The people around the arena finally realized what they were about to do: perform a Martial Soul Fusion Skill!
The Skywater Academy teachers and students watching nearby wore expressions mixing fear and excitement, and quickly backed away.
They retreated to a safe distance!
The Martial Soul Fusion Skill of two Soul Ancestors was not to be underestimated. Even its aftershocks could injure anyone who wasn't strong enough.
In the arena, Shui Bing'er and Xue Wu's Soul Power was fusing faster and faster. Their figures seemed to blur in the icy blue light, as a heart-stopping chill rapidly gathered and intensified.
With Yang Teng's elusive spatial abilities, interrupting a fusion that required some time to prepare would not actually be too difficult.
At least, in the eyes of Shui Yunxia and many of the more perceptive teachers, he had every chance to interfere or attack before the fusion was complete.
Yet Yang Teng merely stood quietly where he was. The usual roguish smile had faded from his face, but he showed no intention of interrupting them.
"What is he doing?"
His reaction instead made Shui Bing'er and Xue Wu, who were concentrating with all their might on the fusion, feel a simultaneous chill in their hearts. Their movements faltered almost imperceptibly.
He wasn't going to stop them? What was he planning? Was he so arrogant that he thought he could withstand a Martial Soul Fusion Skill head-on, or did he have some other trick up his sleeve?
Their thoughts raced, but the arrow was already on the string; they had no choice but to release it.
They exchanged a glance, each seeing determination in the other's eyes.
Whatever he was planning, they would simply defeat him at their strongest! Their Soul Power fused at a suddenly accelerated pace, and icy blue light shot into the sky!
The last trace of a smile vanished from Yang Teng's face.
He clearly sensed the energy surging from the other side, growing with terrifying speed. It had already surpassed the strength of an ordinary Soul King.
The power of a Martial Soul Fusion Skill performed by two Soul Ancestors whose attributes were perfectly compatible and who worked together seamlessly was far more than one plus one equaling two.
Yang Teng turned toward Shui Yunxia, whose expression was grave, and called out in a clear voice.
"Dean Shui! Please protect the two senior students in a moment!"
His tone was unusually solemn, no longer carrying that irreverent air.
At his words, Shui Yunxia's first reaction was that it was absurd.
She, the dean, should have been ready to save Yang Teng, who might be gravely injured by the powerful Martial Soul Fusion Skill the two Soul Ancestors were about to unleash.
She was about to fire back at Yang Teng for his arrogance, but suddenly stopped, recalling his heaven-defying purple, purple, black Soul Ring Configuration and Gu Yuena's earlier warning.
Perhaps this young man really did have some astonishing trump card, one powerful enough to face the Ice Phoenix that was about to arrive.
Almost as if possessed, she nodded and replied in a low voice.
"Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on them."
As she spoke, the Soul Power of a Soul Saint quietly stirred within her, and she prepared to intervene at any moment.
The temperature in the center of the training grounds plummeted! Fine frost formed across the ground, and a clear, sonorous phoenix cry rang through the sky!
A gigantic bird radiated crystalline blue light, so lifelike that it seemed real, and it contained a devastating power.
This was their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, the Ice Phoenix!
The instant the Ice Phoenix appeared, Yang Teng immediately felt the rate at which his Soul Power was being consumed increase noticeably.
The temperature of the surrounding space had dropped to a terrifying degree, and even the circulation of Soul Power seemed to have been hindered by an invisible force, costing him extra energy.
"So this is the power of the extreme—the Ice Phoenix!"
Yang Teng smiled faintly to himself. I'm the Space-Time Divine Dragon!
A weighty pressure beyond words spread out from Yang Teng. A silver-violet dragon slowly appeared, offsetting the drain caused by the Ice Phoenix.
Shui Bing'er and Xue Wu both felt their hearts tremble, and even Shui Yunxia was deeply shaken.
It was because of the absolute suppression between Martial Souls!
Even so, Shui Bing'er still warned him.
"Yang Teng! Give up! Our Soul Power is draining rapidly, and we can't precisely control all of its power! You'll die!"
She wasn't trying to scare him. It was the truth.
Martial Soul Fusion Skills were immensely powerful, but they consumed a great deal of Soul Power and were difficult to control afterward.
