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The twin sisters Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo, possessing the Body Martial Soul of hair, naturally witnessed Gu La's unmatched presence amidst the chaos.
They were well aware of their own limitations and dared not provoke this formidable figure. Shifting their gaze, they targeted Huo Yuhao's seven-member team, who were huddled together for self-preservation and relatively "weaker" in strength.
"Heavenly Net!"
The sisters, sharing a telepathic bond, instantly activated their martial soul fusion skill.
Countless resilient blue strands of hair surged forward like living vines, overwhelming Huo Yuhao's team in an attempt to divide the battlefield and eliminate one or two members, allowing the sisters to take their place.
However, they had miscalculated.
They were facing Huo Yuhao's team, equipped with the divine skill of shared spiritual detection, and Xu Sanshi, whose defense was unrivaled in the outer court.
Under Huo Yuhao's millisecond-precise spiritual guidance, Xu Sanshi instantly identified the weak points in the hair attack.
He let out a low roar, forcefully thrusting his Xuanming Turtle Shield upwards. The third soul ring shone brightly—Xuanming Power!
Thick black water-like light flowed across the shield, enhancing its defense to the extreme.
"Zzzt! Zzzt! Zzzt!"
The resilient strands struck the turtle shield, emitting a teeth-grinding friction sound, yet unable to penetrate the solid water-light defense.
Xu Sanshi braced against the pressure of the Heavenly Net, his body sinking slightly before stabilizing his stance.
"Perfect opportunity!"
A flash of electricity lit up in Bei Bei's eyes. Seizing the moment when the opponent's attack faltered, old force spent and new force yet to emerge, his second soul ring brightly shone—Myriad Great Thunder!
Violent blue lightning erupted from Bei Bei's palm like an angry dragon, precisely bypassing Xu Sanshi's shield, fiercely striking the Lan sisters, who temporarily lost their agility due to the martial soul fusion skill.
"Ahh!"
The sisters screamed, their bodies paralyzed by the lightning, their hair martial souls instantly wilting. They flew backward, smoking, directly out of the combat platform range.
Meanwhile, Gu La's "clearing" efficiency reached its peak.
He moved as if strolling through a garden; each seemingly casual wave or step sent one or several students flying off the field with invisible force or precise sword qi.
Wherever he passed, chaos swiftly subsided, leaving only fallen figures behind.
In just moments, on the vast combat platform, apart from Gu La, only Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, He Caitou, and Jiang Nannan remained.
Seven against one!
Yet, Huo Yuhao's team felt no sense of security from their numerical advantage.
An almost suffocating heavy pressure permeated the air, emanating from Gu La, who stood calmly at the center of the arena, holding a flaming longsword.
Among the seven, Huo Yuhao had just broken through to the second ring thanks to Ice Emperor's sacrifice. Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao were nearing the third ring. Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, He Caitou, and Jiang Nannan were all solid three-ring Soul Elders.
Such a lineup could easily sweep any peer-level team in the outer court. But facing Gu La alone, they felt as if standing on the edge of an abyss, beads of cold sweat forming on their foreheads.
This crucial opportunity related to future tournament qualifications; no one would easily concede defeat.
Gu La's gaze swept over the seven, finally settling on Huo Yuhao. A sudden spark of inspiration flashed in his mind.
After becoming a core disciple last semester, he had perused the swordsmanship notes stored in Shrek Academy, gaining some insights, but still far from achieving the "Sword God" realm he pursued.
True breakthroughs often required life-and-death battles or extreme pressure.
At this moment, an excellent "whetstone" stood before him—Huo Yuhao's million-year soul ring granting shared spiritual detection.
Under such near-prescient insight, would the flaws in his deliberately restrained sword techniques be infinitely magnified?
Others might not instantly seize the flaws and counterattack, but Gu La had absolute confidence in his true cultivation level and reaction speed.
He believed that even if flaws were discovered, he could correct them at the last moment, gaining profound insights.
With his decision made, the longsword condensed from Ultimate Fire quietly dissipated in Gu La's hand. With a thought, he retrieved a prepared, unenhanced fifth-level soul-guided longsword from his storage device.
"Hmm?"
On the high platform, Xuan Zi saw Gu La retract his powerful Ultimate Fire martial soul and instead draw a soul-guided longsword. His brows immediately furrowed.
To him, this was akin to abandoning the essence for trivial pursuits, neglecting proper practice. He suppressed the urge to scold immediately, deciding to "educate" this boy thoroughly after the match.
However, in Huo Yuhao's spiritual detection view, putting away his martial soul did not make Gu La any less dangerous; instead, he became even more perilous!
His fierce, unparalleled aura did not weaken but grew purer and more restrained, like a divine sword that had concealed all brilliance, waiting to unsheathe and drink blood.
Intangible sword intent spread, making Huo Yuhao's skin tingle subtly.
"Everyone be careful, he's coming!"
Huo Yuhao's voice carried a barely detectable tremor, conveyed to every teammate through shared spiritual awareness.
