Both sides soon arrived at Shrek Academy's competition arena.
Xu Sanshi jumped onto the arena first and folded his arms, looking perfectly composed. Wang Dong was in no hurry either. He strolled up and took his place on the other side.
Word spread like wildfire. Before even the time it took to drink a cup of tea had passed, a large crowd of students had gathered around the arena to watch. There were new students and older students alike, all craning their necks to look up at the stage.
"Isn't that Xu Sanshi? One of the outer court's twin stars? Why is he fighting a new student?"
"I heard that new student declared he wanted to challenge Xu Sanshi, and even wagered a Mystic Water Pill!"
"Is he crazy? A new student challenging a Soul Ancestor who's almost at four rings? Isn't he just asking for a beating?"
Murmurs rose one after another, and the crowd kept growing. Dai Huabin happened to pass by as well. Hearing the commotion, he squeezed into the crowd, only to freeze when he saw that the person standing in the arena was Wang Dong.
This guy... how can he be this arrogant? He just beat me up yesterday, and now he's challenging an older student today? Does he really think he's invincible?
Dai Huabin thought viciously that Wang Dong was certain to lose.
On the other side of the arena, Huo Yuhao stood beside Bei Bei and Tang Ya, clutching the hem of her clothes with both hands as she watched the figure with long pink-and-blue hair on the stage, her face full of worry.
Tang Ya patted her shoulder and comforted her. "Don't worry. Xu Sanshi may be strong, but he probably won't actually try to kill him."
Bei Bei, however, frowned, his tone carrying a hint of gravity. "Hard to say. Xu Sanshi looks easygoing, but he's actually extremely competitive. Wang Dong said he wasn't worthy in front of all those people, so he's bound to be seething. I'm afraid this fight won't end well."
Huo Yuhao bit her lip and said nothing. In truth, she inexplicably had faith in Wang Dong.
Although they had only known each other for two days, Wang Dong felt to her like a bottomless abyss. She could never see through just how many trump cards he had hidden away.
Jiang Nannan stood behind them without a word. As she watched the boy with long pink-and-blue hair in the arena, a strange feeling welled up inside her.
They were complete strangers, yet looking at Wang Dong, she inexplicably felt close to him, as though something unseen were drawing her toward him.
While she was still puzzling over it, Wang Dong had already released his martial soul in the arena.
A pair of pink-and-white rabbit ears sprouted from the top of his head, fluffy and trembling slightly. Paired with his handsome face, they made him look both cute and dashing. A ripple of hushed exclamations immediately rose from below.
"A rabbit martial soul?"
"That martial soul isn't particularly strong. How's he going to fight Xu Sanshi?"
"He's pretty handsome, but unfortunately, his brain doesn't seem to work too well..."
Jiang Nannan, however, froze. Looking at the rabbit ears atop Wang Dong's head, her pupils widened slightly. Soft Bone Rabbit?
His martial soul is actually the Soft Bone Rabbit too?
She finally understood where that inexplicable sense of closeness had come from. The same martial soul would naturally produce a subtle resonance. But she soon shook her head. Precisely because she also had the Soft Bone Rabbit martial soul, she knew how powerless it was.
It simply couldn't compare to Xu Sanshi's Xuanming Turtle martial soul. The two weren't on the same level.
Xu Sanshi noticed this in the arena too. First he froze, then he burst out laughing.
"Hahaha, interesting! Your martial soul is actually the same as Nannan's! Both Soft Bone Rabbits. But..."
His tone shifted, carrying a surge of confidence. "Even if you have the same martial soul as my Nannan, I won't hold back!"
As his words fell, he abruptly released his own martial soul-the Xuanming Turtle!
An enormous turtle-shaped phantom appeared behind him, its shell covered in profound patterns and radiating a weighty aura.
Immediately afterward, he thrust both hands forward. Soul power surged, condensing into a huge shield in front of him-the Mysterious Underworld Shield Formation! In an instant, he became a wall of bronze and iron, standing there like an unshakable fortress.
