Facing the meteor shower that blotted out the sky, Chen Jin remained where he stood.
Chen Jin stood quietly in place.
Not a ripple crossed his handsome face.
"A pointless struggle."
Chen Jin murmured.
The next moment.
The Nine-Turn Nirvana Art within Chen Jin began circulating rapidly.
The profound power of the second turn erupted.
The bloodline of the Nine-Heaven Divine Phoenix boiled within Chen Jin.
"Second divine ability."
"Phoenix God's Wings."
Chen Jin's expression was indifferent.
Boom!
Accompanied by a phoenix cry.
The space behind Chen Jin twisted.
Two enormous wings of golden flame extended from Chen Jin's back.
The wings spanned several meters, covered in golden feathers condensed from ultimate fire.
Sacred, noble, majestic.
At that moment, Chen Jin resembled a deity descended into the mortal world.
Vast divine might enveloped the entire Great Soul Arena.
The surging White Tiger soul power actually began trembling before that divine might.
In the VIP seats.
Xue Qinghe abruptly rose, his eyes filled with shock.
"Is that an external soul bone? Or a self-created soul skill?"
Xue Qinghe's heart raced as he stared at those golden wings.
Meanwhile, in the Blazing Fire Academy's section.
Huo Wu's beautiful eyes shone with changing lights, her hands wringing together.
This was the man she had set her sights on.
She could never see through him.
On the Soul Fighting Platform.
The Phoenix God's Wings behind Chen Jin gave a gentle beat.
Rumble!
There were no elaborate moves.
Only a beat of his wings.
An enormous flame storm formed from golden ultimate fire took shape on the Soul Fighting Platform.
The storm surged skyward.
Carrying scorching heat that could destroy everything, it burned the surrounding air until it warped and twisted.
The White Tiger Meteor Shower descended into the golden sea of fire.
Hiss!
They did not even last a single breath.
Those seemingly powerful golden spheres were burned away completely upon touching the ultimate fire.
They vanished into nothingness.
"How is this possible?!"
Dai Mubai's eyes widened, the savage expression on his face freezing before giving way to boundless terror.
The fourth soul skill Dai Mubai had unleashed with all his strength could not even hold back that flame storm for a moment.
After obliterating the meteor shower, the flame storm swept toward Dai Mubai with undiminished force, as though toppling mountains and overturning seas.
Dai Mubai tried to dodge, only to discover that the intense heat had sealed off the space around him.
"No-!"
Dai Mubai only had time to let out a scream.
His entire body was engulfed by the golden flame storm.
The intense heat of the ultimate fire broke through Dai Mubai's White Tiger Protection Barrier.
The clothes on Dai Mubai's body turned to ash.
His skin rapidly blackened in the heat.
He lost all control and plummeted heavily from high in the air.
Boom!
Dai Mubai slammed into the Soul Fighting Platform with a dull thud.
His Martial Soul Possession ended.
Dai Mubai lay on the ground, charred all over; his body twitched twice before he passed out.
With that single strike, Dai Mubai suffered a swift, decisive defeat.
He had not even posed any obstacle to Chen Jin.
Once again, the entire arena sank into deathly shock.
The tens of thousands of spectators could no longer put their feelings into words.
An instant defeat.
Another instant defeat.
Shrek Academy's two main fighters were as fragile as three-year-old children before Chen Jin.
And from beginning to end, Chen Jin had not even used a second soul skill.
Just one beat of those flaming wings behind him.
That alone had crushed Shrek's strongest power attack system Soul Master.
Such strength had surpassed everyone's understanding.
Below the platform.
Tang San watched the unconscious Dai Mubai, his face drained of color.
For the first time, he felt a desperate helplessness before someone of his own generation.
Just what kind of monster was this Chen Jin?
Broken stones littered the marble platform.
Dai Mubai lay embedded in a deep crater, his imposing White Tiger Possession long since dispersed like smoke.
His reasonably handsome face was now covered in charred skin and blood, no trace of a prince's nobility remaining.
Every breath tugged at his blackened skin, bringing heart-piercing agony.
The unconscious Dai Mubai twitched instinctively.
A deathly silence surrounded the Soul Fighting Platform.
Tens of thousands of spectators rubbed their eyes, wondering whether they had seen wrong.
That was a power attack system Battle Soul Ancestor above level forty, one of Shrek Academy's pillars.
Yet he could not withstand even a single move from Chen Jin.
Chen Jin had not even used a second soul skill, only a single sweep of those golden wings.
This was not a battle on the same level at all.
It was a one-sided crushing.
In the VIP seats, Xue Qinghe slowly sat back down, but the shock in his eyes lingered for a long time.
"Such strength, such talent-truly enough to astound the world."
Xue Qinghe murmured, raising his assessment of Chen Jin another notch.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in Shrek Academy's section was oppressive.
Oscar's mouth hung open; he wanted to shout, but his throat was so dry that he could not make a sound.
