Huang Jinxu had already stepped down from the arena, leaving it to Jiang Shengyu and Jiang Qingtong.
Jiang Shengyu released his martial soul, Water's Reflection in the Moon. One purple and three black soul rings rhythmically pulsed around him. Jiang Qingtong immediately followed, releasing her Flower in the Mirror martial soul—two purple and one black ring circling her.
Seeing both of their unusually high-level soul ring configurations, the crowd burst into thunderous applause and cheers.
Jiang Qingtong had already activated her Spiritual Detection Sharing through her Spirit Eye martial soul. With both her and Jiang Shengyu sharing perception of the arena, there were no blind spots—allowing them to adjust and respond in real time.
Time for a little internal duel.
Jiang Shengyu took a deep breath and raised his hand, summoning the Twilight Sword once more. Pointing it at Jiang Qingtong, an icy aura radiated outward from his position, gradually enveloping the arena.
In response, Jiang Qingtong released her Evil Fire Phoenix martial soul. Intense flames swirled around her, radiating scorching heat.
"Phoenix Meteor Shower!"
She cried out as she launched her first attack. Fiery phoenix wings spread behind her, propelling her into the sky. Around her, fireballs began to form, then plummeted toward Jiang Shengyu like blazing meteors.
Jiang Shengyu swung the Twilight Sword and murmured,
"Then let this moonlight… illuminate all rivers!"
With a sweeping slash upward, brilliant sword light laced with ice surged toward the meteor shower.
Ice and fire collided—resulting in a massive white mist explosion that completely engulfed the arena.
Even so, Jiang Shengyu immediately leapt upward, striking toward Jiang Qingtong mid-air.
Jiang Qingtong quickly retreated to gain distance. His sword strike missed, but upon landing, Jiang Shengyu unleashed several more sword qi slashes.
In midair, Jiang Qingtong evaded the attacks with agility, her phoenix wings keeping her aloft. Once stabilized, she shouted down toward him:
"Phoenix Fire Line!"
A concentrated cluster of flame gathered before her, and a scorching crimson beam suddenly shot out, piercing toward Jiang Shengyu like a burning lance.
Jiang Shengyu drove the Twilight Sword into the ground, summoning a thick, frost-covered ice wall.
The Phoenix Fire Line struck the wall. A searing hiss sounded as the beam burned through it almost instantly. Jiang Shengyu raised his sword to block—catching the beam mid-air and deflecting it after several steps of retreat.
But Jiang Qingtong wasn't done.
With wings flaring behind her, she dove toward the broken ice wall and struck it with a flaming fist. Her punch cracked the one-meter-thick wall with glowing red fissures, and it shattered into ice chunks across the stage.
Her momentum carried forward, that blazing fist now heading straight for Jiang Shengyu.
Watching this, Xiao Hongchen couldn't sit still. He blurted out in shock:
"Wait, is she seriously going for it?!"
"Brother, calm down! Shengyu and Qingtong know what they're doing!" Meng Hongchen quickly grabbed his arm, trying to reassure him.
"But…" Xiao Hongchen frowned, eyes locked on Jiang Shengyu.
He could clearly see the power behind Jiang Qingtong's strike—she wasn't holding back at all. And per tournament rules, Jiang Shengyu, not being a soul engineer, couldn't use any soul tools to defend himself. Doing so would count as a forfeit.
Just as Xiao Hongchen stared on nervously, Jiang Shengyu took a deep breath. His expression suddenly grew calm, and then he… tossed the Tanhua Sword aside.
The sword flashed in the light and embedded itself into the stage.
"He threw away his sword? Is he conceding?!" Xiao Hongchen was even more confused now.
Only Meng Hongchen and the others kept watching intently. They were sure of one thing—Jiang Shengyu would never give up so easily. The real fight hadn't even started.
The moment his sword left his hand, Jiang Shengyu spread his arms.
In an instant, the entire stage became like snow in June—flurries filled the air, and the temperature dropped rapidly.
Temperature, after all, couldn't be blocked by the arena's defensive soul tools. Those seated closer to the stage could already feel the sudden chill creeping in.
And then—just as suddenly—the snow disappeared.
But the temperature kept plummeting.
With a calm look in his eyes, Jiang Shengyu raised a palm and shouted:
"Great Cold Without Snow!"
A burning fist collided with a freezing palm. The massive energy clash from their opposing forces sent ripples through the arena's defensive barrier.
Both combatants were thrown backward by the impact, flying toward opposite sides of the arena, crashing near the edges.
The spot where their attacks collided had caved in the stage floor, leaving deep cracks over ten meters wide.
Wang Yan was stunned.
"Qingtong's not holding back at all. Elder Xuan, do you think she can beat Jiang Shengyu?"
Xuanzi watched the battlefield, then slowly shook his head.
"Hard to say. Qingtong's soul power level is still too low. Whatever Jiang Shengyu's ice-element martial soul is, it clearly surpasses the Evil Fire Phoenix in quality. And—"
"And Jiang Shengyu hasn't even used his full strength, right? He's still holding back one soul skill." Wang Yan picked up from where Xuanzi left off.
They were, of course, referring to the soul skill Jiang Shengyu had used in the qualifiers to suppress the Heaven Soul Royal Soul Master Academy: Heaven's Hand. From their analysis, it seemed to be a large-area domain-like suppression skill.
Back on stage, Jiang Qingtong stood up, clutching her right hand. Jiang Shengyu also rose and brushed the dust from his body.
The crowd erupted in cheers for Shrek Academy. Jiang Qingtong's explosive attacks gave them hope that Shrek might win this round. If she could overpower Jiang Shengyu in a direct confrontation, they'd gladly accept the result.
Jiang Shengyu beckoned his sword back into his hand, then turned to Jiang Qingtong and asked gently:
"Qingtong, are you really going to keep fighting me? For Shrek Academy?"
She nodded firmly.
"Yes, brother. For the glory of Shrek Academy, I must fight you. Even if I may not win—I will give it everything I have."
Jiang Shengyu chuckled lightly, his expression faintly mocking.
"Shrek Academy's glory? So you've given up on the glory of the Sun Moon Empire? Our master sent you to Shrek so you could receive the best education, and this is how you repay him?"
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