Ma Hongjun arrogantly hurled out his threats.
His entire body turned into a dark-red fireball, compressed to the extreme.
With a destructive aura, he came crashing down toward Gu Sheng like a falling meteor.
The air twisted and warped completely under the intense heat.
Seeing this from behind the crowd, Qian Renxue's heart tightened.
An attack that burned through one's life was no small matter.
Its power had far exceeded the limits of a Soul Elder.
Worried that Gu Sheng might get careless and be hurt, she immediately summoned her Holy Soul Power, ready to step in and save him at any moment.
Just then.
Ma Hongjun's attack, carrying tangible killing intent, finally stirred something inside Gu Sheng.
Gu Sheng felt a shiver deep in his soul.
The Second Seal, which had lain hidden within him all this time,
clearly sensed the killing intent rushing straight at him and manifested from within him in an instant.
An invisible barrier appeared before Gu Sheng without warning.
Ma Hongjun's all-out attack slammed squarely into it.
The raging flames lashed wildly, trying to tear through the defense.
But the seal caught every attack by sheer force, without stirring the slightest ripple.
A few seconds later, the smoke cleared.
The invisible barrier remained utterly unmoved.
The sound of the seal breaking, which Gu Sheng had been hoping for, never came.
The seal had not been broken.
Seeing this, Gu Sheng furrowed his brows slightly.
A powerful wave of disappointment welled up inside him.
What a useless thing.
He snorted coldly, no longer interested in continuing to play around.
Gu Sheng raised his own pressure to its utmost and brought it down with all his might on Ma Hongjun in midair.
Ma Hongjun took the full force of that terrifying pressure.
He suddenly spat out a large mouthful of blood, not even getting the chance to scream.
He passed out on the spot.
Then, like a ragged piece of cloth, he slammed heavily into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Yu Xiaogang, standing nearby, was also caught in the pressure spilling out.
His knees buckled, and he could no longer hold himself up. The force pressed him straight down onto his knees.
The Grandmaster, usually so lofty and revered,
was now trembling all over, his face full of terror, unable even to raise his head.
"Phew..."
Seeing that Gu Sheng was safe and sound, Qian Renxue finally let out a long breath of relief.
But as she watched his proud, upright figure, she couldn't help grumbling to herself.
That guy really is a lunatic.
He had to make things so dangerous and scare me half to death.
Kneeling on the ground, Yu Xiaogang stared at Gu Sheng's two Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings and the six light wings behind him.
His stiff brain began racing wildly.
If he could just take this young man as his disciple, the name Yu Xiaogang would resound across the entire continent.
His attitude made a complete about-face.
Yu Xiaogang crawled over in a most undignified fashion.
He looked up at Gu Sheng, his voice feverish.
"A genius! You're the true genius!"
"Become my disciple!"
"Follow me, and I can make you the greatest Soul Master on this continent!"
The onlookers were all dumbstruck by the sight.
Yu Xiaogang's shameless change of heart had left everyone's jaws practically on the floor.
Just moments ago, he had been acting all high and mighty, demanding that people kneel and apologize at the drop of a hat.
Now that he'd been beaten down, he was begging someone to become his disciple like a dog.
Such brazen shamelessness turned everyone's understanding of human nature on its head.
Just then.
Qian Renxue, disguised as Xue Qinghe, slowly emerged from the crowd.
She flicked open her folding fan and looked coldly at Yu Xiaogang, who was still kneeling.
"At your age, your Soul Power is only at level thirty."
"You can't even break through to Soul Elder."
"With talent like that, how can you call yourself the Grandmaster?"
Her words landed like a giant boulder thrown into a calm lake.
The surrounding crowd immediately realized the truth.
"So he's just a fraud who's been making a name for himself through lies!"
"And we actually believed his nonsense just now, thinking he was someone important!"
Everyone began voicing their outrage, their eyes filled with scorn and anger as they looked at Yu Xiaogang.
Yu Xiaogang's face turned deathly pale, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
He hurriedly opened his mouth and loudly tried to defend himself.
"My theories are unparalleled!"
"Soul Power isn't everything. Wisdom is the most precious wealth in the Soul Master World!"
Xue Qinghe cut him off, her gaze growing even more contemptuous.
She pressed him at every turn, piling on the accusations.
"Your so-called theories were plagiarized from other people's work and copied out of ancient books."
"They weren't the result of your own research at all."
"You just happened to have the chance to access the libraries of great sects back then."
Every word struck home, hitting him where it hurt most.
Yu Xiaogang's last shred of dignity was mercilessly torn away.
His reputation was ruined on the spot, and even his breathing grew ragged.
As the increasingly loud stream of insults rang around him,
Yu Xiaogang pointed at Xue Qinghe, his lips trembling, but for a long while he couldn't get a single word out.
Overcome with rage, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot.
Gu Sheng couldn't be bothered to spare the two men on the ground another glance.
He dismissed his Martial Soul, turned, and walked over to Xue Qinghe. The two of them left side by side.
Before long.
The city guard of Heaven Dou City hurried onto the scene.
The soldiers roughly dispersed the crowd and began cleaning up the chaotic aftermath, dragging the two unconscious men away.
Walking along the streets on the way back,
Gu Sheng's steps were steady, but his mind was busy turning things over.
He had thought Ma Hongjun's desperate attack would put at least a little pressure on the Second Seal.
But the result had been a huge disappointment.
That level of killing intent was nowhere near enough to reach the threshold for breaking the seal.
It seemed that breaking the seal would require facing a greater crisis, one that threatened his life.
The Heaven Dou Palace Coup would be an excellent opportunity.
By then, many forces would be involved, and danger would lurk everywhere.
But before that, the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament was about to begin.
He could use the tournament to test the waters. Maybe he'd run into a few interesting opponents.
To compete, he had to be part of an official team.
With his current status, he could easily apply to join Spirit Hall's team.
He only needed to find the right time to put in an application.
Just as Gu Sheng was thinking these things over, his steps faltering slightly,
Xue Qinghe, walking beside him, suddenly stuck out her foot and gave his lower leg a light kick.
It was her payback for the scare Gu Sheng had given her earlier.
After kicking him, Xue Qinghe turned and ran.
On her handsome, delicate face, she inadvertently revealed a hint of feminine charm.
The sharp contrast left Gu Sheng staring in a daze.
He stopped where he was, his eyes fixed on her retreating figure.
Xue Qinghe ran some distance ahead.
When she saw that Gu Sheng wasn't following, she stopped.
She turned around and waved at him triumphantly.
"What are you thinking about? You're completely lost in thought."
Gu Sheng smiled slightly at the sight.
Taking advantage of the moment, he suddenly darted forward.
Gu Sheng grabbed her wrist and pulled her straight into an empty alley.
He pressed Qian Renxue against the wall.
His hands began wandering over her waist.
As they lingered together, cheeks brushing,
his hot breath fell directly against her neck, making Qian Renxue's body go weak.
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