Blue Lightning Thunder Dragon? Nothing but a Broken-Line Loach!

Two rows of moonlight stones embedded deep in the corridor gave off a cold white glow, making the white jade floor look as though it wore a thin layer of frost.

Yu Tianheng's face, so accustomed to wearing the haughty airs of an aristocratic clan, darkened enough to wring water from it as Su Chen's two cutting remarks landed.

At Heaven Dou Royal Academy, even Prince Xue Xing's nephews and younger relatives had to respectfully address him as Captain Tian Heng when they saw his Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Thunder-Pattern Robe.

When had anyone ever dared point at his nose and call the supreme martial soul passed down through his sect a "Broken-Line Loach"?

"Ignorant madman!!"

A deep growl rolled from Yu Tianheng's throat. He could not be bothered to waste another word.

The soul power of a level thirty-nine Power Attack System Venerable exploded through his meridians with a boom. Three soul rings, two yellow and one purple, spiraled up from beneath his feet, and his dangling right arm abruptly swelled a full size!

Deep blue scales flipped and locked together with sharp cracks. His fingers stretched straight into razor-sharp dragon claws, and several savage arcs of lightning darted out more than half a foot like flickering snake tongues, skimming the floor as they blasted toward Su Chen's legs! This was not an all-out killing strike, merely a means of establishing his authority. He intended to force this country bumpkin to his knees on the spot and shatter his bones...

Standing behind him, the Shi Brothers folded their arms across their chests, their broad frames blocking most of the corridor, a trace of indifference curling their lips.

In their eyes, an untrained nobody who had crawled out of a backwater like Suotuo City could never withstand the Tyrant Dragon's innate lightning force.

Yet faced with the deep blue lightning rushing toward him, Su Chen did not even lift a foot. Not so much as the shadow of a soul ring appeared around him.

He merely lowered his center of gravity a fraction.

All two hundred and six pure yang dragon bones shuddered deep within their marrow. The instinctive counterattack of his divine rank thundered through his meridians, and an utterly domineering surge of vitality burst from his body, forming an invisible wall of force that swept fiercely outward along the hem of his white robe!

Bang...!

The expected explosion of lightning never came. There was only a dull, thunderous tremor.

The violent arcs, powerful enough to tear scorched grooves through iron plates, struck the barrier three inches in front of Su Chen's feet as though they had smashed headfirst into a sheer cliff towering ten thousand fathoms high. They could not scatter even a single spark. Shattered inch by inch on the spot, they turned into a wisp of smoke and vanished without a trace!

The air in the corridor froze into ice in an instant.

The contempt on the Shi Brothers' faces froze solid, their eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets. Without revealing his martial soul or summoning his soul rings, he had shattered the Blue Lightning force with nothing but the protective energy radiating from his flesh?

Yu Tianheng's face alternated between livid and pale, and the sweet, metallic taste of blood rose in his throat. He was about to force out his second soul skill to salvage his pride when Dugu Yan, standing diagonally behind him, lost her patience first.

"You insolent little beast!"

Murderous fury filled Dugu Yan's green eyes, and her short, dark purple hair stirred without a breeze. Fiercely protective by nature, how could she tolerate seeing the man she loved humiliated in this savage little city?

She curled all ten fingers beneath her sleeves. Three soul rings, two yellow and one purple, quietly emerged. An exceedingly fine strand of purple mist, carrying a sickly sweet, bloody scent, crept along a hidden corner of the floor tiles, silently winding toward Su Chen's flank like a venomous snake slipping from its hole...

This was the Jade Phosphor Purple Poison that had made her famous. Even the slightest contact could rot a person's entire body into bloody liquid within three breaths.

"If Dugu Bo came here to poison me himself, I might spare him another glance. But a little snake like you, whose venom sacs are practically rotten through-what right do you have to show off here?"

Su Chen never even looked at the strand of poisonous mist, but his icy voice struck Dugu Yan's eardrums like a clap of muffled thunder. A dark golden gleam flashed deep within his delusion-breaking divine pupils. He had already seen straight through the ravaged course of the meridian inside her body.

Su Chen turned his head, his gaze scraping across her like a sharp blade, every word stabbing at her heart. "Every rainy night, do your Qimen Acupoint beneath your ribs and the depths of your Shanzhong Meridian hurt as though thousands upon thousands of venomous insects were gnawing through them? Over the past six months, has that pain crept upward along your Triple Burner Meridian, until even in your dreams you can smell the rotting flesh in your own throat?"

Dugu Yan's hands abruptly froze. The poison seals at her fingertips fell into disarray, and the strand of purple mist dissolved into nothing on the spot.

