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On the training ground, Zi Yan said somewhat awkwardly:
"Junior, are you really going to fight both of us at the same time? Let me be clear first—when the two of us team up, it's definitely not as simple as one plus one equals two."
"Mm, I know."
Zi Yan and Ji Juechen's traits could be said to perfectly complement each other. Their fighting styles were completely opposite, which meant they could cover each other's weaknesses extremely well.
When they joined forces, even a sixth-level soul engineer could potentially lose to them. They were absolutely not opponents that could be defeated easily.
Yet Bai Chen still spoke with confidence:
"But Senior Sister, why are you talking so much? Are you scared?"
"Tch, such a low-level provocation."
Zi Yan rolled her eyes, stretched her body, and said unhappily:
"Still, turning your concern into mockery does make me a bit annoyed. Fine—you got what you wanted. Juechen, let's go."
As soon as she finished speaking, she didn't give Bai Chen any time to prepare. With a wave of her hand, thick purple smoke rapidly spread out, covering the entire arena.
She had activated both her first and second soul skills simultaneously.
Her first soul skill was called Illusion Smoke, and her second was Condensed Smoke.
The effect of Illusion Smoke was to confuse the opponent's vision while also partially blocking their perception. Condensed Smoke made the smoke denser—enhancing the first skill while also affecting the opponent's speed and judgment.
Both were strong crowd-control abilities, and when combined, their effect was outstanding.
When Bai Chen fought her before, he had often been troubled by this smoke. His Golden Lion King's domain could help resist mental interference, but this kind of technique couldn't be directly broken. Zi Yan's movement techniques were also extremely tricky—she could hide within the smoke and launch attacks from unexpected angles, making it nearly impossible to defend against.
However, unlike Zi Yan who hid herself, Ji Juechen was extremely obvious. Even through the thick smoke, Bai Chen could clearly sense his powerful presence.
The "Sword Maniac" had no intention of hiding from the very beginning. He held his sword upright in front of him, and the sword intent he emitted rapidly soared.
After a holiday apart, Ji Juechen's sword intent had become even more terrifying. Clearly, his strength had improved significantly.
But compared to Bai Chen, that improvement seemed rather small.
Bai Chen suddenly smiled and called out:
"Xiong Da, come out!"
As his voice fell, a massive dark-golden figure appeared in the arena.
"Ack—cough, cough!"
Zi Yan's startled voice came from within the smoke.
"Wait, Junior, is that a Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear? Your second soul skill lets you summon a Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear to fight for you?!"
The Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear, a famous species on the list of top ten ferocious beasts, was renowned across the continent. As a top student of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, Zi Yan naturally recognized such a terrifying soul beast.
Bai Chen nodded with a grin.
"Yeah, Senior Sister. So, how is it? Surprised?"
He didn't intend to reveal the existence of his soul spirit. The best method was to disguise it as the effect of his soul skill.
After all, the Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear's golden coloration was quite subtle. As long as he claimed it was his second soul skill, others wouldn't easily doubt it.
"You're unbelievable… Now I understand why you're so confident. The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect actually helped you hunt a Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear as your soul ring? I'm honestly impressed."
Bai Chen smiled faintly.
"If you're impressed, how about joining our sect? We welcome talented outsiders like you with open arms."
"I'm not considering that for now. Maybe after graduation."
"Then I'll look forward to that day, Senior Sister."
Bai Chen lightly patted the bear and issued a command through his spiritual sense:
"Xiong Da, go attack the one emitting sword intent."
To her credit, Zi Yan had been extremely cautious. Even after all that talking, she still hadn't revealed her exact position.
Thus, Bai Chen let the bear handle Ji Juechen first. With its intelligence, it wouldn't be able to locate Zi Yan hidden in the smoke anyway.
"Roar!"
The bear let out an excited roar. As a soul spirit, this was its first combat task—it was clearly eager, charging straight toward Ji Juechen.
The strength of a soul spirit is directly linked to the soul master's cultivation. The higher the soul master's level, the stronger the soul spirit becomes.
Since Bai Chen was only at two rings, the bear couldn't fully display its true power.
Even so, it was still far stronger than ordinary soul masters. Even for Ji Juechen, dealing with it wouldn't be easy.
"Well then… let's have some fun, Senior Sister."
While the bear engaged Ji Juechen, Bai Chen looked around at the surrounding smoke and narrowed his eyes with a smile.
He wasn't in a hurry. Maintaining two soul skills at once was a significant burden for Zi Yan—she couldn't keep it up indefinitely.
So he only needed to wait.
Ten seconds passed. Suddenly, the smoke to Bai Chen's left surged, and a silver sphere appeared in front of him.
"This is…"
As Xuan Ziwen's disciple, Bai Chen instantly recognized what it was. He twitched his lips helplessly and closed his eyes.
The next moment, the silver sphere burst open, releasing blinding light that even pierced through the smoke—like a miniature sun.
A fourth-level flash cannon—zero offensive power, but capable of emitting extremely intense light to disrupt an opponent's vision.
Who would've thought that under the cover of the smoke, Zi Yan's first shot wouldn't be offensive—but another blinding device?
Because of the smoke's concealment, by the time Bai Chen sensed the flash cannon, it was already extremely close.
At such a short distance, there was almost no reaction time. Most soul masters would instinctively try to block it.
And that was exactly what Zi Yan wanted.
As someone obsessed with combat, Zi Yan had extremely rich battle experience.
Although she didn't manage to completely blind Bai Chen, she did successfully make him close his eyes.
Even if only for an instant, his perception of the outside world dropped to its lowest.
And that was the moment she had been waiting for.