Ma Hongjun's plump body looked swollen, wrapped in flames.
Every beat of those dark-red wings condensed from soul power left two scorching trails in the air.
A pungent smell of sulfur filled the air.
It was the distinctive aura of evil fire, carrying brutality and impurity.
Ma Hongjun dove, the fury in his eyes almost taking physical form.
"Chen Jin, today I'll show you what a true phoenix is!"
Ma Hongjun's shout echoed through the Soul Fighting Arena.
With that cry, his plump body became a massive purple-red fireball, hurtling straight toward Chen Jin with tremendous force.
The powerful air currents made even the protective barrier at the edge of the Soul Fighting Platform hum.
Below the Soul Fighting Platform.
The people from Shrek Academy stood at the very front.
Yu Xiaogang held his hands behind his back, a faintly smug expression on his gaunt face.
"Hongjun's third soul skill, Phoenix Wings Soaring, not only allows him to fly but also doubles the power of his flames."
"Among those of the same level, no power attack system soul master can take this move head-on."
"If Chen Jin refuses to dodge, he's courting death."
Yu Xiaogang's voice was quiet, but it carried an irrefutable confidence.
Dai Mubai sneered beside him, his sinister eyes filled with satisfaction.
"Grandmaster is absolutely right. This fellow never fit in at the academy back then. Now that he's struck out on his own, does he really think he's some genius?"
"Fatty's strike will definitely break his bones."
Oscar snickered along beside them, ready to watch Chen Jin make a fool of himself.
Tang San stood at the very front. Although he said nothing, agreement also gleamed in his bright eyes.
Tang San had absolute confidence in Ma Hongjun's explosive power.
Among the Shrek Seven Devils, Ma Hongjun was undoubtedly one of the best when it came to sheer destructive bursts.
For Chen Jin to try to withstand it head-on was stupidity in the extreme.
Facing that enormous fireball descending from the sky.
Chen Jin stood where he was, his expression as calm as a stagnant pool.
Not even the hem of his clothes stirred in the powerful air currents.
The young man raised his head, his handsome face showing not the slightest panic or solemnity.
Only calm indifference.
"A mongrel bird is still just a mongrel bird."
Chen Jin spoke slowly.
The next moment.
The soul power within Chen Jin erupted.
Boom!
A dazzling blaze of golden flames shot skyward from Chen Jin's body.
Countless rays of golden light streamed out.
They illuminated the entire Great Soul Arena as brightly as day.
Behind Chen Jin, the enormous, sacred phantom of a phoenix slowly appeared.
The phoenix had nine magnificent tail feathers, every feather seemingly cast from gold and radiating the brilliance of the sun.
Noble, sacred, majestic.
That was the absolute might that truly belonged to a divine martial soul.
When this Nine-Heaven Divine Phoenix appeared.
The air throughout the Great Soul Arena stagnated.
When those golden flames appeared, Ma Hongjun's imposing purple-red flames actually withered as though they had encountered their natural nemesis.
The massive fireball began trembling violently in midair, its fiery radiance dimming severalfold.
It was absolute suppression from the depths of the bloodline.
His expression composed, Chen Jin slowly raised his right hand.
His index finger tapped lightly in the air.
An extremely fine wisp of golden flame shot from his fingertip.
The flame was only as thick as a hair, yet it carried an irresistible, extreme heat.
The golden flame met the enormous purple-red fireball.
There was no earth-shattering explosion as anticipated.
Nor were there any violent fluctuations of soul power.
There was only silent melting.
The seemingly formidable Phoenix Wings Soaring melted away and crumbled upon touching that wisp of golden flame, like lingering snow in early spring meeting scalding oil.
The purple-red flames dissipated in great swaths.
The wings in the air collapsed with a crash.
Ma Hongjun cried out in alarm. Losing the support of his soul power, he plummeted heavily from midair like a bird with broken wings.
His plump body rolled several times across the hard marble floor, leaving him in an utterly wretched state.
His clothes had also been torn in several places by the aftershocks and were covered in dust.
Ma Hongjun struggled into a sitting position on the ground, bracing himself with both hands, his little eyes round and wide.
"Impossible!"
"This is absolutely impossible!"
Ma Hongjun shouted, his voice filled with incredulous terror.
At that moment, Ma Hongjun had clearly felt his evil fire martial soul trembling within him.
It was absolute fear of a superior being.
During that collision, the soul power within Ma Hongjun had actually been forcibly suppressed by more than thirty percent.
Nothing like this had ever happened in Ma Hongjun's life as a soul master.
Below the platform.
Dead silence fell over Shrek Academy's rest area.
