After lunch and a short break, the afternoon arrived.
A refreshed Xu Tianxi and a trembling Xu Sanshi once again ascended the Soul Duel Stage, watched by the expectant gazes of Xu Xiaoyun and the others.
Xu Sanshi's expression was sorrowful. He shot a resentful look at Xu Fu, who had personally helped him recover his Soul Power after lunch, and couldn't help but shiver.
He knew his old man wouldn't be so kind; helping him recover was just so Tianxi could have a living target!
Xu Tianxi waved kindly at Xu Sanshi and reminded him, "Sanshi, my first Soul Skill, your third brother's, comes from one of the Evil Eye Clan's most powerful innate abilities—Evil Eye Gaze. You really need to be careful."
Evil Eye Gaze, one of the Evil Eye Clan's most potent innate offensive Soul Skills, and the most terrifying ability of the purely spiritual Evil Eye, possessed extreme attack and destructive power.
Legend had it in the Soul Master world that when the Evil Emperor, the Evil Eye Clan's strongest expert, challenged Beast God Di Tian in the Star Dou Great Forest, he used this move to hit Di Tian, even freezing the Beast God for five whole seconds. Its terrifying power was evident!
The well-informed Xu Sanshi's heart sank upon hearing this, but he absolutely refused to show any fear. He patted his chest loudly and chuckled with a relaxed expression, "It's nothing, nothing. Don't underestimate my strength. I'm a twenty-fourth-level Great Soul Master with two Hundred-Year Soul Rings! You're only level twelve, so go ahead and attack with all your might. I can take it!"
"Let me tell you, in my year at Shrek, I've never encountered a powerful Spiritual Soul Master. Not one of the Assault Type Soul Masters in the first year could break through my defense. I've been wanting to experience new attacks and pressure for a long time!"
"Come on! Go all out! If you don't give it your all, you're disrespecting me!"
While speaking with such bravado, Xu Sanshi fully prepared his defenses. He summoned his Profound Tortoise Shell Shield, his Second Soul Ring shimmered, and he adopted his strongest defensive stance.
Countless deep black light projections burst from the Profound Tortoise Shell Shield. In that instant, the Profound Tortoise Shell Shield seemed to transform into hundreds of shields, stacking and combining in front of Xu Sanshi, forming a solid shield wall that protected him. A soft yet resilient mass of rich black water covered the array.
Profound Tortoise Shell Shield's Second Soul Skill, Profound Tortoise Shield Array.
With his defenses ready, Xu Sanshi's body, hidden behind the shield array, was completely tensed. His usually carefree peach blossom eyes were filled with solemnity, showing the bearing of a powerful Defense Type Soul Master.
As a direct descendant of the Xuanming Sect and having endured a year of trials in the Shrek Outer Courtyard, a place teeming with geniuses, Xu Sanshi possessed an inherent pride. His slogan of becoming the "Eternal Defense" wasn't just empty words.
Although he hadn't expected to lose his position as the Xuanming Sect's top young genius to a rising star just by coming home, at least for now, he was confident he could suppress Xu Tianxi for a few more years.
No matter how you looked at it, this clash was twenty-fourth level against twelfth level. The advantage was his!
Furthermore, Spiritual Soul Masters were always rare, and Defense Type Soul Masters often found themselves caught off guard when facing a Spiritual Soul Master's sudden attack. Being able to experience a powerful spiritual attack now would also benefit his cultivation.
Xu Tianxi glanced at Xu Sanshi in surprise, thinking he had never encountered such a request. He said "Alright" and whispered, "Then be careful, Cold Moon Gaze!"
His six-hundred-year-old First Soul Ring illuminated. The clear, lonely moon deep within Xu Tianxi's pupils rapidly emitted ripples of light, which then expanded into soft, cool light points, filling his bright eyes.
The Crescent Moon Mark on his brow also showed flowing light, but whether it was because the power stored there had been exhausted from dealing with the lingering Evil Eye remnant or for some other reason, Xu Tianxi couldn't sense the presence of Spiritual Power.
The next instant, the moon-shadowed pupils suddenly converged to a single point, shooting out two incredibly fine yet undeniably real, cool silver beams. The Spiritual Power and Soul Power were extremely concentrated, moving too fast to be seen with the naked eye, heading straight for Xu Sanshi's prepared Profound Tortoise Shield Array.
To the onlookers outside the arena, Xu Tianxi's attack had almost no wind-up. As soon as his Soul Ring lit up, the attack landed the next moment. And the offensive was so swift that there was no retreat, like chasing stars and catching the moon!
Clang—
"Ow~!"
A crisp collision sound rang out. Almost the instant the Profound Tortoise Shield Array touched the Cold Moon Gaze's beam, Xu Sanshi, behind the shield array, let out a yelp. His brain felt like it was being pierced by an ice pick, golden stars swam before his eyes, and his sturdy body swayed uncontrollably, staggering backward.
