On the arena, the massive "blue dumpling" formed by the layered combination of the four Spirit Abilities—Blue Silver Cage, Parasitism, Spider Web, and Entanglement—radiated intense Soul Power fluctuations, completely engulfing Marco's figure. Tang San stood not far away, his face slightly pale and his breathing somewhat hurried, yet his eyes were as sharp as an eagle's. Hidden Weapons gleamed coldly between his fingers as his entire body tensed, awaiting the moment Marco would break free, ready to launch a thunderous follow-up attack.
In the stands, everyone held their breath, their eyes fixed unblinkingly on the wildly writhing Blue Silver Emperor vines that sought to crush and imprison everything within. The hearts of the Shrek Academy group were in their throats. Flender clenched his fists tightly, Liu Erlong's beautiful eyes widened in shock, and Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang's expression was so grave it seemed water could drip from it.
However, in the very next second, a sudden change occurred!
There was no expected violent explosion, nor any earth-shattering Soul Power impact.
Instead, from within the massive sphere of blue vines, a point of… crimson-tinged azure light suddenly shone through!
The light was extremely faint at first, like a single spark in the Night. But in the blink of an eye, that spark ignited a prairie fire!
"Hiss—!"
A soft yet exceptionally clear sound, like cold water dripping into boiling oil, rang out!
Immediately after, that point of crimson-azure light abruptly expanded and spread! Like a living flame spirit, it rapidly flowed and burned along every single Blue Silver Emperor vine!
Wherever the crimson-azure flames passed, the incredibly resilient Blue Silver Emperor vines, imbued with powerful Soul Power, let out crackling cries of anguish as if they had met their nemesis. They visibly withered, charred, and ultimately turned to ashes at a speed visible to the naked eye! The Blue Silver Cage capable of restraining a Soul King, the paralyzing Parasitism thorns, the viscous Spider Web, the layer upon layer of Entanglement—before the crimson-azure flames, they melted and disintegrated like ice and snow under the sun!
The entire process was quiet, swift, and carried a kind of elegance that bordered on cruelty.
In merely two or three breaths, the massive "blue dumpling," the culmination of Tang San's full-strength four-fold control Spirit Abilities, had vanished without a trace! In its place hovered a quietly burning, human-shaped silhouette of crimson-azure flame!
The flames slowly receded, condensed, and reformed into Marco's figure. He remained standing in the same spot, his posture unchanged from before, not even a corner of his clothing out of place. The faint Azure Flame that had swirled around him quietly vanished. He brushed off some nonexistent dust from his shoulder as if he had merely swept away a bit of cobweb.
He lifted his gaze, his calm eyes falling upon Tang San, whose face had turned deathly pale and whose pupils had constricted sharply on the opposite side. The corner of his mouth suddenly lifted into an extremely faint, somewhat playful curve.
"Heh heh…"
Two soft chuckles escaped Marco's lips. The laughter was light, yet it clearly echoed throughout the deathly silent Martial Arena.
To others' ears, this laughter might have sounded like a… noncommittal response from a strong individual to a weaker one's efforts? Or perhaps a lighthearted tease?
But to Tang San's ears, it was like two bolts of thunder, crashing violently into the depths of his heart! Especially when combined with Marco's calm gaze that held a trace of… something akin to looking at an interesting toy, and that ambiguous chuckle following the words "Blue Silver Grass"…
"Boom—!"
An indescribable torrent of humiliation, rage, and a kind of violent fury born from having one's reverse scale touched erupted like a volcano in Tang San's chest! Having lived two lives, his mental fortitude far surpassed that of ordinary people, but the Blue Silver Grass (actually the Blue Silver Emperor) was the Martial Soul left to him by his mother, one of the things he cherished most in his heart! Marco's two light chuckles, that casual, dismissive attitude, seemed to say: Look, this Martial Soul you treasure, this thing you've built your fame upon—before me, it's just a handful of weeds to be casually burned!
Added to the accumulated pressure, the unwillingness toward Marco's invincible posture, and a sliver of jealousy deep within his heart that even he hadn't noticed... all these emotions intertwined, instantly breaching the dam of Tang San's reason!
"You... have earned a death sentence!"
A cold, ferocious thought, like a venomous snake, slithered from the deepest recesses of Tang San's heart! His eyes instantly became bloodshot, his gaze toward Marco filled with undisguised killing intent!
However, just as Tang San was consumed by fury, on the verge of disregarding everything to unleash his Hidden Weapons or even the Clear Sky Hammer—
"Whoosh!"
A blurry, black afterimage, like a ghost, appeared without warning right in front of him! Its speed exceeded even the tracking limit of Tang San's Purple Demon Eyes!
It was Marco! He had moved!
No Soul Power eruption, no grand display—just the simplest, most direct bodily movement—Shave!
