Monday, at Soul Fighting Platform No. 231 of the Sun Moon Empire Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
Thanks to Xiao Hongchen's effective publicity, quite a few people had gathered in small groups below the platform to watch the two-on-one match he had arranged with Ma Rulong.
Standing on the circular platform a hundred meters across, Xiao Hongchen paid no mind to the less-than-packed spectator stands.
He had someone dedicated to handling publicity.
Feng Tingting gave him an all-set gesture, indicating that the Recording Soul Tool was ready.
Across from him, Ma Rulong teased, "Say, Xiao Hongchen, every time you come looking for a beating from me, you invite all these people to watch."
"You even get Junior Tingting to record it. Nothing to lose if you fail, everything to gain if you win, is that it?"
"Or do you want another lesson from me before you become a Level 5 Soul Engineer?"
Xiao Hongchen shrugged.
"Just watch me put you in your place this time."
"Hmm?" Ma Rulong gave Huo Yuhao and Xiao Hongchen a suspicious look.
He never fought an unprepared battle. The moment he learned of Xiao Hongchen's challenge to a two-on-one match, alarm bells had gone off in his head.
You're a Level 4 Soul Engineer who gets slaughtered by me every day. How does adding a Level 2 Soul Engineer give you the nerve to come at me?
Something's fishy!
That very day, he had tracked down footage of Huo Yuhao's performance in his Level 2 Soul Engineer examination.
After analyzing it frame by frame, he had reached a conclusion:
This kid isn't human. His combat awareness far surpasses ordinary people's, and his fundamentals with Soul Tools are exceptionally solid.
In his hands, Ranged Soul Tools pose a threat far beyond their own level.
But however absurdly talented Huo Yuhao was, he was still only a Level 2 Soul Engineer.
Judging by the techniques Huo Yuhao had displayed in the grading examination, a casually deployed Level 4 defensive shield would leave him helpless.
Could Level 2 plus Level 4 really rival a Level 6 Soul Engineer?
Huo Yuhao and Xiao Hongchen could not stir up any waves.
Although Ma Rulong was brimming with confidence, he retained a measure of caution.
He had no desire to capsize in a gutter and become one of Xiao Hongchen's stepping stones.
"Go, Yuhao! You too, Brother!" Meng Hongchen waved from below the platform.
Xiao Hongchen first tidied his hair.
Then he smiled and looked around the Soul Fighting platform, waving to the many female students who screamed in response.
The referee finally lost his patience and roared:
"Xiao Hongchen! If you don't want to fight, I can declare you the loser right now!"
Xiao Hongchen smiled.
"Sir, you really don't need to shout my name so loudly."
"Ma Rulong, this isn't how you play with Soul Tools!"
Click, click, click!
Feng Tingting's Recording Soul Tool snapped pictures like mad.
"Begin!"
Ma Rulong stepped forward, and six Soul Rings-two yellow, two purple, and two black-appeared together.
With a toss of his arm, which was as thick as Huo Yuhao's waist, a blue metal sphere suddenly appeared and rose high into the sky, crackling with electricity.
It was a rare variety of Level 6 aerial Soul Tool: Thunder God's Wrath.
Every ten seconds, it could fire a "Thunder Punishment" as powerful as a Soul Emperor's all-out strike, with multiple special effects including explosions, automatic tracking, and paralysis.
It could track and lock onto targets through minute differences in voltage, rather than ordinary optical or Soul Power fluctuation targeting techniques.
This was a Soul Tool he had prepared specifically for Huo Yuhao. Ordinary Optical Invisibility would definitely be defeated!
As long as it hit Huo Yuhao, it would absolutely take him out of the fight.
However, after becoming Jing Hongchen's disciple, Huo Yuhao's knowledge had long since surpassed his own Soul Engineer level.
Thunder God's Wrath? I actually know a little about that.
Huo Yuhao stepped back and shared his Spiritual Detection with Xiao Hongchen.
Not only did he activate Optical Invisibility and Aura Concealment simultaneously, he even simulated a voltage difference identical to that of his surroundings!
Zzzzt!
The first Thunder Punishment arrived in an instant, striking the spot where Huo Yuhao had just stood.
Boom!
