Golden Soul Power, rich and pure, poured forth without reserve, rushing madly into the Soul Tool Core inside the Gatling.
Vmmm—!
A deep mechanical roar suddenly erupted, rapid and violent.
Seeing this, Zhou Yi felt her heart ease in an instant. A faint look of disdain even flashed in her eyes, and the tension in her mind melted away completely.
As Fan Yu's wife, her knowledge far surpassed that of ordinary Outer Court teachers and students. She knew the young generation's Soul Tool craftsmanship inside the academy like the back of her hand. She clearly remembered that Su Ming was only a Level 3 Soul Engineer!
A translucent, pale-blue semicircular barrier instantly rose before her. It was thick and sturdy, with rippling light swirling across its surface.
This was the Level 6 Defensive Soul Tool Shield she carried with her, a protective treasure Fan Yu had specially crafted for her. Its defenses were exceptionally strong, enough to withstand the full-force attacks of most five- and six-ring Soul Masters.
In her view, a Soul Tool crafted by a Level 3 Soul Engineer had limited power. There was no way it could break through the defenses of a Level 6 Soul Tool Shield.
"Putting on a show." Zhou Yi gave a cold snort. Standing inside the shield, she remained composed, waiting for Su Ming to fail. To her, his actions were nothing more than a futile struggle.
But the next second, reality shattered everything she believed.
Boom!!!
With an incomparably violent mechanical roar, a fierce azure-blue flame burst from the muzzle of the snow-white Gatling. Its cold, domineering blue light instantly illuminated the entire training field.
A dense barrage of metal bullets, carrying terrifying Soul Power, poured out like a torrential downpour!
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—!
An unbelievably rapid, ear-splitting volley exploded. Countless Soul Power bullets tore through the air with shrill whistles and hammered relentlessly into the pale-blue Level 6 shield.
The violent impact traveled through the shield and into the ground. The hard stone slabs of the training field trembled violently as fine cracks spread across them. The entire field shuddered faintly. The devastating power of the barrage was plain to see.
Every teacher and student watching from outside the field was stunned, eyes wide and fixed on the scene at its center. They had even forgotten to breathe.
Everyone's gaze focused on the tall white figure.
That hulking body, like a white steel tank, stood firmly in place. The Gatling's violent recoil crashed against him, but he did not budge an inch. His feet were planted as if rooted in the earth, his stance utterly steady.
He could even keep stepping forward at a measured pace, firing as he advanced without the barrage breaking for so much as a moment.
"Th-that power is terrifying!"
"With recoil that fierce, an ordinary person wouldn't even be able to hold it. How can he keep it so steady?"
"Is that really the power of a Level 3 Soul Tool? That firepower, that destructive force—it's practically on par with a high-level offensive Soul Skill!"
The whole field erupted. Shocked voices rose and fell as everyone was utterly awed by this scene, which defied their understanding.
Inside the shield, Zhou Yi had been calm and composed. Now, her composure was visibly crumbling.
The Level 6 Soul Tool Shield, at first seemingly indestructible, its surface shimmering with light, began to dim and fade under the endless barrage of azure bullets.
Fine cracks spread rapidly across it like a spiderweb. With every bullet that struck, the cracks widened, and the shield shuddered more violently. It looked ready to shatter at any moment.
Zhou Yi's pupils constricted. Her heart pounded, and all trace of disdain vanished from her face, replaced by utter shock and disbelief. She could no longer remain calm!
She had never imagined that a Soul Tool crafted by a Level 3 Soul Engineer, combined with Su Ming's strength, could unleash such terrifying destructive power—suppressing her Level 6 Defensive Soul Tool until it was on the verge of shattering!
A thunderous roar of Soul Power exploded in the center of the training field, and blinding sparks of metal burst forth again and again. The light curtain of the Level 6 Defensive Soul Tool floating around Zhou Yi was already covered in fine cracks.
The pale-blue barrier shuddered violently, as if it would shatter in the very next moment, unable to withstand Su Ming's suppressive fire any longer.
At that critical moment, a stern, furious shout cut through the field, overpowering the roar of the Soul Tools and the crowd's clamor. "Stop! All of you, now!"
The command rang across the training field, carrying the unique authority of a senior academy official. The noisy crowd fell silent at once, and every teacher and student instinctively looked toward its source.
The newcomer was Du Weilun, the Shrek Outer Court's Director of Academic Affairs.
Du Weilun strode forward urgently, his expression tense and his brow furrowed with anger and impatience.
A moment earlier, he had been at his desk in the Academic Affairs Office, poring over the new semester's student files and faculty registration records.
Several flustered teachers had suddenly rushed in to report that a serious altercation had broken out at the Outer Court freshmen's training ground. A student and an instructor had come to blows, and the situation had spiraled completely out of control.
The matter was serious. He dared not delay for even a moment. He immediately set aside his work and hurried all the way to the training field.
The moment he stepped inside, the sight before him shook him to the core, sending his fury surging straight to his head.
There he saw Su Ming, the most renowned genius among this year's Outer Court freshmen, holding a specially made Soul Tool with a sharp design and a metallic sheen.
He did not recognize the Soul Tool, but he could still sense its shockingly dangerous aura.
An unending stream of Soul Power bullets poured out. The firepower was fierce and domineering, pinning down Zhou Yi, a seasoned teacher who had taught there for years.
Soul Power flared across the field, and the standoff between teacher and student was on a knife's edge. This had gone far beyond the bounds of an ordinary teaching dispute.
Du Weilun felt a headache coming on, caught between anger and uncertainty.
Neither of the two before him was a simple character, and both had backgrounds that made them difficult to deal with lightly.
Su Ming was a genius with top-tier talent and peerless potential among this year's freshmen. His entrance examination had astonished the entire academy, and he was one of its promising students slated for intensive training.
Zhou Yi, meanwhile, was a veteran backbone of the Outer Court's teaching staff. Her husband was Fan Yu, a heavyweight figure in the academy's Soul Tool Department. She had deep credentials and extensive connections.
The two had openly broken Shrek Academy's ironclad rule against private fights between teachers and students and fighting on campus. They had acted recklessly, showing blatant disregard for the school rules.
But both had special status. Punishing either one too harshly without careful thought would invite needless trouble, leaving him caught in a bind, unable to move freely.
He had intended to call a halt, then send the watching teachers and students away and quietly settle the matter.
But looking at the frozen, tense standoff, with the two sides as irreconcilable as fire and water, and at the crowd packed around them with all kinds of expressions, he knew the incident had already spread across the entire field. There was no way to resolve it quietly.
With no other choice, Du Weilun's expression darkened, and he said coldly, "Everyone, clear out! Su Ming, Zhou Yi, stop at once and come with me to the Academic Affairs Office!"
At Du Weilun's command, the sharpness in Su Ming's eyes eased slightly. He knew where to draw the line. Now that an academy official had stepped in to mediate, continuing the standoff would be open defiance of the administration—not worth the cost.
With a thought, the Soul Tool Gatling in his hands ceased firing at once. Wisps of white smoke rose slowly from the overheated barrel as the scorching metal gradually cooled.
The Soul Power armor covering his body faded away. His fierce fighting aura subsided completely, and he returned to the gentle, steady manner of an ordinary freshman. He obediently followed Du Weilun.
Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, and the other freshmen who had witnessed the whole thing were the most direct witnesses to the altercation.
The matter concerned the fairness owed to the freshmen who had been punished, so they naturally followed behind to explain what had happened at the Academic Affairs Office.
The group soon arrived at the solemn Academic Affairs Office.