Facing Mo Yuan (Part Three)

The shrill clang of metal still echoed above the Training Ground.

Yang Ke clutched the Giant Spirit Shield in a death grip, driven back again and again by that overwhelming force. His feet scraped two shallow grooves across the flagstones. Searing pain shot up his arms from the webs of his thumbs, and fine bloody splits already covered his palms. His numb arms could barely hold the shield.

Everyone's heart lurched, and a sense of helplessness surged through them.

This was the depth of a Soul Saint's strength.

Despite deliberately suppressing his power, a single casual slash had nearly broken Yang Ke's all-out defense, forcing the team's strongest frontline fighter back step after step.

The battle seemed deadlocked, but everyone knew their earlier advantage had been an illusion. Mo Yuan had not made a single serious attack. Once he cast off his restraints, this team of newcomers would be crushed in an instant.

Yet no one backed down. Instead, their fighting spirit blazed to life.

They had fought so hard to find their rhythm as a team, so hard to seize this opportunity to battle. Even against a Soul Saint suppressing his cultivation, they refused to concede without a fight.

Just as Yang Ke staggered into a steady stance, during the brief moment when everyone's concentration faltered, a fierce figure suddenly burst through a blind spot in the battle line.

It was Li Jiaojiao.

The terrifying impact had not shaken her at all. Her eyes shone with startling brightness, filled with an unyielding refusal to lose. She swung the Vajra Staff high, every muscle in her arm taut. Earthen-yellow soul power surged wildly around the staff as its ponderous force finished building.

Seizing the brief stiffness as Mo Yuan drew his right arm back after his slash cut through empty