"Yueyue!"
Dugu Yan and the others could only fret helplessly on the platform.
The flight granted by Oscar's Swift Flight Mushroom Sausage did not actually last very long. As long as Qian Renyue could hold out until their time ran out and they dropped back down, the outcome of this battle would be a foregone conclusion.
But could a rank thirty-five Soul Elder really hold out against six Soul Elders until their flight time expired?
Clearly, she could not.
"Seven treasures turn forth, revealing glazed splendor! Seven Treasures Have Names! First: Strength! Second: Speed!"
Two rays of light settled over Tang San and the others. Dai Mubai seized the opening and attacked Qian Renyue without hesitation. She flew out of the way of Tang San's blue silver grass, only for Dai Mubai's fist to come hurtling toward her next. Frowning slightly, she blocked his attack with her Butterfly Wings. The impact drove Dai Mubai backward. He had not expected Qian Renyue, a control-type Soul Master, to possess such formidable defenses.
Xiao Wu had suffered at the hands of those Butterfly Wings before. She knew perfectly well that Qian Renyue was more than just a control-type Soul Master. "Boss Dai, attack the openings in her wings!"
Over the past few days, Xiao Wu had done plenty of research on Qian Renyue. After consulting all sorts of books, she had finally found a Soul Beast with wings identical to those on Qian Renyue's back-the Light Butterfly.
The Light Butterfly was a representative light-attribute Soul Beast. Its wings were incredibly hard, but their weakness was equally obvious. Attacking the openings in its wings would naturally rob them of their ability to fly!
"Got it!"
Dai Mubai took the cue and attacked Qian Renyue again. Meanwhile, eager to deal with the poisonous mist below as quickly as possible, Tang San shot Ma Hongjun a meaningful look.
Ma Hongjun nodded and immediately directed his fire toward the corner where Tang San had scattered realgar wine.
Seeing this, Qian Renyue hurled shards of ice to stop him, but Ma Hongjun dodged them. At the same time, Dai Mubai's attack was almost upon her. She immediately pulled away the tail supports of her wings, and a pair of ice-blue phoenix wings suddenly appeared behind her!
Those phoenix wings radiated an intense chill, abruptly lowering the temperature across the entire Soul Fighting Platform. Tang San's pupils trembled slightly. "Is that...?!"
"An External Soul Bone?!"
In the spectator stands, Yu Xiaogang's eyes suddenly widened. He hurriedly gripped the railing in front of him, never having imagined that Qian Renyue possessed an External Soul Bone as well.
Moreover, this External Soul Bone belonged to an exceptionally rare Ice Crystal Phoenix!
"Yueyue! Yueyue! Yueyue!"
Liu Tian, who had brought along an entire fan club, was beside himself with excitement. He cheered wildly for Qian Renyue, making Yu Feng beside him look rather like a clown.
Yu Feng was speechless, but that did not stop him from shouting at the top of his lungs. "Xiao Yue is the best! Xiao Yue is the strongest! Xiao Yue is an absolute beast!"
Immediately afterward, the hired cheering squad he had brought repeated his words. "Xiao Yue is the best! Xiao Yue is the strongest! Xiao Yue is an absolute beast!"
"..."
Hearing this, the Yellow-Haired Girl mingling among the spectators could only think that these people were truly insane.
Beside the Yellow-Haired Girl, a handsome boy with short gray-silver hair tipped with a streak of red suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Having a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring is one thing, but she even has an External Soul Bone?"
An External Soul Bone-that was something even rarer than an ordinary Soul Bone. This girl truly deserved the high praise his younger sister had given her.
Indeed, these two young people were Xie Yue and Hu Liena of Spirit Hall's Golden Generation.
Ever since her previous battle with Qian Renyue, Hu Liena had kept the girl firmly in mind.
This time, she had learned from Gui Mei that Qian Renyue would be competing at the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena, so she had specifically dragged her older brother, Xie Yue, along to watch. If her guess was correct, their Spirit Hall Academy team was bound to encounter Qian Renyue in the upcoming Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament. As the saying went, know yourself and your enemy, and you could win a hundred battles out of a hundred. That was why she had brought Xie Yue here.
Qian Renyue had concealed far too much of her strength during their battle at Spirit Hall. Only now did Hu Liena truly understand what it meant to be a genius favored by the heavens.
"Brother, she's a formidable opponent."
Hu Liena spoke.
"Mm."
Xie Yue nodded in agreement. Although Qian Renyue was currently only a Soul Elder, her strength already far exceeded what a Soul Elder should possess. This girl was truly extraordinary!
