Sun God Needle

"Ready—begin!"

At the referee teacher's command, the atmosphere on the Soul Duel Arena instantly tightened.

Wang Jiahao let out a low roar, and two yellow hundred-year soul rings beneath his feet suddenly lit up. The oversized black hooded sweatshirt Martial Soul on his body appeared increasingly strange and mysterious under the surging soul power.

Immediately afterward, his first soul ring flashed. Crack, crack, crack, crack—! Accompanied by a series of sharp metallic scrapes, countless pitch-black metal cannon barrels actually drilled out from beneath various parts of his black coat! A full eight Soul Guidance Cannons of considerable power locked onto Ye Chenxing.

Xiao Hongchen's eyes brightened slightly when he saw this from the stands. "Heh, Jiahao actually chose the same fighting style as me?"

However, Xiao Hongchen quickly shook his head. Only eight cannons? They did not even compare to a fraction of his own. Still, he had to admit that among Soul Engineers of the same rank, a Martial Soul capable of directly concealing and carrying Soul Guide Devices on one's body was already considered excellent.

After all, some Soul Engineers had skeleton Martial Souls and had to make the skeletons they summoned laboriously carry their Soul Guidance Cannons.

As soon as the battle began, Wang Jiahao instantly cast off his previous noisy, arrogant image and entered an extremely calm, focused state.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Violent soul power gathered at the cannon muzzles, and eight dazzling Soul Guidance Rays interwove into a dense barrage that blasted toward Ye Chenxing.

Yet an unbelievable scene unfolded.

Facing the overwhelming firepower, Ye Chenxing did not even release his Martial Soul. He moved through the gaps between explosions as casually as if strolling through a garden. Every sidestep, every duck of his head, was precise to the tiniest degree. Those seemingly lethal Soul Guidance Rays could only barely brush past the corners of his clothes.

Wang Jiahao's scalp went numb as he watched from behind the barrage. How was this possible?! His opponent's movements showed no panic whatsoever, nor was there any unnecessary motion. It was as if Ye Chenxing had foreseen the impact point of every single shot!

How could he know that Ye Chenxing's spiritual detection surpassed even Huo Yuhao's at the same rank in the original timeline? Within Ye Chenxing's terrifying, all-encompassing sensory network without a single blind spot, firepower of this level was like watching a slow-motion replay. It could not even touch the edge of his clothing.

"Long-range attacks are useless. He can see through my firing trajectories!"

Wang Jiahao's combat instincts were not poor, and he swiftly made his judgment. If he continued this blind bombardment, his soul power would soon be exhausted. He decisively cut off the flow of soul power, and with a swish, the eight Soul Guidance Cannons instantly retracted into the black hooded sweatshirt.

Then, he thrust both hands beneath the hem of his coat and drew out two black metal discs whose edges gleamed with chilling sharpness.

What he truly excelled at was not serving as a long-range artillery platform, but close-range surprise attacks! The opening fire coverage had merely been his usual feint, intended to force his opponent to close the distance while dodging the barrage. Then, he would use these two sharp Soul Guidance discs to deliver a fatal strike.

Moreover, he had designed the weapons as discs because they could not only attack, but also unfold into defenses at critical moments. This was Wang Jiahao's true fighting style!

Wang Jiahao: My peers: long-range Soul Guide Devices, close-combat Soul Guide Devices, defensive Soul Guide Devices.

Me: Use them all together.

It was just...

But this time, Ye Chenxing did not fall for it at all. He simply stood where he was, avoiding every shot in the most effortless way possible, with no intention whatsoever of attacking Wang Jiahao.

"Since you won't attack, don't blame me!" Seeing that he could not keep wasting soul power, Wang Jiahao gritted his teeth. Holding a disc in each hand, he transformed into a black afterimage and charged fiercely toward Ye Chenxing!

However, greatly to Wang Jiahao's surprise, even after closing the distance and entering melee combat, he still could not hit Ye Chenxing.

Dodging in close combat was several times more difficult than avoiding long-range attacks. After all, his Soul Guidance Cannons had to aim before firing and could not change direction midway. But close-quarters combat was different. The speed of his moves, every change in technique, all seemed to be within his opponent's calculations. No matter how he attacked, it was useless.

Some of the male students in the stands could not bear to watch any longer and muttered, "What's with this? Don't tell me Ye only knows how to dodge?" A girl beside them immediately retorted without any courtesy, "What do you know? Not letting the opponent touch even a single strand of his hair is proof of strength in itself, okay!"

Listening to the surrounding discussions, Xiao Hongchen on the second-floor viewing platform wore a puzzled expression, his brows furrowing slightly.

What is Chenxing up to? Why go to such lengths? Xiao Hongchen thought. With the power Ye Chenxing had displayed in that single finger strike when he killed the Gold Tiger in the Jingyang Mountain Range, dealing with Wang Jiahao should have been effortless.

