Purple Flash

After eliminating Dai Huabing's team, Gu Xingyue was just about to call Huo Yutong over and leave when-

"Fellow student, please wait."

A clear voice rang out. At some point, Ning Tian had already straightened his robes.

He still held his back straight, blocking their way with impeccable aristocratic etiquette.

He placed his right hand over his chest and bowed slightly at a perfectly measured angle. Clearly, he had practiced this often.

It expressed respect without appearing servile.

To Gu Xingyue, his intentions were obvious: he simply wanted to discuss working together.

Gu Xingyue raised an eyebrow and stopped.

Sure enough, the moment Ning Tian straightened, he got right to the point. "Might you be interested in joining forces?"

He turned his palm upward, and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda slowly emerged above it, radiating a gentle, seven-colored glow. "My Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's support abilities are quite powerful. They can let you move like a fish in water. Whether it's strength, speed, or breaking an opponent's soul power control, I can-"

"Not interested."

Gu Xingyue waved a hand, his tone casual.

He did not even glance at the pagoda hailed as the "number one support martial soul" on the Douluo Continent before turning to leave.

Was this a joke? Some random nobody wanted to ally with me?

He must be drunk out of his mind.

So he walked straight past without so much as a glance.

Ning Tian's team, left standing there, could certainly be said to be suffering.

After all, they had never been subjected to this kind of bullying before.

But being bullied at Shrek Academy seemed to be perfectly normal.

Still, it was not without benefits: it made them mentally stronger.

An absolute powerhouse, and the loneliness born of it.

Gu Xingyue kept both hands in his pockets, his retreating figure looking especially forlorn beneath the setting sun.

This was a true reflection of his current inner state-how lonely it was to be invincible.

The horn for the finals sounded, and the arena began to shrink.

The teams were forced toward the center. The students, originally scattered, gradually crowded together like sheep being herded.

"Everyone!" On a rise, a burly student stood atop a rock, his voice carrying through his soul power. "We have to unite! Eliminate Gu Xingyue's team first!"

At these words, the faces of those who had been watching one another warily changed.

"That's right!" another female student said through gritted teeth. "That team has two Soul Elders, plus that monster who defeated a senior from the Outer Court! Unless we deal with them first, none of us will ever get a chance to shine!"

"I agree! Let's work together to eliminate the strongest, then compete fairly among ourselves!"

For a moment, voices of agreement rose from every direction.

These geniuses, usually so haughty that none would acknowledge another's superiority, were now forced to unite.

After all, the pressure that team exerted was simply too great-great enough to crush all their pride.

"Listen," the burly student lowered his voice, laying out a strategy. "They may be strong, but their soul power is limited. There are so many of us. If each of us wears them down a little, we can grind them to death! We'll take a gamble-bet that they can't defeat all of us before their soul power runs out!"

"Good! That's what we'll do!"

"For fairness, we'll all attack together!"

Everyone was fired up, as though they could already see the dawn of victory.

Yet when this vast allied force actually arrived before Gu Xingyue, a fatal problem emerged-

Who would be the bird that stuck its head out first?

Dozens of students crowded together in the dense forest, yet an eerie, deathly silence prevailed.

They looked at the two teams ahead, then exchanged glances. Not one was willing to move first.

"Go on! Everyone, attack together!" someone urged quietly.

"Why aren't you going?" the person beside them immediately retorted.

"My... my legs are a little numb..."

"Coward!"

"If you're so capable, you go!"

Murmurs and buck-passing rose one after another, but no one took the first step.

The allied force that had been so aggressive moments earlier now resembled a flock of quails.

Meanwhile, Gu Xingyue and the others continued searching for the soul bones scattered around.

But as the safe zone kept shrinking, they noticed more and more people gathering in groups.

"Dealing with them one at a time is too much trouble."

He flexed his wrist, then turned to Huo Yutong. "Stand farther away. Don't get caught in this."

Huo Yutong obediently took several steps back, though a trace of anticipation flashed through her eyes.

Gu Xingyue drew a deep breath and slowly raised one hand.

The next instant, a terrifying aura erupted from within him!

"Domain expansion-"

With him at its center, the sky abruptly darkened.

Dark clouds rolled and gathered like ink, as though an enormous black curtain had shrouded the entire battlefield.

At that moment, dazzling lightning coiled around Gu Xingyue's entire body.

Purple-white arcs leaped wildly across his body, even making every strand of his hair stand on end under their stimulation.

He was like a true god of thunder descending upon the mortal world!

I come with the storm, bringing the wrath of the gods!

Within a hundred-meter radius around him, everything instantly became a thunderous inferno.

Countless purple bolts as thick as arms descended from the sky and surged up from the ground, crisscrossing to weave an impenetrable web of lethal electricity.

The crackling arcs resembled silver snakes dancing wildly.

Anyone even grazed by this lightning would truly have a treat in store.

This was the innate domain of Gu Xingyue's Thunderclap Infernal Prison Vine martial soul-Infernal Thunder Prison!

Yes, both his martial souls possessed innate domains. He simply had no need to use them normally.

Did they really think he could not expand a domain?

No one had ever been worth using it on, that was all.

The only reason he had activated his domain this time was to clear out targets over a wide area. It did not mean these people were particularly strong.

Within the purple lightning domain, Gu Xingyue's aura surged wildly.

The lightning not only granted him speed and destructive power beyond his limits, but also merged him with the entire domain. His soul power recovered at an astonishing rate, as though every bolt of lightning were his supply line.

Although Gu Xingyue's domain neither enclosed the space nor imposed any sure-kill rules.

Even simply strengthening himself and weakening his opponents was enough.

This was already absolute domination.

"Now," Gu Xingyue stood at the boundary between light and darkness, purple lightning dancing wildly behind him, his smile as radiant as a god wielding heavenly punishment. "This is a battlefield under my command!"

"Children, run!"

Someone in the crowd shouted, and the allied force, which had barely maintained its formation, instantly collapsed.

The students who usually prided themselves on being geniuses now only wished their parents had given them another pair of legs as they fled frantically in every direction.

But it was already too late.

"Trying to leave?" Gu Xingyue chuckled and casually snapped his fingers.

Boom-!

Dozens of lightning bolts struck down from the sky at once, like soldiers responding to an order.

The fastest students saw only a flash of purple before their eyes. Then their entire bodies went numb, their limbs began twitching uncontrollably, and they plunged headfirst to the ground, wisps of black smoke rising from them.

He walked slowly forward. With every step, lightning exploded beneath his feet, turning into thrust that propelled him onward.

His speed reached the extreme, leaving only streaks of purple afterimages in everyone's eyes.