Chapter 85: "Sorry, coming through."
Hearing this, the corners of Bei Bei's eyes couldn't help but twitch.
"You won't be able to maintain this state for much longer, will you?"
Lin Xuan suddenly smiled, his gaze landing on the flickering golden light surrounding Bei Bei's body. "In that case—it's time to end this."
Before his voice even faded, the third ten-thousand-year Soul Ring beneath his feet suddenly lit up!
Golden lightning gathered into it like a vortex as Lin Xuan murmured softly, "Thunder Feather Piercing the Sky, Narukami! Come forth!"
In the next moment, the already powerful golden lightning's might surged once again!
Violent arcs of electricity suddenly expanded and rose, seemingly transforming into a pair of flickering light wings attached to his back.
The air distorted and trembled under the high temperature, emitting a low hum.
Bei Bei's pupils shrank, but before he could react, Lin Xuan's figure had already vanished! His speed was so fast that it was difficult for the eyes to even track!
"Not good!"
Bei Bei was greatly alarmed, but before he could make a move, a searing, intense pain exploded from his abdomen!
As if a red-hot iron pillar had pierced through his body, Bei Bei's entire frame stiffened, and all his strength was drained in an instant.
At the same time, a calm voice sounded from close behind him, "Sorry, coming through."
"Gah—!"
Before the words even settled, Bei Bei, having lost all his strength, suddenly doubled over, coughing up a large mouthful of blood and saliva. His knees then buckled, and he collapsed to the ground, no longer able to support himself.
However, in the eyes of the onlookers, the scene they witnessed was entirely different.
Lin Xuan had simply taken a step forward, his figure like a swallow skimming across a lake, instantly passing Bei Bei as easily as if he were crossing a road in the early morning.
And at the moment he passed, Bei Bei suddenly spat blood and collapsed, as if struck by an invisible heavy hammer.
The entire field was deathly silent, most people looking on with expressions of bewilderment.
Only Elder Xuan sat up straight, his cloudy eyes flashing with sharp light.
"Good kid—" he murmured in a low voice, "Is it an amplification-type Soul skills? To think he could increase his speed to such a terrifying degree in an instant—"
Xuan Zi saw Lin Xuan's attack clearly. It wasn't some powerful Soul skills; it was merely a single punch to Bei Bei's abdomen at the moment they crossed paths. It was that simple, as if anyone could have done it.
Lin Xuan slowly came to a stop a few steps behind Bei Bei, the lightning around his body gradually receding.
He turned around and looked at Bei Bei, who was still kneeling on one knee, barely supporting himself from falling. He nodded slightly, "Thank you for the match, Senior."
"Cough, cough, cough—" Bei Bei struggled to raise his left hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth. A smile that looked more painful than crying appeared on his face as he shook his head and said bitterly, "You win."
Only then did the surrounding crowd snap back to their senses, as if waking from a dream.
"Holy—crap—just how many trump cards is Lin Xuan hiding—"
"He even has a lightning attribute! Does it come from that big bird that appeared during the freshman assessment?"
"Dammit! Why couldn't I come up with such cool lines!"
"
Listening to the various discussions, Lin Xuan smiled slightly.
In truth, if it had been a few days ago, it would have been impossible for him to defeat Bei Bei with just his speed using only his third Soul skills.
After all, his original third Soul skills, Eternal Shadow Bind, couldn't be called useless, but it could only be described as better than nothing.
It had only one effect, similar to Bei Bei's third Soul skills, Thunderous Fury, which could increase Soul Power effects by seventy percent.
For others, it might have been a very powerful amplification-type Soul skills, but Lin Xuan was not satisfied with just that.
So, he established another Binding Vow.
Using the requirement of chanting specific incantations based on the type of Shikigami for each activation as a price, he exchanged it for the refinement of that seventy percent amplification effect.
For example, by chanting the specific incantation for the Shikigami Nue, Lin Xuan could focus the entire seventy percent amplification effect solely onto speed, or onto the lightning attribute amplification.
And this was still a low-level usage; his ultimate goal in establishing this Binding Vow was more for Mahoraga.
Imagine if Lin Xuan focused that seventy percent amplification effect onto Mahoraga's adaptation speed?
This was the heaven-defying nature of a Binding Vow; besides enhancing strength, it could directly modify the effects of a Soul skills.
Perhaps one moment this Soul skills could only be used for control, and the next time it was used, it would become an assault-type.
Taking out a loan is great for a moment, but taking out loans forever is great forever—Lin Xuan couldn't help but chuckle in his heart.
With the conclusion of their match, it was now Xu Sanshi's turn to duel Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao together.