Was he afraid of hurting a fellow student? That did not seem right either. With the monstrous level of Martial Soul control he had shown, he would not have the problem of being unable to hold back.

Could it be... he is deliberately showing off his skills?!

Meng Hongchen rolled her eyes at him irritably. "Do you think everyone likes showing off like you do? Our Chenxing must have his reasons for doing this. Just watch properly."

At that moment, Wang Jiahao on the arena grew increasingly frantic. The drain on his soul power, coupled with the frustration of being unable to land a hit for so long, made him roar, "Can you only hide like a rat?!"

Upon hearing that provocation, Ye Chenxing actually stopped moving.

As though he had truly taken Wang Jiahao's words to heart, he smiled faintly and gently opened his palm. A silver spherical object appeared out of thin air in his hand. As soul power flowed into it, he curled his fingertips slightly and gave it a light flick.

"Whoosh—"

A speck of silver light instantly flew from his hand, trailing a streak as it shot toward Wang Jiahao.

Wang Jiahao's heart tightened at the sight. How could he dare be careless? He hurriedly activated his soul power to alter the form of the Soul Guide Devices in his hands. The two black discs resembling compact discs instantly enlarged, becoming like two sturdy shields that guarded him tightly as he prepared to withstand this sudden counterattack.

Yet a jaw-dropping scene appeared.

The silver light Ye Chenxing had fired not only failed to hit Wang Jiahao's two enormous black shields, but instead traced an utterly absurd arc and flew straight toward the sky.

It... it missed?!

The air throughout the entire venue seemed to freeze at that instant, and all the spectators below the stage stared in shock.

Ye Chenxing, who had just dodged every attack from his opponent and seemed to have everything under control, had actually made such a low-level mistake on his first offensive move?! Missing by an inch or two would have been one thing, but who attacked an enemy directly in front of them by shooting straight into the sky?!

Xiao Hongchen covered his eyes in despair and could not help sighing as he pressed a hand to his forehead. "Chenxing, Chenxing... everyone has their own specialty. You are an unparalleled genius with an Ultimate Martial Soul, so why were you trying to show off with a Soul Guide Device? Now you have made a complete fool of yourself..."

With his eyesight, he naturally saw in an instant that what Ye Chenxing had thrown was a silver spherical Soul Guide Device.

Meng Hongchen beside him was also stunned, her beautiful eyes full of disbelief. This was impossible. With Chenxing's immense spiritual power, he could not possibly produce such an absurd trajectory even with his eyes closed. Was it because this was his first time using a Soul Guide Device, and he had failed to control the force properly?

Lin Jiayi, standing nearby, was also momentarily stunned before shaking his head with a bitter smile. It seemed that although this child possessed enormous spiritual power and astonishing theoretical knowledge, he still lacked too much practical experience with Soul Guide Devices.

"Hall Master, it seems this child needs more practice," Lin Jiayi respectfully turned to Jing Hongchen and suggested. "Later, I can arrange more practical courses for him. What do you think..."

"Hall Master?"

Lin Jiayi realized that Jing Hongchen seemed not to have heard him at all. Jing Hongchen was still staring fixedly into the arena, leaving Lin Jiayi puzzled. He leaned over to look at Jing Hongchen's face.

This Rank Nine Soul Engineer renowned across the continent, the Hall Master of Illustrious Virtue Hall, was gripping the railing of the viewing platform with both hands. His eyes bulged as though they might pop from their sockets, his mouth hung wide open, and his entire body trembled with an expression of utter disbelief.

"Too... too... too..."

"Too?" Lin Jiayi was completely baffled. Following Jing Hongchen's stunned gaze, he also raised his head toward the sky in confusion.

Seeing that silver light shoot straight into the clouds, missing so badly that it did not even come close, Wang Jiahao on the arena let out a long breath of relief.

That fighting style of being completely seen through and toyed with like a dog being walked had filled him with intense anger, but even more than that, with uncertain fear.

Now that he saw his opponent make such an enormous blunder, he immediately felt that he had recovered some dignity and could not help laughing mockingly.

"Ha ha ha ha! Can't you aim a little better? That miss was way too ridiculous!" Wang Jiahao shouted smugly. "Your movement techniques may be good, and I can't hit you when you keep dodging around, but with aim like that, I don't even need to dodge if I just stand here!"

Faced with this ridicule, Ye Chenxing did not get angry at all. The corners of his lips rose slightly into a mysterious smile as he quietly watched Wang Jiahao.

"You really don't need to dodge?"

The smile on Wang Jiahao's face stiffened, and a chill suddenly rose in his heart. "Y-you... what do you mean?"

