Stack the Thickest Armor

Lightning struck Niu Shaopeng's skin, reinforced by his soul skill, leaving behind a charred patch.

Feeling the pain in his forearm, Niu Shaopeng's eyes reddened as he launched a counterattack.

He charged straight ahead like a crazed bull.

Lei Yin crossed his fingers before him, then pulled them apart, drawing out a net made of lightning.

The electric net blocked Niu Shaopeng's path, scorching his entire body black and making his hair stand on end.

"Ha ha ha..." Bateman mocked from the side. "Don't tell me you're about to lose?"

"Shut up!" Niu Shaopeng roared angrily as he activated his second soul skill.

His skin, which had resembled bark, transformed into patches of grayish-white rock.

Then, his third Spirit Ring lit up—a thousand-year purple Spirit Ring.

A faint metallic sheen appeared over his grayish-white skin.

Lei Yin understood. He had used all his soul skills to boost his defense.

A saying he had once heard in a tavern in Frostleaf City suddenly surfaced in his mind:

Wear the thickest armor, take the harshest beating.

A smile tugged at his lips. Lei Yin did not rush to attack, instead calmly widening the distance between them.

Maintaining soul skills consumed Soul Power. Time was on his side.

"Hey, kid? Are you scared?" Niu Shaopeng taunted.

"No, this is called a strategic retreat." Lei Yin smiled, unmoved by his words.

"Then you'd better watch out..." Niu Shaopeng charged again.

This time, he moved far faster than before, but it still was not enough.

Lightning coiled around Lei Yin's legs, constantly coursing through them. He also conducted electric currents through the ground, numbing his opponent's muscles and slowing him down.

This allowed him to maintain a safe distance from his opponent at all times.

Second by second, time passed. Niu Shaopeng was already beginning to pant from the depletion of both Soul Power and stamina.

During this time, he had tried turning off the defensive enhancements from his Spirit Rings to conserve Soul Power, but whenever he did, he would be met with fierce lightning strikes.

They were stronger and more damaging than the probing attack at the beginning, forcing him to keep his enhancements active.

Lei Yin's Martial Soul was lightning, which naturally possessed excellent conductivity. This allowed him to throw it with ease, unlike Yan Jin, who needed to specifically obtain a Spirit Ring for "launching" it.

Thus, the direction Amon had chosen for Lei Yin's second Spirit Ring was "storage," compensating for lightning's flaw of dissipating quickly after being created and improving his ability to fight prolonged battles.

Lei Yin could create lightning during ordinary times and store it within his second Spirit Ring, though there was naturally a limit.

Ever since fighting Niu Shaopeng, he had been conserving his lightning. He had not even exhausted the lightning stored in his Spirit Ring.

With the battle having reached this point, anyone could tell that the scales of victory had begun to tip toward Lei Yin.

"Ha ha, this big idiot is being toyed with," Bateman remarked with a laugh.

No one echoed him.

In truth, Niu Shaopeng was not particularly slow. The space for dodging on the arena was limited, and the fact that Lei Yin could evade every one of his charges already proved his advantage in speed.

Moreover, he had forced Niu Shaopeng to maintain the stacked defensive state of all three Spirit Rings, showing that his attack power was no slouch either.

And lightning also came with a numbing control effect.

Speed, attack power, control—put the three together, and anyone who thought about it for even a moment would understand how troublesome Lei Yin was.

Not to mention, he still seemed to be holding something back!

Niu Shaopeng's expression turned rather ugly. Being beaten so thoroughly by a child without any ability to fight back was humiliating.

He made a snap decision and activated his Martial Soul's special ability: Berserk.

When Green-Veined Water Buffaloes faced a life-or-death crisis, they entered a berserk state. During that time, their attack power, defense, speed, and more would all increase dramatically.

Niu Shaopeng's Martial Soul gave him the same ability, except he could activate it voluntarily without needing to be in a specific state such as "facing a life-or-death crisis."

