Qian Renxue: Despicable Shrek, Resorting to a Honey Trap! (Revised)

So fast! How could he be so fast?

As she watched Chen An suddenly erupt with astonishing speed, leap into the air, and unleash five dark golden claw streaks, shock involuntarily surfaced in Ma Xiaotao's pale pink eyes.

Chen An had not been slow before, but his speed had always remained within her ability to react.

Whenever Chen An tried to leap into the air and approach her, she could flap her flaming wings to widen the distance, or use her aerial advantage to rain Phoenix Flame down on him, suppressing and harrying him until he could only passively take a beating.

But just now, Chen An had erupted with a speed two or three times greater than before, exceeding the limits of her reaction outright.

By the time she reacted, Chen An had already leaped into the air, closed the distance between them, and launched his attack.

At that moment, only five short meters separated Chen An and Ma Xiaotao.

Looking at the five three-meter-long dark golden claw streaks hurtling toward her like thunderbolts, and judging the distance between them, Ma Xiaotao realized she had no time to dodge. She could only take the attack head-on.

Determination flashed through Ma Xiaotao's alluring, pale pink phoenix eyes. So what if they clashed head-on? Would she really fear a One-Ring Soul Master?!

"Screee!"

With a phoenix's cry, the two yellow Soul Rings and one purple Soul Ring surrounding Ma Xiaotao ignited simultaneously.

At the same time, the clothing covering her right arm vanished completely, revealing an arm as red as a burning coal.

The Soul Bone Skill of the thirty-thousand-year Explosive Burning Flame Right Arm Bone! Phoenix Explosion Strike (used against the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy during the soul fighting tournament in the original story)!

Facing the incomparably sharp Dark Gold Dreadclaw, Ma Xiaotao unhesitatingly activated the Soul Bone Skill she had kept as her trump card.

Ma Xiaotao raised her right arm, compressing wildly violent Phoenix Flame within it until the compression reached its limit.

Ma Xiaotao thrust out her palm. The scorching Phoenix Flame instantly condensed into a dark red phoenix that shot toward the Dark Gold Dreadclaw like lightning.

The dark red phoenix was not large, measuring only three meters, but the moment it appeared, the entire Soul Fighting Arena seemed to become an enormous steamer as the temperature soared.

Even the students seated in the surrounding stands felt their skin grow dry and their mouths parched. Clearly, the intense heat had evaporated the moisture in the air, sharply reducing the humidity and causing physical discomfort.

The dark red phoenix collided with the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Chen An had unleashed.

Intercepted by the dark red phoenix, the all-rending Dark Gold Dreadclaw abruptly stopped in midair. It even turned scarlet, beginning to melt as the phoenix ate away at it.

Within a single breath, the dark red phoenix let out a piercing cry and burst through the Dark Gold Dreadclaw.

Finally, it grazed the hem of Chen An's clothes before slamming into the Soul Fighting Arena, melting five or six square meters of the ground into lava.

Pale-faced, Ma Xiaotao watched the dark red phoenix break through the Dark Gold Dreadclaw and melt a patch of the arena floor into lava. A proud smile curved her lips.

That dark red phoenix contained three great Soul Skills: Blazing Phoenix, Phoenix Fire Line, and Phoenix Explosion Strike, the skill granted by her Right Arm Soul Bone.

With three Soul Skills compressed together, its terrifying power had surpassed the Soul Ancestor level and could even threaten Soul Masters at the Soul King level.

This method of compressing three Soul Skills together was a secret art of Shrek Academy.

Moreover, it was suited only to Soul Masters like her, who primarily attacked opponents with energy, and it required a Soul Bone as a vessel. Soul Bones were the best containers: exceptionally tough and capable of holding sufficiently violent energy.

Without a Soul Bone, the violent energy produced when the three Soul Skills were compressed would destroy the Soul Master first.

At only twelve years old, with Soul Elder cultivation, Ma Xiaotao had mastered such a formidable secret art. Naturally, she was immensely proud.

In fact, if her Spiritual Power had been strong enough to control the astonishingly powerful dark red phoenix's movements, Chen An would have been defeated instantly.

In the Soul Fighting Arena, the Soul Saint referee's mouth twitched as he looked at the lava on the ground.

This appeared to be an advanced secret art performed through a Soul Bone, one taught only to Inner Court students.

Even a Soul King would probably suffer badly if they took that dark red phoenix's attack.

A Soul Master and a Soul Elder had caused such a tremendous commotion. It was truly horrifying.

And with the fight this intense, his job as referee was becoming very difficult.

