Several days later, Su Cheng once again stood on the arena stage.
Although he had not participated in any more matches after their battle against Godwind Academy, Heaven Dou Imperial Academy's second team had still performed quite well with Ning Rongrong's support. They had not lost a single match during that period.
In truth, this was perfectly normal.
Not every academy team possessed Soul Ancestor-level combat strength.
Ning Rongrong's Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda provided exceptionally powerful support. With the enhancement of her auxiliary soul skills, the other members of the team could display strength close to that of Soul Ancestors.
As long as they did not encounter one of the exceptionally powerful Elemental Academies, Heaven Dou Imperial Academy's second team could by no means be considered weak.
But today, their opponent was Tianshui Academy.
On the opposite side of the arena stood seven young women, all dressed in blue uniforms.
The girl leading them had shoulder-length, water-blue hair, delicate features, and fair skin. There was a hazy, tranquil beauty about her, like the depths of a secluded pool.
"Heaven Dou Imperial Academy Team, Su Cheng, Rank 54 Power Attack System Battle Soul Master."
"Tianshui Academy Team, Shui Bing'er, Rank 43 Control System Battle Soul Master."
"Both sides, prepare yourselves. You may release your martial souls."
At the referee's command, both teams arranged themselves into formation and simultaneously summoned their martial souls.
Tianshui Academy was quite powerful, with three Soul Ancestors among their members.
Three Power Attack System Battle Soul Masters stood at the front.
Shui Bing'er occupied the center, with two Agility Attack System Soul Masters positioned on either side of her.
At the very rear stood a pale-faced girl with long black hair. She was most likely their auxiliary-type Soul Master.
Aside from captain Shui Bing'er, one of the Power Attack System Soul Masters and the auxiliary Soul Master at the back were also Soul Ancestors.
Su Cheng's side used almost the exact same formation as before.
Su Cheng stood alone at the front, while everyone else retreated toward the edge of the arena.
Seeing this familiar sight, Shui Bing'er's expression barely changed.
Obviously, this had already become Su Cheng's team's usual strategy, and the other teams had long since grown accustomed to it.
Or rather, even if they weren't accustomed to it, there was nothing they could do.
After all, he won every single time.
Su Cheng had already seen the martial souls of the other Tianshui Academy members during previous matches, so he knew what to expect.
Only Shui Bing'er was different.
Her entire body was enveloped in a magnificent yet hazy blue radiance. Behind her floated the projection of a martial soul that radiated powerful energy fluctuations.
Of course, the true nature of this mysterious martial soul could not escape Su Cheng's eyes.
It was an Ice Phoenix.
However, now that he was observing it up close, it did not feel much different from when he had watched it from afar.
There seemed to be nothing particularly special about it.
The referee gave the signal.
The match began instantly.
The other members of Heaven Dou Imperial Academy's team immediately leapt off the arena, leaving Su Cheng alone.
The Five Elements Domain unfolded.
His third soul ring lit up.
The Longevity Sword in his hand split into seven sword shadows once again.
Five of them shot toward Tianshui Academy's primary attackers, intercepting them individually, while the remaining two floated protectively beside Su Cheng.
Only Shui Bing'er, the Control System Soul Master, and the auxiliary Soul Master at the very rear were left untouched by the sword blades.
At that moment, Shui Bing'er's first soul ring lit up.
An icy-blue light flashed.
First Soul Skill—Ice Seal.
Although this instant-cast control skill was merely a first soul ring ability and its effect was simple and direct, it was extremely powerful.
Its control effect was excellent, and because it activated instantly, it was exceptionally difficult to guard against.
Most of Tianshui Academy's previous consecutive victories had relied heavily on Shui Bing'er's powerful battlefield control.
Unfortunately, such a skill was obviously ineffective against Su Cheng.
He did not even move.
The two swords beside him showed no reaction either.
Instead, a barrier of sword qi spontaneously formed around his body.
The sword qi froze and shattered moments later, scattering into icy mist.
Su Cheng himself remained completely unharmed.
The sight left Shui Bing'er stunned for a moment.
Clearly, she had not expected something like this to happen.
Her expression became even more solemn as her second soul ring lit up.
Five rings of ice appeared, surrounding Tianshui Academy's three Power Attack System Soul Masters and two Agility Attack System Soul Masters.
A layer of crystalline blue armor instantly formed over the bodies of the five Soul Masters.
With the three Power Attack System members exerting their strength simultaneously, those who had previously been suppressed by Su Cheng's sword blades finally gained a moment to breathe.
Su Cheng thought for a moment and temporarily refrained from increasing the strength of his sword techniques.
He wanted to see what else the opposing team had prepared.
"Xue Wu, begin."
As Shui Bing'er spoke, she quickly applied her second soul skill to herself as well.
A layer of frost armor immediately covered her body.
At the same time, one of the female Power Attack System Soul Masters charging toward Su Cheng from the side raised her arm.
Blue light erupted around her.
Her first soul ring lit up, and the few scales that had previously appeared on her face rapidly spread across her entire body.
Immediately afterward, her second soul ring also illuminated.
