"I'll referee this Soul Fight. Go ahead and fight as you please. Neither of you has a problem with that, right?"
Cai Mei'er stepped between them. With her there, nothing would go wrong in the match.
"Martial aunt, don't you go favoring your junior brother."
"Relax, relax~" Cai Mei'er waved a hand and winked at Ma Xiaotao. "Xiaotao, you'd better be ready!"
"What?"
Ma Xiaotao froze, only to see Cai Mei'er's hand swing down sharply:
"The Soul Fight begins!"
"Clink-"
As Cai Mei'er's words fell, a crisp sound came from Yu Tianqing's direction, like a bell or chime, its lingering note trailing on and on.
He held his left arm out level in front of him, pointing at Ma Xiaotao, his left hand clenched with his thumb tilted slightly upward. His head was cocked to one side, one eye narrowed, and a confident smile rested on his lips.
He had flipped a small golden object into the air. It spun in the sunlight, reflecting the sun's golden rays.
Just as everyone was staring intently at it, some sharp-eared students were already clutching their heads and shouting:
"That sound-it's a Gold Soul Coin!"
"My family runs a bank. I know it too well. That's the sound of flicking a Gold Soul Coin with a fingernail."
"That technique, it's the real deal!"
"Wow, that's wonderful-"
While everyone else was still baffled, the Gold Soul Coin reached its highest point and slowly tumbled downward, picking up speed until it met Yu Tianqing's thumb again.
A dazzling, blazing golden light burst from his hand, and everyone instinctively narrowed their eyes.
"Boom-"
A deafening sound followed, like a storm sweeping through, like thunder exploding.
The coin became a golden blur and shot toward Ma Xiaotao.
Its extreme speed gave the Gold Soul Coin tremendous kinetic force. It tore through the air barrier, far faster than sound, leaving a shallow furrow in the ground.
Ma Xiaotao couldn't react at all. Her eyes widened, and she could only rely on instinct to gather a flame barrier in front of her.
The Gold Soul Coin entered it, and the searing heat melted it in an instant. A few specks of dust fell onto Ma Xiaotao's stunned face.
A breeze swept past, lifting a few strands of hair by her ear, like a gentle slap across the face.
Ma Xiaotao's eyes were wide, her pupils trembling. It took several seconds for her to recover. As the barrier dissipated, she saw Yu Tianqing waving at her:
"Junior niece Xiaotao, pay attention!"
What a pity, Yu Tianqing thought. The Gold Soul Coin's material was still too ordinary. Hoping to take down Ma Xiaotao with that Super Electromagnetic Cannon had been a little far-fetched.
Yu Tianqing remained calm and unruffled, while Ma Xiaotao was growing beside herself with rage.
Blazing flames rose all around her, black-and-red fire coiling around her body. Phoenix wings spread behind her, and with a light tap of her toes against the ground, she soared ten meters into the air and looked down at Yu Tianqing:
"What age are we living in? You're still trying to hurt people with Hidden Weapons?"
Yu Tianqing shook his head without explaining.
What are Hidden Weapons, anyway?
How much power can you get from just a flick of the wrist?
Mine is a weapon of pure kinetic force.
He held his right hand near his left, and the light of his Storage Soul Tool flashed repeatedly.
Electrical light burst from his left hand again and again. This time, he fired not Gold Soul Coins, but specially made, cone-shaped bullets.
They were faster and fiercer than the previous attack.
"Hum~ hum~ hum~" The shriek of electric current rang out incessantly.
Ma Xiaotao showed none of her earlier panic. Facing the bullets that came flying in a dense barrage, she raised a fair arm, and a curtain of flame shielded her, blocking every incoming bullet. She laughed aloud and said:
"Junior, is that all you've got? The same move won't work on me. You'd better use-"
"Whoosh-"
A bullet radiating an icy chill grazed her cheek, and the sharp gust cut a line of blood across her fair skin.
Blood flowed out, then quickly froze into a scab.