Had his Spiritual Power perception not told him that the dark red phoenix would miss Chen An, he would have nearly been unable to stop himself from intervening and forcibly suspending the soul fighting match.

Just as the referee wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and continued overseeing the match—

The students in the stands watched Chen An and Ma Xiaotao exchange Soul Skills, each so frightened they nearly wet themselves.

The collision had been truly terrifying. Its power had even been strong enough to affect the surrounding environment.

Those who knew understood that this was a fight between a Soul Master and a Soul Elder. Anyone who did not would have thought two Soul Ancestors, or even two Soul Kings, were battling.

Dai Yueheng, who was sitting in the stands taking bets, watched the dark red phoenix Ma Xiaotao had just unleashed in the Soul Fighting Arena. A trace of alarm surfaced in his eyes.

As fellow descendants of the Shrek Seven Devils from ten thousand years ago, he had always thought that he and Ma Xiaotao were evenly matched. If they really fought, he should have had an even chance of winning.

But he had never expected Ma Xiaotao's combat strength to be so terrifying.

If he had seen correctly, Ma Xiaotao actually possessed a high-quality Soul Bone. Not only that, she had even mastered such a powerful secret art.

Leaving everything else aside, that dark red phoenix alone had been so terrifyingly powerful that even three of him together could not have blocked it.

Dai Yueheng quickly adjusted his mindset and calmed down, thinking, Ma Xiaotao and Chen An both have astonishing strength. Not only do they possess precious Soul Bones—

Their mastery of their martial souls and Soul Skills has also reached a level that Soul Masters of the same rank can scarcely hope to catch up to.

Gongyang Mo watched Ma Xiaotao in the Soul Fighting Arena, shock showing in his eyes.

He was Ma Xiaotao's close friend and knew her strength better than anyone. He truly could not imagine that someone in her age group could fight her to this extent, even forcing her to use her secret art.

No, Chen An was much younger than Ma Xiaotao, and his cultivation was only at the Soul Master level. For a Soul Master to push Ma Xiaotao, a Soul Elder, into such a predicament was simply absurd.

Chen Zifeng, tall and slender with a warm smile on his face, could no longer laugh either.

He had always been confident in his own strength, but after seeing Ma Xiaotao and Chen An's performances, he finally realized he had been nothing more than a frog at the bottom of a well.

Chen Zifeng thought, I need to cultivate harder. I can't keep congratulating myself over the little achievements I made in the past.

Whether it's Ma Xiaotao's fusion of multiple Soul Skills or Chen An's development and application of his own martial soul, both are worth learning from.

Beside Chen Zifeng, Yao Haoxuan could not help swallowing as he watched Ma Xiaotao and Chen An.

As a semi-Support System Soul Master, he had little obsession with competing for supremacy. What worried him most now was that the Gold Soul Coins he had wagered might go down the drain.

"No way, surely not, that can't happen, right? Xiaotao, you have to pull yourself together! Stay sharp! Whatever you do, don't hold back, and don't get careless!

"If you lose, my Gold Soul Coins will go down the drain! That's a whole month of living expenses!"

While Yao Haoxuan wailed and cheered Ma Xiaotao on—

Ling Luochеn, seated in the front row, could not help biting her lip as she watched the dark red phoenix Ma Xiaotao had unleashed.

When Ma Xiaotao had fought her before, she had actually held back instead of going all out!

What a crushing humiliation! An absolute disgrace! Was she really so weak that she could not even force Ma Xiaotao to use her full strength?

While the students in the stands were deeply shaken by the strength Chen An and Ma Xiaotao had displayed—

In the Soul Fighting Arena—

After using her secret art, Ma Xiaotao had completely exhausted her soul power. Her face was pale, the flaming wings on her back had dispersed, and she began falling from the air.

Five meters away from Ma Xiaotao, Chen An, who had leaped up to unleash Dark Gold Dreadclaw, was also falling from the air.

Thud!

Chen An landed on the cracked arena floor, glanced down at his missing hem, and narrowed his eyes slightly.

He had still underestimated Ma Xiaotao. He had not expected her to have such a move up her sleeve. That dark red phoenix had been even more powerful than Dark Gold Dreadclaw.

That did not mean Dark Gold Dreadclaw was not formidable, however. Chen An's dark gold terrorclaw bear right palm bone was merely a thousand-year Soul Bone, so its power naturally had limits.

As for the Soul Bone Ma Xiaotao had just activated, Chen An did not need to guess to know it had to be a premium Soul Bone at least ten thousand years old.

Moreover, that dark red phoenix seemed to have compressed and incorporated multiple Soul Skills. Such power was only to be expected.

