Huo Yuhao's warning reached her ears.
Wang Dong's body reacted much faster than her brain.
She didn't look back to see what had become of the Wind Blades, nor did she think about how to counter them.
Instinct drove her to snap the Light Goddess Butterfly's wings shut, wrapping her entire body inside them.
The deep-blue wings overlapped, cocooning her tightly.
Watching her, Gu An calmly uttered a few words.
"That won't help."
If Wang Dong had used Wing Guillotine to attack the Wind Blades around her, she might have had a better chance.
After all, her first Soul Skill was an offensive one.
Wing Guillotine was plenty sharp. If she hacked in one direction, she might actually have cut herself a path out.
But she had chosen to defend.
A Power Attack System Battle Soul Master was using her offensive Martial Soul to take someone else's attacks head-on.
Wasn't she just making herself a target?
A slow death, nothing more.
Either she should have avoided getting surrounded by the music in the first place, circling around the edge while looking for an opening.
Or she should have been a purely defensive Soul Master, strong enough to withstand every Wind Blade.
Clearly, Wang Dong was neither.
As Wind Blades hacked into the wings of her Light Goddess Butterfly, one after another, Wang Dong realized something was wrong.
At first, she could withstand them thanks to the quality of her Martial Soul and the boost from Wing Guillotine.
The problem was, there were too many Wind Blades.
One slash, two, ten, twenty—she couldn't hold out!
"No! I have to break through!" she said through gritted teeth, looking at her nearly tattered wings.
Her wings opened slightly as she tried to switch from a defensive stance to an offensive one, using Wing Guillotine to carve a bloody path out.
But it was too late.
She'd been cowering behind her wings for so long that the ripples of music had already gathered densely all around her.
There were twice as many as when she'd first rushed in.
Escape?
As if.
Wang Dong had barely opened a crack in her wings when a Wind Blade slipped through and grazed her cheek.
A sharp sting flared across her face, and warm liquid seeped from the wound.
She was forced to close her wings again.
"Damn it," she cursed darkly.
She realized she'd done something stupid.
Once she'd chosen to defend, getting away was no longer so simple.
Wind Blades filled the area around her, packed together in layer upon layer.
And the ripples of music kept gathering around her, their slowing effect never letting up.
The slower she moved, the more Wind Blades gathered.
The more Wind Blades gathered, the less she dared to move.
A vicious cycle.
Slowing effects and attacks, both at once.
The helpless Huo Yuhao could only watch from the ground, frantic and pacing in circles.
But there was nothing he could do to help.
He was too weak now.
"What do I do? What do I do?"
In his desperation, he wanted to use his Soul Tool at once.
But he clenched his teeth and forced the impulse down.
Using his Soul Tool now would only reveal his trump card.
And Gu An had been keeping an eye on him the whole time. If he made a move now, he couldn't inflict any real damage on Gu An.
He could only wait.
Wait for the moment Gu An let his guard down.
Gu An glanced at Huo Yuhao below, who was sweating buckets in his desperation.
What a useless husband.
His wife was being toyed with by Gu An, and he didn't dare step in.
He must have gone to Japan to train.
Shaking his head, Gu An looked back at Wang Dong.
"You're so weak."
His voice wasn't loud, but the Soul Fighting Platform was otherwise silent, and every word carried clearly across it.
"Is that it? Is this how it ends?"
"Is that all Shrek Academy has?"
Gu An spread his hands, shrugged, and cocked his head, his face dripping with ridicule.
Watching Gu An act like that, every Shrek Academy student below clenched their fists.
"I want to kill him!"
"That brat is asking for a beating!"
"Argh! He dares insult Shrek Academy! He's begging to die!"
They all wanted to rush up and give that brat a beating on Wang Dong's behalf.
He was so handsome, too, with a face as exquisite as if it had been painted.
How had he ended up with such a mouth?
What a little shit!
Huo Yuhao finally couldn't sit still any longer.
He stared at Wang Dong on the platform, trapped by the Wind Blades, her wings growing dimmer by the moment, and clenched his jaw hard.
Wang Dong had no chance of breaking free now.
If he didn't act, she was going to lose.
He fixed his eyes on Gu An, his gaze suddenly sharpening.
"First Soul Skill: Mental Shock!"
A blinding flash crossed his eyes, and an invisible mental wave burst from between his brows, shooting straight at Gu An.
At the same time, a gleam of purple flashed in his eyes.
Purple Demon Eye.
The Tang Sect Secret Arts he'd diligently practiced every morning, facing the purple glow in the east, surged forth without restraint.
A wave of relief rose in his heart.
Thank goodness he'd practiced Purple Demon Eye every day.
With Mental Shock boosted by Purple Demon Eye, the two together would surely deal enormous damage to that guy.
But Gu An had been on guard against this attack all along.
He didn't know exactly what each of Huo Yuhao's Soul Skills did.
But he knew all about his first Soul Skill, Mental Shock.
"Finally decided to make your move?"
He sensed the attack but didn't panic. His spiritual power had already reached the Spirit Connection Realm.
Before deciding to fight Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong,
he had already asked Leng Yaozhu how to use spiritual power.
So, from the very moment he fought Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong,
he had condensed his spiritual power into a shield and placed it outside his sea of consciousness.
He'd been waiting for Huo Yuhao to make his move.
Mental Shock slammed into the spiritual shield.
Gu An felt his head ring, and inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
Good, at least it's only this strong.
But on his face, he wore an expression of excruciating pain.
His brow knotted tightly, his eyes squeezed shut, and he opened his mouth with a cry of pain.
"That hurts."
He clutched his head with both hands and doubled over, curling up as if he'd been struck so hard he could barely bear it.
"Ah."
Huo Yuhao saw this and his eyes lit up. He whipped his head toward Wang Dong and shouted.
"Wang Dong, now!"
"Gu An was hit by my Purple Demon Eye and spiritual power!"
Trapped among the Wind Blades and gritting her teeth as she held on, Wang Dong heard Huo Yuhao's shout like a song from heaven.
"Okay!"
"Watch me break his Soul Skill!"
She seized the chance and launched a counterattack against the Wind Blades around her!
It wasn't just Wang Dong. The rest of the Shrek Academy students erupted in cheers, too.
Could it be—
Could they actually defeat that brat?
They could hardly wait!
Xuanzi even turned at once, his eyes fixed on Leng Yaozhu in the stands.
He wanted to see panic on her face, any sign of unease!
But—
All he saw was panic on Xiao Xiao's face.
As for Leng Yaozhu, there was a faint smile at the corner of her mouth.
Her phoenix eyes were slightly narrowed, her face otherwise entirely composed.
Xuanzi was dumbfounded. He rubbed his eyes and looked again.
"Is this damn thing for real? I must be dreaming..."
His gaze returned to the Soul Fighting Platform. His pupils contracted, and he couldn't help shouting, "What happened? How is he fine?"
On the platform,
Gu An lowered his hands from his head. The pained expression vanished completely, replaced by a smile.
"Aw, I've been hurt."
He spread his hands and shrugged. "Just kidding~"
Wang Dong was dumbfounded.
She even paused in the middle of her desperate counterattack against the Wind Blades.
She couldn't believe her eyes.
Then what had all that effort been for?
Was it just her overestimating herself?
And then, a cold voice came from behind Gu An.
"Pretending? Then you've been fooled, too."
During the few breaths Gu An spent clutching his head and crying out,
Huo Yuhao had quietly slipped behind him!!!