The metal surface of the Soul Fighting platform was blasted clean off. A storm of metal struck the platform's protective barrier, sending faint ripples across it.
A three-meter-deep crater lay where Huo Yuhao had been.
Taking advantage of that brief interval, Xiao Hongchen released his Martial Soul.
Golden light flashed, and another leg actually sprouted from his backside. This leg was entirely golden, while a dazzling layer of gold covered his entire body.
Xiao Hongchen winked at Huo Yuhao. Let me pretend to be Tang and catch Ma Rulong off guard!
Without caring whether Huo Yuhao had seen the hint, he shouted:
"Ma Rulong, take this!"
The three-legged Xiao Hongchen crouched slightly, his four Soul Rings-two yellow and two purple-shining.
Golden protrusions pushed up beneath the clothes on his slightly hunched back, giving off a soft golden glow.
His first and third Soul Rings lit up simultaneously.
Then he waved his hands, scattering at least a hundred metal spheres.
The metal spheres actually hung suspended in midair in an instant, surrounding him completely.
A bizarre scene unfolded in the next moment. With those metal spheres as their cores, hundreds of thick metal cannon barrels simply grew into being.
In the space of a breath, he had become something like a creature covered in metal cannon barrels.
Xiao Hongchen laughed loudly. "A hundred Soul Guidance Rays, fire!"
A vast swath of dazzling white light erupted from the metal barrels, viciously plowing through several hundred square meters around Ma Rulong.
When the dust cleared, only one small patch of ground remained unscathed within the bombarded area.
Ma Rulong stood proudly upon it with his hands behind his back, slowly withdrawing his Level 6 Impenetrable Shield.
He had expected this. Xiao Hongchen was still relying on the same saturation bombardment.
It might crush weaklings, but against him, Ma Rulong, it was utterly meaningless!
Victory was already in his grasp!
From his understanding after their many fights, a single burst like that would have drained at least half of Xiao Hongchen's Soul Power.
Ma Rulong's gaze shifted slightly as he constantly watched for any Soul Guidance Ray that might suddenly shoot out from his surroundings.
He said with a faint smile:
"Xiao Hongchen, you still haven't improved much!"
"My newly upgraded Level 6 Impenetrable Shield can take ten standard-issue Level 6 Soul Guidance Rays."
"Even if cracks cover the shield, it can return to its original state in an instant. Without an overwhelming burst of power, breaking it is impossible."
"Your rays aren't accurate, and you have too little Soul Power. What are you going to fight me with?"
"You've lost again, Meng Hongchen."
"Have I?" Xiao Hongchen grinned fiercely. The metal all over his body lit up again, shining even more brightly than before!
Ma Rulong's smile faded. He merely activated two layers of Level 6 Impenetrable Shields in silence and locked the next Thunder Punishment onto Xiao Hongchen.
Suddenly, an intense sense of danger rose in Ma Rulong's heart.
His gaze instantly focused, fixing on the hundred-plus Soul Guidance Rays Xiao Hongchen had fired, each at least Level 3.
These Soul Guidance Rays had different speeds, properties, and starting positions, yet they eerily converged at a single point in midair, merging into one Red Clustered Soul Guidance Ray.
Terrifying fluctuations emanated from that very Red Clustered Soul Guidance Ray, its overall power leaping across several levels.
It was probably approaching the output of a Level 7 Soul Tool!
Ma Rulong paled in shock, no longer precisely controlling the next Thunder Punishment's lock on Xiao Hongchen.
That damned Xiao Hongchen had actually pretended to be Tang just now to lower his guard!
It had happened so suddenly, far beyond his expectations.
He could only maintain the two layers of Level 6 Impenetrable Shields as best he could and dive sideways, hoping to avoid the center of the Clustered Soul Guidance Rays.
Yet even that sideways dive had fallen within the predictions of Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection.
A direct hit!
The first Level 6 Impenetrable Shield shattered soundlessly like an eggshell struck by a bullet.
The second Level 6 Impenetrable Shield held firm for a breath before it, too, was blasted apart.
Although most of the Red Clustered Soul Guidance Ray's power had been blocked, its momentum did not diminish.
Ma Rulong gritted his teeth. Soul Rings flashed all over his body, and his Soul Power surged rapidly.
