Staring dumbfounded at Xie Xie and Zhang Yangzi, who were already beside Wu Zhangkong, Tang Wulin and Wang Jinxi hesitated, unsure whether to keep fighting.
Wu Zhangkong also saw their misgivings and interrupted the match.
"Stop. You're no match for them."
"Gu Yue and Jiang Xia won this battle."
Wu Zhangkong did not go back on his word, either, and directly stopped the fighting from continuing.
He had contacted a teacher from the infirmary before the battle began. They were now in position and immediately treated Xie Xie's and Zhang Yangzi's injuries.
Neither was seriously injured. Zhang Yangzi in particular had suffered more of a wound to his spirit, while the burns on Xie Xie's body rapidly healed with the help of that Soul King-level healing-type soul master.
As for Tang Wulin and Wang Jinxi, the cuts left all over their bodies by the wind blades were also rapidly closing.
Wu Zhangkong had stopped this battle because he had seen the enormous gap between them, too. He had not let Tang Wulin and Wang Jinxi get hurt further, lest that interfere with the battle to come.
He was going to take the field himself.
He had not placed all his hopes on Tang Wulin's group of four just now, but had kept a backup plan: he could personally teach Jiang Xia a lesson and establish his authority.
And since he was going to fight, he naturally had to let the other side go all out. If Tang Wulin and Wang Jinxi, two of their main fighters, were injured, Jiang Xia would inevitably refuse to accept the result.
"The six of you, discuss your tactics. Next, you'll have a practical combat exercise against me."
After leaving them with those words, Wu Zhangkong turned and walked away from the six, found a large tree, and leaned against it, closing his eyes to rest.
Tang Wulin, Wang Jinxi, and the other two exchanged looks. Xie Xie gave Gu Yue a thumbs-up.
"Gu Yue, I never knew you were hiding so much."
Gu Yue curled her lip, looking unimpressed, and said disdainfully, "I could have one-shot you before, too."
Xie Xie flushed bright red. "That's different!"
"My improvement in strength came from Jiang Xia's support. Her Martial Soul gives my Elemental Control a qualitative boost. In short, my strength may have more than doubled."
More than doubled?!
Tang Wulin and the other three were shocked.
"It's that terrifying?"
They looked at Jiang Xia again, even more curious about his Martial Soul's abilities.
The battle had begun before Jiang Xia had even finished introducing himself.
Even now, what they knew about Jiang Xia was still limited to his being nine years old, rank 34, and having over 400 points of spiritual power.
"I'll provide vision for you during the battle."
After some thought, Jiang Xia shared his abilities with them after all.
Broken Dream linked everyone's minds and wills, then he unleashed Spirit Detection.
"Wang Jinxi, Zhang Yangzi, I can also amplify your darkness attribute, but do your Martial Souls rely heavily on it?"
Before either could answer, Gu Yue spoke first. "I can actually control the darkness element, too. I can spare a little attention to buff you with it."
Tang Wulin and Xie Xie exchanged a glance, both feeling that Gu Yue was a little different today.
How could either of them have known that Gu Yue currently had the same idea as Jiang Xia? She wanted to make Wu Zhangkong suffer a setback, so she was unusually proactive, completely unlike her normal self.
Her own strength was certainly a major key, but it still could not make up for his advantage in cultivation realm.
That made their companions important, too.
Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi possessed a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, which was also key to dealing with Wu Zhangkong.
"With the darkness element added, your Martial Soul Fusion Skill should be close to complete, right?" Gu Yue said.
Although she phrased it as a question, her tone was one of certainty.
Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi exchanged a glance, surprise flashing in their eyes.
They had not expected Gu Yue to know so much about them.
Zhang Yangzi said, "The problem with our Martial Soul Fusion Skill is mostly on my end. My Soul Power rank is a little low, and more importantly, I haven't developed my darkness attribute well enough. At the very least, I'd need to wait for a new Soul Spirit to make up for that shortcoming. If Gu Yue really can buff me with the darkness element, then Jinxi's and my Martial Soul Fusion Skill really could become complete..."
Gu Yue said, "Good. Tell Teacher Wu about it in a moment. Then, in the upcoming battle, your Martial Soul Fusion Skill will handle the frontal damage output."
"What about me? What about me?" Xie Xie asked anxiously.
Gu Yue curled her lip and said, "Aren't your Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger light- and darkness-attribute weapons? Jiang Xia and I can both buff them."
Xie Xie's eyes widened.
"Wait, Jiang Xia, are you really not a support-type soul master? How can your buffs cover so much?"
