It was at that moment that Huo Yuhao unleashed Soul Shock. "Now! Second Soul Skill: Soul Shock!"
Feng Piaoling had been keeping half his attention on Huo Yuhao the entire time. The instant he sensed a needle-sharp surge of spiritual power shooting toward him, he glared in Huo Yuhao's direction. As he unleashed his own vast, powerful spiritual force, he raised his left hand and pointed two fingers like a sword, condensing Soul Power between them.
The fireballs Xu Sanshi had knocked away seemed to answer a summons. They spun in midair half a foot above the ground, then shot skyward and swept around behind Xu Sanshi's shield, striking at its weakest point.
This was Fire Manipulation Bomb, a technique Feng Piaoling had developed from his first Soul Skill. It let him use his spiritual power, formed from his Soul Power in his Spirit Sea, to control the Fire Bomb Talismans he had released and guide them toward precise targets.
With this technique, Feng Piaoling could also control Talismans created by other Soul Skills.
His attacks always caught his opponents off guard.
Huo Yuhao's spiritual power was already inferior to Feng Piaoling's. Caught off guard, his Soul Shock was snuffed out in an instant by Feng Piaoling's spiritual force.
The severe mental backlash left Huo Yuhao deathly pale. He cried out in agony, blood streaming from all seven orifices, and collapsed backward.
At the same time, without Huo Yuhao's support, Xu Sanshi had no way to evade the fireballs swooping in behind him.
Even with the layered protection of his three Soul Skills, he could only withstand the attacks on his defenses' weak points for a few seconds before the fireballs blasted them apart.
Just then, the third Spirit Ring around Feng Piaoling lit up, and a Purple-Gold Talisman appeared in his hand.
The talisman flashed with light and was activated in an instant, then shot away in a streak of purple.
After flying several meters, the glowing orb split into five purple-gold blades in the blink of an eye. At first glance, the blades looked exactly like the claws of the five-thousand-year-old Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, save for their color.
This was Feng Piaoling's third Soul Skill, Dark Gold Talisman. It could launch five blades resembling the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's claws at distant enemies.
It could also be attached to himself or an ally, enveloping the entire body in Metal-attribute Soul Power to grant them the defense and strength of a five-thousand-year-old Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear. The Soul Power gathered around their palms could then form sharp claws for close combat.
The form was quite similar to Naruto's after he shared the Nine-Tails' chakra with the Allied Shinobi Forces during the Fourth Shinobi World War.
Combined with two External Soul Bones from a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, it could let Feng Piaoling unleash the power of a five-thousand-year-old Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear outright.
Like Fire Bomb Talisman, Dark Gold Talisman grew stronger as his Green Lotus Sword Art improved.
It was one of Feng Piaoling's greatest trump cards.
"N-no...!"
Feng Piaoling had just blasted away Xu Sanshi's three layers of defense. With his old strength spent and no new strength gathered, he saw the five claw blades flying toward him and immediately thought of the five-thousand-year-old Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear Bei Bei had mentioned.
Terrified, he could only raise his heavy shield and brace himself with all his strength.
If Feng Piaoling chose to guide the five blades around the shield, he could certainly take Xu Sanshi's life.
But with so many people watching, killing Xu Sanshi was clearly out of the question.
Wanting to test the Dark Gold Talisman's power, Feng Piaoling sent all five blades straight into the shield.
Clang, clang, clang! Crash, crash, crash!
The blades collided with the shield amid ear-splitting booms and showers of sparks, spinning rapidly.
The tremendous force drove Xu Sanshi backward, plowing furrows into the ground.
A few seconds later, the heavy shield that came with the Mysterious Underworld Turtle Martial Soul, hailed as the strongest defense in the Outer Courtyard, shattered before everyone's eyes.
Xu Sanshi himself flew backward like a kite with its string cut, spitting blood as he hurtled toward the stands.
At the crucial moment, the Soul Saint referee sprang into action.
He shot into the air and caught Xu Sanshi. Even so, the impact pushed him several meters back before he managed to bleed off the force. He was left marveling inwardly, What tremendous impact!
The entire arena fell silent. Everyone stared, dumbfounded, at Feng Piaoling—the only one still standing on the platform—full of astonishment.
From the beginning of the wager to its end, not even a minute had passed.
Xu Sanshi had first used his first Soul Skill, Mysterious Underworld Shock, to knock away Feng Piaoling's ridiculous barrage of fireballs, a sight that had left everyone gaping.
But before his other two Soul Skills could even come into play, Feng Piaoling had controlled the scattered fireballs and sent them around from behind, breaking through all three layers of Xu Sanshi's defenses.
Then, with his third Soul Skill, he had smashed Xu Sanshi's vaunted shield from the front.
What astonishing attack power. What superb control over Soul Power. What incredible reflexes.
He was practically a perfect genius Soul Master.
"S-so amazing..."
Tang Ya's mouth hung wide open as the words slipped out. She even forgot about Huo Yuhao, who had fainted from the mental backlash.
Zhu Lu and Xiao Xiao were much the same. Like Tang Ya, they were so shocked they could barely close their mouths.
Even Wang Dong'er, who was always so proud, had to admit that Feng Piaoling was the most brilliant genius Soul Master she had ever seen among the younger generation.
For a fleeting moment, her gaze seemed to light up as she looked at Feng Piaoling.
Mu Jin could no longer contain her excitement and cried out, "How can he be this strong?"
At that moment, she regretted it.
She regretted making that wager with Zhou Yi.
If she'd known Feng Piaoling was this powerful, she wouldn't have let Zhou Yi provoke her into it.
With Feng Piaoling on her side, she could have thoroughly outdone that woman who liked to wear the mask of an old hag in her teaching career.
A smug smile curled Zhou Yi's lips. In her view, Feng Piaoling's potential, talent, and strength went far beyond what he had shown.
The Grandmaster she admired most—the theoretical master Yu Xiaogang, who had trained Sea God Tang San and the other six Shrek monsters into seven god-level powerhouses ten thousand years ago—had written in his Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul:
Innate Soul Power was directly proportional to the strength of a Martial Soul.
The higher one's Innate Soul Power, the stronger one's Martial Soul.
If the two appeared inversely related, then there had to be another, even more powerful Martial Soul.
This was known as Twin Martial Souls.
Feng Piaoling's first Martial Soul, Talismans, was among the weakest of the Tool Martial Souls.
The reason it seemed so powerful was that Feng Piaoling had absorbed Spirit Rings beyond the usual age limit.
And since he had cultivated this Trash Martial Soul into a Soul Elder before the age of twelve, his Innate Soul Power had to be very high.
He might even have had Innate Full Soul Power.
A Trash Martial Soul, yet Innate Full Soul Power.
That meant Feng Piaoling had to possess another, far more powerful Martial Soul. He was unquestionably a Twin Martial Souls wielder.
P.S. That makes three updates again. If it doesn't help, I'll have to cut back to two updates a day starting tomorrow to boost engagement.
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