Ma Hongjun spewed out a line of phoenix fire from his mouth, relentlessly chasing after Oscar. The flames nearly reached him, but always fell just short.
It was reminiscent of when Ma Hongjun first obtained his spirit ring and challenged Oscar, but this time things were different Ma Hongjun's soul power foundation had improved, and Dai Mubai was assisting from the side.
Most importantly, Ma Hongjun could now fly, and the pressure he brought to Oscar was on a completely different level.
Seeing Oscar running faster and faster, Ma Hongjun decided not to toy with his boss any longer. The pair of fiery wings on his back flared with an even stronger blaze, instantly boosting his speed.
In the blink of an eye, Ma Hongjun's phoenix fire line reached Oscar's body. However, Oscar had been watching carefully for Ma Hongjun's follow up.
Just as the flames were about to engulf him, Oscar's jade sword suddenly turned icy blue.
With a reverse slash, he sent out a terrifying wave of ice sword energy.
The ice sword energy collided with the phoenix fire line, freezing it instantly, and the frost even crept along the fire line toward Ma Hongjun in the sky.
Startled, Ma Hongjun immediately extinguished his flames and flapped his wings to rise a few more meters.
Clearly, he hadn't expected Oscar to have such a move.
Wasn't his boss's jade sword supposed to have only a cutting attribute? Where did this terrifying icy aura come from? Could Teacher Gai Yue have taught his ice attribute to the boss too? That didn't make sense at all!
While Ma Hongjun hesitated, Oscar's jade sword shifted from icy blue to crimson. He slashed again at the frozen flames this time releasing blazing sword energy instead of ice.
When the scorching sword energy met the frozen fire line, it instantly vaporized it into thick mist.
Dai Mubai, who had just approached Oscar, found his vision suddenly blurred by the mist. The next moment, he felt an overwhelming force strike his abdomen, sending him flying backward.
By now, Oscar's physique was already close to that of a Soul Emperor, and with the boost from his external soul bone, his strength and attack power increased by another 50%.
He used the cover of the mist to get close to Dai Mubai and delivered a full powered punch that sent him flying.
Even without the aid of an attack type martial soul or skills, the soul bone's boost made Oscar's strength and attack power almost reach Soul Emperor level. For the 29th level Dai Mubai, taking Oscar's full punch was devastating.
He was sent flying, crashed to the ground, and passed out instantly feeling as though he had been hit by a carriage. He didn't even know how Oscar had attacked him.
If he hadn't been using his first soul skill, Oscar's punch might have left him paralyzed.
Of course, Oscar had held back at most, Dai Mubai would be bedridden for a few days.
Hearing Dai Mubai's pained cry, Ma Hongjun's flames surged again, evaporating the mist in an instant. He then spotted Dai Mubai lying unconscious a short distance in front of Oscar.
Ma Hongjun shook his head helplessly he had clearly underestimated his boss's strength.
Still, even if the boss was frightening, Ma Hongjun wasn't weak either. Over the past year, his physique had reached the level of a Soul Ancestor, and at level 35, his body was at least comparable to a level 45 Soul Ancestor.
With his top tier attack type beast martial soul the Evil Fire Phoenix he truly wanted to challenge his boss.
In fact, Dai Mubai's presence didn't really matter. For Ma Hongjun, Dai Mubai's current strength was just barely not a hindrance.
After all, both Oscar and Ma Hongjun could now unleash power far beyond their level.
A level 29 Dai Mubai had no business participating in a battle between them unless he broke through to level 30 and obtained his third soul ring, in which case he might barely qualify.
Ma Hongjun now stared at Oscar with full vigilance. Oscar's ice and fire sword skills had truly surprised him after all, having two opposing attributes in one person was already shocking enough.
And it wasn't just Ma Hongjun who was surprised Zhao Wuji was too. Like Ma Hongjun, his understanding of Oscar was based on a year old impression, and he had no idea about the progress Oscar had made while training under Dugu Bo.
Now, seeing Oscar wield two opposing attributes so skillfully and with such terrifying power left Zhao Wuji deeply shaken.
Everyone knew that ice and fire could not coexist in the same person.
But Oscar was an exception. After absorbing the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Infernal Delicate Apricot, his martial soul gained immunity to both ice and fire. His external soul bone even possessed extreme ice and extreme heat attributes.
While not yet at the absolute peak, they were still high level attributes and having fully fused with his soul bone, Oscar had complete mastery over them.
Not only could he freely switch between ice and fire, he could also combine them for even more terrifying attacks.
Glancing at the unconscious Dai Mubai, Oscar slid over, hooked his foot under him, and kicked him toward Zhao Wuji.
At the same time, he tossed Zhao Wuji a sausage his stored first soul skill, the Super Recovery Big Sausage.
Zhao Wuji caught both Dai Mubai and the sausage, laid Dai Mubai on the ground, and shoved the sausage into his mouth. Oscar's food type soul skills melted instantly upon entering the mouth, converting into pure soul power that quickly took effect.
After eating the sausage, Dai Mubai's complexion improved noticeably. Meanwhile, on the battle stage, Oscar and Ma Hongjun had already clashed again.
Ma Hongjun dove toward Oscar, his right hand turning into a blazing claw. The flames gathered into a crimson fireball not large, but full of destructive power.
"Flame Phoenix Phoenix Burst!"
With a low shout, Ma Hongjun flapped his wings, and the burst of flames propelled his speed far beyond that of soul masters of his level.
This explosive burst was something ordinary soul masters couldn't match. Not only could Ma Hongjun fly now, but he could also use his control over his martial soul and flames to achieve speeds no peer could rival.
Oscar, however, wasn't afraid of the assault otherwise, he would have already used his third soul skill to fly. His confidence in his own strength kept him grounded.
The jade sword in his hand, originally crimson, now gained two more colors. With a sky blue base, red and blue interwove upon it.
Cutting, ice, and fire three attributes combined into one. This was the strongest form of Oscar's external soul bone, and also the most soul power consuming. But in return, it offered terrifying offensive power.
With his left hand gripping the sword, Oscar swung twice. The red and blue sword energy fused together, forming what seemed like a red and blue sword dragon.
"Sword Momentum Ice and Fire Dual Heaven!"
The perfect fusion of ice and fire, merged with Oscar's sword momentum, instantly locked Ma Hongjun in its killing intent.
Sensing this terrifying aura, Ma Hongjun knew his attack might not match Oscar's.
Without hesitation, he used his second soul skill, Bathing Fire Phoenix, which increased his flame power by 50%.
This meant his attack power shot up by 50%, and combined with the Phoenix Burst a concentrated, explosive flame strike the total boost was far more than just additive.
When Ma Hongjun's fireball collided with Oscar's ice and fire sword dragon, a deafening explosion erupted.
A wave of force swept out, lifting Dugu Yan's long hair beside Zhao Wuji in the air, making her look stunning in her green dress though neither Oscar nor Ma Hongjun had the mind to notice.
After the clash, Ma Hongjun's body was flung backward, blood spraying from his mouth. The backlash from the explosion had struck him hard.
Since he wasn't holding a sword, the recoil was transmitted directly into his body, leaving him in pain.