Tempering Himself

Qin Chuan's gaze swept over Tang San. With a wave of his hand, a vast expanse of divine light burst forth, its aura imposing. Even though he held back, the others were still driven back again and again.

His fists, limbs, and even his entire body seemed forged from the most fearsome immortal gold. His gleaming flesh shimmered with blood-red light, radiating brilliance.

If Tang San hadn't realized the danger and kept hiding behind the others to direct them, and if he hadn't had that bizarre footwork, he would probably have died as soon as the battle began.

Even so, he took several punches from Qin Chuan. The area around his eyes was badly bruised, and the bridge of his nose had caved in and was bleeding. His already ordinary-looking face had become even uglier, leaving him in a truly miserable state.

Only now did the others realize how powerful Qin Chuan was. This handsome young man blazed with a brilliance that seemed almost demonic, pressing down on them until they could barely breathe.

Rumble!

The air trembled. Qin Chuan kicked Dai Mubai flying, then broke through the others' layers of encirclement and charged straight at the panic-stricken Tang San.

He threw a heavy punch with a force of a thousand jin, striking Tang San squarely in the abdomen.

"Ah..."

Tang San's face twisted in an instant, contorting into a grimace. Bai Hao's punch had nearly gone straight through his stomach.

Even so, his insides churned violently, and he was close to throwing up bile.

The others' eyelids twitched as if they could feel the pain themselves. That had to hurt!

"Let's end this!"

Shrouded in a brilliant mist, Qin Chuan suddenly leaped high into the air and began spinning rapidly. Starlight coiled around his right foot as he locked onto the group and plunged down like a meteor.

Rumble!

Like a meteorite plummeting from the starry sky to earth, the violent currents of air swept everything away. Flames surged skyward, and the ground within dozens of meters was utterly destroyed. Trees shattered, and boulders flew in every direction.

Like the Five Poison Pill Recipe, this technique was an ancient art he'd obtained from the system's beginner's gift pack. Though it was only a fragment, it was more than enough to deal with these people.

"You ruthless brat! Didn't your elders ever teach you to leave some leeway when you act?" A burly, middle-aged man emerged from the billowing dust, as imposing as a giant bear.

Watching Qin Chuan standing there as cool as ever, Zhao Wuji felt the hand he had tucked behind his back tremble slightly. A flicker of shock passed through his eyes.

The Soul Skill he had just unleashed was terrifyingly powerful. It was hard to imagine it had come from a boy. If Zhao Wuji hadn't intervened in time to protect them, the Shrek group might have been wiped out.

Where had this monster come from?!

The meteor's descent had been utterly earth-shattering. Even Zhao Wuji, a teacher at Shrek Academy, was shocked and had nearly been injured. He couldn't help wondering where Qin Chuan had come from.

As the dust gradually settled, the Shrek group emerged unscathed. They were just as shocked as Zhao Wuji.

Even Ma Hongjun and Oscar still wore traces of terror. Just now, they had truly felt the breath of death.

The path of a Soul Master was as difficult as ascending to the heavens. Cultivation was grueling, and only the accumulation of years might bring even the slightest achievement.

Yet Qin Chuan's appearance had shattered that understanding.

What kind of genius could possess such strength at an age like his?!

The Shrek group envied Qin Chuan's talent, and even feared it. They had already offended him, and there was no chance of reconciliation now.

The Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record of the Tang Sect said: once you had confirmed that your opponent was an enemy, and that they deserved to die, you should show no mercy. Letting them live would only bring you more trouble.

At that thought, Tang San's gaze turned cold. Touching his swollen face, he hurriedly said, "Teacher Zhao, kill him quickly. If someone like him grows stronger, he'll become a great threat to Shrek Academy."

At these words, even Dai Mubai and the others, who had once been his companions, stared at Tang San in disbelief.

You'd stolen someone else's Soul Beast, and now you wanted to wipe them out?

They couldn't bring themselves to do something like that.

Zhao Wuji frowned. Tang San had been the one to spark this conflict, but when he thought of Tang San's father, his face began to ache again.

He gave Tang San, now one of his own students, a long look before speaking coolly to Qin Chuan.

"Although I don't know where you came from, you've already made an enemy of Shrek Academy. So you're not leaving here today."

"This is the Star Dou Great Forest. Soul Masters are buried here in numbers as countless as the stars. No one will ever know what happened today."

Qin Chuan smiled and brushed nonexistent dust from his spotless white clothes. "I sensed a powerful presence lurking here earlier. So you're the elder of these little fools. Sure enough, you're just as unreasonable."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Qin Chuan sprang into action.

He shot forward like lightning, leaving afterimages in his wake. In the blink of an eye, he was before Zhao Wuji, moving incomparably faster than before.

Even Zhao Wuji, whose cultivation had reached Soul Saint, was startled. He hurriedly rolled aside like a leaping carp to dodge Qin Chuan's attack.

When he came to his senses, his face flushed bright red. He was a dignified Soul Saint, yet a mere boy had frightened him. Damn it!

"Brat, you're asking for death!"

With that, Zhao Wuji activated Martial Soul Possession. His already solid muscles seemed to swell, making him a full size larger.

"Vajra Palm!"

When Zhao Wuji unleashed his furious strike, Qin Chuan not only didn't dodge but charged straight toward it. He wanted to experience firsthand just how high the martial strength of this world could reach.

With a boom, it was like a comet colliding with the earth!

Qin Chuan felt as if he were fighting a savage bear. The cold aura of a fierce beast spread all around him, as if plunging him into an ice cellar.

Yet he wasn't afraid in the slightest. Six thousand jin of divine strength erupted from him, surpassing the limits of human beings.

Everywhere his fists struck, the air exploded. Even Zhao Wuji was shaken to the core by that terrifying force.

He dodged again and again, not daring to meet Qin Chuan's fists head-on. He feared that one punch might finish him off for good.

All he could do was rely on his extensive combat experience and abundant Soul Power to suppress his opponent as much as possible.

"Brat, you keep surprising me. Since when did the mainland produce a genius like you? But the more extraordinary you are, the less I can let you leave today."

Such astonishing physical strength, along with fighting methods that seemed to have been specially trained—everything about Qin Chuan showed just how exceptional he was.

Even now, neither Zhao Wuji nor the rest of the Shrek group knew what Qin Chuan's Martial Soul was. All they could see were the four Soul Rings he had simulated around himself.

"So he really was playing with us before."

The Shrek group smiled bitterly, dealt a crushing blow. They called themselves monsters, yet here was someone who could go toe-to-toe with Zhao Wuji. They wished they could dig a hole and disappear.

Tang San, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing wore strange expressions as they watched Qin Chuan battle Zhao Wuji. Ripples stirred in their eyes, and no one could tell what they were thinking.