Below the stage, Bei Bei sighed and remarked, "That guy's soul skill is like a turtle shell. Its defense is absurd. Even an ordinary Soul King would have a hard time breaking through it. Wang Dong's just a new student. I'm afraid his chances look slim."
Yet Wang Dong smiled in the arena. Without the slightest hurry, he put away his rabbit ears and raised his right hand. A pitch-black hammer appeared in his grasp out of thin air. The Clear Sky Hammer!
The hammer's head was heavy and archaic, with dark-gold patterns faintly flowing across it, radiating an aura that made hearts tremble.
The crowd below instantly erupted.
"Twin Martial Souls?!"
"The Clear Sky Hammer?! Isn't that the inherited martial soul of the Clear Sky Sect from ten thousand years ago? They say it was once the world's number-one Power Attack System tool martial soul."
"What's this guy's background? He's got both the Soft Bone Rabbit and the Clear Sky Hammer!"
Bei Bei and Tang Ya exchanged glances, each seeing a trace of shock in the other's eyes.
Jiang Nannan's eyes widened as well. As she looked at the Clear Sky Hammer in Wang Dong's hand, that strange feeling within her grew even stronger.
Wang Dong hefted the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand and grinned. "Actually, stationary targets are my favorite things to hit."
Before his words had even faded, he exploded into motion, charging at Xu Sanshi with the Clear Sky Hammer in hand.
He moved incredibly fast, arriving in front of Xu Sanshi almost in the blink of an eye. He raised the Clear Sky Hammer high and brought it crashing down with a fierce rush of wind!
BOOM!!!
A tremendous crash rang out, and the entire arena seemed to shake. Ripples spread across the Mysterious Underworld Shield Formation in front of Xu Sanshi, but it firmly withstood the strike. A smug smile curled his lips.
"That's it? You've got some strength, but you're still a long way from breaking through my defense!"
Wang Dong didn't answer. He drew his hammer back and smashed it down again!
BOOM!
Another tremendous crash rang out. Xu Sanshi's smile faded slightly. He felt as though this strike had been a little stronger than the last, though it was still within what he could withstand.
Then, however, Wang Dong's hammer began crashing down again and again.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Every blow carried astonishing force, and each strike was heavier and faster than the one before.
Wang Dong's hammer technique seemed simple and brutal, yet it carried a strange rhythm, as though it were gathering some kind of power.
He moved faster and faster, his blows growing stronger and stronger. The sounds of the falling hammer merged into one, like a stirring roll of war drums.
Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer!
This was the Clear Sky Sect's supreme technique. Every strike added the power of the previous strike, and the more strikes there were, the greater its might became. By now, who knew how many strikes Wang Dong had already stacked.
Xu Sanshi's expression finally changed. He could feel the force coming from the other side climbing at a terrifying speed.
At first, he could take the blows with ease, but gradually, he began to struggle. Fine cracks began appearing across the Mysterious Underworld Shield Formation, and his soul power consumption was accelerating sharply.
"Wh-what kind of hammer technique is this?!" Xu Sanshi gritted his teeth, desperately holding up the shield formation, the veins on his forehead bulging.
Wang Dong didn't answer and kept swinging his hammer. He moved faster and faster, his strength growing fiercer and fiercer, his entire body seeming to become a tireless battering ram.
What alarmed Xu Sanshi even more was that, at some point, Wang Dong's pupils had turned a dazzling gold. An extremely domineering aura radiated from his body, carrying an oppressive force that stemmed from the very level of his life.
His Golden Dragon King Bloodline was on full display!
Below the stage, everyone stared, dumbstruck. They watched the boy in the arena with rabbit ears on his head, a Clear Sky Hammer in his hand, and golden pupils in his eyes. Like a humanoid Ancient Ferocious Beast, he was smashing Xu Sanshi's defenses apart, one hammer blow at a time.
Bei Bei swallowed, his voice a little dry. "This guy... just what kind of monster is he?"
Before you continue