On the spectator platform, Xuan Zi and the newly arrived dean and vice dean of the Martial Soul Department, Yan Shaozhe and Cai Mei'er, all turned their eyes toward Nezha.
Xuan Zi took a bite of his chicken leg. A rare glimmer of clarity appeared in his cloudy old eyes as he nodded slowly. "Ultimate fire, just as I thought. With spear intent on top of that, he's bound to become a Super Douluo."
"What a pity we didn't discover him sooner. The Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect beat us to it." Beside him, Cai Mei'er sighed softly, regret coloring her voice.
As vice dean of the Martial Soul Department, she had always possessed a keen eye for talent. The white light that had gathered at Nezha's spear tip during his thrust was clearly the product of spear intent fused with ultimate fire. For something like that to appear in a twelve-year-old boy was simply unheard of.
Yet Yan Shaozhe shook his head dismissively at Cai Mei'er's words.
"Mei'er, who says that just because he belongs to the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect now, he always will?" A meaningful smile curved Yan Shaozhe's lips. His gaze settled on the fiery red figure in the arena, something flickering deep in his eyes.
"As long as we find the right approach, we can make him spill his lifeblood for Shrek Academy."
He paused, as though something had occurred to him, and his smile deepened. Ultimate fire... he seems like quite a good match for that child.
Meanwhile, the battle in the arena had reached a fever pitch.
Huo Yuhao used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, one of the Tang Sect Secret Arts. His figure darted left and right like an elusive phantom, barely avoiding Nezha's thrust. The spear tip skimmed past his shoulder, its purple flames scorching a black streak into his clothes, the searing heat reddening his skin.
He staggered back seven or eight steps before barely regaining his balance, his chest heaving and cold sweat streaming down his forehead.
But this could not go on.
Huo Yuhao knew perfectly well that if the battle continued like this, they were certain to lose. Nezha's strength overwhelmed theirs by far. The pressure of that spear's spear intent alone had already slowed the circulation of their soul power by half a beat. In a head-on clash, they had no chance of winning.
White light flashed in his Spirit Eyes. He drove his Spiritual Sharing soul skill to its limit, sending a clear thought into Wang Dong's mind: Wang Dong, forget Nanmen Yun'er. Come back! Let's work together and eliminate Nezha first!
Wang Dong was locked in combat with Nanmen Yun'er. She had slashed several times with her Wing Guillotine, but Nanmen Yun'er had nimbly evaded every strike. Although Nanmen Yun'er was no match for Wang Dong, her agile footwork left Wang Dong unable to deal with her anytime soon.
Upon receiving Huo Yuhao's thought, she gritted her teeth and beat her butterfly wings fiercely, forcing her way out of the engagement and darting toward him.
Xiao Xiao, keep Nanmen Yun'er pinned down! Huo Yuhao sent another thought.
Xiao Xiao understood. Her three small cauldrons abruptly merged into one, and the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron crashed down before Nanmen Yun'er. A shock wave spread from its body, forcing Nanmen Yun'er back several dozen feet.
Despite her tremendous speed, Nanmen Yun'er could not immediately break through such a broad area of disruptive control. She could only circle the perimeter, searching for an opening.
Wang Dong swept to Huo Yuhao's side, dazzling golden light bursting from her body as she opened her arms to him. "Yuhao!"
Huo Yuhao understood instantly. He was equally unwilling to lose the match like this. He would not concede defeat-not today, nor ever.
He opened his arms as well and embraced Wang Dong.
A strange golden light shot out between them, blooming with brilliant radiance. On one side stood Huo Yuhao, his eyes glowing pale gold.
On the other stood Wang Dong, her magnificent wings spread behind her as she released her Light Goddess Butterfly martial soul. The instant they embraced, everything within a ten-meter diameter around them lit up.
Above them, the complete, magnificent phantom of a Light Goddess Butterfly slowly approached the phantom of a gigantic pale-gold vertical eye.
"Martial Soul Fusion Skill!"
Up on the platform, Yan Shaozhe and Cai Mei'er rose excitedly to their feet. They had never expected the pair to possess such a trump card.
Xuan Zi narrowed his eyes at Nezha, who remained calm in the Assessment Zone, and looked puzzled. "Why isn't that brat interrupting them?"