The result was no surprise. Although Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao were both Twin Martial Souls and went all out with every trick in their arsenal, performing perfectly and impressing everyone with their talent,
Xu Sanshi was, after all, a top-tier genius known alongside Bei Bei as the Twin Stars of the Outer Academy. He couldn't beat Lin Xuan, but surely he could beat you two?
After a fierce battle, Xiao Xiao was eventually eliminated after being knocked off the Soul Dueling Platform by Xu Sanshi due to the gap in Soul Power.
With that, this selection tournament officially came to an end.
"Alright, this core disciple selection tournament ends here. Everyone, hurry back home." Xuan Zi stood up wobbling and left without looking back.
Wang Yan originally wanted to say something, since many people hadn't even had the chance to show their strength; rather than a battle, it had felt more like a competition of who could take a beating better.
But what he didn't know was that in Xuan Zi's view, as long as a few people like Bei Bei and Lin Xuan passed, everyone else was just there for the ride.
On the other side, having just left the Soul Dueling Area and flying toward Sea God Island, Elder Xuan saw a familiar figure standing by the lakeshore from a distance.
It was Yan Shaozhe.
"Elder Xuan." Seeing Elder Xuan land lightly, Yan Shaozhe bowed respectfully.
"Why aren't you processing documents? Why are you standing here in the wind?" Elder Xuan raised an eyebrow.
Yan Shaozhe pondered for a moment before speaking, "Elder Xuan, a few days ago my student Ma Xiaotao mentioned something to me regarding Lin Xuan. I've been thinking it over and felt I should tell you."
"Oh? Something about Lin Xuan?" Elder Xuan immediately became interested, stopping his drinking and putting down his chicken leg. "Speak quickly, what's going on?"
"It's like this. On the night of the Treasure Appreciation Fair a few weeks ago—" Yan Shaozhe lowered his voice and recounted the strange sensation Ma Xiaotao felt after touching Lin Xuan's wrist.
"Hiss—there's such a thing?" Elder Xuan narrowed his eyes, then asked, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Yan Shaozhe gave a bitter smile, "To be honest, I only just found out from Xiaotao. If I hadn't seen her looking restless and questioned her repeatedly, she probably would have kept hiding it."
"Alright, don't overanalyze a young girl's thoughts."
Elder Xuan waved his hand, looking at the helpless Yan Shaozhe, his tone calm. "You should have already guessed the reason for Xiaotao's sensation, right?"
"Yes, Elder Xuan." Yan Shaozhe nodded.
For Ma Xiaotao, perhaps she hadn't been able to think deeply about it for various reasons, but Yan Shaozhe and Elder Xuan were both Titled Douluo; they had already guessed seventy or eighty percent of it just from the description.
"Ultimate Ice," the two said in unison.
"I didn't expect it, I really didn't—this kid Lin Xuan is hiding such a terrifying trump card—"
Elder Xuan muttered in a low voice, his eyes flashing, "So that means his right arm is fused with at least a hundred-thousand-year Soul Bone that contains the Ultimate attribute."
"Strange, truly strange. Doesn't he have no background? Where did this Soul Bone come from?"
The more Elder Xuan thought about it, the more puzzled he became. Soul Beasts with the Ultimate attribute were all top-tier existences. How exactly did Lin Xuan obtain its Soul Bone?
"Elder Xuan, I believe that is not the main point." Yan Shaozhe smiled. "As long as we are certain Lin Xuan is a normal Soul Master, his origins and secrets are not important. What is truly important is that he is currently a student of Shrek."
"That makes sense." Elder Xuan nodded, then asked, "Then what do you plan to do? You and I know Xiaotao's Evil Fire best; there is no method in this world more effective at suppressing it than Ultimate Ice."
"This—" Yan Shaozhe showed hesitation.
Elder Xuan continued, "If you ask me, we already intended to keep Lin Xuan firmly in the academy. Now that he has Ultimate Ice to resolve Xiaotao's Evil Fire, why not just set them up? Wouldn't that kill two birds with one stone?"
"This—I'm afraid that might not be right." Yan Shaozhe put on a difficult expression. "You know Xiaotao's personality. If it's not a man she truly likes, no amount of persuasion will work. Furthermore, I personally do not wish to use such means to force the two of them. Everything—should still be based on Xiaotao's own heart."
Elder Xuan didn't respond, just quietly stared at Yan Shaozhe, his gaze seemingly saying, 'I'm just going to watch you pretend.'
Yan Shaozhe suddenly fell silent. The two old guys looked at each other, the corners of their mouths twitching upward uncontrollably, unable to be suppressed no matter how hard they tried.
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