An eerie atmosphere quietly settled over the arena.
Inside and outside the venue, every gaze turned toward Silver Moon Douluo Cai Yue'er.
The mockery and contempt in those eyes made it seem as though they were looking at a shameless, double-standard dog.
Just moments earlier, she had spoken with utter conviction, boasting of her students' exceptional talent and dismissing everyone else as worthless, second-rate goods. Yet when the other side offered a one-on-one match, she had hesitated, refusing to agree. Only after he relaxed the conditions and promised to fight three against one did she finally consent.
Who, exactly, was the real "defective product"?
There was no glory in winning three against one. Losing would mean losing every last scrap of dignity!
"Elder Cai!" Yu Diheng of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan looked furious and unwilling to accept it. "I can crush him alone!"
He was not obsessed with fairness. It was simply that arranging a three-on-one match amounted to admitting that each of them was far weaker than their opponent.
"Shut up!" Cai Yue'er snapped, her voice carrying unquestionable authority.
She did not care about appearances. All she wanted now was to see Shen Xi humiliated in public.
Besides, the other side had proposed the three-on-one match himself. Afterward, Shrek Academy could issue an official statement blaming everything on his arrogance and conceit, mocking him as a clown who had overestimated himself and dared to challenge three Shrek elites alone.
After all, Shrek had long been a godlike presence in the Soul Master World. Whatever they said, a flock of devoted followers would rush to sing their praises.
Yu Diheng shuddered at her rebuke. The other two students, who had also looked indignant, immediately fell silent. They could swagger and sneer as much as they pleased before outsiders, but before Cai Yue'er, a Sea God Pavilion Elder, they could only bow their heads and obey.
The three obediently cooperated with Shrek's accompanying healing teacher, making the most of their time to recover.
Fine, fine. I'll just treat it as a little diversion.
Shen Xi cast Cai Yue'er a cold, contemptuous glance. The woman had been loathsome back then, and she had only become worse.
"Just leave them alive." She had complete confidence in her son.
"Mm." Xu Qingjia nodded.
Now every gaze inside and outside the arena converged on Xu Qingjia, either directly or through the screens. Curiosity and confusion filled the spectators' minds. From the earlier introduction, they already knew that Shrek's supervising teacher was a Sea God Pavilion Elder.
Yet this young man had dared to confront a Sea God Pavilion Elder.
And declared that he would take on three Shrek students alone.
The identities of those three Shrek students were anything but ordinary.
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, the Clear Sky Hammer, and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda belonged to the Upper Three Sects, names even children knew! Their history stretched far beyond Shrek Academy's.
I thought Yun Ming was already unrivaled under heaven, yet someone else is this fearless! Whose warrior is this?!
"Damn, who is this guy? He's got some serious guts! And he's brought two pretty girls with him."
"He looks a little familiar... Wait, isn't that lady Moon Douluo, His Eminence Sun's wife and the matriarch of the Xu Family? Then this young fellow must be Xu Qingjia!"
"The young prince? I remember the elders at home saying he only awakened his martial soul three years ago!"
"Seriously? Twenty-five levels in three years? Even stuffing yourself with pills wouldn't make you advance that fast!"
Everyone gasped in astonishment.
Still, they knew that someone of his status would naturally disdain such crooked shortcuts as taking pills to increase his strength. He had most likely absorbed soul bones of exceptional age to advance so rapidly. But the question foremost in everyone's mind was this: could this young prince really defeat Shrek's three finest prospects alone?
Although the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy had remained beneath Shrek's shadow for ten thousand years, its students were certainly not all "second-rate goods," as Cai Yue'er claimed. The great families descended from the Sun Moon Empire might send some of their children to Shrek, but their future heirs would undoubtedly receive their education at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy. The vast majority of the Federation's senior officials had come from here, including supreme experts who had reached the ranks of Limit Douluo and even Quasi-God.
Luck had also played a part in the Sun Moon Academy team's failure to eliminate even one opponent in the previous three-on-three match. The core descendants of Mingdu's great families currently either far exceeded three rings or had yet to reach that level, whereas these three Shrek students were the finest members of the Upper Three Sects' younger generation.
Time slipped by, and Shrek's trio soon returned to peak condition. Still uneasy, Cai Yue'er personally stepped forward to inspect each of them.
