The air above the arena changed.
It was not cold, but a complete emptiness.
Mo Qianye stepped onto the stage without a sound.
The black flames of the Nine Netherworld Phoenix flowed close against his skin. They were not flames so much as a burial shroud draped over the living.
The commentator opened his mouth, yet not a single word came out.
In the stands, a timid female Soul Master had already buried her face tightly against her companion's shoulder.
No one could blame her.
Throughout the team battle, Mo Qianye had stood behind Su Chen without speaking or taking a single step.
Yet when Zhu Zhuqing tried three times to use the Hell Spirit Cat's stealth to slip into the back line, he intercepted her with flawless precision all three times.
There were no unnecessary movements.
He merely appeared in the right place at the right time, then struck with a palm, snuffing out the deadly cat's Shadow Escape on the spot.
That precision did not resemble a battle. It was more like a teacher coldly grading a failed assignment.
Across from him, Xiao Wu walked onto the stage.
Pink Soul Power light curled around her waist and limbs. The Soft Bone Rabbit martial soul allowed every joint in her body to bend at angles beyond the limits of the human body.
Paired with her lovely face, it only made her seem nimble—and deadly.
"Sixth match—Sky Abyss Academy's Mo Qianye versus—Shrek Academy's Xiao Wu!"
The commentator finally called out their names, but his voice was weak and hollow.
Xiao Wu did not look at the audience.
She stared fixedly at Mo Qianye, without a trace of fear in her eyes.
Having grown up among Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, when had she ever feared anyone?
But she was indeed seriously assessing the opponent before her.
Zhu Zhuqing was an assassin. Her defeat had come from relying too heavily on stealth, while Mo Qianye's Netherfire Perception could lock onto every fluctuation of Soul Power.
Xiao Wu was different.
She never turned invisible. Soft Bone Rabbits never hid.
For a rabbit to survive, it did not rely on hiding.
It relied on running faster than every pursuer.
Then, at the instant the enemy caught up—strangling it to death!
"Begin!"
The moment the referee's words fell, Xiao Wu violently kicked off the ground.
Second Soul Skill, Waist Bow!
Her body folded into a breathtakingly sharp angle in midair.
A pink afterimage tore through the air. Without dodging or evading, she charged straight at Mo Qianye!
No detours.
No probing.
Straight at him!
Mo Qianye pushed out his right hand, and Netherfire instantly condensed into a black translucent shield.
Xiao Wu did not slow down.
Zero point two seconds before touching the shield, her body suddenly bent downward.
Her entire body actually slid through the gap beneath the shield's lower edge, while her long legs, like two venomous snakes with lives of their own, coiled around Mo Qianye's calves.
Eight-Section Fall—First Section!
The unrestricted joints granted by the Soft Bone Rabbit martial soul made her strangling angle incomparably tricky, enough to send chills into the marrow of any close-combat Soul Master.
Mo Qianye lowered his eyes, his gaze falling upon Xiao Wu, who had wrapped around his legs.
The next instant, Netherfire exploded from his entire body.
There were no fireballs, nor any pillars of flame.
It was a layer of silent black combustion clinging tightly to his skin.
The instant Xiao Wu's Soul Power touched the Netherfire, one tenth of it was devoured!
Agonizing pain shot through her legs. She abruptly released him, using the force to spring away. She flipped three times in the air before landing steadily.
"Close-range strangulation."
There was no emotion in Mo Qianye's voice.
"Touch me for one second, and one tenth of your Soul Power dissipates."
"You have ten tenths in total."
A cold arithmetic problem.
Xiao Wu shook her numb legs, her expression unchanged.
She had known this would be the result.
She had watched the team battle recording seven times. After the match, Zhu Zhuqing had told her what Netherfire felt like—"It's like someone is using needles to draw blood out through the cracks in your bones."
So, she had prepared a backup plan.
A backup plan Tang San had given her.
"Do you know why Zhu Zhuqing lost to you?"
Xiao Wu's voice rang out with a trace of provocation.
Mo Qianye did not answer.
"Because she's a cat. A cat's claws have to touch someone to kill."
Xiao Wu slowly lowered her body. Her arms hung at her sides, while her waist and spine curved into an arc ready to unleash terrifying force at any moment.
"But rabbits are different."
Her voice lowered.
"Rabbits are made to kick eagles."
Fourth Soul Skill—Soft-Boned Mirage!
Xiao Wu's body vanished.
It was not invisibility, but pure speed.
An extreme burst of Soft Bone Rabbit speed, combined with the visual deception created by her body continuously bending and folding at high speed—
Eight afterimages appeared around Mo Qianye at once from eight directions.
Mo Qianye's Netherfire Perception spread out in an instant.
Eight directions, eight identical sources of life heat.
All of them were real.
Because every one of them was a position Xiao Wu had truly occupied within the past zero point one seconds.
Her speed had made the very concept of "now" blurry.
Mo Qianye's brow faintly furrowed.
The eight afterimages contracted toward the center at the same instant.
