The blinding white light almost filled Toji's entire field of vision; the Destruction beam of light was less than three feet from his face.
The violent energy turbulence tore his black hair backward, and the force of the wind pressed fine ripples onto his face.
At this critical moment—
Toji Er's level-seven soul-guided broadsword had disappeared at some point, replaced by his strongest Soul Tool, Playful Cloud.
The most suitable set of Qi and Blood Soul Tool for him still has to be used secretly.
He didn't want to expose this special Soul Tool to Jing Hongchen's watchful eye.
Toji's right arm muscles suddenly swelled, veins bulging like dragons, and Playful Cloud fiercely, smashing it hard against the pillar of light.
The moment the staff collided with the beam of light, time seemed to stand still for a split second.
A teeth-grinding tearing sound rang out as the beam of light from the Level 8 Soul Tool Piercing Cannon was actually cleaved in two!
The split energy streams whistled past Toji's sides, blasting two charred craters ten meters in diameter into the protective shield behind him.
All of this happened too fast. When Jing Hongchen blinked, all he saw was the afterimage of Toji wielding a large sword and cleaving through the pillar of light.
The seventh-level soul-guided greatsword was completely red-hot, clearly indicating that it had withstood a tremendous energy impact.
This is an illusion Toji created by Shen Er using his Qi and Blood to heat up the blade.
Fortunately, he was very fast, so the Soul Tool switching speed was still very fast, Jing Hongchen didn't even notice anything.
"Click..."
Amidst the faint cracking sounds, Toji's greatsword finally succumbed to the aftershocks, shattering into countless metal fragments that scattered in all directions.
Seeing this, Toji's eyes flashed with a hint of heartache.
No matter what, this was his Level 7 Soul Tool; it would be a lie to say he wasn't heartbroken if it broke.
In the stands, Xu Tianran frowned and asked the guards behind him:
Did you notice anything?
"Your Highness..." the guard's voice lowered unconsciously, "Due to obstructed vision, this old servant only saw him split the pillar of light, but..."
Seeing his hesitant expression, Xu Tianran said:
"Go on."
After a moment's thought, the guard continued, "But this old servant only felt for a fleeting instant that the power unleashed by that young friend was not merely the power of Level 7 Soul Tool."
"But the Soul Tool in his hand was clearly only level seven, yet it unleashed the power of level eight. His strength and the ability of the Soul Tool were perfectly combined; even this old servant couldn't discern much difference."
"Hmm..." Xu Tianran narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze involuntarily falling on the stage.
Jing Hongchen was clearly aware of the problem as well. His gaze fell on the scattered fragments of the Soul Tool on the ground, and he gave Toji a deep look:
"This young man's performance is truly amazing."
Toji wiped away the beads of blood seeping from the mouth of his hand:
"The sect leader's Soul Tool is truly powerful; I was merely using a trick."
"It's quite an achievement to be able to take shortcuts, young friend," Jing Hongchen said cheerfully. "Don't worry, young friend, I can certainly afford to compensate for any damaged Soul Tool."
"Products from the Illustrious Virtue Hall are always top-notch. Looks like I got a good deal after all," Toji laughed.
Jing Hongchen noticed a tiny crack on the web of Toji's right hand.
This was caused by forcibly controlling a force beyond the body's capacity, but what bothered him even more was that something seemed off for a moment just now.
It's normal for me to be able to destroy a Level 7 Soul Tool with a single shot.
But the Level 7 Soul Tool shattered too easily; he had just discovered the problem when the source of the problem disappeared.
Should we take this opportunity to take it back and study this fragment of Level 7 Soul Tool? After all, it can unleash power beyond that of Level 7 Soul Tool...
This is extraordinary.
Jing Hongchen's gaze swept across the ground; apart from the fragments of the broadsword, there were no traces of other weapons.
As a Level 9 Soul Engineer, he had absolute confidence in his eyesight. Yet, that fleeting, fierce aura clearly indicated something beyond the ordinary.
Toji seeing Jing Hongchen's reaction, Shen Er cursed inwardly.
The Titled Douluo's intuition is truly remarkable; even though he had disguised himself flawlessly, the other party still managed to pick up on some clues.
Fortunately, he did it perfectly.
Unless the other party directly sees through his identity as Soul Engineer Killer, then he's truly doomed.
"Thank you both for giving Tianran such a wonderful match." Xu Tianran's voice broke the tense atmosphere.
His Highness the Crown Prince had somehow reached the sidelines, a meaningful smile on his face. He clapped softly and said:
"Especially that last strike... it was simply astonishing. He was only Soul Douluo, yet he managed to withstand the Mirror Hall Master's attack... even if the Hall Master was holding back, this is still a remarkable achievement."
"Indeed, the person His Highness the Crown Prince has found is truly extraordinary." Jing Hongchen nodded, sizing up Toji, but didn't seem to have much of a dislike for him.
On the contrary, I found myself appreciating it.
However, he still had many questions in his mind.
He knew better than anyone what a full-force shot from an eighth-level Piercing Cannon meant.
This is absolutely impossible to break through head-on with a level 7 melee Soul Tool; this person must have a secret that I don't know.
"Master, what do you think?" Xu Tianran asked tentatively.
Jing Hongchen smiled slightly, "This young friend's performance far exceeded my expectations. However, the power of Soul Tool does not solely depend on individual strength; it also requires perfect compatibility with the Soul Master's Martial Soul. This is the key focus we need to study next."
"However, I am also very willing to have this young friend help us with our research project to successfully fuse and combine Soul Tool and Martial Soul. I just wonder what your thoughts are, and from which direction you plan to approach this?"
After thinking for Toji, he said:
"First of all, I am not Soul Engineer with the same creative and powerful invention abilities as the Hall Master. I am only good at using Soul Tool in combat. Therefore, I cannot exchange knowledge about creating Soul Tool with the Hall Master. I can only teach practical combat."
"Then the best option is for me to teach your academy's students how to better utilize Soul Tool in actual combat, increasing their combat experience and providing them with better ways to integrate Soul Tool with their Martial Soul."
"In this way, it might even increase the cultivation and combat power of your students, thereby helping your academy defeat Shrek Academy and win the championship in the All-Continent Elite Tournament?" Toji finished speaking in one breath.
After hearing this, Jing Hongchen also strongly agreed with Toji's statement:
"Hehe, I have to say, this is indeed a very tempting idea for us. Just the fact that we can defeat Shrek Academy is enough to make our academy agree to cooperate."
"Making you a student coach is a good idea, not bad at all. As a combatant, it's indeed not easy for you to share your experience with us researchers."
"In this way, Xiaoyou only needs to focus on teaching the students, while we, the inventors and researchers, can simply observe from the sidelines and always be able to analyze Xiaoyou's experience."
"Very well, I agree."
Seeing that Toji had made contact so easily, Xu Tianran breathed a sigh of relief and celebrated:
"I am Tianran very happy to be able to help the hall master."