The battlefield split in two.
Xiao Chen darted forward, following the trail of Wither's bombardment as he pursued Tang Wulin and Xie Xie away from the central woodland.
The once-tangled battle lines became clear. Across the entire forest clearing, only Na'er and Gu Yue remained, facing each other from afar.
Without outsiders interfering, and with Xiao Chen no longer present, Gu Yue's taut nerves relaxed. The last trace of reservation vanished from her eyes, replaced by mockery and coldness toward Na'er.
She lowered her gaze toward Na'er, who stood before her holding the Silver Dragon Spear. Looking at this other self, split from her through a mistake during her transformation into human form, she felt nothing but disdain.
They shared the same roots and origin, twins born of one body.
Yet the Na'er before her had not only broken free of her control, but had also become a human's disciple, acknowledged a human boy as her brother, and even dared to turn around and order her about, coming to her doorstep to provoke her.
To Gu Yue, such behavior had already disgraced Soul Beasts.
Her cool voice, laced with mockery, slowly rang across the empty woodland:
"As my other half, bearing the identity of the Silver Dragon King, you willingly cling to humans and call an ordinary human your brother. You've utterly disgraced us."
Those words jabbed like needles into Na'er's rebellious streak.
Na'er could least bear anyone criticizing Xiao Chen, and even less bear anyone belittling her relationship with him. Initially, she had merely wanted to settle who ranked above whom, but now she was instantly enraged.
Her delicate little face instantly filled with anger. Her silver eyes glared at Gu Yue, her tone imperious and stubborn. "Hmph, mind your own business!"
"My brother is better than anyone! Today, I'll let you see for yourself which of us is stronger! Watch how your big sister Na'er knocks you flat!"
Seeing her childish arrogance and utter ignorance of the heights of heaven and the depths of earth, Gu Yue curled her lips into a faint, sarcastic smile, the contempt in her eyes deepening:
"You? You dare call yourself my big sister? Do you even deserve to discuss rank with me?"
There was no need for more wasted words. Both activated their Soul Power at once, the Soul Rings around them lighting up in unison!
Two Soul Rings rose from beneath their feet, circling and revolving with dazzling brilliance.
But the instant the quality of their respective Soul Rings became clear, the atmosphere on the battlefield reversed.
Around Gu Yue were two hundred-year Soul Rings.
By contrast, the two Soul Rings around Na'er shone with brilliant purple light, their color deep and concentrated. Thousand-year Soul Rings-the difference in rank was plain at a glance, instantly overwhelming Gu Yue's hundred-year Soul Rings in every respect.
The nearly ten-level gap in Soul Power, combined with her superior Soul Ring quality, sent Na'er's confidence soaring. Her little face brimming with smugness, she deliberately drew out her words as she teased:
"Hey, hey, hey, no way, no way! Don't tell me you only just broke through to two rings?"
She lifted her chin slightly, her voice full of haughty pride. "I'm almost at level thirty already! The gap between us isn't just a tiny little bit!"
The blatant mockery struck Gu Yue right in her weak spot.
Gu Yue had always kept her thoughts deeply hidden, restrained and reserved. She especially disliked having her shortcomings exposed to her face and her strength compared to someone else's, particularly when that someone was her own other self.
In an instant, bone-piercing cold flashed through her eyes, and her expression turned icy:
"Stop showing off! Cultivation has never been decided by Soul Ring rank alone! If you're going to fight, then fight! Why waste so much breath?"
Before her words had faded, Gu Yue struck first again, holding nothing back.
Her elemental power erupted to its utmost in an instant. Ice-fire dual-attribute Soul Power surged simultaneously, two diametrically opposed forces-one hot, one cold-coexisting perfectly in her palms.
Several scorching fireballs formed in midair once again, accompanied by countless sharp icicles. Ice and fire intertwined, cold and densely packed, blanketing Na'er.
Na'er dared not be careless. Putting aside her teasing, she gripped the Silver Dragon Spear tightly, darting nimbly about, her feet crossing rapidly as she dodged back and forth through the sky-filling attacks.
Spear shadows danced. With each sweep of her weapon, she shattered the incoming fireballs and icicles, steadily advancing toward Gu Yue to close in for melee combat.
But every time Na'er was about to close the distance and reach Gu Yue's side, Gu Yue anticipated her.
Space power stirred faintly beneath Gu Yue's feet. Using that unanswerable spatial ability, she instantly widened the distance and evaded Na'er's close-range attacks.
The two kept maneuvering around each other through the forest.