Judging by the speed Nezha had shown earlier, he was fully capable of interrupting the pair before their Martial Soul Fusion was complete.
In the arena, Nezha indeed made no move to interrupt their Martial Soul Fusion.
Watching their martial souls fuse, he showed no alarm. Instead, excitement shone in his eyes.
"Interesting. Let's see which is stronger."
Nezha abruptly spurred the Wind Fire Wheels beneath his feet. Scarlet and cyan-blue vortices burst outward as he became a streak of light. Rather than retreating, he charged toward Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong. At the same time, his first soul ring lit up.
Bathe in Fire! All attributes increased by seventy percent.
Scarlet flames erupted from within him, flowing and surging around his body like a robe of liquid fire. The purple flames at the tip of the Fire-Tipped Spear swelled with them, compressing into a point of blinding white light. Immediately afterward, his third soul ring lit up beneath his feet as well.
"Fire-Tipped Spear: Formation Breaker!"
His third soul skill-Formation Breaker-used spear intent as its guide and soul power as its foundation to unleash a straight-line assault with tremendous penetrating force. Combined with the enhancement from Bathe in Fire, his ultimate fire, and his own spear intent, these four overlapping forces were enough to tear any obstacle before him to shreds, not to mention Ning Tian's additional forty-percent boost.
At that very moment, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong finally completed their Martial Soul Fusion. The Light Goddess Butterfly vanished, replaced by a gigantic vertical eye shimmering with blue, purple, and gold.
In the next instant, a terrifying beam of mingled tricolored light shot forth like lightning. Wherever it passed, it left a golden road gleaming with dreamlike colors across the ground.
Withering Amid Brilliance-Golden Road.
As for Nezha, he held his spear in one hand, its butt trailing a dazzling plume of flame behind him. His entire body became one with the Fire-Tipped Spear, like a scarlet dragon baring its fangs and brandishing its claws as he charged straight toward the fully formed Golden Road.
At that moment, the referee on the stage was dumbfounded. He no longer knew whether he should stop this collision. One side wielded a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, yet the might erupting from the other seemed no weaker.
"So fast!"
Up on the platform, Xuan Zi stopped mid-bite.
"And that sheer force... is he really only a Soul Elder?"
"What is that brat trying to do? Clash head-on with a Martial Soul Fusion Skill?"
Yan Shaozhe and Cai Mei'er were stunned. They moved to rush over and stop the clash.
But the instant they moved, an invisible force field held them in place.
"Don't rush! With this old man here, no one's going to die! Let's watch first!"
Every spectator held their breath at that moment, their eyes fixed on the clash between the two soul skills.
The two attacks met in an instant.
The golden pillar of light tore through the air and collided thunderously with the scarlet spear silhouette in the center of the arena. Gold and red light exploded together, a blinding radiance sweeping across the entire Assessment Zone and making the surrounding students instinctively raise their hands to shield their eyes.
A violent soul power shock wave spread in every direction from the point of impact. The flagstones beneath them shattered inch by inch, and broken stones were hurled dozens of feet into the air.
The referee at the edge of the arena paled. He thrust both palms forward, raising a soul power barrier before him to block the shock wave.
The radiance faded.
Nezha stood where he was in the arena, the tip of his Fire-Tipped Spear resting against the ground. The scarlet flames of the Wind Fire Wheels beneath his feet had dimmed somewhat, but the fiery robe of Bathe in Fire still burned slowly around him.
A slit had been cut across the front of his clothes, revealing the defined muscles beneath, but there was no wound.
Opposite him, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong had already fallen to the ground.
Wang Dong's butterfly wings drooped halfway, their light almost extinguished. She slumped on the ground, gasping for breath.
Huo Yuhao was in even worse shape. The white light in his Spirit Eyes had faded completely, his face was as pale as paper, and a trickle of blood hung at the corner of his mouth. Only by bracing both hands against the ground did he barely keep himself from collapsing facedown.
The Golden Road they had unleashed together had been pierced head-on by Nezha's thrust. The backlash of their soul power had left them utterly incapable of continuing the fight.
Xiao Xiao stood blankly to one side, her three small cauldrons hovering before her, yet she could no longer muster any soul power. Nanmen Yun'er stood opposite her, panting as well, but at least she was still on her feet.
At that moment, the assessment area and the surrounding spectator stands fell utterly silent.
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