Chapter 118: Evil Phoenix vs. Long Aotian! Ma Xiaotao's Terrifying Suppressive Power
"Let the match begin!"
The referee's voice boomed like a sudden clap of thunder, echoing across the vast expanse of Star Luo Plaza.
At that exact fraction of a second, the air itself seemed to shatter. Intense fluctuations of spirit power erupted from both ends of the massive stage, crashing into each other like opposing hurricanes. The brilliant, blinding colors of ascending spirit rings intertwined, bathing the entire competition grounds in a violent kaleidoscope of light.
On Shrek Academy's side, Ma Xiaotao led the vanguard. Six spirit rings—two yellow, two purple, and two black—spiraled upward from her feet. Scorching, dark-red Evil Fire erupted from her pores, the flames twisting and expanding until they formed a pair of massive, burning Phoenix wings behind her back. The sheer heat radiating from her body instantly warped the air, turning the atmosphere into a suffocating furnace.
Dai Yueheng stepped up right behind her, his own six spirit rings flashing with intimidating authority. He activated his White Tiger Vajra Transformation without a moment of hesitation. His uniform stretched and tore as his muscles bulged to monstrous proportions, a dominant, bloodthirsty aura rolling off his expanding frame.
To their flank, Ling Luochen raised her icy staff. The ambient temperature plummeted in the blink of an eye, a layer of white frost rapidly crawling across the stone tiles beneath her feet.
Bei Bei, Wang Dong, Xu Sanshi, and Huo Yuhao unleashed their respective Martial Souls simultaneously, their auras locking together to form an impenetrable, flawless combat formation.
Across the stage, the Heavenly Soul Imperial Academy team met the pressure head-on.
Liu Yuan stood calm amidst the storm, his golden Double Pupils flickering with a cold, calculating light. Four spirit rings—one yellow, one purple, and two pitch-black—emerged from the ground, hovering around his body with a heavy, oppressive weight.
Long Aotian took a heavy step forward, placing himself at the absolute front. His five spirit rings flashed as a metallic, dark-gold light poured from his skin, enveloping his entire body in a layer of indestructible brilliance.
Behind them, Vina, Chen Lu, and the rest of the Heavenly Soul team instantly entered their combat states, their spirit power linking together to form a unified defensive front.
The atmosphere in the arena reached an absolute boiling point. The deafening cheers from hundreds of thousands of spectators surged like a tidal wave, shaking the very foundations of the plaza. High above, sixteen Rank-seven aerial spirit tools hovered in the sky, broadcasting these shocking, high-definition images in real-time to every major city across the continent.
And then, the stalemate broke.
Ma Xiaotao struck first.
Her crimson hair danced wildly amidst the violent flickering of her Evil Fire. Her sharp, predatory gaze locked entirely onto the Heavenly Soul Team's strongest defensive pillar—Long Aotian.
In Ma Xiaotao's eyes, the strategy was simple and brutal. As long as she crushed Long Aotian, the Heavenly Soul Team's vanguard would shatter, and their entire formation would completely collapse.
"Long Aotian, is it? I've heard you're the Eldest Disciple of the Body Sect. Let me see what you're really made of!"
With a piercing, avian cry that tore through the arena, Ma Xiaotao's figure blurred into a streak of dark-red lightning. She crossed the fifty-meter distance separating the two teams in a fraction of a second, lunging directly at the Body Sect's chief disciple.
The Evil Fire surrounding her burned so fiercely that it left trailing ripples of distortion in her wake, melting the very oxygen she passed through.
Facing the crushing pressure of a Spirit Emperor, Long Aotian ground his teeth, his jaw locking tight. He let out a low, guttural growl, crossing his thick arms over his chest. The dark-gold spirit power within his body surged wildly, reinforcing his flesh and bones as he braced himself for the overbearing strike.
"First Spirit Ability, Phoenix Ray!"
Mid-air, Ma Xiaotao extended a slender, pale hand. A highly concentrated beam of dark-red fire erupted from her fingertips, shooting straight toward Long Aotian's chest. This ray did not just carry terrifying, flesh-melting heat; it possessed immense, armor-piercing kinetic force.
"Third Spirit Ability, Dark Gold Power!"
The third purple spirit ring beneath Long Aotian's feet flared to life. A layer of fine, interlocking dark-gold scales instantly surfaced across his exposed skin. His muscular strength surged exponentially, his feet planting firmly into the stage as he attempted to rely entirely on the formidable, raw defense of his Body Martial Soul to take the Spirit Emperor's attack head-on.
The Phoenix Ray slammed violently into Long Aotian's dark-gold shield.
BOOM!
Amidst the violent explosion of crimson fire and golden light, the sheer kinetic impact overwhelmed Long Aotian's footing. He was lifted entirely off the ground, sent skidding backward over ten meters. His heavy boots plowed two deep, smoking furrows into the reinforced stone tiles of the competition stage.
Long Aotian finally stabilized his stance, his boots grinding to a halt. He lowered his arms, his eyes narrowing as a searing pain flared across his forearms. He looked down to see that his absolute dark-gold spirit power had actually been significantly eroded by the clinging, corrosive nature of the Evil Fire.
Through this single, brutal exchange, Long Aotian realized a grim truth. Ma Xiaotao was far more dangerous than Captain Ma Rulong of the Sun Moon Imperial Academy had been.
