"Attack together! Hit him with your Soul Skills!"
Someone shouted, and the remaining twenty-odd students snapped out of their daze.
At almost the same moment, more than a dozen Soul Skills flared to life in a variety of colors and strengths—fireballs, wind blades, earth spikes, vines...
Attacks of every kind came from all directions, blanketing the arena as they bore down on Lin Feng at its center.
Just as the attacks were about to hit him, Lin Feng narrowed his eyes.
A deep black flame surged from beneath his feet without warning, like a dormant tide or a spreading shadow. Centered on him, it swept across the entire floor of the Soul Fighting Zone in an instant.
The flame wasn't hot. Instead, it carried an eerie chill. It was the Blue Silver Nether Fire he had obtained from Tang Ya.
Where the nether fire passed, it didn't burn physical bodies, but seemed to scorch the soul itself.
Several students at the front abruptly faltered. Their eyes went blank and dazed, and the Soul Skills they had aimed at Lin Feng began to veer off course.
Their sight, hearing, and even their perception of their own Soul Power were all disrupted by the strange nether fire. It was as if they had plunged into a lightless, soundless abyss.
"My eyes..."
"I can't hear anything!"
Shouts and panic erupted, and an even more astonishing change followed close behind.
Amid the ghostly blue flames covering the arena, wisps of piercing blue fire suddenly bloomed like flowers.
The frigid power of the Mystic Ice Spirit Flame erupted at once, using the Blue Silver Nether Fire's field as a conduit.
"Crack-crack-crack—!"
A barrage of teeth-grating freezing sounds rang out.
Centered on Lin Feng, a thick layer of crystal-clear ice rapidly spread, swallowing the students who were caught in the chaos of their senses, their Soul Skills spiraling out of control.
They were frozen in place, still lunging forward or releasing their Soul Skills, sealed inside massive crystals and transformed into ice statues, each with a look of astonishment and a body locked in motion.
The temperature in the entire Soul Fighting Zone plunged, and frost filled the air.
The noisy battlefield, where Soul Skills had been flying just a moment earlier, had become a silent Glaciate. Only the figure standing at its center remained.
Lin Feng calmly surveyed the ice statues around him, then finally moved.
He strolled over to the nearest "statue" and casually swung his right fist.
"Bang!"
The thick layer of ice around the student exploded on impact, and the person inside was sent flying along with it by the force of Lin Feng's punch. They traced an arc through the air and crashed down at the far edge of the arena, ice shards scattering from their body as they lay motionless.
Then came the second statue, then the third...
He wandered through the forest of ice statues he had created, one punch for each.
Shattered ice crystals and flying figures formed the most visually stunning scene of the one-against-thirty match.
An invincible presence!
Ever since consuming the Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue and undergoing a complete transformation, Lin Feng's physique had grown so formidable it defied common sense, rivaling the defensive abilities of a Battle Soul Master of the same rank.
He was even confident that, in terms of physical strength alone, he was no weaker than Xu Sanshi, one of the Outer Court Twin Stars, renowned for his defenses.
Now, with his command over several Heavenly Flames, he excelled in both offense and defense and dominated the battlefield. He had become a "hexagonal warrior" without a single weakness.
Teacher Mu Jin, the referee, and every student watching from below were too stunned to speak.
Or rather, the battle had ended too quickly, and its result was so far beyond anything they could have imagined that they hadn't even had time to cry out.
Only after Lin Feng lowered his fist and stood still did the referee snap out of it. Still shaken, he loudly announced:
"F-First match, Lin Feng wins!"
His voice echoed through the suddenly silent Soul Fighting Zone, striking with exceptional clarity—and impact.
Ning Tian stood below the arena, staring blankly at Lin Feng.
She remembered when they had been surrounded by a swarm of Thousand Jun Ants in the Sunset Forest. Lin Feng had displayed astonishing combat power then, too, but nothing like the effortless ease he had shown today.
In only half a semester, his strength had advanced this far.
If only she could recruit someone like him into the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect...
The thought rose in her heart once more, but she knew it was probably no more than wishful thinking.
Beside her, Wu Feng was just as shocked. She had to admit it, though, and murmured, "Looks like... that guy really wasn't boasting."
Not far away, Wang Dong, who had been bragging to Xiao Xiao that "if I were out there, I'd beat that guy until he was crawling," had gone completely quiet.
She folded her arms, lips pursed, and watched the chaos in the arena with a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes.
In the end, she only gave a soft snort and turned away. She didn't say anything else about how unfair it was.
Xiao Xiao glanced at her from the side, pressed her lips together to hide a smile, and said nothing.
After a brief silence, the students from Class Nine erupted in deafening cheers and shouts, their eyes full of admiration.
Teacher Mu Jin stood at the edge of the arena. Though she was usually composed, she couldn't hide her delight, and the corners of her lips lifted slightly.
With a Soul Ancestor like Lin Feng, whose combat strength was exceptional, and Ning Tian and Wu Feng, two Soul Elders who worked together seamlessly, the team championship in this new-student assessment was practically in the bag for her Class Nine.
Thinking of the wager she had made with that madwoman Zhou Yi of Class One, Mu Jin felt even more pleased.
The outcome of that bet was now beyond doubt.
Over the following hours, several more three-on-three Simulation matches were held in the Soul Fighting Zone, with the other Class Nine teams taking turns to battle and hone their teamwork.
Mu Jin gave Lin Feng special permission to leave early and rest.
Lin Feng returned to the dorm alone. He had barely sat down on the edge of his bed when the door was quietly pushed open from the outside, then quickly shut again.
A figure slipped inside. It was Wang Dong.
Wang Dong closed the door behind her and leaned against it, her bright eyes fixed on Lin Feng.
Her expression was complicated. She seemed a little unwilling to admit defeat, but there was also unmistakable curiosity and a desire to figure him out. The defiance she had forced herself to show downstairs had vanished.
"Ahem." She cleared her throat and let her gaze wander before finally speaking in a casual tone. "You... did all right just now. But don't get too pleased with yourself. If I used my Martial Soul to fly, you wouldn't have been able to trap me so easily with your black flames and ice."
She said it that way, but even she couldn't quite hide the lack of confidence in her voice.
"Just say what you came to say." Lin Feng got up, poured himself a glass of water, and looked at Wang Dong, who was standing awkwardly by the door.
She had slipped back as soon as the match ended. She definitely hadn't come just to praise him.
Wang Dong took two steps forward and lowered her voice. "I-I just wanted to ask... have you already advanced to Soul Ancestor?"
"Yes." Lin Feng answered plainly, almost indifferently. "There's no reason to hide it."
"A twelve-year-old Soul Ancestor?! H-How did you do it? That makes no sense at all."
Though she had already suspected as much, hearing him confirm it left Wang Dong sucking in a sharp breath. Her eyes went wide.
"It wasn't anything special. I just got lucky and ate some thousand-year Whale Rubber, along with using a few of my own cultivation methods."
"I've eaten thousand-year Whale Rubber too." Wang Dong frowned, clearly dissatisfied with his offhand explanation, and pressed him. "How could it possibly have an effect that ridiculous? And those cultivation methods you mentioned... what exactly are they?"
She leaned closer, her curiosity now completely outweighing her awkwardness. Her gaze burned as if she hoped to find the answer on Lin Feng's face.
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