In the blink of an eye, only Arthur and Ye Xinglan, who was tightly gripping her star god sword, remained on the field.
The stands had already erupted; spectators stood up and cheered, their shouts and cries nearly blowing the roof off the arena.
"Too strong!"
"Arthur! Arthur!" Countless people waved their arms, their eyes filled with fanaticism and excitement.
Their opponent was Shrek, after all!
Today, they were going to witness the Shrek myth being shattered with their own eyes!
Shen Yi's hands unconsciously tightened around the hem of her clothes, her pupils slightly contracting from extreme shock.
Her body even leaned forward subconsciously as she stared fixedly at that Little Yellow Hair on the arena, her breathing becoming rapid.
"This is impossible..." she muttered to herself, her voice filled with disbelief. "Setting aside the Domain from just now, his Soul Power intensity, combat techniques, and combat awareness—this simply isn't the strength a child should possess!"
"You're telling me a three-ring Spirit Elder defeated my students one by one with a single Move each?!"
Shen Yi's brow furrowed, a look of deep solemnity appearing on her face.
She turned to look at Wu Zhangkong, her tone carrying a hint of urgency: "Senior Brother, did you know he was this strong all along? This can't just be explained by being gifted; his combat experience and application of Soul Power are more seasoned than many veteran Soul Masters!"
"My students didn't lose because of Martial Soul quality or Spirit Ability at all! It was the fighting style!"
"Arthur's fighting style is entirely that of a battle between high-Rank Soul Masters."
The higher the Rank of a Soul Master, the more they break free from the limitations of Spirit Ability to form their own unique style.
Letting power become an extension of the body rather than being bound by Spirit Ability.
The most representative of this are the Titled Douluo.
Powerhouses of this level can stir the winds and clouds with every gesture; Spirit Ability is merely their weapon, not their everything.
But that requires the accumulation of time.
At the stage of Spirit Elder or Spirit Ancestor, a Soul Master is nothing without using Spirit Ability.
"And this clearly isn't his full strength!"
Wu Zhangkong turned to look at her. Usually cold and aloof, he sighed in front of his Junior Sister for the first time: "Arthur... he is a true monster."
His gaze fell back onto the arena. Arthur was tilting his head, that ahoge swaying gently in the wind. Despite having the upper hand, he wasn't in a hurry to finish it, instead "stimulating" Ye Xinglan there, humiliating her ruthlessly.
"You're right, he didn't use his full strength." Wu Zhangkong's voice remained cold, yet held a bit more complexity. "He retracted that Sword Domain extremely quickly just now, obviously afraid of making too much noise. And that sword of his—it hasn't truly revealed its edge yet. Striking Yu Henglong earlier was just a casual swing."
Shen Yi sucked in a breath of cold air, her pupils shrinking even further. "A casual swing? That was a four-ring Spirit Ancestor! Just how many battles has he... gone through to have this kind of absolute control over power?"
"Who knows." Wu Zhangkong shook his head slightly and said helplessly, "He was already like this when I met him. That terrifying combat instinct is gifted to the point of making people despair."
"It's as if anyone is full of openings before him, while he has no openings before anyone."
"To deal with him, one can only use brute force to break through his finesse."
"But Arthur will grow too. Once he grows into a towering tree, who will be able to break his finesse with force?"
On the arena, Ye Xinglan finally couldn't take Arthur's provocation any longer and swung her sword forward fiercely.
The Excalibur in Arthur's hand had already revealed its true form.
Ye Xinglan's eyes were bloodshot. Her pent-up rage finally broke through her reason, and she hissed as she lunged at Arthur with her sword. The starlight blade pierced the air with a resolute and sharp momentum.
Arthur shifted his steps slightly, dodging easily, while his holy sword collided fiercely with the star god sword.
"Clang!"
Ye Xinglan's hand went numb, and her longsword nearly flew out of her grip. She gritted her teeth and endured, swinging back with a backhand strike.
"Weak backhand."
Arthur spoke indifferently, his figure circling to her side like a Gui Mei, the wind from his sword sweeping past her wrist.
Ye Xinglan winced in pain and hurriedly countered with a forehand thrust, but her Move had already lost its order.
"Unrefined forehand."
Arthur sidestepped to avoid it, his toe lightly tapping down, landing exactly on a flaw in her footwork.
Ye Xinglan stumbled, her steps instantly becoming disorganized. In her panic, she tried to adjust her stance, but she had already left herself wide open.
"Loose footwork."
Arthur's voice carried a hint of mockery. The holy sword pressed toward her face, only to be retracted the instant before she raised her arm to block.
Ye Xinglan's pupils constricted. She hurriedly raised her hand to defend, but her movement was half a beat slow. The wind from the sword swept across her chest, leaving it numb.
"Slow reactions."
Arthur pressed on relentlessly, his sword Moves falling like a violent storm, each one precisely suppressing her actions.
Ye Xinglan struggled to resist, but she felt her whole body stiffen. Every movement appeared incredibly clumsy, making her seem like a completely different person from her usual self.
Arthur suddenly exerted force, his holy sword striking hard against the back of the star god sword.
"Clang!"
The star god sword flew out of her hand and embedded itself into the edge of the arena.
Arthur closed in, the tip of his sword stopping before the center of her brow. His voice was cold: "Your backhand is weak, your forehand is unrefined, your footwork is loose, and your reactions are slow. Not a single movement is up to par."
"Don't be so fierce in the future if you don't have the strength to back it up."
"If you had spoken nicely before, I wouldn't have minded taking a step back and apologizing. Be more careful next time."
These words were like the final straw that completely broke Ye Xinglan.
Her whole body shook as she slumped onto the ground. As she lowered her head, her eyes instantly turned red, and large teardrops rolled down, hitting the arena and splashing up tiny bits of dust.
She wanted to retort, but could only let out choked sobs, her shoulders trembling violently.
The people in the stands couldn't see clearly and were left scratching their heads.
Arthur, however, saw it clearly. He let out a surprised "Hmm?"
After hesitating for two seconds, he slowly crouched down and leaned closer to Ye Xinglan. That ahoge drooped with his movement, almost touching the top of her head.
He tilted his head, looking up at her reddened eyes from below. The mockery in his tone had long since vanished, replaced by genuine astonishment: "Are you really crying?"
This was truly unexpected. Ye Xinglan could cry too?
Hearing this, Ye Xinglan cried even louder.
Below the stage.
"Arthur isn't usually like this," Wu Zhangkong suddenly spoke, his tone a bit awkward. "He just likes to teach some ignorant brats a lesson. Maybe he went a bit overboard this time."
Hearing this, Shen Yi rolled her eyes at him: "Xinglan was always competitive to begin with. Being humiliated like this by him is indeed something she can't accept."
Then, with a flash of movement, she took Ye Xinglan away from the stage.
Only then did the referee snap out of it, quickly walking to the center of the arena. His voice spread throughout the venue via the loudspeaker: "I announce that for this exchange match, Tianhai Academy wins!"
As the words fell, the momentarily silent stands instantly erupted into thunderous cheers, even more frenzied than before.
"Arthur! Arthur!"
The shouts rose one after another. Countless people waved their arms, their gazes fixed on the figure of that Little Yellow Hair on the arena, their eyes filled with admiration and excitement.
The shock of the Shrek myth being shattered had everyone boiling with excitement.
The most excited was Long Hengxu. Elated, he hopped around regardless of his image, waving excitedly to those around him: "Arthur is from East Sea Academy!"
"He is a student of my East Sea Academy!"
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