Of course, he also knew Jiang Xia could not be a support-type soul master. How could a support-type soul master cultivate so quickly?
Jiang Xia curled his lip. "It's just that my buffs focus on the elemental domain, so they have a wide range of applications."
Understanding dawned on Xie Xie.
Soon, another thought surfaced in his mind. Wait a second. When this guy buffs elements, it seems he can buff every element, too.
Because of Gu Yue, he had actually become less sensitive to things involving all the elements.
Only now that this thought had occurred to him did he suddenly realize how terrifying Jiang Xia was.
"Wait, that's not right either. Gu Yue, if you could buff me, why have you never done it before?"
Xie Xie suddenly caught on.
Gu Yue pressed a hand to her forehead, looking speechless.
"When I'm fighting, I don't have that much attention to spare on where you are or where you need an elemental burst."
Xie Xie finally understood.
"So when it comes down to it, everything still depends on Jiang Xia. His Spirit Detection is key, too."
When he looked at Jiang Xia again, Xie Xie's eyes were full of admiration.
Not only could he provide plenty of buffs himself, he could also give Gu Yue the ability to buff her teammates on top of that.
Was he really not going to consider developing as a support type?
At this point, Tang Wulin could not help interjecting, "What about me?"
He also wanted to know whether he could receive a buff.
Gu Yue fell silent and looked at Jiang Xia.
Tang Wulin did not have any clear elemental abilities, so Gu Yue could not help him.
As for what other means Jiang Xia had, she actually did not know much about them, either.
Jiang Xia said, "I can't buff you either, but that golden dragon claw on your right hand seems unusual."
Tang Wulin immediately began explaining his Golden Dragon Claw's abilities.
"A crushing property, capable of breaking through anything. So you're actually the key to us defeating Teacher Wu," Jiang Xia said.
Hearing that he was the key, Tang Wulin grew excited as well, his blood boiling.
Being able to defeat his teacher would be no small achievement for him.
Although Wu Zhangkong took good care of him, those were two separate matters.
During their usual combat lessons, surely he could not deliberately stop wanting to win just because his opponent treated him well?
"But I basically have no way to get close to Teacher Wu," Tang Wulin said in frustration. "He also knows the properties of the Golden Dragon Claw on my right hand. He definitely won't give me an opening."
Gu Yue said, "I'll teleport you in front of him when the time comes. Just swing your claw with everything you have."
Tang Wulin's eyes widened.
That was possible, too?
"Gu Yue, you can control the space element as well?"
Gu Yue naturally would not admit it. She shifted the responsibility onto Jiang Xia.
"I can only do this ahead of time with Jiang Xia's buffs."
Although she had passed the buck to Jiang Xia's buffing effects, she had not denied that her Martial Soul did indeed possess that attribute.
Jiang Xia first explained the buffs he could provide for everyone.
It was just then that Tang Wulin realized something.
"Jiang Xia, you didn't even seem to show your Soul Rings during the battle just now."
"Right, didn't you use Spirit Detection?"
Xie Xie hurriedly chimed in as well.
"You used illusions, too," Zhang Yangzi said.
Jiang Xia said, "First, the illusions I used weren't any of my Soul Skills."
"Second, both Soul Skills I used were cast within the Broken Dream domain. I can compress my Soul Rings into Broken Dream, where you can't see them."
Tang Wulin was still curious. "Why would you specifically hide your Soul Rings inside your Martial Soul?"
"Because my Soul Rings would give you a psychological shock, and I'm saving that shock for Teacher Wu."
"Huh?"
Tang Wulin did not understand.
Xie Xie tilted his head.
Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi exchanged a glance, their eyes full of confusion.
"Because all three of my Soul Rings are thousand-year ones," Jiang Xia said calmly.
That information alone carried a stunning effect. Even Wu Zhangkong would probably be dazed for a moment.
It was not that he was scheming against Wu Zhangkong; rather, this was Wu Zhangkong's own problem.
His intention to teach Jiang Xia a lesson was obvious. Moreover, even after Jiang Xia and Gu Yue had teamed up against Tang Wulin's group of four, Wu Zhangkong had not relented. He still insisted on fighting Jiang Xia and the other five himself afterward.
Wasn't that plainly an attempt to bully Jiang Xia?
Jiang Xia had taken care to keep something in reserve back then.
Although a configuration of three thousand-year Soul Rings was not a Soul Skill, the impact it delivered was itself equivalent to a minor crowd-control effect.
As for how effective this crowd control would be, one only needed to look at the expressions on Tang Wulin's and the others' faces right now.