After parting ways with Ye Guyi, Xu Zihuang, under the vigilant watch of the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm, removed the Millennium Ice Silkworm Silk mask and restored his original appearance.
Mingdu was Xu Tianran's main base, and the Death God Douluo Ye Xishui and Dragon Emperor Douluo Long Xiaoyao, two extreme Douluo, were very likely within the city. He had to remain on high alert at all times.
Passing through a dark alley, Xu Zihuang soon blended into the dense flow of people and headed toward the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy.
As he walked, a barely perceptible, strange color flashed deep in his eyes.
Having just experienced the intimate and ambiguous moment with Ye Guyi, as a normal male with vitality far surpassing ordinary people, it was inevitable to have some instinctive reactions.
Especially in the past one or two years.
This was precisely the sign that, with his growing age, all aspects of his body's functions were approaching full maturity.
However, Xu Zihuang did not feel any embarrassment about it.
He was no saint and did not need to deliberately suppress himself in this regard. Everything should follow the heart. Just like today, when he and Ye Guyi broke through that layer of taboo.
…
As expected of the largest city on the continent, even though Xu Zihuang deliberately quickened his pace, it still took him more than half an hour to walk from the western district all the way to the entrance of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy.
The academy had been on holiday since yesterday. Coupled with the fact that it was already approaching midnight, there were basically no students coming in or out.
Only four middle-aged guards stood watch at the main gate.
These four were able to serve as guards for the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, so they naturally possessed a certain level of cultivation. Their soul power levels weren't high, floating around level 30.
Aside from the initial commotion caused by Wang Shaojie, Xu Zihuang had always kept a very low profile. However, out of caution, the Teaching Director Lin Jiayi had specially instructed these guards to carefully record the exact times when Yu Tianhuang left the academy. Thus, the guards all recognized Xu Zihuang and naturally did not question him.
Under the gaze of the four guards, Xu Zihuang calmly walked through the gates of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy.
And right there, he ran into two familiar faces.
One man and one woman. The woman had an extremely plain appearance, looking just like a harmless middle-aged aunt. Standing beside her was a handsome youth with a cold expression, holding a black sword forged from heavenly meteorite iron.
It was none other than Jing Ziyan and Ji Juechen.
Xu Zihuang had not encountered them by chance. Clearly, the two had been waiting here for him.
Without needing to ask their purpose, Xu Zihuang already understood.
He took out the long sword Shark Tooth and the short blade Whale Tooth from his storage soul tool. These two level-six close-combat soul tools, one long, one short, complement each other. Upon injecting soul power, they respectively bloomed with intense golden radiance and deep purple lightning.
Ever since Ji Juechen had suffered a setback against him, he would frequently seek him out for sparring, always accompanied by Jing Ziyan, who was inseparable from him.
Xu Zihuang had long grown accustomed to this.
The two were quite considerate; they never disturbed him during cultivation or when he was crafting soul tools. He did not find it troublesome at all.
Among the students under Xuan Ziwen's guidance, Wang Shaojie and Ju Zi had dropped out, leaving only him, Ke Ke, and Zimu. Over the past year, the three of them had successively entered the Illustrious Virtue Hall to study, with heavy coursework and no soul tools produced that required field testing.
Thus, during his one-and-a-half years of exchange study at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, although Xu Zihuang's soul power had steadily increased, he rarely had opportunities for real combat.
He actually welcomed their active challenges.
But today, he did not wish to linger here for too long.
Xu Zihuang raised his right hand holding the long sword Shark Tooth, pointing the tip directly at Ji Juechen and Jing Ziyan, and said indifferently, "Come at me together. I'm in a hurry today."
"Alright."
Ji Juechen's eyes suddenly lit up, and his sword intent soared. This sword fanatic's style had always been straightforward.
What he pursued was the pinnacle of sword intent, and he walked that path unwaveringly, never caring about trivial matters.
Jing Ziyan, however, felt a wave of frustration and helplessness. Her innate battle lust even surpassed Ji Juechen's. Though she had only become a class-6 soul engineer when she was nearly thirty, in terms of actual combat ability, she was absolutely among the very top of the class-6 soul engineers at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy.
Of course, this was because Ji Juechen was a student of the soul tool control department and could not be counted among soul engineers.
