Boom!
Su Changge brought his staff down on Zhao Wuji's fist. He managed to block Zhao Wuji's lethal strike, but the violent Soul Power rebounded through him, blasting him back over a hundred meters before he could barely halt his retreat.
Against Zhao Wuji at the Spirit Saint level, Su Changge could only manage that one strike.
But even a single strike was enough to turn the tide.
With time bought for them, dozens of Soul Hunters attacked as one, sealing off every inch of the area within dozens of meters of Zhao Wuji.
One Power Attack Soul Skill after another hammered toward Zhao Wuji, giving him no chance to approach Su Changge again.
Crack...
At the same time, the ten Divine Fire Thunderbolt Cannons V2.0 were lowered once more and fired at Zhao Wuji.
Seeing the ten specially made shells hurtling toward him, Zhao Wuji's expression changed dramatically.
The scene from seven days ago, when ten standard shells had shattered his Martial Soul Avatar, was still fresh in his mind.
"You little beast, is hiding behind them all you can do!?"
"If you're a man, come out and fight me one-on-one!!!"
As Zhao Wuji released his First Soul Skill, Immovable Wisdom King Body, and relied on its mechanics to withstand the ten shells, he roared at the sky.
His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at Su Changge, wishing he could pound every inch of him into bloody pulp.
"Heh... Zhao Wuji, what the hell is wrong with your brain? Did you lose your mind!?"
"You're a Spirit Saint with a name for yourself across the empire, and you ambushed a little Soul Master like me. That's shameless enough already... and now you've got the gall to tell me to fight you one-on-one???"
"What's the matter? Want me to write a little storybook and spread the word about what you did today?"
"With a vice dean like you, can Shrek Academy really teach Soul Masters with sound values and real ability?"
Su Changge was so exasperated he laughed.
There were strange things every year, but today had been especially full of them.
He had no idea what the higher-ups in Spirit Hall had been thinking back then.
When dealing with a deranged Soul Master like Zhao Wuji, who was not in his right mind and harbored deep hostility toward Spirit Hall, why hadn't they sent out stronger forces? Instead, they had seemingly made a grand show of sending sixteen Soul Emperors all at once.
Why hadn't the Titled Douluo under Bibi Dong, or the Super Douluo from the Worship Hall, taken action?
Were they just there for decoration???
Seeing that Zhao Wuji was temporarily pinned down by the many Soul Hunters and the Musket Cavalry, Su Changge calmed himself and stopped paying him any mind.
Killing Zhao Wuji now would be quite difficult, but... once Su Changge grew stronger, crushing him would be as easy as crushing an ant.
He would let Zhao Wuji live a little longer for now.
Su Changge went to the dying Golden Nine-Headed Lion and finished it off with a swing of his staff. Then he sat cross-legged and reached for the Soul Ring floating in midair.
The same steps, the same process!
The difference was that this deep-purple Soul Ring had a higher age, reaching eight thousand years!
The Soul Power it contained was several times that of the Soul Ring dropped by the three-thousand-year-old Titan Giant Ape.
Buzz!
The deep-purple Soul Ring alternated between bright and dim. As its immense energy transformed him, Su Changge's aura grew heavier and more imposing...
"Damn it... you little beast, how dare you ignore me!!!"
Seeing a mere Soul Master like Su Changge treat him as if he weren't there, calmly absorbing his Second Soul Ring nearby, Zhao Wuji was so furious his lungs nearly burst.
"Third Soul Skill: Gravity Enhancement!"
"Second Soul Skill: Vajra Palm!"
In his rage, Zhao Wuji's strength surged as if some sort of buff had been applied to him. He unleashed one Soul Skill after another, severely injuring more than ten low-level Soul Masters.
Even the Musket Cavalry were caught in the attack, losing more than a dozen men.
"Speed up the Divine Fire Thunderbolt Cannons! Don't let him get close!!!"
The cavalry commander turned and roared, wishing he could tear Zhao Wuji apart with his bare hands.
On a conventional battlefield, a dozen Musket Cavalry would already be a formidable force, easily beating a hundred Elite Infantry.
Training even one of them required a massive investment of Gold Soul Coins, hard work... and other resources!
Yet now, his subordinates—the finest of the finest in the Murong Earldom—were being swatted away by Zhao Wuji like flies. He had killed more than a dozen of them with casual blows, right before the commander's eyes.
Under the Divine Fire Thunderbolt Cannons V2.0's continuous overload, the alloy barrels gradually heated up, nearing the point of failure.
Yet in the face of this, not one of the Musket Cavalry paid it any mind.
Because this was the only trump card they had... that could restrain the humanoid monster before them.
Afraid to use his Martial Soul Avatar and repeat his last defeat, Zhao Wuji could only force his way through with Soul Skills from his first six Soul Rings, lacking any decisive finishing move.
The Musket Cavalry and the Soul Hunters knew their own limits. While keeping Zhao Wuji suppressed, they deliberately wore down his Soul Power...
Dozens of minutes later!
Su Changge's absorption of the Second Soul Ring was nearing its end.
As the deep-purple Soul Ring above the Golden Nine-Headed Lion's corpse shattered, Su Changge's aura broke through its limit and reached level 20.
After becoming a Soul Grandmaster, Su Changge's breakthrough did not stop.
Peak level 20!
Level 21!
Only when he reached the peak of level 21 did the fluctuations in his aura finally settle.
At that moment, the familiar will in his mind awoke once more.
"Ding! Host has hunted a Second Soul Ring. Martial Soul Evolution: Goblin has advanced to Hobgoblin. Second Trait acquired: Devour."
Before Su Changge could examine it closely, Zhao Wuji's furious roar came from the center of the battlefield.
Even though it had already become reality, he couldn't accept it. He couldn't accept that an ant like Su Changge had broken through so easily right under his nose...
"With my current Soul Power, this move will be a little difficult to use, but it's worth a try."
Su Changge looked toward Zhao Wuji, a dangerous glint flashing in his eyes.
The two Soul Rings beneath Su Changge's feet floated into the air. He raised the five fingers of his right hand, and five black holes swirled at his fingertips. Then, continuously reinforced by his Soul Power, they expanded a hundredfold, a thousandfold, and bore down on Zhao Wuji.
Second Soul Skill: Black Hole Derivation!
These were not half-finished black holes that the Golden Nine-Headed Lion had simulated with its innate talent. They were true black holes in the strictest sense, formed by the distortion of spacetime and the merging of gravitational pull and repulsion.
As long as Su Changge had enough Soul Power, these black holes could keep running on their own, steadily and indefinitely.
Crack!
A mighty suction force swept in every direction, and countless trees and rocks were devoured by the black holes.
Even Zhao Wuji, mighty as he was, could only release his Martial Soul Avatar to steady himself in the face of such an unconventional Soul Skill.
But the very instant his Martial Soul Avatar appeared—
The rapid firing of the Divine Fire Thunderbolt Cannons V2.0 thundered once more...
Zhao Wuji's Martial Soul Avatar held for less than half a minute before dozens of shells tore it to pieces.
Pfft...
The backlash from the destruction of his Martial Soul Avatar swept through him once more.
The feeling of weakness and helplessness nearly drove Zhao Wuji mad.
Why? Why!?
He had already been so careful!!!
But the Musket Cavalry gave Zhao Wuji no time to vent. Another ten specially made armor-piercing rounds came flying in, forcibly blasting his right arm off...
The notorious madman could hold on no longer and let out a bloodcurdling howl.