Xiao Hongchen's Big Hand

"Let's go with this."

At last, having figured out how to win, Xiao Hongchen moved. He shot toward Ma Rulong like a cannonball out of its barrel.

A pair of enormous fists came to meet him. The four-meter-tall Demon Whisker Monkey stood in his way, its dark-red fur bristling like a layer of steel needles, its presence imposing.

Many onlookers winced for him. Beside the Demon Whisker Monkey, Xiao Hongchen looked like a child.

To everyone's astonishment, Xiao Hongchen's left arm swelled to more than ten times its original size. His once-fair arm had turned gold, and liquid gold could be seen flowing across its surface.

This was an advanced technique of his fifth Soul Skill, Attachment of Gold. He had transformed his entire left hand into liquid metal, but the liquid formed from his arm alone wasn't nearly enough to create such an enormous limb.

The answer was that he had packed a large quantity of metal from his storage belt into the innermost part of the "arm," while the liquid forming its outer surface was made from his own arm and carried a heavy-metal poison.

With that, Xiao Hongchen swung his left arm, larger than both of the Demon Whisker Monkey's arms, and collided with its fists.

The Demon Whisker Monkey was sent flying backward, tiny holes appearing all over its fists.

Xiao Hongchen had caused them by instantly hardening the liquid into spikes on contact. The poison had entered the Demon Whisker Monkey's body along with them, and its dark-red fur visibly dulled. Its combat strength had clearly plummeted.

Xiao Hongchen, meanwhile, was completely unscathed. Attachment of Gold had reduced the force of the Demon Whisker Monkey's fists by ninety percent, and the damage that made it through the metal to his body was negligible.

At the same time, Ma Rulong raised his greatsword over his head and slammed it down onto the ground.

The ground split open at once, and a lava-like stream of flame tore through the stone slabs and raced toward Xiao Hongchen.

Damn, that Soul Tool's got to be called the Sacrilegious Holy Sword.

Though he thought that, Xiao Hongchen didn't slow down in the slightest. He raised his right hand, and a metal wall sprang from the ground, complete with a lifelike metal dog's head on its inner face.

The fissure of flame was blocked by the golden wall and split around either side. The heat melted its outer layer, and droplets trickled down.

Fire does overcome metal after all. Ma Rulong secretly rejoiced. This means I can win.

Seizing the opportunity, he circled around to Xiao Hongchen's right and leaped high, jumping over the divided streams of fire. Then he spun through the air and used the momentum to bring down a fierce Lion Slash on Xiao Hongchen.

"You finally took the bait."

Xiao Hongchen raised his left arm. It split down the middle into two halves, opening just wide enough for the greatsword to cleave between them.

Xiao Hongchen had caught Ma Rulong's greatsword in its entirety!

Not only that, his left arm clamped down on the blade. No matter how much Soul Power Ma Rulong poured into it or how much flame he released, he couldn't soften the metal enough to break free.

In truth, Ma Rulong's flames melting the outside of Xiao Hongchen's metal wall had been entirely intentional.

Knowing that fire overcame metal, Xiao Hongchen had stocked up on rare metals with extraordinarily high melting points beforehand. He'd deliberately used ordinary rare metal for the wall's outer shell so that Ma Rulong would misjudge the situation.

The metal he had carefully packed inside his left arm, naturally, was beyond Ma Rulong's ability to melt.

Now the liquid metal that had formed Xiao Hongchen's left hand wrapped around Ma Rulong too.

Ma Rulong was a sitting duck in midair. His greatsword was wedged in the metal arm, his own arms were bound by liquid metal, and poison was steadily eating away at him. His face had gone deathly pale, and the suffocating sensation of a python coiling around him kept tightening.

Xiao Hongchen's right arm, clad in its bracer, also pointed at Ma Rulong. Golden light flickered faintly as a Soul Power projectile readied to fire.

The winner was decided.

"Clap, clap, clap."

Jing Hongchen was the first to applaud.

He truly hadn't expected Xiao Hongchen to defeat Ma Rulong with just one Level Six Soul Tool. He had originally sent Ma Rulong to knock his grandson down a peg because Xiao Hongchen had been improving so rapidly lately and Jing Hongchen was afraid he'd become arrogant.

