The surface of the arena had been specially reinforced with Soul Tools. Forget four mere Soul Masters in their twenties or thirties—even Soul Kings and Soul Emperors would find it difficult to damage.
And that was exactly what made it Feng Piaoling's home turf.
Using the principles behind controlling the Fire Manipulation Bomb, Feng Piaoling tossed out four Earth Escape Talismans and stuck them to the foreheads of Wu Feng, Zhu Lu, Nanmen Yun'er, and Ning Tian.
He sent their bodies straight into the ground, then canceled the talismans' effects once their heads were sticking out.
"W-what kind of move is that supposed to be?"
Nanmen Yun'er stared up at Feng Piaoling, who stood before them, looking like he had grown to an enormous size. She was utterly dumbfounded.
The other three were just as stunned. A moment ago, all they had seen was a flash of yellow light appearing out of nowhere. Before they could react, their bodies had sunk into the ground against their will, and then they couldn't move at all.
As a Soul Emperor, Mu Jin had seen what happened. She just hadn't expected Feng Piaoling's second Soul Skill to be so terrifying.
It could trap people in the ground.
If someone were caught off guard and buried hundreds of meters underground, even a Titled Douluo might struggle to escape.
They might even be crushed to death by the tightly packed earth and stones.
Of course, Titled Douluo weren't fools. They could destroy the ochre talismans attached to their bodies before they were buried deep underground.
They could even make sure the talismans never got close to them in the first place.
But Wu Feng, Zhu Lu, Nanmen Yun'er, and Ning Tian clearly weren't capable of that.
Sure enough, after only a short while, the four women buried underground were already struggling to breathe.
Feng Piaoling looked at Mu Jin. "Teacher Mu Jin, you can announce the result now."
"You win. Quick... get them out of there," Mu Jin urged, afraid something might happen to them.
Only then did Feng Piaoling unhurriedly control the Earth Escape Talismans to lift them back to the surface. The four talismans then turned into streaks of yellow light and returned to his hand.
Ning Tian, Nanmen Yun'er, and Zhu Lu drew long breaths, grateful to be alive. Just moments ago, they'd felt as if they were about to die.
Being buried underground and pressed in on from all sides had been awful. It was no different from being buried alive.
Wu Feng, however, looked thoroughly unconvinced. "No, I refuse to accept this! He cheated just now. We weren't ready."
Looking at the girl before him, who seemed like a small, ferocious fire dragon, Feng Piaoling replied calmly, "Little girl, when you make a mistake, own up to it. If you get beaten, stand up straight and take it. On a real battlefield, no one will give you a chance to get ready."
"Of course, if you really can't accept it, you can fight me again. The four of you can team up. If you can force me to use my Martial Soul, you win."
"But if you lose, you owe me a Soul Ascension Pill."
A Soul Ascension Pill? At that, everyone in Class Nine was speechless.
Another bet? Was this guy addicted to shaking people down?
"Are you broke or something?" Wu Feng snapped, both shocked and furious. After all, a Soul Ascension Pill was no small matter.
The price was secondary; the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had plenty of money.
The key was that these pills could only be obtained from Shrek Academy's Inner Courtyard.
And buying one from Shrek Academy meant using the sect's influence.
"What, you're afraid? Or are the four of you not confident you can handle one unarmed man who won't even use his Martial Soul?"
For a woman like Wu Feng, all fire and no brains, goading her was the perfect approach.
"Who's afraid?" Wu Feng said, but she still glanced at Ning Tian almost unconsciously, looking hopeful and a little uneasy.
"Fine, we accept. I've been wanting to see Brother Feng's true strength, anyway. If we lose, I'll pay you a Soul Ascension Pill."
Ning Tian agreed at once.
Wu Feng, however, wasn't having it. "Wait. If we have to give you a Soul Ascension Pill if we lose, what will you give us if you lose?"
"One Mysterious Water Pill. Is that enough?" Feng Piaoling asked in return.
"Fine." The Mysterious Water Pill was worth even more than the Soul Ascension Pill.
With that as the wager, the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect wouldn't be losing out.
"Then take your positions, everyone. Get ready to begin." Seeing the two sides settle on their wager, Mu Jin grew excited.
The reason she had insisted on giving Feng Piaoling special training earlier was that, while his Martial Soul made him practically invincible among his peers at medium and long range,
he was at a disadvantage as soon as an opponent got close.
If Feng Piaoling could beat these four without using his Martial Soul, that would be an enormous surprise.
At her words, Wu Feng, Zhu Lu, Nanmen Yun'er, and Ning Tian immediately formed up.
Wu Feng, a Power Attack System Soul Master, stood in the center. Zhu Lu and Nanmen Yun'er, both Agility Attack System Soul Masters, took the left and right, with Ning Tian behind them.
Having learned from what happened earlier, the four didn't dare be careless.
"Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda Invocation: First, speed; second, cleanse; third, power."
As soon as they started, Ning Tian bestowed three support skills on Wu Feng, Zhu Lu, and Nanmen Yun'er.
This would consume a great deal of her Soul Power, and she could keep it up for no more than the time it took an incense stick to burn.
But if they still couldn't beat Feng Piaoling in that time, there was no point in continuing the match.
At the same time, the other three moved.
Wu Feng charged forward almost instantly, her high red ponytail streaming behind her as she raced toward Feng Piaoling at full speed, like a cloud of fire.
As she sprinted, dragon scales appeared and covered half her body.
Then both of her Yellow Soul Rings lit up.
Wu Feng knew Ning Tian wouldn't be able to support three people at once for long, so she immediately activated the two Soul Skills of her Red Dragon Martial Soul.
First Soul Skill: Dragon Fire. Second Soul Skill: Dragon Fury.
Dragon Fire blazed fiercely around Wu Feng, within a foot of her body. Then, boosted by Dragon Fury, the flames swiftly surged higher and turned dark red.
Red light shone brightly in her eyes, and the scales covering her upper body grew thicker. Her left hand transformed completely into a Dragon Claw as she lunged straight for Feng Piaoling.
At the same time, Zhu Lu and Nanmen Yun'er had completed Martial Soul Possession, and the First Soul Rings around them lit up.
They didn't know how long Ning Tian could hold out, and this Soul Fighting match wasn't all that important to them. They were mostly using it to test their own strength, so they chose to take things steadily.
They didn't rush in like Wu Feng, who seemed ready to risk everything from the start.
Blades sprang from the tips of Zhu Lu's fingers. She flashed to the side, her speed surging as she left a string of afterimages behind, then swept around from the left and charged at Feng Piaoling.
Nanmen Yun'er was no slower than Zhu Lu. When she activated her Jade Blue Bird's First Soul Skill, Jade Blade, both arms turned into a pair of jade-green blades.
Her body seemed light and weightless. In just a few breaths, she crossed a hundred meters and appeared before Feng Piaoling alongside Zhu Lu, reaching him before Wu Feng.
Zhu Lu thrust her claws toward Feng Piaoling's shoulder, while Nanmen Yun'er swung both blades in a horizontal slash at his waist.
One attacked from the left, the other from the right; one struck high, the other low. Though this was their first time working together, their combined attack was difficult to guard against.
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