Victory is Certain, Yu Tianheng Wants to Regain His Standing

On the Soul Fighting Stage.

Yu Feng's entrance came with its own BGM.

He spread his arms, soul power surging out as he released his martial soul—the Wind Bell Bird!

A pair of blue-green wings exploded open behind him, their feathers long and slender, sharp arcs of wind-blade light flowing along the edges.

Two century-old yellow soul rings spiraled up beneath his feet, shining brilliantly.

The Wind Bell Bird's wings trembled slightly, scattering fine wind-feathers around him.

Cheers instantly erupted from below the stage.

"Someone from the Imperial Fighting Team!"

"It's Yu Feng! So cool!"

The corner of Yu Feng's mouth lifted slightly, and he raised his chin toward the spectator stands.

His idol image was fully loaded!

And opposite him.

Feng Yun only quietly drew the Green Phoenix Sword, its blade glowing with a faint cyan light.

No soul rings.

No flashy martial-soul possession effects.

He did not even bother taking a stance.

The atmosphere in the entire venue instantly turned subtle.

On one side was an official member of the Imperial Fighting Team, with gorgeous wings and dazzling soul rings.

On the other was a masked weirdo who did not even light up a soul ring.

The contrast was honestly intense.

Yu Feng frowned.

"You're going up like that? You're not even going to light up your soul rings?"

Behind the mask, Feng Yun tugged at the corner of his mouth.

It was not that he would not release them. His teacher would not let him.

What could he do? He was helpless too.

However, more of Feng Yun's attention was on Yu Feng.

Yu Feng... the Wind Bell Bird martial soul. The first thing it made him think of was Yu Feng from the original Imperial Fighting Team.

"Referee, begin," Feng Yun said calmly.

"Soul fight—begin!"

The moment the words fell.

"Hmph, I've got a bet with my teammates, so I won't be holding back!"

The second soul ring beneath Yu Feng's feet suddenly lit up!

Wind Wing Dash!

His blue-green wings abruptly spread to their limit, and a wild gale swept out.

Yu Feng's figure shot up from the ground, turning into a streak of blue-green light as he dove down from high above!

At the same time, his first soul skill, Wing Blade, activated in combination.

The feather blades along the edges of his wings transformed into several sharp wind blades, whistling as they enveloped Feng Yun.

They were extremely fast, and their angles were tricky.

A classic agility-attack style.

Seize the initiative first and suppress the enemy with speed.

The audience below the stage sucked in a breath.

In a regular match at the Great Soul Arena, this move would be enough to leave the vast majority of soul masters at the same level no time to even react.

However.

Feng Yun moved swiftly.

Wind Soaring Step instantly activated beneath his feet, and pale cyan battle qi surged out from under them.

His figure suddenly accelerated, sweeping off to the side.

Those wind blades grazed past the hem of his clothes and cut a neat row of cracks into the ground where he had just been standing.

Missed by a hair.

And yet they simply had not touched him.

"?!"

Yu Feng's pupils shrank.

Fast. This guy's reactions were too fast!

Almost by instinct, he sharply changed direction in midair, his wings driving his body into a second dive.

But Feng Yun gave him no chance to adjust his rhythm.

The Green Phoenix Sword swept across!

A wind blade skimmed along the ground, cutting off his landing route.

"Hiss!"

Yu Feng was forced to pull up, barely avoiding it.

But the instant he raised his altitude again, Feng Yun had already leapt high into the air and closed in.

Compared to movement techniques used for dodging, the short-range burst of Wind Soaring Step was so fierce it was no weaker than Yu Feng's Wind Wing Dash.

"Damn it!"

Yu Feng gritted his teeth, activated Wing Blade again, and swept both wings downward.

He used his full strength in this strike, the wind blades so dense they nearly sealed off every bit of space ahead.

If it had been Feng Yun three months ago, perhaps he really would have had to clash head-on with this move by firing wind blades in succession.

But now, Feng Yun shifted his step!

His figure wove through the dense wind blades.

His movements were small, even looking almost casual.

But every step landed perfectly in the gaps between the wind blades.

This was the instinct he had trained over the past three months, forced out by Yun Yun in life-and-death battles.

It was not simple evasion, but prediction backed by muscle memory.

