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"The arena will now switch to a nighttime environment."
The mechanical voice echoed above the forest. Luo Guixing's eyes lit up. "Maintain formation!"
He lowered his voice as seventeen figures darted between the branches. In the distance, Gu La's towering figure cast a distorted shadow under the moonlight, and his gravity field was visibly contracting.
Luo Guixing whispered, "Spread out and look for an opportunity to unleash long-range soul skills. He can't stay vigilant forever."
"Xiao Yan!"
Tang Wulin growled softly, and Xu Xiaoyan nodded firmly in the darkness.
Thick darkness spread like spilled ink over the forest, and the branches clawed at the night wind. The starlight flowing from Xu Xiaoyan's fingertips drew a brilliant galaxy across the pitch-black sky, with countless glowing points coalescing into a magnificent chain of stars behind her.
"Stars in the sky, bright and shiny, bring peace and serenity!"
The girl's chant resonated with an eerie harmony, and the stellar wheel hovering above her head suddenly burst into blinding silver light. Twelve chains, brimming with the force of falling stars, tore through the air toward Gu La. The starlight flowing across their surfaces shimmered like diamonds in the night.
"Big Brother Gu, I'm sorry."
"First soul skill, Stellar Chains!"
"Celestial-type martial soul?" A flicker of joy passed through Luo Guixing's eyes, but beads of sweat formed on his brow.
His fingers danced as he prepared to unleash his soul skill, his voice trembling with excitement. "Crossfire coverage! Yang Nianxia, attack from the front and target the lower body. Xu Yucheng, cut off the retreat from the side!"
Facing the absolute lock-on of the stellar chains, Gu La raised his hand to activate a shield—not to block the chains, but to defend against the subsequent attacks.
Sure enough, the chains wrapped around Gu La, and even with the added power of the starlight, the tens of tons of force couldn't break free.
In the next instant, a barrage of attacks flew out from the forest.
Yang Nianxia's Dark Gold Bear martial soul possessed all the abilities of the fearsome Dark Gold Claw Bear—resilient fur and physique—allowing him to advance despite the gravity field.
Tang Wulin's right arm shimmered with golden scales. He unleashed Blue Silver Entanglement to assist in control and swung down with his Golden Dragon Claw.
Amidst the piercing shriek of tearing air, Zheng Yiran's Jade Phosphorus Serpent, its fangs bared, spewed a cloud of toxic mist.
Black blade flashes, white shockwaves…
"Shatter!" Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon Claw tore through the air, unlocking the second layer of his seal. He could now slightly control the crushing effect of the claw.
But Gu La merely smirked. Suddenly, a honeycomb-like energy shield enveloped him—it wasn't an ordinary soul power barrier but a defensive construct created by the "Protect" technique.
Attacks from all directions instantly engulfed Gu La, but his shield held firm. For the duration of "one turn," the shield possessed an effect akin to an invincible golden body—"pseudo-invulnerability."
The colorful soul skills bombarded the shield, sending ripples of faint light that made Gu La's face flicker between light and shadow.
A group of Soul Elders and Soul Ancestors still couldn't break through his defense. He observed the gradually dimming starlight on the chains with interest. "Five seconds of absolute restraint… longer than expected. Impressive for a celestial-type martial soul."
"This isn't good!"
Luo Guixing hadn't anticipated such a comprehensive defensive soul skill from Gu La. His space element trembled, and the first soul ring lit up.
"Space Lock!"
Luo Guixing's pupils had already turned silvery-white. Three spatial locks, accompanied by the explosive sound of tearing space, shot toward Gu La's neck—but upon touching his skin, they shattered with a metallic crack.
The face of the seventeenth-ranked genius on the Genius Youths Rankings turned as pale as paper. He clearly saw Gu La casually flick his finger, and his prideful spatial restraint crumbled like fragile glass.
The Space Lock was Luo Guixing's signature soul skill.
Though not as absolutely reliable as the celestial-type martial soul, it could often restrain even soul masters two ranks higher, making escape nearly impossible.
It was this skill that earned him the title of "Shackler Luo Guixing" on the Genius Youths Rankings. But at this moment, he only felt his pride was laughable.
Pfft!
The backlash of the soul skill caught Luo Guixing off guard. He spat out a mouthful of blood and staggered back two steps, his pupils shaking. "Impossible! How could the Space Lock be useless?!"
"You've still got a long way to go with your understanding of space."
Gu La taunted them lightly, looking at the group of students who were treating him like a formidable enemy, as if they were nothing more than crops ripe for the harvest.
"The energy shaping their bodies? I'll take it without hesitation."
Gu La switched martial souls, and the gravity field dissipated. The terrifying pressure vanished, causing everyone to unconsciously relax.
"Watch out below!" Tang Wulin's warning shout coincided with the sound of the ground splitting.
But it was too late. With the Celebi martial soul activated, the Boundless Forest Sea Domain expanded, bringing the entire forest to life.
The branches of hundred-year-old trees transformed into a swarm of snakes, lichen grew wildly into nooses, and even the falling leaves turned into spinning blades.
The humus beneath Gu La's feet suddenly bulged, and a jet-black, two-headed man-eating flower erupted from the ground. Where drops of its azure digestive fluid fell, rocks emitted wisps of green smoke.
Luo Guixing bit his tongue to stay focused, and silvery-white spatial chains shot out from a rift in space.
He was still resisting!
"Be careful of the seeds that devour soul power!"
Tang Wulin's shout was drowned out by the rustling sounds of rapidly growing plants.
Gu La hovered in the air, and behind him, the illusory image of the Boundless Forest revealed five distinct plants greedily absorbing the scattered soul power.
These were the five plants hosting Gu La's avatars. Once the avatars fully detached from their plant bodies, they would lose the ability to rapidly increase their cultivation by devouring soul power. Before that happened, he needed to maximize their levels.
Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon scales were stained with green sap. He abruptly turned his head toward the southeast, where countless vines suddenly erupted from the ground, their edges flashing with eerie purple light.
Just as Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon Claw severed the poisonous vines attacking Xie Xie, he saw the severed branches instantly take root and sprout, blooming into sinister man-eating flowers. Faint crimson patterns glimmered at the base of the flowers' stems.
"Who's the real plant-type martial soul user here?!"
Tang Wulin gritted his teeth and unleashed his Blue Silver Grass to pull Xie Xie out of the man-eating flower vines.
As he gazed at the endless sea of trees, his golden-veined Blue Silver Grass seemed so pitifully weak and helpless.
"I can't hold on anymore. It's up to you guys. Hah."
With a sigh of resignation, Xu Yucheng, known for his resilience, gave up struggling.
Due to the influence of his martial soul, his physical strength had been difficult to enhance. Despite consuming many rare treasures, his soul ring configuration remained two yellow and one purple—making him even more fragile than an auxiliary-type soul master. Just a few vines hitting him were unbearable.
As if someone had pressed a fast-forward button, more and more people disappeared in bursts of light amidst the onslaught of the forest.
Only Tang Wulin and Yang Nianxia, with their robust physiques, continued to tear apart the incoming vines and branches, even after exhausting their soul power.
But human endurance has its limits, and they were nearing theirs.
Not far away, Gu Yue, no longer circling Tang Wulin, was exploring the soul-guided technology created by human soul masters.
"Even a single academy possesses technology capable of simulating the real world. Where does this leave the future of the soul beast race?"
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