Leisurely Strolling, Covering the Sky with One Hand!

The midday sun shone directly onto the training field, compressing the four figures' shadows into dark smudges beneath their feet.

"Five minutes? Boss, aren't you looking down on us too much?"

Xie Xie gripped the Light Dragon Dagger tighter, the fighting spirit in his eyes nearly overflowing.

Tang Wulin's normally honest-looking face had also tensed. The yellow Century Soul Ring beneath his feet shone brilliantly, while vines writhed wildly behind him like a swarm of snakes.

Gu Yue said nothing. She merely took two silent steps back and to the side, opening up the optimal casting distance.

Elemental particles in the air cheered around her. Crimson, emerald, ice-blue, and earthy yellow halos flowed across her fingertips.

There was no referee's signal.

The instant a withered leaf touched the ground, the battle erupted.

"Let's go!"

With a low roar, Xie Xie transformed into a streak of golden light, advancing in a Z-shaped path close to the ground.

He was faster than before, clearly eager to prove himself to his boss.

At the same time, Tang Wulin slammed both hands against the ground.

First Soul Skill: Golden Emerald Dragon Bind!

Dozens of thick Blue Silver Grass vines burst from the earth. Rather than growing chaotically, they wove themselves into a massive cage, attempting to seal off every possible route of escape for Tang Linyuan.

Enhanced by the Golden Dragon King Bloodline and the Emerald Dragon Snake, those vines were as tough as steel rebar, with faint dragon might flowing through the golden veins across their surfaces.

"Fireballs, rapid fire."

Gu Yue flicked all ten fingers in quick succession from the rear.

They were not the massive explosive fireballs she usually used, but fist-sized, extremely compressed high-temperature fire shots.

A full eighteen of them sealed off every gap above Tang Linyuan and on both sides, forming a flawless kill net together with the vines on the ground.

A trinity attack, a net from heaven and earth.

Even a three-ring Soul Elder would have met a bitter end against such coordination.

Yet Tang Linyuan, standing at the center of the storm, moved.

He did not summon his Martial Soul.

Faced with the incoming fire shots and the madly growing vines beneath his feet, he merely took half a step to the left.

Only half a step.

"Sst—"

A fire shot grazed past his temple, seemingly scorching away a strand of hair.

Then, his body bent backward in an eerie motion, his spine curving like a great dragon into an unbelievable arc.

Swish!

Xie Xie's Light Dragon Dagger swept past the tip of his nose, its wind pressure stinging his skin.

Xie Xie's pupils contracted. That had clearly been a guaranteed hit—how had it missed?

Before Xie Xie could change moves, Tang Linyuan's boneless body spun in place along with the backward momentum.

He lightly tapped the ground with his toes, floating up like willow fluff and landing precisely on the tip of a Blue Silver Grass vine that had just burst from the earth.

Borrowing the force, he rose into the air.

Boom!

Eighteen fireballs exploded where he had just been standing. The Blue Silver Grass cage was instantly blown apart, and smoke and dust billowed everywhere.

"He's up there!" Gu Yue shouted.

"Wind Blades!"

Azure Wind Blades swept toward Tang Linyuan in midair like a rainstorm.

Tang Linyuan was in the air with nowhere to brace himself, yet he merely swung an arm lightly, as though swatting away flies.

Ancient Martial Arts Movement Technique: Cloud Ladder Step.

He stepped on the air with a sonic boom, forcibly shifting three feet sideways and slipping through the gaps between the dense Wind Blades.

His clothes fluttered, yet not a single blade touched him.

Thirty seconds.

For a full thirty seconds, light and shadows intertwined across the training field as explosions rang out without pause.

Xie Xie's dagger left afterimages, Tang Wulin's Blue Silver Grass covered the ground, and Gu Yue's elemental bombardment barely ceased.

Yet Tang Linyuan was like a sea swallow in a raging storm.

He strolled leisurely, his hands still clasped behind his back.

Every dodge was perfect to the finest degree, and every movement struck at the blind spot in the three of their attacks.

Forget injuries—his clothes had not even wrinkled.

"Huff... huff..."

A minute passed.

Xie Xie slowed down. Sweat from his forehead flowed into his eyes, and his vision began to blur.

Maintaining such high-intensity bursts was an enormous drain on his Soul Power.

Tang Wulin was not doing much better. Controlling so much enhanced Blue Silver Grass while constantly coordinating with his teammates had already begun to overdraw his spiritual power.

Gu Yue's face was somewhat pale. After repeatedly casting compound magic, her chest rose and fell violently.

"Have you had enough?"

Tang Linyuan's voice was steady, without the slightest ripple, from within the smoke and dust.

He stopped walking and stood amid the ruined training field. Looking at the three panting figures, he shook his head.

"Your coordination is good, but there are too many openings."

"Xie Xie, your heart is unsettled. You only seek speed when you strike, not accuracy."

"Wulin, control isn't about blindly entangling your opponent. You need to anticipate."

"As for Gu Yue..."

He looked at the stubborn girl. "Too flashy."

The instant those words fell, Tang Linyuan's aura changed.

If he had been a fallen leaf drifting with the current just now, then he was now a meteor crashing down from the heavens.

"Now, it's my turn!"