Before Yu Feng even made his move, he had already read the wind blades' trajectories.

"He dodged it? How is that possible!"

Yu Feng's pupils began to contract.

His heartbeat was speeding up.

Something was wrong!

Why couldn't his attacks touch him even once?

Off the stage, he had never felt there was anything impressive about Feng Yun.

But after actually facing him, he felt immense pressure.

Anxiety began to spread.

Yu Feng's attack frequency grew faster and faster, Wing Blade pouring out in wave after wave.

But the more anxious he became, the more openings he revealed.

His soul power and stamina were being consumed at an increasing rate, and his flight path started becoming predictable.

The angles of his Wing Blades were no longer tricky, and his soul power output also showed violent, unstable fluctuations.

Beneath the mask, Feng Yun's gaze suddenly turned cold.

Here it comes!

Yu Feng dove again.

This time, he almost skimmed along the ground of the spirit battle platform, pushing his speed to the limit.

The wind blades from his wings gathered before him into a huge azure-blue arc of light.

A desperate gamble.

But this was exactly the moment Feng Yun had been waiting for.

He did not dodge.

Refined Steel Armor!

Wind-attributed battle qi instantly covered his entire body, condensing into a thin layer of azure armor over his skin.

At the same time, wind-attributed battle qi poured into the Green Phoenix Sword, and the sword's azure glow surged several times brighter.

"Clang!"

Feng Yun stepped out!

His entire body turned into a sharp streak of azure light, stabbing straight into the path of Yu Feng's dive!

"Boom—!"

Two currents of wind-attribute power slammed violently together at the center of the spirit arena!

The shockwave exploded outward, sending broken stone flying!

The cyan-blue Wing Blade and the azure sword gleam tangled for less than half a breath.

"Crack!!!"

The Wing Blade shattered!

At that moment, the armor-piercing trait of Gale Stab was displayed to perfection.

The tip of the Green Phoenix Sword pierced through the arc of the wind blade and slammed straight into the spirit-power shield in front of Yu Feng's chest.

There was a crack.

The spirit power collapsed.

The sword's momentum had not faded. The flat of the blade struck Yu Feng across the chest.

Yu Feng's body abruptly froze in midair, then flew backward like a kite with its string cut.

"Bang!"

He crashed heavily onto the edge of the spirit arena, bounced once, and rolled off the stage.

The entire venue fell into dead silence for an instant, Then cheers like a mountain roar and a tsunami erupted.

"Green Phoenix! Green Phoenix! Green Phoenix!"

Yu Feng lay prone on the ground, bracing himself on his arms as he tried to stand, his face filled with disbelief.

He had lost.

It had not been a narrow victory or a narrow defeat.

His battle rhythm had been read through completely. He had been controlled from start to finish, and in the end, the entire fight had been ended with one effortless sword strike!

The Imperial Fighting Team's lounge.

The atmosphere was rather grim.

Shi Mo had his mouth open, the teacup in his hand suspended in midair, forgotten.

Shi Mo rubbed his eyes. "I'm not seeing things, right? Yu Feng... lost?"

Oslo's sarcastic expression finally slipped, and the corners of his mouth twitched twice. "That's it?"

Dugu Yan crossed her arms over her chest, her brows tightly furrowed.

Only after a long while did she slowly speak. "This Green Phoenix... isn't simple."

"He was controlling Yu Feng's rhythm from beginning to end."

"Yu Feng thought he was attacking, but in truth, every attack landed exactly where the other guy wanted him to attack."

"That final sword was even more terrifyingly precise. He chose the exact instant when Yu Feng's center of gravity was at its most unstable to cut in."

The lounge was so quiet they could hear their own heartbeats.

"How interesting."

Everyone saw the smile that curved the corner of Yu Tianheng's mouth perfectly clearly.

He stood up, straightened his collar, and walked toward the door.

"Tianheng, where are you going?" Dugu Yan froze for a moment.

Yu Tianheng stopped at the door and turned his head slightly.

The curve of his lips carried a rare sharpness.

"To win our pride back, of course."

The door opened, then closed again.

The people in the lounge looked at one another.

Shi Mo swallowed. "Oh no, Captain is serious now!"