The fiery mushroom cloud gradually dissipated. Watching Feng Piaoling, who had not moved a single step from beginning to end, Dai Huabin finally realized that he had lost. In fact, if the referee hadn't stepped in just now, he would already have been buried in a sea of flames.
Dai Huabin's face turned deathly pale.
Humiliation, regret, resentment, and lingering fear flashed through his eyes before finally turning into furious exasperation.
As for the other students watching, after their gasps of astonishment, they all looked at one another in bewilderment.
Among them were quite a few well-informed noble children.
Martial Souls like the Talisman Martial Soul had appeared on Douluo Continent before.
But the vast majority had no Soul Power. Even when one did appear with Soul Power, its might was at best mediocre—not weak, but nothing remarkable.
There had never been one with power this outrageously strong.
How could they possibly know that this was the result of Feng Piaoling's relentless tempering (cheating)?
The Fire Bomb Talisman on its own, even as a seven-hundred-year first Soul Skill, was only so-so in power. At most, it could exploit a weak point in the White Tiger Protection Barrier and blow the shield apart.
But ever since obtaining this Soul Skill, Feng Piaoling had continuously developed it. He could now make multiple Fire Bomb Talismans at once with the greatest speed, in the shortest time, and using the least Soul Power.
The number he could make depended on his total Soul Power.
At his current level, making eighty or a hundred Fire Bomb Talismans at once was no problem.
And as his Green Lotus Sword Art continued to improve, so did the Fire Bomb Talisman's power.
With his current fourth level of the Green Lotus Sword Art, even if Dai Huabin activated both the White Tiger Protection Barrier and White Tiger Vajra Transformation, a single Fire Bomb Talisman could still send him sprawling—so long as Feng Piaoling used the Heaven-Reaching Demon Eye to aim at a weak spot in his defenses.
Besides that, Feng Piaoling had developed all sorts of moves based on the Fire Bomb Talisman.
Things like self-multiplying Fire Bomb Talismans, Fire Manipulation Bombs, and so on...
A moment later, the referee brought Dai Huabin down to the competition grounds.
The grounds had been reinforced with numerous Soul Tools, making them capable of withstanding any attack from someone below the Soul Emperor level.
They hadn't been blown apart, but they were pocked with scorch marks, the ground blackened and wisps of white smoke rising from it.
After casually setting Dai Huabin down, the referee glanced at the wrecked arena and winced. "All right, hand him the Soul Ascension Pill, and you can leave."
The competition platform itself hadn't been blown apart, but some of the Soul Tools used to reinforce it had been destroyed. That hurt his heart.
That stuff cost money.
"Here."
Dai Huabin was already consumed by humiliation. Hearing the referee, he didn't dare renege in front of him and all those students.
The reputation of the White Tiger Duke Mansion was at stake.
He immediately reached into his Storage Soul Tool and tossed out a brocade box containing the Soul Ascension Pill. Then, as if wishing his parents had given him an extra leg, he fled the Soul Fighting Arena, his face burning with shame.
He was furious now, and needed someone to take it out on.
Feng Piaoling opened the box, confirmed that the Soul Ascension Pill inside was real, and made no attempt to stop him from leaving.
With the match over, the students who had come to watch left one after another. Only a small number stayed behind.
Among them, of course, were Xu Sanshi, Bei Bei, Tang Ya, and Jiang Nannan.
As for Wang Dong'er and Xiao Xiao, they had comforted Zhu Lu and taken her away.
Because of Feng Piaoling's intervention, Dai Huabin had taken an interest in Wang Dong'er after discovering she was a girl, setting off a chain reaction.
Unexpectedly, it had brought Wang Dong'er, Xiao Xiao, and Zhu Lu closer as sisters.
"Time to come back to your senses." ×2
Bei Bei and Tang Ya each teased Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan.
Jiang Nannan snapped back to her senses, said goodbye to Tang Ya, then hurried after Feng Piaoling, who was already nearing the exit of the Soul Fighting Arena.
"Good grief, Bei Bei, Tang Ya. Is Feng Piaoling really that terrifying?"
For once, Xu Sanshi didn't chase after Jiang Nannan. He didn't care whether he looked foolish or got slapped in the face; he could only draw in a sharp breath.
"What did you think?" Tang Ya rolled her eyes. Thinking of how much Feng Piaoling despised the Tang Sect's founder, she couldn't help feeling troubled.
To let a genius of his caliber slip through the Tang Sect's fingers was such a pity.
If he were willing to join the Tang Sect, he could surely help it rise to prominence again.
"Damn, no wonder that brat was willing to bet with me. I've really been played for a fool." Xu Sanshi grumbled.
"You might not necessarily lose," Bei Bei said with a mysterious smile. "Feng Piaoling's Talisman Martial Soul has the advantage of a wide area of attack. In a one-on-one attack, those fireballs probably wouldn't threaten you. For the record, his second Soul Skill is some sort of Earth Escape ability and has no offensive power. As long as you can dodge his third Soul Skill, you might still have a chance of winning."
Xu Sanshi curled his lip. "How am I supposed to dodge? He'll throw so many Fire Bombs at me that even if they can't break through my defenses right away, they can still trap me. Then I'll be a sitting duck."
Thinking of how Feng Piaoling's third Soul Skill came from a five-thousand-year-old Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, Xu Sanshi shuddered.
That brat's first Soul Skill was already unbelievably powerful.
If he used his third Soul Skill, wouldn't he beat Xu Sanshi into the ground?
Bei Bei said nothing. He simply raised his right hand, pressing his thumb against his index and middle fingers and rubbing them together. The meaning couldn't have been clearer.
If Xu Sanshi wanted help, he'd have to hand over a Mysterious Water Pill.
Thinking of how, if he lost, he'd not only lose two Mysterious Water Pills and a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, but also lose face in front of Jiang Nannan, he gritted his teeth. "Fine. If you help me beat Feng Piaoling, I'll give you a Mysterious Water Pill."
"Then hand it over." Bei Bei held out his hand again.
"Forget it. You think I'm an idiot?" Xu Sanshi angrily smacked Bei Bei's hand away.
Bei Bei looked at him as if to say, Isn't that exactly what you are? Tang Ya beside them couldn't help snickering.
Elsewhere, Feng Piaoling hadn't gone far from the Soul Fighting Arena before Jiang Nannan caught up with him. "Benefactor, are you all right?"
Feng Piaoling spread his hands and, for once, joked, "Do I look like something's wrong?"
They exchanged a smile and walked on side by side.
As they walked, Jiang Nannan gazed at Feng Piaoling's nearly perfect profile, a little dazed. "That's true. With your strength, Benefactor, there's no one in the entire Outer Courtyard who could be your match."
Feng Piaoling smiled and shook his head.
By now, night had completely fallen.
He looked up at the boundless night sky, the moon like a silver plate and stars scattered everywhere. His brows furrowed, his expression grave.
Being invincible in the Outer Courtyard wasn't enough.
Even being invincible in Shrek was nowhere near his goal.
His true goal was to drag that lofty God King Tang down from his throne.
As long as this root of all evil remained, tragedies like his parents dying at the hands of Evil Soul Masters would keep happening.
Before that, Xu Tianran, Shrek, the Three Douluo Kingdoms, and the Sun Moon Empire—
They were all merely stepping stones on his path forward.
Before you continue