Heavenly Ice Wu Zhangkong

There was no avoiding it, no dodging it!

At the critical moment, a frigid gleam surged in Wu Zhangkong's eyes. He no longer held anything back.

Silver-white and ice-blue light suddenly intertwined around his body. Pieces of crystalline armor, seemingly carved from black ice, rapidly covered him—breastplate, pauldrons, and armguards taking shape one after another.

Fine icy patterns flowed across the armor, while a pair of ice-blue light wings spread from his back.

Two-Word Battle Armor—Heavenly Ice, equipped!

In that instant, Wu Zhangkong's aura soared. The chill around him became so dense it seemed impossible to disperse, ice spreading wildly across the ground as frost filled the entire sealed space.

Empowered by the battle armor, the spatial confinement around him was instantly shattered by overwhelming force, and his soul power began flowing freely again.

He flicked his wrist, and the cold radiance of the Skyfrost Sword flared. The power of his battle armor fused perfectly with his ice-element soul power as his sixth soul skill erupted.

"Frost Condensation!"

A vast icy mist instantly swept through the sealed space. The frost filling the sky turned into solid barriers, crashing head-on into the dense barrage of spatial blades.

Crisp clangs rang out without end. The invisible spatial blades struck the ice shields and were all blocked and dissolved by the frost. Even the few that slipped through could not breach the defenses of the Heavenly Ice Battle Armor.

Wu Zhangkong moved, his battle armor's light wings giving a slight beat as his speed surged severalfold. He became an ice-blue streak of light, sword in hand as he charged directly at Xiling.

"Xiling, regardless of the final outcome of this match, you have already won."

His tone remained cool, but his approval was undisguised. The Skyfrost Sword carried the extreme cold empowered by his battle armor.

"Third Soul Skill, Skyfrost Slash!"

With one slash, frost light burst forth for miles, hurtling straight toward Xiling.

Xiling's gaze narrowed slightly. He did not dare let down his guard. "First Soul Skill, Spatial Folding!"

As his words fell, the space before Xiling abruptly twisted into layer upon layer, like a canvas being kneaded at will, wrapping up the world-destroying frost light.

The dazzling, ice-cold slash struck the folded space. There was no violent collision as expected; instead, as the layers of space distorted and canceled it out, its power was continuously weakened and broken apart. More than half the frost light was forcibly swallowed.

That was the terror of Spatial Folding. It did not withstand attacks head-on, but used the power of space to distort, redirect, and neutralize every offensive—an ultimate defensive technique!

However, the battle armor-empowered Skyfrost Slash was simply too powerful. The layers of folded space shattered one after another, and powerful cold still rushed toward Xiling.

Xiling instantly teleported, barely avoiding the strike with Spatial Displacement. The ground beneath his feet was immediately frozen over, leaving behind a deep sword scar.

The two faced each other once more. Wu Zhangkong wore the Heavenly Ice Battle Armor, his ice-blue eyes cold and majestic, every bit the bearing of a powerhouse.

Spatial ripples swirled around Xiling, while his purple-gold soul rings shone brightly. His expression remained calm.

The students outside had already erupted into complete frenzy, crying out in shock.

"What's that armor Teacher Wu is wearing? It's so cool!"

"Xiling... no, Brother Ling is so strong! He can actually fight Teacher Wu to this extent!!"

Xie Xie stood there with his mouth wide open, disbelief written all over his face. He knew Xiling was strong, but he had never expected him to be this strong!

Yesterday, he had confidently declared that he would surpass Xiling. But with the strength Xiling had displayed now, was that really something he could surpass?

Everyone's eyes were glued to the arena, the admiration in them nearly overflowing. This included little Tang Wulin as well.

Wu Zhangkong held the Skyfrost Sword as the chill around him gradually receded. His gaze toward Xiling was full of gravity. "Do you still wish to continue?"

Xiling chuckled softly, slowly drawing in the power of space around him as he voluntarily dispelled the isolation of the battle space.