"Beat that little bastard to a pulp!" she instructed viciously, her eyes brimming with venom.
Had they been at Shrek Academy, she would have skinned that little bastard and torn out his tendons for daring to offend her! When, in her entire life, had she suffered such humiliation?
"Yes!" the three answered together.
The second match officially began.
"Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, Xu Qingjia, rank thirty-five control-type Soul Elder," Xu Qingjia announced, following the customary etiquette of soul master battles.
Although he had not attended a single class at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy in the past three years, his name was indeed on its student roster.
"Stop, stop, stop!" Yu Diheng interrupted impatiently. Picking his ear, he said with utter contempt, "I'm not interested in learning the name of someone I'm about to defeat."
He flicked the earwax off his fingertip, then turned toward the spectator stands with a lecherous grin. "But those two chicks you brought are pretty nice. They look so innocent. Name your price. How much for a night with them?"
"..."
Xu Qingjia regarded Yu Diheng calmly, as though looking at a corpse. "The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan split into two branches twenty thousand years ago. One took their mother's surname, while the other was the Heavenly Dragon Sect, surnamed Yu. Ten thousand years ago, our Sun Moon Empire crushed the latter without a second thought."
"Since your surname is Yu, you must be descended from those Heavenly Dragon Sect remnants."
"You-" Yu Diheng's face twisted.
"The Heavenly Dragon Sect's inherited soul bones are quite useful," Xu Qingjia said calmly.
Yu Diheng instantly flushed scarlet. "I'll kill you!"
At that very moment, the referee's voice rang out on cue. "Begin!"
Martial Soul Possession! Three dazzling purple soul rings erupted from each member of Shrek's trio. Their Soul Elder auras surged outward, as though branding the words "I am a genius" across their bodies. The three
grew even more proud, their arrogance nearly spilling from their eyes.
"Seven treasures turn, glazed tiles shine! First, speed! Second, strength! Third, defense!" The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda in Ning Yaoyao's hand released several brilliant streams of colored light, which landed precisely on Yu Diheng and Tang Hao. As a direct descendant of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's master, she had long mastered Heart Separation Control and could apply support skills to multiple teammates at once.
"Let me!" Yu Diheng, the trio's captain, attacked first, lunging forward like lightning. Under Martial Soul Possession, his features instantly took on a fierce draconic aspect. An overwhelmingly savage dragon's might erupted from his body, and blue scales etched with lightning patterns swiftly covered his right arm until the entire limb transformed into a terrifying blue lightning dragon claw.
This was the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon lineage's unique art-Dragon Transformation. Only Soul Ancestors above rank forty or exceptionally gifted three-ring Soul Elders could use it. It greatly enhanced a soul master's attributes and could be considered a partial manifestation of Martial Soul Avatar.
Seeing Xu Qingjia remain motionless, seemingly too frightened by his dragon's might even to summon his martial soul, Yu Diheng's contempt deepened.
"Die!" he roared, driving his dragon claw, wreathed in blue arcs of electricity, toward Xu Qingjia with a savage punch.
Facing that thunderously powerful blow, Xu Qingjia leisurely raised his right hand. Wisps of ink-black aura quietly curled around his right arm, and he answered with a punch of his own.
BOOM!
A deafening collision rang out, followed by a shriek of agony that tore across the arena. "Aah!" Countless astonished eyes focused on the center of the battlefield. Yu Diheng, a powerful beast martial soul user, was clutching his right arm and stumbling backward, his face contorted with pain and his eyes filled with disbelief.
Do not assume Yama was not a body martial soul.
Day after day of rigorous training, precious medicinal baths, and the enhancement of a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone had ultimately become the astonishing attributes of a god-level martial soul.
Over the years, Xu Qingjia had frequently "grappled" with a genuine dragon.
In the world's eyes, the Golden Dragon King was a warrior, while the Silver Dragon King was a mage.
But that was merely because each excelled in a different field. The Silver Dragon King was, after all, a genuine dragon king. Among all soul beasts, only the Golden Dragon King, the Dragon God, and the Dragon Clan's crown prince, who had perfectly inherited the Dragon God bloodline, could surpass her physical strength.
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, meanwhile, was merely some dragon by the roadside.
"Diheng!" Surprise flashed through his two teammates' eyes at his defeat.
A Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon soul master was losing a hand-to-hand fight against a Soul Elder of the same level?
The next instant, an abrupt silence fell inside and outside the venue, followed by a chorus of sharp gasps.
A heart-stopping shade of black suddenly shone. Three soul rings, dark as the night, hovered quietly beside Xu Qingjia, while a vast aura of soul power spread outward as though it had become tangible.
"Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings!"
That also meant his spiritual power had reached the Spirit Sea Realm!
Referee, I want to report a cheater!
"Impossible!" Shocked and furious, Cai Yue'er slammed the table and sprang to her feet.
How old was he?!
Even Yun Ming hadn't achieved this with three rings! How could anyone surpass Yun Ming?!
Fake!
"Heh." Holding her teacup, Shen Xi lightly tapped its rim, unable to conceal the amusement in her eyes. She loved watching Cai Yue'er stamp her feet and lose her mind like this.
The Spirit Sea Realm? Her son was far beyond an ordinary Spirit Sea Realm soul master!
"You-" Yu Diheng instinctively retreated half a step in shock. The pressure of those Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings washed over him. Recalling his opponent's terrifying strength during their clash, he felt monstrous waves rise in his heart. "You absorbed a hundred-thousand-year Head Soul Bone and a hundred-thousand-year Right Arm Soul Bone?!"
"Guess." Xu Qingjia raised his hand and snapped his fingers crisply.
His first Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring lit up.
"Soul Lock!"
Crushing them with his advanced Spirit Sea Realm spiritual power would certainly be convenient, but before that, someone needed to pay for his filthy mouth.
An ink-black chain slithered out of an unknown space like an enormous black python. Dark aura curled around it, radiating an Underworld presence that instinctively unsettled every living creature. Like the Grim Reaper's life-harvesting scythe, it became a vicious whip and lunged straight at Yu Diheng.
An evil martial soul? Yu Diheng felt a jolt of alarm at that deeply disturbing, uncanny aura.
"Thunderous Might!" He had no intention of taking a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Skill with his own body. Blue lightning serpents coiled around him, then transformed into bolts that shot forward, forming an enormous net of thunder to intercept the chain.
Whoosh-
With a sharp whistle through the air, the black chain lashed fiercely against the lightning net.
Yu Diheng's lips curled slightly.
So what if it was a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Skill?
Lightning embodied the righteous energy of heaven and earth. It was especially effective against evil martial souls like this.
Yet events did not unfold as he had expected.
The moment they collided, the lightning net shuddered violently. Several lightning serpents scattered and burst like kites with severed strings. The entire net held for only an instant before collapsing. The black chain remained completely unscathed, its dark aura still solid as iron as it continued rushing toward him without losing momentum.
How could this happen?
Yu Diheng's pupils contracted. It was already too late to dodge. His reckless charge had left him without teammates nearby, and he disdained using soul tools. He could only hastily raise his dragon-transformed right arm in a desperate attempt to block.
But instead of delivering the savage lash he had expected, the black chain suddenly twisted and wound around both his arms like a living thing. Its uncanny forbidden law power instantly spread through him, suppressing his soul power-yet leaving him just enough to struggle, rather than rendering him helpless and eliminating him. The chain tightened, bound him upside down, and hoisted him into the air like a lamb awaiting slaughter.
"Captain, I'll help you!" Tang Hao finally reached Yu Diheng, swinging his Clear Sky Hammer at the chain suspending their captain in midair.
Unfortunately, he could not fly.
He bounced. He jumped. He simply could not reach it.
The soul master duel abruptly became a ridiculous gorilla high-jump contest.
"Those two idiots!" Cai Yue'er raged impotently.
"Aaargh! I'm furious!" Tang Hao swung his hammer and charged at Xu Qingjia, the caster.
"Clear Sky Power!"
A purple soul ring lit up, and a dense black aura enveloped his clear sky hammer martial soul.
"Sky-Piercing Strike!" A purple point of light shot out and sank directly into Xu Qingjia's body. Then the Clear Sky
Hammer left Tang Hao's hand, erupting with tremendous force as it hurtled straight toward Xu Qingjia.