Ning Rongrong's face was deathly pale, her delicate body trembling.
At the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Rongrong had seen countless geniuses, but never anyone who possessed such terrifying dominance at this age.
Zhu Zhuqing's expression shifted.
As she watched that handsome, upright figure on the platform, a gleam flashed in Zhu Zhuqing's eyes.
Once, Chen Jin had been nothing more than an obscure presence at Shrek Academy.
Now, he had grown to a height everyone had to look up to.
Yet Dai Mubai, who ordinarily ordered her about and spoke with such arrogance, now lay there like a dead dog.
Zhu Zhuqing felt no sympathy, only an indescribable sense of satisfaction.
Unable to restrain himself any longer, Tang San moved, drifting onto the Soul Fighting Platform like a falling leaf.
Ignoring the surrounding spectators' gazes, Tang San hurried to Dai Mubai's side.
The moment Tang San placed his fingers on Dai Mubai's wrist, his heart sank heavily.
The soul power within Dai Mubai was in turmoil, and many of his meridians were badly damaged.
Most frightening of all, a powerful golden flame lurked deep within Dai Mubai's meridians like a festering sore clinging to the bone.
That flame carried a sacred, destructive aura and was constantly burning away Dai Mubai's vitality.
Tang San hurriedly took several specially made Antidote and Healing Pills from Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges and pushed them into Dai Mubai's mouth.
Then Tang San pressed both palms against Dai Mubai's back, circulating the Mysterious Heaven Skill at full power in an attempt to expel that golden flame.
But the moment Tang San's internal energy touched that flame, it was burned to nothing, like a moth flying into a fire.
A fierce backlash struck, churning Tang San's blood and energy; a sweet taste rose in his throat, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
Just what kind of flame was this?
Towering waves of shock surged through Tang San's heart.
The quality of this flame surpassed even Ma Hongjun's evil fire.
Tang San took a deep breath, stood up, and fixed his eyes on Chen Jin.
His eyes filled with anger and accusation as he shouted:
"Chen Jin, you've been far too vicious!"
"We were fellow disciples! Even if you resent the academy, you shouldn't have crippled Mubai's meridians and cut off his path of cultivation!"
Amplified by soul power, Tang San's voice carried throughout the Great Soul Arena.
At those words, a wave of whispers immediately rose from the spectator stands.
Quite a few people thought Tang San had a point; after all, they had been schoolmates, and crippling someone's meridians was indeed going too far.
Chen Jin looked at Tang San, the contempt in his eyes deepening.
"Fellow disciples?"
Chen Jin sneered, his voice filled with endless mockery.
"Tang San, do you really think everyone will be deceived by that hypocritical face of yours?"
"Back when I was at Shrek Academy."
"Ma Hongjun used his status as the Grandmaster's disciple to humiliate me in every way, even trying to put me to death."
"Dai Mubai relied on his superior strength to beat me at the slightest provocation, treating me like worthless grass, and even threatened to cripple me."
"Where were you then, Tang San?"
"And where was that Grandmaster of yours who claimed to be invincible in theory?"
"You watched coldly from the sidelines and even mocked me-did you ever think that I was your fellow disciple?"
"Now that Dai Mubai has lost because his skills were inferior, you come running out to talk about our bonds as fellow disciples. How utterly ridiculous!"
Every word of Chen Jin's speech struck Tang San's heart like a heavy hammer.
Tang San's face alternated between green and white, and for a moment, he could not refute him.
Below the platform, hearing Chen Jin mention him, Yu Xiaogang was immediately overcome by furious agitation.
Yu Xiaogang pointed at Chen Jin and shouted reproachfully:
"Chen Jin, stop spewing vicious slander and twisting the truth!"
"The academy has always been fair! When has it ever mistreated you?"
"Clearly, you were dull and untalented and made no effort to improve, yet now you turn around and blame the academy!"
"You traitor who betrays his teachers and forebears! Your methods are cruel-you don't deserve to be a Soul Master!"
Chen Jin could not even be bothered to spare Yu Xiaogang a glance.
To say even one more word to a hypocrite who mouthed benevolence and morality but was selfish to the core would be an insult to himself.
The Phoenix God's Wings behind Chen Jin beat sharply.
Golden flames swept outward, reducing every broken stone on the Soul Fighting Platform to drifting ash.
Chen Jin turned and walked toward the steps with steady strides.
"What happened today was merely collecting the interest."
"Shrek Academy, I'll see you at the Elite Competition."
Leaving those words behind, Chen Jin's figure gradually disappeared into the shadows of the passage.
Watching Chen Jin's retreating back, Shrek Academy's section fell into dead silence.
Oscar and the others looked livid, their eyes filled with anger and resentment.
"That traitor is far too arrogant!"
Oscar spoke through gritted teeth, his voice carrying a deep sense of helplessness.
Xiao Wu stamped her foot in anger too.
"Third Brother, we absolutely can't let this guy off!"
Tang San, however, ignored everyone's shouting.