Ma Rulong's threat had mainly stemmed from his reliance on that Rank-eight spirit tool, the Judgment Sword. As long as Long Aotian could predict the weapon's trajectory and avoid the blade's direct edge, he still had room to maneuver and counterattack.
But Ma Xiaotao was entirely different. She was a pure, unadulterated Spirit powerhouse with an ocean of highly aggressive spirit power. Her strength was complete, her flames explosive, and she possessed absolutely no blind spots.
Before Long Aotian could even draw a breath to steady his churning blood, Ma Xiaotao's follow-up attack arrived with lethal, perfect timing.
"Third Spirit Ability, Phoenix Wings Ascension!"
The massive Phoenix wings on Ma Xiaotao's back snapped fully open, catching the air and instantly pushing her speed to its absolute limit.
With a deafening whoosh, she transformed into a diving meteor of fire, slamming directly into Long Aotian with near-savage, unstoppable force.
Although Long Aotian managed to raise his arms in front of his face just in time, the absolute Rank suppression of a Spirit Emperor crashing into a Spirit King was too vast. The momentum of the impact shattered his stance entirely.
This time, he was sent flying through the air, tumbling violently several times before crashing heavily onto the stage. His once-neat Heavenly Soul combat suit was scorched black in several places, the fabric crumbling to ash, and his breathing grew ragged and heavy.
Compared to his high-spirited, dominant displays in previous battles, Long Aotian appeared visibly disheveled under Ma Xiaotao's absolute suppression.
Ma Xiaotao halted her forward momentum, hovering just above the scorched stone. She looked down at him, a contemptuous sneer curling her lips. "Is this all you've got? So this is the Eldest Disciple of the Body Sect? This much power isn't nearly enough!"
On the other side of the stage, Liu Yuan took in the entire exchange with cold precision.
His brow furrowed slightly, the golden light within his Double Pupils flickering incessantly as he processed the data of the clash.
He knew very well that in a duel between top-tier geniuses, spirit power Ranks truly played a decisive, often fatal role. Although Long Aotian was a once-in-a-generation Body Martial Soul user, Ma Xiaotao was equally a top-tier genius with a supreme-grade Martial Soul. Since the quality of their Spirits was comparable, Ma Xiaotao's spirit power foundation—which was over ten Ranks higher—was more than enough to create a total, crushing advantage.
'It's only natural that Senior Brother is being suppressed; Ma Xiaotao's raw power is simply too great.'Liu Yuan muttered internally, his mind rapidly shifting tactics.'No, I have to go help Senior Brother right now, or our vanguard will be completely torn apart from the front by her flames.'
Spirit power erupted beneath Liu Yuan's feet. His golden Double Pupils locked onto Ma Xiaotao's exposed flank, his mind gathering a dense spike of energy as he prepared to launch a devastating spiritual shock to coordinate with Long Aotian's inevitable counterattack.
However, the exact millisecond Liu Yuan shifted his weight to move, a silent shadow within the Shrek Team's formation suddenly acted.
Xu Sanshi, who had remained entirely motionless and quiet until now, slammed his foot down. The heavy, pitch-black Mysterious Underworld Turtle Shield in his grasp emitted a dense, suffocating black light as his fourth spirit ring lit up with blinding intensity.
"Mysterious Underworld Displacement!"
A bizarre, twisting spatial fluctuation instantly materialized directly beneath Liu Yuan's feet.
Liu Yuan felt his vision violently blur. The ambient heat of the Evil Fire vanished, replaced by a sudden, biting chill as his surroundings underwent a drastic, instantaneous transformation.
With a sharp whoosh of displaced air, the world snapped back into focus.
Liu Yuan had been directly swapped into the absolute dead center of the Shrek Team's formation.
Before his boots could even fully register the new ground beneath him, two incredibly powerful, distinct, and lethal auras locked onto his body from opposite sides.
To his rear, Ling Luochen gripped her ice staff, her beautiful face as cold as absolute frost. Chilling, bone-piercing air rapidly permeated from her body, instantly forming a freezing frost Domain that sought to lock Liu Yuan's joints in place.
To his front, Dai Yueheng had already finished charging his White Tiger Barrier and White Tiger Light Wave. The Spirit Emperor's muscles coiled like steel springs, his tiger-like eyes brimming with unmasked, predatory killing intent.
The two Shrek powerhouses perfectly blocked Liu Yuan's only paths of retreat. Dai Yueheng cracked his knuckles, a cold, arrogant sneer spreading across his tiger-striped face.
"Liu Yuan, where do you think you're going? Those eyes of yours are indeed troublesome, so your opponents are the two of us!"
Dai Yueheng and Ling Luochen knew the tactical board perfectly. Liu Yuan was the command core, the brain, and the most dangerous variable of the Heavenly Soul Team. As long as they isolated him here and beat him into the ground, the Heavenly Soul Team would surely crumble.
Standing perfectly still at the center of the frigid, encroaching Domain, Liu Yuan felt the overbearing, bloodthirsty presence of the White Tiger Spirit in front of him, and the biting, restrictive ice attribute creeping up his spine from behind.
His expression did not change. His golden Double Pupils closed slightly, taking a single, measured breath, before snapping open.
Deep within his eyes, a faint, emerald-green Shadow of Life ignited, becoming exceptionally dazzling in the freezing air.
'Damn it, looks like I won't be able to get away so easily...'Liu Yuan slowly raised his hands, his spirit power surging as the temperature around him began to warp under his own rising pressure.'I'll just have to deal with things here quickly then...'
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