Yan VS Lin Tian?!

Yan raised his arm and waved at the surroundings.

"Everyone, move back."

The students gathered nearby quickly retreated.

Before long, a hundred-meter-wide area had been cleared in the center of the plaza.

More students heard the commotion and rushed over from the Advanced Division's classrooms and training grounds.

The crowd grew larger and larger.

"Yan, teach this well-connected brat a lesson!"

"He wants to enter the Advanced Division at level twenty? Does he think the academy has no rules?"

"Make him crawl back to the Intermediate Division!"

Mocking shouts rang out one after another.

Yan walked to the center of the plaza and rolled his wrists.

Scorching Soul Power spread from his body, rapidly raising the surrounding temperature.

"Lin Tian, I'll give you one last chance to choose."

"Either get lost now."

"Or I'll beat you up myself and throw you out."

Lin Tian stepped up opposite him.

"What if you lose?"

Yan froze for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"I'll lose?"

"You only have level-twenty Soul Power. Even if I gave you one hand, you still wouldn't be able to touch me."

Lin Tian did not respond. He merely waited for Yan's answer.

Yan's smile faded.

"If I lose, I'll apologize to you in public."

Lin Tian shook his head.

"Not enough."

Yan frowned.

"Then what do you want?"

Lin Tian looked at him.

"If you lose, you will submit to me from then on."

The plaza fell silent in an instant.

Strange looks landed on Lin Tian from every direction.

Yan stood there, taking a moment before he finally processed it.

"You want me to submit to you?"

"That's right."

"HAHAHAHA!"

Yan burst into laughter again.

He raised a hand to point at Lin Tian, his face full of ridicule.

"A level-twenty Soul Grandmaster actually wants me to submit to him."

"I've been at Spirit Hall Academy for so many years, and this is the first time I've seen someone as arrogant as you."

Hu Liena stood at the front of the crowd and gently shook her head.

She had originally wanted to see what was so special about someone whom the Grand Priest had accepted as a disciple.

Now, it seemed Lin Tian was just a hotheaded fool who could not see the gap between them.

No matter how gifted he was, if he did not know how to restrain himself, he would find it difficult to go far.

Yan spread his arms.

"Fine."

"I accept your terms."

"If I lose, I'll regard you as my superior from now on."

"But you won't get that chance."

Lin Tian gave a slight nod.

"We can begin."

Xie Yue walked between them.

He first glanced at Yan, then turned to Lin Tian.

"This is an academy spar. You may not take lives."

"If either side admits defeat, the match ends immediately."

Lin Tian and Yan nodded at the same time.

Xie Yue stepped back.

"Begin!"

Boom!

Scorching Soul Power surged into the sky from Yan's body.

Crimson firelight covered his body.

A towering figure formed from rock and flame rapidly condensed behind him.

The figure stood a full five meters tall.

Dark-red rock armor covered its entire body, with molten magma flowing through the gaps.

Flame Lord!

Two yellow and one purple Soul Rings rose in succession beneath Yan's feet.

The aura of a level-thirty-seven Soul Elder swept across the plaza.

The temperature nearby continued to rise.

Quite a few students standing too close had no choice but to retreat again.

"Yan is already level thirty-seven?"

"Wasn't he only level thirty-six not long ago?"

"The Flame Lord is already a top-tier martial soul. His cultivation speed is far beyond that of his peers."

"Lin Tian is in for it this time."

Yan stood amid the firelight.

His crimson hair was lifted by Soul Power.

He looked down at Lin Tian without attacking immediately.

"It's not too late to admit defeat."

Lin Tian remained where he was.

"Make your move."

Yan's expression darkened.

"You chose this yourself."

The first yellow Soul Ring beneath his feet suddenly lit up.

The Flame Lord stepped forward.

A vast expanse of crimson magma erupted from the ground.

"First Soul Skill, Hell Magma Rush!"

Rumble!

The plaza floor rapidly cracked apart.

Scalding magma surged through the fissures, gathering into a several-meter-high torrent.

Wherever the magma passed, the hard stone slabs melted one after another.

Scorching waves of fire swept outward.

The watching students activated their Soul Power to resist.

Hu Liena watched Lin Tian standing before the magma and slightly furrowed her brows.

Yan was clearly not holding back.

If Hell Magma Rush struck head-on, an ordinary Soul Grandmaster would definitely suffer severe injuries.

Xie Yue had already mobilized his Soul Power, ready to stop the spar at any moment.

Yet Lin Tian still did not dodge.

Only when the torrent of magma neared him did he raise his right hand.

Azure Divine Light blossomed from his palm.

An Azure Lotus slowly appeared.

The Azure Lotus took root in the air.

Its crystalline leaves unfurled in every direction, and a rich aura of life instantly covered the entire plaza.

The plants that had been slightly withered by the heat turned lush and green again.

Even tiny shoots emerged from the cracks between the plaza's stone slabs.

Yan's pupils shrank.

The Flame Lord's aura was suppressed, and even the rushing magma slowed by a fraction.

"What kind of martial soul is that?"

Hu Liena likewise looked up.

She had never seen a plant-type martial soul in this form.

The instant that Azure Lotus appeared, her Demon Fox martial soul had actually taken the initiative to suppress its aura.

Such a thing would only happen when the quality gap between martial souls was enormous.

A pitch-black Soul Ring slowly rose beneath Lin Tian's feet.

Black radiance illuminated the plaza.

The many students who had been discussing the match all stiffened at once.

"A black Soul Ring?"

"His first Soul Ring is a Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Ring!"

"How is that possible?"

Yan stared at that Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Ring, and the arrogance on his face vanished completely.

But Hell Magma Rush had already been unleashed. There was no way to withdraw it.

Lin Tian raised his hand and swept it forward.

"First Soul Skill, All-Heaven Prison Root."

Buzz!

The black Soul Ring blazed with light.

The entire plaza shook violently.

Thick roots burst through the stone slabs and grew wildly from underground.

Ancient patterns covered the surfaces of the roots.

Azure Life Divine Light continuously flowed through those patterns.

The instant the magma torrent touched the roots, it was slapped apart.

Scalding magma flew to both sides.

More roots rose from the ground, weaving together into a heavy barrier.

Yan's fully unleashed First Soul Skill was blocked in the blink of an eye.

Before he could readjust, dozens of withered vines had already passed through the firelight and arrived before him.

Yan quickly retreated.

But those withered vines were far faster than he was.

Two withered vines wrapped around his ankles.

Several more vines climbed upward, binding his waist and arms.

Yan activated the Flame Lord, trying to break free of the restraints.

Overwhelming strength erupted from his body.

Yet the withered vines did not snap.

Instead, they tightened continuously as he struggled.

"Get the hell off me!"

The third purple Soul Ring beneath Yan's feet lit up.

The Flame Lord raised both arms.

A great deal of fire erupted from the gaps in its rock armor.

"Third Soul Skill, Hellfire!"

Boom!

Crimson flames spread outward from Yan as their center.

The sky above the plaza was dyed red by the firelight.

Scorching flames fell upon the withered vines, seeking to burn them to ash.

Yet the azure patterns on the vines' surfaces lit up one after another.

The Primordial Chaos Azure Lotus swayed gently.

The life force of the surrounding vegetation rapidly gathered, continuously flowing into the withered vines.

The flames had only just scorched a small patch of bark when new wood grew over it once more.

More roots drilled out of the ground.

Layer upon layer, they coiled around Yan's body.