A massive surge of blue light rose from her chest and slammed into the longsword blocking her path.
Su Cheng merely glanced at it before losing interest.
Although it was an enhancement-type skill, it was simple and straightforward.
Nothing particularly impressive.
His attention was instead focused on the auxiliary Soul Master standing at the very rear of Tianshui Academy's formation.
The black-haired girl named Xue Wu had begun to dance in place.
Her black hair fluttered as she moved gracefully.
The four soul rings around her body alternated in brightness, and circles of blue light spread outward with every movement of her dance.
Soon afterward, a dark cloud suddenly appeared directly above the arena, perfectly covering the entire battlefield.
Then raindrops the size of beans began falling from the sky.
Within moments, they transformed into a vast curtain of water pouring downward.
Su Cheng narrowed his eyes slightly and nodded.
"Interesting."
Not only was the soul skill interesting, but the girl's martial soul itself was also quite distinctive.
Seeing Xue Wu begin activating her technique, the other members of Tianshui Academy stopped trying to break through the swords restraining them.
Instead, they held their ground against the blades while watching Su Cheng vigilantly, guarding against a sudden attack or an attempt to interrupt their teammate's technique.
But Su Cheng clearly had no intention of doing so.
He simply stood where he was and waited for their next move.
Then Shui Bing'er moved.
She rapidly retreated toward Xue Wu, who was still dancing gracefully.
The remaining members immediately gathered together, positioning themselves in front of the two girls.
"It's a martial soul fusion skill!"
Many spectators immediately noticed what Shui Bing'er and Xue Wu were doing and turned their attention toward this arena.
This was the first genuine martial soul fusion skill to appear in the entire competition.
Blue hair and black hair instantly seemed to merge together.
A dazzling pillar of blue-white light erupted upward and shot into the dark clouds overhead.
Shui Bing'er and Xue Wu's bodies disappeared at the same time.
The next moment, the icy rain falling from the sky changed.
It transformed into countless drifting snowflakes.
Each snowflake was as sharp as a blade, spinning as it descended.
As they fell, the snowflakes gathered into an enormous vortex of ice and snow that swept toward Su Cheng.
In the VIP stands, Emperor Xue Ye looked slightly worried.
He turned toward Ning Fengzhi and whispered,
"Clan Master Ning, Tianshui Academy actually possesses a martial soul fusion skill. And from the looks of it, this technique is extremely powerful."
"Your Majesty need not worry."
Ning Fengzhi remained calm and showed no concern whatsoever.
"They cannot defeat Su Cheng."
On Shrek Academy's side, Tang San stared unblinkingly at the battle taking place in the arena.
His emotions were complicated.
Just yesterday, Yu Xiaogang had returned with good news.
Soon, Tang San would be able to begin attempting to cultivate his Clear Sky Hammer.
He was already only a small step away from reaching the Soul Ancestor realm.
Once he reached Rank 40 and began focusing on the Clear Sky Hammer, he could try attaching soul rings to it.
Perhaps he could even attempt a ten-thousand-year soul ring.
Tang San firmly believed that once that happened, with the immense power of the world's number one tool martial soul, this tournament would no longer be Su Cheng's personal stage.
Nearby, Dai Mubai stared unwillingly toward Tianshui Academy.
He should have possessed the same opportunity as Shui Bing'er—to display a powerful martial soul fusion skill before the entire world and reveal the might of the Netherworld White Tiger.
Yet even now, Zhu Zhuqing had never once attempted the technique with him.
Moreover, as Zhu Zhuqing's strength continued rising while he himself had made almost no progress over the past several years, even the academy's teachers were becoming reluctant to let the two of them attempt their martial soul fusion skill.
They feared it might instead slow Zhu Zhuqing's advancement.
Thinking of this, Dai Mubai glanced from the corner of his eye toward Zhu Zhuqing, who stood not far away.
He wanted to say something, but ultimately remained silent.
Zhu Zhuqing's gaze seemed distant.
She appeared to be watching the snow filling the sky.
Or perhaps she was looking at the two martial souls that had fused together.
Then again, perhaps she was looking at nothing at all, completely lost within her own thoughts.
Over at Godwind Academy's team—
Feng Xiaotian glanced at the girl beside him.
"Shui Bing'er and the others finally used this technique. Qingyu, do you think Su Cheng can handle it?"
Feng Qingyu rolled her eyes.
"Obviously."
Feng Xiaotian froze.
"Obviously he can, or obviously he can't?"
"…"
Back on the arena—
"If you can withstand this attack, we'll admit defeat."
Shui Bing'er's voice came from afar.
This martial soul fusion skill had never been used since the start of the competition.
It was their hidden trump card.
They had not even used it against the other Five Element Academies.
Yet against Su Cheng, they had finally brought it out.
They simply did not want to lose so easily to a single man.
An enormous snowstorm tornado formed, accompanied by an ear-piercing grinding and slicing sound that echoed around Su Cheng.
Then—
A resounding phoenix cry erupted from the towering pillar of blue light.
The snowflakes that had previously formed a cutting tornado suddenly scattered in every direction before gathering together once again into an entirely new form.
