"What—!"
Zhenyue roared furiously, his voice echoing across the arena, as if he wanted to prove to everyone present that Yuhao was not the only monstrous genius within the Noumenon Sect.
However, in the very next instant, a blazing soul-guided ray shot straight toward him.
Zhenyue's expression changed drastically. Without any hesitation, he hurriedly activated his soul skills to defend himself.
Boom!
A soul-guided beam as thick as a bucket slammed heavily into Zhenyue's enormous left arm, suppressing it completely and forcing his body to stiffen in place, unable to advance or retreat.
"Finish him!"
Ma Rulong shouted as he manipulated the soul guide with one hand, barking orders at his teammates behind him.
In truth, Ma Rulong's command was unnecessary. The members of the Sun Moon team had already completed the setup of their soul cannons, all of them locking firmly onto Zhenyue.
The moment Zhenyue saw several cannon barrels, each as thick as a clenched fist, pointing directly at him, every hair on his body stood on end.
An intense sense of danger surged through him.
If he were struck simultaneously by so many soul cannons, even if he survived, he would inevitably be severely injured.
With that thought, the fifth soul ring beneath Zhenyue's feet suddenly lit up.
He stomped heavily with his right foot, and a terrifying force erupted upward. Using that explosive recoil, Zhenyue forcefully propelled himself backward through the air.
"Hmph, trying to escape?"
Ma Rulong snorted coldly and immediately took out a massive helmet.
His martial spirit was the Big-Headed Spirit Ape. Once activated, his head would swell in size, perfectly matching the helmet.
In the next instant, a crimson beam shot out from the helmet, locking firmly onto Zhenyue and restraining his movement mid-air.
At the same time, the soul cannons behind him had already completed their charge.
Buzz!
Several soul cannons fired simultaneously, their targets converging directly on Zhenyue.
At this critical moment, two towering figures appeared before him.
Long Aotian and Bai Ting.
The two had already entered a state of unity between man and heaven. They threw their punches together, forcefully blocking several of the incoming soul-guided cannon blasts for Zhenyue.
The battle instantly escalated.
From the rear, Qian Hua and Gu Tong activated their respective soul skills.
Both specialized in long-range attacks, and even from a distance of over a hundred meters, their attacks could still threaten the Sun Moon team members.
"Break!"
"Destruction Death Light!"
Sound waves and pupil-based attacks were notoriously difficult to guard against.
However, the Sun Moon team was well-prepared. The moment Qian Hua and Gu Tong's soul rings lit up, two golden lights flashed.
A fifth-level soul guide—Invincible Shield—was instantly erected in front of them, blocking all incoming attacks.
At the same time, the Sun Moon team began their counteroffensive.
As the reserve team's captain, Xiao Hongchen had already released his martial spirit—the Three-Legged Golden Toad.
Even across the entire Douluo Continent, it was considered a top-tier beast martial spirit.
Moreover, within the Sun Moon Empire, the Three-Legged Golden Toad's advantages could be fully exploited, whether in refining rare metals or manipulating metallic materials.
The instant Xiao Hongchen released his martial spirit, a ferocious smile spread across his face. Countless golden light spots burst forth from the bulges on his body, and from those light spots, savage soul-guided cannon barrels rapidly grew.
"Hahaha! Die for me!"
Xiao Hongchen laughed wildly as he poured soul power into his body. A total of one hundred and twenty cannon barrels began condensing soul-guided rays at the same time.
When both the audience and the competitors realized the scale of the attack Xiao Hongchen was preparing, shock spread instantly across their faces.
Even the members of Shrek Academy, who were supremely confident in their own strength, grew solemn.
Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng, both Soul Emperors, subconsciously asked themselves the same question:
If it were me… could I withstand such an overwhelming barrage of soul cannons?
The answer—only they themselves knew.
...
"Damn it, this guy is completely insane."
Zhenyue's eyelids twitched violently, yet he still stepped forward without hesitation, prepared to take Xiao Hongchen's attack head-on for everyone else.
