Battle Wu Zhangkong

"Since you're standing on the arena, does that mean you want to spar with me in his place?"

Xu Yue's voice was low, carrying a trace of domineering arrogance.

"Perfect. I also wanted to see what Shrek graduates are really made of."

The moment those words left his mouth, Wu Zhangkong's expression turned even colder.

"Arrogant!"

"Whether I'm arrogant or not..."

Xu Yue could not be bothered with further nonsense. Gravity manipulation activated in an instant, and his body shot forward like a cannonball, Vortex Vanquisher thrusting straight at Wu Zhangkong.

"...why don't you find out for yourself!"

This strike combined his second soul skill, Rock Spear Intent, Mind Ape: Menogias, and a twenty-fourfold gravity boost!

Its power far surpassed what he had displayed when fighting Yang Xiong.

Xu Yue transformed into a black-red meteor that tore through the sky, descending with a devastating aura and without holding back in the slightest!

The distance of several dozen meters vanished in an instant.

Wrapped in terrifying force, Vortex Vanquisher slammed fiercely against the Frost Sky Sword Wu Zhangkong had raised to block it.

BOOM!

A deafening explosion erupted!

A violent soul power shockwave spread outward, blasting the already stunned students and teachers around them back more than ten meters.

At the center of the arena.

Wu Zhangkong forcibly endured that terrifying strike.

He did not dare retreat, nor could he!

Because if he dodged even slightly, that force would crash down upon Tang Wulin behind him.

An unimaginable force bore down on him. The metal arena beneath his feet instantly caved in, and Wu Zhangkong was pressed more than half a meter into it!

This was Eastsea Academy's specially made arena, built to withstand battles at the Soul Emperor level!

"What?!"

For the first time, shock appeared on Wu Zhangkong's perpetually icy face. "What terrifying weight!"

In his perception, the force of Xu Yue's strike was no weaker than a head-on collision with a soul-powered truck!

His weapon mastery was no inferior to Xu Yue's, but the Frost Sky Sword emphasized technique and artistic conception rather than overpowering opponents with brute force.

At that moment, he felt his internal organs churning as the bones in both arms let out cracking sounds under the immense pressure!

Before he could recover, Xu Yue had already raised Vortex Vanquisher again and smashed it down at his head!

"Stone Steadfast, Immovable Mountain!"

With the Rock Sovereign Body enhancement, every strike of Vortex Vanquisher was heavier than the last, its momentum far exceeding what Xu Yue had shown when fighting Guang Biao!

BOOM! BOOM!

Being suppressed so thoroughly by a mere three-ring student, the anger in Wu Zhangkong's heart began to rise without end.

The pride of a Shrek student could not be trampled upon!

Soul rings flashed on the Frost Sky Sword as sharp sword light burst forth!

CLANG! CLANG! BOOM! BOOM!

The Frost Sky Sword and Vortex Vanquisher collided madly at the center of the arena!

Every clash unleashed astonishing aftershocks. The hundred-meter-long, hundred-meter-wide metal arena twisted, warped, and tore apart beneath them!

Facing Wu Zhangkong's counterattack, the red light in Xu Yue's eyes grew even stronger, while a delighted smile appeared on his face instead.

"Now this is a fight!"

His battle with Wu Zhangkong was completely different from his spar with Yang Xiong.

He no longer needed to mind his limits. The destructive urge he had kept suppressed in his heart was finally unleashed completely!

The Thousand Rock Spear Art in his hands became increasingly fluid and natural.

Not only did he push Rock Spear Intent to its limit, but he also incorporated the Water Spear Intent he had just comprehended.

Its fierce power now carried an additional supple, unending force!

Just then, Wu Zhangkong's expression changed!

The ground of the training field suddenly exploded!

Rock pillars compressed to the absolute limit by gravity burst from the earth like the fangs of gigantic dragons, lunging toward Wu Zhangkong and Tang Wulin!

SCREEECH!!

Amid piercing sounds of twisting metal, those iron-hard rock pillars instantly pierced through the already deformed metal arena!

"Not good! Danger!" Wu Zhangkong's pupils suddenly contracted.

What he worried about was not himself, but Tang Wulin behind him!

