We're fighting here-do you think this is an opera?

Xue Wu's scream caused an uproar in front of the command platform.

The little girl with pigtails leaped up the wooden steps, grabbed Shui Bing'er whose face was deathly pale, and waved her light blue command flag wildly in the wind. Her almond-shaped eyes widened. "Referee! Heavenly Water requests to use the Martial Soul Fusion Skill! We are willing to consider it the price for both of us forfeiting, in exchange for a combined battle!"

Logically, the qualifying rounds should be One-by-One Challenge. One person goes up and one person comes down; there's no reason for two people to go up on stage at once, like a buy-one-get-one-free deal.

The pale-faced referee on duty wiped the cold sweat from his neck, turned his head and stared longingly at the several large Buddha statues on the high platform to the north, unsure whether to raise or lower the red and blue command flags in his hands.

Right in the middle of the platform, Salas's eyelids, which had been almost closed into slits, suddenly opened wide, and a sinister look flashed across his sallow face.

Heavenly Water's "Ice and Snow Drifting" is renowned throughout the entire Heaven Dou Empire. Two Four-Ring Soul Ancestor risked their lives to combine their powers, and the resulting Blizzard would make even ordinary Soul Emperors retreat three feet. He was just looking for an excuse to expose all of Blue Tyrant's trump cards!

Salas coughed lightly, poked half his neck out from under his fur collar, and slowly began to speak in his hoarse voice:

"Ahem... Although the qualifying rounds are one-on-one duels, they are also meant to hone the unique skills of each academy. Martial Soul Fusion Skills are divine gifts. Since the young man from Heavenly Water has this fighting spirit, if Blue Tyrant's side doesn't object, making an exception and letting everyone see it wouldn't be considered breaking the rules."

This was delivered in a slippery and biased manner, clearly an attempt to take sides and offer a knife.

Xue Ye held his hand warmer without saying a word, his deep gaze fixed on the center of the arena, clearly wanting to figure out just how much Ling Yun was still hiding.

All fourteen academies in the room had their eyes fixed on Ling Yun.

On the other side of the Godwind Academy, several crippled team members grinned and smirked; Blazing Fire Huo Wushuang, crossed his two thick arms, eager to see Blue Tyrant suffer a major setback.

Ling Yun, who was standing right in the middle of the platform, didn't even budge an inch when he heard these words.

His hands remained firmly in his pockets as he tilted his head to glance at Salas on the platform, then swept his gaze across the two pretty girls in front of him. A smirk appeared on his lips, and he burst out laughing.

"Archbishop Salas, did you forget to wash your face in the latrine this morning before you left?"

Ling Yun's voice wasn't loud, but the wind blowing across the vast wilderness made it clear to the thousands of heavy cavalry and Soul Masters present.

Salas's face twitched violently, and he nearly snapped the rosary in his hand in two.

"If you can't beat them one-on-one, then you switch to two people teaming up?"

Ling Yun ground his toe on the wooden board, his eyelids drooping, and laughed and cursed, "According to your ridiculous rules, if I tie all seven of the Blue Tyrants together with rope and roll them onto the stage tomorrow, would that count as a unit? So, rules are rules in the camp, but on the Arena, it's all up to your two lips and your gossip?"

Shui Bing'er's fair face turned bright red with embarrassment at these words. She reached out and grabbed Xue Wu's sleeve tightly. "Xue Wu, stop fooling around, get down! A loss is a loss, Heavenly Water can't afford to lose face like this!"

"I don't!"

Tears welled up in Xue Wu's eyes. She shoved Shui Bing'er aside, stiffened her neck, and screamed at Ling Yun, "Ling Yun! Just tell me if you dare to accept the challenge! If you're scared, then get off the stage!"

"Afraid?"

Ling Yun let out a cold laugh through his nose.

He slowly pulled his hands out of his pockets, his knuckles cracking with a snap, and the nonchalance in his eyes vanished instantly, replaced by a chilling glint.

"I'm worried that you two little brats, who haven't even grown all their hair yet, will fall down and cry for your parents, it'll be too embarrassing."

