Yao Haoxuan's Helpless Rage

Although Ling Tianchen's heaven-defying configuration of one yellow, one purple, and one black soul ring had stunned him, Yao Haoxuan reacted quickly.

"I'll handle defense, control, and boosting you. Charge up something big and shoot him down."

As he spoke, he unleashed his first soul skill, Battle Intent, second soul skill, Intimidation, and fourth soul skill, Sonic Barrier, all at once.

His massive hammer-like fists slammed viciously into his own chest, producing a succession of dull, war-drum-like booms. "Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom..."

Visible rings of light spread outward from his body and enveloped Qian Shaoshao, whose aura abruptly surged.

Invisible sound waves rippled toward the sky. Ling Tianchen felt his mind sink slightly, his movements slowing for an instant.

Immediately afterward, an invisible barrier formed from sound waves rose above the two of them, intercepting the incoming ice spikes and shattering them all.

"Hahaha, those ice spikes of yours look intimidating, but they're nothing more than toys that shatter at a touch."

Yet before Yao Haoxuan could finish laughing, deafening explosions erupted in rapid succession.

The moment countless ice spikes were shattered by the sound waves, they detonated violently. Yao Haoxuan's fourth soul skill, Sonic Barrier, was instantly torn apart.

He only had time to raise his arms in front of himself, clutch his head, and protect his vital areas, curling into a ball as tightly as he could.

Fortunately, the Heaven-Shaking Ape possessed considerable defensive power. Its callused skin and thick muscles were no mere decorative armor that an enraged ordinary person could blow apart.

Though his body was a bloody mess, riddled with wounds deep enough to expose bone, he ultimately managed to keep his life.

Zhang Lexuan immediately appeared beside him. "Are you surrendering? You're not in very good condition."

Yao Haoxuan's gaze passed over Zhang Lexuan and fell upon Ling Luochan at the edge of the arena.

From beginning to end, her eyes had remained fixed on the figure in the sky. He had been blasted into a bloody mess over here, yet she had not even spared him a glance.

What do you think I'm fighting him for?

He roared soundlessly in his heart, his expression twisting into something nearly feral.

Why are you always looking at everything except me?! Don't ignore me! Look at me!

I'll prove that I'm the one worthy of you!

"I won't surrender."

Yao Haoxuan forced out the three words through gritted teeth, braced his enormous palms against the ground, and staggered to his feet.

Zhang Lexuan sighed inwardly. She said nothing more and silently retreated to the edge of the arena.

Let go of the urge to save others and respect their fate.

"Qian Shaoshao, are you ready yet?!"

Yao Haoxuan could no longer care about maintaining appearances. He roared furiously at Qian Shaoshao behind him.

In truth, ever since he had displayed his martial soul possession form to anyone at all, the gentlemanly image he tried to maintain had long since been thrown beyond the clouds. He simply still believed he had maintained it quite well.

"Why are you yelling so loudly?"

"I'm about to get blown to death by him, and you're still charging up at such a leisurely pace!"

Yao Haoxuan trembled with rage, each word seeming to be squeezed from between his teeth.

"Hey, could you watch your attitude?! I'm doing this for a one-hit kill. Who fights like you, relying entirely on yelling for every attack?!"

Qian Shaoshao did not indulge him in the slightest and replied impatiently.

Who did Yao Haoxuan think was the real damage dealer of this duo?

Besides, he had been able to fire long ago. He had stopped himself several times only because he wanted Yao Haoxuan to be eliminated in a miserable state. That way, he would be the one to turn the tide, and surely Chenchen would recognize his strength and change her mind.

The fat on his face squeezed together as he revealed an oily smile.

Yao Haoxuan was so furious he nearly spat blood. The alliance they had formed not long ago seemed to be complete bullshit.

Then he would do it himself!

Seeing Ling Tianchen release another large wave of ice spikes, Yao Haoxuan not only failed to retreat but instead charged headlong into that rain of death, throwing back his head and opening his enormous mouth.

