Eliminate One Person, Battle Soul King!

Seeing Xia Ming charging straight toward him, Chen Yan's expression shifted instantly from solemn to ferocious.

"Arrogant! Let me show you the taste of a bombardment!"

He let out a low roar, and the four soul rings on his body—two yellow and two purple—flared with brilliant light simultaneously!

Like many soul masters, all four of his soul skills were focused on soul power amplification; otherwise, he could never have sustained the soul power consumption required by his Soul Guidance Artillery Platform.

"Hum—"

The next moment, Chen Yan seemed to transform into a supernova on the verge of eruption!

The launch ports of over thirty Level 4 Soul Guidance Rays lit up with a blinding white radiance all at once.

The humming sound generated by the intense convergence of energy merged into a single drone, casting him into a blazing sphere of light that was impossible to look at directly.

"BOOM—!"

A violent roar exploded suddenly.

More than thirty Level 4 Soul Guidance Rays, guided by the fine-tuning of the artillery platform's base, did not fire randomly.

Instead, they wove together into a fan-shaped net of fire with almost no blind spots along the path of Xia Ming's charge, swallowing him completely amidst a piercing shriek that tore through the air!

Light engulfed Xia Ming's figure; the shockwave from the explosion and the dazzling glare forced the spectators in the front rows to squint.

The ground of the Soul Fighting Platform was plowed into dozens of charred trenches, and dust mixed with scattered particles of energy filled the air.

Facing an offensive like this, even an average Soul King would never dare to take it head-on.

But Xia Ming was naturally not afraid of such an attack; for the opponent to break through his defenses, they would need to increase their cultivation by at least two or three soul rings.

However, to avoid appearing too shocking, he still lit up both of his purple soul rings simultaneously.

This way, to outsiders, it would appear as though he had only withstood the strike after activating two soul skills.

Chen Yan's face gradually turned pale; after this round of attacks, his soul power was nearly exhausted.

This was the greatest drawback of the Soul Guidance Artillery Platform tactic: using dozens of offensive soul tools at once would drain even the most powerful soul master dry.

Yet, the tactic he had pinned his hopes on did not work.

Xia Ming broke through the obstruction of all the Soul Guidance Rays and arrived in front of him in an instant.

He simply pulled his fist back to his waist and then punched out!

This punch appeared plain and unadorned.

But the moment he threw it, Xia Ming poured the prototype of his Reign Over the World—a fusion of mental pressure and his own aura—into it without reservation!

"BOOM—!"

The moment his fist made contact with the base, a terrifying, thunderous sound erupted!

A massive, overwhelming force, accompanied by a mental shock that felt as if it were being suppressed by the will of a monarch, poured out along with his fist!

"CRACK—!"

The base that Chen Yan had crafted from various precious metals, which he believed could withstand attacks at the Soul King level, was instantly twisted and deformed by this single punch.

As for Chen Yan himself, he felt an irresistible force surge through him; his chest burned with intense pain, his blood surged, and that mental shock left his mind completely blank.

The next moment, he and his shattered Soul Guidance Artillery Platform were sent flying off the ground with a roar!

"BANG—!"

A heavy impact echoed as Chen Yan slammed hard into the protective barrier at the edge of the arena, sending violent ripples across the shield.

Only then did he slide limply down the barrier, having completely lost consciousness.

The metal debris from his equipment scattered across the floor with a clatter, and it was visible to the naked eye that many of the parts were completely totaled.

The first match ended just like that.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye, with only a few seconds having passed since the start of the match.

The entire arena fell into a deathly silence.

Many spectators hadn't even had the chance to gasp at the terrifying number of Chen Yan's Soul Guidance Rays before the battle had come to such an abrupt and crushing end.

The referee was clearly stunned for a moment before stepping forward to check Chen Yan's condition, then took a deep breath and announced loudly:

"The first match, Shrek Academy, wins!"

After a brief silence, the spectator stands erupted into a mountain-shaking roar of commotion and discussion.

On the other side, Chen Yan was quickly carried away by his companions.

He soon regained consciousness, his expression extremely gloomy.

Losing to a child more than ten years his junior was a humiliation that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

But what made his heart bleed even more was this:

After checking, he realized that his Soul Guidance Artillery Platform, which he treated as his life, was over seventy percent destroyed!

Most of those expensive rare metals and core arrays would need to be completely replaced or repaired.

The consumption of these resources would be enough to keep him strapped for cash for a long time to come.

Just thinking about it made his vision go dark.

On the competition stage, Xia Ming slowly retracted his fist, the flickering light of his soul rings gradually fading.

His expression remained calm, and thanks to the monstrous recovery effect of his second soul skill, the soul power within his body returned to its peak almost instantly.

However, he also knew that appearing too relaxed right now would actually be a bad thing.

Thus, under the gaze of the masses, he calmly took out a Milk Bottle, held it in his hand, and began to feign the process of recovering his soul power.

He closed his eyes slightly and furrowed his brows, as if he were struggling to regulate his breathing and doing his best to alleviate the massive expenditure caused by tanking that round of concentrated fire.

"I ask that the next member of Mingdu Soul Master Academy take the stage!"

The referee's voice rang out once more, shattering the brief atmosphere of respite.

In the waiting area of Mingdu Soul Master Academy, the atmosphere was extremely heavy at this moment.

After a brief discussion, a figure leaped steadily onto the competition stage.

This person was about twenty years old and tall; it was none other than Luo Jiang, one of the only three Soul Kings from Mingdu Soul Master Academy!

Clearly, Xia Ming's performance just now had left them afraid to hold anything back or test the waters any further, prompting them to send out one of their trump cards directly!

After he stepped onto the stage, Xia Ming's expression turned stern.

He knew that even if he defeated this opponent, he would likely reach his limit soon after.

Facing a five-ring Soul King who was also a Level 5 Soul Tool Master, he could certainly win easily if he unleashed his full power, but suppressing his strength to the level of a Soul Ancestor was clearly no small feat.

Moreover, as a Soul Grand Master, having already displayed such a performance was excessively genius; he could not afford to expose any more.

Xia Ming thought to himself, and the match began shortly thereafter.

He did not hesitate in the slightest; the moment the referee's voice fell, his figure shot out once again like an arrow released from a bow!

He had to maintain this aggressive, fire-like combat style and continue to take the initiative!

Luo Jiang did not choose to counterattack; instead, he took a half-step back and swiped his right hand across his storage soul tool.

A circular shield with an archaic design appeared in his hand.

The moment the shield appeared, it automatically hovered in front of him, tilting slightly as a wave of soul power as heavy as a mountain rippled outward.

This shield was Luo Jiang's signature defensive method, a Level 5 defensive soul tool.

In theory, its defense was even higher than that of most defensive-type Soul Kings.

His plan was clear: to exhaust his opponent's soul power first with a defense that was impossible to break.

So you have great strength and high defense?

Then I will let you attack and see how long your soul power, as a mere Soul Grand Master, can sustain such high-intensity strikes!