Admiration shone in Xie Yue's eyes. He finally understood why Hu Liena was always talking about this girl.
What a role model for our generation!
Truly!
Above the Soul Fighting Platform, the aerial battle raged. Dai Mubai had originally aimed for the openings in the wings behind Qian Renyue, but now her wings had changed, and ice crystals covered the places where those openings had been. With no intention of backing down, he activated his Soul Skill. "Second Soul Skill, White Tiger Fierce Light Wave!"
A milky-white ball of light shot forth. Immediately afterward, Xiao Wu teleported in front of Qian Renyue again. Caught between attacks from both sides, Qian Renyue had nowhere to dodge. Although the chill radiating from her phoenix wings had stopped the flames Ma Hongjun had spat out earlier, she now had no attention to spare for anything else. Ma Hongjun seized this chance to spit out flames again and ignite the realgar wine. As the flames surged, an immensely powerful surge of Soul Power erupted in the air as well. Boom-!
Xiao Wu and Dai Mubai landed safely through the mist in the air. The realgar wine burned, neutralizing the jade phosphor snake poison, and Dugu Yan and the others seized the opportunity to charge toward Tang San's group.
With Qian Renyue having worn their opponents down, the others held every advantage when they joined the fight. Xiao Wu had a clear target, using Instant Flash to appear behind Ye Lingling.
The brothers Shi Mo and Shi Mo stepped forward to block her. Their black tortoise armor was exceptionally hard, and Xiao Wu suffered a setback and retreated.
Zhu Zhuqing engaged Oscar while Tang San controlled the battlefield. He instructed Xiao Wu to protect Ning Rongrong and Oscar, then took on Dugu Yan himself. Both were control-types, and both used poison. Although Dugu Yan was very surprised that Tang San could neutralize her jade phosphor snake poison, Qian Renyue had anticipated all of this, so Dugu Yan did not appear quite so shocked now.
"Younger Sister Yueyue, we can finally have a proper fight!"
Everyone on the platform had a clear role, and Ma Hongjun, still airborne, finally got the battle he had been eagerly awaiting.
Although Dai Mubai and Xiao Wu had attacked Qian Renyue together just now, neither had actually struck with much force. They had merely knocked her away to prevent her from stopping Ma Hongjun from burning the realgar wine.
From the moment Dugu Yan released the poisonous mist at the start, Tang San had realized that Qian Renyue intended to wear them down. Thus, when devising his strategy, he had also instructed Dai Mubai and Xiao Wu not to get drawn into a prolonged fight or expend too much Soul Power. After all, their goal was only to disperse the poisonous mist, not to waste substantial effort fighting Qian Renyue.
Ma Hongjun's instructions were to keep Qian Renyue occupied and prevent her from joining the battle below. Thus began what could be called a one-on-one between Ma Hongjun and Qian Renyue.
Qian Renyue had no desire to humor Ma Hongjun. She drew the little shortsword from her Silver Hairpin and infused it with Soul Power. Before long, the little shortsword transformed into a long, slender flexible sword. As silver light flashed, Ma Hongjun's interest grew. He had not expected Qian Renyue to have so many intriguing trump cards.
"I won't be going easy on you!"
Crimson flames rushed straight toward Qian Renyue. She twisted aside to dodge and swung her flexible sword, slicing straight through Ma Hongjun's sleeve. Startled, Ma Hongjun hurriedly flew in another direction.
Qian Renyue had a blade in her hand, while he was unarmed, making this a difficult fight. Pressing his lips together, Ma Hongjun decided to stick to ranged Soul Skill attacks, lest he toy around until he got himself killed.
"First Soul Skill, Phoenix Fire Line!"
Ma Hongjun gathered a large amount of Soul Power and spat out tremendously powerful Phoenix Flame. The corners of Qian Renyue's mouth lifted slightly as she swept her wings in front of herself to block. Fire overcame ice, and Ma Hongjun's flames were no ordinary flames to begin with. He was brimming with confidence in this attack. He had thought Qian Renyue would dodge, but she was actually preparing to take it head-on. "Have you given up struggling?"
Boom-!
The Phoenix Flame struck the Ice Phoenix Wings, and a wave of heat and cold swept over everyone present. Yu Tianheng and Dai Mubai were exchanging punches and kicks, but as the wave washed over them, their movements abruptly slowed.
Red and blue motes drifted down. Ma Hongjun felt immensely pleased with himself. It seemed he was still the better of the two-
Shing-!
Amid the white mist, a light breeze brushed his face. Before Ma Hongjun could react, a shortsword as thin as paper suddenly appeared at his throat!
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