Vacuum Soul Battle! Surging Heat!

The edge of the shield even screeched as it scraped through the air!

"An offensive soul skill?!"

Lin Jiang's pupils contracted slightly, alarm bells ringing in his mind.

This team was more troublesome than he had expected!

"Rongrong, boost me!" Lin Jiang barked lowly. At the same time, the second soul ring beneath his feet, disguised as yellow, suddenly lit up!

Emerald Azure Vine tendrils instantly burst into wild growth, their leaf edges taking on a cold, metallic sheen as soul power flooded through them!

"Seven Treasures, Glazed Brilliance!"

Ning Rongrong cried out sharply. The Exquisite Pagoda flowed with seven-colored light, and two concentrated beams of enhancement landed precisely on Lin Jiang.

"First: Strength! Second: Speed!"

"Second Soul Skill—Leaf Blade Storm!"

With the dual enhancements, Lin Jiang's soul power erupted around him!

Dozens of thick vines covered in hardened leaf blades seemed to come alive, instantly forming an emerald death vortex more than three meters across!

The vines spun at high speed, shrieking as they tore through the air. Carrying unstoppable cutting force, they slammed head-on into the charging Rock Turtle Shield!

Boom—crackcrackcrack—!!!

A teeth-grinding explosion of metal scraping against stone rang out!

Countless deep gouges flew with sparks across the surface of the sturdy Rock Turtle Shield, carved by the rapidly spinning leaf blades!

The cruel grin on the short, stocky soul master's face froze instantly, replaced by utter horror!

An unimaginable force, like a mountain flood bursting loose, surged through the shield into his body!

"No—!"

He only had time to let out a brief scream before he and his prized Rock Turtle Shield were struck head-on as if by a siege ram, his feet leaving the ground as he flew dozens of meters backward!

He crashed heavily against the edge of the Soul Battle Platform, sending shards of stone flying!

Half his body hung over the edge of the arena. He had nearly been eliminated outright!

He struggled, yet could not get back up for the moment. Nothing but boundless terror remained in his eyes.

"Trash!" Seeing this, the Wind Eagle soul master in the air shrieked, malice flaring in his eyes!

This was the chance he had been waiting for—the opponent's powerful control-system soul master had just unleashed a major move that required briefly rooting himself and building power. His old strength was spent, while new strength had yet to arise. It was a deadly opening!

And that little support-system bitch was now completely unprotected beneath his talons!

"Second Soul Skill—Wind Blade Cutting!"

His wings beat furiously as his circling body suddenly dived. His eagle claws tore savagely through the air!

Several visible crescent-shaped cyan wind blades, their edges glinting with piercing cold light, shrieked through the air.

Like Death's scythes, they sliced forward in an instant, aimed directly at Ning Rongrong's slender neck and vital chest and abdomen! The angles were vicious and tricky, determined to kill in one blow!

"Rongrong!" Lin Jiang's gaze turned icy.

Though he was still suffering the stiffness following his soul skill, his mental threads remained spread across the entire field!

Almost the instant the wind blades tore through the air, his mind raced. An Azure Vine lurking beside Ning Rongrong's feet sprang up like a spirit serpent, instantly winding around her soft waist!

"Ah!"

Ning Rongrong felt her waist tighten as an irresistible force seized her, yanking her violently forward!

The rushing wind struck her face, making her skirt flutter and fly upward!

From that angle, only Lin Jiang could see it!

His gaze locked onto that fleeting glimpse—

The smooth, slender, utterly uncovered forbidden sight revealed beneath the flying skirt!

That dazzling snowy whiteness beneath the Soul Battle Arena's glaring soul-tool lights was enough to make one's thoughts sway.

In the blink of an eye, Ning Rongrong had already been pulled back by the tough vine, landing securely in a firm, warm embrace.

Lin Jiang wrapped one arm tightly around her waist, protecting her against his chest.

"Mmph..."

Still shaken, Ning Rongrong instinctively pressed a hand tightly over her skirt after it finally fell back down. Her cheeks were so hot they could have cooked a flatbread.

Yet the touch of that large hand on her waist carried an indescribable magic—Lin Jiang's Bewitching Touch activated silently.

A powerful warm current, mixed with a sense of safety and strange palpitations,

Like a faint electric current, raced from the skin at her waist where Lin Jiang's palm touched her, instantly spreading through Ning Rongrong's entire body and shooting straight to her mind!

