Seeing the sharp petals flying toward him, Lu Chen raised his arms and swung them to block.
After Leugocyte Martial Soul Possession, his arms were far stronger than an ordinary person's and were protected by something like armor. Every swing carried immense weight, meeting the incoming petals again and again.
One petal after another was knocked aside.
But Yue Guan's First Soul Skill was not that simple. The petals were not merely sharp; their speed and impact were just as formidable.
Each time Lu Chen blocked an attack, the impact shook his body and forced him to step back.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
After several consecutive collisions, Lu Chen had already retreated several steps.
Looking at him, Yue Guan remained relaxed. "Not bad. The fact that you can block them head-on shows just how astonishingly tough your body is. But brute force alone can't stop every attack."
Lu Chen understood that perfectly well.
He could keep blocking like this, but there was no point.
Yue Guan's Soul Skill was only a test. If Lu Chen couldn't even counter this, there was no way to truly assess his combat ability.
At that thought, the Second Soul Ring beside Lu Chen lit up.
The black Soul Ring gave off a heavy glow, and the aura of a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring became instantly apparent.
"Second Soul Skill, Rain of Creation."
As Lu Chen's voice fell, the dragon tail behind him unfurled.
In the next instant, a vast number of purple homing piercing energy bolts shot out from behind him.
The bolts were incredibly numerous, each carrying a powerful piercing force as they rapidly blanketed a vast area.
Once they locked onto their target, they blasted toward Yue Guan from every direction.
The entire battlefield was almost completely engulfed by the purple bolts.
Watching the attacks fill the sky, Yue Guan's interest only grew.
He could clearly sense the power contained in those bolts.
They were far beyond the strength of an ordinary Soul Skill, even surpassing the offensive Soul Skills of a typical Soul King.
More importantly, the Soul Skill covered a vast area and could track its target. Against a Soul Master of the same level, it would be almost impossible to evade.
Yue Guan laughed loudly. "Bring it on!"
Facing the dense barrage of energy bolts, he did not dodge. Instead, he raised the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum in his hand.
His Fourth Soul Ring lit up.
"Fourth Soul Skill, Golden Stamen Flowing Light."
As the Soul Skill activated, a barrier unfolded in front of Yue Guan.
Golden light flowed and formed a defense, blocking every incoming purple bolt.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Rain of Creation pelted the barrier without pause, unleashing a continuous series of thunderous blasts.
The piercing and annihilating effects carried by the purple bolts battered the barrier, making the golden light ripple again and again.
But Yue Guan was, after all, a Titled Douluo.
Even without using much strength, the defense formed by his Fourth Soul Skill was more than enough to hold back Lu Chen's attack.
Seeing his Second Soul Skill blocked, Lu Chen was not disappointed.
It would have been strange if Yue Guan couldn't stop an attack of this level.
What mattered to him was how much pressure Rain of Creation could truly exert.
A moment later, the purple bolts filling the sky gradually faded.
Yue Guan withdrew the barrier, his eyes carrying unmistakable approval.
"This Soul Skill is powerful."
Looking at Lu Chen, he remarked, "Its attack power is on par with the Sixth Soul Ring of a Soul Emperor."
Hearing this, Gui Mei, standing nearby, nodded slightly.
With only twenty-six levels of Soul Power, Lu Chen's Second Soul Skill had earned that kind of praise from Yue Guan. That alone was astonishing.
If Lu Chen's Soul Power Level continued to rise in the future, the skill's power would surely increase along with it.
Lu Chen did not stop just because of the praise.
The First Soul Ring beside him lit up.
"First Soul Skill, Void Dragon Form."
In the next instant, Lu Chen's body began to change.
He shifted out of Martial Soul Possession and into a gaseous cloud form, rapidly spreading in every direction.
The cloud billowed outward, soon enveloping the entire battlefield.
Standing within the cloud, Yue Guan raised an eyebrow slightly.
Lu Chen's aura was all around him.
The sensation was peculiar. Lu Chen's Soul Power was clearly not that strong, yet once he became this gaseous cloud, his presence seemed to scatter and grow indistinct.
Yue Guan could sense that Lu Chen was there, but he couldn't immediately pinpoint his exact location the way he could with an ordinary Soul Master.
Of course, if Yue Guan used his full strength, breaking through this would not be difficult.
But he wasn't going to do that during this test.
Looking at the cloud spreading all around him, he couldn't help but praise it. "Xiao Chen, your First Soul Skill even has an effect like this."
This wasn't merely a Soul Skill for dodging attacks.
In battle, this form could be used to conceal oneself and disrupt an enemy's judgment.
Especially in a one-on-one fight, if an opponent couldn't accurately pinpoint Lu Chen's position, they could easily end up at a disadvantage.
As soon as Yue Guan finished speaking, a sharp whistle suddenly came from behind him.
His eyes flickered, and his body instinctively darted to the side.
In the next instant, a dragon tail whipped out of the cloud, sweeping past the spot where Yue Guan had been standing.
The tail carried tremendous force. Even an ordinary Soul King would be knocked back by the shockwave if it didn't hit them directly.
Yue Guan glanced back and smiled. "So it can do that, too."
That was Leugocyte's tail.
Lu Chen had concealed his aura with Void Dragon Form, then launched a surprise attack from behind Yue Guan. The trick was to turn part of the gaseous cloud into solid matter.
His mastery was still limited, but in the future, he might be able to turn parts of his body gaseous while remaining in solid form. That would open up many more possibilities.
Although the attack had not actually hit Yue Guan, it had already shown how the First Soul Skill could change the flow of battle.
After the sneak attack failed, Lu Chen did not immediately dispel the cloud.
He still wanted to keep fighting and try attacking from other angles.
Since Void Dragon Form could keep Yue Guan from locking onto him right away, he naturally wanted to use the opportunity to see what else he could do.
However, just as Lu Chen was about to attack again, Bibi Dong's voice came from the sidelines.
"That's enough. Stop."
Lu Chen paused.
Since his teacher had spoken, he naturally wouldn't keep attacking.
The cloud covering the battlefield rapidly contracted, and Lu Chen's form gathered back together.
The purple and black Soul Rings slowly faded.
Yue Guan also put away the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, and his nine Soul Rings vanished. He looked at Lu Chen, still wearing a faint smile.
Though this test hadn't been a real battle, it was enough for him to assess Lu Chen's general strength.
Bibi Dong walked forward and looked at Yue Guan. "Give me your assessment."
Yue Guan knew she was asking about Lu Chen's combat performance, so he set aside some of his joking manner and gave the matter serious thought.
"His strengths are obvious."
Looking at Lu Chen, he said, "He's powerful, physically tough, and his Soul Skills are astonishingly strong. Whether it's the Second Soul Skill's area attack or the First Soul Skill's ability to shift into a voidlike form, both are unexpected."
"Especially for a Soul Master facing you for the first time. They could easily suffer for not knowing what your Soul Skills can do."
Lu Chen listened quietly without interrupting.
Yue Guan continued, "At your current strength, you have almost no rivals below the Soul King level in a one-on-one fight."
That was high praise.
After all, Lu Chen was only a level twenty-six Soul Grandmaster.
By the standard ranking of Soul Masters, he wasn't even a Soul Elder yet.
And yet Yue Guan said he had no rivals below Soul King. That alone showed his actual combat strength far exceeded his level.
But Yue Guan quickly changed tack.
"There are problems, too."
Before you continue