Battle Against Hu Liena, The Captain's Seat

As Yan was carried away, the atmosphere in the central Grand Martial Arena was pushed to an unprecedented climax.

The proceedings of the Internal Selection Tournament moved along rapidly.

"Next match, Su Ming versus Hu Liena!"

As the referee's voice fell, thousands of teachers and students in the arena held their breath, and even the several Red-Robed Bishops on the high platform straightened their postures.

Having witnessed the devastating blow Su Ming dealt to Yan, everyone was curious about one thing.

That was whether Hu Liena, the strongest of the Golden Generation with her formidable level fifty-two spiritual power, could rely on her superior speed to forcibly withstand Su Ming's nearly unsolvable rule-based seal.

On the arena, Hu Liena's long dress fluttered as she moved with light, lotus-like steps.

However, the captivating fox-like charm and ease usually present in her beautiful eyes were nowhere to be found, replaced by an unprecedented gravity and vigilance.

As someone who had spent several days side-by-side with Su Ming at the Great Soul Arena, Hu Liena knew the terror of that black ten-thousand-year soul ring better than anyone.

This guy's fourth soul skill is an indiscriminate, rule-based interruption. If I let him activate it first, I won't even be able to use a single soul skill before repeating Yan's tragedy.

Hu Liena took a deep breath, her full chest heaving violently.

She frantically calculated her tactics in her mind: Spiritual control soul skills have a much faster activation speed than physical attacks. The moment the referee calls for the start, I must push my spiritual power to the limit and use a soul skill to forcibly charm him before he can light up his soul ring!

As long as I interrupt his opening move, I have a chance to win!

At the other end of the arena, Su Ming's black robes whipped in the wind.

He maintained his usual deadpan expression, hands casually tucked into his pockets. Facing the Saintess renowned throughout Martial Soul Hall, not even a ripple stirred in the depths of his eyes.

The referee took a deep breath, raised his right hand high, and then swung it down sharply:

"Match, start!"

Boom!

In the microsecond the order was given, Hu Liena's delicate body shuddered, and her level fifty-two surging Soul Power erupted like a tidal wave.

Two yellow, two purple, and one black—the standard optimal soul ring configuration—rose up fiercely, and the faint phantom of a massive Nine-Tailed Demon Fox emerged in the void behind her.

"First soul skill, Fox Charm!"

Pink light instantly surged in Hu Liena's beautiful eyes, pulling out two eerie streams of spiritual light that shot toward the center of Su Ming's brow without reservation.

Fast!

Too fast!

Seeing this, Xie Yue, standing below the stage, clenched his fists slightly.

This strike condensed almost all of Hu Liena's spiritual essence after breaking through to level fifty-two, moving so fast that the naked eye could not track it.

However, Su Ming was a monster who played by no rules.

At the very same instant Hu Liena's eyes lit up, Su Ming skipped the unnecessary motion of Martial Soul Possession.

The black ten-thousand-year fourth soul ring at his feet, like the eyes of the Grim Reaper, suddenly erupted with black light within a hundredth of a second!

"Fourth soul skill, Nine-Nether Resentful Phoenix Cry!"

"Screech--!!"

That eerie phoenix cry, which had become a nightmare for every genius at the Martial Soul Hall Academy, once again sharply tore through the void.

The black, bizarre ripples of the rule-based attack swept across the arena like a raging sea, descending with the crushing force of Mount Tai.

The moment Hu Liena's full-force spiritual charm collided with the black ripples, it shattered like fragile glass with a crisp crack, turning into pink dust in mid-air!

Extreme evil, fearing no spiritual charm!

Unwavering, like the roots of an ancient tree!

"Ugh!"

Hu Liena's delicate body trembled violently, her face instantly turning deathly pale, and the luster in her beautiful eyes went completely dull.

Following that, the familiar, desperate nightmare descended once more.

Hu Liena discovered with horror that her soul rings had instantly gone dead, all turning a deep gray.

The follow-up control soul skill she had been preparing to chain vanished in the face of the sudden void in her Soul Power.

The three seconds of absolute paralysis arrived right on cue.

The next second, Su Ming moved, appearing instantly before her.

However, Su Ming clearly did not use his third soul skill as he had against Yan.

Facing Hu Liena, whose defenses were wide open, he simply extended his right palm and tapped her fair, exposed shoulder with precision and gentleness.

There was no violent tearing sensation, only an irresistible force.

"Ah..."

Hu Liena let out a cry of surprise, her body tracing an elegant arc through the air as she was sent flying off the arena.

She performed a light flip in the air, landing steadily outside the ring.

The moment her feet touched the ground, the gray soul rings within her body gradually regained their color, and the law-based seal was lifted.

Without a doubt, she had lost.

She had lost far more gracefully than Yan, not even losing a single strand of hair, yet the essence of the two outcomes was no different.

Both were cases of having no power to fight back—an absolute one-shot!

After a brief moment of silence, the entire Grand Martial Arena erupted into a deafening roar of astonishment.

A twelve-year-old, four-ring Soul Ancestor had actually dominated two peak duels, cleanly and decisively one-shotting two geniuses of the Golden Generation!

Below the ring, Hu Liena, having finally regained her composure, looked at the calm Su Ming on the stage and stomped her fair, petite feet in annoyance.

She couldn't help but complain to him loudly, "Who does that? You unleashed your fourth soul skill the moment you arrived, without any foreplay at all."

The remark was highly ambiguous, carrying a hint of a young woman's coquettish complaint.

Upon hearing this, the high-ranking officials and male students, who had been stunned into a daze, saw their expressions turn incredibly colorful in an instant, some even glancing back and forth between Su Ming and Hu Liena with strange looks.

"Pfft—"

Yan, who had just limped over nearby, nearly spat out a mouthful of blood the moment he heard Hu Liena's words.

On the stage, faced with Hu Liena's highly ambiguous, coquettish outburst, Su Ming's deadpan face twitched slightly. He rubbed his nose in resignation and remained silent.

"Ahem!"

On the main platform, the stern-faced head teacher Liu Ru gave a light cough, breaking the awkwardness.

She strode onto the stage, looking at Su Ming with eyes full of fervor and ecstasy.

As the team leader, having such a heaven-defying monster on the team meant that Martial Soul Hall would stand in an absolutely invincible position in the upcoming Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament!

Liu Ru raised Su Ming's arm high, infusing her voice with Soul Power, and her booming voice echoed throughout the arena:

"The Internal Quota Determination Match concludes here! Twelve-year-old four-ring Soul Ancestor, Su Ming, has achieved a perfect record, his strength unrivaled by all!"

"From this day forward, Su Ming officially assumes the role of starting captain for the Martial Soul Hall representative team, the sole core tactical commander of the entire team!"

"Martial Soul Hall, victory is certain!"

"Victory is certain—!!"

Amidst the overwhelming cheers, Su Ming tilted his head slightly, a cold, piercing glint flickering within his black pupils.