"Crap, I underestimated him too much! Profound Tortoise Tremor!"
Without any hesitation, Xu Sanshi no longer cared about his older brother's dignity. As he was pushed back, he immediately lit up his First Soul Ring.
As the Profound Tortoise Tremor Soul Skill activated, the black light on the Profound Tortoise Shell Shield instantly intensified twofold. Black energy rippled out from the shield, covering an area of several tens of square meters under the effect of the shield array, like a giant air bubble pushing outward, emitting a rumbling roar.
Thump-thump—
Profound Tortoise Tremor was an area-of-effect knock-back Soul Skill, with a certain stunning effect. As the black light expanded, the beams shot from Xu Tianxi's eyes clearly felt a huge resistance. When they hit the Profound Tortoise Shield Array, they could no longer pierce through as before to directly attack Xu Sanshi's main body.
Seeing the Profound Tortoise Tremor's light approaching him, Xu Tianxi, knowing when to quit, output all his Spiritual Power, then decisively turned and retreated, jumping off the stage.
As a Spiritual Soul Master with high attack and low HP, only a fool would stubbornly endure a top-tier Battle Soul Master's physical attacks. The power of Xu Sanshi's Profound Tortoise Tremor was no less than the Thunder Dragon Claw of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon.
Retreating below the stage, a pale Xu Tianxi intently observed the black light of Profound Tortoise Tremor spreading across the entire arena, his expression quite serious.
"What a powerful Profound Tortoise Tremor! It can actually block the penetration of my Cold Moon Gaze. Impressive."
Seeing his gaze beam blocked, Xu Tianxi seriously reflected on his shortcomings. If his previous offensive had been faster, could he have done better?
"Grandmaster, what do you think of the power of this attack of mine? How much needs to be improved? Grandmaster?"
After summarizing his own issues, Xu Tianxi proactively sought guidance from Xu Xiaoyun, only to find Xu Xiaoyun's eyes held an unreadable expression, and he didn't answer his question immediately.
Bang—
A heavy thud echoed on the stage as something weighty made intimate contact with the ground. Xu Tianxi turned to look and found that the fallen object was none other than Xu Sanshi's Profound Tortoise Shell Shield.
As for Xu Sanshi himself, he seemed to have lost the strength to stand, spinning in a few drunken circles before falling backward.
"Yue Lao!"
Xu Fu shouted, flashing onto the stage himself. He supported the dizzy Xu Sanshi and fed him an Elixir.
Yue Lao activated his healing Soul Guided Device, shooting out several green, shimmering life streams that enveloped him.
At this moment, Xu Xiaoyun also reacted, looking at Xu Tianxi with a serious expression:
"Tianxi, the power of this spiritual attack of yours is incredibly overwhelming. Sanshi had his defenses set up in advance and you still knocked him out. If an ordinary Great Soul Master were to take a full-strength blow from you, they might turn into an idiot, or even have their brain pierced and die on the spot!"
"You need to understand, Sanshi's Profound Tortoise Martial Soul is the ultimate existence among Defense Type Martial Souls. Even though he stood there letting you hit him, he still couldn't defend against your spiritual attack. If it were a Great Soul Master who wasn't a Defense Type, even if they had a top-tier Martial Soul, they wouldn't be in a better state after taking one hit."
"Moreover, this attack of yours consumes too much, almost draining your Spiritual Power and Soul Power. In the future, unless absolutely necessary, do not easily use your full strength!"
Xu Xiaoyun had clearly sensed that after absorbing that top-grade Evil Eye Soul Ring, Xu Tianxi's Spiritual Power had reached a level comparable to some non-Spiritual Soul Elders. This level of Spiritual Power, combined with the Evil Eye Clan's most potent Soul Skill and his own top-tier Martial Soul, meant that even an ordinary Soul Elder could easily fall to him if they weren't careful.
In his estimation, even a Soul Emperor caught off guard by this attack could be affected.
Xu Tianxi, however, hadn't realized how terrifying his attack was. He pondered for a moment, nodded gravely, and then asked another question:
"Oh, Grandmaster, do you think there's still room for my attack's power to increase? It's my first time using it, so I'm sure there are still some shortcomings."
Xu Xiaoyun: "…"
After thinking seriously, Xu Xiaoyun said solemnly, "Once you've recovered, try it on me. I'll experience it firsthand."
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in Shrek City, within Shrek Academy.
Yan Shaozhe, looking sallow, walked through the vast academy until he reached a place reeking of alcohol. A look of distress appeared in his eyes as he respectfully greeted an unkempt old man, who held a wine gourd in one hand and a chicken drumstick in the other:
"Old Xuan, the dean suggested we hold a Sea God Pavilion Meeting. I've come to ask you to attend."