"Heavenly Dipper Big Dipper Steps." Just as the Clear Sky Hammer approached, dark aura wrapped around Xu Qingjia's legs. His figure swayed as he darted three steps diagonally left, his mysterious footwork resembling stars shifting along their orbits. With a touch of his toes against the ground, he instantly changed direction and slipped diagonally forward like a ghost.
But the Clear Sky Hammer seemed equipped with navigation. It traced an eerie arc through the air, circled around, and charged straight at him again.
"It's useless. I've already locked on to you." Another Clear Sky Hammer appeared in Tang Hao's hand. Another soul ring lit up, and soul power poured into the weapon as he apparently prepared a charged strike.
Using Heavenly Dipper Big Dipper Steps, Xu Qingjia kept dodging swiftly, exploiting the Clear Sky Hammer's unstoppable momentum.
He could sense the spiritual mark that had appeared on him.
With his current spiritual power, he could easily erase it by force.
But this was a useful blade.
Before that, however, he needed to clear away the bystanders.
"Mirror of Sin: Shadow Reflection."
A hundred-thousand-year soul bone skill, Mermaid Control.
Mermaid Control triggered his second soul skill in succession, Judge's Brush: Conviction.
I judge you: doing evil, the Sin of Sloth.
An ink-black brush abruptly took shape. Like a sword passing judgment on the world, it carried a chilling aura as it shot directly toward Ning Yaoyao, who was stealthily raising a Class 3 Soul Guidance Ray Gun.
Ning Yaoyao paled and hastily activated her Class 3 Defensive Soul Tool. A pale-blue energy barrier instantly unfurled before her.
Yet before her incredulous eyes, that streak of black pierced the defensive shield as though it were paper and sank directly into her body. The next second, overwhelming drowsiness flooded her mind like a tide. Her eyelids grew heavy as lead, and the Soul Guidance Ray Gun clattered to the ground. Her entire body went limp as she collapsed.
"Sister Yaoyao!" Tang Hao flew into a rage. Seeing his goddess struck down, the lovesick lapdog roared and charged at Xu Qingjia with a black hammer radiating dense soul power, coordinating a pincer attack with the pursuing Clear Sky Hammer.
Still hanging in the air, Yu Diheng continued struggling with his lightning power, puzzled as to why lightning was ineffective against this seemingly evil aura.
Could this not be an evil martial soul?
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
Meanwhile, an ancient ink-black bronze mirror suddenly appeared before Xu Qingjia. Dim light flowed across its surface, clearly reflecting Tang Hao's furious figure.
An intense surge of guilt suddenly flooded Tang Hao's heart.
Like a villain who had abruptly seen the light, he repented of his past sins.
"You really are an arrogant bully." A voice identical to his own sounded beside his ear, carrying a hint of mockery.
Breaking free from his forced repentance, Tang Hao abruptly rolled aside and used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, trying to evade this sudden turn of events.
A figure appeared where he had just stood.
Another "Tang Hao"! The other figure even held an identically charged Clear Sky Hammer.
Xu Qingjia had copied Tang Hao's Sin Shadow to deal with him.
With a thought, he set the Soul Lock Chain in motion, bringing the upside-down Yu Diheng over.
"You bastard, put me down!" Yu Diheng cursed.
"Certainly." Xu Qingjia smiled faintly. He was always very accommodating. "But I suggest you use all your soul power to protect your body."
As he spoke, Xu Qingjia raised his hand, and the chain suspending Yu Diheng horizontally suddenly released him.
The Clear Sky Hammer with its tracking mark came hurtling straight in.
Yu Diheng fell from the air.
Xu Qingjia had always been good at mathematics and physics, and he particularly despised pedophiles.
Harassing little girls? Here's a Clear Sky Hammer as your "reward."
Xu Qingjia remembered that in the original story, when Tang San and the others were taught that "those who dare not cause trouble are mediocre," they had deliberately provoked others, harassed girls from another academy, and slandered that academy's reputation.
Today, Shrek Academy had done the same thing again.
But he was not Canghui Academy, forced to play the "helpless husband" beneath a Soul Saint's oppressive might.
The little hammer struck the little gun-the chicken flew, and the eggs shattered.
"Aaaaaagh-!"
A piercing howl echoed throughout the entire venue.
Every male creature present gasped in unison and instinctively clamped his legs together. Some even felt a faint ache in a certain part of their own bodies, their faces displaying an inability to bear the sight.