"Sorry, I didn't let you have your fill."
Na'er's words left them all mortified.
Luo Guixing helped up Yang Nianxia, who had just been sent flying. "How's it look? Can you still fight?"
"I feel like I'm about to die."
Yang Nianxia's head was spinning, his vision blurred; being hit once by Na'er really didn't feel good.
And that was only because he'd charged in last.
Don't be fooled by how loudly he'd cheered earlier, he'd been shrewd about it the whole time. What he hadn't expected was that Na'er's strength would surpass everyone's imagination.
Standing at the front, Wu Siduo worked the numbness out of the arm that had gone slack from the earlier collision.
After steadying her breath, her eyes narrowed, and she called out, "Everyone, attack together!"
Four purple soul rings rose behind her.
Her Martial Soul, the Hell Spirit Cat, took hold; its claws gleamed with a chilling sheen as she flickered toward Na'er like a phantom.
Luo Guixing revealed his own soul rings, two yellow and one purple. As he raised his hand, the space around Na'er began to warp, binding her in place and restricting her movement.
"Hmmm~"
Space suddenly clamped shut, and the golden light around Na'er flickered faintly, slowing her for an instant.
Her brow furrowed, and Na'er was forced to step back half a pace. Wu Siduo's claws grazed past her ear, the wind off the strike stirring her hair.
This was the first time, from start to finish, that Na'er had dodged anything.
"Spatial confinement? Barely adequate."
Golden Dragon's Roar!
Na'er's red lips parted slightly. Behind her, the black light of her ten-thousand-year soul ring surged violently, and the shadow of the dragon let out a sky-shaking cry, its unseen draconic might bearing down directly on Luo Guixing's mind.
He grunted, the soul power inside him thrown into chaos.
Gritting his teeth, he forced himself steady and roared, "Move! Now!"
Xu Yucheng's Dark Demon Sickle came down in an instant, its pitch-black blade energy slashing straight for Na'er's waist, the shriek of it cutting the air sharp enough to hurt the ears.
Yang Nianxia's Dark Gold Bear Martial Soul manifested with a roar, his muscles swelling as soul power poured into his paws; the huge, metal-sheened claw struck at Na'er's side with the force of thunder.
Behind Zheng Yiran, the phantom of the Emerald Phosphor Serpent Queen unfurled, and dark green poison mist instantly spread across the whole clearing.
Condensed venomous fangs shot silently toward Na'er's limbs; once the poison got in, it would numb the meridians and eat away at soul power.
"Fun!" Na'er suddenly burst out laughing, the sound eerie and unsettling.
Facing the assault coming from all four sides, her eyes shone with startling brightness.
Her dragon claw, wrapped in a force fit to split mountains and shatter stone, slapped straight at Xu Yucheng's sickle.
"Clang!"
The instant gold and black met, the violent backlash tore open the skin between Xu Yucheng's thumb and forefinger; his whole body was flung back and slammed into a tree trunk, blood and breath churning inside him.
At the same moment, Yang Nianxia's huge paw had already closed in. Na'er twisted her body aside.
Then, following the motion, drove an elbow straight into his chest.
A dull thud sounded.
Yang Nianxia's face flushed deep red; he staggered and crashed into an old tree beside him, the trunk splitting apart. He grunted and dropped, unable to rise, his connection severed.
Wu Siduo flickered around behind Na'er, her claws aimed straight at the vital point on her back.
Without even turning her head, Na'er let a phantom of dragon scales bloom into being; the claws struck it and produced only a harsh, ringing clang, unable to break through.
Wu Siduo's pupils shrank; just as she went to pull back, Na'er's hand snapped around and caught her wrist. Draconic power surged up her arm and into her body, leaving her completely numb, her Martial Soul possession nearly coming apart.
With a light flick, Wu Siduo was sent flying off like a kite with its string cut.
Zheng Yiran's poison mist and fangs closed in, the dark green venom carrying a rank, fishy stench.
The instant it touched the golden light around Na'er, it dissolved on the spot.
