Defying a Soul Ancestor and Striking Back! Even a Four-Ring Expert Could Feel Pain!

Qin Lie's punch missed.

This was his first real mistake since stepping onto the stage.

It was not because Di Yao had dodged quickly.

It was because his charging path had been shifted.

Half an inch.

Insignificant.

Yet fatal enough.

Di Yao seized that instant, and the First Soul Ring beneath his feet lit up.

The Great Sun Golden Flame did not spread out.

Instead, it condensed into a tiny fire needle and shot straight at the junction between Qin Lie's right shoulder and chest.

That was the densest node of Soul Power circulation after the Blazing Lion Martial Soul Possession.

Di Yao had been watching throughout their dozen or so exchanges.

Before every burst of power, Qin Lie's Soul Power would flow from his chest into his right shoulder, then drive his arm into attack.

As long as that point was disrupted, Qin Lie's explosive attacks would be cut off.

"Hiss!"

The Great Sun Golden Flame struck the fire armor.

Qin Lie's expression darkened, and his protective Soul Power immediately surged back.

But Di Yao's golden flame was exceptionally condensed. Like a red-hot needle, it forcefully drilled into the gaps in the fire armor.

Qin Lie gave a muffled grunt, and his right shoulder moved a beat slower.

The entire arena fell silent.

It hit!

A Soul Grandmaster had actually dealt effective damage to a four-ring Soul Ancestor!

Qin Lie's gaze turned completely cold.

"You're courting death!"

He swung an elbow at Di Yao.

Di Yao immediately retreated.

But a Soul Ancestor was too fast.

The elbow still grazed his chest.

"Bang!"

Di Yao was sent flying and crashed heavily to the ground.

His blood and qi churned in his chest, and sweetness rose in his throat.

He gritted his teeth and forced the blood back down. Just as he tried to rise, Qin Lie charged again.

"Do you think that little trick of yours will work a second time?"

Qin Lie was furious.

Not because he had suffered any serious injury.

That golden flame had only scorched a small mark. It was nowhere near a grave wound.

What truly upset him was the humiliation.

A four-ring Soul Ancestor had faced a Soul Grandmaster who had awakened only recently, yet had his weak point struck.

That was more humiliating than taking a punch.

Qin Lie no longer held back.

His Third Soul Skill stomped into the ground once more.

A fiery shockwave swept across the arena, forcibly destroying the remaining Great Sun Golden Flame points Di Yao had laid down.

Di Yao's crude fire net shattered by more than half in an instant.

Hu Liena's expression tightened.

"His setup has been destroyed."

Xie Yue said solemnly, "Qin Lie isn't stupid."

"After suffering once, he won't give him a second chance."

Yan gritted his teeth. "Then what do we do?"

Xie Yue looked at Di Yao.

"Let's see whether he has any more tricks up his sleeve."

On the arena.

Di Yao was forced to the edge by the shockwave.

Only two remnants of golden flame remained beneath his feet.

Qin Lie advanced step by step.

The scorched mark on his right shoulder was still smoking.

Yet his gaze grew increasingly vicious.

"Kid."

"You do have some skill."

"Unfortunately, the gap in our levels isn't something you can erase with schemes."

Di Yao's breathing was slightly heavy.

Blood had soaked through the cuff of his left sleeve.

His chest also felt stuffy in waves.

Yet he still raised his head.

"The gap can't be erased."

"Then I'll tear open a hole in it."

Qin Lie's eyes turned cold.

His Fourth Spirit Ring lit up once more.

Deep-red flames condensed into a gigantic lion claw.

"Fourth Spirit Ring, Fierce Lion Burning Mountain!"

Terrifying flames swept across the entire arena.

The flame points beneath Di Yao's feet were nearly swallowed in an instant.

This time, Qin Lie had no intention of giving him any chance.

He would break skill with force.

He would use absolute Soul Power to turn the entire arena into his home ground.

Flames rushed toward him.

Di Yao's robes instantly blackened with scorch marks.

Great Sun Golden Flame spread before him, yet the Soul Power of Fierce Lion Burning Mountain forced it continuously backward.

This was a Soul Ancestor's Fourth Spirit Ring.

Powerful.

Heavy.

Oppressive enough to make one struggle for breath.

Hu Liena clenched her fingers.

"At this rate, he won't be able to hold on."

Yan said anxiously, "Where is the Pope? Why hasn't she stopped this yet?"

Xie Yue looked toward the heights.

Bibi Dong had not appeared.

But he knew that Bibi Dong was definitely watching.

"She is waiting."

Hu Liena's voice lowered.

"Waiting for what?"

Xie Yue fell silent for a moment.

