One hour later.
Huo Yuhao took a deep breath and stepped onto the arena.
Today was the first time Huo Yuhao publicly showcased his strength at the Sun and Moon Royal Soul Guide Academy.
And his first opponent was the formidable Ji Juechen.
Extreme Ice Battle Armor, Fusion!
Unlike Xiao Ping and the others earlier, there was no flickering light of a Storage Soul-guiding Device on Huo Yuhao at this moment.
As he released his Martial Soul, his eyes turned a luminescent white, emitting a spiritual aura, with several light clusters appearing from different parts of his body like martial souls.
"What is this technique?"
"Is that his Martial Soul?"
"No, that's not a Martial Soul, it's a Soul-guiding Device."
Some sharp-eyed Soul Guides noticed that what covered Huo Yuhao wasn't a Martial Soul but a mystical Soul-guiding Device.
"My God, what is this technique!?"
The faculty and students of the Sun and Moon Royal Soul Guide Academy felt such a shock for the first time.
As teachers or students of the Sun and Moon Royal Soul Guide Academy, they received the highest level of Soul Guide theoretical education, yet even they felt a sense of shallow experience upon witnessing a glimpse of Intermediate Battle Armor.
To what extent has Mingde Hall secretly advanced their Soul-guiding Device research?
Spies from various factions were also utterly shocked.
Indeed, even if they painstakingly infiltrated the Sun and Moon Royal Soul Guide Academy, they still couldn't access the true core technology.
...
Beyond the fourteen components of Huo Yuhao's Extreme Ice Battle Armor, he also had a pair of bone wings.
In the past few months, he had successfully crafted his Intermediate Battle Armor, integrating his pair of bone wings into the armor.
In fact, Huo Yuhao planned to connect his torso bone with the armor. The Ice Emperor torso bone was inherently of the same source as his soul, making it not too difficult to accomplish. However, it might require advanced battle armor.
The ice attribute aura spread.
Huo Yuhao's Extreme Ice Battle Armor was aligned with his Second Martial Soul, not his Spiritual Eyes.
The main function of this armor was to allow him to wield his Second Martial Soul's abilities while utilizing his Spiritual Eyes Martial Soul.
"When it comes to advanced battle armor, it's necessary to consider enhancing the core arrays of both Martial Souls fully," Huo Yuhao thought to himself, but he was well aware that simultaneously boosting both the Ultimate Ice and spiritual attributes was as hard as ascending to the heavens.
The difficulty in constructing the core array would far exceed that of general advanced battle armor.
...
As they fused with their battle armor, Ji Juechen's eyes also glimmered on the other side.
He looked at Huo Yuhao's Extreme Ice Battle Armor, and the pair of tightly integrated bone wings.
After observing from the sidelines and battling with Xiao Ping and the others, Ji Juechen had somewhat grasped the path of battle armor, feeling its true power.
That was the fusion with a Soul Master's Martial Soul.
Huo Yuhao's Extreme Ice Battle Armor, as an Intermediate Battle Armor fusion, further confirmed his speculation.
If that's the case, then what about my sword?
Taking a deep breath, Ji Juechen looked at Huo Yuhao with a determined gaze.
Today, he would showcase himself well and see if he could get the opportunity to learn this kind of ability.
As for this being a Soul-guiding Device technique, Ji Juechen wasn't worried at all.
He wanted this ability, and those Soul Guides should be able to create something tailor-made, right?
...
Both sides maintained silence, neither making the first move.
Huo Yuhao's Level 69 Soul Power already surpassed Ji Juechen, both in quality and quantity.
Under the strengthening of six Soul Power amplification Soul Skills, Ji Juechen did exceed Huo Yuhao in total Soul Power, but the quality could only barely match.
However, Huo Yuhao still had the enhancement of the Extreme Ice Battle Armor.
The Soul Power pressure comparable to Soul Fighter Level made all the teachers and students present feel a sense of despair.
How could this even be fought?
At the same time, they were also in awe of Mingde Hall's latest achievement.
By now, many had belatedly realized that this competition seemed intended to show them the results of Mingde Hall.
Battle Armor?
So strong!
If they had participated in this Soul Fighting Competition, the victory would practically be secured.
Some students and teachers who realized this were excited.
This would be a true crushing victory.
Soul-guiding Devices are absolutely eternal.
...
Though neither side showed any vulnerabilities, Huo Yuhao, ultimately less composed than Ji Juechen, decided to launch an attack.
Appearing intermittently, his armor transformed around his wrists into a pair of gigantic ice-blue pincers.
Chilling aura filled the arena.
Ji Juechen's eyes shone as he thrust out his sword, Soul Power concentrated at a point, Sword Qi roiling fiercely, yet always revolving around that point.
At the moment of their clash, an explosive burst!
Boom!
The two collided in a strong attack form, creating a wave of invisible air currents that cracked the ground.
Ji Juechen retreated repeatedly, his toe tapping repeatedly to dissipate force, while the Celestial Meteorite Iron Sword in his hand unleashed a mighty Sword Qi.
Huo Yuhao also stepped back, his body surface covered by a solid layer of ice crystal, refracting brilliant light.
One Sword Qi failed to break his defense.
Overall, Huo Yuhao was stronger than Ji Juechen.
In the face of overwhelming power, technique cannot compensate. Perhaps with equal strength, technique could also achieve a crushing effect.
But currently, it was clearly insufficient for Ji Juechen to make up the gap with technique.
Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection enveloped the entire arena, clearly observing every move Ji Juechen made, but the intangible realm could not be learned in this way.