Ling Yun raised his hand and beckoned to the two of them with his index finger. "Since the old dog on stage wants to watch a circus act, you'd better hurry up and set up the stage. If I don't pluck all your icy hairs within three moves, I'll jump off and admit defeat myself."

Mad!

Absolutely outrageous!

"You're arrogant!!"

Xue Wu was so angry that the veins on her forehead throbbed. Ignoring Shui Bing'er's attempts to stop her, she took a step and her dark blue dress suddenly spun open in mid-air like an umbrella!

With her hands forming delicate orchid-like fingers, she lightly tapped her toes on the frost-covered wooden planks, her whole body spinning around Shui Bing'er like a top in a blue gauze skirt. She chanted incantations, and four Soul Rings— two yellow and two purple—glown simultaneously beneath her feet, while swirling, pale white snowflakes fluttered out from beneath her skirt!

The ultimate skill of Heavenly Water: the Snow-Praying Dance!

In the center of the circle, Shui Bing'er, seeing that the die was cast, steeled her heart, bit her tongue Spit Up a mouthful of blood essence. The illusory Ice Phoenix behind her cried out to the sky, and she rose up from the ground, rushing towards Xue Wu's head!

If it were an ordinary Soul Master facing off against Martial Soul Fusion Skill that could easily trigger extraordinary phenomena in the heavens and earth, they would have been so frightened that they would have raised their shields and cowered in their shells, waiting for the ultimate attack to come crashing down.

Everyone in the stands held their breath, waiting to witness the awe-inspiring power of the swirling snow.

Ling Yun, standing in the center of the command platform, looked at the clown in a backstreet circus as if he were watching him spin a plate.

So, before we even start fighting, we have to do a Striptease to warm things up?

Ling Yun uttered an extremely vulgar and obnoxious remark, then twisted his foot!

Even the light of the Martial Soul Possession didn't flash.

Snap!

A wet, watery afterimage remained in mid-air. Ling Yun flew like a swallow skimming the ground, without the slightest hesitation, braving the howling cold wind, and in a flash, he plunged into Xue Wu's circling footsteps!

That's too fast!

So fast that Xue Wu hadn't even properly landed her third step!

Under Xue Wu's horrified gaze, Ling Yun didn't even clench his fist. He suddenly ducked, his long leg wrapped in the roaring high-pressure water wave, and slid down solidly across the wooden floor Sturdy a powerful sliding tackle!

Physical interruption!

Who says that when the opponent is casting a powerful attack, bystanders have to just Leer like wooden stakes and wait?!

Click!

"Oh my god!!"

A jarring, unpleasant cracking sound, mixed with Growl, suddenly rang out.

Xue Wu's slender leg, which was posing on tiptoe, was suddenly struck squarely by Ling Yun's powerful sliding tackle. The sharp pain shot from her ankle to her head, instantly ruining her ethereal twirl. She lost her balance, tracing a comical arc in mid-air before crashing face -Sturdy into the dirt with a thud!

That fair and pretty face Sturdy hard against the hard, icy wooden board, making her nose bright red, and tears and snot immediately streamed down her face!

"Xue Wu!!"

Shui Bing'er, who was about to pounce in mid-air, suddenly lost all her Soul Power and almost fell headfirst into the air!

The most deadly aspect of the Martial Soul Fusion Skill is the seamless resonance of the two people's Divine Sense and Soul Power. Xue Wu, who was leading the dance, had her base kicked away. The icy vortex in mid-air collapsed on one side, and the backlash of cold air made Shui Bing'er feel a sweet and metallic taste in her throat!

"You scoundrel! You shameless lecher!!"

Shui Bing'er was consumed by rage, her eyes red-rimmed. She Sheer Force reversed her meridians, desperately gathering the scattered freezing energy into her chest. The half-broken phantom of the Ice Phoenix, wrapped in razor-sharp ice shards, pressed down relentlessly on Ling Yun on the ground.

"Die! Ice and Snow Drifting!!"

The incomplete ultimate move, carrying immense chilling power, plowed dozens of bottomless cracks into the entire command platform!

