Ma Hongjun gasped for breath, his fat trembling all over.
That relentless, high-intensity assault had nearly drained his Soul Power dry.
But as he looked toward the area shrouded in smoke and dust, his eyes brimmed with the satisfaction of revenge at last.
Yu Xiaogang also let out a long breath, forcing himself to believe that what had just happened was only an accident.
Under such a dense barrage of attacks, even a Soul Ancestor would have to lose a layer of skin.
Let alone a Soul Grandmaster.
Everyone stared at the cloud of smoke slowly rising into the air.
Yet.
The screams they expected never came.
After a brief, deathly silence.
A gentle breeze blew past, and some of the smoke and dust gradually dispersed.
A tall, straight figure still stood firmly in place, like a pine tree.
All smoke, no harm.
Gu Sheng's black robes were spotless, without even a scorch mark.
He shook his head inwardly.
"The killing intent behind this Evil Fire is far too soft and powerless."
"Looks like using a good-for-nothing like this to unlock Holy Spectrum Puni's Second Seal is completely out of the question."
Gu Sheng sighed, somewhat disappointed.
Then.
Under the astonished, speechless gazes of everyone present.
A faint voice drifted out of the smoke.
"That's it?"
The smoke and dust slowly cleared, revealing what lay inside.
Gu Sheng's black robes were spotless, without the slightest scorch mark.
He was still standing where he had been, and hadn't even changed his stance.
It was as if the spectacular rain of fire from moments ago had been nothing more than a gentle breeze passing by.
Ma Hongjun's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
"That's absolutely impossible!"
He pointed at Gu Sheng, the fat on his face quivering wildly.
Even a Soul Ancestor at level forty would have lost a layer of skin after taking an attack of that magnitude head-on.
Just what could this level-twenty brat possibly have done to come away unscathed?
Yu Xiaogang, watching from outside the fighting area, was just as thunderstruck.
This scene was completely beyond the scope of the theories he'd spent years studying.
No defensive Soul Skill could withstand such a dense barrage without leaving behind the slightest trace of Soul Power colliding.
The crowd watching nearby erupted into a deafening uproar.
Everyone started talking at once, their voices surging in like a tide.
"He actually survived!"
"Is that kid made of iron? He doesn't have a single scratch!"
"Terrifying! He's a complete monster!"
Hearing the sharp chatter all around him.
Ma Hongjun felt his face burning with humiliation.
If he couldn't even deal with a level-twenty Soul Grandmaster today, how was he supposed to throw his weight around in Heaven Dou City from now on?
A fierce sense of shame welled up inside him.
Ma Hongjun flew into a rage.
Even more intense Evil Fire cloaked his fists.
With unstoppable momentum, he launched one attack after another at Gu Sheng's vital points.
Gu Sheng remained where he was, not even bothering to dodge.
Faced with the ferocious attacks, his expression was as calm as still water.
The blazing fist afterimages passed through his transparent body once again.
They slammed into empty air, each impact producing a dull thud.
No matter how hard Ma Hongjun tried, he couldn't touch so much as a corner of Gu Sheng's clothing.
Ma Hongjun clenched his teeth. He simply refused to believe it.
He swung his fists frantically, hammering down blow after blow.
Evil Fire splashed in every direction, scorching deep, charred pits into the ground around them.
But to Gu Sheng, who was in a state of Void, all of it was nothing but futile struggle.
"Haven't you got anything new?"
Gu Sheng looked at the panting fatso, his tone utterly flat.
Those casually spoken words slapped Ma Hongjun across the face like a heavy blow.
The bloodshot veins in Ma Hongjun's eyes stood out even more. He was just about to start cursing.
The instant the words left Gu Sheng's mouth, something changed.
"BOOM!!!"
A visible ring of air burst out from beneath Gu Sheng's feet.
He stopped holding back, releasing all the Holy Soul Power within him.
Dazzling seven-colored light illuminated the entire street in an instant.
An overwhelming pressure swept outward, bearing down on everything like Mount Tai.
The Evil Fire blazing over Ma Hongjun's body was struck head-on by that pressure.
Like a bucket of ice water had been poured over it, it went out in an instant.
The Evil Fire Phoenix phantom behind him let out a mournful cry.
It was forcibly suppressed back into his body, and he could no longer maintain Martial Soul Possession.
Before Ma Hongjun could recover from his shock.
Gu Sheng rose onto the tips of his toes and shot forward like a specter.
Second Soul Skill, Aurora.
Dazzling seven-colored light clung to his right fist, carrying an edge that could pierce through anything.
Gu Sheng seized Ma Hongjun by the collar.
His fist, wrapped in seven-colored light, slammed into the other man's face, its flesh bunched in folds.
The crisp sound of cracking bones rang out.
Ma Hongjun had no time to defend himself. His teeth flew out of his mouth in an instant.
Then, with the motion of his punch, Gu Sheng swung him around.
He lifted the fat body right off the ground, as easily as picking up a chick.
Then he kicked sharply upward.
The tremendous force sent Ma Hongjun soaring into the air like a kite with its string cut.
After completing that string of moves.
Gu Sheng planted his feet firmly.
With his hands clasped behind his back, he calmly looked up at Ma Hongjun screaming in midair.
Only then did the Soul Rings around Gu Sheng finally reveal themselves in full.
At his feet, two deep-black Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings pulsed slowly.
Every flash carried a suffocating pressure.
Behind him, six dazzling Seven-Colored Light Wings suddenly unfurled.
The wings beat gently, radiating a sacred, inviolable majesty.
In that moment, he was like a god descended into the mortal world.
"Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings!!!"
The entire scene fell into deathly silence. Not a pin could be heard dropping.
Everyone was so stunned by what they saw that their scalps tingled.
The black halos sent a jolt through every onlooker's nerves.
Two Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings.
Could a human really do that with their second ring?
This completely overturned everything Soul Masters knew.
"Impossible..."
Yu Xiaogang's legs gave way, and he nearly collapsed to the ground.
Crushed by the shock, he stared blankly at the two black Soul Rings.
The theories he'd always been so proud of had been smashed to pieces in front of this young man—not even scraps remained.
He would not allow anyone to break the rules he had established, and he couldn't accept his own failure.
A powerful sense of unwillingness surged through Yu Xiaogang.
He shouted an order to his disciple, still in midair.
"Hongjun, defeat him, no matter what it costs!"
Even if it meant sacrificing his future, he had to win this fight.
Otherwise, the title of Grandmaster would become a complete laughingstock today.
Ma Hongjun steadied himself in midair, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes.
He had completely lost his reason and was now truly intent on killing Gu Sheng.
He recklessly burned through what little Soul Power he had left.
The Evil Fire that had gone out ignited again, stained a sinister, dark red with blood.
"You little brat, you're dead meat today!"
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