Before the recent return of the siblings Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, who had just become class-6 soul engineers, Jing Ziyan had been the undisputed strongest class-6 soul engineer in practical combat ability within the academy.
Yet even so, against Xu Zihuang, who was merely a Soul King, she had suffered countless defeats.
Possessing the Golden Crow martial soul and being a close-combat soul engineer just like her, Xu Zihuang restrained her in every possible way.
However, this time, joining forces with Ji Juechen, they might actually have a chance.
A spark of fighting spirit gathered in Jing Ziyan's eyes. If they could win this time, it would restore some of her confidence.
Thinking this, she remained calm on the surface and walked toward Xu Zihuang with small, smiling steps.
"Oh my, in such a rush today? Could it be that you went on a date with some girl and didn't get what you wanted, so you're all fired up now?"
Xu Zihuang silently looked up at Jing Ziyan, completely unmoved. One reason was that he understood the personality she never played by the rules.
The other was that the Ye Guyi he had just been intimate with possessed beauty and temperament that could topple nations. The contrast was simply too stark.
Even if Jing Ziyan's expression and tone were suggestive enough to stir the imagination, the moment one saw her middle-aged aunt-like face, all impure thoughts instantly vanished.
Well, in a certain sense, Jing Ziyan truly had a face that inspired abstinence.
While Jing Ziyan spoke, the distance between her and Xu Zihuang had already shortened to within thirty meters.
Suddenly, a thick purple mist erupted from her body. Two yellow, two purple, and two black soul rings, the optimal ratio of six rose from her feet almost simultaneously, with the first two century-level rings flashing.
Immediately afterward, the dense purple mist spread across dozens of meters, enveloping both Jing Ziyan and Ji Juechen.
Jing Ziyan's martial soul was a special tool martial soul called Purple Smoke, the same as her name.
Unlike most soul engineers of the Sun Moon Empire, the soul skills she attached did not simply amplify soul power; instead, she followed the path of a control-system soul master. She used her martial soul and soul skills to control the battlefield, then combined them with powerful close-combat soul tools to crush her opponents. This was her fighting style.
She and Xu Zihuang had chosen the same development route, integrating soul tools with martial souls, the path most suited to the current era.
Unfortunately, the quality of her martial soul and her cultivation talent destined her to never reach the same heights as Xu Zihuang.
Jing Ziyan's first soul skill was called Illusory Smoke. Its main effect was to obstruct the opponent's vision while also somewhat blocking perception.
Her second soul skill, Condensed Smoke, was even better; it could make the smoke thick and sticky, restricting the opponent's movements.
Both were excellent control-type soul skills. Though not as strong as single-target control skills, they excelled at affecting the surrounding environment for area control, making them extremely deceptive.
At the same time, black afterimages accompanied by piercing whistling sounds lashed toward Xu Zihuang.
It was Jing Ziyan's level-six close-combat soul tool, the Exploding Nine-Section Whip. This whip carried a special effect: upon collision, it produced high-frequency vibrations that specifically countered protective soul skills and soul tool shields.
In previous sparring sessions, Xu Zihuang would allow the two to fully display their abilities and defend leisurely to train himself. But today, lacking patience, he took the initiative to attack.
His deep purple eyes instantly turned brilliant gold, seeing through the illusions in the smoke and locking onto the trajectory of Jing Ziyan's Exploding Nine-Section Whip.
He stomped his right foot hard on the ground and actively entered the attack range of the whip. The explosive speed he displayed in that instant shocked even Jing Ziyan. This was something Xu Zihuang had never shown in their previous spars.
"Bang! Bang! Bang—"
Brilliant sparks burst within the smoke, accompanied by the clang of metal colliding. Xu Zihuang casually swung the long sword Shark Tooth in his right hand and the short blade Whale Tooth in his left, yet in Jing Ziyan's eyes, he had turned into an afterimage that was nearly impossible to track. While blocking her whip attacks, he closed in on her.
The reason Xu Zihuang could unleash such astonishing speed stemmed from his increasingly monstrous physical constitution.
