"Not bad, kid—keep it coming!" Zhao Wuji's expression grew increasingly serious. His opponent had neutralized two of his soul skills with just a single move. On the surface, it looked like he still held the advantage, but that was only thanks to his cultivation. It had been years since he'd needed to take a fight this seriously.
"Alright!" Li Chang'an was also eager to test his limits. Nodding slightly, he raised his Staff once again.
The third soul ring on Zhao Wuji's body—a deep purple thousand-year ring—suddenly expanded. However, instead of channeling power into his body, it floated downward and sank into the ground.
Third Soul Skill: Gravity Increase!
In an instant, Li Chang'an felt as though his feet had sunk into a swamp. A tremendous weight pressed down on him, as if his own body had doubled in mass. Zhao Wuji, however, moved completely unhindered. He charged forward in wide strides, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips. That look in his eyes seemed to say, "Let's see how you get out of this one!"
But just then, Li Chang'an's third soul ring suddenly flared to life!
His third soul ring came from a 50,000-year-old Mythical Purifying Turtle, and it granted him a unique soul skill with a single, powerful effect—Purification!
A 50,000-year soul beast's Purification was terrifying. It could instantly cleanse any and all negative effects afflicting Li Chang'an—whether curses, rule-based constraints, or soul skill debuffs like Zhao Wuji's gravity suppression.
As his third soul ring shone brightly, the gravitational pressure vanished in a flash. At the same time, his second soul ring lit up.
Second Soul Skill: Thunder Moon Slash!
The Golden Staff crackled with terrifying arcs of purple lightning. With a subtle twitch, it traced out a glowing crescent of violet energy, hurling it straight at Zhao Wuji.
'How is this possible?! He actually nullified my third soul skill!'
Zhao Wuji, a battle-hardened veteran, was shocked but responded quickly. His fourth soul ring flared into brilliance.
A purple glow burst forth. Strangely enough, the ring didn't stay with Zhao Wuji—it flew outward like it had a mind of its own, attaching itself to Li Chang'an's body.
Li Chang'an's heart skipped a beat. But when the glowing purple ring wrapped around him, he didn't feel any discomfort at all.
Before his Thunder Moon Slash could strike, Zhao Wuji vanished from sight—only to reappear right in front of him an instant later!
Indeed, Zhao Wuji's Fourth Soul Skill: Position Trace, allowed him to instantly close the distance. That was how he dodged Li Chang'an's attack.
"Kid, it's over!" Zhao Wuji declared confidently. As a melee-type soul master, getting into close range meant victory was practically assured.
His Fifth Soul Ring, an intimidating black ten-thousand-year ring, began to shine ominously. The sheer force of the roar that followed made the entire Shrek Academy tremble.
A crushing pressure surged from all directions, forcing Li Chang'an's body toward Zhao Wuji. It felt like the air itself was trying to crush his bones.
Zhao Wuji's Martial Soul: Vigorous Vajra Bear – Fifth Soul Skill: Gravity Crush!
No doubt about it—the fifth soul skill of a Spirit Saint wasn't something to be taken lightly.
Li Chang'an, however, remained calm. A glint of focus flickered in his eyes as his fourth soul ring activated!
His fourth ring originated from an 80,000-year-old Stormcrest Skybird and granted him a soul skill known as Phantom Speed!
It wasn't an offensive skill either. Instead, it was a high-level augmentation ability that allowed both him and his martial soul to drastically increase their speed for a brief period—by up to thirty times!
He wasn't even sure what thirty times speed meant in practical terms. But even under immense gravitational pressure, it didn't matter—he simply moved too fast for it to catch him.
At the same time, two completely different colors began to emerge at each end of his Golden Staff—one end shimmered with a faint icy blue, while the other blazed with a fiery red.
That's right—he had also infused the elemental attributes he'd obtained from the Ice-Fire Yin-Yang Well. One end bore the Ultimate Fire, the other the Ultimate Ice!
To Zhao Wuji, Li Chang'an was now nothing short of a shooting star—one glowing red, the other blue. He couldn't track him at all.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
In the span of just three seconds, Li Chang'an landed twenty strikes on Zhao Wuji. Each blow infused with both ice and fire, leaving Zhao Wuji completely overwhelmed.
"You brat—you've pushed me too far!" Zhao Wuji growled.
His body was a mess—burning hot one moment, freezing cold the next. Even with his deep reserves of soul power, he couldn't suppress the internal chaos. He was on the verge of losing control!
And at this point, there was no longer any need to hold back. Zhao Wuji raised his head and let out a thunderous roar. His Seventh Soul Ring, the deepest black, erupted with explosive energy.
Black light flooded his body as it began to undergo a dramatic transformation.
Once he activated Martial Soul True Body, his already-massive frame swelled like an inflating balloon. In the blink of an eye, he was over five meters tall, muscles bulging grotesquely, and brownish-yellow fur sprouted wildly across his body. In mere seconds, Zhao Wuji had become a true giant bear.
As the transformation completed, his fur shifted to a dazzling golden hue.
For beast-type soul masters, the seventh soul skill was always a turning point—Martial Soul True Body. Just like reaching level 30 was a bottleneck, so too was level 70. Activating this skill massively amplified a beast soul master's power. It was both their trump card and their last resort.
Zhao Wuji's Seventh Soul Skill was exactly that—the true form of the Vigorous Vajra Bear.
Once activated, he could unleash any of his soul skills below the seventh ring without cooldown for thirty minutes, with 150% increased power. On top of that, his defense shot up by a monstrous 200%!
"Is… is Teacher Zhao insane? He actually used his Martial Soul True Body?!" Dai Mubai paled. This was supposed to be just an exam!
Xiao Wu's heart clenched. 'He'll be alright, won't he?'
Even Zhu Zhuqing frowned for once. "He's still injured… Can he really take a hit from a Spirit Saint's true body?"
Tang San and the others grew somber—things had clearly gotten out of hand.
At the same time, the effect of Li Chang'an's fourth soul skill wore off. He'd successfully enraged Zhao Wuji—but the system still hadn't notified him of his mission, so he had no choice but to keep fighting!
And then, behind him, his Fifth Soul Ring slowly began to shine. The immense pressure it released clashed with Zhao Wuji's Martial Soul True Body, as if it weren't a ten-thousand-year ring at all.
At that moment, Li Chang'an appeared a hundred meters away—or rather, three copies of Li Chang'an did.
Fifth Soul Skill: Phantom Clone!
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