The group arrived at the training grounds. Wu Zhangkong turned his gaze toward everyone.
"Among you, the five apart from Huo Yuhao and Gu Yuena are noticeably lacking in combat experience and technique."
"When I say lacking, I don't mean combat experience in using your Martial Souls and Soul Skills. While there are deficiencies in that regard as well, they aren't severe. What you truly lack is basic combat capability without relying on your Martial Souls."
"As for Huo Yuhao and Gu Yuena... yesterday's battle didn't reveal your true combat caliber. Spar with me now, and let me see your capabilities with my own eyes!"
As he spoke, Wu Zhangkong turned and walked toward the center of the training grounds.
Huo Yuhao and Gu Yuena exchanged a glance, their expressions slightly odd, but they still stepped forward and took their positions opposite Wu Zhangkong.
"I will suppress my soul power to the same rank as Huo Yuhao—" Wu Zhangkong began, when a voice transmission suddenly sounded in his ear.
"*Ahem.* It'd be better to set your cultivation a bit higher, Teacher Wu Zhangkong."
It was a reminder from Luo Yanglu.
Wu Zhangkong glanced at Luo Yanglu, who had followed them over quietly, but paid him no heed.
No matter how much he suppressed his cultivation, his spiritual power was still at the Spirit Sea Realm. Facing him, Huo Yuhao's spiritual-attribute Martial Soul was inherently at a disadvantage. If the boy had any sense, he wouldn't use spiritual attacks against him. In that situation, rank-28 Gu Yuena would be the primary attacker.
Under such circumstances, if he were to suppress his soul power to rank 40 instead, wouldn't that just be bullying children?
He was a teacher, not a tournament opponent or an enemy to these two youths.
The only reason he hadn't refrained from using his Martial Soul altogether was that their overwhelming, unstoppable performance yesterday had made him cautious.
Seeing that Wu Zhangkong wouldn't listen, Luo Yanglu remained silent for a moment before sending a voice transmission to Huo Yuhao and Gu Yuena. "Go easy on him. Save Teacher Wu some face."
He already foresaw the awkward scene to come.
Yet he couldn't be blamed. It wasn't as if he could just come out and say that even their own Pagoda Master couldn't teach Huo Yuhao, could he? Who would believe that?
Just as Luo Yanglu finished his warning, all three revealed their Martial Souls and Spirit Rings simultaneously.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black—six Spirit Rings appeared beside Wu Zhangkong. But since he had stated he would suppress his cultivation to rank 30, he would naturally only use his first three Soul Skills.
"Come!" Wu Zhangkong said flatly, holding his Martial Soul, the Skyfrost Sword, in his right hand.
Gu Yuena made the first move. With a sweep of both hands, a barrage of wind blades, fireballs, ice spikes, and earthen spikes shot toward Wu Zhangkong.
Wu Zhangkong stood in place, his right hand gripping the Skyfrost Sword and his left lightly pinching the sword tip. Facing Gu Yuena's fierce offensive, he stood rock-solid. Not a ripple of emotion stirred on his face, as though nothing in this world could touch his heart or shake his composure.
Watching this scene, Tianmeng Iceworm in the Sea of Spirit was inexplicably reminded of his own past experiences and cast a sideways glance at the Ice Empress.
*Posturing like that... is going to send you flying!*
*Still, facing a re-cultivated god and an Ultimate Douluo all by your lonesome—I acknowledge you, Wu Zhangkong!*
Just as the barrage was about to hit, the Skyfrost Sword in Wu Zhangkong's hand flicked upward. A faint blue halo was about to expand outward, when a fierce spiritual impact slammed into his mind!
*Crack!*
The defense that had just been forming vanished into thin air in an instant. Watching the multitude of elemental attacks crash down on him, a sharp pain spiked through Wu Zhangkong's mind, freezing his thoughts. The array of elemental attacks slammed right into his face. Only a split second later did he scramble aside in a fluster, dodging somewhat awkwardly. He looked toward Huo Yuhao, his eyes wavering and his expression stiffening.
*His spiritual power is... above the Spirit Sea Realm?*
His own spiritual power was at the Spirit Sea Realm. To affect him without suffering any backlash, what level had Huo Yuhao's spiritual power reached?
At least the Spirit Sea Realm!
Above the Spirit Sea Realm at nine years old... Even for a spiritual-attribute Martial Soul, wasn't this far too monstrous?
Yet what Wu Zhangkong never anticipated was that Gu Yuena's next maneuver would astonish him yet again.
Even as Huo Yuhao charged forward, ice and wind elements gathered continuously around Gu Yuena, gradually forming an ice storm comparable to the attack of a four-ring Soul Master before sweeping toward him.
"Heart of Elements? A Heart of Elements for two elements?!"
Wu Zhangkong hastily dodged, not daring to take it head-on. His originally icy expression turned somewhat ugly, with only one thought echoing in his mind:
*What breed of freaks are these two? How am I supposed to fight this?*
Watching Huo Yuhao rush in, Wu Zhangkong's face darkened. Sharp threads of sword qi shot forth from the Skyfrost Sword, while a burst of freezing frost mist surged from his body, rapidly expanding in all directions.
