In Spirit Hall's exclusive training field, Wu Ling's battle against the three people opposite him had already reached its most intense stage.
At the center of the field, a tall man gripped an earth-yellow staff. That was his Martial Soul, the Mountain-Breaking Staff. The yellow, yellow, purple, purple Spirit Rings wrapped around it proved that he was a four-ring Spirit Meister.
"Third Spirit Skill: Force to Shatter a Thousand Loads!"
The staff in the tall man's hands suddenly grew twice as thick and twice as large, then smashed down toward Wu Ling with all his strength.
Facing a staff strengthened by a thousand-year Spirit Skill, Wu Ling did not so much as furrow his brow. His calm gaze remained focused on the woman standing at the back.
The tall man felt something wrong with the impact beneath his staff and immediately shouted, "Rufus, careful!"
The man named Rufus was thin and small. After hearing the warning, his hands had already turned into a pair of sickles, and a pair of translucent wings had grown from his back.
His Martial Soul seemed to be some kind of mantis-type Beast Martial Soul. The white, yellow, purple, purple Spirit Rings on him also proved he was a Spirit Meister.
Even against a Spirit Meister, Wu Ling still swung his blade without hesitation.
As the two clashed, sickles and long sword exchanged blows back and forth. But before even three to five exchanges had passed, and before the tall man could arrive, Wu Ling found a flaw in Rufus's defense and broke through.
At that moment, the woman at the rear revealed her Martial Soul. It was a glazed bottle, or more simply, a glass cup. She also had four Spirit Rings. She had reacted the moment the tall man gave his warning, and now that Rufus had fallen into danger, she immediately released her Spirit Skills.
"Second Spirit Skill: Glazed Armor!
"Third Spirit Skill: Glazed Heart!
"Fourth Spirit Skill: Glazed Boots!"
As three Spirit Rings lit up, an invisible layer of equipment covered the upper bodies and feet of all three fighters. Because there were no negative emotions that needed clearing, Glazed Heart simply made their focus sharper, allowing them to devote themselves fully to Wu Ling's attacks.
This support-type Spirit Master's Martial Soul and Spirit Skills were not especially outstanding, but they were still released by a Spirit Meister. Blocking Wu Ling for a few seconds was something she could do.
Rufus used those few seconds to pull away from Wu Ling. At the same time, he did not forget to throw a Spirit Skill at him.
"Third Spirit Skill: Enemy-Locking Eye!"
A faint ray shot from Rufus's eyes and struck Wu Ling. Wu Ling instantly felt his legs become as heavy as if they had been poured full of cement, completely losing the agility they had possessed moments ago.
"Ithai, I restrained him. Now!"
The tall man called Ithai tightened his grip on the staff, and his fourth Spirit Ring lit up.
"Fourth Spirit Skill: Mountain-Crushing Stonebreaker!"
A thin earth-yellow film covered the staff. Then it came swinging down toward Wu Ling once again.
Wu Ling remained calm in the face of the blow. He smiled faintly. His purple Spirit Ring appeared, his shadow began to lengthen, and a blue-haired Wu Ling crawled out from it.
Without a word, Wu Ling swapped positions with Azure.
After changing places, Azure watched the staff draw closer and closer. His mind remained perfectly calm. He was already used to this.
"Ah, death is like a drop of water vanishing into the sea, unable to raise even a ripple."
After sighing in contemplation, Azure began his ninth death of the week beneath the staff's impact.
"I will remember you, Azure. I will be counting on you again next time!"
As Azure was smashed into disappearance by Ithai, the duration of Rufus's Spirit Skill ended. Wu Ling felt his body loosen and immediately charged toward the woman.
"Rufus, Bogue, be careful! He has clones!"
Ithai's mentality was nearly breaking after another Spirit Skill missed, but he still passed along Wu Ling's information in time.
Rufus's gaze sharpened. His fourth Spirit Ring and sickles lit up at the same time, and he rushed forward to fight Wu Ling's main body. He did not intend to let Wu Ling use the clone skill.
Unfortunately, that idea naturally failed.
Because Azure and Ember had been hidden in Wu Ling's shadow ahead of time, they needed no preparation time at all.
The sturdy Ember popped out of Wu Ling's shadow with a bang, raised the long sword in his hands, and slashed toward Rufus.
Left with no choice, Rufus slowed down to defend. He crossed his sickles above his head, meeting the descending long sword head-on.
"Ngh... Why is this guy so strong?" Rufus exclaimed in surprise.
By then, Wu Ling had already passed Rufus and rushed straight toward the support-type woman. Behind him, even if Ithai used all his strength, he could not catch up to Wu Ling's speed.
Facing a support-type Spirit Master who could only stack defenses on herself, Wu Ling easily knocked her off the field with the back of his blade.
Without the support-type Spirit Master's enhancement, Ithai and Rufus had to face the combined assault of Wu Ling, Ember, and Azure.
Without Glazed Heart's focus enhancement, Ithai and Rufus found it even harder to handle Wu Ling's position-switching tactics.
The so-called position-switching tactic was simple. Through differences in height and movement among the three of them, they constantly exchanged positions until they defeated the opponent.
In the end, after Rufus was kicked off the field by Ember, Ithai tried to block Ember's attack, only for Wu Ling's main body to switch positions and find the opening, knocking him down as well.
Thus, Wu Ling, a level-thirty pre-ring Spirit Elite, easily defeated three Spirit Meisters without even using his true trump card.
Watching Wu Ling leave, Ithai and the others hurriedly began discussing what had happened.
Rufus asked impatiently, "Boss, who exactly was that guy? How was he so strong?"
Ithai shook his head warily. "I am not too sure either. When the higher-ups told us to fight one person, I thought I had heard wrong.
"But looking at that sword, I do have a guess. That guy is probably Wu Ling, the Pope's disciple."
Bogue asked in surprise, "Wu Ling? The one announced as the Pope's disciple four years ago? He has barely shown himself these past four years. Was that really him?"
Ithai narrowed his eyes, seeming to recall the battle just now.
"Wu Ling simply does not appear before ordinary people like us. He definitely appears before the elders. A friend of a relative of mine had an uncle whose third nephew's aunt once cleaned an elder's room. She said the sword she saw was almost identical to that one. After all, a sword that long is rare."
At that point, Rufus suddenly asked, "Speaking of which, how old is he, and what level is he? He suppressed all three of us. I saw that clone was a thousand-year Spirit Skill, but why did he only have two Spirit Rings?"
Faced with that question, the three looked at one another and could not convince each other of anything. Finally, Ithai said, "Forget his level for now. He should only be around ten years old. If he can suppress three Spirit Meisters at ten years old, does his exact Spirit Power level still matter?"
Once Ithai put it that way, the other two also understood.
"All right. Let us leave it there. Be careful. Trouble comes from careless words. Also, if you meet him in the future, remember not to provoke him. In any case, his future is probably limitless."