He believed that only a Soul Emperor like himself could withstand such a blow.
No one else could—except for their young master.
But just as Xiao Hongchen was about to unleash his full-power attack, his entire body suddenly trembled as though struck by lightning.
His mind went blank, his eyes lost focus, and even the condensing process of the soul cannons abruptly halted.
"It's not time for you to play the hero. Deal with them for me."
Yuhao's voice echoed calmly in Zhenyue's ears.
The reason for Xiao Hongchen's sudden condition was simple—his soul had been struck.
Xiao Hongchen's mental strength was not weak, and he had always been on guard against Yuhao's spiritual attacks.
Thus, Yuhao's Soul Shock did not shatter his mental defenses outright, but merely stunned him for a brief moment.
Yet in a battle where every instant mattered, that moment was enough.
Seizing this opening, the Noumenon Academy team moved as one.
Long Aotian and Bai Ting charged forward.
As five-ring Soul Kings, they wielded two top-tier body martial spirits—Skin and Heart.
Once they closed the distance, the Sun Moon team's formation would inevitably be torn apart.
A key advantage of soul engineers lay in range. Most soul tools excelled at long-distance combat.
Once a soul engineer was forced into close combat with a body-type soul master, their advantage would immediately turn into a weakness.
Seeing Long Aotian and Bai Ting rushing toward them, Ma Rulong reacted swiftly. He activated the helmet on his head.
A red gemstone embedded at its center flashed brilliantly.
In the next instant, a monkey appeared in front of Ma Rulong. Under his command, it lunged toward Long Aotian.
As it charged, the monkey's body rapidly expanded. By the time it reached Long Aotian, it had transformed into a four-meter-tall gorilla.
When Long Aotian's punch landed on the gorilla, his expression changed instantly.
From the feedback through his fist, he realized that this was not an illusion nor an energy construct, but a genuine soul beast—
And at that, a ten-thousand-year-level soul beast.
"Just as the Young Master said, soul guides truly have their own unique strengths."
Rather than panic, Long Aotian felt excitement surge through him. He had already fully accepted the fusion between martial souls and soul guides.
Without hesitation, Long Aotian engaged the ten-thousand-year soul beast in direct combat.
On the other side, Bai Ting was intercepted by the Chen brothers—Chen Fei and Chen An—members of the Sun Moon team.
Individually, neither brother could compare to Bai Ting. However, working together, they were able to contend with him on equal footing.
As for the remaining members, they all found their own opponents, and the battlefield descended into complete chaos.
Yet there was still one person who had not moved.
Meng Hongchen.
Due to the special nature of her martial spirit, she would normally refrain from acting rashly.
But seeing the increasingly intense situation on the field, she understood that she could no longer remain idle.
Her gaze locked onto the true core of Noumenon Academy—
Yuhao.
Meng Hongchen stepped forward slowly, her long legs carrying her with measured grace. Her burgundy hair gradually turned silvery white, and beneath her feet appeared the optimal configuration of two yellow, two purple, and one black soul rings.
At the same time, her eyes turned blood-red. Combined with her pale, almost bloodless skin, she looked chillingly eerie.
This was her martial spirit—the Zhuqing Ice Toad—possessing the dual attributes of ice and fire that produced lethal poison.
Poison-type soul masters were already among the most troublesome opponents, and the Zhuqing Ice Toad was an exceptional existence even among them.
Once poisoned by its toxin, even a Soul Emperor would struggle to endure more than a few breaths.
Moreover, the poison of the Zhuqing Ice Toad could spread through air, ice, and other mediums, making it nearly impossible to defend against.
Its only flaw lay in its two-way nature—the poison harmed both enemy and user.
For that reason, Meng Hongchen rarely took action lightly.
However, after reaching the Five-Ring Soul King realm, she had gained a certain degree of control over her poison.
She was confident she could deal with Yuhao.
Yet the moment she raised her gaze toward him, prepared to release her poison, what she met was a pair of green-gold eyes—
And a faint, contemptuous smile.
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