Na'er glanced back over her shoulder, flicking two beams of golden light from her fingertips that struck the two fangs dead on; they turned to black mist and scattered at once.
She tapped the ground lightly and surged forward, closing the distance to Zheng Yiran in a blink.
Zheng Yiran's face went pale with fear; she suddenly found herself admiring Yang Nianxia's earlier decision.
Facing Na'er's charge head-on, she felt as though she were standing in the path of a soul-guided train.
In the blink of an eye,
the forest around her vanished, and she was back in the simulation pod, surrounded by her classmates' pitying looks.
Zheng Yiran: "..."
The fight had ended far too fast.
Luo Guixing suddenly realized he was now completely alone.
She stared at him.
Na'er made every hair on his body stand on end; that excited smile of hers, paired with the sight of his companions collapsing one after another, made for a truly terrifying scene.
Luo Guixing's throat tightened so much he couldn't get a word out.
The next moment, he laughed, a look of relief crossing his face.
He simply dropped flat to the ground, hands and knees down. Once the system ruled him out, he withdrew.
"Tch, why even run? It's just a simulation space anyway." Na'er pursed her lips, then turned her gaze toward the dense woods not far off.
A graceful figure stepped out from the shadows of the thicket. Meeting Na'er's eyes, Gu Yue said helplessly, "You didn't have to do this. There are two spots for vice class president."
Na'er said nothing, taking a step forward.
Her smile slowly slipped out of control.
She simply wanted to give Gu Yue a good beating, plain and simple. In this simulation space, her advantage as a physical fighter was enormous, and many of Gu Yue's usual tricks couldn't be reproduced by the simulator.
Just then, a scorching aura swept in from nearby.
Na'er and Gu Yue both turned to look.
Was that Wu Siduo?
Black and gold twisted together over her body, suddenly bursting into a strange, dark golden glow.
Her reddish-brown hair first turned white, then went crystal clear, shimmering faintly like threads of glass.
She bent forward, her human shape receding, and turned into a strange white tiger, its whole body translucent.
A self-fusion Martial Soul technique: the Netherworld White Tiger!
The students watching from outside had already been stunned speechless.
What on earth was that?
A twin Martial Soul was one thing, but she could fuse her own Martial Soul with herself?
"A self-fusion Martial Soul technique?" Gu Yue's brow rose slightly, and the elemental power around her condensed at once, colorful halos of light swirling together into a barrier.
Excitement flared in Na'er's eyes again; the dragon's shadow once more blotted out the sky as she licked the corner of her lips.
"Now this is interesting. Come on then, little kitty."
The Netherworld White Tiger summoned every last ounce of strength in her body; holding this form cost her dearly.
One strike to settle it!
The dark golden light around the Netherworld White Tiger suddenly drew inward, gathering entirely into her front paw.
It carried an overwhelming, unmatched might. Before the claw even moved, invisible force had already carved deep gouges into the ground, and the searing pulse of soul power warped the very air around it.
In this one moment, she poured out everything she had.
Na'er was still smiling; the golden dragon only leaned forward slightly.
Everyone stared, unable to look away.
"Who do you think actually wins this?" someone couldn't help but ask.
"Hard to say. That's Wu Siduo's Martial Soul fusion technique, after all."
"Come on, has Na'er even used her full strength this whole time? And Wu Siduo is already running on fumes."
"That's a stretch. Is she really that strong?"
"Heh. One hit from Na'er and you fell right in line."
Amid the arguments, on the screen, the instant the Netherworld White Tiger and the golden dragon collided,
a flash of light and shadow appeared between them.
Arthur appeared out of nowhere, both hands spread open, his palms meeting the Netherworld White Tiger and the golden dragon at once.
There was no earth-shaking boom, only the frozen, straining sense of two forces of overwhelming power slamming into an invisible wall.
The Netherworld White Tiger's full-body lunge, the instant it touched Arthur's palm, couldn't advance another inch.
The dragon shadow surging up before Na'er also halted at once, held steady and unmoving.