The Might of a Quasi-God! Courting Death!

Cao Xin's expression darkened as well.

How had such a brain-dead fool become a teacher at Shrek Inner Academy?

He extended his right hand forward.

The Ruthless Sword appeared in response.

A scorching aura instantly spread outward.

Rolling heat waves rushed toward them.

It felt as though they had arrived in summer.

With Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi's cultivation, they could not yet remain unaffected by heat and cold.

Thus, both of them immediately felt unbearably hot, fine beads of sweat forming on their foreheads.

Summer was divided into Early Summer, Midsummer, and Late Summer.

In Early Summer, all things grew.

In Midsummer, the heat intensified.

In Late Summer, temperatures and humidity were high, and the summer heat was at its peak.

Cao Xin had chosen the most scorching and intense of the three.

The next moment, Cao Xin thrust his sword forward.

Sword Intent: Late Summer!

The Ruthless Sword surged forward, carrying rolling waves of heat.

Where the sword tip passed...

The air itself seemed to warp from the heat.

The remaining blades of grass on the ground instantly curled up and withered.

In an instant, the Inner Court teacher felt the heat rushing toward him.

That heat was not simply high temperature.

It was a blazing force imbued with artistic conception, as though an entire midsummer had been compressed into this single sword strike.

Even though he was already a Seven-Ring Soul Sage.

He still felt an intense burning heat.

At that moment, disbelief filled his heart.

How was this possible?!

This boy's Soul Skill...

How could it affect him?!

He was a Seven-Ring Soul Sage!

Ordinarily, even if a Soul Elder-level Soul Skill landed on a Soul Sage, it should have felt like a breeze brushing against his face...

It should not have been able to cause any real effect at all.

Yet the Late Summer Sword Intent contained within Cao Xin's strike was like a blazing sun hanging overhead, impossible to resist.

He hurriedly released his Martial Soul. Lightning danced around his body, purple-blue arcs crackling across his skin as the roar of a tiger rang out.

His Martial Soul was the Thunder Tiger.

The phantom of a fierce tiger wrapped in lightning appeared behind him, its tiger eyes wide open and its presence imposing.

Then, his right hand transformed into a tiger paw.

The hand that had originally reached for Cao Xin became a sharp claw covered in tiger stripes and lightning.

A sphere of lightning condensed in his palm.

A savage gleam flashed through his eyes.

"Die, brat!"

"You actually dared challenge my authority!"

The anger in his heart at being offended had already turned into tangible killing intent...

The lightning sphere in his hand condensed to its limit, aimed at Cao Xin as he prepared to blast it out.

Yet in the face of a Seven-Ring Soul Sage's pressure, joy flashed in Cao Xin's eyes. It was the excitement that came from the depths of his heart—he had finally found the opponent he wanted.

"Good!"

Seven rings were good.

Now this was at least somewhat challenging.

Sparring with Five-Ring Soul Kings could no longer make him feel genuine pressure.

This Seven-Ring Soul Sage might not have much sense, but his cultivation was unquestionably real.

The next moment, the three seasons of summer, autumn, and winter revolved in succession.

Cao Xin turned his wrist.

The artistic conception abruptly shifted from the blazing Late Summer to the somber Late Autumn, then plunged from Late Autumn into the frigid Deep Winter.

And the power of this sword strike...

Also accumulated layer upon layer as the seasons changed.

Even...

Snowflakes began to appear throughout this stretch of heaven and earth.

Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi immediately felt cold, and their breathing became hurried.

Yet the Inner Court teacher's gaze remained disdainful.

No matter how strange this boy was...

He could never truly threaten him!

He was a Seven-Ring Soul Sage!

But just then...

The Sentimental Sword appeared in Cao Xin's left hand.

The next moment, Soul Skill: Traceback.

He directly negated the tiger paw's attack.

When the lightning sphere containing a Seven-Ring Soul Sage's full-force strike slammed into him...

It vanished without a trace, like a clay ox sinking into the sea.

Again.

Soul Skill: Once.

The tip of the Sentimental Sword lifted slightly.

A pale cyan halo rippled outward.

It turned this Inner Court teacher's time back by one second, while also plunging him into a mental daze.

In that one second of emptiness...

All of his attack preparations and defensive awareness were forcibly erased, leaving him in brief confusion.

The next moment...

The Ruthless Sword pierced directly through his chest.

The Power of Deathly Silence instantly spread through his entire body.

Pfft!

The Inner Court teacher's face immediately filled with horror, and he spat out blood.

But how was this possible?!

He was a Soul Sage!

He had actually been injured by a little brat!

Instantly, rage from humiliation overwhelmed him.

The wound piercing through his chest was still there...

But he could no longer care about that.

A Seven-Ring Soul Sage had been stabbed through the chest by a child...

If word got out, he would lose all face in Shrek.

He gritted his teeth, enduring his injuries as he staggered to his feet.

"Martial Soul Avatar!"

He let out a furious roar.

The Martial Soul Avatar was a Soul Skill that only Soul Sages could possess.

It was also, after Soul Masters entered the higher ranks...

The most iconic hallmark ability.

It could completely fuse the Martial Soul with the user...

Unleashing terrifying combat power several times beyond normal.

This also meant he was going all out.

The power of lightning surged from his body.

His body rapidly expanded.

Tiger stripes emerged, and fangs protruded from his lips.

His limbs transformed into thick tiger claws.

A long tail wrapped in lightning formed behind him.

In the blink of an eye...

He transformed into a Thunder Tiger, electricity flickering around his body. His tiger eyes were blood-red as he stared greedily at Cao Xin.

A deep, savage voice sounded from the Thunder Tiger's mouth, carrying undisguised killing intent.

"Die!"

The tiger paw rose, carrying the force of countless bolts of lightning as it slammed down at Cao Xin's head.

Cao Xin shook his head slightly.

As he watched the Thunder Tiger pounce toward him, not a ripple stirred in his heart.

He was just about to raise his sword and show this Inner Court teacher another trick...

But in the next instant, he sensed a familiar aura rapidly approaching from afar.

It was the aura of his Second Father, Zang Xin.

And it was clearly tinged with urgency.

Cao Xin's expression immediately turned strange.

The Sword Intent he had gathered quietly dispersed, and the swords in both his left and right hands vanished at the same time.

He simply stood there, his hands hanging naturally at his sides. Watching the tiger paw descend upon him, he did not move at all, and there was even a faint curve at the corner of his lips.

At that moment...

The Inner Court teacher thought Cao Xin was afraid.

He laughed wildly in his heart, while the lightning power on his tiger paw grew even stronger.

He was a teacher of Shrek Inner Academy!

So what if he killed this boy?

Who would dare lay a hand on a teacher from Shrek?!

But in the next second...

A voice filled with fury rang out.

"Courting death!"

At the same time, the might of a Quasi-God descended.

It was a pressure impossible to describe with words, as though the entire world had frozen in that instant.

The terrifying pressure was like an invisible mountain, directly suppressing the Inner Court teacher in place and rendering him unable to move.

The next moment, the Martial Soul Avatar dispersed...

He returned to human form.

His entire body was forced to kneel by that pressure. His face was as pale as paper, and his eyes were filled with shock.

What was happening?!

Why had a Quasi-God intervened?!

At that moment, his mind was in complete chaos.

He did not understand just who he had provoked.