Xu Qing vs. Yu Yuanzhen!

"Exactly!"

"I heard it firsthand from the older generation. When Dean Xu first founded the academy decades ago, he showed himself once."

"Back then, his Soul Power fluctuations clearly only placed him at Soul Douluo level!"

"A mere Soul Douluo, even with the greatest stroke of fortune, could he really defy fate and take on the combined killing blow of four Title Douluo? Wasn't that just throwing his life away?"

The crowd's discussions surged like a tide, clearly reaching the ears of the Upper Three Sects members.

The Third Elder laughed in extreme anger. The Clear Sky Hammer in his hand creaked under his grip, and his killing intent had already been decided.

"What an arrogant, ignorant brat!"

"I have roamed the continent for so many years. Countless souls have died beneath my hammer, yet I have never seen someone as unaware of the immensity of heaven and earth as you!"

Yu Yuanzhen was also so enraged that the lightning around his body flared wildly, his beard trembling nonstop in the thunderous wind.

Yet he had not completely lost his reason.

Someone who could make that black-robed burly man, who had casually defeated a Super Douluo, recognize him as master—

Could never be an ordinary Soul Douluo.

"Everyone, do not be deceived by his words, nor be misled by those rumors."

Ning Fengzhi called out from behind, his expression grave.

"This man must be concealing his true strength, or using some profound illusion technique capable of hiding his cultivation."

"Do not let your guard down. You must strike with everything you have and kill him in a single blow!"

Chen Xin and Gu Rong exchanged a glance, then nodded heavily at the same time.

The four peak experts simultaneously took a deep breath and drove the Soul Power in their bodies to a terrifying limit without holding anything back.

Violent energy gathered above their heads, forming a gigantic, multicolored storm cloud of Soul Power.

Even from hundreds of meters away—

Those weaker Soul Masters on the outskirts felt their chests tighten and began coughing up blood before collapsing to the ground.

And yet—

Xu Qing, standing at the very center of this apocalyptic storm—

Still looked utterly calm.

He slowly raised his right hand.

Then took a tiny step forward.

It was only one step.

Boom!

An overwhelming pressure, vast as an abyss and utterly beyond description—

Suddenly surged out from Xu Qing's seemingly slender body.

This pressure made no sound.

But the instant it appeared—

The Soul Power storm created by the four Upper Three Sects experts together became like lingering snow beneath the blazing sun.

In less than a breath, it was forcibly crushed into Void.

The air over the entire back mountain instantly froze.

Everyone's breath stopped in their chests at once.

They felt an extreme shudder rising from the depths of their souls, their legs trembling uncontrollably.

Yu Yuanzhen's once-arrogant expression stiffened abruptly. Veins bulged across his forehead as cold sweat poured down his face.

The Third Elder felt as though a towering mountain had been dropped onto his shoulders, and the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand nearly slipped free and smashed onto his own feet.

Too powerful.

This kind of pressure was simply beyond the realm of human understanding.

They stared at Xu Qing's slowly raised right hand.

They did not even dare blink, afraid of missing a single detail.

Everyone was wildly guessing what sort of heaven-destroying supreme divine weapon the Martial Soul of such an unparalleled expert could possibly be.

A divine sword capable of severing the heavens?

Or an ancient savage beast capable of devouring the sun and moon?

Under the gaze of thousands of eyes stretched to their limit—

A faint pale-blue glow slowly lit up in Xu Qing's palm.

Then—

A plant with a deep-blue body and slender, delicate leaves—

Slowly and unsteadily emerged from his palm.

There was no earth-shaking phenomenon.

There was no dazzling radiance.

It was merely a useless Martial Soul that could be seen everywhere by the roadside, something even the most ordinary livestock could trample at will.

Blue Silver Grass.

The Blue Silver Grass in Xu Qing's palm swayed gently.

A faint pale-blue halo flowed endlessly across its slender leaves.

Then, accompanied by a low hum of space—

Nine dazzling Soul Rings slowly rose from beneath Xu Qing's feet, each one carrying immense pressure.

Two yellow.

Two purple.

Five black.

The standard nine Soul Rings reflected one another, bathing the entire high platform in multicolored light.

Soul Power fluctuations belonging to a level ninety-three Title Douluo swept outward in layer upon layer like a gentle breeze.

There was no earth-shaking tremor.

There was no wild force tearing apart the heavens.

Only a calm yet unfathomably deep aura spread through the entire area.

Yu Xiaogang, lying in a pool of blood within the Shrek camp, stared at the small grass in Xu Qing's hand.

