Chen Xuan One-Shots a Rhino with One Strike, the Master Lectures on Martial Souls Again

Soto City was ablaze with lights at night. Outside the Great Soul Arena, people were packed shoulder to shoulder, and the clamor could be heard from two streets away.

The Shrek group squeezed into the registration hall.

Flender went to pay the deposit while Yu Xiaogang led the new students to fill out their forms.

Dai Mubai leaned over and glanced at Chen Xuan's form.

"Stone Bro?" Dai Mubai read aloud, his face twitching. "Could your alias be any more half-hearted?"

Chen Xuan tossed down his pen and pushed the form to the staff member.

"It's easy to remember."

Yu Xiaogang stood beside him and snorted coldly before turning to Tang San.

"Little San, you're up first. A one-on-one soul battle. Let certain people see what a real Soul Master battle looks like."

Tang San nodded and handed over the form marked "Thousand-Handed Asura."

Half an hour later, at Soul Battle Platform Seven.

The stands were packed with spectators.

The host on the stage shouted through a soul-tool amplifier, "Next up, Thousand-Handed Asura, a level twenty-nine control-system Battle Soul Master, versus Blazing Fire Wolf, a level thirty-two assault-system Soul Elder!"

The iron cage gate on the opposite side opened.

A burly man wreathed in flames walked out. With every step he took, the stone slabs beneath his feet were scorched black.

Tang San stood on the other side, frowning.

Fire attribute.

It happened to counter his Blue Silver Grass.

Yu Xiaogang stood below the stage with his hands behind his back, his brow furrowed as well.

This was an awful draw.

The moment the battle began, Tang San immediately released Blue Silver Grass, trying to restrict his opponent's movements.

Blazing Fire Wolf did not dodge at all.

"First soul skill, Blazing Body!"

The flames around the burly man suddenly surged two meters high. The Blue Silver Grass winding toward him was burned to ash before it could even touch his body.

Tang San retreated seven or eight steps in rapid succession, pushing Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to its limit and barely evading a flaming punch from his opponent.

For the next full ten minutes, the stage became a completely one-sided chase.

Tang San did not dare take him head-on at all. Sending out Blue Silver Grass was nothing but a waste, so he could only rely on his footwork to dart all over the arena.

Boos rose from the stands.

"Why are you running?"

"Are you going to fight or not? If not, get out!"

Hearing the insults around him, Tang San felt anger rise in his heart.

His hand moved toward Twenty-Four Bridges Under Moonlight at his waist.

Blazing Fire Wolf lunged again. His third soul ring lit up, and a massive fireball hurtled toward Tang San's face.

Instead of retreating, Tang San advanced. His hands instantly turned jade-colored.

Jade Hands.

Braving the fireball's searing heat, he cut in from the side and flicked his wrist.

Three Bone-Piercing Nails shot out soundlessly, accurately piercing the acupoints in Blazing Fire Wolf's thigh.

The burly man screamed and crashed to the ground, his flames extinguishing instantly.

The referee declared Tang San the winner.

Tang San walked off the stage, panting heavily. His hands were burned bright red, and a large patch of his clothes had been scorched black.

Yu Xiaogang stepped forward and patted Tang San on the shoulder.

"Well done. Even when facing a powerful opponent who countered your attribute, you remained calm and used movement techniques and skill to find an opening. That is the resilience of a control-system Soul Master."

Yu Xiaogang turned around and deliberately looked at Chen Xuan.

"Real combat relies on brains and tactics, not gambling on luck with one or two strange weapons."

Chen Xuan leaned against the railing, tossing a gold soul coin in his hand.

"The Master is right." Chen Xuan slipped the coin into his pocket. "Running around on the stage for ten minutes with your brain really does take resilience."

Tang San's expression darkened.

Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun were holding back their laughter nearby, not daring to make a sound.

"What do you know?" Yu Xiaogang's face turned livid. "Challenging someone above your level while being attribute-countered—if it were you, you wouldn't last even a minute!"

The host's voice came over the broadcast at that moment.

"Next match: Stone Bro, a level eleven unclassified Soul Master, versus Iron-armored Rhino, a level thirty-five defense-system Soul Elder!"

The rest area instantly fell silent.

Dai Mubai's eyes widened.

"A level eleven against level thirty-five? Has the Soul Arena gone insane? How did they match that?"

Ma Hongjun swallowed. "Iron-armored Rhino... I've heard of him. He's a famous tank in Soto City. Even if assault-system Soul Masters of the same level hit him while he stands still, they can't break his defense."

Yu Xiaogang let out a cold laugh.

"A free agent? This is the price of your arrogance. In the Soul Arena, without a team to cover you, that little cleverness of yours is worthless."

Tang San looked at Chen Xuan.

"If you surrender now, it's not too late. Iron-armored Rhino hits very hard."

Chen Xuan ignored them, rolled his neck, and headed toward the stage through the passageway.

On the soul battle platform.

Iron-armored Rhino stood over two meters tall, his entire body covered in bulging muscles. A thick refined-steel breastplate hung over his chest.

He looked down at Chen Xuan, who had walked to the opposite side.

"Level eleven?" Iron-armored Rhino burst into laughter. "Kid, are you even weaned yet? Get off the stage already. I'm afraid I'll crush you to death with one step!"

The audience broke into laughter as well.

Chen Xuan took his position without saying a word.

The referee raised his hand.

"Soul battle, begin!"