Tang San, standing in the stands, suddenly straightened up behind the shadows of the trees, his fingers gripping the Sinking Silver Mechanism, his eyes gleaming with a fierce light—chaos! The rhythm is completely out of control! This kind of berserk, indiscriminate attack is impossible to dodge within three zhang!

However.

Ling Yun, kneeling on the wooden plank, didn't even glance up at the falling Blizzard.

He braced himself with one hand on the ground, and with his right hand clenched into a claw shape, his five fingers gripping the wooden floor beneath his feet!

The Head Soul Bone deep within the dantian, which had just been refined into the bone, burst forth with dazzling, dark blue light!

"You want to play in the Water Sport and on the ice with me? You're eight generations behind me!"

Boom--!

It's not a protective water film at all!

In front of Ling Yun, four high-pressure water jets, each as thick as an old locust tree, tore through the ground out of thin air. Without freezing or slowing down, they roared upwards at a speed of tens of thousands of revolutions per second!

High-frequency Water Release, Dragon Strangulation!

The countless hard ice blades falling from the sky and the phantom of the Ice Phoenix desperately Body Press all failed to withstand the impact of the four high-pressure, violent water dragon pillars for even half a blink of an eye. It was like a large bowl of eggs hitting a rapidly spinning solid iron millstone!

Crackling and popping!

Bang! Bang!

Ice shards, along with the raging wind and snow, were shredded into white foam and flour-like particles by the High-Pressure Water Blade in mid-air!

The violent recoil wave was like an invisible slap, sending Shui Bing'er flying more than twenty feet away, along with Xue Wu Shui Bing'er struggling on the ground!

Call! Call!

Two dull thuds of flesh hitting flesh echoed in the rotten meadow outside the command platform.

Her light blue dress was torn to shreds, and her once slicked-back hair was now disheveled like a madwoman's, her face covered in mud and ice shards. Shui Bing'er and Xue Wu lay slumped in the rotten grass pit, convulsing, their eyes glazed over, completely drained of the strength to get up.

On the reviewing stand, the Blizzard stopped.

The water gushed down through the cracks in the wood.

Ling Yun slowly put his hands back into his shorts pockets, his shoes making soft pattering sounds as he stepped into the puddles.

He walked to the edge of the platform, glanced down at the two Heavenly Water girls sniffling and shivering in the muddy puddle, chewing on some dry grass he'd somehow managed to smuggle, without even lifting his eyelids:

"If you're going to fight, then fight. Why are you spinning around like that?"

"Next time you want to do a Striptease, go do it in your own bed, don't embarrass yourself in front of me."

The entire Royal Hunting Grounds were so silent that you could hear a single blade of grass fall to the ground.

Salas sat on the high platform, and with a snap, he crushed the priceless dark gold rosary in his hand into dust.

And in the shade of the old locust tree thirty feet away.

Tang San leaned tightly against the tree trunk, his palms were covered in cold sweat, and the edges of the heavy silver iron box had left deep purple marks on his palms.

He looked at the young man on the stage, who had broken the Martial Soul Fusion Skill without even revealing his fourth ring of the Ten Thousand Years' Martial Soul, and cold sweat poured down his back.

Rules are worthless!

In the eyes of this ruthless monster, the combat common sense that the entire continent reveres as divine is not even worth a damn lump of mud!

Tang San slowly lowered his head. The restlessness that had been in his bloodshot eyes completely subsided, turning into a bottomless pool of stagnant water oozing poison.

A direct confrontation offers absolutely no chance of victory.

There was no flaw on the surface.

Tang San's fingers, hidden beneath his sleeve, slowly slid towards the small red cloth pouch, no bigger than a palm, at his waist.

That was the Bone-Corroding Blood-Dissolving Powder he had risked his life to collect on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.

' Ling Yun... since the rules on stage can't control you...'

Tang San grinned silently from the shadows, revealing two rows of gleaming white teeth. "Once we're out of the hunting grounds, in the Canyon of Spirit City... I'll see if you can defend against an entire mountain of dead bones!"