Over the years, both his Thunderous Hell Prison Vine right leg bone and his external spirit bone, the Brilliant Dragon Claws, had been continuously evolving. The Thunderous Hell Prison Vine leg bone needed no further explanation—it was undoubtedly among the very top tier of spirit bones.
Although he had deliberately kept a low profile during his exchange at the academy and had not drawn heavenly lightning to temper the leg bone, it had still gradually absorbed his pure and majestic ultimate lightning soul power, silently advancing to an 80,000-year level.
In comparison, the external spirit bone, Brilliant Dragon Claws, had evolved much more slowly, only just reaching the ten-thousand-year level.
Yet the might of the Brilliant Dragon Claws was terrifying—an extremely important trump card for Xu Zihuang. However, he currently did not dare use this external spirit bone's abilities for fear of exposing his identity.
The increase in the years of these two spirit bones naturally enhanced his physical qualities. The Thunderous Hell Prison Vine leg bone greatly amplified the strength and speed of his right leg, allowing him, with his level-58 soul power, to explosively surpass the speed of many agility-attack system Soul Emperors in short bursts.
Before Jing Ziyan could react, her Exploding Nine-Section Whip was sent flying by the short blade Whale Tooth held reverse-gripped in Xu Zihuang's left hand.
But this was a two-versus-one battle. The moment Jing Ziyan fell into danger, Ji Juechen's support arrived.
At some point, Ji Juechen had appeared behind Xu Zihuang. Gripping his sword hilt with both hands, he slashed upward. His sword intent soared to its peak, as if slicing through space itself, with an extremely sharp aura raging wildly.
A dark glow flickered on the heavenly meteorite iron sword, faintly condensing into a black dragon.
Xu Zihuang responded with an extremely simple action, one straightforward thrust. The golden sword light similarly contained an intent, but it was no longer the domineering intent of ruling the world; instead, it was the sword intent he had casually comprehended through previous spars with Ji Juechen.
If Ji Juechen's sword intent was filled with unparalleled domineering arrogance, then Xu Zihuang's sword intent was the aloof pride of standing above the clouds, looking down upon all beings.
Before Shark Tooth even made contact with the heavenly meteorite iron sword, the clash had already begun. Space instantly distorted and collapsed. Cracks actually spread across the steel-reinforced floor. Golden and black radiance intertwined, growing denser and more twisted.
After a stalemate of about one second, an explosion suddenly rang out.
"BOOM—"
The floor within a fifty-meter diameter instantly caved in. Time seemed to freeze for a moment before the shattered floor turned into a rain of debris.
Xu Zihuang stood proudly. His right hand still held Shark Tooth in its thrusting posture, while the reverse-gripped Whale Tooth in his left hand pointed directly at Jing Ziyan's throat.
Jing Ziyan stood frozen in place, her Exploding Nine-Section Whip lying not far behind her. Staring at Xu Zihuang, an intense feeling of defeat surged within her.
It wasn't just because she had lost to Yu Tianhuang once again, but even more because of the method Yu Tianhuang had just displayed against Ji Juechen.
Ji Juechen, maintaining his original posture, involuntarily took several steps back. In this clash of sword intents, it appeared that Xu Zihuang had only won by a slight margin, but Jing Ziyan could tell at a glance the enormous gap between them.
Back when she and Ji Juechen had entered the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy in the same year, she had always paid close attention to him. She had personally witnessed Ji Juechen rise from an unremarkable student to become the chief of the Illustrious Virtue Hall's soul tool control department.
She knew exactly how much effort Ji Juechen had put into comprehending sword intent and reaching his current level.
Yet the Yu Tianhuang before her eyes made her once again recognize the cruel reality.
The vast chasm between ordinary soul masters like them with average martial souls and cultivation talent, and true geniuses could not be bridged simply through hard work.
They were all human, yet the difference was so immense. Some people trained bitterly for decades yet could not achieve what others grasped in a single moment of insight.
"I lost."
Ji Juechen's face was somewhat pale, but when he raised his head to look at Xu Zihuang, his eyes were filled with frankness and burning passion.
"Your sword intent is very strong."
"But this is not my path," Xu Zihuang replied indifferently, then sheathed Shark Tooth and Whale Tooth and left.
There was nothing worth boasting about, for he had never considered Ji Juechen an opponent on the same level as himself.
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