The soul rings on the Frost Sky Sword flashed rapidly.

"Frost Sky Slash!"

A several-meter-long ice-blue sword aura swept out, severing the rock spear Xu Yue had thrust at him.

Then, the sword body shook violently, firing countless razor-sharp sword threads toward the erupting stone pillars around them.

Screech!

The ice-blue sword threads sliced across the stone pillars, leaving deep sword marks behind, yet they failed to cut them apart!

"Damn it, why are they so hard?!"

Wu Zhangkong's heart sank.

These stone pillars were not fabricated from elemental energy. Xu Yue had used his planar authority to draw upon the forces of nature, compressing them with gravity until they were as hard as refined steel.

"Frost Ice Language!"

Wu Zhangkong hesitated no longer as his fourth soul ring blazed brightly.

The Frost Sky Sword instantly expanded into a colossal blade over ten meters long, cleaving apart the stone pillars that the sword threads had struggled to damage with a single strike.

However, when he caught sight of Tang Wulin's face growing ever paler within the gravity field, Wu Zhangkong became even more anxious.

"No! I can withstand this gravity, but Wulin only has one ring. If this goes on too long, his body will suffer permanent damage..."

"We have to end this quickly!"

Even as thoughts raced through his mind, Xu Yue's rock spear had already re-formed.

At the same time, his third soul ring lit up.

"Azhdaha, water!"

At his low command, Azhdaha, resembling a crocodile dragon, appeared at Xu Yue's side, its cold dragon eyes fixed firmly upon Wu Zhangkong.

"Roar! Mortal, do not overstep your bounds!"

The next moment.

The phantom of a massive water-blue tree rose behind Xu Yue.

Xu Yue's aura surged once more!

Countless water elements were drawn in, forming visible whirlwinds that coiled around the Vortex Vanquisher.

"Second Form of Thousand Rocks, Spiral Coil: Menogias!"

The spear thrust forth!

Like a black hole unleashing an ultimate tidal pull, it frantically tore at everything around it.

The shattered stone pillars, like fragments of stars, were swept into the water-blue torrent and surged toward Wu Zhangkong and Tang Wulin!

Boom!

The violent water tornado instantly swallowed Wu Zhangkong!

But the next second, a biting frost sword aura erupted from the heart of the tornado.

Wherever the chill passed, the flowing water instantly froze into ice!

The pale-blue icy mist dispersed, revealing the figure within.

Wu Zhangkong's expression was colder and harder than before, while exquisite pieces of armor glowing ice-blue covered the vital parts of his body.

It was his One-Word Battle Armor: Ice.

With the battle armor equipped, Wu Zhangkong's aura rose steadily.

From a rank sixty-nine Soul Emperor, he instantly neared the level of a Soul Douluo.

An aura of extreme cold mixed with the oppressive might of powerful soul power swept across the field, shaking everyone to their core as though they had fallen into an ice cave.

"Yue!!" Mu Xi and Xu Xiaoyan cried out at the same time, their pretty faces filled with worry.

"What's going on? What exactly happened?!"

The watching crowd also descended into panic.

This battle had erupted too quickly and too violently, completely beyond what they could understand or endure.

Even Long Hengxu, the dean of students, was like a fallen leaf in a gale amid the battle's aftershocks, barely able to keep himself steady.

As for the Soul Ancestor- and Soul King-level teachers, they could not even withstand a casual strike from either Xu Yue or Wu Zhangkong.

"A Battle Armor Master?"

Faced with the bone-piercing chill and soul power pressure rushing toward him, Xu Yue not only did not retreat, but the fighting spirit in his eyes burned even fiercer.

"Good! Then let's see whose ice is colder!"

"Xiaoyan!"

At Xu Yue's call, the ice staff martial soul before Xu Xiaoyan involuntarily appeared.

At that moment, the two of their auras intertwined and resonated!

An extreme cold no weaker than Wu Zhangkong's—perhaps even faintly surpassing it—erupted explosively from Xu Yue.

His presence rose steadily as well.

It was the martial soul fusion skill, Herrscher of Meteoric Ice.

At that critical moment.

An aged voice brimming with fury exploded over the training grounds like thunder:

"Enough! Stop, all of you!"