Zhao Wuji flew into a rage. Without another word, he let out a bear's roar, and a yellow soul ring lit up.
"Second Soul Skill, Great Strength Vajra Palm!"
His bear paw whipped up a fierce wind as it slammed down toward Li Hanqiu's head.
Li Hanqiu did not meet it head-on. With a light push of his foot, he darted backward at an angle.
Holy Light Ao lunged out from the side, sweeping his dragon tail between Zhao Wuji and his master.
Bang!
Zhao Wuji's palm struck the dragon tail. The shock wave swept up fallen leaves and sent dirt flying three feet into the air.
Holy Light Ao retreated with the momentum and guarded Li Hanqiu, low strands of draconic rumbling rolling in his throat.
Furious, Zhao Wuji swung a backhand at a willow beside him. "Li Hanqiu, didn't you say you were going to deal with me? Stop running if you've got the guts!"
Standing ten paces away, Li Hanqiu watched Zhao Wuji snap the waist-thick willow with a single palm strike. It crashed to the ground in a cloud of dust.
Yet his expression remained calm, without the slightest hurry:
"Sure."
Li Hanqiu slowly raised his hand.
His fourth soul ring lit up.
"Holy Radiance Dragon Armor."
The next instant, golden light covered Li Hanqiu's entire body. It transformed into individual dragon scales, shielding him securely from head to toe, as though dressing him in a suit of armor.
Zhao Wuji roared and charged again, thrusting a palm straight at Li Hanqiu's face.
Holy Light Ao was eager to attack, but Li Hanqiu reached out to stop him. Instead, the corner of his mouth lifted.
He raised his right forearm across his body, a flash of disdain passing through his eyes.
Boom! Zhao Wuji's Great Strength Vajra Palm collided with the dragon armor on Li Hanqiu's right arm.
The dragon armor blazed with golden light.
Zhao Wuji felt a sudden recoil burst back through his palm, forcing him two steps backward.
"What is that..."
Before he could steady himself, Holy Light Ao pounced, slashing out with a claw and tearing away half of Zhao Wuji's sleeve.
Li Hanqiu also lowered his stance, gathered his strength, and threw a punch. Sacred light flickered across his dragon armor, then erupted into a brilliant blaze.
Man and dragon attacked from front and rear, beating Zhao Wuji into one retreat after another.
Zhao Wuji's expression turned ugly. At last, he stopped holding back.
"First Soul Skill, Immovable Bright King Body!"
A pale golden halo enveloped Zhao Wuji's entire body.
This was his First Soul Skill, Immovable Bright King Body. It could reflect attacks within three meters of him and was his core defensive soul skill.
It was also the source of his title, "Immovable Wisdom King."
"Heh heh, Li Hanqiu, all you've done is put on a suit of armor. When it comes to strength, your Grandpa Zhao is still the strongest!"
"Really? You mentioned strength, didn't you?"
The corners of Li Hanqiu's mouth lifted slightly. His fifth soul ring had already lit up silently beneath his feet.
"Fifth Soul Skill, Radiant Dragon Domain."
A vast surge of sacred light exploded outward from Li Hanqiu with a resonant hum.
The entire grove was immersed in sacred light, enveloped in a golden glow.
Even the dark curtain of night was gilded with a faint golden radiance.
Zhao Wuji suddenly felt his body grow heavy. An invisible pressure filled the air, bearing down on him until every part of him felt uncomfortable.
"This is... martial soul suppression?!"
Zhao Wuji roared in disbelief. His initial disdain had vanished from his eyes, leaving only confusion and a trace of... fear.
Yes, fear.
Martial soul suppression arose from the innate dominance between martial souls of vastly different grades. The relatively lower-ranked martial soul would suffer a trembling that came from its bloodline.
After Li Hanqiu unleashed Radiant Dragon Domain, Zhao Wuji felt as though his soul power had sunk into mud.
Drawing out even a fraction took twice his usual effort.
"Your martial soul..." His expression changed abruptly.
Standing at the center of the curtain of light, Li Hanqiu took a step toward him.
"Teacher Zhao, who do you think is the worthless one now?"
Zhao Wuji panted heavily and raised both fists, only to discover that Holy Light Ao had silently circled behind him.
He steeled himself, and all seven soul rings lit up.
"You insolent brat! Let me show you what a Soul Saint is, what a Martial Soul Ava-"
Zhao Wuji had not even finished saying "Martial Soul Avatar."
Li Hanqiu pushed off with his foot, and his figure abruptly vanished.
When he reappeared, he was already in front of Zhao Wuji.
Boom!