But Xiao Hongchen's entire approach—from crossing the Thunder Domain and using a decoy to lure his opponent, to trapping the sword with his metal arm—had flowed seamlessly. He had effortlessly dismantled Ma Rulong's attacks.

Jing Hongchen was completely won over by Xiao Hongchen.

After a brief hush, thunderous applause erupted from the crowd as well.

Even the academy students who hated Xiao Hongchen most had to let go of their grudges at the sight before them. Xiao Hongchen had defeated Ma Rulong, the top student in the graduating class, head-on. That was proof enough that he was the strongest student at Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy.

Xiao Hongchen lowered his right arm, and the light on his bracer slowly faded. The gold drained from his left arm, which shrank back to its original size, while the liquid metal ebbed away like the tide and flowed back into his storage belt.

Ma Rulong landed, sheathed his sword, and stood there staring blankly at Xiao Hongchen.

"You let me win, Brother Ma."

Xiao Hongchen faced Ma Rulong and clasped his hands in a salute.

The simple gesture instantly soothed Ma Rulong's lingering resentment.

He had misunderstood Xiao Hongchen all along. He'd thought of him as an arrogant genius who looked down on everyone, but this battle had shown him just how frightening rumors could be.

Ma Rulong looked at Xiao Hongchen's face. It still held a trace of pride, but his smile was open and honest. At last, Ma Rulong's tense shoulders slumped.

He let out a long breath and shook his head with a rueful smile.

"Don't talk about letting me win. A loss is a loss. Xiao Hongchen, I thought you were just squandering your talent and family wealth, but that battle proved that talent alone wouldn't have been enough to beat me."

Ma Rulong stepped forward and gave Xiao Hongchen a hearty slap on the shoulder.

He said with heartfelt sincerity, "You're the undisputed choice for next generation's captain. When you lead the team to the Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament, if you dare tarnish our academy's name, I'll be the first to hold you to account."

Xiao Hongchen raised his chin, his signature confident smile returning to his face.

"Don't worry, Brother Ma. My goal isn't just to defend our academy's name. I'm going to tear down Shrek's signboard for good. This time, I'll show them that the winds of the age have changed."

The two made peace with a handshake. After Xiao Hongchen removed the poison from Ma Rulong and his Demon Whisker Monkey, he headed toward Meng Hongchen, who was waving both hands at him.

In one corner of the Soul Fighting Arena.

Ju Zi stood silently in the shadows. Her usually languid eyes now shimmered with an extraordinarily complicated light, her gaze fixed on the young man.

The results of her last report to the crown prince had been less than ideal. Xu Tianran still didn't think much of Xiao Hongchen, and there was a simple reason: the current emperor's condition was worsening, and he wouldn't live ten more years at most. Within a few years, the princes' struggle would reach its peak. Xiao Hongchen might have great talent, but by the time he came into his own, the grass on the emperor's grave would be meters high.

Ju Zi's slender fingers unconsciously brushed the cold metal railing of the balcony. Xu Tianran's inscrutable face rose in her mind.

On the crown prince's chessboard, only pawns that could be put to use immediately were worth betting heavily on. In Xu Tianran's eyes, Xiao Hongchen was still no more than an uncut stone of uncertain quality, nowhere near as important as his grandfather, Jing Hongchen.

But she knew very well that Xu Tianran had miscalculated one thing. Xiao Hongchen's growth wasn't a steadily rising straight line. It was an explosive, exponential surge, like a Soul Cannon shell detonating.

Why wait ten years? Give the boy just another year and a half. Once he returned with the glory of winning the Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament, the strength he represented and the prestige of the Hongchen Family would be enough to become the final, decisive card that crushed the other princes' hopes of claiming the throne.

Ju Zi took a deep breath and brought out her Communication Soul Tool again. She glanced once more at Xiao Hongchen, who was chatting and laughing with Meng Hongchen, and thought to herself:

Xiao Hongchen, I hope that when you truly step into the maelstrom of power, you'll still be able to wear such a pure smile.