As Yan was carried away, the atmosphere in the Central Grand Martial Arena was pushed to an unprecedented fever pitch.
The Internal Selection Tournament progressed at breakneck speed.
"Next match: Su Ming versus Hu Liena!"
As the referee's voice rang out, thousands of teachers and students held their breath. Even the Red-Robed Bishops on the raised platform sat up straighter.
After witnessing Su Ming's devastating assault on Yan, everyone was curious about one thing.
Could Hu Liena, the strongest of the Golden Generation, withstand Su Ming's almost unsolvable rule-sealing ability through sheer speed, with her formidable fifty-two levels of Spiritual Power?
On the arena, Hu Liena's long skirt fluttered as she moved with graceful, measured steps.
But the bewitching foxlike charm and ease that usually shone in her beautiful eyes had vanished. In their place was a wariness and gravity unlike anything she had ever shown before.
Having fought alongside Su Ming for several days as part of the arena's atmosphere crew at the Great Soul Arena, Hu Liena understood better than anyone how terrifying that black Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring was.
That guy's fourth Soul Skill is an indiscriminate, rule-based interruption. If he gets to use it first, I won't be able to use even a single Soul Skill. I'll end up just like Yan.
Hu Liena drew a deep breath, her ample chest rising and falling sharply.
She frantically worked out her tactics. Mental-control Soul Skills activate much faster than physical attacks. The instant the referee calls the start, I have to drive my Spiritual Power to its limit and bewitch him with my Soul Skill before his Soul Ring lights up!
As long as I interrupt his opening move, I have a chance to win!
At the other end of the arena, Su Ming stood in a black robe that snapped in the wind.
His face remained as impassive as ever, his hands casually in his pockets. Facing the Saintess, renowned throughout Spirit Hall, he didn't so much as bat an eye.
The referee took a deep breath, raised his right hand, then brought it down sharply.
"Begin!"
Boom!
In the split second after the command, Hu Liena's body shuddered as her level-fifty-two Soul Power surged forth like a tidal wave.
Two yellow, two purple, and one black Soul Ring—the standard optimal configuration of five—whirled up around her. Behind her, the phantom of a gigantic Nine-Tailed Demon Fox appeared faintly in the void.
"First Soul Skill, Fox Charm!"
Pink light flared in Hu Liena's beautiful eyes, sending two strange, bewitching streams of spiritual energy surging straight toward Su Ming's brow.
Fast!
Too fast!
Seeing this, Xie Yue clenched his fists slightly.
The attack contained almost all the Spiritual Origin Hu Liena had accumulated since reaching level fifty-two. It was so fast that the naked eye could barely follow it.
But Su Ming was a monster who simply refused to play by the rules.
The instant Hu Liena's eyes lit up, Su Ming didn't even bother with the extra movement of Martial Soul Possession.
The suffocatingly black Ten Thousand Year Fourth Soul Ring at his feet was like the eye of Death itself. In one hundredth of a second, it suddenly blazed with black light!
"Fourth Soul Skill, Nine-Nether Resentful Phoenix Cry!"
"Shriee—!"
That sinister phoenix cry, which had become the nightmare of every genius at Spirit Hall Academy, once again tore through the void.
Strange black ripples of law swept across the arena like a raging sea, bearing down with the force of Mount Tai.
The stream of spiritual bewitchment Hu Liena had poured all her strength into struck the black ripples—and shattered with a crisp crack, like fragile glass, bursting into pink fragments in midair!
Supreme evil feared no spiritual bewitchment!
It stood firm, like the roots of an ancient tree!
"Ugh!"
Hu Liena's body shuddered violently. Her face went deathly pale, and the light in her beautiful eyes froze completely.
Then that familiar, despairing nightmare descended once more.
To her horror, she saw the light in her Soul Rings die in an instant, every one of them turning a deep gray.
The control Soul Skill she had been preparing to chain into her attack vanished as well, severed by the break in her Soul Power.
Three seconds of absolute paralysis arrived right on cue.
The next instant, Su Ming moved and appeared before her.
But this time, he clearly had no intention of using his third Soul Skill as he had against Yan.
With Hu Liena's defenses wide open, he simply extended his right hand and gave her bare shoulder a precise, gentle pat.
There was no violent tearing force, only an irresistible push.
"Ah..."
Hu Liena cried out in surprise as she sailed through the air in a graceful arc, flying beyond the edge of the arena.
She turned lightly in midair and landed steadily outside the arena.
Only when she touched down did the ashen Soul Rings in her body gradually regain their color and the law-seal lift.
There was no doubt about it. She had lost.
She had gone down far more gracefully than Yan, without even a single strand of hair harmed, but the essence of their defeats was no different.
Both had been utterly helpless—absolutely crushed in an instant!
After a brief silence, a tidal wave of gasps and shouts erupted through the Grand Martial Arena.
Twelve years old, a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor—and in two head-to-head matches, he had cleanly crushed two geniuses of the Golden Generation through sheer dominance!
Below the arena, Hu Liena came back to her senses and glared at the composed Su Ming onstage. Annoyed, she stamped her dainty white feet.
She couldn't help shouting at him, "Who does that? You go straight to your fourth Soul Skill, without even any foreplay."
Her complaint was outrageously suggestive, yet carried a hint of girlish petulance.
At her words, the higher-ups and male students who were still reeling from the shock suddenly wore expressions that were all over the place. Some even darted strange looks back and forth between Su Ming and Hu Liena.
"Pfft—"
Yan had just limped over when Hu Liena's words made him nearly spit up a mouthful of blood.
On the arena, Su Ming's dead-fish expression twitched slightly at Hu Liena's suggestive teasing. He rubbed his nose helplessly and, as ever, remained silent.
"Ahem!"
The stern-faced homeroom teacher, Liu Ru, coughed lightly from the main seat on the raised platform, breaking the awkward silence.
She strode onto the arena, her eyes blazing with excitement and delight as she looked at Su Ming.
With a monster like this on her team, their leader, Spirit Hall, would be absolutely invincible at the upcoming Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament!
Liu Ru raised Su Ming's arm and infused her voice with Soul Power, sending it booming across the arena.
"This Internal Quota Determination Match has come to an end! Su Ming, a twelve-year-old Four-Ring Soul Ancestor, has won every match and stands unrivaled here!"
"From this day forward, Su Ming will officially serve as the starting captain of Spirit Hall's representative team and its sole core tactical commander!"
"Spirit Hall will win!"
"We will win!!"
Amid the cheers filling the air, Su Ming turned his head slightly. A cold glint flashed in his dark eyes.