Xiao Hongchen had been swaggering just moments ago, but after Ye Guyi slapped him, he froze for a full two seconds. Then, unable to believe it, he gingerly touched the already-swollen side of his face.
As a burning sensation spread from one spot across his whole body, Xiao Hongchen began to tremble violently, completely out of his control.
"You! Dare! Hit! Me!"
"You're dead!"
Spitting out those two words, Xiao Hongchen immediately summoned his Martial Soul, the Three-Legged Golden Toad, without a second thought. Two deep yellow Soul Rings appeared around him.
"First Soul Skill, Metal Control!"
"Second Soul Skill, Gold Boiling!"
As he activated both Soul Skills at once, the metal powder he carried erupted into motion. In an instant, a metal sword appeared out of thin air. Under Xiao Hongchen's control, it shot straight toward Ye Guyi's head.
That strike was clearly meant to take Ye Guyi's life.
Mingde Hall strictly prohibited fighting, but Xiao Hongchen couldn't care less. This shameless woman had dared to slap him in front of everyone. She had to die!
But there was no chance his furious strike would land.
The moment Xiao Hongchen summoned his Martial Soul, Xuan Ziwen, who had the strength of an eight-ring Soul Master, had already prepared to intervene.
But before he could act, Xu Tianming spoke up.
"Since this guy comes from an influential family, there's no need to trouble you, Senior Brother Xuan. I don't want to cause you any problems later."
As he spoke, Xu Tianming first slipped free of Meng Hongchen's arm, then summoned his Radiant Sun Martial Soul.
At first, he didn't even bother revealing his Soul Rings. Facing the metal sword that Xiao Hongchen had sent slashing toward him with his Soul Power, he merely raised a hand.
A flame containing terrifying heat appeared around the sword. In less than two seconds, it melted the blade into a pool of boiling iron.
"Th-this is impossible!"
Seeing his attack so easily dispelled, Xiao Hongchen—already wounded in his pride—flew into an even greater rage. His mind lost most of its ability to think, leaving him with only one thought:
Drive his Martial Soul to its limits. Even if he had to stake everything, he would teach these arrogant bastards a lesson they'd never forget!
He would make them understand that the heir of the Hongchen Family could not be insulted!
Xiao Hongchen had lost his reason, but Xuan Ziwen had not.
If this had just been a scuffle between young people, he would have been happy to watch until one side won, as long as neither of them was in danger.
But the situation was different now.
One of the two was the grandson of Jing Hongchen, the master of Mingde Hall, and the person he regarded as the future successor of the Hongchen Family.
The other not only had extraordinary talent in the field of Soul Tools, but the Martial Soul he had just revealed seemed to be the Sun Martial Soul, a legacy passed down only through the imperial family!
Realizing this, Xuan Ziwen didn't dare be careless. He quietly took out a communication Soul Tool and contacted Jing Hongchen, telling him to hurry over and prevent the situation from spiraling further.
Fortunately, Jing Hongchen was already at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, so he could arrive very soon.
After learning this, Xuan Ziwen temporarily abandoned the idea of stopping the two youths from fighting.
After all, neither of them had an ordinary background. If he rashly stopped their fight, they might end up holding a grudge against him as well. It simply wasn't worth the risk.
Jing Hongchen would be there soon. He could let the old man intervene himself. Even if anyone was held responsible afterward, Xuan Ziwen wouldn't have much to worry about.
Xuan Ziwen's plan made sense, but he had underestimated Xu Tianming's combat strength.
Xu Tianming had originally planned to play with Xiao Hongchen for a while and stretch his limbs. But when Columbina noticed Xuan Ziwen quietly taking out the communication Soul Tool, she repeated his entire conversation with Jing Hongchen word for word.
Once Xu Tianming learned that Jing Hongchen was on his way, he thought for a moment, then decided to use his full strength and defeat Xiao Hongchen before Jing Hongchen arrived.
After all, if he waited for Jing Hongchen to show up, then even if Xu Tianming was in the right, the most he could get would be an apology from Xiao Hongchen.
If an apology could solve every problem in this world, why would Soul Masters bother cultivating their Soul Power?
As for Xuan Ziwen's little maneuver...
Xu Tianming could understand why he'd done it, but everything came at a price. Once this was over, he could use it as leverage...
After quickly reviewing what he needed to do, Xu Tianming summoned the two Soul Rings of his Radiant Sun Martial Soul.
When one purple and one black Soul Ring appeared, everyone present except Ye Guyi, who had already seen them, gaped in shock.
A two-ring Soul Master with one thousand-year Soul Ring and one ten-thousand-year Soul Ring?
What a joke!
Even a peerless genius with heaven-defying talent couldn't possibly reach that level, could they?
This completely overturned everything they knew!
Meng Hongchen was so shocked she didn't know what to say. But as she gazed at Xu Tianming, her eyes were filled with adoration.
"Brother Tianming... He's so handsome! I love him so much~"
Xuan Ziwen rubbed his eyes in disbelief, thinking he was seeing things. But when he carefully sensed the Soul Power emanating from the two Soul Rings, he was astonished to find that they really were a thousand-year and a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring!
A monster!
A pure monster!
An absolute freak, even more terrifying than the monsters carefully cultivated by Shrek Academy—by who knew how many times!
As for Xiao Hongchen, who now faced Xu Tianming's overwhelming pressure head-on...
The moment the two Soul Rings appeared, his legs gave an involuntary tremble, and the thought of backing down instantly filled his heart.
How could he fight a Soul Master with a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring?
But after the thought crossed his mind, he saw Xu Tianming's taunting smile.
Something wasn't right!
There was no way a Soul Master could have a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring as his second Soul Ring!
Thinking this, Xiao Hongchen hurriedly forced himself to calm down. It was an illusion!
That was it. Only an illusion could explain it!
Xu Tianming had just teamed up with Xuan Ziwen to trick him. A shameless person like that could easily use illusions to deceive people.
As soon as the thought occurred to him, most of Xiao Hongchen's fear vanished.
"So it's nothing but a petty illusion. What can it do to me? I'll shatter it with one strike!"
With a roar to bolster his courage, Xiao Hongchen drove the Soul Power in his body even more frantically than before.
Without hesitation, he scattered every last bit of metal powder he carried into the air. Controlled by his Soul Power, it transformed in an instant into a gigantic sword three meters tall, its presence utterly terrifying!
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