Iron-armored Rhino roared. Three soul rings lit up around him, and a thick layer of grayish-brown stone armor instantly covered his skin.

He looked like a moving fortress.

"Come on! I'll let you hit me three times first!" Iron-armored Rhino slapped the breastplate on his chest, producing an earsplitting metallic clang.

Below the stage, Dai Mubai kept shaking his head.

"It's over. Chen Xuan's repeating crossbow may have strong piercing power, but it definitely can't penetrate that stone armor. And that Flame Bow of his is useless against earth-attribute defense."

Yu Xiaogang folded his arms, waiting to watch Chen Xuan flee in embarrassment.

On the stage.

Chen Xuan raised his right hand, and five gray stones appeared in his palm.

He did not summon the Wind Eagle Crossbow, nor did he take out the Flame Bow.

One of the stones erupted with dazzling blue-white light.

Crackle!

An extremely violent bolt of lightning exploded in Chen Xuan's hand.

When the light faded.

A short metal staff with blue crystals embedded at both ends appeared in Chen Xuan's hand.

An epic weapon, the Thunderclap Rod.

Fine arcs of lightning slithered around the staff like tiny snakes, and the air instantly filled with the pungent smell of ozone.

Yu Xiaogang's eyes widened abruptly below the stage.

Lightning attribute?!

Fire, water, wood, and now lightning too?!

How was that possible!

Iron-armored Rhino froze for a moment, but he had absolute confidence in his own defense.

"You think you can break my defense with a fire poker? Dream on!"

Iron-armored Rhino strode forward, crushing toward Chen Xuan like a heavy war chariot.

Chen Xuan stood where he was, holding the Thunderclap Rod in one hand.

When Iron-armored Rhino charged to within less than three meters of him, Chen Xuan moved.

There was no fancy footwork.

Chen Xuan charged directly at Iron-armored Rhino. With a twist of his wrist, the Thunderclap Rod carved a dazzling blue-white arc through the air.

Boom!

The Thunderclap Rod smashed viciously into the refined-steel breastplate on Iron-armored Rhino's chest.

The deafening clash of metal mixed with a thunderous explosion, making the spectators in the front rows cover their ears.

The savage grin on Iron-armored Rhino's face instantly froze.

Physical defense?

Stone armor?

Before extreme lightning, such things did not exist.

Violent lightning surged through the breastplate and bored into Iron-armored Rhino's body without the slightest obstruction.

"Arghhhhh—"

Iron-armored Rhino let out an inhuman scream.

His enormous body, over two meters tall, convulsed violently on the spot. The stone armor covering him shattered inch by inch and fell away.

Two seconds later.

Iron-armored Rhino rolled his eyes back, foam spilling from his mouth as he fell straight backward.

With a dull bang, he hit the ground hard enough to shake the soul battle platform.

The smell of charred flesh spread across the stage.

Instant kill.

The entire arena fell silent.

Everyone stood with their mouths wide open, staring at the youth in the center of the stage holding a lightning-wreathed short staff in one hand.

The referee even forgot to count before stammering, "Stone... Stone Bro wins!"

After a brief silence, cheers erupted from the stands, loud enough to blow the roof off.

Too violent.

Too direct.

There had been no probing, no hesitation. One strike, crossing twenty-four levels, and he had turned a defense-system Soul Elder into charcoal.

Below the stage.

Dai Mubai's jaw nearly hit the floor.

He unconsciously touched his own chest.

If that strike had landed on him, White Tiger Vajra Transformation probably would not have lasted even half a second.

Yu Xiaogang stood completely frozen.

He gripped the railing so tightly that his fingernails nearly dug into the wood.

"Impossible... this is absolutely impossible..." Yu Xiaogang muttered, his face deathly pale.

Four attributes.

No soul rings, yet he could unleash destructive power of this level.

This had completely surpassed the scope of martial soul theory.

A wild thought suddenly flashed through Yu Xiaogang's mind.

An ancient ruin.

This boy had definitely excavated some unknown ancient god's inheritance. Those stones were not martial souls at all, but vessels for that inheritance!

Only that could explain everything happening to him.

"Cheating... this isn't Soul Master power at all!" Yu Xiaogang ground out through clenched teeth.

Tang San stood beside him, staring at Chen Xuan as he put away the Thunderclap Rod. His fists were clenched tight.

Just now, he had relied on Tang Sect techniques and hidden weapons, fighting desperately and running for ten minutes before he could win.

Chen Xuan went up.

One strike.

It was over.

The enormous gap shattered Tang San's sense of superiority to pieces.

Chen Xuan returned to the lounge through the passageway.

The moment he pushed open the door, everyone from Shrek was inside.

The atmosphere was somewhat strange.

The way Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing looked at Chen Xuan had completely changed. They no longer saw him as dead weight holding them back, but with obvious awe.

Chen Xuan ignored them, walked to a chair in the corner, sat down, and closed his eyes to rest.

Tang San walked over.

He stood before Chen Xuan, staring at Chen Xuan's empty hands.

"That staff of yours, did it turn from a stone too?" Tang San lowered his voice.

Chen Xuan opened his eyes and glanced at him.

"Yeah."

Tang San took a deep breath. His voice carried bitterness and jealousy that even he had not noticed.

"What kind of power are you using? Without soul power to support it, without soul skills enhancing it, why can it unleash that kind of power?"

Chen Xuan leaned back in his chair and smiled.

"Want to learn?" Chen Xuan looked at Tang San. "Even if you beg me, I won't teach you."