Martial Soul Possession was forcibly broken.
He spewed a huge mouthful of blood in midair.
Then crashed heavily to the ground more than ten meters away.
Lei Tian struggled twice.
His head lolled to one side.
He lost consciousness completely.
The strongest student, Lei Tian, had been knocked out in a single blow.
The seven or eight remaining power-attack students froze for a moment.
Their charging steps came to a halt of their own accord.
Their eyes filled with terror.
Su Chen gave them no chance to catch their breath.
He took the initiative and attacked.
He flashed forward.
Then charged straight into the crowd.
This was nothing but a one-sided physical beatdown.
No flashy Soul Skills clashed against one another.
There was only pure violence, every punch landing with a meaty thud.
Each time Su Chen swung his fist,
another student hit the ground.
He was simply too fast.
These elite students, all above Level 15, couldn't even see his movements.
They only felt a gust of wind rush toward them,
followed by unbearable pain.
Bang.
Su Chen chopped the side of his hand into the neck of a student with an Iron Armor Martial Soul.
The armor shattered instantly.
The student's eyes rolled back as he collapsed.
Bang.
Su Chen swept out with a side kick,
sending two students who had tried to attack him from both sides flying off the arena at once.
In less than half a minute,
the dozen or so challengers who had charged in with such confidence
were all sprawled across the arena
or had been kicked down beneath the stands.
Not one of them remained standing.
Moans of pain echoed through the Martial Arts Arena in fits and starts.
Su Chen lowered his fist.
He stood amid the injured students.
His breathing was steady.
Not a single crease marked his black brocade clothes.
The Martial Arts Arena fell silent.
More than a thousand students from the Martial Soul Academy stared blankly at the scene.
Their pride had been shattered completely.
Even Lei Tian, the strongest student in the intermediate class, had joined forces with more than a dozen core elites,
yet they hadn't managed to touch so much as the hem of Su Chen's clothes.
The overwhelming gap in strength left them despairing.
The instructors in the stands looked deathly pale.
Their most prized students had been laid out like vegetables being chopped, using the most primitive method.
It was a devastating blow to their teaching philosophy.
At the highest point of the viewing stand, Golden Crocodile Douluo abandoned his casual posture.
He leaned forward slightly, his eyes fixed on Su Chen below.
"He really didn't use a trace of Soul Power."
Golden Crocodile Douluo's voice was grave.
"He relied entirely on the strength and speed of his body to break through the class barriers imposed by Soul Rings."
Demon Bear Douluo drew in a sharp breath.
"How is that possible? Even a top-tier Beast Martial Soul couldn't produce a body this strong before gaining a Soul Ring. What kind of monster is he?"
Snake Lance Douluo glanced at Bibi Dong.
"Your Holiness the Pope, you've taken on an extraordinary disciple. With a body like that, he's already invincible among his peers."
Bibi Dong leaned back against the Pope Throne.
She couldn't hide the satisfaction in her eyes.
Su Chen's performance had exceeded her expectations.
She had thought Su Chen would at least use the pressure of his Twin Martial Souls to win.
She hadn't expected him to be too lazy to even summon his Martial Soul.
Instead, he had used the most brutal method to beat everyone into submission.
That domineering aura, crushing all opposition, was exactly what the Martial Soul Hall Holy Son needed.
Bibi Dong looked at Golden Crocodile Douluo.
"Second Worship, according to our agreement, Su Chen has now proven himself worthy of becoming the Holy Son, hasn't he?"
Golden Crocodile Douluo fell silent for a moment.
Then he slowly nodded.
"A wager is a wager. The Elder Hall acknowledges his strength. From this day on, he is the Holy Son of Spirit Hall."
Golden Crocodile Douluo's declaration meant that Spirit Hall's upper ranks had reached agreement on the matter.
Su Chen's position as Holy Son was now firmly established.
On the arena, Su Chen had heard the exchange on the viewing stand.
He showed no excitement.
This was exactly what he had expected.
He turned around and looked over the thousand or so students below, all of them scared out of their wits.
"Anyone else want to come up?"
Su Chen's voice echoed through the spacious Martial Arts Arena.
No one in the ranks of students answered.
Everyone lowered their heads instinctively.
None of them dared meet Su Chen's gaze.
Even Lei Tian had been taken out in a single move.
Going up there would be suicide.
The Central Martial Arena was silent enough to hear a pin drop.
Just as several Temple Knights were preparing to carry the injured away, a crisp set of footsteps suddenly came from the back of the Pope Palace's ranks.
The steps were unhurried, yet unmistakably clear.
Everyone in the stands turned toward the sound.
A short-haired girl was walking down the stairs.
She looked about ten years old and wore a high-grade, custom-made Spirit Hall uniform.
She was alluring in appearance.
Though still young, a natural charm already showed in her features.
The moment she appeared, everyone's eyes were drawn to her.
Su Chen watched the girl step forward.
He searched through the memories of the original owner and immediately recognized her.
Hu Liena.
A core member of Spirit Hall's Golden Generation.
The disciple Bibi Dong had valued most before.
Hu Liena walked straight through the crowd and stopped at the edge of the arena.
Unlike the others, she didn't leap onto the platform.
She walked up the steps, one by one, onto the Adamantine Rock floor.
She stopped ten meters from Su Chen.
There was no fear in Hu Liena's eyes.
Only fierce defiance.
As the Pope's disciple, she had enjoyed the best resources Spirit Hall had to offer since childhood.
In Spirit City, her talent had always been something her peers could only look up to.
Just moments ago, she had watched her teacher, Bibi Dong, stand up for this six-year-old boy, even at the cost of falling out with the Great Worship.
Now Bibi Dong was going to name him Holy Son.
Proud Hu Liena couldn't accept it.
"I admit you're physically strong," Hu Liena said, looking at Su Chen.
Her voice carried a faint, enchanting tremor.
"But a Soul Master's battles aren't won by brute force alone. You could hit them with your brute strength, but you might not be able to hit me."
Chrysanthemum Douluo frowned slightly on the viewing stand.
He turned to Bibi Dong.
"Your Holiness the Pope, why has Nana gone up there? She's already broken through to the Soul Grandmaster realm."
Bibi Dong watched the two of them below.
She didn't stop Hu Liena.
"It's fine. Let Nana test how far he can go. Unless she suffers a setback, Nana will never shed her pride."
Seeing that Su Chen didn't respond, Hu Liena began circulating her Soul Power.
Pink light surged from within her.
A huge phantom of a Heavenly Fox appeared behind her.
Two fluffy tails swayed behind it.
Yellow. Yellow.
Two standard Hundred-Year Soul Rings rose from beneath her feet.
A powerful wave of Soul Power swept across the arena.
"Pope Palace, Hu Liena. Ten years old. Martial Soul: Demon Fox. Level twenty-one control-system Soul Grandmaster."
Hu Liena announced her rank.
The crowd erupted in astonishment.
A Soul Grandmaster at ten years old.
At Martial Soul Academy, that level of talent was in a league of its own.
Lei Tian's level of nineteen was nothing beside Hu Liena's twenty-one.
More importantly, Hu Liena was a control-system Soul Master.
Her charm ability was tailor-made to counter opponents who knew nothing but close-quarters brawling.
"If you don't use your Martial Soul,"
a pink glimmer flashed in Hu Liena's eyes,
"you'll definitely lose to me today."
Before you continue