Is This Even Human?

Rumble!

The heavy iron gate slowly rose, and a wave of heat surged out from behind it first, instantly raising the temperature throughout the Beast Fighting Arena by several degrees.

Immediately afterward, a deafening lion's roar came from behind the gate, making the eardrums of some lower-year students ache as they instinctively covered their ears.

Roar!!!

A colossal creature emerged from the darkness.

It was a male lion wreathed in dark crimson flames, seven or eight meters long and over three meters tall at the shoulder. Standing there, it resembled a small moving mountain.

Its mane drifted amid the flames, and its bell-sized eyes gleamed with Bloodlust as it stared fixedly at the tiny human in the arena.

A twenty-thousand-year Flame Lion.

The pressure of a ten-thousand-year soul beast poured out almost tangibly. Even through the protective barrier, the students outside the arena felt as though they could barely breathe.

"Th-this is way too terrifying..."

"Is the class monitor really going to fight something like that?"

"It's over, it's over. The class monitor is finished..."

Beibei clenched his fists beneath the platform, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

Although he knew Lin Ming was powerful, he could not help worrying when faced with an opponent of this level.

Tang Ya was even paler with fright. She clasped her hands together and muttered under her breath, though no one knew which deity she was praying to.

Only Zhang Lexuan remained calm as she stood among the crowd.

She had seen Lin Ming fight at full strength, and she had seen the eruption of power he displayed at the brink of life and death.

She believed in him.

Inside the Beast Fighting Arena.

Facing that colossal beast, Lin Ming showed not the slightest trace of fear.

On the contrary, the corners of his lips lifted slightly, and excitement gleamed in his eyes.

A twenty-thousand-year Flame Lion. It was even stronger than the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear he had killed last time.

Interesting.

He rolled his wrist, and the Sky-Propping Spear appeared in his hand out of thin air.

The blazing white glow on its tip appeared especially dazzling against the dark crimson firelight.

Then, four Spirit Rings—yellow, purple, purple, and black—slowly rose beneath his feet, pulsing around him.

The pressure of his ten-thousand-year Spirit Ring collided with the pressure of the Flame Lion, stirring up an invisible wave of air.

The Flame Lion seemed to sense that the human before it was different. Rather than pouncing on him as it would ordinary prey, it slowly circled Lin Ming, searching for an opportunity to attack.

Lin Ming was in no hurry either. He simply stood where he was, the Sky-Propping Spear angled toward the ground, his entire body as motionless as a statue.

Man and beast faced each other in a standoff.

Even the air outside the arena seemed to freeze.

At last, the Flame Lion lost its patience.

Roar!!!

It suddenly opened its massive jaws and spat out an enormous fireball over a meter in diameter, hurling it at Lin Ming with the force to destroy heaven and earth.

Faced with that ferocious attack, Lin Ming advanced instead of retreating.

His first Spirit Ring lit up beneath his feet.

"First soul skill, Sky-Propping Battle Intent!"

All attributes increased by fifty percent, attack power increased by one hundred percent.

His aura instantly surged. He was like a drawn sword, his sharp edge fully revealed.

Then, his second Spirit Ring lit up.

"Second soul skill, Sky-Propping Prohibition!"

Centered on the tip of the Sky-Propping Spear, a white domain spread outward, enveloping an area ten meters around Lin Ming.

Caught within the domain, the Flame Lion's speed abruptly dropped.

Seizing the opportunity, Lin Ming thrust out the Sky-Propping Spear.

It was not a simple thrust, but one imbued with Spear Intent.

The spear tip collided with the fireball, yet the imagined explosion did not occur.

With a flick of his wrist, Lin Ming sliced the enormous fireball in two with the Sky-Propping Spear as though he were cutting tofu.

The halved fireballs flew past either side of him and slammed into the ground behind him, blasting two charred craters into the floor.

"Hiss."

A wave of sharp inhalations rose from outside the arena.

He had split a ten-thousand-year Flame Lion's fireball with one spear strike?

What kind of move was that?

The Flame Lion clearly had not expected this tiny human to so easily neutralize its attack, and it froze for a moment.

Lin Ming had no intention of giving it time to react.

He stepped forward with Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, his body flickering like a phantom as he instantly closed the distance between himself and the Flame Lion.

The Flame Lion was, after all, a ten-thousand-year soul beast, and its reaction speed was extremely fast.

It raised a massive front paw wreathed in roaring flames and slammed it fiercely toward Lin Ming.

The force of that claw was enough to smash a huge boulder into dust.

Lin Ming did not take it head-on. Instead, he sidestepped and swept the Sky-Propping Spear across at the same time.

The spear tip tore through the air with a piercing whistle and lashed violently against the Flame Lion's foreleg.

Clang!

The sound of metal striking metal rang out, and a spray of sparks flew from the Flame Lion's foreleg.

Lin Ming frowned.

This thing's hide was really thick.

Even with the sharpness of the Sky-Propping Spear and his Spear Intent, he had only left an ordinary gash on it.

The Flame Lion roared in pain, and its other front paw immediately followed with another strike.

This time, Lin Ming did not dodge.

His fourth Spirit Ring lit up beneath his feet.

"Fourth soul skill, Wrath of the Sky-Propping Spear!"

Blood-red mist enveloped him, his eyes gradually turning crimson as dark golden light shone around his body and his aura soared.

All attributes increased by one hundred percent!

Under the double enhancement, Lin Ming's aura no longer lost out to the ten-thousand-year Flame Lion before him.

He gripped the Sky-Propping Spear with both hands and fiercely lifted it upward.

"Get up!"

The spear tip collided with the lion's claw with a deep, thunderous boom.

Then, a sight that left everyone dumbfounded unfolded.

That mountain-sized Flame Lion was actually lifted by Lin Ming's spear strike, its front legs leaving the ground as its entire body rose slightly into the air!

Though it only lifted a little, that alone was shocking enough.

That was a twenty-thousand-year Flame Lion!

Lin Ming pressed his advantage, thrusting the Sky-Propping Spear again and again.

Thrust, sweep, lift, cleave.

Thirty-Six Sky-Propping Spears silently activated.

First spear, the Flame Lion did not budge.

Fifth spear, the Flame Lion retreated half a step.

Tenth spear, the Flame Lion was forced back a full step.

Fifteenth spear, cracks began to appear in the Flame Lion's defenses.

Twentieth spear, the Flame Lion finally could not endure it any longer. It let out a pained wail as its enormous body was driven back again and again.

The students outside the arena were already dumbstruck.

Was this even human?

A Soul Ancestor was beating a twenty-thousand-year soul beast back step by step?

Gong Changlong sat at the judges' table. The disdainful expression he had worn earlier had long vanished, replaced by gravity and shock.

This brat really had some skills.

The Flame Lion was completely enraged.

It threw back its head and roared into the sky. The flames around its body suddenly leaped higher, and its entire form seemed to turn into an enormous fireball.

Roar!!!

It drove off with all four limbs, its enormous body charging toward Lin Ming at an unbelievable speed.

This was its innate skill, Flame Charge.

Lin Ming did not dare let his guard down.

His third Spirit Ring lit up beneath his feet.

"Third soul skill, Sky-Propping Break!"

Endless Spear Intent gathered at the tip of the Sky-Propping Spear, and the blazing white radiance there became incomparably glaring.

He did not choose to evade. Instead, he met it head-on.

Forward without hesitation.

That was the essence of the spear!