Standing on the Soul Fighting Platform, Tang San looked at Dai Mubai lying unconscious on the ground, his brow tightly furrowed.
Questions surged through his mind like a rising tide.
Why had Chen Jin's strength increased so terrifyingly?
The pressure radiating from those golden wings just now had even surpassed Dai Mubai's Fourth Soul Skill.
That definitely wasn't as simple as a Self-Created Soul Skill. It was more like some kind of high-level bloodline ability.
And Chen Jin's Martial Soul wasn't an Evil Fire Phoenix at all.
That sacred, noble Ultimate Fire was countless times purer than Ma Hongjun's Mutated Martial Soul.
Could Chen Jin have been hiding his strength all along?
But back at Shrek Academy, Chen Jin's Soul Power fluctuations clearly couldn't have been faked.
In the short time since they had last met, not only had Chen Jin's Soul Power soared, but even his Martial Soul had undergone an earth-shaking transformation.
What secret was hidden behind all this?
Tang San clenched both fists.
An immense sense of danger quietly spread through his heart.
Inside a dimly lit passage in the Great Soul Arena.
Chen Jin walked at an unhurried pace.
To Chen Jin, the battle just now had not even counted as a warm-up.
After mastering the Second Turn of the Nine-Turn Nirvana Art, his physical strength and the purity of his Soul Power had both reached a terrifying level.
Dealing with Dai Mubai had been nothing more than a casual task.
As he rounded a corner in the corridor, a figure in red was already waiting there.
Huo Wu leaned against the hard stone wall, her arms folded across her chest.
Her short red skirt barely covered the tops of her thighs, perfectly displaying her long, straight, beautiful legs.
Her legs were as fair as jade, giving off a lustrous sheen under the passage's dim lights.
A fraction fuller would have been too plump, a fraction slimmer too thin; their contours flowed like a meticulously sculpted work of art.
Farther down, a pair of delicate red sandals encased her exquisite, jade-like feet.
Her rounded toes were like plump pearls, rosy beneath their fairness.
In her impatience, Huo Wu lightly curled her toes inside her sandals, looking playful and alluring.
Hearing footsteps, Huo Wu turned her beautiful eyes toward Chen Jin.
The adoration and fervor in her eyes nearly spilled over.
Huo Wu hurried toward him, stirring a fragrant breeze.
"Chen Jin, you were amazing just now!"
Huo Wu's voice brimmed with excitement, and pride was written all over her exquisite face.
As her long, beautiful legs moved, her short skirt swayed with them, the glimpses of fair skin especially eye-catching.
Chen Jin stopped and looked at the enchanting woman before him.
"I only taught two jumping clowns a lesson. It's not worth mentioning."
Chen Jin's expression was indifferent, his tone calm.
But Huo Wu would not let the matter drop. She stepped forward until her body was almost pressed against his.
Her warmth passed through their thin clothing, accompanied by a faint feminine fragrance that sent the mind swaying.
Huo Wu tilted her head up, her large eyes shining as she stared at Chen Jin.
"Those two have made something of a name for themselves in Heaven Dou City, yet they couldn't even withstand one move from you."
"The more I think about it, the more I feel that making you the captain of Blazing Fire Academy was the best decision I've ever made."
As she spoke, Huo Wu extended a slender finger and gently poked Chen Jin's chest.
"Be honest. Just what Soul Skill was that move you used?"
"Those golden wings were so beautiful. I want them too."
Huo Wu blinked, a wheedling note in her voice.
Chen Jin lowered his head, his gaze traveling down from Huo Wu's delicate collarbones to her slender waist, small enough to encircle with his hands, and the curve of her pert buttocks.
He had to admit that Huo Wu's figure was truly aggressively striking.
Especially those dazzlingly fair thighs, which radiated endless temptation in the passage.
"Want to learn?"
Chen Jin raised an eyebrow and said of his own ability,
"This skill of mine isn't something I can casually pass on to outsiders."
At the word "outsiders," Huo Wu's pretty face flushed, and she gave a bashful little huff.
"Who are you calling an outsider?"
"I even went to the forest with you, and even... even my clothes... and you still treat me like an outsider?"
At this, Huo Wu recalled the moment in the forest when the drug had taken effect and she had hugged Chen Jin tightly.
For a moment, even Huo Wu's ears turned completely red, her beauty vivid enough to drip.
She lightly stamped her jade-like feet against the ground, looking impatient.
Seeing Huo Wu's bashful appearance put Chen Jin in an excellent mood.
"Since you're not an outsider, how do you want to learn?"
Chen Jin reached out and gently pinched Huo Wu's delicate chin.
Huo Wu did not pull away; instead, she thoroughly enjoyed the intimate gesture.
Looking at Chen Jin with her large, liquid eyes, Huo Wu thrust out her chest.
"As long as you're willing to teach me, I'll do anything."
Huo Wu's voice dropped, carrying an unusual allure.
Her long, beautiful legs unconsciously pressed together.
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