He was stunned for a full three seconds, then vigorously rubbed his eyes.

After confirming that he had not seen wrong, he suddenly burst into shrill, crazed laughter.

Because he laughed too hard, the wound where his right arm had been severed violently split open once more.

Great torrents of blood gushed out, staining the stone slabs beneath him into a muddy mess.

Yet like a madman who had lost all reason, he paid no attention whatsoever to the agonizing pain in his body.

"Hahahaha!"

"This is absolutely hilarious!"

Yu Xiaogang dug the fingers of his remaining left hand into the cracks in the ground and struggled to raise his face, pale as paper from excessive blood loss.

Pointing at Xu Qing on the high platform, he mocked him wildly in a hoarse voice.

"I thought Blue Silver Academy had some kind of heaven-defying foundation."

"I thought the famed Dean Xu was hiding some divine-grade secret Martial Soul!"

"So after all that, this is your trump card?"

"A Blue Silver Grass—the lowest, most worthless useless Martial Soul!"

Yu Xiaogang's words brimmed with sickening delight.

He used all his strength to tear open his throat and shout at every faction around him that had been intimidated by Xu Qing's aura.

"Do not be fooled by his tricks!"

"I, Yu Xiaogang, have studied Martial Soul theory for most of my life. I understand the traits of all kinds of Martial Souls better than anyone."

"Blue Silver Grass is publicly recognized across Douluo Continent as the most useless Martial Soul. That is an ironclad law that can never be broken."

"It has no attack power, no defensive power, and even less control power."

"So what if he used some shameful, sinister method to forcibly raise his cultivation to level ninety-three?"

"A useless Martial Soul is still a useless Martial Soul!"

The more Yu Xiaogang spoke, the more excited he became. The despair in his eyes was swept away, replaced by boundless fanaticism.

"Before truly top-tier Martial Souls, Blue Silver Grass is not even qualified to serve as cannon fodder."

"Among those of the same level, he is absolutely the most worthless trash!"

"With four peak Title Douluo joining forces, let alone a level ninety-three Blue Silver Grass Soul Master—"

"Even a level ninety-five Super Douluo will surely die today without a burial place!"

Yu Xiaogang's hysterical analysis immediately triggered a massive chain reaction among the crowd.

The various factions that had been scared out of their wits by the force of Xu Qing's single step gradually came back to their senses.

Dai Weisi, the eldest prince of the Star Luo Empire, let out a long breath.

He slumped weakly in his chair, wiping away the waterfall of cold sweat rolling down his forehead as he patted his chest in lingering fear.

"That scared me to death."

"This prince thought some peerless savage beast that had survived since ancient times had appeared."

"After all that, it is just the most inferior piece of trash among plant-type Martial Souls."

The Star Luo Empire general standing nearby repeatedly shook his head, his face full of contempt.

"His Highness is right."

"Before the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, the number one beast Martial Soul in the world, and the Clear Sky Hammer, the number one tool Martial Soul in the world—"

"This roadside weed is indeed not even worthy of carrying their shoes."

"That pressure earlier must have come from some rare one-use Soul Tool Dean Xu used specifically to put on a show."

Xue Qinghe of the Heaven Dou Empire frowned tightly.

He stared at the Blue Silver Grass in Xu Qing's hand and quietly calculated to himself.

If he truly only has a useless Martial Soul like Blue Silver Grass, how did he cultivate to the Title Douluo realm at such an age?

Could he really have relied on those shameful forbidden arts within the academy?

The leaders of the surrounding second-rate sects began discussing the matter loudly without restraint.

"Dean Xu is finished today."

"He dared challenge four peak experts of the Upper Three Sects with a broken stalk of grass."

"This is no longer arrogance. This is simply courting death!"

Over at the Shrek camp—

Flender's ashen face instantly flushed crimson.

He suddenly straightened his back, his tightly clenched fists cracking with excitement.

Dai Mubai was even more excited as he threw back his head and roared.

"Xiao San, did you hear that?!"

"Grandmaster is right! He only has a useless Martial Soul!"

"We are saved! Not only are we saved, we can watch this arrogant bastard get torn to pieces with our own eyes!"

In midair—

The four peerless experts of the Upper Three Sects all let out a huge sigh of relief upon hearing Yu Xiaogang's words.

Xu Qing's earlier step, which had silently crushed their Soul Power storm, had indeed left a massive psychological shadow over them.

But now, every concern had been dispelled by this Blue Silver Grass.

The blue lightning around Yu Yuanzhen's body erupted wildly once more.