A fist covered in dragon armor slammed viciously into Zhao Wuji's chin, sending him flying ten meters.
The punch carried tremendous force. Vast power blasted into his face, piercing through flesh and bone and nearly shattering his facial bones.
Zhao Wuji flew horizontally through the air, his entire head buzzing.
His strength...
Fear and uncertainty gripped Zhao Wuji. He could not understand why Li Hanqiu's strength had become so immense.
Before he could land, Holy Light Ao had already positioned himself at the landing point and opened his cavernous maw.
Lightning flickered in his throat. Golden bolts churned with thunderous crackles, seemingly numbing even the air for several breaths.
No! Zhao Wuji screamed inwardly. He desperately twisted his body, trying to block Holy Light Ao's Thunderlight Fang with his arm.
But at that very moment, in Li Hanqiu's direction-
Li Hanqiu extended a palm toward Zhao Wuji, dense, milky-white sacred light churning in his hand.
A Holy Light Torrent surged forth, transforming in an instant into a pouring pillar of light.
Zhao Wuji abandoned all resistance. What he could not understand was why Li Hanqiu could also wield Holy Light Ao's soul power.
Wasn't an external martial soul supposed to release soul skills only through the martial soul itself? Since when could the Soul Master release them too?
He had never seen Yu Xiaogang fight by pulling down his own pants and going up to fart!
Why had everything changed with Li Hanqiu?!
Before Zhao Wuji could work it out, the next instant arrived.
Holy Light Ao's Thunderlight Fang and Li Hanqiu's Holy Light Breath slammed into Zhao Wuji together.
Deep in the night, a blaze of light suddenly erupted three hundred meters above the dark, shadowy forest.
Dazzling sacred light scattered in every direction, tearing the thick darkness apart. The outlines of every tree stood revealed in the white radiance.
After a long while, the curtain of sacred light slowly fell. The forest returned to its earlier silence, and night once again shrouded the dense woods.
It was as though that fleeting glimpse of sacred light had existed only in a hallucination. Only the warmth churning and flowing through the air remained.
It reminded anyone there at every moment that none of this had been an illusion. It had truly happened.
At the edge of the dense forest, a heavy crash struck the ground.
Li Hanqiu calmly looked ahead. "You certainly live up to the name 'Immovable Wisdom King.' You're still clinging to a breath. That really is worthy of praise."
Though his words offered praise, anyone could hear the mockery in his tone.
As the light dissipated completely, a massive bear's body swayed precariously and collapsed helplessly to the ground.
The five-meter-tall bear was now riddled with wounds. His tough hide had split all over, his flesh scorched black and left festering by sacred light and lightning in countless places.
The giant bear took several heavy breaths. Then soul power spilled outward, and his body gradually shrank, turning back into Zhao Wuji.
Panting heavily, he pressed a hand against his right chest, where blood continued seeping out. "Hah, hah-"
The wind in the grove stopped, and everything grew still.
Zhao Wuji's throat was dry. Leaning against an old tree, he kept panting heavily.
"Li Hanqiu!"
Zhao Wuji gritted his teeth and stared at Li Hanqiu, his eyes filled with shock and fury.
"You actually dared to hurt me! I'll kill you! Cough, cough, cough..."
Zhao Wuji roared, then spat out a mouthful of stagnant blood. His entire body shook violently, leaving him looking half-dead.
Watching Zhao Wuji prop up his battered body, Li Hanqiu remained utterly calm.
Holy Light Breath and Thunderlight Fang were already powerful attacks, both among the very finest hundred-year soul skills.
Added to that were the 35% light- and lightning-attribute damage provided by Holy Radiance Dragon Armor and the 50% boost to light and lightning power provided by Radiant Dragon Domain.
These two boosts were independent multipliers. The sheer extent of their enhancement far exceeded what one might imagine.
Thus, even Zhao Wuji, who had activated his Martial Soul Avatar at the last moment, was left barely alive after taking the attacks head-on.
Li Hanqiu glanced at Zhao Wuji. Rather than step forward to finish him off, he turned toward the treetops and said evenly:
"Dean Flender, if you don't come out soon, Teacher Zhao may breathe his last. Or are you giving me tacit permission to keep... attacking?"
As soon as Li Hanqiu finished speaking, a crooked tree rustled loudly, and a dark figure jumped down from its branches.
The man slowly stepped forward. "Teacher Li, I hope you can give me an explanation!"
The shadow gradually entered the moonlight, revealing Flender's shrewd old face, deeply etched with wrinkles and furrows.
That face, usually belonging to a crafty merchant forever calculating every penny, was now shrouded in gloom.
Before you continue