But the true killing intent came from directly above!
Xiao Wu's true body tore through the air current and descended from overhead!
Her legs did not lock onto Mo Qianye.
They locked onto the ground!
The terrifying strangling force of her third Soul Skill poured entirely into the arena's stone slabs beneath her feet.
Boom!
The stone slabs exploded beneath the twisting force of her legs, and the support beneath Mo Qianye's feet instantly collapsed!
He became weightless.
For only zero point five seconds.
Within those zero point five seconds, a blade of deep blue grass shot out like lightning from between the rubble, tightly wrapping around Mo Qianye's right wrist.
That was not Xiao Wu's Soul Skill.
It was something Tang San had given her.
A small fragment of specially tempered Blue Silver Grass, capable of forcibly severing the target's Soul Power transmission for zero point three seconds.
The Netherfire in Mo Qianye's right hand cut out.
Zero point three seconds.
Xiao Wu spun down through the clouds of dust, her arms locking tightly around Mo Qianye's neck like iron pincers.
It was not strangulation, but leverage!
Using her entire body weight and rotational momentum, she completely flipped Mo Qianye over.
Head first.
Eight-Section Fall's ultimate secret—Heaven-Swiveling Earth-Turning!
Boom—!
A massive pit three meters across caved in at the center of the arena, while spiderweb cracks crazily spread more than ten meters in every direction.
Mo Qianye's head had plunged straight into the pile of shattered stone, utterly motionless.
The entire venue fell silent.
Dead silence.
Three seconds later, a heart-rending scream erupted from the highest tier of the stands.
"He's down—Abyss's fighter is down!"
The roar of the crowd was like a tsunami, instantly overturning half the arena.
Xiao Wu knelt beside the pit, drenched in sweat, her Soul Power nearly depleted.
That fragment of Blue Silver Grass had long since turned to ash.
Tang San had only given her one piece—a single-use opportunity.
The referee rushed over, but before he could even crouch down—
The rubble moved.
A pale hand stretched from the pile of stones. Its five fingers pressed against the ground and pushed the entire body up from the deep pit.
Mo Qianye stood straight.
A bloody gash split open across his forehead. Blood ran down the bridge of his high nose and dripped onto the arena.
He raised a hand and wiped his forehead.
He looked at the glaring red stain on his fingertips.
Then he smiled.
It was a smile without warmth, containing only sinister menace and bloodlust.
The spectators in the first three rows all leaned back together, the color draining from their faces.
"Good throw."
Third Soul Skill—Nether Phoenix Nirvana.
Black divine flames rose from beneath his feet and instantly enveloped his entire body.
The savage wound on his forehead healed at an astonishing speed. Three seconds later, even the bloodstains had vanished without a trace.
Nirvana.
After suffering a fatal wound, it consumed thirty percent of his Soul Power and restored him to peak condition.
He was completely unharmed once more.
Xiao Wu still knelt on the ground. Her legs could no longer muster any strength.
Mo Qianye looked down at her in silence for several seconds.
"After the Nether Phoenix Clan was exterminated, there have not been many people who could make me bleed."
His voice was terrifyingly calm.
"The enemy who slaughtered my entire clan counts as one."
"Su Chen, who dragged me out of hell, counts as one."
His gaze settled on Xiao Wu's face.
"Today, you are the third."
"I'll remember you."
Xiao Wu panted heavily, yet she grinned.
"You really... have a terrifying way of complimenting people."
She braced herself on her knees and tried to stand, but her legs gave out and she fell back to her knees. She simply stopped struggling.
"I concede."
"Sixth match, Sky Abyss Academy's Mo Qianye wins!"
Thunderous applause erupted.
But this time, nearly all the applause was directed toward the girl kneeling beside the pit.
Before an absolute gulf in strength, she had used one blade of Tang San's grass, an Eight-Section Fall that wagered everything she had, and an almost insane tactic—
To smash Sky Abyss Academy's undefeated god of death brutally into the arena.
She had not won.
But she had not lost Shrek Academy's honor.
At the competitors' seats.
Tang San stood.
He walked to the entrance passage and took the weakened Xiao Wu from the medical Soul Master.
Xiao Wu leaned against his shoulder and looked up at him.
Her voice was soft, so soft it seemed as though it might shatter in the wind at any moment. Only Tang San could hear it.
"Third Brother, the herb's all used up. It worked."
"His Netherfire Flow Break only lasts 0.3 seconds—0.2 seconds shorter than you estimated..."
Tang San nodded.
He handed Xiao Wu over to Oscar behind him, then turned and walked toward the arena entrance.
At the other end of the passage, Su Chen also rose to his feet.
The two of them faced each other from across the roaring arena.
The commentator's voice trembled violently, yet every word struck clearly into the ears of the tens of thousands in the audience—
"Match Seven—the final showdown—!"
"Sky Abyss Academy—Su Chen!"
"Versus—"
"Shrek Academy—Tang San!"
At that moment, every sound in the arena vanished.
Before you continue