It was at that exact moment that Huo Yuhao unleashed his spiritual assault. "Now! Second Soul Skill: Soul Shock!"
Feng Piaoling, whose attention was constantly split, sensed a mental force as sharp as a needle shooting toward him. He suddenly glared in Huo Yuhao's direction, releasing his own vast and powerful mental energy. Simultaneously, he raised his left hand, forming a sword-finger gesture as soul power condensed at his fingertips.
The fireballs that had been sent flying by Xu Sanshi's strike seemed to receive a summons. Hovering just half a foot above the ground, they spun rapidly and soared into the sky, looping around to strike the rear of Xu Sanshi's shield—his weakest point of defense.
This was the "Manipulated Fire Bullet," a technique Feng Piaoling had developed based on his first soul skill. It allowed him to convert his soul power into mental energy within his spiritual sea to precisely control the fireballs released from his fire bullet talismans. Furthermore, this technique allowed him to exert similar control over talismans created by his other soul skills. Every attack was unpredictable and nearly impossible to defend against.
Huo Yuhao's mental strength was already inferior to Feng Piaoling's. Caught off guard by a superior force, his Soul Shock was instantly extinguished by Feng Piaoling's mental pressure. Suffering from a severe spiritual backlash, Huo Yuhao's face turned deathly pale. He let out a tragic scream, blood leaking from his seven orifaces, and collapsed backward.
At the same time, without Huo Yuhao's assistance, Xu Sanshi found himself unable to evade the fireballs swarming behind him. Even with the layered protection of his three soul skills, he could only hold out for a few seconds against attacks targeting his weakest points before his defenses shattered under the painful explosions.
In that instant, Feng Piaoling's third soul ring flared. A purple-gold talisman appeared in his hand. The talisman shimmered and was instantly activated, transforming into a streak of purple light. After flying several meters, the light ball split into five purple-gold blades. At a glance, these five blades—though different in color—shared the exact same form as the claws of a five-thousand-year-old Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear.
This was Feng Piaoling's third soul skill: the Dark Gold Talisman. It could launch five sharp blades, similar to the claws of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, to attack enemies from a distance. It could also be attached to himself or a teammate, enveloping the body in metal-attribute soul power to grant the defense and strength of a five-thousand-year-old Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear. In this state, the metal-attribute soul power would form soul claws over the hands for close-quarters combat.
The form was quite similar to Naruto's Kyuubi Chakra shroud shared with the Allied Shinobi Forces during the Fourth Great Ninja War. If paired with two Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear external spirit bones, it would allow Feng Piaoling to directly exert the strength of an actual five-thousand-year-old Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear. Furthermore, like the fire bullet talismans, the power of the Dark Gold Talisman increased as his Azure Lotus Sword Technique improved. It was one of Feng Piaoling's greatest trump cards.
"No... this is bad..."
Xu Sanshi had just lost his three layers of defense to the explosions. His old strength was spent, and his new strength had yet to gather. Seeing the five claw-blades flying toward him, he instantly thought of the five-thousand-year-old Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear Beibei had mentioned. In a state of extreme terror, he could only instinctively raise his heavy shield to block with everything he had.
Had Feng Piaoling chosen to control the five blades to bypass the shield at this moment, he certainly could have taken Xu Sanshi's life. However, killing Xu Sanshi in front of so many people was obviously unrealistic. With the intent of testing the Dark Gold Talisman's power, Feng Piaoling directed the five blades to slam directly into the heavy shield.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The blades collided with the heavy shield, accompanied by deafening booms and showers of sparks as they spun at high speeds. The powerful impact force pushed Xu Sanshi back, his feet plowing furrows into the ground as he retreated. After a few seconds, the heavy shield of the Mysterious Underworld Turtle—hailed as the strongest defense in the Outer Court—shattered violently before the eyes of the crowd.
Xu Sanshi was sent flying like a kite with a broken string, coughing up blood as he careened toward the spectator stands. At the critical moment, the referee, a teacher at the Soul Saint level, intervened. He leapt into the air and caught Xu Sanshi. Even so, the teacher was pushed back several meters before he could neutralize the momentum. He marveled inwardly, Such powerful impact force.
The entire arena fell silent. Everyone stared in dazed amazement at Feng Piaoling, the only one left standing on the stage, their eyes filled with wonder.
From the start of the bet to its conclusion, less than a minute had passed. Xu Sanshi had first used his first soul skill, Mysterious Underworld Quake, to repel a staggering number of fireballs. But before his other two skills could take effect, Feng Piaoling had controlled those repelled fireballs to break through three layers of defense from behind. Finally, using his third soul skill, he had shattered Xu Sanshi's proudest defensive shield from the front.
What formidable offensive power. What superb soul power control. What incredible reaction speed. He was, quite simply, a nearly perfect genius soul master.
"So... so strong..." Tang Ya muttered, her mouth hanging open. She had even instinctively ignored Huo Yuhao, who had fainted from the spiritual backlash.
Zhu Lu and Xiao Xiao were in a similar state, their mouths agape with shock. Even the usually proud Wang Dong'er had to admit that among the younger generation, Feng Piaoling was indeed the most brilliant and extraordinary soul master she had ever seen. For a moment, her gaze toward him seemed to hold a new light.
Mu Jin could not control her excitement, crying out, "How can he be this strong?" In that moment, she felt a wave of regret—regret for making the bet with Zhou Yi. Had she known Feng Piaoling was this powerful, she wouldn't have let Zhou Yi provoke her. With a student like Feng Piaoling, she could have completely surpassed that woman who loved wearing an old lady mask in her teaching career.
A triumphant smile played on Zhou Yi's lips. In her view, Feng Piaoling's potential, talent, and strength went far beyond this. Her idol, the theoretical master Yu Xiaogang—who ten thousand years ago had trained the Sea God Tang San and the other six monsters into seven god-level powerhouses—had stated in his "Ten Core Competencies of Martial Souls" that innate soul power is directly proportional to the strength of a martial soul. The higher the innate soul power, the stronger the martial soul. If an inverse proportion appeared, there must be another, more powerful martial soul present. This was the phenomenon of Twin Martial Souls.
Feng Piaoling's first martial soul, the Talisman, was considered bottom-tier among tool martial souls. The reason it appeared so powerful was that he had absorbed soul rings far beyond his age limit. For Feng Piaoling to reach the rank of Soul Elder before the age of twelve with such a "trash" martial soul, his innate soul power must have been very high—most likely Innate Full Soul Power.
A trash martial soul appearing with Innate Full Soul Power meant that Feng Piaoling likely possessed another, far more powerful martial soul. He was a genuine possessor of Twin Martial Souls.
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