Battle, Diamond Mammoth Soul King!

Huyan Yu's martial soul is the Diamond Mammoth, one of the top-tier beast martial souls.

Ten thousand years ago, Huyan Zhen, the sect master of the Elephant Armor Sect who possessed this martial soul, once took a direct hit from the Poseidon Trident with his face.

Although it became a laughingstock, it also served as side evidence of the extreme, formidable defensive power of this martial soul.

Even among all defense-type martial souls, the Diamond Mammoth can be considered a leader.

Moreover, this martial soul not only possesses physical defense that drives soul masters of the same rank to despair, but it also possesses terrifying strength to match.

Relying on this martial soul, in the team battles of the past two days, even Zhang Lexuan, whose strength as a Soul Emperor was peerless throughout the arena, had to put in some effort when dealing with him.

Furthermore, as an academy of the Heaven Dou Empire, Canglan Academy naturally rejects soul tools.

But Huyan Yu is different; although he is not a traditional soul master, he is not at all opposed to using soul tools.

And the one he is most proficient with is the Soul Guidance Thruster.

The fifth-level Soul Guidance Thruster directly compensates for his originally weak speed, granting him terrifying charging capabilities that match his defense and strength.

In fact, in this tournament, Huyan Yu is very likely the strongest at the Soul King stage.

One-on-one, it would be quite difficult for the other six members of the Shrek main team to defeat him.

At this moment, Huyan Yu activated his Soul Guidance Thruster.

A deep blue light of soul power suddenly ignited behind his back, emitting a low-pitched energy hum.

"Shhh--!"

The air was violently torn apart!

Huyan Yu's massive frame, which had been slightly cumbersome due to the characteristics of his martial soul, transformed into a blurred afterimage.

In almost an instant, he crossed a distance of several dozen meters and appeared abruptly in front of Xia Ming!

Just then, two purple soul rings beside Xia Ming lit up simultaneously.

"Boom--!"

The two clashed fist against fist!

A visible white air wave exploded in a ring, and the shockwave swept away all the dust on the competition stage.

Xia Ming's feet sank deep into the stage as if plowing the earth, and he was forced to slide back more than ten meters before he could barely stabilize his figure, leaving two clear furrows behind him.

In contrast, Huyan Yu merely swayed, retreating half a step; the stage beneath his feet cracked, but his overall stance remained as steady as a rock.

However, the storm-like pursuit that was expected did not come.

Huyan Yu stood stiffly in place, maintaining his punching posture.

On his rugged face, the muscles twitched slightly, and in his bell-like eyes, the originally fierce fighting spirit was replaced by a sudden sense of bewilderment and stinging pain.

Xia Ming looked up at him and raised a faint smile.

In this tournament, this was the first time someone had been able to suppress him in terms of strength.

Of course, that was with him controlling his strength at the Soul Ancestor level.

But even so, the opponent's toughness was enough to earn a shred of his recognition.

However.

Not feeling so good, are you? Xia Ming thought to himself.

The reason Huyan Yu did not press his advantage was, of course, not because he was uninterested in victory.

It was because his spirit had suffered an invisible, heavy blow!

The defensive power of the Diamond Mammoth martial soul is indeed quite formidable; with his current Soul Power Level of 58, even ordinary Soul Emperors would find it difficult to break his defense.

However, physical defensive power and spiritual power cannot be mentioned in the same breath.

Perhaps in terms of strength, he far surpassed Xia Ming, who was deliberately controlling his power.

But mentally, compared to Xia Ming, who could compete with spirit-type soul masters of the same level, Huyan Yu was also at a great disadvantage.

Xia Ming is not a spirit-type soul master; that he could use a spiritual attack was, of course, thanks to Reign Over the World.

The consecutive days of fierce fighting in the round-robin tournament were not just an accumulation of wins and losses for him, but also an excellent whetstone.

Now, his control over Reign Over the World has reached the realm of ease and mastery.

Without needing to deliberately build momentum, every strike naturally carried that overwhelming spiritual pressure and impact.

In that seemingly simple and unadorned clash of fists just now, the vast and majestic spiritual impact had followed the collision of their fists, like an invisible awl, ruthlessly gouging into Huyan Yu's sea of consciousness!

At this moment, Huyan Yu only felt a buzzing in his brain, and his consciousness became briefly blurred.

Xia Ming gently flexed his wrists, his gaze shifting from calm to a restrained sharpness.

He took a step forward and took the initiative to launch an attack.

Invisible pressure permeated the air, locking onto his opponent.

"You had better be ready for the next punch!"

Before the words had even faded, Xia Ming's figure, like a golden lightning bolt tearing through the air, streaked toward him.

Huyan Yu had not yet recovered his senses when his field of vision was filled by his opponent's fist.

"Bang!"

This punch landed solidly against Huyan Yu's chest.

Amidst the muffled thud, Huyan Yu's mountain-like, sturdy frame shuddered violently, and the stage beneath his feet cracked once more.

Yet his feet remained as if rooted to the ground, nailed firmly in place without retreating a single step.

The physical defense of the Diamond Mammoth was still being displayed to its fullest extent.

Xia Ming's punch, capable of splitting stones and breaking monuments, landed on Huyan Yu and seemed only to cause the diamond luster on his skin to ripple slightly, failing to inflict the slightest injury.

However, on a mental level, the damage Huyan Yu sustained was gradually accumulating.

A tearing, excruciating pain suddenly intensified, as if countless fine needles were churning within his mind, causing his vision to go black for a moment.

"Roar!"

A strong sense of crisis finally broke through the mental quagmire, and Huyan Yu erupted with a low growl from the depths of his throat, like the roar of a wounded beast.

Bloodshot veins appeared in his bell-like eyes, and relying on a near-instinctive, stubborn will, he forcibly gathered his nearly dissipating consciousness back together.

He could not go on like this!

If he continued to stand there acting as a punching bag, passively enduring these combos that carried terrifying mental attacks, his mental defenses would eventually collapse completely, and at that point, no matter how strong his physical defense was, it would be of no use.

Enduring the pain in his mind as if it were being torn apart, Huyan Yu used his willpower to forcibly activate his Soul Guidance Thruster.

"Hiss—Boom!"

Under the force of the powerful thrust, his massive body retreated violently in a slightly staggering posture, instantly putting dozens of meters of distance between himself and Xia Ming.

Steadying his stance, Huyan Yu panted heavily, cold sweat already seeping from his temples.

He raised a hand to wipe away a trace of blood that had spilled from the corner of his mouth at some unknown moment, and the look he cast toward Xia Ming was now filled with unprecedented gravity, and even a hint of imperceptible shock.

If things continued this way, he might actually lose!

The opponent's ability to directly shake his spirit completely countered his defenses.

His advantage in strength was also greatly diminished by his inability to effectively focus his mind.

However, he was completely helpless.

The Diamond Mammoth martial soul granted him ultimate close-quarters offensive and defensive capabilities, but it also limited his methods of attack.

He possessed no reliable long-range soul skills and could not engage in hit-and-run attrition.

What he excelled at had always been closing the distance and crushing his opponents with absolute power and defense.

But now, getting close meant continuously enduring that terrifying mental impact, and his consciousness could not hold out for much longer.

This felt like an unsolvable dead loop.