"I hope this fight lets me enjoy myself."
Captain Lei Mu's lips curled up slightly, his eyes blazing with fighting spirit.
He was a martial arts fanatic through and through, with no hobbies other than cultivation.
His Martial Soul level was also the highest in the qualifiers.
To him, nothing mattered more than meeting an opponent he could fight with all his strength.
"Keep the other six occupied. I'll go meet him."
With those words, lightning surged around Lei Mu, tearing his robe to shreds.
His rock-solid muscles were exposed.
With his hair standing on end, he looked every bit like a Super Saiyan.
"Attack!"
Vice captain Lei Ming roared, sending countless lightning ants formed from Soul Power forward alongside Yu Tianxin and another Agility Attack System Soul Ancestor.
They charged straight toward the Heaven Dou team.
The Shi brothers didn't hesitate. Using Martial Soul Possession, they took their places at the very front of the team.
Dugu Yan and Yu Feng moved at the command as well.
Thanks to Martial Soul Evolution, Dugu Yan showed no sign of falling behind, even against a Soul Master several levels higher than herself.
With poisonous mist all around, her opponent could only keep dodging.
With the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's support, Yu Feng could just barely hold his ground against Yu Tianheng.
Even if he was injured, Nine Heart Begonia's healing effect let him recover quickly.
He exposed no major openings.
Every move he made grew more confident.
He had never imagined that his Wind Chime Bird Martial Soul would let him trade blows like this with a genius like Yu Tianxin, even with his Soul Power Level lagging behind.
Compared with those two, the Shi brothers, Shi Mo and Shi Mo, were under extraordinary pressure.
Lei Ming had no intention of conserving his Soul Power. Seeing that his army of Thunder Ants alone couldn't break through the Black Tortoise's defenses,
he reached up, swept his long hair behind his head, and muttered an incantation.
"Fourth Soul Skill: Sky-Filling Sea of Lightning!"
In an instant, the Thunder Ants tightly surrounding the brothers bizarrely melted together.
They formed a small pool of lightning.
The moment the pool formed, both brothers sensed something was wrong.
Their connection to Ning Rongrong and Ye Lingling seemed to have been severed.
The amplification effects vanished completely.
"What's the fun in staying a turtle hiding in its shell?"
Lei Ming stepped into the pool of lightning, his body gradually rising amid the flashing bolts.
He looked like a god presiding over this patch of heaven and earth.
"You're the turtle hiding in its shell! You really think we're afraid of you?"
Shi Mo forced down the fear spreading through his heart.
He steeled himself and spoke.
They couldn't let their boss lose face, could they?
"Your people are all tied up. Are you still not going to make a move?"
Lei Mu came to a stop before Yu Tianheng and asked with his arms crossed.
Hearing that, Yu Tianheng slowly opened his eyes.
"Your only goal was to force me to fight?"
In fact, from the start of the Soul Master Tournament until now, the principle Yu Tianheng had followed
had always been to give the others as many chances to fight as possible, provided their safety was assured.
He hadn't expected Lei Mu to see through his intentions.
"What I see isn't as telling as a fight. I want to see just how much of your reputation as a genius is inflated."
"Fine!"
Yu Tianheng didn't waste time. Whether against Heaven Dou Team One or Blazing Fire Academy afterward,
he had actually held back the power of his Soul Skills all along, for fear that a slip in control would cost someone their life.
Lei Mu looked much stronger. Perhaps he could let Yu Tianheng test the limits of his strength without using his fourth Soul Ring.
"Please!"
Lei Mu observed the rules of martial conduct and took two steps back.
Seeing that the captains had begun their fight, the Thunder Academy team members, who had been locked in combat until then, abruptly disengaged.
"Rongrong, don't give me any boosts in a moment."
As Yu Tianheng spoke, the phantom of the Thunder Dragon King gradually appeared behind him.
His hands gradually transformed into dragon claws wreathed in lightning.
Even without releasing Thunder God Domain, his Martial Soul alone made Lei Mu feel an immense pressure.
The lightning that had surged fiercely around Lei Mu moments ago weakened somewhat.
"Such a powerful Mutated Martial Soul?"
Lei Mu couldn't see the Thunder Dragon King's true nature, and he instantly entered a fighting stance.
"Second Soul Skill: Lightning Serpent Frenzied Dance!"
As soon as he spoke, a Thunder Snake formed from Soul Power opened its jaws wide and lunged at Yu Tianheng's neck, its body twisting in an uncanny manner.
"First Soul Skill: Thunder Dragon Tyrant Body!"
With all his attributes enhanced, Yu Tianheng raised a hand.
His dragon claws actually caught the Thunder Snake.
Before long, the Thunder Snake coiled obediently around his claws, as though it had been tamed.
Its blue forked tongue flickered constantly.
Its slit pupils stared fixedly at Lei Mu, as if it had already defected.
At that moment, silence fell over the entire arena.
Everyone's eyes widened, unable to believe what they were seeing.
They had never heard of an attack being neutralized like that.
"Go on."
Yu Tianheng gently tapped the Thunder Snake on the head.
The Thunder Snake shot straight out, even faster than when Lei Mu had released it.
Lei Mu hadn't expected his own attack to be returned to him like this.
He released another Thunder Snake, preparing to meet it head-on.
"Boom!"
A deafening explosion rang out.
A figure was sent flying by the blast.
When he landed, the arena erupted.
"No way! Lei Mu's Soul Skill actually lost to the one Yu Tianheng sent back?"
"If I could learn that move, wouldn't I be able to defeat anyone under heaven?"
"How many more surprises is Yu Tianheng hiding?"
"..."
Lei Mu struggled to settle the chaotic Soul Power inside him and raised a hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.
"Again!"
"Third Soul Skill! Lightning Python Calamity!"
"Fourth Soul Skill! Spirit-Annihilating Heavenly Lightning!"
To prevent what had just happened from happening again, Lei Mu held nothing back.
He immediately unleashed his strongest killing moves.
The slender Thunder Snake from before, as lightning continuously wound around it,
gradually transformed into a giant python as thick as a waist.
Rearing up, it stood fully two people tall.
Every scale was the size of a fist.
Many Soul Masters who feared snakes had already turned pale with fright.
They slumped in their seats.
"Forcing Lei Mu to use his strongest killing moves makes this Yu Tianheng impressive enough."
On the raised platform, a Thunder Academy elder stroked the white beard on his chin.
In his eyes, Yu Tianheng was strong, but that was as far as he could go.
Lei Mu was the prized pupil he had personally trained.
The power of those two Soul Skills unleashed together was enough to gravely injure an expert at the Soul King level.
Yu Tianheng definitely couldn't withstand them.
Soul Power gathered around the python's mouth, gradually condensing into a ball of deep purple light.
The clear sky was gradually covered by thick, dark clouds.
"That impressive?"
Yu Tianheng's tone was flippant, as though he paid Lei Mu's strongest killing moves no mind at all.