"Kid!"
"Get over here!"
Soul Power within Flender's body surged wildly toward his palm.
An aura several times stronger than before locked onto Gu Ling's body. He was clearly preparing to use a Soul Skill directly, forcibly cutting off Gu Ling's chance to keep evading with Void Dragon Assault!
Ye Lingling's expression changed at once when she saw this, and she shouted urgently:
"You're cheating!"
"You clearly said you wouldn't use your Martial Soul or Soul Skills, but now that you can't take down Gu Ling with the tenth move, you've actually summoned your Martial Soul!"
However, Gu Ling showed no sign of panic. Watching the Soul Ring beneath Flender's feet begin to light up, the corner of his mouth slowly curled into a teasing smile.
"Couldn't hold back from using a Soul Skill at last?"
The next second, the third deep-purple Soul Ring beneath his feet lit up!
"Third Soul Skill, Bone Prison Dragon's Roar!"
Rumble—!
The street suddenly began to shake. Bone-white spikes burst from the ground without warning, instantly surrounding Flender.
Flender frowned at the sight. Though these bone spikes came fiercely, with his strength as a Soul Saint, they would clearly not be enough to truly injure him.
Thus, he did not even interrupt his Soul Skill. The Soul Ring beneath his feet continued to brighten, but at that very instant, a low, eerie dragon's roar suddenly erupted from the bone-white spikes around him! It was not especially loud, yet it burrowed directly into his body!
"Hm?"
Flender's expression changed abruptly. He discovered that the Soul Power racing through his body had unexpectedly fallen into disorder for an instant!
Though it was only an instant.
For a Soul Saint, it could hardly be considered a serious effect.
But the problem was that he was activating a Soul Skill. Releasing a Soul Skill required Soul Power to circulate in a particular manner, and it had now been disrupted by that dragon's roar.
The Soul Ring beneath Flender's feet, which had already fully lit up, suddenly flickered. His pupils contracted sharply as he realized that his Soul Skill... had failed to activate?!
And in that momentary pause, the second purple Soul Ring beneath Gu Ling's feet lit up right after it. The surrounding space rapidly twisted, and his body vanished from where he stood once more!
Flender's hand, which had nearly grabbed him, swept through empty air again. It caught nothing, and his tenth move missed as well!
The next moment.
A faint ripple spread through the space behind Flender, and Gu Ling slowly stepped out from it. He did not continue attacking, merely folding his arms and looking at Flender with an amused expression.
"Dean Flender."
"The ten moves are over."
Flender: "..."
Looking at Flender's livid face, Gu Ling continued.
"Didn't you say you would only use Soul Power around level thirty-seven? Yet on the last move, you secretly raised your Soul Power. When you still couldn't catch me, you summoned your Martial Soul, and in the end, you even used a Soul Skill."
At this point, Gu Ling could not help shaking his head.
"I thought that after cheating, you would at least get some results."
"But..."
He looked Flender up and down, the smile on his lips becoming increasingly obvious.
"You still couldn't win even by cheating? Didn't that make your cheating completely pointless?"
"According to our agreement, shouldn't you be leaving now?"
Flender said nothing. He merely stood there, his chest rising and falling slightly as his face alternated between green and white. Leave? Where was he supposed to go? If word got out, where would he put his old face?
A Seven-Ring Soul Saint had suppressed his cultivation to fight a Three-Ring Soul Elder, yet after ten moves, he had not even touched the other party's clothes. Instead, he had been struck over a dozen times, and now he was supposed to slink away... Flender had never been this humiliated in his life!
Gu Ling clearly saw through his thoughts and said in a deep voice:
"What? Dean Flender, don't tell me you can't accept a loss? You said it yourself—if I withstood ten moves, you would turn around and leave."
"The dignified dean of Shrek Academy wouldn't go back on his own words, would he?"
"Enough!"
Flender finally snapped completely. Soul Power countless times stronger than before suddenly erupted from his body! The terrifying pressure instantly sent fine cracks spreading across the surrounding ground.
Ye Lingling's expression changed dramatically, and she said coldly:
"What are you trying to do?!"
Flender's face darkened to the extreme. "I just want this kid to understand that young people shouldn't be so arrogant!"
Gu Ling narrowed his eyes slightly and showed no fear whatsoever.
"So you're done pretending because you couldn't beat me? At first, you said you wouldn't use your Martial Soul and would only use level thirty-seven Soul Power. Now that you've lost, you're preparing to use your full strength? Flender, Flender, your skin really is much thicker than I imagined."
"You!"
Flender gritted his teeth in fury as his powerful Soul Power pressed forward again.
But at that moment, Gu Ling suddenly smiled and threatened:
"Are you sure you want to make a move against me?"
Flender's movements paused slightly, while the smile on Gu Ling's face gradually faded.
"If you had left according to our agreement just now, this matter would have ended there. But if you truly intend to rely on your cultivation as a Seven-Ring Soul Saint to bully the young and forcibly teach me a lesson..."
"Then I wouldn't mind telling my family about what happened today once I return."
Flender froze slightly, confusion appearing on his face.
"Your family?"
Gu Ling did not answer directly. He merely raised a hand and lightly pointed at himself.
"What's my surname?"
Flender frowned. Though puzzled, he still answered:
"Gu."
"And my Martial Soul?"
"Bone Dragon..."
Flender answered instinctively, but his voice suddenly stopped halfway through.
The corner of Gu Ling's mouth slowly lifted as he said coldly, "Then think carefully. Across the entire Douluo Continent, who else bears the surname Gu and has the Bone Dragon as their Martial Soul?"
Boom!
As those words fell, Flender felt as though he had been struck by lightning.
The surname Gu!
A Bone Dragon Martial Soul!
The entire continent...
A name almost instantly appeared in his mind!
Bone Douluo Gu Rong of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect! A level ninety-five Titled Douluo!
Flender's expression changed instantly. He abruptly raised his head to look at Gu Ling, recalling Gu Ling's terrifying configuration of one yellow and two purple Soul Rings, as well as his outrageous talent of reaching level thirty-seven at only twelve years old...
Flender had initially thought this kid might simply be some genius who had appeared from nowhere. But now, it was obvious that he was a young master from a major sect out on training!
At that thought.
Flender suddenly felt a chill run down his back. An incident from some time ago involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
Back then, Zhao Wuji had merely beaten Tang San a little too harshly during the entrance examination, yet that very night... Clear Sky Douluo Tang Hao had come knocking.
Flender still remembered clearly Zhao Wuji's miserable state when he returned—his face swollen and bruised, with hardly an uninjured patch left on his body!
If he truly gave Gu Ling a brutal beating tonight, and then the following evening Bone Douluo Gu Rong suddenly appeared at Shrek Academy's gates...
Thinking of that scene, Flender's mouth twitched hard. The Soul Saint pressure that had just been so imposing rapidly withdrew and vanished at a speed visible to the naked eye.
A moment later, he raised a hand to adjust the crystal glasses on his nose. On his previously gloomy face, he somehow forced out a smile and said without the slightest blush:
"Ahem..."
"You child, what nonsense are you talking about? Bullying the young?"
"Am I, Flender, that kind of person? I merely saw that you had good talent and suddenly felt a bit of appreciation for it. I only wanted to test your ability to withstand pressure a little more."
Before you continue