It would have been a lie to say he wasn't nervous!
Across two lives, this was the first time Xiao Xuan had ever faced a real fight to the death!
In his previous life, he had never even killed a fish. In this one, he had only practiced a few flashy but useless moves with his teacher on the academy's training ground. He had no actual combat experience whatsoever!
"Exhale... inhale..."
Adrenaline surged through Xiao Xuan like an erupting volcano. His heart pounded so hard it felt ready to leap out of his throat!
His Adam's apple bobbed violently as he swallowed hard.
Nervous as he was, the pressure of life and death kept Xiao Xuan's mind extraordinarily calm!
My Martial Soul absorbed Tier Three Red-Patterned Alloy Ore. It's hard enough to pierce straight through granite! As long as I land a direct hit on a vital spot, this Soul Beast is as good as dead!
The key is... I have to hit it!
"Roar, grunt-!!"
The Bristle Pig seemed to have realized that the tiny human before it was a soft persimmon without a single Soul Ring. All four hooves scrabbled frantically in the dirt for leverage.
The next moment.
Like a heavy armored vehicle careening out of control, it charged straight at Xiao Xuan with a violent, bloody gust!
Saplings as thick as bowl rims were brutally snapped in its path, its momentum ferocious and unstoppable!
Five meters, three meters, one meter!
The instant those sharp tusks came within a foot of Xiao Xuan's chest, every hair on his body stood on end. Relying on his extraordinary mental perception, he suddenly slid sideways and rolled, dodging by an exceptionally perilous hair's breadth!
Boom!
The enormous pig's head brushed Xiao Xuan's clothes and slammed into the pile of rocks behind him, sending stone chips flying!
"Now!"
The instant Xiao Xuan rolled back to his feet, the power in his waist and abdomen exploded!
Carried by the momentum of his spin, the Lone Bamboo swept across the soft flesh of the Bristle Pig's flank like a heavy iron whip, accompanied by a piercing whistle!
Puchi!!
The Bristle Pig's thick, tough hide, which ordinary swords and sabers could not cut through, split like thin paper beneath Xiao Xuan's sweep. A gaping, half-foot-long wound opened, and hot, foul blood sprayed out!
"Awoo-!!"
The excruciating pain drove the Ferocious Beast completely mad. Its eyes turned blood-red, and it let out a shrill, piercing howl.
Its massive body wrenched around, and it raised its sharp tusks and launched another reckless charge at Xiao Xuan!
I really can break through its defenses!
Seeing this, the last trace of fear vanished from Xiao Xuan's heart, replaced by a violent frenzy that rose from deep within his bones!
When enemies met on a narrow road, whoever retreated would die!
Come on!
Xiao Xuan locked his gaze on the dark shape charging toward him. This time, he did not retreat. Instead, he gripped the Lone Bamboo in both hands and crouched slightly, his body like a powerful bow drawn to its limit!
Closer!
Closer still!
In the thousandth of a second it took the foul gust to whip his loose hair across his face, Xiao Xuan tilted halfway to the left with an uncanny movement, narrowly dodging the tusks in their head-on charge,
At the same time, he poured all ten levels of his Soul Power into his right arm without holding anything back. Holding the spear in both hands, he aimed at the vulnerable side of the Bristle Pig's neck, just behind its front leg, and drove it down with every ounce of strength he had!
"Die!!"
Puchi-!!
The entire head of Xiao Xuan's Lone Bamboo spear plunged to its base into the artery in the Bristle Pig's neck, punching out the other side in a spray of blood!
"Angh-!!"
The Bristle Pig let out a desperate wail that broke off halfway through. Its massive body plowed a deep bloody furrow across the ground before crashing onto its side!
Xiao Xuan's gaze was icy. Gripping the bamboo shaft tightly with both hands, he yanked it out hard in one smooth motion!
Without the slightest hesitation, Xiao Xuan stepped forward and leaped high. Holding the Lone Bamboo in a reverse grip with both hands, he aimed at the center of its exposed eye socket and drove his spear down a second time, swift and violent as a thunderbolt!
Puthunk!
Brains burst apart and blood splashed everywhere!
The rampaging hundred-year Bristle Pig's four legs twitched violently twice, but it never rose again. Its life was utterly extinguished!
Meanwhile, on the battlefield not far away.
Wang Ping'an was using his abundant Soul Power to force the other three Bristle Pigs steadily back.
Just as he prepared to risk minor injuries to forcibly kill the opponent directly in front of him, so he could hurry back to rescue Xiao Xuan.
A Bristle Pig's desperate death cry suddenly rang out behind him!
The three Bristle Pigs were already struggling to hold on. Hearing the scream, they turned to look, and their livers and gallbladders nearly burst with fright. How could they dare keep fighting?
They let out a series of terrified snorts, tucked their tails between their legs, and scattered toward the depths of the forest for their lives, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye!
The deep forest suddenly fell deathly silent.
The air was thick with the pungent stench of blood.
Wang Ping'an panted heavily. Without even taking the time to withdraw his First Soul Skill, he hurriedly spun around and shouted in panic:
"Xiao Xuan! Don't be afraid! Your teacher is here to save you..."
But when Wang Ping'an saw the scene before him clearly, the words on his lips were forcibly swallowed back down. He froze on the spot as though struck by lightning, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets!
In the messy clearing stood a skinny six-year-old boy, holding a bloodstained bamboo spear. His expression was cold and stern as he stood in a pool of blood.
At the boy's feet, the enormous Bristle Pig's head had been smashed apart. It was already as dead as dead could be!
"This... this..."
Wang Ping'an sucked in a sharp breath, his mind going completely blank.
A commoner apprentice barely past level ten, without a Soul Ring, had relied on nothing but a mutated bamboo spear to single-handedly kill a Soul Beast over three hundred years old despite the difference in their levels?!
Was this something a fucking six-year-old could do?!
Before Wang Ping'an could recover from his utter shock, faint yellow specks of light quietly gathered above the Soul Beast's corpse in front of Xiao Xuan.
They gradually condensed into a bright yellow Soul Ring that radiated a gentle glow, circling and pulsing up and down in midair.
Looking at the bright yellow Soul Ring hovering quietly before him, pulsing up and down, Xiao Xuan's eyes glowed green, and his breathing quickened despite himself.
A Hundred-Year Soul Ring!
And according to Wang Ping'an's earlier identification, the Bristle Pig he had killed by smashing its head was over three hundred years old, close to the upper limit a Soul Scholar could absorb.
Most importantly, the Bristle Pig was a highly typical strength- and penetration-type Soul Beast on the Douluo Continent, perfectly suited to the evolution path of his Power Attack System Lone Bamboo.
He had worn out iron shoes searching for it in vain, only to obtain it without the slightest effort.
"Teacher Wang, I want to absorb this Soul Ring right away!"
Xiao Xuan turned to look at Wang Ping'an, who was still petrified with shock, and spoke in a firm tone.
"Ah... huh? Oh! All right!"
Xiao Xuan's call brought Wang Ping'an back to reality.
He swallowed, forcibly shoved his wildly pounding heart back into his chest, and strode forward to examine the bloodied, mangled boar carcass, his expression more complicated than words could describe.
A six-year-old had single-handedly killed a Soul Beast over three hundred years old. If this feat were publicized back at Nuoding Academy, those self-important geniuses would probably bite their own tongues off!