The smile froze on Yu Xiaogang's face. His thin, shriveled lips parted, but not a word came out.
Dai Mubai's eyes widened even further. The taunts he had prepared stuck in his throat, turning his face red.
Tang San abruptly stepped forward, gripping the railing with both hands.
Purple light flickered in Tang San's eyes.
"Ultimate fire..."
"Those flames are countless times purer than Hongjun's evil fire."
"How is this possible? How could Chen Jin's martial soul possess flames of this caliber?"
Tang San's heart sank.
As someone with twin martial souls, Tang San understood better than anyone that a martial soul's quality determined a soul master's upper limit.
The quality of the flames Chen Jin had just displayed surpassed every fire-attribute martial soul Tang San had ever seen.
Even those geniuses from Blazing Fire Academy could not compare.
Zhu Zhuqing stood at the very back of the crowd.
Her beautiful eyes were filled with shock.
The black-clad woman's gaze settled on that upright figure on the platform, unable to move away again.
Chen Jin, when did you become so powerful?
Back at Shrek Academy, Chen Jin had clearly been nothing more than an ordinary soul master.
Yet now, he had displayed such terrifying strength.
Not only did he possess ultimate fire, but even his martial soul had become so sacred.
What exactly had Chen Jin been through?
Ripples stirred in Zhu Zhuqing's heart, emotions spreading through it.
Her peaceful state of mind was shattered at that moment.
Ma Hongjun struggled to his feet, his face pale, but the jealous hatred in his eyes grew even stronger.
"What exactly is your martial soul?!"
"This is definitely not an evil fire phoenix!"
"My martial soul is the top-tier phoenix! Why would it fear your flames?!"
Ma Hongjun pointed at Chen Jin and demanded loudly, his voice frantic with frustration.
Chen Jin stood a short distance away, looking down at Ma Hongjun.
With his hands behind his back, he was utterly unruffled, like a god looking down upon an ant.
"My martial soul is the Phoenix God."
Chen Jin's voice was quiet, but wrapped in soul power, it reached every corner of the Great Soul Arena with perfect clarity.
Scattered murmurs rose within the Great Soul Arena.
"The Phoenix God?!"
"There's actually a martial soul called the Phoenix God in this world?!"
"Just the name sounds countless times stronger than that fatty's barnyard chicken martial soul!"
"No wonder he defeated that fatty with a single move. It's a god-level martial soul!"
In the VIP seats.
An unusual gleam flashed through Xue Qinghe's eyes, his fair fingers tapping lightly against the armrest.
"A Phoenix God martial soul..."
"How interesting. It seems my ten thousand Gold Soul Coins were well spent."
Beside him, Huo Wu looked proudly at the young man on the platform, her beautiful eyes filled with adoration and tenderness.
This was the man Huo Wu had set her heart on.
No matter when, he was always so dazzling.
Listening to the spectators' discussions around him, Ma Hongjun's face alternated between ashen and pale.
"Utter nonsense!"
"What Phoenix God? You're just putting on a mysterious act!"
"Today, I'll make you show your true colors!"
Ma Hongjun slammed both hands against the ground.
Scalding purple-red energy began gathering underground.
The ground began shaking violently as rings of purple-red fire spread outward from Ma Hongjun.
Below the platform.
Seeing that Chen Jin had not intervened, delight flashed in Tang San's eyes.
"Chen Jin is too arrogant."
"Once Hongjun finishes charging his soul skill, even a soul master above level forty would struggle to withstand it head-on."
"Hongjun is certain to win this battle."
Yu Xiaogang also breathed a sigh of relief, a confident smile returning to his face.
"Young people are hotheaded after all. Against this strike, Chen Jin is sure to lose."
Rumble!
The entire Soul Fighting Platform began trembling violently.
Weblike cracks began appearing across the marble floor, scalding lava gushing from the fissures.
"Die!"
Ma Hongjun shouted, finally finishing his charge.
The ground split apart.
A massive pillar of purple-red fire shot skyward, carrying terrifying concussive force and engulfing Chen Jin entirely.
Ferocious flames raged, shrouding the entire Soul Fighting Platform in firelight.
Cries of alarm rose from the spectator stands.
"It's over! That young man took a direct hit!"
"With power that terrifying, how could he possibly block it without dodging?"
Just as everyone believed Chen Jin's defeat was certain.
Within the firelight.
A sacred golden radiance suddenly shone.
That incomparably dazzling light tore an opening through the purple-red waves of fire.
Chen Jin's figure appeared faintly within the golden light, completely unharmed.
Chen Jin raised his right hand, curling his five fingers into a claw.
"Phoenix Claw."
As Chen Jin's voice fell.
