In the square.
After hearing Qin Xiao's words, Zhao Wuji could no longer keep his cool.
Was this brat really that arrogant?
Zhao Wuji decided to put some pressure on these rookie Soul Masters.
"Mubai, tell them how strong I am."
Zhao Wuji folded his arms across his chest and gave a cold smile.
"Teacher Zhao, do I really have to?" Dai Mubai did not think it was particularly necessary.
If Zhao Wuji would listen, he would not mind explaining Qin Xiao's strength instead.
Even Ning Rongrong's lips curled slightly, clearly holding back a laugh. She could not help muttering inwardly that this dimwitted teacher was rather amusing.
Not just Ning Rongrong-the others wore strange expressions too.
They felt as though they were watching a fierce dog flaunt its strength before a lion.
"What are you standing around for? Hurry up!"
When Dai Mubai failed to do anything for quite some time, Zhao Wuji urged him again.
"Ah, all right!"
Despite his utter helplessness, Dai Mubai could only nod. "Teacher Zhao is a level seventy-six Soul Saint. His martial soul is the Great Strength Vajra Bear, and he is a Battle Soul Saint. He's the academy's vice dean, with overall strength second only to the dean."
"Oh, so he's a Soul Saint."
Ning Rongrong spoke with feigned surprise.
Even a flicker of unusual emotion crossed the eyes of Zhu Zhuqing, whose expression had remained icy all this time.
Before this, she would certainly have been shocked.
But after seeing a Titled Douluo-level powerhouse like the Thunder Emperor, a Soul Saint was nothing much.
Zhao Wuji, on the other hand, froze. What kind of response was "oh"? Was that the attitude a bunch of children in their teens should have?
"Forget it, Mubai. You don't need to explain anything else to them."
"I see they won't shed tears until they see the coffin."
Zhao Wuji clenched his fists and rolled his neck. His bones began to crackle.
"Teacher Zhao, please be careful, then..."
At that moment, Oscar, who had remained silent, spoke up.
Just like before, Zhao Wuji interrupted him before he could finish.
"Why are you acting just like Dai Mubai? Is there someone you like among them too?"
"Don't worry. I'll be careful not to hurt them."
Zhao Wuji spoke with a frown.
Oh well.
Let him do as he pleased.
Oscar did not know what else to say.
By then, Zhao Wuji had already produced a stick of incense. A twist of his large hand lit it, and he casually tossed it into the ground.
"Since they think so highly of you, I'll defeat you first."
His eyes fixed on Qin Xiao. As he spoke, he crouched and gathered his strength.
At the same time, his body suddenly swelled.
His already terrifying muscles nearly doubled in size, and even his height shot up by a meter in an instant, making his entire figure immensely imposing.
Seven dazzling soul rings rose at once-two yellow, two purple, and three black-and settled around him.
With a thunderous boom, dust flew everywhere as Zhao Wuji shot toward Qin Xiao like a cannonball. A web of fine cracks appeared in the ground he had stamped on, making it hard to imagine how much power his body contained.
Had this brat been scared witless?
Zhao Wuji was closing in on Qin Xiao at tremendous speed, yet the latter remained standing where he was, utterly unmoved.
In truth, it was not that Qin Xiao could not move. He simply had no need to.
After more than a decade of tempering his body with lightning, his physique had reached an astonishing level.
Moreover, he possessed the Thunder Emperor martial soul and controlled lightning. His speed had long since reached the extreme.
Zhao Wuji might have looked ferocious, but Qin Xiao thought nothing of this brute's strength or speed.
"No different from a turtle crawling..."
That was Qin Xiao's assessment of Zhao Wuji.
Boom!
It sounded like a thunderclap.
In a flash of lightning, Qin Xiao finally counterattacked.
His fist, wreathed in sparks and lightning, struck later yet arrived first, landing on Zhao Wuji's face.
Then, before everyone's eyes, Zhao Wuji flew backward even faster than he had charged in.
How was that possible?
How could he possess such speed and strength?
As the one on the receiving end, Zhao Wuji was completely dumbfounded.
Boom!
Zhao Wuji hurtled back across a hundred meters and slammed heavily into the perimeter wall.
The wall could not withstand the impact and collapsed, raising billowing clouds of dust.
Qin Xiao, meanwhile, stood calmly in the square, as though he had merely swatted away an ant.
"Gasp..."
"He's so strong!"
"Is this the might of a Titled Douluo?"
Apart from Ning Rongrong, everyone present was seeing a Titled Douluo take action for the first time, and they were deeply shocked.
Dai Mubai and Oscar, who had suffered so much under Zhao Wuji, were especially stunned. They could not imagine that Teacher Zhao, who was like a demon king running rampant, could be sent flying with a single punch.
It was simply too shocking!
As for Xiao Wu, she became even more frightened...
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Just then, a bout of violent coughing came from the distance.
Then Zhao Wuji emerged from the dust.
He looked at Qin Xiao in the distance, his face full of surprise. "Not bad, brat. I don't know what special trick you used, but you certainly took advantage of me when I wasn't prepared."
As he spoke, his gaze kept sweeping over the others, searching for clues.
Who exactly had helped Qin Xiao in secret?
"Stop looking. I was the only one who acted."
Noticing the meaning behind Zhao Wuji's gaze, Qin Xiao spoke mildly.
"Just you? Brat, I don't believe no one helped you."
Zhao Wuji shook his head disdainfully.
What a joke. This fellow was seventeen or eighteen at most. Even if he had started cultivating in his mother's womb, how strong could he be now?
A Soul Ancestor would be plenty, wouldn't it?
As for a Soul King...
That was impossible.
An eighteen-year-old Soul King-even Clear Sky Douluo, once the greatest genius on the Douluo Continent, had not managed that.
But in the next instant, his pupils abruptly contracted, and his expression looked as though he had seen a ghost.
Lightning wrapped around Qin Xiao as nine soul rings emerged beneath his feet.
"No, impossible! This must be an illusion!"
Zhao Wuji raised his hand and slapped himself, trying to wake himself up.
Smack!
An aching pain spread through his entire body. Zhao Wuji felt as though that slap had loosened his back teeth.
Yet.
Nine soul rings still pulsed around the figure in the distance...
"A Titled... Douluo?"
Zhao Wuji spoke in disbelief.
In his heart, he had already begun to accept the truth.
"Now, do you still think there's a problem?"
A smile appeared on Qin Xiao's face. He waved his hand lightly, and thunder exploded in the sky.
An immense pressure of soul power erupted at once and bore down on Zhao Wuji.
Zhao Wuji felt as though a thousand-jin burden had been placed on his back.
"I-I believe you."
Beads of sweat rolled down Zhao Wuji's forehead and pattered to the ground. He hurriedly said, "I meant no offense, Your Eminence..."
"No blame rests on those who did not know."
Qin Xiao shook his head slightly, then glanced at the incense planted in the ground. It had not even burned halfway yet.
He added, "Let's continue. There's still more than half a stick of incense left."
Again?
Zhao Wuji immediately shook his head like a rattle drum.
What a joke.
I would have to have lost my mind to fight a Titled Douluo.
However, Qin Xiao shook his head. "That won't do. We agreed that I had to last against you for the time it takes a stick of incense to burn."
Zhao Wuji shuddered at those words. Are you a devil?
Instinctively, he wanted to turn and make a run for it.
But how could Qin Xiao give him that chance?
"Thunder Pool!"
At that moment, Qin Xiao's fifth soul ring lit up, and he thrust both palms forward.
Bolts of lightning appeared out of thin air, engulfing Zhao Wuji.
Before you continue