Suppression!

Leng Hanyuan, bearing nine icy-blue soul rings, stood in the void.

A clear, soul-shaking phoenix cry rang out.

His eyes faded into icy blue.

Two narrow rifts tore open at his shoulder blades.

Ice crystals glowing with a dark blue sheen squeezed out from the cracks, piece by piece.

The moment his wings fully spread, the surrounding temperature plummeted.

White frost and snow began to fall from the sky.

Each feather was impossibly thin, its edges so sharp that their physical form was nearly invisible.

Only a faint, dark gleam outlined their contours.

The very color of this patch of heaven and earth changed.

It was as if they were no longer in Ming Capital, but in the Far North.

Ice Crystal Profound Phoenix!

This top-tier martial soul, which had once suffocated every genius under heaven ten thousand years ago, finally appeared before the public once more after ten millennia!

Leng Hanyuan stood amid the frost and snow, ice crystal wings upon his back, like an angel emerging from ice and snow.

The majestic pressure of that noble divine beast made the martial souls of several lower-ranked soul masters tremble involuntarily.

This was not the bloodline suppression Tang Wulin exerted over dragon-type martial souls.

It was simply absolute suppression in terms of rank!

Even a Limit Douluo like Yu Guanzhi felt a quiet chill in his heart upon sensing that divine beast pressure capable of overwhelming all things.

"Mystic Phoenix Douluo, Leng Hanyuan."

Leng Hanyuan's voice held neither sorrow nor joy, only an indifference that stood above everything.

"This is a phoenix!"

"This is the might of the strongest member of our Phoenix Family!"

As Leng Yaozhu looked at that figure, like a True Phoenix descending into the world, the frost on her exquisite face had completely vanished.

In its place was an excited flush.

That phoenix might, proud enough to look down upon all things, was precisely what those of the Phoenix Family yearned to pursue in their dreams!

Yun Ming, who had already taken that first step and preliminarily established his own half-divine position, felt it even more deeply.

His grip on the Sky-Propping Spear tightened.

The gravity in his gaze toward Leng Hanyuan deepened further.

He could feel it.

Leng Hanyuan had taken that step as well.

And he had gone farther than Yun Ming!

He was the pinnacle Yun Ming had seen thus far!

However...

Having understood all this, Yun Ming showed no sign of retreat. On the contrary, the battle intent in his eyes grew even stronger.

Leng Hanyuan's unexpected strength was bad news for Shrek Academy.

Because it could very well tip the balance of this sparring match in his favor.

It would deal a massive blow to Shrek Academy's reputation.

Yet for Sky-Propping Douluo Yun Ming himself, it was good news.

As someone famous for a long time, someone who had long searched the continent without finding an opponent, the emergence of a powerful enemy could only excite Yun Ming.

Spear cultivators and sword cultivators actually had much in common.

One of those things was the courage to press forward without hesitation!

Those who could travel far down either path had never lacked the courage to strike at someone stronger!

Yun Ming moved.

The Sky-Propping Spear shot forward.

The instant the silver spear thrust out, its shaft vanished.

The spearhead pierced through space and emerged from thin air less than half a foot before Leng Hanyuan.

A pinpoint of intensely condensed silver light accompanied the tip.

That was the first form of the Sky-Propping Spear, the technique Yun Ming had built his reputation upon.

Void Breaker!

There was no flashy trajectory, no spreading shockwave. All its power was compressed into a point the size of a needle tip, specialized in piercing protective Soul Power.

It was a technique he had developed after drawing inspiration from the Soul-Breaking Spear of the Breaking Clan twenty thousand years ago.

This strike had once pierced through the defenses of three Title Douluo in an instant.

Leng Hanyuan raised his right hand.

Two fingers.

Ice crystals emerged around his knuckles, wrapping around his index and middle fingers like an extremely thin, translucent glove.

The instant his fingers closed, the spear tip struck.

There was no explosion, no deafening crash.