A gigantic Ice Phoenix more than seven meters long appeared out of thin air.
The Ice Phoenix was extraordinarily vivid, almost as though it were truly alive.
Its eyes were bright.
Its tail feathers were long and elegant.
It was breathtakingly beautiful.
The blue divine bird descended from the sky without the slightest trace of violence in its movements, trailing magnificent icy-blue light as it floated downward.
It was not moving particularly quickly.
Yet with every bit of distance it traveled, the snowflakes falling from the sky made its body increasingly solid.
"This is…"
Su Cheng froze as he stared at the magnificent Ice Phoenix before him.
The attack was extremely powerful.
Even the energy leaking from it had already reached the Soul King level.
The frontal pressure it radiated was unquestionably above the Soul Emperor level.
Yet at that moment—
Su Cheng truly became distracted.
During the previous matches, Shui Bing'er had never fully revealed her martial soul, much less used this martial soul fusion skill.
Su Cheng had always known that this world contained mysterious and powerful top-tier martial souls.
He also knew that Shui Bing'er's martial soul was called the Ice Phoenix.
But he had never paid much attention to it.
Even if it was called a phoenix, at the end of the day it was merely a type of martial soul.
Perhaps it was simply some unusually beautiful bird species that had been given an impressive name.
Just like Ma Hongjun's so-called phoenix martial soul, which was essentially a grass chicken.
But at this moment—
Su Cheng realized that he had been wrong.
The Ice Phoenix before him radiated terrifying cold, almost freezing the surrounding air solid.
Yet deep within the core origin of this Ice Phoenix, Su Cheng detected the faintest trace of something resembling—
Immortal vitality.
The level of that tiny core was extraordinarily high.
But it was also incredibly weak.
So weak that within Shui Bing'er's martial soul, it served practically no useful purpose.
It was like a speck of gold dust decorating a hundred-meter-long city wall made entirely of dirt.
The gold itself might be priceless.
But to the enormous wall, that tiny speck was meaningless.
If it had not been for the amplification provided by Xue Wu's martial soul fusion skill, combined with Su Cheng's profound research into martial souls and his cultivation of the Nirvana Scripture—
He might never have noticed it at all.
Even his shallow True Vision would not have been enough.
"Phoenix…"
A blazing golden light erupted from Su Cheng's eyes.
Golden threads flickered along the vertical mark between his brows.
Yet his hands did not move.
Even the swords floating beside him remained completely still.
The Ice Phoenix descending through the air suddenly hesitated.
Shui Bing'er's angry voice came from within the blue light.
"What are you standing there for?! Use your soul skills! I can't control it much longer!"
This martial soul fusion skill placed an enormous burden on her.
The energy condensed within the Ice Phoenix had already exceeded her ability to fully control it.
Su Cheng did not seem to hear her.
His eyes remained fixed intensely on the enormous divine bird.
The next moment—
The uncontrollable Ice Phoenix descended from the heavens.
Its tremendous energy poured down completely.
BOOM—!
In an instant, a violent torrent of freezing air surged across the arena.
Under Shui Bing'er's shocked and anxious gaze—
Su Cheng actually closed his eyes.
Then his entire figure was swallowed by the devastating attack.
This could easily be called the most destructive scene since the preliminary tournament had begun.
It was also the most terrifying.
Beneath that overwhelmingly powerful surge of energy stood Su Cheng—
Completely undefended.
Cries of alarm erupted throughout the spectator stands.
"Quick! Someone save him!"
Shui Bing'er shouted breathlessly.
She understood better than anyone just how powerful that previous attack had been.
That was an attack at the Soul Emperor level!
No matter how powerful Su Cheng was, taking such an attack completely undefended could absolutely threaten his life.
She had indeed said that they would surrender if he managed to withstand the attack.
But she certainly had not meant for Su Cheng to take the entire technique head-on with his bare body without even resisting!
Even Ning Fengzhi, who had remained completely calm moments earlier, now looked anxious.
He could not understand it.
Why hadn't Su Cheng dodged?
Even if he chose not to block it, avoiding that attack should have been easy.
Su Cheng possessed a domain at the Soul Sage level.
Tianshui Academy's martial soul fusion skill could not possibly lock onto him!
"Brother!"
Ning Rongrong, who had been watching from nearby, was startled and hurried forward.
But another figure moved even faster than she did.
A graceful green silhouette swept past like a violent gale.
Black hair fluttered through the air.
The normally cold and emotionless face was now filled completely with anxiety.
It was that Soul Ancestor from Shrek Academy.
Not far away, Feng Xiaotian and Feng Qingyu both looked puzzled.
Among the Five Element Academies, Godwind, Blazing, and Tianshui Academy had always maintained good relationships.
They therefore knew something about Shui Bing'er's martial soul fusion skill.
Given Su Cheng's strength, there should have been no reason for him to be unable to withstand it.
Feng Qingyu thought even further.
From Su Cheng's expression just now…
There had almost seemed to be anticipation hidden within it.
It was as though—
He had deliberately chosen to receive the attack.
But why?
Was there something special about that Ice Phoenix?
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(End of Chapter)