Ye Chenxing did not answer. He merely slowly raised his right hand, held up his index finger, and gently pointed toward the sky.

Everyone in the venue, including the students in the stands and the teacher acting as referee, unconsciously followed the direction of his finger. In unison, they raised their heads and looked upward.

Because the testing area needed to test High-Altitude Soul Guide Devices, it had no roof.

The silver orb of light, originally only the size of a fist, had somehow already stopped directly above the Soul Duel District. It was disassembling and expanding at an unimaginable speed! Then, a pale golden radiance as brilliant as the blazing sun seeped out from its core, swiftly intertwining and fusing with the cold silver light.

A terrifying pressure that made hearts palpitate was enveloping the entire venue like dark clouds pressing down from above.

The students below were utterly confused and could not understand what kind of Soul Guide Device this was. But Wang Jiahao, standing at the center of that pressure, had already sensed a powerful omen of danger, and his legs began to tremble uncontrollably.

On the second-floor viewing platform, Xiao Hongchen, who had just looked disappointed enough to want to hammer iron into steel, suddenly sprang up from his seat! He stared fixedly at the continuously converging golden and silver radiance in the sky, both hands gripping the railing so tightly that he nearly crushed it.

"T-that is..." Xiao Hongchen's voice was trembling.

"That is the Sun God Needle!!!" X2

From the highest viewing platform, two shocked cries erupted almost simultaneously! The ones who made those cries were none other than Jing Hongchen, the Hall Master of Illustrious Virtue Hall, and Lin Jiayi, the director of studies!

That was right. What Ye Chenxing had taken out was Ye Yulin's Sun God Needle. No—or perhaps it should be called the Sun-Moon Needle, which even its inventor had yet to successfully perfect!

With his absolute mastery over launching-type Soul Guide Devices, Ye Chenxing had successfully created a youthful improved version of it. It only needed a short period of charging before it could be used.

The reason he had been dodging on the arena just now was to charge it.

As their words fell, the golden and silver radiance in the sky finally completed its final convergence.

"Buzz—"

For an instant, it seemed as if heaven and earth had lost all sound. Then, a beam of light containing terrifying heat capable of Heaven-Destroying Earth-Annihilating descended from the sky like divine judgment, crashing down with overwhelming force!

At the sight of that golden and silver light, Wang Jiahao was completely dumbfounded. His mind went blank. Forget dodging—he had even lost the instinct to raise the Soul Guidance shields in his hands to defend himself. He simply stood there like a wooden statue, waiting to die.

The referee teacher beside him also went pale. Just as he was about to take out a defensive Soul Guide Device and save Wang Jiahao—

Swish—

Someone moved first. An aged figure like a ghost suddenly appeared in front of Wang Jiahao out of thin air. Immediately afterward, a thick, hemispherical protective barrier that seemed almost tangible expanded abruptly, tightly shielding the two of them within.

"Rumble—!!!!"

Blinding light, accompanied by deafening thunderous roars, instantly engulfed nearly half the arena. A violent energy storm swept in every direction with shattered stone and smoke, forcing the students below the stage to shut their eyes and retreat again and again.

After a long while, the smoke and dust slowly dispersed.

On the arena, the old man who had suddenly appeared remained in the posture of holding up the barrier, while Wang Jiahao behind him had gone weak in the legs and collapsed onto the ground.

Yet the old man did not even spare Wang Jiahao a glance.

His eyes were filled with indescribable shock and fervor. He stared fixedly at the silver sphere in the sky as it slowly folded back together and finally turned into a streak of light that flew into Ye Chenxing's hand.

The moment Ye Chenxing had retrieved the Soul Guide Device into his palm, the old man rushed over as if teleporting and clamped both hands around Ye Chenxing's shoulders like iron pincers!

"Child!!! This... this thing!!"

The old man's body trembled like a leaf. His clouded eyes were now bloodshot and wide as bells, and he panted heavily, nearly spraying saliva as extreme excitement made him incoherent.

"How did you do it?! That energy compression ratio! The convergence and stacking of that energy! This is what I have been improving, what I have been researching! How did you reduce the core formation of the Sun God Needle so that it could fit inside fifth-rank materials? Such terrifying power, yet the outer shell does not show the slightest sign of melting! What method did you use?! How did you turn my Sun God Needle... no, no, this merely shares the same origin as my Sun God Needle, but its intricacy far surpasses it! How did you do it?!"

"This is simply a miracle! No, it is a divine creation!!"

The old man was so excited that he could barely speak coherently. His bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at Ye Chenxing's hand, and there was even a trace of pleading in his voice. "Can you let this old man have a look at your creation? Child, I can trade Soul Guide Devices for it! Eighth-rank... no! Ninth-rank! This old man will trade you a ninth-rank Soul Guide Device for it!"