Qi Ji's Second Martial Soul Skill

"Teacher Wu!"

The moment Wu Changkong was knocked off the arena by Qi Ji, all four children of Class Zero panicked—Xie Xie was the first to rush out, with Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi close behind. Tears welled in Xu Xiaoyan's eyes as she clenched her little fists, too frantic to know what to do.

Although Wu Changkong was usually so strict as to seem unapproachable, and never spared anyone with his sharp words and cold remarks, everyone in Class Zero knew that this frosty teacher truly cared about his students.

Whenever training lasted until late at night and the lights in the training grounds went out, that silent figure could always be seen standing by the sidelines until the last child had left.

Whenever they encountered bottlenecks in cultivation, Wu Changkong never said much, but he would always keep them behind after class and explain the crucial points again and again until they truly understood.

Only those who had truly entered Class Zero could feel the tenderness hidden beneath that cold, hard shell.

Thus, when they saw Wu Changkong's chest pierced through by that seven-colored spear, his entire body flying backward like a kite with its string cut before crashing heavily against the edge of the arena, all their hearts clenched.

Xie Xie clenched his fists so tightly that his nails nearly dug into his palms. Xu Xiaoyan bit her lips and did not dare make a sound, afraid that she would burst into tears the moment she opened her mouth.

"Don't worry. Leave it to me."

Qi Ji withdrew the possession state of his first Martial Soul, and the Nine-Tassel Crown appeared above his head.

Nine strings of jade tassels hung naturally, the gemstones at the end of each string shimmering with different lights—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, gold, and silver. The nine colors intertwined, refracting a magnificent yet solemn rainbow sheen beneath the afternoon sun.

Four ink-black Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings slowly rose from beneath his feet, linked one after another as they hovered steadily by his side, radiating a heavy pressure utterly mismatched with his age.

"First Soul Skill—Dew of Healing."

Qi Ji raised his right hand and lightly tapped with his fingertip.

A gentle emerald-green glow bloomed from the first jade tassel of the Nine-Tassel Crown. Like the first warm ray of sunlight in early spring, it carried the breath of life as it softly enveloped Wu Changkong's entire body.

The green halo seeped into the shocking wound that pierced through him. Flesh began to squirm and heal at a visible rate, shattered bones rejoined, damaged organs rapidly repaired themselves, and even the gaps in the Battle Armor torn open by the spear tip slowly closed beneath the light.

Within just a few breaths, that horrifying hole vanished without a trace, replaced by smooth, intact skin without even the slightest scar.

Wu Changkong's weak, rapid breathing gradually became calm and steady, while some color returned to his pale face.

He opened his eyes, and a complex emotion flashed through his ice-blue pupils—shock, surprise, and a trace of indescribable relief.

He remained silent for several seconds before finally giving a slight nod as thanks, saying nothing more.

As a former genius, he understood the weight of that strike all too clearly—Qi Ji had not only received his all-out strongest attack head-on, but had crushed it to pieces with near-overwhelming force, then casually pulled him back from the brink of death with a healing Soul Skill.

That composure, that effortless ease, forced him to admit that this nine-year-old child before him had already surpassed him in every respect.

Only after seeing Wu Changkong out of danger did everyone in Class Zero finally dare to let out a breath of relief.

Xu Xiaoyan patted her chest, wiped away her tears, and broke into a smile. Xie Xie dropped onto the ground, collapsing as though he had run a marathon, and let out a long breath of stale air. Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi exchanged a glance, each seeing the relief of surviving a disaster in the other's eyes.

Xie Xie quickly came to his senses.

He sprang to his feet, rushed over to Qi Ji in a few strides, and stared at him with wide, round eyes as though looking at a monster. "Boss, isn't that healing Soul Skill of yours... a little too insane?"

"Insane? It's all right, I guess."

Qi Ji waved his hand with an ostentatiously modest air, his tone casual as though what he had just done were some trivial little matter not worth mentioning.

That first Soul Ring was merely a small manifestation of his second Martial Soul.

Over the past three years, he had roughly come to understand what exactly this crown-type Martial Soul of his was.

It was not merely a symbol of the Dragon God Crown Prince's former identity as heir apparent. It was also a Pseudo-Super Divine Artifact personally forged for him by the Dragon God back then.

As for why it was called "pseudo," it was because, by proper convention, the Nine-Tassel Crown was a crown for princes and feudal kings. Only a twelve-tassel crown counted as a true emperor's crown, a genuine Super Divine Artifact.

Unfortunately, the Dragon God Crown Prince had fallen before ascending the throne, and this Pseudo-Super Divine Artifact Martial Soul that had accompanied his birth lost its chance to advance as well.

Even so, it remained a supreme existence second only to a Super Divine Artifact, with value and potential far beyond that of ordinary Martial Souls.

If Qi Ji's first Martial Soul gave him nothing but pure stats—strength, speed, defense, elemental control, simply and brutally crushing everything—then his second Martial Soul was nothing but unreasonable mechanics.

Every one of those Soul Skills contained concepts such as "absolute," "inevitable," and "ignores." Any one of them alone was enough to give any opponent a massive headache, and when stacked together, they formed a nearly unsolvable system.

Take the remaining three Soul Skills of Qi Ji's second Martial Soul, for example—

Second Soul Skill: Binding Law, symbolizing stern laws.

It could bind an enemy for three seconds. It was absolute.

It was somewhat similar to Tang God King's Unfixed Storm. Even when Qi Ji was only a Soul Grandmaster, this Soul Skill could still affect beings at the God King level.

Three seconds meant three seconds. The Son of Heaven's word carried the weight of nine tripods; no one could defy it.

No resistance could block it, and no level could exempt one from it. This was suppression at the level of rules.

Third Soul Skill: Mountain Suppression, symbolizing the realm and land guarded by a sovereign.

It could unfold a domain. As long as the user remained within the domain and had not been destroyed, the user would remain invincible for its entire duration.

This illustrated what it truly meant for the Son of Heaven to guard the nation's gates and the monarch to protect the realm.

At the same time, everyone within the domain had to kneel toward the user. Otherwise, they would suffer crushing pressure upon both mind and body, with its intensity depending on the user's own Soul Power.

The significance of this Soul Skill lay in the fact that it was not merely the ultimate defense, but also a form of spiritual suppression—when an opponent was forced to bow before you, their fighting spirit and will to battle would crumble along with it.

Fourth Soul Skill: Breaking Delusion, derived from a monarch's ability to see through lies and discern every detail.

It could impose an absolute weakness upon an enemy. As long as that weakness was attacked, it could inflict true damage that ignored differences in level.

Qi Ji had once used this Soul Skill to attack Luo Yuhang. That single strike had left the level ninety-seven Dark Emperor Douluo bedridden for nearly a month before he recovered.

Its terrifying nature was obvious—it could practically achieve an effect similar to the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. So long as it struck a vital point, it was a guaranteed kill; even a Limit Douluo could not be exempt.

It was clear that despite being only four simple Soul Skills, each one demonstrated what true mechanics really meant.

Moreover, because this Martial Soul was essentially Qi Ji's accompanying Pseudo-Super Divine Artifact, he could actually use both Martial Souls at once—in other words, he could heal his allies while using Binding Law to lock enemies in place, then activate Mountain Suppression's invincible domain and use the true damage from Breaking Delusion to beat the hell out of them.

This was no longer some overpowered build that could be explained by simple luck.

This was the ultimate monster, with every mechanic and every stat piled onto a single person.