"Teacher, your strength is formidable. I concede."

After that battle, nearly seventy percent of his soul power had been depleted. Though he still had one move he had yet to reveal, he had no chance of winning against Wu Zhangkong, whose strength had surged after equipping his battle armor. He might as well concede cleanly.

In any case, he had already achieved his goal. He had figured out roughly where his strength stood: under normal conditions, he was at the level of a Soul Emperor, and when going all out, he could reach the level of a high-tier Soul Emperor.

That was a terrifying figure. After all, he was only level thirty-one!

Wu Zhangkong slowly dismissed his battle armor, the chill around him gradually withdrawing. Looking at the white-haired youth before him, even his cool expression could not conceal the astonishment in his eyes.

"You won this battle. Without the battle armor, it would have been difficult for me to defeat you."

It was only a short sentence, yet it was the highest affirmation he could give Xiling. Even the indifferent aura around him softened somewhat.

In his decades of cultivation, he had never seen a level thirty-one Soul Elder who could, through his own strength and without relying on external items, contend with a six-ring Soul Emperor.

Even the number one person in the world, Sea God Pavilion's Master, the Sky-Crossing Douluo Yun Ming, probably could not have done it at that age, right?

Hearing such praise from the cold and proud male idol, Xiling felt a little pleased with himself. Of course, only a little.

At that moment, Wu Zhangkong continued, "After fighting you, I now have some understanding of your martial soul."

"Your martial soul has the space attribute, and your combat methods lean toward assault and control. Then why did you say yesterday that you were an all-rounder?"

"Well..." Xiling grinned. "Of course, it's because I can do everything the other five systems can do, except for the food system."

"Oh?" Wu Zhangkong raised a brow. "For example?"

"For example, for the defense system, as long as I kill the enemy, my teammates won't get hurt, right?"

Xiling flashed a grin, looking entirely serious without the slightest hint of joking.

"What about the support system?"

"Kill all the enemies. Then no one can threaten my teammates, and they can naturally fight without restraint. That is the ultimate support."

Wu Zhangkong's eye twitched. He finally understood: as long as the enemy was killed at the very start and every threat was eliminated, it covered the role of every system.

It made so much sense that he could not even refute it.

In the end, Wu Zhangkong did not say anything more. Instead, he looked over the students, who were still immersed in the battle and had yet to come back to their senses.

"Did you all see that clearly? This is the gap between you and true geniuses."

"Other than Xiling, do you know what impression you give me?"

"Rotten wood cannot be carved! No wonder you were assigned to Class Five. You truly are all useless."

"But even if you are scrap iron, I will temper you into steel!"

"You all saw Tang Wulin's match just now! His martial soul is Blue Silver Grass, a universally acknowledged useless martial soul, yet he fought until the very end!"

"Given your current situation, starting tomorrow, our class will undergo special physical training in the mornings and study theoretical knowledge in the afternoons."

"That will be all for this morning's class. Go back and think about it. Dismissed!"

This was the first time Wu Zhangkong had spoken so much. There was no lecturing in his tone; he was merely stating the facts.

"Xiling, Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, you three, come with me." After saying that, Wu Zhangkong turned and walked toward the teaching building.

The three who had been called exchanged glances. Xie Xie and Tang Wulin hurriedly jogged over to Xiling's side.

Xie Xie asked curiously, "Are we getting rewards? I heard there are usually rewards for matches held at the academy!"

"Brother Ling, you're the champion, and Teacher Wu is a Soul Emperor. I wonder what reward he'll give us."

Xiling looked at the expectant Xie Xie and smiled mysteriously. "You'll find out soon enough. Your reward definitely won't disappoint you."

With even Xiling saying that, Xie Xie became even more eager.

"By the way, Brother Ling, how do you cultivate? We're clearly the same age, so why are you so strong?"

Xiling slowed slightly, glancing at the curious Xie Xie and the pure-eyed Tang Wulin listening intently beside him. He smiled faintly. "Of course, through perseverance and hard work."