A gigantic golden phoenix claw condensed in the air.
The phoenix claw was formed entirely from pure golden flames, its scales distinct, radiating the boundless majesty of the Phoenix God.
When the phoenix claw appeared, the entire surrounding space began shaking violently.
The sacred pressure bore down upon everyone present with a soul beast martial soul, making them tremble in the depths of their souls.
Boom!
A golden Phoenix Claw slammed down from the sky.
Ma Hongjun's seemingly terrifying Phoenix Roaring Sky Strike was as fragile as paper before the golden Phoenix Claw.
Like a gale sweeping away rotten wood!
The purplish-red pillar of fire was smashed apart, scattering into sparks that filled the sky before fading away.
The golden Phoenix Claw swept onward without losing momentum, slamming into Ma Hongjun with the force of toppling mountains and overturning seas.
Ma Hongjun was hurled through the air, spraying a mouthful of blood as he flew off the Soul Fighting Platform and crashed heavily in front of Shrek Academy's rest area.
The golden Phoenix Claw slowly dispersed in midair.
The lingering golden flames turned into specks of starlight, dancing in the air.
At the center of the Great Soul Arena, the hard, level marble floor collapsed, forming an enormous crater several meters across.
Rubble littered the crater.
Ma Hongjun's obese body lay limp amid the rubble, his clothes in tatters and his exposed skin an unnatural, charred black.
His purplish-red Evil Fire had long since gone out, leaving only wisps of black smoke curling up from his charred wounds.
The fat boy gasped for breath, each breath bringing up bloody fluid mixed with fragments of his internal organs, staining the rubble beneath him red.
The entire Great Soul Arena fell into a deathly silence.
Tens of thousands of spectators sat stunned in the stands.
Everyone stared wide-eyed at the scene, unconsciously quieting even their breathing.
The Shrek genius whose might had seemed to tower to the heavens just moments ago had been crushed in the blink of an eye.
The sheer visual impact stunned everyone present.
Wind swept across the Soul Fighting Platform, carrying a pungent, scorched smell.
After that brief, deathly silence, cries of astonishment erupted with the force of toppling mountains and overturning seas.
"One move!"
"That was a top-tier Soul Skill just now, wasn't it? It actually got smashed head-on!"
"What kind of monster is Blazing Fire Academy's captain?"
"How could he unleash that kind of power?"
Discussion surged like the tide, wave after wave, making even the dome of the Soul Fighting Arena tremble.
Countless gazes converged on the young man on the platform, filled with awe and amazement.
In the VIP seats.
Xue Qinghe slowly rose to his feet, both hands resting on the white jade railing, a flash of shock passing through his eyes.
What surfaced next was an almost feverish admiration.
He had thought Chen Jin was merely a talented independent cultivator, never expecting his strength to be terrifying to this extent.
Those ten thousand Gold Soul Coins and that ten-thousand-year whale glue had been well worth giving away.
If he could bring someone like this under his command, he would surely become a great asset in the future.
Xue Qinghe suppressed his excited thoughts, his gaze fixed on the young man on the platform.
"What an unexpected surprise."
Xue Qinghe murmured to himself, appreciation appearing on his face.
On the other side, in Blazing Fire Academy's section.
Huo Wu jumped up happily, clenching both fists, her delicate face brimming with excitement.
"He won! Chen Jin won!"
Huo Wu's voice rang out with particular clarity amid the noisy Soul Fighting Arena.
Beside her, Huo Wushuang also wore an admiring expression and shook his head helplessly.
Huo Wushuang had refused to accept Chen Jin's superiority before, but now he was truly convinced.
This was the man Huo Wu had set her sights on; even against Shrek Academy's all-out strike, he could crush it with ease.
Huo Wu watched the young man on the platform, her beautiful eyes filled with adoration and tenderness.
In contrast to Blazing Fire Academy's jubilation, Shrek Academy's side was shrouded in gloomy clouds and dismal mist.
Shock was written all over everyone's faces.
Tang San stood at the very front, his hands gripping the wooden railing, his knuckles turning blue.
"How is this possible..."
Was this man really Chen Jin?
Tang San drove his Purple Demon Eye to its fullest, trying to find traces of a disguise on Chen Jin.
But no matter how he looked, that sacred, pure aura of flame was genuine.
This power had already far surpassed Tang San's understanding of Chen Jin.
Dai Mubai's hands trembled with fear of this unknown power.
"Grandmaster, what on earth is going on?"
Oscar anxiously asked from beside him.
Yu Xiaogang stood rooted to the spot, his gaunt face filled with bewilderment.
"This... this defies all reason."
Before you continue