"You... what nonsense are you talking about?" she shrieked, but an unmistakable tremor ran through her voice.

"You know better than anyone whether it's nonsense." A cold sneer tugged at Su Chen's lips. "The poison's backlash has soaked into your marrow. If Dugu Bo weren't forcing you to cling to life with aged medicinal herbs, you would have dissolved into a puddle of pus when you broke through level thirty last year. You can't even figure out when you're going to die, yet you still come here to make a spectacle of yourself?!"

Those words smashed all of Dugu Yan's pride like a heavy hammer. A secret she had never told even Yu Tianheng had been exposed in a single breath by this unfamiliar youth from Suotuo City!

"Who exactly are you?" Dugu Yan trembled violently and staggered half a step back...

"Yanzi, get back! Don't let his nonsense shake your resolve!!"

Yu Tianheng grabbed her and pulled her behind him. Blue light surged across his entire right arm, his murderous aura threatening to tear the roof off the corridor.

Across from them, Zhu Zhuqing slightly curled her fingers, armor-piercing dragon qi quietly coating her fingertips; Xiao Wu clenched her small fists, her soul rings poised to erupt; Ning Rongrong raised a nine-colored phantom in her palm. The killing tension in the corridor tightened like a bowstring on the verge of snapping!

"All of you, stop! What do you think you're doing?!"

A deep, furious shout exploded from around the corner.

The crimson phantom of a Fire Wolf martial soul flashed, and a gray-robed figure forced his way between the two teams. The pressure of six soul rings surged outward to both sides like a tidal wave, forcibly tearing apart the congealed killing intent.

It was Qin Ming, Heaven Dou Royal Academy's youngest team instructor.

He had just finished the registration formalities when he sensed the fluctuations in soul power and rushed over. The moment he arrived, his heart lurched.

Yu Tianheng's right arm was trembling, and Dugu Yan's face was bloodless. Yet the white-robed youth opposite them remained composed, without the slightest sign of disorder... One glance was enough for Qin Ming to see that the Imperial Fighting Team had suffered badly in the covert clash of forces.

"Tian Heng, Yanzi, private fights are strictly forbidden inside the Soul Fighting Arena. Do you want to be disqualified here?" Qin Ming reprimanded them, his expression cold.

Yu Tianheng clenched his teeth so hard they creaked, veins bulging along his jaw. Under Qin Ming's gaze, however, he finally swallowed his rage. He shot Su Chen a vicious glare and tucked his trembling right arm back inside his robe.

Qin Ming turned and cupped his hands toward Su Chen in a slight bow, his courtesy steeped in wariness. "Young brother, if there's a dispute, you can settle it through your abilities in the ring. Fighting in private is hardly proper."

Su Chen did not even raise his eyelids. He casually brushed a speck of dust from his cuff, then turned and led the three girls toward the far end of the preparation area.

From the Amplifying Soul Tool above the passage, Doudou's excited shout suddenly burst forth:

"Ladies! Gentlemen! Tonight's ultimate main event at the Soto Great Soul Arena-is! About! To! Begin!"

"On one side, the prodigies who swept through Heaven Dou Imperial City, every member a Silver Soul Fighter-the 'Imperial Fighting Team'! On the other, the undefeated, invincible dark horse-the 'Dragon God Team'!"

"Who will emerge victorious tonight? Let's welcome both teams with our wildest cheers!"

Rumble...!

A tsunami of roaring cheers instantly flooded the entire corridor, making the floor hum and tremble.

The enormous black iron gates thundered upward amid the clatter of interlocking chains. Dazzling white light struck the hundred-meter-wide Granite Platform at the center like sharp swords.

"Take the stage!" Qin Ming ordered in a low voice.

Yu Tianheng drew a deep breath and led his grim-faced teammates forward in long strides. The instant he stepped into the ring, he suddenly looked back and made a throat-slitting gesture at Su Chen.

Su Chen ignored him. With steady steps, he passed through the iron gates and stepped onto the cold stone platform amid the deafening roars.

At the center of the ring, the two teams faced each other from thirty meters apart.

Yu Tianheng stood at the very front, lightning leaping wildly across his right arm. Dugu Yan and the Shi Brothers spread out in semicircles to either side, while Ye Lingling stood silently at the rear, her face covered by a black veil. Murderous intent soared skyward.

On the other side, Su Chen stood with one hand behind his back, his dark golden eyes cold as ice, fixed unwaveringly on Yu Tianheng's face.

Invisible sparks ignited in full the instant their gazes collided...