Rainy-Day Water Meteor Shower

Soto City, Shrek Academy.

"Teacher Zhao, when do you think Headmaster Flender and the others will be back?"

The speaker was a short boy. Though he was still young, a thick ring of beard had already grown around his face, giving him a rather comical appearance.

The stocky man beside him raised his hand and slapped the boy on the back. "Just train properly. Why are you asking so many questions?"

"I'm just asking!"

The boy curled his lips and reluctantly resumed his training stance, but his mouth still did not stop. "I'm just worried about them. These past two days, I've had this uneasy feeling, like something bad is about to happen."

"What could possibly happen to your Headmaster Flender? He's a Soul Sage, after all. What danger could a mere junior academy pose? You just want to slack off!"

The burly man cursed as he spoke, while his hands directly increased the force of the training. The boy was immediately pressed until he bared his teeth and grimaced, crying bitterly.

"Huh, it's raining?"

The burly man's movements paused as several drops of water fell from the sky and landed on his face.

"Damn it, what's going on? Wasn't the weather fine just now?"

Cursing, the burly man instinctively looked up.

There, in midair, a figure stood suspended in the air, looking down at them from above.

Beside that figure floated a crystal-clear humanoid ice sculpture, along with a dejected figure with a gray, defeated complexion and someone slung across his back.

The burly man focused his eyes and saw that the dejected figure carrying someone was none other than the master who had come to seek refuge with them not long ago.

Since Yu Xiaogang was here, then Flender...?

The burly man's heart tightened, and he did not dare think any further.

The figure in the sky waved a hand, and the ice sculpture and Yu Xiaogang slowly drifted down, coming to a stop before the two of them.

"Master! What happened? And where are Flender and Ma Hongjun?"

The master looked up at the burly man and sighed. "Flender has been frozen inside that ice sculpture. As for Ma Hongjun..."

The master placed the person on his back onto the ground, then pointed at him. "This is Ma Hongjun."

"This is Ma Hongjun?"

The boy's eyes widened, unable to believe what he was seeing. The burly man was the same.

The person lying on the ground was tall and slender, with fair skin and long ice-blue hair scattered through the mud. How did he still resemble that round, chubby boy from before?

"Master, what exactly happened? Did the person in the sky do this?"

The burly man glanced at the figure in the sky, grabbed Yu Xiaogang by the shoulders, and shook him hard.

The master shook his head helplessly. "It's all my fault. Old Zhao, I shouldn't have asked Flender to stand up for me."

He closed his eyes, his voice filled with regret. "I never expected him to be so powerful. The last time we met, he was still a Soul Elder. In just a few months, he broke through to Soul King. Flender couldn't even last a single exchange, and Ma Hongjun ended up like this because of him too."

"It's all my fault. It's all my fault!"

Yu Xiaogang's legs gave out, and he fell to his knees. Covering his face with both hands, his shoulders trembled violently.

"A Soul King? How is that possible?!"

This news shocked him even more than seeing Ma Hongjun in his current state.

A Soul King had instantly defeated a Soul Sage? What kind of joke was this?!

The burly man abruptly raised his head and stared directly at the figure in the sky. "Hey! You brat! What exactly do you want?!"

"Nothing!"

The voice descended from the sky, carrying unquestionable authority. "I merely came to give you a warning. If you dare cause trouble at Notting Academy again, you'll end up just like them!"

"Nothing?"

The burly man strode forward two large steps, the veins in his neck bulging as he glared at Xu Linjiu in the sky.

"My brother has been frozen into this state by you, and my student has suffered too. And you're telling me it's nothing?"

The burly man roared as Soul Power erupted from within him, blasting the falling rain aside in a ring of water.

Xu Linjiu looked down at him. "I said this is only a warning. If anyone comes to provoke us again, they won't merely be frozen into an ice sculpture."

"Hah!"

The burly man laughed in extreme fury, ripping off his rain-soaked shirt. Two yellow, two purple, and three black—seven Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet.

"Brat, I don't know how you managed to injure Flender so badly, but today I'll tell you this: if you bully me, you've picked the worst possible day!"

He bent down, spread his legs slightly, lowered his center of gravity, and assumed an opening stance.

The first Soul Ring beneath his feet lit up. The burly man stomped the ground, and his entire body shot into the sky in an instant.

The full speed of a power-attack Soul Sage was terrifying. He crossed the distance of dozens of steps in the blink of an eye, his casserole-sized fist smashing straight toward Xu Linjiu's face.

But the advantage of being in the air was simply too great. Xu Linjiu merely shifted slightly to the side, and the burly man's fist swept past his shoulder.

The burly man fell from the sky and smashed a huge crater into the ground.

"As expected of Zhao Wuji, the Immovable Vajra King. Your reputation is well deserved. You're far stronger than that birdman Flender."

"Cut the damn nonsense!"

Zhao Wuji roared, and the third Soul Ring beneath his feet lit up. A gravity field formed from Soul Power instantly appeared and descended upon Xu Linjiu.

"Get down here!"

Xu Linjiu immediately felt his shoulders sink in midair, and his body began to fall uncontrollably.

"Gravity? Not bad. But sorry, I happen to know a little about Gravity!"

Xu Linjiu smiled faintly as a reverse gravity field instantly expanded, colliding with Zhao Wuji's gravity field.

"Since you've already made your move, then I won't hold back either!"

The next second, the rain in the sky suddenly intensified.

Xu Linjiu raised both hands, and several water spheres began slowly forming in the air.

This was the skill Xu Linjiu had drawn after completing the mission [Challenge Above Your Level!] last time: [Weather Ball].

[Weather Ball: Depending on the weather when used, the skill's attribute and power will change.]

Before this, Xu Linjiu had already used the skill [Rain Dance] to change the weather to rain, naturally turning [Weather Ball] into a Water-type skill.

Combined with the activation of the [Protean] trait, the fifty percent power boost from Water-type same-type affinity, the additional fifty percent power boost from the [Adaptability] trait, and the fifty percent power boost to Water-type skills in rainy weather—

At this moment, the power of every [Weather Ball] had surged to more than three times its original strength.

This was the Rainy-Day Water Meteor Shower tactic Xu Linjiu had created by combining his existing skills.

In midair, Xu Linjiu spread his arms as countless [Weather Balls] circled around him.

"Take this, Zhao Wuji!"

Xu Linjiu shouted and waved his hand. A [Weather Ball] that had been floating in the air instantly howled toward Zhao Wuji like a falling meteor.

"Boom!"

With an earth-shaking explosion, mud, water, and shattered stones shot into the sky.

Although Zhao Wuji dodged in time, a massive crater had already been blasted into the spot where he had been standing.

"It's useless. You can dodge one, but can you dodge a whole swarm?"

Xu Linjiu waved his hand, sending even more [Weather Balls] hurtling toward Zhao Wuji.

The [Weather Balls] fell like a meteor shower, sealing off every avenue of retreat. Zhao Wuji had nowhere to evade and could only choose to take them head-on.

"First Soul Skill! Immovable Vajra Body!"

"Seventh Soul Skill! Martial Soul True Body! Mighty Vajra Bear!"

"Roar!"

Zhao Wuji threw back his head and roared. His body abruptly swelled several times larger, coarse, stiff fur growing wildly from beneath his skin as he transformed into a gigantic Vajra Bear in the blink of an eye.

Activating two Soul Skills in succession, Zhao Wuji's defense instantly rose to its peak.

Yet faced with the overwhelming barrage pouring down from above, he could only grit his teeth and cross his arms in front of himself as he desperately endured.

"Enough! Old Zhao! We surrender!"