Only an exceedingly fine, soft crack.

Like glazed glass lightly tapped by a needle tip.

Yun Ming's expression changed.

That point of silver light had been caught between two fingers!

The spear shaft was forcibly driven out of the void and back into its original form.

The silver shaft hummed and quivered like a silver serpent caught by the vital point, unable to break free no matter how it struggled.

Leng Hanyuan lowered his head and glanced at the spear tip between his fingers.

His fingers tightened slightly, and a layer of ice spread from his fingertips onto the spear shaft.

It was not fast, but it was unstoppable.

That chill followed the spear toward Yun Ming's body!

Yun Ming fiercely activated his Soul Power, shattering the ice and pulling his spear back.

As the shaft withdrew, it dragged a spray of ice chips with it.

The web between his thumb and forefinger had already split open.

Yet there was no blood.

The wound had frozen shut, a white line extending from the web of his hand all the way to his wrist.

The cold was burrowing inward along his meridians!

Yun Ming looked down at his hand, then did something.

He transferred the spear to his left hand and violently shook his right, forcibly driving the ice chips out of his meridians.

Yun Ming raised his head, his expression now utterly grave.

He said nothing. He merely took a deep breath and suppressed the white frost spreading over his chest.

Then he attacked again!

This time, it was not one spear strike, but one hundred and eight.

Spear shadows blanketed the heavens, every strike aimed precisely at Leng Hanyuan's brow.

Leng Hanyuan moved as well.

The ice crystal wings behind him spread from his shoulder blades.

They blotted out the sky!

The entire sky seemed to darken by a shade!

Those enormous wings unfolded behind him, their tips drawing slightly forward to shield him.

All one hundred and eight of Yun Ming's strikes landed upon the ice wings.

Attacks powerful enough to easily defeat a Title Douluo left only countless dense white marks, without even producing a single crack.

Yun Ming gritted his teeth, and his spear momentum changed again.

The power of all one hundred and eight strikes converged in midair, and a golden light abruptly ignited at the spear tip.

He poured his own Soul Power into the spear shaft, using spear intent to invoke the power of heaven and earth!

This strike was no longer a thrust.

The Sky-Propping Spear swept horizontally, carrying overwhelming force as it smashed down at Leng Hanyuan's head.

Leng Hanyuan lifted his eyelids.

A trace of excitement appeared in his icy-blue eyes.

He raised his left hand, fingers spread, palm facing the descending spear shadow.

An ice mirror appeared from thin air.

The Profound Ice Mirror, formed from ultimate ice at absolute zero!

The spear shaft smashed against the ice mirror. The mirror did not shatter, but the shaft bent slightly.

The powerful recoil sent Yun Ming flying back several dozen meters before he stabilized himself.

The surroundings fell silent.

The watching powerhouses were silent.

Each harbored different thoughts.

They could all see it.

Leng Hanyuan had clearly held the upper hand in the exchange just now.

Although neither of them had gone all out yet, at their level, even a simple exchange was enough to reveal many things.

Qiangu Dongfeng curled his lips.

As a Limit Douluo who had once been ruthlessly suppressed by Leng Hanyuan, he inexplicably felt much better now.

That fellow Yun Ming was being suppressed too.

At that thought, much of the resentment in his heart dissipated.

On Shrek Academy's side, everyone wore expressions of disbelief.

Zhuo Shi and the others were even beginning to question their lives.

What had they just seen?

That undefeated Pavilion Master had actually been suppressed by someone?!

"Your Excellency, you are very strong—stronger than anyone I have ever fought."

Yun Ming steadied his breathing and straightened his body once more.

"However, this is not over yet!"

A flash of determination crossed Yun Ming's eyes.

A faint glow emerged around his body.

Leng Hanyuan also became somewhat interested.

Now came the thing that would truly determine the final victor of this battle!

Something Yun Ming possessed, but Leng Hanyuan currently did not...

Four-Word Battle Armor!