The bullet tips were ground from Ice Extreme Divine Crystal, and each one was worth a fortune. Yu Tianqing could only mix them in with the ordinary bullets.
But that was enough. The highest level of bird hunting was to make a bird start at the mere twang of a bow.
A bird once wounded by an arrow would instinctively panic the next time it heard a bowstring.
The bullets were too small and too fast. Ma Xiaotao's eyes simply couldn't tell them apart.
She could only flap her wings, relying on her exceptional maneuverability to circle back and forth through the sky and dodge.
She had fallen into a disadvantageous position and knew that a long defense was bound to fail, but there was nothing Ma Xiaotao could do.
Junior niece Xiaotao, just watch me knock the peach juice out of you!
Yu Tianqing stood there calmly, firing bullet after bullet from his hand. From beginning to end, his feet hadn't moved an inch, and the same calm smile remained on his face. He truly looked like he was out on a hunting trip, shooting birds.
"This is infuriating!"
Ma Xiaotao stopped worrying about the rest. Her black Soul Ring lit up: Phoenix Meteor Shower.
Black-and-red fireballs shot toward Yu Tianqing like raindrops, blanketing the area so thoroughly that he had nowhere to dodge.
Ma Xiaotao abandoned her defense. Even if she had to risk getting hurt, she couldn't let Yu Tianqing keep control of the situation like this.
Sure enough, Yu Tianqing finally released his Soul Rings.
Yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black.
A purple Soul Ring lit up: Three Thousand Lightning Movement.
Yu Tianqing became a streak of electrical light and vanished from where he stood, golden lightning darting across the Soul Fighting platform.
His figure moved swiftly, weaving a net of lightning across the ground.
Whenever the light paused, a bullet was fired.
In the sky, Ma Xiaotao finally experienced what it meant to be caught in a forest of guns and a rain of bullets. Bullets packed the air on every side.
She could only resort to the crudest method, wrapping herself completely in a flame barrier.
But unfortunately, an Ice Extreme Divine Crystal bullet pierced her wing. Extreme cold energy burst forth in an instant, hindering the flow of her Soul Power. Her figure staggered in midair and fell toward the ground.
As though it had all been calculated, a streak of golden lightning closed in at that very moment.
The electrical light arrived in a flash, revealing Yu Tianqing. His robes fluttered, a warm smile rested on his lips, and he tilted his head slightly at her:
"Junior niece Xiaotao, you've lost!"
"What?"
Ma Xiaotao's eyes widened in horror. She didn't understand when Yu Tianqing had gotten so close. Hadn't he been dodging the whole time before this?
A tremendous force struck her lower abdomen, followed by a second kick, even stronger than the first.
"Nine Heavens Thunder Double Kick."
The electrical light coiling around his toes traced a perfect arc. Yu Tianqing turned in midair, righted himself, and landed steadily, looking graceful and carefree.
Ma Xiaotao was in a much sorrier state. Yu Tianqing kicked her straight out of the Soul Fighting platform's bounds and into the crowd of spectators.
By sheer coincidence, she landed right where Gongyang Mo and Yao Haoxuan were standing.
All three fell together. Only with the help of the students behind them did they avoid rolling across the ground.
Heavenly Emperor Qing didn't mind people spreading rumors behind his back, but for every one he caught, he beat one up; if he caught two, he beat up the pair.
A hush fell over the surroundings. No one had expected this Soul Fight to end so quickly.
The new student on the other side had even defeated Ma Xiaotao swiftly after releasing only one purple Soul Skill.
Although Ma Xiaotao wasn't badly hurt, anyone with a little Soul Fighting experience could see that she had been completely caught in her opponent's rhythm, unable to bring her strength to bear.
Facing an enemy like that was even more despair-inducing than losing after both sides had traded their ultimate moves.
Because there wasn't the slightest hope of victory in sight.
"Yu Tianqing wins this Soul Fight. Congratulations to student Yu Tianqing on passing the new student assessment for Shrek Academy's inner court."