"For Di Yao to break the deadlock himself."

On the arena.

Di Yao's feet carved long trails across the ground.

The flames had already pressed close before him.

The Great Sun Golden Flame had been forced back until it nearly touched his palm.

Qin Lie grinned savagely.

"It's over!"

The enormous lion claw crashed down.

At that very instant.

Di Yao's Second Soul Ring lit up beneath his feet.

"Ten Thousand Demon Edict."

The Dark Gold Emperor Edict descended.

Qin Lie's Blazing Lion Martial Soul instinctively stalled.

The difference in their levels was too great.

This time, the delay lasted less than half a breath.

But that less-than-half-breath was exactly what Di Yao had been waiting for.

A crack appeared in the connection of the Fourth Spirit Ring.

For an instant, there was a break between the giant lion claw and Qin Lie's own Soul Power.

Di Yao suddenly raised his hand.

The two remaining golden flame points lit up at the same time.

They did not strike Qin Lie head-on.

Instead, they curled back from his side and rear along the cracks in the arena.

Qin Lie's expression changed.

"They weren't extinguished?"

Flames surged in Di Yao's eyes.

"You destroyed the surface."

"The Core Flame remains."

Two streams of Great Sun Golden Flame surged upward against Qin Lie's own flames like two dark-gold serpents, drilling straight toward the node in his right shoulder.

At the same time, the golden flame in Di Yao's palm condensed into a point and pierced directly into the crack in the Fourth Spirit Ring.

A three-point combined attack.

All of it struck the same location.

Qin Lie roared and tried to forcefully defend himself.

But the slight delay caused by the Ten Thousand Demon Edict had not completely faded.

His Soul Power slowed.

That tiny delay was enough for Di Yao to send the golden flame in.

"Boom!"

Dark Gold Flame exploded from Qin Lie's right shoulder.

The Mad Lion Fire Armor was burned through.

A scorched black wound appeared on his shoulder.

Qin Lie grunted, retreating three steps in succession.

His Fourth Spirit Ring did not completely collapse.

But the direction of its attack was forcibly cut open at one corner.

The flaming giant claw grazed past Di Yao's side and blasted into the edge of the arena.

"Rumble!"

The arena's protective barrier shook.

Broken stones flew everywhere.

Di Yao was thrown away by the aftershock, flipped once in midair, and crashed heavily down.

He spat out a mouthful of blood.

But he smiled.

Not broadly.

He merely raised his head, looked at the scorched mark on Qin Lie's shoulder, and curled his lips slightly.

"Four rings."

"Can hurt too."

As those words fell, the entire arena went deathly silent.

Then, discussion erupted like thunder.

"He struck back against a Soul Ancestor!"

"Even the Fourth Spirit Ring couldn't knock him off the stage!"

"Did he just cut through a Soul Ancestor's attack?"

"Is he really a Soul Grandmaster?"

In the direction of the Elder Palace, the atmosphere was suffocatingly oppressive.

They had originally sent a Soul Ancestor onto the stage to suppress Di Yao.

But now, not only had Qin Lie failed to defeat Di Yao in a single move, he had been publicly burned by Di Yao instead.

The injury was not serious.

But the humiliation was severe.

Qin Lie lowered his head to look at the scorch mark on his right shoulder, his expression gradually turning vicious.

Killing intent rose in his eyes.

This was no longer a trial.

No longer a suppression.

He truly wanted to cripple Di Yao.

Hu Liena's expression changed drastically.

"He's got killing intent!"

Yan immediately stepped forward.

"Where's the referee? Is he blind?"

The person in charge of the Newcomer Ranking turned pale, yet he did not dare call a halt immediately.

Someone from the Elder Palace was watching him coldly.

All the pressure bore down on him.

Qin Lie slowly raised both fists.

Dark crimson flames ignited once more.

This time, they were even fiercer than before.

They even carried a trace of unstable violence.

Xie Yue's voice turned utterly cold.

"This strike is no longer a spar."

On the arena.

Di Yao braced himself against the ground and rose to his feet.

His body hurt.

His meridians hurt.

His bones hurt too.

But there was no retreat in his eyes.

He could sense Qin Lie's killing intent.

He could also sense those people hidden in the shadows, watching the spectacle.

They all wanted to know whether he could endure.

Bibi Dong wanted to know as well.

Di Yao raised his right hand and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"You want to cripple me?"

Qin Lie did not answer.

The dark crimson flames gathered wildly.

Di Yao chuckled softly.

"Then let's see if you have what it takes."

The Dark Gold Sun appeared once more.

Only this time, its radiance was already somewhat shattered.

Like a sun whose edges had been torn apart by blazing flames.

But the sun was still burning.