I refuse to believe I can't react in time

The burly teacher glared at Ling Yun. Before the match, he had told both sides to go all out, yet he never expected Ling Yun to slap his face in the blink of an eye.

"Teacher Yang, there's an injured student on Ring Three, come quickly!"

Less than five breaths after the words fell, a female teacher appeared on the ring. She looked to be about thirty years old, with light green hair, emerald eyes, and wearing emerald green robes.

"What happened? You weren't watching closely, he's hurt so badly!"

Teacher Yang's voice was pleasant to the ear. Hearing her slightly reproachful tone, the burly teacher felt incredibly ashamed and annoyed, his face burning bright red.

"An accident! It was an accident!"

Teacher Yang released her martial soul, and an Evergreen Vine appeared. Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black—five soul rings rose from beneath her feet.

The next moment, her first soul ring lit up. Vines brushed over Osler, and green soul power, brimming with vitality, transformed into points of light that merged into Osler's body. The specks of light felt like warm little hands brushing over his wounds. Within a few breaths, Osler's wounds had scabbed over and healed, leaving only faint red marks.

"Go back and rest for a day, recover your soul power, and you'll be fine."

"Many thanks, Teacher Yang!" Osler stood up and bowed respectfully, then turned to stare at Ling Yun. "A genius with a thousand-year second ring—truly extraordinary. Can you tell me how much of your strength you used?"

"One-fifth!"

"I understand. Thank you for holding back." Osler took a deep breath. Before the fight began, he had assumed the gap between him and Ling Yun wouldn't be too large; he hadn't expected that to be nothing more than his own wishful thinking.

Before stepping off the ring, Osler glanced at the burly teacher with an expression of pure innocence. He would never trust the referee teacher's words again.

If the burly teacher hadn't said he would intervene at the critical moment, Osler would have fled the moment he realized he couldn't block the Light Needle.

Pain! This lesson was far too painful!

From now on, the burly teacher was officially on Osler's blacklist.

Teacher Yang carefully scrutinized Ling Yun before leaving the ring and heading straight to the spectator area.

She had a premonition that she was going to be very busy today.

Soon, Ling Yun's second opponent took the stage, and the burly teacher repeated the same words: "You may use your full strength; I will intervene at the critical moment."

After speaking, the burly teacher stared at Ling Yun, refusing to believe he wouldn't be able to react in time.

"Heavenly Grade Class Two monitor, Li Hao, martial soul Dragon Pattern Blade, level 27. Please advise."

"Heavenly Grade Class One, Ling Yun, martial soul Yin-Yang Mirror, level 28. Please advise."

Li Hao's pupils constricted, his expression turning grave. He hadn't expected Ling Yun to be a level higher than him.

"The match begins." The burly teacher's voice rang out.

In an instant, Li Hao slashed out three blade beams, attacking Ling Yun in a 'pin' formation. The beams arrived in a flash, but Ling Yun slightly adjusted his stance, letting the three beams graze past his body to strike the soul power barrier of the arena.

Li Hao followed up with three more backhanded slashes. With every swing, he closed the distance between himself and Ling Yun.

His plan was simple: strike first to gain the advantage. What he didn't expect was that Ling Yun's eyesight was so sharp that he could predict the trajectory of his blade beams every single time.

After fifteen blade beams, Li Hao had pushed into a three-meter radius of Ling Yun. At this moment, his second soul ring lit up.

"Try this move: Dragon Shakes the Wild."

The blade in his hand turned crimson, and the dragon pattern on the blade seemed to come to life. The blade's edge shone brilliantly, and a dragon's roar echoed in Ling Yun's ears, possessing an effect that shook the mind.

Li Hao felt disdain in his heart. So-called genius—under his fierce offensive, he was nothing more than this.

He brought the blade down toward Ling Yun's chest, a triumphant smile appearing on his face.

As the blade passed, there was no sensation of cutting into flesh. The Ling Yun before him had shifted a meter to the side, and his blade struck the arena floor with a heavy thud.

A groove over a foot deep and a yard long appeared on the stage.

This was solid Black Tortoise Stone; if that had landed squarely on a person, splitting them in two would not have been difficult.

The next instant, the recoil from the blade made Li Hao's arm go numb. He reacted with lightning speed; since his hand was numb, he used his leg. A powerful, heavy sweeping kick whipped up a gust of wind. Ling Yun was currently one meter thirty-five tall, and this kick was aimed perfectly at his left ribs.

Ling Yun extended his palm, his internal energy flowing. His right hand blocked Li Hao's right leg, and he retreated with the momentum, his feet sliding in an arc before stopping as if rooted to the ground. He grabbed Li Hao's ankle, pulled, pressed, and gave it a fierce twist.

Feeling the immense force at his ankle, Li Hao jammed his blade into the ground, used his other leg to generate force, and spun in mid-air, following the direction of Ling Yun's twist.

After completing a rotation, he broke free from Ling Yun's grip. Just as he was about to launch another attack with his blade still planted in the ground, Ling Yun seized the opportunity and delivered a high kick to his left ribs.

The power of this strike was immense. The sound of cracking bone echoed out. Li Hao's right hand, gripping the blade, tightened subconsciously from the excruciating pain, his knuckles turning white. He endured the agony to swing his blade one last time before planting the Dragon Pattern Blade into the ground, clutching his ribs with his other hand and dropping to one knee.

Ling Yun shifted his feet to dodge the blade, then delivered another kick. Only then did the burly teacher's soul power arrive, albeit late, blocking Ling Yun's path of attack.

Ling Yun stopped his foot just before it struck the soul power barrier, the force of his blow causing ripples to spread across the shield.

Teacher Yang walked onto the ring, self-composed, to treat Li Hao's injuries.

After healing Li Hao, she glared fiercely at the burly teacher. "Look at you, always a step too slow."

"While injuries are inevitable in soul duels, it's better to avoid them if possible. You're a Soul King—can't your reaction speed be a bit faster?"

The burly teacher was incredibly embarrassed, turning to glare at Ling Yun instead. He refused to believe he wouldn't be able to react in time for the next match.

"Student Li Hao, do not participate in any soul duels for the next three days to avoid accumulating hidden injuries."

"Understood, Teacher Yang."

"Ling Yun, I underestimated you later on. This time, you win!"

After dropping those words, Li Hao strode off the ring without looking back. In the eyes of the spectators, he looked more than a little disheveled.

"Student Ling Yun, I have noticed that your control over soul power is quite extraordinary. Logically speaking, since you were capable of defeating Student Li Hao without injuring him, couldn't you have gone a bit easier on him?"

"Teacher Yang, I had already shown mercy. When his blade was coming for me, he didn't hold back a single strike. Besides, isn't the purpose of a soul duel to hone combat techniques and improve practical fighting ability?"

"If I can achieve victory at a lower cost to myself, why should I hesitate? To defeat without injuring requires a significant amount of extra expenditure."

"Uh... what you say does make some sense!" Teacher Yang was left speechless, returning to the soul dueling stage to continue monitoring the battle on Ring Three.

Ling Yun's next opponent had not yet taken the stage, but on Ring Five, the foul-mouthed flying soul master had been electrocuted by Yu Tianheng, collapsing onto the platform while spitting black smoke.

Just as Yu Tianheng was about to seize the opportunity to step forward and render him completely unable to fight, Qin Ming called a halt and declared Yu Tianheng the winner.

Teacher Yang hurried over to Ring Five to treat the flying soul master, incidentally providing some healing to Yu Tianheng as well.

After finishing the treatment, she returned to the side of Ring Three; both Yu Tianheng and the flying soul master had only suffered superficial wounds, but the situation here was a much greater concern.