Chapter 65 – The Song of the Adarna
The final bell tolled, and the air in the stadium became a pressurized vacuum. Before the referee could even finish the countdown, the Shrek team initiated their desperate gambit.
"Formation!" Tang San roared.
The Shrek Six, Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, Oscar, Ning Rongrong, Tai Long, and Jiang Zhu, formed a star around Tang San. Through the Distraction Heart Control, Tang San didn't just coordinate them, he acted as a siphon.
(The audience is horrified and fascinated as Tang San begins to glow with an unstable, white hot energy.) His veins bulged, glowing a sickly cerulean through his skin. Tai Long, kneeling at the rear, pushed his soul power so hard his muscles began to tear. "For the Young Master!" he grunted, his loyalty blinding him to the fact that Tang San was literally consuming his vitality.
One by one, the toll was taken. Oscar and Jiang Zhu, possessing the weakest physiques, collapsed first, their faces ghostly pale as their dantians were drained dry. Ning Rongrong and Ma Hongjun followed, slumped on their knees, barely conscious. Only Dai Mubai and Tai Long remained upright, trembling, as the last of their energy flowed into Tang San.
On the opposite side, the Martial Soul Hall team stood ready. Consisting of Lakan, Shui Bing'er, Zhu Zhuqing, Hu Liena, Xie Yue, Yan and an extra.
Shui Bing'er and Zhu Zhuqing prepared to intercept, but Lakan raised a single hand.
"Stay back," Lakan commanded. His voice wasn't loud, but it cut through the roaring wind of Tang San's energy vortex. "He has spent his life stealing techniques and draining his friends. Let him reach his peak. I want the world to see what his best truly looks like."
Lakan doesn't stop the ritual. He allows Tang San to reach his peak. He stood with his hands inside the pockets of his pants, his white and gold robes fluttering slightly. To the spectators, it looked like a suicide mission. To Bibi Dong on the throne, it was the ultimate display of her Holy Son's absolute confidence.
••••••••••
Tang San let out a primal scream. In his left hand, the Clear Sky Hammer materialized, but it was no longer black. It was a blinding, pulsating white, engorged by the combined soul power of seven people.
"Clear Sky Hammer: Great Sumeru Strike!"
Tang San leaped into the air, the sheer weight of his hammer cracking the reinforced stone of the arena floor just from the pressure. He swung the hammer downward, a strike intended to shatter Lakan, the ring, and the very pride of the Martial Soul Hall.
Lakan counters it not with a skill, but by finally revealing his Martial Soul, Ibong Adarna in its full, majestic glory.
Lakan's eyes snapped open, turning a brilliant, iridescent silver. Behind him, the space fractured. A bird of impossible beauty emerged, its feathers shifted through seven divine colors, trailing glitter like stardust. Its tail was a river of light, and its eyes held the wisdom of a thousand suns.
A Bloodline Suppression hit the stadium like a physical tidal wave. Ma Hongjun, even in his exhausted state, felt his Evil Fire Phoenix whimper and retreat into his soul. Every beast type soul master in the stands, from the strongest Douluo to the weakest student, found themselves instinctively bowing their heads. It wasn't fear; it was the biological recognition of a God-Level King.
"T-t-this...."
"It must be a God Level Martial Soul"
"God Level Martial Soul?!"
"So the rumors are true after all"
"The Holy Son has actually a god level Martial soul"
•••••••••••••
As the white-hot hammer reached within an inch of Lakan's head, the Ibong Adarna opened its beak. It didn't roar. It sang a single, crystalline note.
"Clang—"
The Divine Note met the hammer. The sound was so pure it was terrifying. In an instant, the white-hot energy Tang San had spent his friends lives to gather was neutralized. The momentum of the Great Sumeru Strike didn't just stop, it dissolved. The massive hammer shattered into thousands of harmless sparks, and the recoil sent Tang San spiraling backward, his clothes shredded and his internal channels in disarray.
Lakan stood unmoved, his hands still in his pants pockets. The Adarna hovered behind him, its wings casting a rainbow glow over the entire arena.
"Is that it?" Lakan asked, his voice filled with a bored, confident wit. "All that drama, all that Seven in One sacrifice... just for a hammer that breaks against a song? You're not a monster, Tang San. You're just a very loud ant."
••••••••••
In the shadows of the crowd, the Slaughter King felt his own blood boil. The suppression from the Adarna was so strong it even irritated his distorted soul.
"The Phoenix has sung," the King whispered, his eyes fixed on the exhausted Xiao Wu, who was running toward the fallen Tang San. "The light is at its brightest... which means the shadows can finally move."
He looked at Bibi Dong, who was standing up from her throne, her eyes fixed on the rabbit girl. The moment of negotiation, and chaos is seconds away.