Thud!
The hard granite floor of the arena cracked in an instant, sending dust billowing into the air.
Yu Tianheng was embedded in the rubble, his bones groaning under the strain.
Dead silence.
The entire Soul Fighting Arena fell into a deathly hush.
Everyone's eyes widened, their mouths hanging open wide enough to fit an egg.
Yu Feng, especially, was frantically rubbing his eyes, wondering if he was still dreaming.
"Th-this is still human?"
"How can he be this strong?!"
"!!!"
Yu Feng's voice trembled.
He'd taken the captain's Thunder Dragon Claw head-on?
And he hadn't even used a Soul Skill—he'd just slammed the captain to the ground?
Osler and the Shi Brothers exchanged bewildered glances, each seeing the fear in the other's eyes.
What kind of physique did it take to pull that off?
Was he some humanoid Soul Beast?
At the edge of the arena, Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling exchanged a look, both seeing the shock in the other's eyes.
"My heavens, Qin Feng is unbelievably strong."
Dugu Yan swallowed hard.
She'd assumed Qin Feng could win only by relying on some special Soul Skill or that strange lotus Martial Soul.
Who could have guessed he'd overpower Yu Tianheng with nothing but physical strength?
Ye Lingling looked at the figure standing on the arena with his hands clasped behind his back, and the strange feeling in her heart grew stronger.
Was this the confidence he'd meant when he wrote about being a "transmigrator" in his diary?
That strength...
It really did make her feel safe.
Qin Feng lowered his gaze to his palm, looking quite pleased.
The first level of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Art had reached perfection. It had not only increased his inner force, but also brought about a transformation in his physical strength.
He hadn't even used thirty percent of his strength when he threw Yu Tianheng just now.
Among the ruins, rubble shifted and rolled.
Yu Tianheng staggered to his feet.
He looked rather battered, his clothes torn and a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth. Yet the fighting spirit in his eyes hadn't gone out—instead, it burned even brighter.
But beneath that fighting spirit lay a deep wariness and disbelief.
"Good! Very good!"
Yu Tianheng wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his voice hoarse.
"Qin Feng, I admit I underestimated you."
"You've earned the right to see my true strength!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yu Tianheng threw his head back and let out a piercing dragon's roar.
The third Spirit Ring around him flared to life. A more violent aura erupted from within him.
The dragon scales covering his right arm began spreading at an incredible speed, covering his shoulder and half his chest as well.
His entire right arm grew exceptionally thick, its muscles bulging, while the dragon claws at his fingertips became sharper and more fearsome.
A bloodline-born pressure swept across the arena.
Ye Lingling's beautiful eyes narrowed as she murmured,
"That's the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's secret technique: Dragon Transformation."
Dugu Yan nodded, her expression turning grave.
"The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul is known as the number one Beast Martial Soul not just because of its lightning attribute, but also because of this Dragon Transformation technique."
"It can be used from level thirty onward. For every ten levels beyond that, another part of the body can transform into a true dragon's body. Once activated, it can multiply the power of Martial Soul Possession dozens of times."
As she spoke, Dugu Yan looked at Qin Feng with a hint of worry.
"Looks like Yu Tianheng is giving it everything he's got. I wonder how Qin Feng will respond?"
Even though Qin Feng had just displayed astonishing strength, sheer physical power probably wouldn't be enough against Yu Tianheng in his Dragon Transformation state.
On the arena, Yu Tianheng's aura continued to rise.
"Third Soul Skill, Thunder Fury!"
As the Soul Skill activated, lightning enveloped his entire body. In this berserk state, his lightning power increased by one hundred percent and his Soul Power by fifty percent.
But that wasn't the end.
"Second Soul Skill, Thunderbolt!"
Countless lightning snakes gathered around him, forming an impenetrable web of thunder that carried the aura of utter destruction as it swept toward Qin Feng.
This was Yu Tianheng's strongest combination of attacks.
Boosted by Dragon Transformation, the strike's power had nearly reached the level of a Soul Ancestor.
Facing this devastating attack, Qin Feng finally moved.
"Flashy and useless."
He calmly uttered four words.
Then a flash of light appeared beneath his feet.
One yellow, two purple.
Three Spirit Rings slowly emerged.
The crowd was astonished to see two purple Thousand-Year Soul Rings, especially since Qin Feng's second Soul Ring was a thousand years old. Still, compared with the way he'd just met Yu Tianheng's attack head-on, this was something they could accept.
But before they could even breathe a sigh of relief,
a fourth Spirit Ring rose from beneath Qin Feng's feet without warning.
It wasn't yellow, nor was it purple.
It was a shade of black, so deep it seemed to swallow everything...
Black!
Four Spirit Rings!
Yellow, purple, purple, black!
At that moment, time seemed to freeze.
Dugu Yan's worried expression stiffened. Her rosy lips fell open, wide enough to fit a grape.
"A S-Soul Ancestor?!"
She could hardly believe her eyes.
Qin Feng was a Soul Ancestor?
She and Yu Tianheng were the top geniuses of this year's Heaven Dou Royal Academy, yet they were only Soul Elders in their thirties.
And Qin Feng looked a few years younger than them. He'd already crossed the threshold of level forty?
Ye Lingling's delicate body trembled, shock filling her cool eyes.
"He's not just a Soul Ancestor..."
"That's... a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring?"
With the appearance of the fourth black Spirit Ring, a terrifying pressure far surpassing Yu Tianheng's swept across the arena.
The pressure from deep within their souls made everyone present feel short of breath.
Yu Feng's legs turned weak. He nearly dropped to his knees.
"How is that possible? Qin Feng is a Soul Ancestor?"
"And... that's a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring!"
The members of the Heaven Dou Royal Team had completely lost the ability to think.
The talent they'd always taken pride in seemed like a joke in the face of this young man.
Yu Tianheng felt as if he'd been struck by lightning.
He stared at the slowly pulsing black Spirit Ring, and his pride crumbled to pieces.
"A Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring?!"
"How is that possible... Uncle Yu Xiaogang said the limit for a fourth Spirit Ring was around five thousand years. It absolutely couldn't exceed ten thousand..."
"He's a theoretical master, trusted by everyone. He's never been wrong..."
"What kind of monster is this kid?!"
"..."
Yu Tianheng's entire worldview collapsed in that moment.
The theory he'd believed in for years had been shattered by Qin Feng's black Spirit Ring.
Qin Feng paid no attention to the shock around him.
He watched the lightning surging toward him, his expression as calm as still water.
"This ends now."
He'd taken that attack head-on only to test the Dragon Elephant Prajna Art in actual combat.
Now that he'd finished testing it, there was no need to waste any more time.
The fourth Spirit Ring shone with black light.
The Chaos Green Lotus swayed gently behind him, releasing an ancient, chaotic aura.