Chen An thought, Shrek Academy has a legacy spanning ten thousand years. Today's Shrek Academy is no longer the penniless Shrek of ten thousand years ago.

Shrek Academy is now the undisputed greatest academy on the continent, and even its greatest power. Not only does it have the demigod Golden Tree and a Limit Douluo guarding it, but it also possesses all kinds of inherited secret arts.

Every core disciple is a true genius capable of overwhelming others at the same rank, or even defeating opponents above their rank.

Although I awakened the uniquely gifted True Self Martial Soul, I still have shortcomings in many areas. I need to keep improving.

Just now, if that dark red phoenix hadn't missed, I would already have lost. If the referee couldn't intervene in time, I might even have had to reveal the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's shed skin to protect myself.

With those thoughts, the faint arrogance Chen An had developed after awakening his True Self Martial Soul gradually faded, replaced by seriousness and composure.

Both Chen An and Ma Xiaotao had exhausted their soul power. They stood on the arena floor, their eyes meeting.

Chen An looked at Ma Xiaotao, stretched his aching thigh muscles slightly, then loosened his wrists.

To reach Ma Xiaotao with his attack, he had removed his brain's restrictions on his muscles, forcing his body into an overclocked burst.

Although that overclocked state had enormously increased his explosive power, it had placed a tremendous strain on his body.

That burst had even caused slight tears in the muscle fibers of his thighs. He would need two or three days of rest afterward to recover completely.

But now that both he and Ma Xiaotao had exhausted their soul power, the outcome would be decided by close-quarters combat.

At that thought, a confident smile curved Chen An's lips.

His martial soul was his True Self. Without using soul power, and given equal physical strength, his close-quarters fighting ability stood in a class of its own.

Apart from a handful of martial souls such as the golden dragon, no one could contend with him in close-quarters combat.

The outcome is already decided!

Chen An looked at Ma Xiaotao and said with a smile, "Senior Ma Xiaotao, you're incredible. That dark red phoenix was astonishingly powerful. Just a tiny bit more, and I would have lost."

"But now, this will be my home ground. Your martial soul is the evil fire phoenix, which isn't suited to close combat, so... you'd be better off conceding."

Standing at 1.7 meters tall, Ma Xiaotao looked down at Chen An, who only reached her chest, and declared proudly, "Even with my soul power exhausted, I won't lose to anyone in close combat!"

With that, Ma Xiaotao charged at Chen An on her long, shapely legs. Clearly, she refused to believe it and intended to try him herself.

Seeing that Ma Xiaotao would not turn back until she hit a brick wall, Chen An helplessly spread his hands.

Then his figure flashed. His feet moved, taking two strides where others would take three, and a few quick shifts brought him directly before Ma Xiaotao.

Chen An's eyes, with their excellent ability to track movement, and his Soul King-level Spiritual Power locked firmly onto Ma Xiaotao.

Then he feinted a punch toward Ma Xiaotao's chest.

Ma Xiaotao hurried to block, but unfortunately, Ma Xiaotao was fooled by Chen An's feint. The attack was only a false move.

Chen An's feinted punch was merely intended to lure Ma Xiaotao into moving and expose an opening.

Chen An immediately spun into a side kick, driving it hard into Ma Xiaotao's lower abdomen.

Struck by that heavy blow, Ma Xiaotao's expression changed drastically. She nearly vomited up her dinner.

Chen An pressed his advantage without mercy. Ducking low, he slipped around Ma Xiaotao's side and behind her, clamped both hands around Ma Xiaotao's neck, and locked her in a cross guillotine choke.

In less than a minute, Ma Xiaotao lost consciousness and collapsed in the Soul Fighting Arena.

With that, the outcome was decided.

Seeing that the match had been settled, the referee immediately announced that Chen An had won this soul fighting match!

When the students in the arena stands saw that Ma Xiaotao had actually lost, some cheered, some stared in astonishment, and those who had lost Gold Soul Coins cursed loudly.

Before long, Ma Xiaotao regained consciousness in the Soul Fighting Arena. Looking at Chen An and listening to the noisy chatter in the stands, she was instantly overcome with shame and anger. Losing before everyone's eyes to a boy so much younger and so much weaker in cultivation than herself—she had truly humiliated herself.

Seeing that Ma Xiaotao's expression was off, Chen An immediately comforted her. "Senior Xiaotao, thank you for holding back. My victory this time was really just luck."

Ma Xiaotao folded her arms and said with reddened eyes, "I was careless this time. Let's fight again!"

Meanwhile, not far away—

Qian Renxue gazed at Ma Xiaotao darkly.

Well played, Shrek Academy. You actually resorted to a honey trap! How despicable!