We're All the Same Age-I Never Meant to Crush You Like This

"Brothers, attack together! He won't be so arrogant for much longer!"

The black-haired youth roared and launched the first attack.

Lightning surged across his body, blue-violet electric serpents darting wildly between his limbs. Four Soul Rings lit up at once. "First Soul Skill, Thunder Dragon Claw! Second Soul Skill, Thunderous Might! Third Soul Skill, Thunder Rage! Fourth Soul Skill, Thunder Prison!"

The instant the four Soul Skills were unleashed together, the entire arena seemed to become the heart of a thunderstorm.

Blue-violet lightning erupted wildly from the youth's body, transforming into countless arcs that burst through the air, their crackling current painfully piercing everyone's eardrums.

The entire arena was engulfed in the glow of thunder, as if it had been thrown into a cage of lightning. The blinding blue light made it nearly impossible to keep one's eyes open.

Within that dazzling world of light pollution, two figures used the lightning as cover to rapidly close in on Qi Ji—a pitch-black Clear Sky Hammer and a chilling saber struck from the left and right, silently targeting Qi Ji's vital points.

"An ant gazed at the heavens, unaware of how high the sky was."

Qi Ji did not even dodge. His golden dragon eyes glowed calmly amid the lightning, like a lighthouse unmoved by a raging storm.

He reached out with both hands at once, precisely catching the hammer and the saber. With a twist of his wrists, he lifted the two ambushing Soul Masters as easily as one might lift chicks.

The two Soul Masters dangled in midair, terror written across their faces. They struggled desperately, yet could not break free from those hands, which did not even appear particularly strong.

Qi Ji brought his hands together, smashing their heads heavily against each other with a dull thud. Then he casually tossed them aside. They flew off the arena like trash, hit the safety mats, rolled twice, and lost all ability to fight on the spot.

Qi Ji dusted off his hands and walked toward the remaining four, step by step, beneath the lightning that filled the sky.

The explosive arcs burst around him, yet it was as though an invisible barrier repelled them all. They could not even stir the corner of his clothes.

"Third Soul Skill—Mountain Suppression."

Qi Ji raised a hand and pressed down lightly. An invisible domain spread from beneath his feet, instantly covering the entire arena.

The lightning-ravaged world was replaced by a small realm where mountains and rivers blended together—warm earth lay beneath their feet, a deep azure sky stretched overhead, and the outlines of distant mountains flickered in and out amid the mist.

This little world was tranquil yet solemn, like sacred land that could not be defiled.

Within this "kingdom," an immense pressure that bore down upon both mind and body descended upon the remaining four—it was the majesty of an emperor guarding the realm and a sovereign protecting the land, the oppression of one who ruled all beneath heaven.

The chubby boy at the back, Xu Lizhi, was the first to collapse.

His legs gave out, and he sprawled flat on the ground, his face pressed against the arena floor as he gasped for breath.

Only by letting every part of his body touch the ground and assuming a kowtowing posture could his blood barely continue to circulate.

Ye Xinglan, the golden-haired girl with a single ponytail, braced herself against the Stargod Sword and knelt on one knee, using the blade to support her weight as she gritted her teeth and held on.

Her knee trembled, cold sweat beaded across her forehead, but her eyes remained stubborn and unwilling to yield.

Unfortunately, there was a difference of two full major ranks between her and Qi Ji. Such overwhelming superiority in rank was not something willpower could make up for.

After only a few breaths, she could no longer endure. Both knees hit the ground, and she lowered her head unwillingly.

Next came the girl with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.

As a support-system Soul Master, her physical condition and willpower had always been weaker than those of battle Soul Masters. Under the crushing pressure of Mountain Suppression, she dropped to her knees almost instantly, unable even to struggle. The light of her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda dimmed as well.

Qi Ji strolled leisurely toward the final two.

As he approached, the crushing pressure of the Mountain Suppression Domain continued to intensify.

The Black Tortoise warrior suddenly coughed up blood. Fine cracks spread across his turtle shell, and his martial soul shattered directly beneath the pressure. He completely lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.

The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon youth gritted his teeth. His knees had bent to their limit, but in the end, he too dropped to his knees with a thud.

"Weren't you unconvinced?" Qi Ji lowered his head to look at the kneeling youth, his tone as casual as if he were commenting on the weather. "Try standing up, then."

"I will never... submit to you!"

The youth abruptly raised his head. Golden lightning flashed in his eyes, and a blazing, sacred aura erupted from his entire body.

A faint golden radiance appeared over his blue-violet scales, showing signs of an awakening toward light.

Driven into such desperation, his martial soul had actually awakened the potential to evolve into a Light Holy Dragon.

"You're a dragon too." Qi Ji gave him an indifferent glance. The light in his golden dragon eyes suddenly flared, and an irresistible authority swept over the youth's entire body like a tangible tide. "Kneel!"

The expression on the youth's face froze instantly.

That authority bypassed his will, bypassed his Soul Power, bypassed every bit of his resistance, and struck straight at the deepest part of his martial soul.

A phantom dragon soul was forcibly torn from his body. It struggled and shrieked above his head, but Qi Ji reached out, seized it, and gave it a light squeeze—

With a soft pop, the dragon soul shattered into specks of light in Qi Ji's palm.

"Arghhhhh—!"

The youth suddenly let out a heart-rending scream. He curled up on the ground and trembled violently, as though a piece of his soul had been forcibly torn away.

The blue-violet scales on his body rapidly faded, and the golden radiance that had just appeared was extinguished completely.

A weak, entirely purple pig appeared beside him, its ears drooping and its entire body radiating a dispirited air.

"Damn, Luo Sanpao too?!"

Qi Ji truly had not expected that after forcibly stripping the youth of his Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, his martial soul would degenerate into Luo Sanpao—the mutated martial soul that the Grandmaster had raised for half his life in the first part of Douluo Continent.

Sensing Qi Ji's dragon might, the little purple pig's four legs went limp. It dropped to its knees, then, as if frightened out of its wits, sprayed shit and piss all over the youth's face.

The youth's body twitched twice. Under the double blow of his damaged martial soul and such humiliation, he finally fainted completely, an indescribable mess still smeared across his face.

At this point, Qi Ji was the only one left standing on the arena.

He stood within the small world of Mountain Suppression. Shrek students lay strewn around his feet, while the domain's light still flickered faintly behind him. He truly looked like a king seated upon a dragon throne, composed and majestic.

"I say—" Qi Ji turned his head toward the referee's platform, his tone casual. "You can announce the result now, right?"

The moment he spoke, the venue erupted like a powder keg, thunderous applause and cheers bursting forth at once.

Eighty thousand people shouted in unison, the waves of sound rising higher and higher, nearly lifting off the stadium's dome.

The audience did not care who was good or evil. Even if Qi Ji had looked utterly villainous and domineering, this kind of one-sided battle was thrilling enough to watch.

Shrek had been defeated? That only made it better!

Standing on the arena, Qi Ji extended both index fingers and thumbs while naturally curling his other three fingers, forming two standard L-shaped finger guns. He lifted his chin toward the stands.

"We're all the same age. I never meant to crush you like this!"