Her body involuntarily softened slightly as she pressed close against Lin Jiang's chest, clearly feeling his steady, powerful heartbeat.

Behind her mask, her breathing became hurried and scorching. An enticing blush rapidly spread across her exposed neck and the roots of her ears.

Her heart pounded as if it would leap from her throat, while an unfamiliar heat rose from deep within her, making her feel both ashamed and intoxicated.

Lin Jiang lowered his head, his gaze behind the mask's eyeholes sweeping over the trembling body in his arms and that intoxicating flush.

Feeling her suddenly accelerated heartbeat and blazing body temperature, a curve of total control lifted at the corner of his lips.

He looked up, his cold gaze like tangible arrows as it shot toward the Wind Eagle soul master in the sky, who was furious and alarmed after missing his strike.

The threat in the air had to be removed immediately!

The Wind Eagle soul master stirred the air with his wings. Several more curved wind blades, their edges gleaming with lethal cold light, ripped through the air with wails like ghosts, aimed directly at Lin Jiang and Ning Rongrong!

The arm Lin Jiang used to protect Ning Rongrong's waist did not move in the slightest. His other hand, however, rose gracefully as if plucking a string, soul power flickering at his fingertips.

"The distance is just right," he murmured, his voice swallowed by the shriek of the wind blades.

"First Soul Skill—Azure Vine Entanglement!"

Several emerald shadows burst up without warning from beneath the Wind Eagle soul master's circling path!

They did not strike directly at him. Instead, they anticipated his evasive route, sealing every angle through which he could maneuver like venomous snakes that had lurked in wait for ages!

"Cheap tricks!"

Savage light flashed in the Wind Eagle soul master's eyes. He swung his claws, sending two prepared wind blades slashing viciously toward the approaching vines!

He could practically hear the crisp snap of the vines and see the terror on his opponents' faces!

Clang! Clang!

The harsh clash of metal rang out! Sparks scattered everywhere!

The expected sight of the vines snapping apart did not appear!

Those seemingly ordinary emerald vines erupted with a hardness like metal beneath the wind blade strikes!

The wind blades left only a few shallow white marks on their surface before being forcefully bounced away!

"What?!"

The Wind Eagle soul master's pupils shrank sharply, horror overwhelming him! The vines' toughness far surpassed anything he knew!

In the instant his mind reeled, those emerald shadows had already climbed over him like parasites, winding around him with lightning speed!

The tough vines ignored the protective currents of wind around his body, instantly tightening around his wings, waist, abdomen, and legs!

A terrifying restraining force squeezed him, as though a giant python had coiled around him. The circulation of his soul power immediately became sluggish!

"Urgh—ah—!" The Wind Eagle soul master felt his body sink, his terrified scream catching in his throat.

Lin Jiang flicked his wrist, the movement as casual as shaking off a drop of water.

"Get down."

The entangled Wind Eagle soul master flew toward the ground like a kite with its string cut, hurled down by an overwhelming force!

Boom—!

Dust and shattered stones exploded into the air!

A figure crashed heavily outside the hard Soul Battle Platform!

Lin Jiang's gaze, like a cold blade, slowly turned toward the other side of the arena, to the Rock Turtle soul master who had just struggled to his feet, half his body still covered in dust and stone chips.

"You," Lin Jiang said. His voice was not loud, yet it clearly pierced the deathly silent Soul Battle Arena with sovereign indifference. "Do you still want to fight?"

The Rock Turtle soul master shuddered all over. Meeting those bottomless, icy eyes behind the mask's holes, the last trace of fighting spirit within him was instantly crushed to pieces!

Overwhelming fear gripped his heart. He nearly crawled backward on his hands and knees, his hoarse, trembling voice carrying a sob.

"N-No... I won't fight! I surrender! We surrender! We surrender!"

The battle had begun with savage force, yet ended abruptly.

In only a few breaths, the victor had already been decided!

In the audience stands, the frenzied cheers that had been roaring for the Wind-Rock Team only moments earlier now seemed strangled by an invisible hand, turning into stagnant silence.

Only heavy panting and repeated gasps of disbelief rose and fell.

The host seemed to wake from a dream and announced in a dry voice, "The... the Azure Vine Team wins!"