In that instant, his mouth opened to an unimaginable extent, as if he intended to swallow every ice spike filling the sky.

"Fifth soul skill, Heaven-Shaking Devour!"

Zhang Lexuan's mouth twitched. Had he forgotten how the ice spikes had exploded and blown apart his fourth soul skill just moments ago?

And now he wanted to catch them with his mouth. If the ice spikes exploded inside his stomach, the consequences were obvious.

Was Yao Haoxuan truly stupid? Of course not.

Ling Tianchen had used Myriad Simulation to disguise the previous explosion as the detonation of a Level 5 soul cannon shell he had fired. Naturally, Yao Haoxuan had been completely fooled. In his eyes, his ten-thousand-year soul skill could easily swallow these ice spikes.

"Little glutton, are they tasty?"

As Ling Tianchen's teasing words fell, Yao Haoxuan swallowed every ice spike into his stomach.

"Don't!"

Zhang Lexuan had already arrived beside Ling Tianchen.

She lowered her voice, and for once, her tone carried a trace of pleading.

"Don't detonate them. He's already lost, but he can't die."

"Why should I?"

"Consider it a favor you owe me. In the end, I still can't bear to watch anyone from the inner courtyard die in front of me again."

Zhang Lexuan's expression darkened, clearly recalling something unpleasant.

"Since Senior Sister is pleading with me, I'll reluctantly agree. But while he may escape death, he can't escape punishment. Giving him a profound lesson should be fine, shouldn't it, Se-nior Sis-ter?"

"Do as you please. Just don't cause any deaths."

Zhang Lexuan had no choice but to agree. After all, if he displeased Ling Tianchen, he could blow Yao Haoxuan to death at any moment.

Besides, if an inner courtyard student was injured by an outer courtyard disciple, it only proved that he was inferior in skill. There was nothing else to say.

Ling Tianchen looked down at Yao Haoxuan, who was still beating his chest like an ape whose brain had never developed, and revealed a faintly sinister smile.

You care a lot about your appearance, don't you?

Then he would help him cut off that path completely. From now on, even without releasing his martial soul, others would avoid him at all costs.

His ultimate creation talent activated silently.

The ultimate ice elements in Yao Haoxuan's stomach began frantically drawing away the life force in his face.

Ice elements possessed no life of their own, but the power of creation bestowed upon them the instincts to plunder and recreate.

The extracted life force rapidly gathered and swelled on his cheek, forming a fist-sized lump of flesh.

With a pop, the flesh lump finally split open. A bizarre, brightly colored plant shaped like broccoli burrowed out of his face. Its petal-like fungal structures layered atop one another, completely covering his entire face.

It was a fruit condensed from the essence of his life, closely tied to his origin.

If it were forcibly removed, it would be equivalent to losing half his life. Just as one could not live without a heart, Yao Haoxuan would certainly die without this parasitic growth.

From then on, breaking through to Soul Sage would be nothing but a foolish dream. Replenishing his lost life force and restoring his original cultivation potential would be even harder than reaching the heavens, unless he found a heavenly treasure on the level of Living Gold.

It would not have been this extreme under normal circumstances, but who told him to greedily swallow all the ice spikes into his stomach?

After all, Ling Tianchen's martial soul was actually the Genesis Ice Phoenix. The ice spikes carried the power of creation, so using that power to grow a plant on his face was only natural.

Yao Haoxuan thought his ten-thousand-year soul skill could digest Ling Tianchen's power of creation? What a foolish dream!

From now on, he could only go out with this thing on his face.

Ling Tianchen calmly withdrew his gaze, wondering whether someone who had always cared so much about his appearance would simply die of anger upon waking.

Yao Haoxuan had already fainted the moment he lost such a massive amount of life force.

Zhang Lexuan flashed forward and conducted a brief examination. Once she confirmed that his life was not in danger and only his appearance had been ruined, her expression relaxed somewhat.

She nodded to Ling Tianchen, then gestured for Wu Ming to carry him away and find a healing-type teacher to treat him.