Huo Yuhao raised a hand, a golden radiance erupting from his palm—the result of fusing the soul power of his Spirit Eyes Martial Soul with his spiritual power.
Shaping his palm into an edge, Huo Yuhao matched move for move, dispelling the icy threads. Within a few seconds, he and Wu Zhangkong traded dozens of blows, their movements blurring into afterimages as they clashed at blinding speed.
Swordsmen better than the current Wu Zhangkong—Huo Yuhao had seen them, and he had fought them!
To Wu Zhangkong, the half-inch around Huo Yuhao seemed like an impenetrable defense; his attacks could not break through no matter what. Instead, it was Wu Zhangkong himself who was repeatedly thwarted.
In terms of technique... Huo Yuhao was superior to him?
Disbelief flickered in Wu Zhangkong's eyes.
What was more, at such a young age, the boy had actually fused soul power and spiritual power, creating a self-invented secret technique of his own?
How... could this be possible?
In the next moment, Huo Yuhao struck with an open palm, grinding away a wide swath of sword threads. Shifting from palm to fist, he clashed directly against Wu Zhangkong's raised Skyfrost Sword.
*Bang!*
An explosive pop rang through the air. Wu Zhangkong's mind reeled as he stumbled backward. By the time he sensed an incoming presence, it was already too late.
Gu Yuena, who had remained motionless after her initial feint, silently appeared behind him. Her palm, wrapped in the powers of three elements—ice, fire, and space—struck firmly against his back.
Simultaneously, Huo Yuhao, his fist shrouded in a blend of spiritual power and soul power, punched forward from the front.
Naturally, just as with his Spiritual Shock, Huo Yuhao hadn't used his full power.
*Save Teacher Wu some face... Well, that probably wasn't going to happen now.*
*BOOM!*
An elemental storm and a distinct realm of intent erupted at point-blank range. Influenced by the intent, Wu Zhangkong couldn't deploy a Soul Skill in defense. A suit of armor flickered into view, automatically protecting his body. Immediately afterward, powerful soul power erupted violently from within him, blasting outward in an instant.
As if having anticipated this long ago, Huo Yuhao and Gu Yuena drifted back, completely unaffected by Wu Zhangkong's blast of soul power.
In that moment, Wu Zhangkong felt as though he wasn't the instructor suppressing his power—they were.
He even had the subtle sensation that the two opposite him had been holding back!
At the edge of the training grounds, Xu Xiaoyan, who had expected to see an evenly matched battle, blinked in bewilderment.
Wait, what just happened?
This Soul Emperor teacher... just lost? How long had it even been?
Xie Xie clicked his tongue, turning to Tang Wulin, who was equally stunned, and grumbling, "How many more times are they going to scare the daylight out of us?"
Tang Wulin nodded blankly.
While it had to do with Teacher Wu suppressing his strength, a victory was a victory, indisputable.
Two peers of his age had effortlessly defeated a Soul Emperor who suppressed his strength—and either of them might have been able to pull it off alone. Tang Wulin felt that he might very well be witnessing history.
Wu Zhangkong took a deep breath. Looking at the calm Huo Yuhao and Gu Yuena, then glancing at the five onlookers with their bizarre expressions, he said coldly:
"All of you, come over! I will raise my cultivation to four... five rings. All seven of you will fight me together!"
Xie Xie and the other four looked at one another, but walked over as Wu Zhangkong instructed.
"Student Yuhao, please guide us well," Xu Xiaoyan said, running over to Huo Yuhao's side with a bright smile.
Huo Yuhao nodded with a smile and looked toward Zhang Yangzi. "How about letting me handle primary control?"
"Of course," Zhang Yangzi agreed, nodding.
He hadn't forgotten that Huo Yuhao was a Control System Soul Master.
No sooner had the words left their mouths than all six on Huo Yuhao's side received Spiritual Detection Sharing.
Under their gaze, time seemed to slow. Everything around them became extraordinarily clear. Wherever their sight reached, a torrent of information flooded their minds in an instant, rendering every detail of Wu Zhangkong's movements vividly perceptible.
Not only that, but with them at the center, the surroundings within a hundred-meter radius manifested three-dimensionally in their minds without needing their eyes to see. The slightest change was instantly perceived and reflected in their brains.
"..."
Experiencing this Soul Skill for the first time, a flash of shock passed through the eyes of the five students.
What kind of divine skill was this?
With this, plus Yuhao directing and Gu Yuena present, fighting Teacher Wu didn't seem so impossible after all, did it?
Beneath Wu Zhangkong's furrowed brow, the five opposite him wore distinctly mischievous grins.
...
After the battle ended, Wu Zhangkong radiated a chill from head to toe. He walked up to Luo Yanglu, expressionless.
"Huo Yuhao... I cannot teach him. He is flawless. Flawless in every sense of the word!"
Luo Yanglu: "..."
*I warned you earlier. Don't do it—the boy is a monster.*
*Dying of embarrassment now, aren't you?*
Chapter 68