Tang San didn't even see how Marco moved. His vision blurred, and a vicious gust of wind was already assaulting his left flank! Instinctively, he wanted to use Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to evade, but the Soul Power depletion from consecutively unleashing four Spirit Abilities and the momentary fury clouding his mind made his reaction lag by an imperceptible fraction!
It was this imperceptible instant!
"Thud!"
A dull, heavy sound, like striking rotten leather, exploded at Tang San's waist!
Marco's right foot, like a cannonball fired from its chamber, solidly slammed into the kidney area on Tang San's left lower back! A terrifying, overwhelming force instantly penetrated his body!
"Ugh—!"
Tang San let out a pained grunt, his eyes bulging violently, almost popping out of their sockets! An intense, indescribable, twisting pain radiated from his waist, as if his kidney had been kicked to pieces! His entire body, like a kite with its string cut, staggered uncontrollably to the right, his steps unsteady, nearly causing him to fall headlong! His face instantly turned from pale to ashen, cold sweat pouring down!
"Third Brother!"
"Xiao San!"
"Bastard!"
Down below, the Shrek Academy group instantly erupted! Xiao Wu let out a heart-wrenching scream; seeing Tang San's pained, twisted face and stumbling figure, her heart felt as if it were being sliced by a knife! She was about to charge onto the stage without a second thought!
"Xiao Wu! Calm down!" Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing's expressions changed drastically. They each grabbed one of Xiao Wu's arms, holding her back tightly.
"Let me go! I'll kill him!!" Xiao Wu's eyes were crimson, her legs kicking wildly as tears streamed from her eyes, like an enraged lioness.
In the spectator stands, the male students from other academies almost simultaneously gasped in shock the moment they saw Marco's foot precisely strike Tang San's kidney. Their faces showed expressions of extreme fear as they instinctively raised both hands to cover the areas around their own kidneys! Each of them grimaced, as if that kick had landed on their own bodies!
"Hiss—! The kidney! It's the kidney!"
"Oh my god! Just looking at it hurts!"
"It's over, it's over... Brother Tang San's kidney probably can't be saved..."
"Why must men make things difficult for other men!"
Waves of sympathetic yet pained exclamations rose from the male student section of the stands.
However, this wasn't the end!
After kicking Tang San flying, Marco watched the other's painful, stumbling figure, then glanced at Xiao Wu below the stage who seemed on the verge of madness, being desperately held back by Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing. For some reason, a mischievous impulse suddenly surged in his heart.
His figure flickered again, sticking close like a bone-deep parasite, instantly closing in on Tang San who hadn't yet stabilized his posture!
"Thud!"
Another dull impact! This time, it was the right foot! Precisely striking Tang San's right lower back! The position was exactly the same!
"Urgh—!" Tang San could no longer hold back, vomiting a mouthful of reversed blood. His body arched like a shrimp as he stumbled and fell toward another direction, his face already pale as paper. The intense pain in his waist made it almost impossible for him to breathe, and his Soul Power circulation was completely disrupted!
"Ahhhhh! I'll kill you!!" Below the stage, Xiao Wu went completely mad upon seeing Tang San get kicked and vomit blood again. She screamed and struggled desperately, with Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing using all their strength to barely restrain her, their fragrant sweat dripping.
In the stands, some female students with lively personalities or no particular friendship with Shrek couldn't help but chuckle at this scene of "precision strikes," especially seeing Xiao Wu's frantic desperation below and Tang San's miserable state on stage. But they immediately felt it was inappropriate and quickly covered their mouths. However, two of them laughed particularly "unrestrainedly"—
"Hahaha!" This was Shui Yue'er, who loved stirring up trouble. She clapped her hands, laughing so hard she rocked back and forth.
"Hmph! Serves him right! Making such fierce eyes earlier! Kick his kidney! Yes! Just like that!" This was Huo Wu, who crossed her arms. Though she didn't laugh as loudly as Shui Yue'er, the pleased smile at the corner of her mouth couldn't be concealed.
Their laughter immediately drew angry gazes from the Shrek Academy members! Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun and others glared furiously at Huo Wu and Shui Yue'er! Especially Xiao Wu—upon hearing the laughter, she sharply turned her head toward Huo Wu and Shui Yue'er's direction, her crimson eyes almost spitting fire as she struggled even more wildly!
"Shut up!!" Xiao Wu shrieked sharply.
On the arena, after successfully landing two consecutive "kidney attacks," Marco finally stopped moving as he looked at Tang San's miserable state—unable to straighten his back, his energy depleted to the extreme. Standing in place, he leisurely straightened his sleeves which weren't even messy, as if he had just done something trivial.
He looked at Tang San, who was barely managing not to collapse by supporting himself with his hands on his knees, and asked calmly:
"Still want to fight?"