He looked at Xu Qing's unimpressive nine Soul Rings, then at the thunderbolts around himself that were nearly tearing space apart.

A deep sense of humiliation at having been played surged straight to the top of his head.

"You brat who hides behind tricks!"

"I thought you had some heaven-reaching method hidden away, daring to spout such nonsense here."

"So you are only trash holding a useless weed!"

Yu Yuanzhen threw back his head and roared, violently spreading his arms outward.

"With the Destruction Thunder of my Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, I need only one breath to burn your broken grass until not even ashes remain!"

The Clear Sky Sect Third Elder did not bother hiding the contempt in his eyes.

He took the Clear Sky Hammer, weighing tens of thousands of jin, from his shoulder and casually smashed a massive crater into the ground.

"Level ninety-three?"

"I am level ninety-three as well today!"

"Using the number one tool Martial Soul in the world against a useless Martial Soul like yours already feels like an insult to the hammer in my hand!"

The fat on the Third Elder's face trembled violently as killing intent boiled over.

"However, since you dared injure members of my Upper Three Sects, I will make an exception today and personally send you on your way!"

Chen Xin and Gu Rong, standing before Ning Fengzhi, exchanged glances.

The last trace of wariness in their eyes had now completely vanished.

The Seven Kill Sword in Chen Xin's hand released another clear, soaring sword cry that pierced the clouds.

A silver cold gleam several zhang long extended from its blade, slicing the surrounding space into tiny black fissures.

"Dean Xu."

"Excuse me."

Chen Xin's voice was cold and hard, without any unnecessary words.

Gu Rong let out an eerie laugh instead.

He twisted his thin neck, and the massive Bone Dragon phantom behind him suddenly spread its wings, whipping up a foul-smelling gale.

"Old Sword, stop wasting words on him."

"End this farce quickly!"

The four peak experts once again frantically drove their Soul Power to its limits.

Without any hesitation.

They launched brutal, devastating charges at Xu Qing on the high platform from four entirely different directions.

Yu Yuanzhen transformed into a massive blue thunder dragon over a hundred meters long.

Carrying the force of thunder capable of tearing apart the heavens, he descended from above and pounced straight at Xu Qing's head.

The Third Elder let out a beastlike roar.

The Clear Sky Hammer in his hand swelled with the wind, instantly becoming a towering, ink-black mountain.

Carrying terrifying power capable of smashing everything apart, it crashed viciously toward Xu Qing's face.

Chen Xin merged with his sword.

His entire body transformed into a dazzling silver streak that spanned the sky, piercing toward Xu Qing's throat at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow.

Gu Rong, meanwhile, controlled the enormous phantom of the Bone Dragon.

It burst directly out of the ground, opening its fanged, blood-soaked maw in an attempt to swallow Xu Qing whole from below.

Four terrifying forces, each capable of destroying a large city, simultaneously sealed off every route of retreat for Xu Qing.

Faced with this inescapable killing trap.

Xu Qing still stood with his hands behind his back, his expression utterly calm.

Not even the faintest ripple could be found in his deep eyes.

He merely casually raised the right hand holding the Blue Silver Grass.

"You know nothing about the power of life."

Xu Qing's gentle voice rang exceptionally clearly in everyone's ears amid the noisy, violent battlefield.

The instant those brief words fell.

The slender, fragile Blue Silver Grass in his palm suddenly erupted with a dazzling emerald radiance.

This light carried no aggression, yet it contained an immense, boundless, unfathomable power of the Source of Life.

Like a gale, it instantly swept through every corner of the entire back mountain.

This life aura was simply too rich, too domineering.

The leaves around them, which had withered and fallen due to autumn, miraculously regained their verdant green while still in midair.

The dead grass that had been uprooted by the gale also took root again at a visible pace, sprouted branches and buds, and bloomed into delicate, vivid flowers.

Xu Qing lightly pointed with his fair index finger.

"Life."

A dense barrage of piercing whistles suddenly rang out.

The tiny Blue Silver Grass in his palm began to grow wildly against the wind in an instant.

It transformed into thousands upon thousands of enormous vines as thick as flood dragons.

The vines were a deep, dark green throughout, their surfaces covered in mysterious golden patterns.

Whenever each vine danced through the air, it produced deafening sonic booms.

Boom!

The first to meet this ocean of vines was the berserk thunder dragon formed by Yu Yuanzhen.

More than a dozen Blue Silver vines, each thick enough to require several people to wrap their arms around, shot out like spiritual serpents leaving their dens.

Without any suspense, they wrapped around the menacing lightning dragon in midair.