Nezha drove Xu Sanshi back with a palm strike. Every Shrek student strolling along the snack street was stunned by the sight.
Who was Xu Sanshi?
A genius of Shrek Academy, one of the Outer Court Twin Stars, and the young master of the secluded, mighty Xuanming Sect. His martial soul, the Xuanming Turtle, excelled at both attack and defense. As a three-ring Soul Elder, he rarely met his match among his peers.
Yet now a new student who looked twelve had caught his wrist with one hand and sent him staggering back with a single palm strike. He barely steadied himself after several stumbling steps. The difference between them was clear at a glance.
A wave of subdued uproar rippled through the onlookers. Some widened their eyes, some sucked in cold breaths, and others instinctively backed away two steps, afraid of getting caught in the crossfire.
Of course, whether anyone among the shocked crowd was simply enjoying the show was a matter of perspective.
After all, Xu Sanshi was used to throwing his weight around the outer court and had offended no shortage of people. Seeing him suffer a setback now, more than a few were secretly clapping in delight.
Beside the grill, Huo Yuhao and Tang Ya were both dumbstruck.
The iron skewer in Huo Yuhao's hand hung in midair. The grilled fish on it was still sizzling and dripping oil, but he noticed none of it. His deep blue eyes were wide as saucers, his mouth slightly open.
The grilled fish in Tang Ya's hand nearly fell to the ground. She instinctively tightened her grip on the bamboo skewer, forgetting even to wipe the grease from the corner of her mouth.
Through Bei Bei, she naturally knew Xu Sanshi and knew that his strength was on par with Bei Bei's. Though Xu Sanshi had been somewhat careless, this young fellow had actually driven him back with a single palm strike.
All she could say was that this boy was extraordinarily powerful too.
Jiang Nannan was undoubtedly the most dazed of all.
She had been worrying that Xu Sanshi would hurt the red-haired girl who had spoken up for her.
She knew Xu Sanshi's temper all too well. He usually acted docile in front of her, but he was domineering to the bone. Once truly enraged, he never knew when to hold back.
In that instant, she had even prepared to rush forward and take the palm strike for Wu Feng.
But in the blink of an eye, Xu Sanshi had been slapped in the face instead.
Watching Xu Sanshi stagger backward, his face livid, Jiang Nannan felt a flicker of satisfaction pass through her eyes.
Yet almost immediately, she began worrying about these new students.
Knowing Xu Sanshi's true nature, she would never believe he would laugh this off. As the young master of the Xuanming Sect, he had never suffered such humiliation growing up. Having lost face in public today, he would certainly not let the matter rest.
He might not dare do anything openly within the academy, but what about in secret? She had witnessed a little of the Xuanming Sect's methods.
Xu Sanshi steadied himself, his face livid, and the aura around him changed.
Violent, icy soul power surged from his body like a freezing torrent bursting through a dam, sweeping outward with him at its center.
A thin layer of white frost instantly covered the flagstones beneath his feet. Wherever the frost spread, even the air gave off faint cracking sounds.
Three soul rings, two yellow and one purple, rose from beneath his feet. Their interweaving radiance was especially glaring in the dusk.
He shook his right arm, and its muscles abruptly swelled. His formerly fair skin darkened, taking on a cold, hard hue somewhere between ashen gray and iron black, as though plated with black iron.
Immediately afterward, a black turtle-shell shield roughly a meter and a half in diameter appeared in his right hand. Cracked patterns covered its surface, every fissure flowing with the eerie blue glow of soul power and exuding a heart-chilling cold.
In that instant, his aura became weighty and steady, utterly unlike his earlier agitation, as though an enraged beast had finally bared its hardest armor.
Martial soul-Xuanming Turtle.
Xu Sanshi stared fixedly at Nezha, his eyes already blood-red. He forced each word through clenched teeth, his voice brimming with undisguised brutality:
"Brat, you're asking to die!!!"
His icy soul power became an almost tangible pressure, carrying the eerie blue chill radiating from the Xuanming Turtle Shell Shield as it crashed toward Nezha.
The surrounding air instantly dropped to freezing. Even the onlookers' breaths condensed into white mist. Several students standing nearby instinctively retreated, hugging their arms as their teeth chattered uncontrollably.
Nezha refused to yield an inch.
Facing the icy soul power rushing toward him, he did not so much as blink. He closed his right hand, and the Fire-Tipped Spear appeared.
The crimson shaft hummed, purple flames dancing at its tip. With the spear in hand, his aura suddenly soared, like a keen blade drawn from its sheath.
Three soul rings-yellow, purple, and purple-slowly rose beneath his feet, their interwoven light blazing in the dusk.
The moment the Fire-Tipped Spear appeared, the overwhelming chill was forcibly driven three feet back. Heat churned within three feet of Nezha, barring the cold, as though an invisible wall of fire had separated him and Xu Sanshi into two different worlds.
"You think I'm afraid of you?!"
He pointed his spear diagonally toward the ground and narrowed his eyes slightly. The smile on his face faded, replaced by the sharp edge of his newly kindled fighting spirit.
Then his first soul ring flashed.
Bathe in Fire!
All attributes increased by seventy percent.
A layer of crimson flames sprang into existence around Nezha, flowing over his skin as though draping him in a shifting robe of fire.
The purple flames at his spear tip surged in turn. Firelight illuminated his sharply defined face, and two small flames seemed to burn deep within his eyes.
Opposite him, Xu Sanshi had also seen the soul ring configuration rising beneath Nezha's feet. His expression became exceptionally grave.
Three soul rings-yellow, purple, purple. A Soul Elder whose second soul ring was already a Thousand-Year Soul Ring.
In his perception, this new student's soul power fluctuations were actually no weaker than his own. That scorching, domineering fire-attribute soul power resembled a dormant volcano, ready to erupt at any moment.
How could he not be alarmed? A new student who looked twelve possessed such substantial soul power and a soul ring configuration beyond the normal limits. Were new students all this monstrous now?
An even louder uproar erupted from the crowd.
A three-ring Soul Elder, and one with a thousand-year second ring at that. Even in Shrek Academy's outer court, he was unquestionably a monster.
Some had already begun whispering to one another, guessing at the origins of this black-haired boy with his hair tied in a bun.
What made Xu Sanshi despair even more was the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda he saw behind Nezha.
Seeing Nezha charge forward, Ning Tian did not hesitate in the slightest. She turned her palm over, and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda appeared out of thin air.
The magnificent pagoda's seven stories shimmered with flowing colors, while three soul rings-yellow, yellow, and purple-flashed and pulsed.
"Seven Treasures Have Names: the first is strength, the third is speed."
The first and third soul rings around the pagoda lit up, transforming into two streams of light that flowed precisely into Nezha's body.
Nezha felt power rise from the base of his spine. His limbs and bones seemed to have been filled with molten iron, leaving his entire body brimming with inexhaustible strength. At the same time, his body grew light, as though he were treading on the wind.
His strength and speed were boosted by forty percent, on top of his own Bathe in Fire, which increased all attributes by seventy percent.
Nezha's eyes lit up, fighting spirit surging within them.
He felt he could beat Xu Sanshi senseless now.
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