Whoosh!

An afterimage remained where he had stood.

Xie Xie only felt his vision go dark. Instinctively, he tried to raise his dagger to block, but before the Light Dragon Dagger in his hand was even halfway up, a fierce gust of wind struck his face.

Tang Linyuan appeared before him without throwing a punch.

He merely extended one hand, holding it upright like a blade, and precisely cut into the sole gap amid the countless dagger afterimages.

The movement was not fast. It even seemed somewhat effortless.

But in Xie Xie's eyes, that hand strike was like Death God's scythe. No matter how he tried to evade it, he would run right into it.

It was as though he had personally delivered his own neck into Tang Linyuan's hand.

"Smack."

The hand strike lightly landed on Xie Xie's carotid artery.

The force was controlled flawlessly, just enough to cut off the blood supply.

Before Xie Xie could even cry out, his eyes rolled back, and his body went limp as though all its bones had been pulled out.

As he fell, his dazed eyes were filled with grievance. Boss, wasn't that a little too harsh...

"Thud."

Xie Xie hit the ground and fell into a peaceful sleep.

"Xie Xie!" Tang Wulin cried out in alarm.

Before he could react, a tremendous force suddenly surged through the vines he had summoned.

Tang Linyuan grabbed the thickest Blue Silver Grass vine.

He did not use Soul Power. It was a pure eruption of physical strength.

"Come here."

Tang Wulin felt an irresistible force yank him up. His entire body was pulled straight off the ground, flying toward Tang Linyuan like a kite.

"Brother! Brother! I was wrong!"

Seeing that cold, stern face drawing closer, Tang Wulin immediately lost his nerve. He flailed wildly in midair, trying to awaken his brotherly affection.

Tang Linyuan looked at his flying younger brother, the corner of his mouth curling into a "kind" smile.

"Too late."

He reached out with his left hand, gripping Tang Wulin's shoulder and forcibly halting his flight.

His right hand curled, thumb pressed against middle finger.

"Flick."

A crisp, resounding forehead flick landed squarely on Tang Wulin's smooth forehead.

"Ahh—!"

Tang Wulin cried out miserably, clutching his forehead as he squatted down, tears nearly spraying from his eyes.

A red, swollen bump rose at a visible speed.

"It hurts, it hurts... Brother, you really hit me..."

In less than ten seconds, two of them were out.

Only Gu Yue remained on the training field.

She stood where she was, watching Tang Linyuan walk toward her step by step. Fine beads of cold sweat seeped from her forehead.

That series of actions had been too fast—so fast that she had not even had time to support them.

"Ice Wall!"

Gu Yue thrust both hands forward, and three thick ice walls rose from the ground.

Tang Linyuan did not stop walking. He merely threw a casual punch.

Crack.

Without any Soul Skill, relying solely on his body forged through countless trials and his precise control over the point of force, the three ice walls shattered into fragments like crisp biscuits.

He stepped over the broken ice and slowly closed in.

"Swamp! Fire Wall! Wind Blades!"

Gu Yue was beginning to panic. She hurled every elemental attack she could use at him all at once, multicolored elemental radiance exploding around Tang Linyuan.

But it was useless.

The young man moved as though walking through his own backyard. His ghostly figure weaved through the Elemental Storm, every dodge perfectly timed, as if he had long predicted where her attacks would land.

Ten meters, five meters, three meters.

That suffocating pressure made Gu Yue feel as though she was not facing a person, but a god king patrolling heaven and earth.

Tang Linyuan raised his hand.

That hand was slender and powerful, its knuckles distinct, and it slowly reached toward her neck.

The terror of having her fate controlled washed over her once more.

"No!"

Gu Yue clenched her teeth, silver light bursting from her eyes.

Spatial Element!

This was her final trump card, and the only means she had to create distance.

The surrounding space began to distort. Her figure blurred as she was about to merge into the Void.

As long as she had this instant, she could teleport thirty meters away!

However.

At the instant her body was about to turn intangible.

Tang Linyuan stopped.

He did not reach out to grab Gu Yue. He merely watched her quietly, while a strange silver-gray gleam suddenly surfaced in his originally dark eyes.

It was a power deeper and more tyrannical than the spatial power Gu Yue currently wielded.

"Seal."

The young man softly uttered a single word.

Buzz!

Gu Yue felt the previously obedient Spatial Elements around her suddenly riot, then instantly freeze as though they had been filled with cement.

The Spatial Passage she had just opened shut before her with a bang.

Spatial Lockdown!

"Pfft!"

Her Soul Power backlashed. Gu Yue gave a muffled groan, blood spilling from the corner of her mouth as she staggered two steps back. The silver glow in her eyes instantly faded.

She raised her head and stared at Tang Linyuan before her in terror.

At that instant, she saw a black vortex endlessly collapsing and twisting within his eyes.

That was... suppression from a higher dimension.

Tang Linyuan's hand stopped an inch before her.

It neither moved forward nor withdrew.

Gu Yue looked at that hand, then at the young man's eyes, which had returned to calm. All the strength seemed to drain from her body.

All her pride shattered completely in that moment.

She lowered her head, unclenching her tightly balled fists, her voice almost inaudible:

"I... surrender."