Yang Teng slowly raised his head. A thin layer of frost coated his face.
"Thanks for worrying about me, senior."
His voice wasn't loud, but everyone heard him clearly.
"But I'll win!"
As the words fell, the pitch-black Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring at his feet—the third one, which he had never used before—appeared.
"Be careful!"
"Third Soul Skill!"
Yang Teng's voice was low and clear.
"Space Divine Slash!"
He swept his half-clenched hand forward!
A curved, seven-colored blade of light swept soundlessly from his palm, stirring ripples in the surrounding space.
The seven-colored blade flew straight toward the enormous Ice Phoenix diving at him.
The distance between them rapidly closed.
The Ice and Snow Storm carried by the Ice Phoenix struck the blade first, but the sharp snowflakes, like knives, silently vanished as soon as they touched the distorted spatial force field surrounding it.
Just before the two collided, something bizarre happened.
The seven-colored blade of light disappeared into thin air before everyone's eyes!
It hadn't been shattered or frozen. Without the slightest warning, it had simply vanished completely.
"What?!"
Shui Yunxia's pupils contracted, alarm bells ringing in her mind. Even with a Soul Saint's perception, she hadn't been able to detect where the blade had gone or how it had disappeared!
Almost instinctively, she was about to rush into the arena. Soul Power had already gathered in her palm, and she was ready to save Yang Teng first, no matter what. The Ice Phoenix's attack wouldn't stop just because the blade had disappeared!
However, a cool hand gently caught her arm.
It was Gu Yuena.
Gu Yuena shook her head at her, her silver eyes calmly fixed on the arena, and said softly,
"Look."
While Shui Yunxia was distracted for a moment, the space above the Ice Phoenix rippled like water.
The next instant, the vanished seven-colored blade appeared without warning several meters above the Ice Phoenix, then plunged straight down at several times its previous speed!
There was no ear-splitting boom, only a faint "crack."
The Ice Phoenix's enormous body, condensed from extreme ice.
"Boom!"
A muffled thud rang out—not an explosion, but the sound of something's structure completely collapsing.
The enormous body of the Ice Phoenix was sliced apart from within by that invisible spatial force, disintegrating in an instant and breaking into countless ice fragments of every size.
The terrifying cold and energy impact, enough to freeze a Soul King and strike fear into anyone, vanished along with it.
Only sparkling ice shards remained scattered across the training grounds, along with a faint slash mark that began not far in front of Yang Teng and stretched all the way to where the Ice Phoenix had been, as if an invisible blade had swept through.
The entire arena fell silent.
Everyone stared at the scene, dumbfounded, their minds nearly shutting down.
"A Soul Elder broke the Martial Soul Fusion Skill of two Soul Ancestors?"
Shui Bing'er and Xue Wu suffered a backlash and both collapsed to the ground at almost the same time, falling unconscious.
As for Yang Teng, after unleashing that earth-shattering "Space Divine Slash," he looked as though every last bit of strength had been drained from him.
The color instantly drained from his face, leaving him deathly pale. His body swayed, and he could no longer hold himself upright; he dropped to one knee.
Using a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Skill, especially such a powerful spatial attack, consumed a tremendous amount of both his Soul Power and his mental strength.
But the results were remarkable!
At that moment, a silver figure appeared behind him as if she had Teleported.
Gu Yuena reached out a slender, pale hand and gently pressed it against Yang Teng's back.
A gentle, pure energy containing the most primordial life force in the world flowed into him, quickly calming the roiling blood in his body and replenishing his nearly depleted meridians.
Yang Teng caught his breath. Without turning around, he tugged at the corner of his mouth. His voice was still a little hoarse, but that familiar roguishness had returned.
"As expected of the Silver Dragon King... With this healing, even the elements of the world obediently listen to you. It's much more useful than any recovery-type Soul Master."
Gu Yuena didn't reply. She simply continued channeling the gentle energy, her silver eyes lowered, her emotions impossible to read.
Shui Yunxia had already flown into the arena and checked on Shui Bing'er and Xue Wu. Only after confirming that they had merely passed out from exhaustion and were otherwise unharmed did she finally breathe a long sigh of relief.
When she looked again at the young man leaning against Gu Yuena, his complexion slowly returning, her gaze had become incomparably complicated.
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