Song Teng paused, then laughed. "Interesting."
The three of them walked toward the center of the field. Song Teng stood with his hands clasped behind his back as scarlet Soul Power flames began surging around him. Six Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet: two yellow, two purple, and two black—the standard top-tier configuration.
The flames churned like magma bubbling up from beneath the earth. Waves of heat rolled through the air, and the weeds at the edge of the field curled and turned yellow before their eyes.
Blazing Fire Dragon, a top-tier Beast Martial Soul, was renowned for its ferocious firepower and the domineering physique of a dragon-type Martial Soul.
Mu Chen drew a deep breath and took a step into the scorching heat.
Four Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet.
Yellow, purple, purple, black.
When the black Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring lit up, a wave of stifled gasps rose from the edge of the field.
Even though they had seen it once before, facing that profound blackness, deep as an abyss, still filled every student with an instinctive pressure that seemed to come from the depths of their souls.
His long blue hair stirred in the windless air. The salty tang of the sea spread through the scorching heat, like a cool stream flowing into boiling magma.
Mu Chen's right hand closed around empty air, and a Trident appeared out of nowhere. Its blue-gold shaft caught the sunlight, shimmering like rippling waves—as if the entire Ocean had been gathered within its three-foot blade.
"Wang Dong, left flank." Mu Chen's voice was low and clear.
"Got it." Wang Dong spread the wings of her Light Goddess Butterfly. The pink-and-blue wings shimmered in the sunlight, and with a flash, she darted to the left.
"Yuhao, cover our rear." Mu Chen didn't look back.
"Okay." Huo Yuhao's voice rang directly in his mind. At the same time, a three-dimensional sensory map unfurled in Mu Chen's awareness. Song Teng's position, the flow of her Soul Power, every detail of the surroundings—all became as clear as patterns in his palm beneath Spiritual Detection Sharing.
With this, it was like having a pair of eyes overlooking the entire battlefield.
Mu Chen tightened his grip on the Trident.
The blade's chill seeped through his palm and into his blood. Power from the sea surged and roared through his meridians, like a furious tide imprisoned behind a floodgate, waiting for the command to sweep everything away.
"Come," he said.
Song Teng moved.
There was no testing the waters, no preamble. The moment a Soul Emperor struck, it was like mountains collapsing and the earth splitting apart.
Scarlet Soul Power condensed around her fist into a gigantic dragon's head, which came crashing down with the force of a blaze that would incinerate the eight directions. The air warped in the intense heat. Before her fist even arrived, the ground had already cracked into a web of fractures.
"Second Soul Skill, Deep Sea Imprisonment."
Mu Chen's voice rang through the scorching air. The butt of his Trident struck the ground, and six water columns as thick as vats burst up around him, locking onto Song Teng from six directions at once.
The water columns began evaporating the instant they formed, and white mist billowed everywhere. But the structure of the imprisonment held firm, forcibly slowing Song Teng's punch.
That brief pause was all he needed.
Mu Chen was already gone.
He launched into Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, his figure drawing several afterimages through the swirling mist. His Trident stabbed out from an impossibly tricky angle, its tip shrieking through the air so sharply it made ears ache.
Song Teng's eyes narrowed. She swept her left arm across her body, condensing her fiery Soul Power into a shield that met the incoming thrust head-on.
Clang!
The clash of metal rang out so loudly that students in the distance covered their ears.
A visible shock wave burst across the flame shield. The ground beneath Song Teng's feet caved into a shallow pit, but she herself did not budge.
Mu Chen flipped backward with the force of the impact, adjusting his posture in midair.
Just then, a pink-and-blue figure darted in from the side.
Wang Dong's Second Soul Ring lit up. Brilliant light bloomed across the wings of her Light Goddess Butterfly, and countless Light Butterflies scattered from their tips, turning into a shower of light that swept over Song Teng's flank.
The Light Butterflies landed on the flames with a sizzling hiss. Though they couldn't break through her fiery defense, they successfully disrupted Song Teng's vision.
"Nicely done!" Song Teng praised, throwing a punch at Wang Dong without looking back.
The punch came fast and hard. Wang Dong had no time to dodge and was about to grit her teeth and take it when Huo Yuhao's voice suddenly sounded in her mind. "Move three feet left, drop two feet."
Her body reacted faster than her thoughts. Wang Dong beat her wings and darted diagonally to the left and down.
The scarlet fist force skimmed past her hair. The scorching gust made her scalp tingle, but it missed.
Spiritual Detection Sharing's prediction had saved her by a hair's breadth.
Mu Chen didn't waste the opening.
The instant Song Teng threw her punch, his Third Soul Ring lit up.
"Deep Sea Storm."
The air at the center of the field suddenly grew heavy.
Within thirty meters of Mu Chen, it was as if an invisible hand had clenched the space.
Then, sea-blue Soul Power erupted from the Trident, transforming into the phantom of a monstrous wave. One wave piled upon another, each crest containing multiple layers of force: the first struck head-on, the second tore at the side, and the third surged up from beneath.
More terrifying still, every wave carried a spiritual assault.
Song Teng's expression finally turned serious.
She gave a low shout, and her Fifth Soul Ring lit up. The phantom of the Blazing Fire Dragon roared behind her as scarlet flames burst from her body and slammed into the oncoming waves.
Boom!
Water and fire collided, exploding into a vast cloud of white mist. The shock wave sent gravel flying in every direction. The students watching hurriedly retreated, and several who reacted too slowly were struck in the face by flying stones, grimacing in pain.
In the white mist, Mu Chen moved again.
Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.
His figure vanished completely into the mist, leaving not even an afterimage.
The Trident's blade slid silently through the fog, like a shark cutting through a deep-sea current. There was no sound, no trace—only a deadly chill.
Song Teng's pupils contracted sharply.
She sensed danger but couldn't tell where the attack was coming from. Spiritual Detection Sharing covered her range of perception, while Huo Yuhao deliberately obscured Mu Chen's attack path, leaving a blank patch on the sensory map.
This was a combination Mu Chen and Huo Yuhao had developed outside their fusion training: one used Spiritual Detection to illuminate the battlefield for his allies while creating blind spots for their opponents.
The Trident's tip burst through the mist.
Song Teng roared, and her Sixth Soul Ring lit up instantly.
Her body swelled, scarlet dragon scales appearing across her skin. Both hands transformed into dragon claws, and a flaming dragon tail lashed out from behind her, sweeping precisely toward the incoming Trident.
This Soul Skill could be considered a weakened version of the Martial Soul Avatar.
Bang!
Mu Chen and his Trident were swept flying. He turned two somersaults in the air before finally steadying himself.
A small cut split the skin between his thumb and forefinger, but his expression grew even calmer.
"You even used your Sixth Soul Skill." He landed, a deep gleam flashing through his blue eyes. "Looks like Teacher Song is under more pressure than I thought."
Song Teng didn't deny it.
Because she really was feeling the pressure.