The battle began.
Zhu Ziyang's trio immediately released their martial souls. As before, four yellow soul rings appeared—yet Zhu Ziyang himself still did not reveal his martial soul.
Seeing this, Zhou Tianhe's eyes flashed with anger. He felt insulted. Letting out a furious roar, his body rapidly expanded, quickly reaching two meters in height. His clothes tore apart as his upper body swelled with muscle, brown fur covering his form. A pair of sharp fangs grew from his mouth, and his eyes enlarged to dominate half his face. Behind him, two yellow soul rings floated.
Su Li and Yang Yumeng followed closely. A pair of fox ears emerged atop Su Li's head, her eyes transformed into the alluring eyes of a spirit fox, glittering with captivating charm. She too had two yellow soul rings, though her transformation was far more subtle than Zhou Tianhe's. Yang Yumeng's martial soul, however, was unexpected—it was a three-legged, double-handled ancient bronze cauldron nearly a meter tall and wide. In the hands of the petite girl, it looked rather comical and conspicuous.
"Li, Mengmeng, stick to the plan!" Zhou Tianhe shouted. The first soul ring behind him lit up. His massive frame shimmered as the brown fur on his body turned a bright yellow, and his enormous eyes glowed with yellow soul power as he charged toward Zhu Ziyang.
First soul skill—Savage Spirit! Increases strength by fifty percent.
"Got it!" Su Li and Yang Yumeng responded and made their moves.
Just as the clash was about to ignite, over on the platform at the edge of the assessment grounds, Yan Shaozhe arrived accompanied by Du Weilun and several other outer courtyard instructors. From this vantage point, they could observe all four arenas clearly.
"Dean, that's Zhu Ziyang right there," Du Weilun said, pointing toward Arena One, where Zhu Ziyang stood with the Stillness Fate Ending Scythe in hand.
"Oh, so that's him! Hm, the light aura on him is very strong," Yan Shaozhe's gaze landed on Zhu Ziyang, a flicker of surprise on his face. "He's reached the Perfection level in martial soul control? To have such mastery at this age… truly rare."
His interest in Zhu Ziyang deepened. He could clearly tell that the boy was still holding back. That only made him more impressed. Even while hiding his full strength, Zhu Ziyang's light element affinity was incredibly rich. Perhaps he could rival his own Light Phoenix Martial Soul.
Among the teachers standing behind Yan Shaozhe was Xia Yu. Hearing the Dean's words, a radiant smile appeared on his face. The deeper the impression Zhu Ziyang made on the Dean, the happier he was. After all, Zhu Ziyang was his student.
On the field, Zhu Ziyang held the Stillness Fate Ending Scythe and calmly observed Zhou Tianhe charging at him.
"You two focus on Su Li first," he said to Jiang Nannan and Tang Ya, dragging his scythe behind him as he strode forward to meet Zhou Tianhe head-on.
As he advanced, Su Li activated her second soul ring. A charming smile spread across her face, her entire aura becoming enchanting. Her eyes shimmered pink as she locked eyes with Zhu Ziyang.
Charm!
Zhu Ziyang immediately recognized Su Li's second soul skill. 'Not good,' he thought. As expected, his consciousness momentarily blurred, and his body faltered.
Zhou Tianhe's eyes lit up with delight. He increased his speed dramatically, his second soul ring lighting up as he leapt into the air, aiming to slam down hard on Zhu Ziyang.
Jiang Nannan and Tang Ya noticed something was wrong and moved to assist—but were stopped. A large bronze cauldron suddenly appeared before them, then flipped over and trapped them underneath.
Yang Yumeng's first soul skill—Cauldron Prison. Despite being a defense-type soul master, her first soul skill was a control-type ability, capable of catching her enemies off guard in critical moments.
Zhu Ziyang now seemed to be in real danger. But what none of them expected was what happened next.
Su Li, after using Charm on Zhu Ziyang, suddenly coughed up blood. Her complexion turned deathly pale as she looked at him in horror. She had underestimated him—his spiritual power was stronger than hers!
Though her charm only slowed him for half a beat, in battle, half a beat could change everything.
Trusting Su Li completely, Zhou Tianhe had already unleashed his second soul skill. His oppressive attack was about to land. Zhu Ziyang appeared unable to react. Even the proctor was preparing to intervene to save him.
But then, Zhu Ziyang's right eye turned silver.
A strange wave swept across the battlefield.
Zhou Tianhe, falling mid-air, suddenly froze for a brief instant. Everyone else on the field slowed for just a moment—everyone but Zhu Ziyang.
Only he exploded into action.
Time Stop!
He launched forward with no hesitation, targeting Su Li. The Stillness Fate Ending Scythe glowed as he moved.
A moment later, time resumed.
Zhou Tianhe's expression turned to disbelief. Just as his attack was about to land, Zhu Ziyang had somehow escaped his range and was already charging Su Li.
Then he noticed Su Li's pale, weakened face—and it clicked.
The charm had backfired.
Panic gripped him, but he couldn't stop. His second soul skill, once released, couldn't be canceled without serious backlash. If he did, they'd lose for sure.
All he could do was pray Su Li could hold on.
"Cauldron Wall!"
A bronze wall suddenly rose in front of Su Li—Yang Yumeng, seeing the change, had rushed to support her, casting her first soul skill to try and block Zhu Ziyang's strike.
Zhu Ziyang showed no hesitation. He swung the glowing scythe.
With a flash, the golden blade shattered the bronze wall and kept going, striking Su Li.
Still weakened by backlash, Su Li had no strength to resist. She was thrown from the field and caught by the proctor before hitting the ground.
Zhu Ziyang didn't stop. He recalled the scythe and turned toward Yang Yumeng.
She hastily raised her Reversal Cauldron to block—but the scythe smashed into it with a loud metallic clang. The force rippled through the cauldron and up her arms, shaking her so badly she lost her grip. Knocked backward, she fell flat on her rear.
"Ow! That hurts! Zhu Ziyang, you big meanie! Don't you know you should go easy on girls? Ugh—so painful!" she cried as tears welled in her eyes, rubbing her bruised behind and scolding him with teary indignation.
Zhu Ziyang paid her no mind.
He turned to look for the last one—Zhou Tianhe.
But to his surprise, Zhou Tianhe had already been handled by Jiang Nannan and Tang Ya.
The moment Yang Yumeng had turned back to help Su Li, the cauldron trapping the girls had vanished. They saw the now-unguarded Zhou Tianhe and seized the opportunity.
Zhou Tianhe, crashing into the ground with a loud thud, left a crater five meters wide. As he got up, a giant Blue Silver Grass net fell over him.
Fury exploded from him as he grabbed at the vines, trying to tear them apart. But the more he struggled, the tighter they bound him.
Jiang Nannan entered the fray.
Her second soul skill activated.
She grabbed Zhou Tianhe by the waist, leapt high into the air—six or seven meters—and spun 360 degrees before slamming him down.
With that blow, Zhou Tianhe was completely incapacitated.
(End of Chapter)
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