In the pavilion, Flender and the others watched Oscar and Ma Hongjun with looks of satisfaction. Though Shrek Academy only accepted geniuses, over the years, Oscar was the student they were most pleased with.
Due to the influence of proximity, Oscar had also pulled Ma Hongjun along with him. Though one was only eight and the other six, the aura they exuded made the teachers feel as if these two children were already in their teens.
Zhao Wuji saw that both had already released their Martial Souls and called out again,
"Match… begin!"
The moment Zhao Wuji finished speaking, Ma Hongjun acted even faster than Oscar. Soul power surged across his body, and then flames erupted propelling him five meters forward.
There had originally been a ten-meter gap between them. Now that Ma Hongjun had closed five meters, only five remained.
At that moment, his yellow first soul ring lit up just as he was being propelled forward.
Ma Hongjun, now five meters from Oscar, spat out a ten-meter-long fire serpenthis first soul skill: Phoenix Fire Line.
But while the speed and explosiveness of Ma Hongjun's attack was impressive, Oscar knew him too wellthis move that used explosive flame propulsion for burst movement was something Oscar himself had taught him.
As Ma Hongjun dashed forward, Oscar realizing it was too late to retreat immediately dodged laterally, the only way to avoid a direct hit from the Phoenix Fire Line.
Though Oscar had a soul power level of 22, he couldn't take Ma Hongjun's flame attack head-on. Soul power levels aside, Oscar had no fire resistance, and Ma Hongjun's flames were infectious Evil Flamesonce touched, they were almost impossible to extinguish.
The Phoenix Fire Line blasted into Oscar's previous position, but Oscar had already moved two meters sideways. Ma Hongjun pursued with his flame, trying to track him.
But thanks to those two meters of reaction time, Oscar powered his legs and leapt backward three meters, narrowly dodging the flame's sweeping arc.
While Ma Hongjun's attack had strong burst power, range was his limitation his first soul skill only covered ten meters.
However, Ma Hongjun was no longer the flustered boy he once was. Seeing that Oscar had barely dodged, he instantly canceled his first soul skill, reignited the flames around him, and dashed forward again for follow-up attacks.
Just then, Oscar's right-hand soul tool flashed, and a staff as tall as himself appeared and swung toward Ma Hongjun.
Ma Hongjun smiled faintly and concentrated soul power into his right hand, forming a claw enveloped in Evil Flames, and lunged at the incoming iron staff.
"Flame Claw!" he shouted, face full of confidence.
This was the move Flender had helped Ma Hongjun develop over the past month, based on a method Oscar had mentioned earlier.
By compressing Evil Flame into a claw shape, the attack concentrated all power into a single-point burst, affixed to both hands functioning as a close-range soul skill.
This could be considered a self-created soul technique.
Ma Hongjun's claw collided with the iron staff and shattered it instantly, continuing toward Oscar's face with undiminished momentum.
Oscar was genuinely surprised. Though the staff wasn't a Martial Soul, it was still made of ironand Ma Hongjun, at only level 14, had enough explosive power to crush it.
Even more impressive: Ma Hongjun had only recently learned this move. When Oscar left a month ago, he hadn't learned it yetso achieving such output now was worthy of genius praise.
But just as Ma Hongjun was feeling proud, he was suddenly stunned.
Oscar tossed the shattered iron staff aside, and with a flash of azure light in his left hand, a 1.2-meter-long cyan jade sword appearedslashing directly at the Flame Claw.
Though startled, Ma Hongjun didn't retreat. Instead, he increased his output, driving even more Evil Flame into his attack.
"Clang!"
The jade sword struck the Flame Claw with a sharp metallic ring. As a soul tool, the Sky Blue Spirit Jade Sword was already comparable to the Martial Souls of soul masters of the same level. Its cutting properties further enhanced its powernearly severing Ma Hongjun's right hand.
The soul power and Evil Flame of the Flame Claw dispersed rapidly, and only Ma Hongjun's brute strength had prevented his hand from being cut off entirely.
"Ahhh!" Ma Hongjun cried out in pain. "Oscar, what kind of soul skill is that?! You actually broke my Flame Claw!"
Panting heavily, Ma Hongjun looked at Oscar standing before him, holding the azure jade sword.
The Flame Claw had already drained his soul powerhe had no strength left to continue. He conceded defeat.
Oscar smiled faintly. "Not bad. But still a little lacking compared to me."
Ma Hongjun gave a helpless look, but his respect deepened. It wasn't just the cool line it was the fact that Oscar had broken his Flame Claw with one strike.
In the pavilion, Flender and the others were all shocked and delighted.
Flender was delighted. Zhao Wuji had only told them to come watch a matchhe hadn't mentioned Oscar's external soul bone.
Now that they saw it in action, how could they not be astonished?
They had seen Ma Hongjun's progress over the past month. For Oscar to one-shot counter his attack showed a level far beyond his peers.
The most scholarly among them, Lu Qibin, couldn't help but praise:
"Oscar's luck is excellent this external soul bone's power has likely already reached the level of an assault-type soul master's weapon at the same level."
Hearing this, both Li Yusong and Shao Xin were shocked, and Flender affirmed Lu Qibin's insight.
At that moment, Oscar calmly retracted his Sky Blue Spirit Jade Sword, and gently said to the seated Ma Hongjun:
"Hongjun, your progress this month has been impressive. But don't slack offyou still need to keep working hard."
Zhao Wuji smiled at the remark but said nothing morethe match was clearly over.
Ma Hongjun nodded seriously, "Oscar bro, I will!"
Then he asked, "But what was that sword, Oscar bro? I didn't even see you use a soul skill."
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