Before the words faded, Gu La moved like thunder, his soul power bursting from his feet. His body turned into a blurred afterimage, charging directly towards the defensive circle formed by the seven.
His longsword swung casually, releasing three condensed sword qi cutting through the air, targeting the foremost Xu Sanshi.
"Xuanming Shock!"
Xu Sanshi dared not slack, his first soul ring lighting up. The Xuanming Turtle Shield slammed into the ground, spreading a black ripple with strong oscillation and repulsion, attempting to knock Gu La back.
But Gu La seemed to have anticipated this. At the moment Xu Sanshi's shield hit the ground, he lightly tapped his toes, leaping like a hawk, effortlessly avoiding the oscillation wave.
"Myriad Great Thunder!"
Bei Bei's coordination was impeccable. As Gu La leaped, his second soul skill activated.
A net woven from violent blue lightning accurately enveloped Gu La's airborne form, leaving him nowhere to exert force.
Simultaneously, Jiang Nannan shouted sharply, "Gravity Control!"
Her second soul ring shone brightly, instantly applying a powerful gravity to Gu La, intending to drag him down from the air and restrict his movement.
This familiar gravitational suppression brought a playful smile to Gu La's lips.
Mid-air, facing dual attacks, his longsword lifted in a mysterious trajectory.
This sword strike, plain and ordinary, bore no soul power brilliance, no earth-shattering momentum, just a cold blade slicing through the air!
"Swish—!"
An unbelievable scene unfolded. The seemingly indestructible lightning grid was torn apart by this simple sword strike, like a hot knife through butter.
"What?!" Bei Bei's pupils contracted, his face filled with horror.
In the instant everyone's minds shook from the shattered grid, a searing beam suddenly shot from the side without warning.
It was He Caitou's Rank Four soul-guided ray!
Guided by Huo Yuhao's shared spiritual awareness, his timing was impeccable. It was precisely when Gu La's old force had dissipated, new force yet to emerge, and his body was being pulled down by gravity—a strike almost impossible to miss.
Unfortunately, they were facing Gu La.
Unable to use soul power, even his physical prowess was suppressed to a "normal" level, allowing him to feel the long-absent pressure.
This pressure, however, only made his longsword seem sharper, his mind clearer!
"Clang—!"
A sharp sword cry suddenly rang out. Gu La flicked his wrist, the longsword tracing an unpredictable trajectory, arriving late yet striking first, precisely hitting the path of the blazing soul-guided ray.
Under He Caitou and Huo Yuhao's shocked gaze, the fourth-level soul-guided ray, capable of piercing steel, burst like a punctured bubble, "Pop," its energy instantly dissipating into particles of light in the air.
"Impossible!" He Caitou exclaimed involuntarily.
Nothing was impossible! The Tool Spirit surpassed the Beast Spirit, and the soul power difference occupied an absolute position.
Gu La broke through the ray, landing smoothly, moving like a ghost directly into the seven-member formation.
One against seven, swords flashing!
His sword techniques were supremely exquisite, sometimes heavy like a mountain pressing down, sometimes swift like a meteor chasing the moon, sometimes ethereal like celestial clouds.
Each sword pointed at the weak spots in the seven's coordination, gaps in their defense, or intervals in soul power transitions, forcing the seven into a flurry, having to frequently activate soul skills and martial souls to respond.
What frustrated them even more was that their soul skill attacks, whether Bei Bei's Thunder Dragon Claw, Xu Sanshi's Xuanming Shield Strike, or Wang Dong's Butterfly Wing Guillotine, often when contacting Gu La's seemingly ordinary soul-guided longsword, were deflected, pierced, or redirected by his supremely refined sword techniques, greatly diminishing their effectiveness.
Huo Yuhao watched anxiously, realizing that continuing like this, their defeat was inevitable.
Clenching his teeth, his eyes glowed emerald green. The aura of the Ice Emperor Scorpion martial soul erupted, freezing cold instantly spreading.
Around him on the platform, thick ice layers rapidly formed—using the extreme cold to significantly slow Gu La's speed.
"Ultimate Ice, finally unleashed," Xuan Zi's eyes gleamed, watching intently.
However, facing the encroaching ice and biting cold, Gu La still showed no intention of unleashing his Ultimate Fire martial soul.
His figure on the smooth ice surface didn't become sluggish; instead, utilizing the reflective ice and his agile footwork, he became even more elusive and unpredictable.
As his feet slid, there was a subtle hint of a different, free-flying sky-bound realm, distinct from the earth and stars.
This was the initial comprehension of the sky realm he briefly severed from the earth under pressure, now showing signs of integration with the icy surface and extreme cold stimulation.
Seeing Gu La move effortlessly on the ice, his sword strikes growing fiercer, the seven were in dire straits. A resolute flash crossed Huo Yuhao's eyes.
"Wang Dong!" he barked, abruptly turning and embracing Wang Dong beside him.
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