Despite the terrifying drain of simultaneously controlling three Level 6 Soul Tools, he actually activated a third layer of Level 6 Impenetrable Shield.
The Red Clustered Soul Guidance Ray struck it, making the energy shield tremble violently as fine cracks spread across its surface.
I blocked it!
Ma Rulong's spirits lifted. The next instant, an explosive report reached his ears.
Bang!
Arriving faster than the sound was a Spirit-Nourishing Cast Iron Bullet fired from a Level 3 Soul Guidance Sniper Rifle!
The bullet arrived precisely in the instant before the Red Clustered Soul Guidance Ray dissipated, before the Level 6 Impenetrable Shield's energy gathered and its cracks were about to heal instantly.
It struck the weakest point among the cracks!
That shot instantly tore through the third Level 6 Impenetrable Shield, heading straight for Ma Rulong's chest!
"We're going to win!"
His face and clothes covered in dust from the Thunder Punishment blast, Xiao Hongchen's mouth fell slightly open. Victory felt within reach.
But the next instant, a thin layer of golden light emerged from Ma Rulong's body and firmly deflected the Spirit-Nourishing Cast Iron Bullet without the slightest resistance.
It was none other than an Invincible Shield!
"To think that the two of you, one Level 4 Soul Engineer and one Level 2 Soul Engineer, would force me to use an Invincible Shield."
Ma Rulong's expression was complicated, without a trace of joy at his victory.
He was a Level 6 Soul Engineer to begin with, and could even be called the strongest Level 6 Soul Engineer in the academy-the captain of the Main Team that would represent the academy against Shrek Academy next semester.
Even against a Soul Engineer team made up of ten Level 4 Soul Engineers and ten Level 2 Soul Engineers.
He should have won without any suspense.
Yet now, he had won the match by exhausting his opponents' Soul Power, plunging him into deep self-doubt.
Since when did Xiao Hongchen possess this almost miraculous ability to control Soul Tools?
Even if he did, could his Spiritual Power support such complicated battlefield calculations?
And was that final metal bullet fired secretly by Huo Yuhao?
Ma Rulong had far too many questions. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him. Wasn't this exactly the feeling he had gotten from watching Huo Yuhao's ten rounds of combat?
Precise, sudden, and impossible to guard against.
Ma Rulong gave Huo Yuhao a long look as he deactivated Simulation and appeared. He was actually holding a long, slender Soul Tool that was still smoking.
It really was a Level 3 Live Ammunition Soul Guidance Sniper Rifle. Just what you'd expect from a Level 3 Live Ammunition Soul Guidance Sniper Rifle.
That last shot absolutely reached the threshold of a Level 5 Soul Tool's output!
Otherwise, it couldn't possibly have torn through a Level 6 Impenetrable Shield, even if it had already been covered in cracks.
"Tingting, write this down."
"Sixth-year student Ma Rulong fought an uphill battle against a fourth-year student and a second-year student. Though victorious, he was defeated!"
Seeing that he had lost to Ma Rulong again, Xiao Hongchen gave it a little thought, then set about handling publicity.
"Mm, and another thing. Xiao Hongchen joined forces with second-year student Huo Yuhao to force the academy's Main Team captain to use his Invincible Shield."
At those words, Ma Rulong's face twitched.
Xiao Hongchen brushed the dust off his body with a faint smile.
"Even with the strength of a Level 4 Soul Engineer, I have the ability to defeat a Level 6 Soul Engineer! You might as well make me captain! Tingting, spread the word!"
Ma Rulong refused to stand for it. His eyes bulged as he launched straight into a tirade:
"Xiao Hongchen, stop spouting bullshit!"
"Don't think I can't tell that Huo Yuhao gave you some kind of support, letting you display control close to what he could achieve in person."
"But that isn't your ability, and you didn't defeat me on your own!"
Then his expression changed. Looking at Huo Yuhao, he squeezed out a somewhat amiable smile.
"Yuhao, I know you must have intervened somehow."
"As long as you agree, I can recommend you for the Reserve Team in this year's Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament. What do you say?"
If Huo Yuhao was willing to join the team, he would even dare to set his sights on the championship!
Anyone who had never seen it would find it hard to imagine how a burly man with a brutish face and a rugged air could wear a chuckling, faintly ingratiating expression.
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