An Easy Victory

"Boom—!"

The instant the Battle Armor enveloped him, Ji Jing stamped down hard. Amplified by his extreme dual flames and Battle Armor, his Soul Power transformed into a terrifying pressure that swept toward Zhengtian Academy like a tsunami!

"Thud! Thud!"

The first to bear the brunt were four Soul Ancestors from Zhengtian Academy. They couldn't even hold on for a second.

Their legs went weak. Before they could fully release their Martial Souls, their eyes rolled back and they collapsed unconscious.

"Wh-what is this pressure?!"

Tang Xiaolei's face turned deathly pale, and the Purple Brilliance Bow in his hands trembled violently. He felt as though he wasn't facing a Soul Ancestor, but a Soul Saint—or perhaps someone even stronger!

Ye Wuqing and Yu Mengdi were faring no better. The two desperately urged all their Soul Power into motion, veins bulging on their foreheads as they struggled to hold on beneath the terrifying pressure unleashed by the Battle Armor.

"Don't give up! Use your strongest Soul Skills!"

Ye Wuqing roared. Two yellow, two purple, and one black Soul Ring blazed brightly. Countless Golden Leaves became a storm that filled the sky, hurtling toward Ji Jing with a piercing rush of wind.

Yu Mengdi let out a delicate cry as well. Her Angel wings spread wide, and holy radiance gathered into a gigantic sword of sacred light that slashed down with crushing force.

Tang Xiaolei gritted his teeth, drew the Purple Brilliance Bow to its full draw, and loosed an arrow.

Facing the all-out combined attack of three Soul Kings, Ji Jing didn't even lift an eyelid.

He didn't use a single Soul Skill. He simply stepped forward into the oncoming storm of attacks.

Whoosh!

Ji Jing vanished from where he stood, moving faster than the eye could follow.

"Too slow."

The quiet voice sounded beside Tang Xiaolei's ear.

Tang Xiaolei's pupils contracted. Before he could react, a fist clad in golden-red Battle Armor had already landed lightly against his abdomen.

Thump!

A muffled impact rang out. Tang Xiaolei felt an irresistible force pierce into his body, instantly cutting off the flow of his Soul Power. His eyes rolled back, and he crumpled to the ground as the Purple Brilliance Bow in his hands dissolved into specks of light.

One punch, and Tang Xiaolei was knocked unconscious!

"Xiaolei!"

Ye Wuqing's eyes nearly bulged with fury. He controlled countless Golden Leaves, forming his strongest defensive shield in front of him in an attempt to stop Ji Jing.

Yet Ji Jing simply threw another straightforward punch.

No flames even blazed from the divine metal gauntlet. Relying on nothing but his pure physical strength and the amplification of his Battle Armor, he smashed the seemingly impenetrable Golden Leaf shield to pieces with a single punch!

Crack!

Ye Wuqing watched the fist rapidly grow in his pupils. Despair was all that remained in his heart.

"Thud!"

The fist landed squarely on Ye Wuqing's chest.

The terrifying force sent him flying off the ground. He lost consciousness in an instant, his eyes closing as he passed through the air before he crashed heavily to the ground.

Another punch, and Ye Wuqing was knocked unconscious!

In the blink of an eye, two of the three Soul Kings were down.

The last one standing, Yu Mengdi, was deathly pale as she watched the golden-red God of War stride toward her. At that moment, her sacred Angel Martial Soul seemed like a joke.

Ji Jing looked at her. Instead of using his fist, he held his left hand together and turned it into a palm, lightly tapping her delicate shoulder.

Yu Mengdi instinctively tried to block with her sword of sacred light.

But the golden-red palm seemed to pass through the void. Before the sword of sacred light could fall, his palm had already touched her shoulder.

"Smack!"

A forceful shove burst out, sending her flying from the Soul Fighting Arena like a kite with its string cut.

And with that, Zhengtian Academy was completely wiped out.

Ji Jing withdrew his hand. The golden-red First-Word Battle Armor receded from his body like the tide.

"Shrek Academy wins this match!"

The referee swallowed hard before announcing the result.

The arena fell utterly silent, then erupted into deafening cries of astonishment.

That red-haired boy clad in golden-red metal armor had knocked four Soul Ancestors unconscious through the sheer force of the pressure he released.

Then, as if swatting flies, he had completely dealt with the three Soul Kings Zhengtian Academy had been so proud of.

"Th-that... what was that thing?!"

High in the stands, the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire abruptly rose to his feet, his eyes filled with shock.

As a ruler, he had seen much of the world. Yet no matter how he searched through every memory, he couldn't match the golden-red armor Ji Jing had just worn with any Soul Tool he knew.

"Your Majesty, that was no ordinary Soul Tool."

Beside him, the Nation-Protecting Douluo of the Star Luo Empire looked utterly grave.

"The instant it enveloped him, that boy's Soul Power surged several times over!"

Meanwhile, in the waiting area of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, the atmosphere was so heavy it seemed ready to drip.

Elder Ma, the team leader, was pressed tightly against the floor-to-ceiling window.

His weathered eyes were so wide they seemed ready to split.

"This is impossible... This goes against everything we know about Soul Tools!"

Elder Ma's heavy breathing fogged the glass.

As a senior Soul Engineer of the Sun Moon Empire, he had spent his entire life working with metal and Core Arrays.

"How could Shrek have possibly developed a Soul Tool like this?!"

In that moment, the worldview Elder Ma had believed placed Soul Guidance Technology thousands of years ahead of Douluo Continent's was utterly shattered by Ji Jing.

Meanwhile, in Shrek Academy's waiting area.

Although they had heard Ji Jing talk about the power of Battle Armor, when they faced this epoch-making First-Word Battle Armor for real, they were still stunned into silence.

Xiao Xiao stood at the very front, her beautiful eyes shining with excitement.

She was quietly undertaking the Eight Trials of Goodness, and she longed for the power of Battle Armor beyond all else.

Wang Dong quietly watched Ji Jing come down from the arena. Excitement rippled through her pink-and-blue eyes, and her pretty face was full of unmistakable pride and sweetness.

This was the man she had set her heart on.

He needed no Soul Skills, no flashy tricks. He only had to stand there, and the masses bowed before him.

She didn't care what kind of astonishing Soul Tool it was. She only knew that it was her Ji Jing—the man who had promised to cook for her for the rest of his life.

Ji Jing returned to the waiting area with his hands in his pockets.

He walked straight over to Wang Dong and raised an eyebrow.

"What are you spacing out for? Come on, let's head back to the hotel."

Wang Dong came back to herself, looking haughty as she gave a huff.

"Hmph. Since you were actually kind of handsome just now, I'll let you... Come on, come on. Once we're back at the dorm, you have to protect me properly while I absorb another piece of Battle Armor!"

As she spoke, Wang Dong hooked an arm around Ji Jing's neck as affectionately as ever. The two led the way with their arms around each other's shoulders, acting as though they'd completely forgotten everyone behind them.

Watching them from behind, Dai Yueheng's face darkened. He discreetly scratched his butt and muttered under his breath:

"If I want Battle Armor, does that mean I'll have to... Damn, this is bad..."