His speed suddenly surged, while the numbing effect of the electric current on the ground was greatly weakened. Lei Yin began to find it difficult to dodge.

Amon raised his right hand and adjusted the lower rim of his Monocle before speaking.

"Lei Yin, stop playing around. End this quickly."

Since this was an assessment, winning through proper strategy was indeed one approach. However, Amon needed a clean, decisive victory to demonstrate the strength of their group. That would make his team more attractive to outstanding students.

He did not have a powerful background, and Yan Jin's master, Walter, had no intention of intervening much. Therefore, he could only improve the team's competitiveness through other means.

No matter what, the ultimate goal of joining the team was to win the Internal Selection Tournament and represent The Academy in the Soul Master Tournament.

Therefore, "victory" was their greatest advantage. As long as others believed they could achieve "victory," they would not lack recruits.

"Understood, Mr. Amon..." Lei Yin nodded, then said to Niu Shaopeng, who had gone Berserk and retained little reason, "I originally didn't want to hurt you too badly, but since Mr. Amon has requested it, I can only finish this quickly."

He pressed his palms together before him. Then, his right hand drew a silver-white short spear from his left palm. The instant it left his palm, it suddenly extended, transforming into a long spear.

Thunder Spear!

This was a spear formed from highly condensed lightning. Even from a distance, merely looking at it made one's heart tremble.

"No way... is he a Soul Grandmaster?"

Bateman was startled and involuntarily looked toward Bing Lan, then at Yan Jin, who kept glaring at him from time to time. He suddenly felt that it would be wiser to speak less.

Watching the burly figure charge toward him, Lei Yin showed no intention of dodging.

Lightning surged as he hurled the spear in his hand.

This strike exhausted all the lightning stored within his second Spirit Ring and consumed a great deal of Soul Power, turning his face somewhat pale.

Boom...

Thunder exploded. Amid an ear-splitting roar, a massive crater was blasted into the arena.

Covered in blood, Niu Shaopeng emerged from the smoke and dust. After taking a few steps, he collapsed headfirst onto the ground.

Yu Xinxue hurriedly rushed onto the arena to inspect his injuries, shouting at the same time, "Alana, get over here and heal him!"

Before she even finished speaking, a girl dressed in pale green with flaxen curly hair had already leaped over.

"Leave it to me," she said in a sweet voice.

A Dandelion appeared in Alana's hand, giving off a pearly white glow.

Three Spirit Rings—yellow, yellow, purple—appeared around her. She was a healing-type Soul Elder.

Her purple Spirit Ring lit up. The pearly white radiance formed tiny balls of light that merged into Niu Shaopeng's wounds.

The wounds that had been bleeding profusely quickly stopped bleeding and began to heal at a visible rate.

"I have only restored his external injuries. His internal injuries still need further examination.

"Also, although my treatment has closed his wounds, it consumes his own life force. So overall, he is even weaker now.

"Combined with the negative effects of Berserk, he will likely need quite some time to recuperate—at least half a month," Alana said softly.

"You've already done very well." Yu Xinxue nodded.

Lei Yin walked over and said apologetically, "Sorry, I hit too hard. I didn't properly control the power of my soul skill."

Yu Xinxue waved her hand. "There's no need to apologize. Injuries are common during sparring. As long as no permanent or difficult-to-heal injuries are left behind, it's fine.

"Besides, the reason he needs to recuperate for so long is mostly the side effect of Berserk. Your attack was powerful, but this kid has thick skin and tough flesh. He is a Soul Elder, after all.

"If it were only the superficial injuries caused by that strike, he'd be lively again in two or three days after receiving treatment."

Tian Honghai walked over, picked up Niu Shaopeng, and said, "I'll take him to the infirmary. Teacher Yu, keep an eye on things here so nothing unexpected happens."

"Alright, thank you." Yu Xinxue nodded.