Na'er's attacks were swift and fierce, yet she could never get close enough, leaving her strength nowhere to land. Gu Yue was a veritable queen of technique, constantly moving and wearing her down, using her spatial ability to reliably avoid damage. For a time, the battle remained deadlocked.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the woodland, an entirely different scene unfolded-a pure pursuit and slaughter.
Compared with the back-and-forth between Gu Yue and Na'er, Xiao Chen's battle had been nothing but absolute domination and relentless pursuit from beginning to end, without the slightest suspense.
High overhead, the Wither Martial Soul hovered and circled. Pitch-black light gathered ceaselessly, and Wither Heads rained down like a dense meteor shower, relentlessly bombarding the desperately fleeing Tang Wulin and Xie Xie.
Xiao Chen pursued them like a cat chasing mice. Locked onto the pair, he remained unhurried throughout, like a hunter toying with prey fleeing in panic.
Relying on his sharp reflexes, Xie Xie made several last-second dodges, narrowly escaping the Wither Heads' bombardment time after time. But the attacks filled the sky so densely that he had no chance to catch his breath, and his stamina and Soul Power drained rapidly.
Just as Xie Xie twisted aside to evade one blast, another Wither Head abruptly tore through the air toward him, as fast as lightning. There was no time to react.
Boom!
Dazzling white motes enveloped Xie Xie's entire body. Before he could even cry out in pain, he was forcibly ejected from the Spirit Ascension Platform, eliminated!
The teammate who had been fleeing beside him and covering for him a second earlier abruptly vanished. Tang Wulin was left all alone in the mountain forest.
Witnessing Xie Xie's elimination with his own eyes, the fear and anger in Tang Wulin's heart erupted completely!
He abruptly stopped fleeing, Soul Power churning violently around him. His dodging figure suddenly froze, and he whipped his head around, his scarlet eyes fixed on Xiao Chen, brimming with fury.
Since Class Zero's founding, the five of them had fought shoulder to shoulder, yet they had never suffered such a wretched, devastating defeat.
In mere moments, Wang Jinxi, Zhang Yangzi, and Xie Xie had been eliminated one after another. Gu Yue's situation was unknown, and once again, he was the only one left.
Anger overwhelmed the fear in his heart. Tang Wulin gritted his teeth and roared:
"Who exactly are you! Why are you targeting Gu Yue! And why did you attack us for no reason!"
Faced with his furious questioning, Xiao Chen remained utterly calm, his voice cool and distant, without a trace of emotion. "Gu Yue asked for this assessment herself. I'm merely clearing the field. It has nothing to do with you."
Xiao Chen was cold, without the slightest warmth, as though the bloody pursuit that had just eliminated three people was nothing more than a trivial, everyday matter to him.
"Clearing the field?" Tang Wulin laughed in extreme anger, the chill in his eyes surging.
Before his words had faded, Xiao Chen, unwilling to say anything more, stirred his mind and activated his second Soul Skill once again!
Brownish-yellow soul sand swept out once more, like a boundless ocean of quicksand, spreading across the entire ground and rapidly surging toward Tang Wulin to coil around and engulf him.
Remembering what had happened to Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi, Tang Wulin knew how terrifying this sand was. He dared not hesitate and instantly activated his Martial Soul.
"Blue Silver Entanglement!"
Countless emerald-green strands of Blue Silver Grass burst wildly from the ground, densely packed and layered upon one another, attempting to entangle and block the incoming soul sand.
But in the next second, a sight that plunged Tang Wulin into despair unfolded.
Every strand of Blue Silver Grass that touched the soul sand instantly lost all vitality. Its emerald green faded as it rapidly yellowed, shriveled, and withered, as though all its life force and Soul Power had been drained away. It withered and crumbled, unable to hold the sand back for even a moment!
The soul sand not only devoured souls and Soul Power, but could actually strip plants of their vitality as well!
The Blue Silver Grass defense failed completely. The sky-filling quicksand had already closed in before him, and the threat of death enveloped his entire body.
There was nowhere to retreat, nowhere to hide!
A trace of resolve flashed through Tang Wulin's eyes. Gritting his teeth, he activated the Golden Dragon King's bloodline power within him. His muscles tensed, golden patterns quietly emerged, and an overbearing draconic aura slowly awakened and spread!
Facing Xiao Chen, he chose to fight with his back to the river!
Bzzzt-!
Brilliant golden light erupted from his right hand. Dragon scales covered it, sharp talons took shape, and a fierce, domineering Golden Dragon Claw fully formed, its pressure terrifying!
Tang Wulin's expression was as grave as could be. He stared fixedly at Xiao Chen ahead, ready to stake his life on one desperate struggle!
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