That night, the Great Soul Arena in Suotuo City was more lively than ever. The reason was that the recently famous Imperial Fighting Team was preparing to face a single opponent: Lin Yan, the only person Supervisor Ao had allowed to represent an entire team by himself.
The seven members of the Imperial Fighting Team slowly entered the Great Soul Arena. Their faces were brimming with fighting spirit. They wanted to see what kind of person was so formidable that he dared challenge all seven of them.
The students from Shrek Academy also arrived and took a row of seats in the audience. Flender introduced the upcoming match to them: "The next fighter to enter the arena is no ordinary person. His arrival made Supervisor Ao bend the rules for him—one man counts as a whole team, and he's already fought his way to a Diamond Soul Badge."
The Shrek Academy students were stunned by this. Yu Xiaogang immediately grew interested. "Flender, how much do you know about him?"
"I don't know much, but bet on him to win." Flender rubbed the bridge of his nose as he replied.
Yu Xiaogang: "..."
The moment Yu Xiaogang looked down at the arena, he froze. He hadn't expected his nephew to be leading the Imperial Fighting Team.
His eyes narrowed as he considered whether he should go greet him later.
Tang San, seated beside him, suddenly stood up, his gaze fixed on the lone figure walking into the Soul Fighting Arena. "It's him!"
The other Shrek students followed Tang San's gaze. Sure enough, they saw the figure who had terrified them that day: Lin Yan!
Hearing this, Yu Xiaogang and Flender also looked over curiously.
Flender recognized the familiar figure and chuckled. "That's the fellow who's been making me money these past few days."
Ignoring Flender, Yu Xiaogang turned to Tang San and asked, "Xiao San, you know him?"
"Teacher, he's the bastard!" Tang San glared at Lin Yan's back, seething with fury. That bastard was the reason Tang San had fallen from Level 30 back to Level 29!
Yu Xiaogang's expression darkened too. He looked at Flender. "Flender, we'll go get justice for Teacher Zhao and the children later."
He'd phrased it cleverly. Rather than making it about Xiao San alone, he'd included Zhao Wuji and the children, leaving Flender unable to refuse. As expected of Grandmaster—he had a real gift for words.
"Xiaogang, this..."
"Flender, are you really going to swallow this insult?" Seeing Flender hesitate, Yu Xiaogang pressed on. "We're doing this for Teacher Zhao and the children."
"But there's a Titled Douluo behind him!" Flender reminded him.
Yu Xiaogang laughed in anger at that. "So what if there's a Titled Douluo? That doesn't give him the right to act so tyrannically!"
"?"
Seeing that Yu Xiaogang wouldn't back down, and feeling that he owed him, Flender could only nod in agreement.
The moment Lin Yan stepped into the arena below, every member of the Imperial Fighting Team fixed their eyes on him. They were genuinely curious about just how talented the genius Teacher Qin Ming had mentioned could be.
"You're the genius Teacher Qin Ming mentioned?" Yu Tianheng asked curiously, then changed tack. "You don't seem all that special aside from being handsome."
Lin Yan didn't seem inclined to answer Yu Tianheng's question. Instead, he asked, "Did you come all the way up here just to talk nonsense?"
The atmosphere instantly turned cold. Yu Tianheng hadn't expected the fellow before him to be so arrogant. He and his teammates would have to show him that there was always someone stronger, and a sky beyond the sky.
"Brothers, activate your Martial Souls!" As Yu Tianheng spoke, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul flared to life. Three Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet. "Level 39 Power Attack System Battle Soul Elder. Please, instruct me!"
The other six revealed their Martial Souls and Soul Rings as well. All of them were Soul Elders, with the weakest at Level 35.
The crowd was fired up by such a lineup.
Yu Xiaogang nodded at his nephew's talent, then praised his disciple beside him. "Xiao San, your talent is even better than Yu Tianheng's down there."
Yu Tianheng: "?"
Tang San couldn't hear a word his teacher was saying. He stared fixedly at Lin Yan, trying to discern something. It was all that bastard's fault he'd fallen from Level 30 back to Level 29 after finally breaking through!
He deserved to die!
Faced with their activated Martial Souls, Lin Yan merely stirred the Authority of Power within him. As for activating his own Martial Soul and Soul Rings—no. He might overdo it and kill them.
Last time, he'd almost failed to hold back against Dai Mubai and killed him. That wasn't how things were supposed to go this time.
Yu Tianheng stared at Lin Yan, who had taken up a fighting stance without activating his Martial Soul or Soul Rings, utterly confused. "Why aren't you activating your Martial Soul and Soul Rings?"
"There's no need. I'm afraid I'll beat you to death."
"Arrogant!" Yu Tianheng was thoroughly enraged. "First Soul Skill: Thunder Dragon Claw!" His right arm instantly transformed into a dragon's, covered in blue-purple scales. A massive claw crackling with lightning formed and shot toward Lin Yan, as if to teach the arrogant fool a lesson!
As Yu Tianheng charged at him, Lin Yan clenched his fist and gathered his strength. The Authority of Power within him awakened in an instant, and a terrifying force converged in his right fist. Then he punched!
Bang!
A deafening collision rang out. A scorching wave of air burst like an invisible shock wave, sweeping across the arena and sending dust billowing into the air.
The onlookers held their breath and instinctively stepped back. Everyone assumed that, with Yu Tianheng's strength, Lin Yan would be knocked away by that razor-sharp claw and sent tumbling off the platform.
But events unfolded in a way no one present could have predicted.
Before the shock waves had even faded, a figure shot backward like a kite with its strings cut, so fast it was only a blur. He crashed heavily into the edge of the platform with a muffled thud, then fell to the ground, unconscious.
The crowd looked closer. The person lying on the ground wasn't Lin Yan, but Yu Tianheng. He'd been defeated in a single blow!
In the audience, Yu Xiaogang couldn't stay seated after seeing his nephew defeated in a single blow.
He knew his nephew's talent. How could he possibly be defeated in one blow?!
The Imperial Fighting Team stared at their defeated captain, dumbfounded. Hadn't that happened a little too fast? The whole thing had taken only a few seconds. This...
"Bastard!" Dugu Yan had a strong affection for Yu Tianheng, and the sight sent her into a rage. "Let's attack together and avenge our captain!"
"Third Soul Skill: Jade Phosphorus Purple Poison." The Jade Phosphorus Serpent behind her opened its mouth and sprayed a dense cloud of purple poison. The cloud spread rapidly; anything it touched corroded, and it could turn a person to pulp in a short time. It also caused intense dizziness and inflicted continuous poison damage.
She was clearly prepared to cripple Lin Yan outright.
The other members of the Imperial Fighting Team also rushed in to beat him up, leaving him no way to retreat.
Looking at the poisonous fog before him and the attackers closing in behind, Lin Yan sighed helplessly. "I misjudged things. Oh well, it doesn't matter."
"Second Soul Skill: Crimson Flame Body."
Three Soul Rings slowly rose from beneath his feet. The audience froze, as did the six remaining members of the Imperial Fighting Team. His second Soul Ring was a Thousand-year Soul Ring?!
Yu Xiaogang hadn't even recovered from the shock of seeing Yu Tianheng knocked away when he saw Lin Yan's second Soul Ring and froze. "Th-that can't be real, can it?"
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