Skysea Stadium, VIP Box No. 7.
The VIP box was exclusively for distinguished guests. Facing the interior of the stadium was a massive glass panel that provided a direct view of the matches.
Additionally, the glass panel also functioned as a soul tool screen that could display any match, whether ongoing or already concluded.
An hour before the match between Xia Yi and Ye Xinglan, Wu Zhangkong quietly arrived at Box No. 7.
At this moment, there was only one woman in the box. She appeared to be around twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, stunningly beautiful, with an unusual head of white hair cascading down her back. She wore a dark green tracksuit, and her green eyes alternated between auras of vitality and destruction.
Her white hair complemented Wu Zhangkong's white robe, making for a strikingly harmonious appearance.
"Because one of your disciples is competing, I agreed to let them stir up some trouble. What's this? You're not worried at all?" The white-haired woman smirked teasingly as she glanced at Wu Zhangkong.
Wu Zhangkong replied indifferently, "Why should I be worried?"
The white-haired woman raised an eyebrow. "Looks like you have a lot of faith in your disciples. Could it be that you think your teaching skills surpass the academy's?"
"That's not the case. I just think Ye Xinglan might get eliminated before even facing my disciple," Wu Zhangkong said calmly.
"You're saying Ye Xinglan will lose to Xia Yi? You're joking, right? Xia Yi only has a measly twelfth-level soul power. If he can defeat Ye Xinglan, I'll take his surname," Shen Yi said confidently, patting her chest.
Wu Zhangkong nodded, staring at Shen Yi for a moment before calmly saying, "Hello, Xia Yi."
Shen Yi froze. Since Long Bing's death, this was the first time Wu Zhangkong had made a joke with her.
"Get lost," Shen Yi said with a laugh, feeling an immense wave of joy. In her view, this marked Wu Zhangkong stepping out of the shadow of Long Bing's death.
"I'm not joking. If you underestimate him, you might really have to change your name to Xia Yi. A month ago, Xia Yi defeated Na'er, the personal disciple of the Pavilion Master. Surely you don't think Ye Xinglan is stronger than Na'er?" Wu Zhangkong said evenly.
"Na'er? You even know about Na'er?" Shen Yi's beautiful eyes filled with curiosity. Few knew of Na'er's existence, and she couldn't fathom how Wu Zhangkong, who had been away from Shrek Academy for so many years, had come to know about her.
"I've met her once," Wu Zhangkong said solemnly.
"So what's the story about Na'er being defeated by Xia Yi?" Shen Yi asked seriously. She found it hard to believe that a one-ring Soul Master could defeat Na'er.
"I also found it unbelievable, but it's a fact," Wu Zhangkong said with a deep breath, recounting how Xia Yi had defeated Tang Wulin and the subsequent events when he sought help from Shrek Academy.
"Tang Wulin is Na'er's brother? And the Holy Spirit Douluo wanted to take Xia Yi as a disciple but got rejected?" Shen Yi's eyes filled with shock. If someone else had said this, she wouldn't have believed it. But Wu Zhangkong's words left no room for doubt.
Even so, it was hard to imagine someone turning down the Holy Spirit Douluo's offer to be a disciple.
Shen Yi immediately called Ye Xinglan via her soul communicator. "Xinglan, come to me at once."
She felt compelled to warn Ye Xinglan, as she didn't want her to lose inexplicably.
Before long, Ye Xinglan learned from Shen Yi about how Xia Yi had forced Tang Wulin to make Na'er bow in defeat.
When she returned to the arena, her gaze toward Xia Yi became even more furious. As a disciple of Shrek Academy's inner court, she naturally knew Na'er.
As the match began, the two walked onto the stage from opposite sides. Seeing Xia Yi's smile, Ye Xinglan grew even angrier. To her, Xia Yi's smile was nothing short of mockery. This bastard! Today, I'll make you pay, she thought.
"Three, two, one, begin!"
At the referee's signal, Xia Yi's body transformed, two fox tails appearing behind him. A single yellow soul ring materialized, glowing brightly. Two flashes of green light followed as he summoned two heavy hammers made of thousand-forged green copper.
Xia Yi stepped forward, charging at Ye Xinglan.
"Trash with just one ring." Ye Xinglan sneered, raising her right hand as two soul rings shimmered at her feet.
A longsword materialized in her hand, glowing bright yellow, with countless stars flickering along its blade. Though her soul power didn't seem overwhelming, the moment the sword appeared, Ye Xinglan seemed to vanish, her essence merging entirely with the sword.
Sword and soul as one!
A ten-year-old girl achieving such mastery?
In the audience, seasoned observers with sharp eyes couldn't help but be taken aback.
By this time, Xia Yi had closed the distance between them, swinging one of his green copper hammers directly at Ye Xinglan's head.
Though the hammer looked small, each weighed 200 kilograms.
Combined with Xia Yi's monstrous strength, a direct hit would be devastating.
Ye Xinglan could feel the terrifying force of the hammer but remained unfazed. As Xia Yi raised his hammer, she stepped diagonally forward with her left foot while tilting her body back.
Using the momentum of her backward motion, Ye Xinglan's sword rose in a fluid, precise motion, slicing toward Xia Yi's left underarm.
Her movement was swift and seamless, her sword reaching Xia Yi almost instantly.
But Xia Yi reacted immediately. His right hammer swung horizontally to block her sword, while his left hammer continued its downward path toward her.
Frowning slightly, Ye Xinglan's Star God Sword met the right hammer head-on with a sharp clang. The impact sent her spinning twice in midair before she landed two meters away, using the force to dodge the left hammer.
"What terrifying strength. It seems I'll have to use soul skills," Ye Xinglan muttered with furrowed brows. Initially, she thought she could defeat Xia Yi without relying on soul skills. But his overwhelming strength proved otherwise.
Opting for caution, she activated her first soul ring, sending a burst of starry light flying toward Xia Yi.
"Buzz!" When the starlight collided with the Thousand Forged Green Copper, it didn't explode. Instead, it instantly bloomed into a liquid-like golden radiance, covering the hammer. The golden light quickly spread, enveloping the entire Thousand Forged Green Copper Hammer and rapidly creeping toward Xia Yi's arm.
"What a strange soul skill," Xia Yi thought, deeply envious. He couldn't figure out why his martial spirit, a fox, would awaken as a healing-type soul skill.
Without hesitation, Xia Yi raised the pair of Thousand Forged Green Copper Hammers and forcefully smashed them together in midair.
"Boom!" The deafening clash seemed to pierce through the eardrums, drawing the attention of everyone around.
With the collision of the two hammers, the starlight clinging to the Thousand Forged Green Copper was finally shaken into fine powder.
"You've got some skills. It seems I need to get serious," Ye Xinglan said, her beautiful eyes glowing brilliantly as if two stars resided within them. Starlight swirled around her as she took a step forward. Her speed instantly doubled, and her Star God Sword seemed to transform into countless streaks of starlight, enveloping Xia Yi.
The Star God Sword's ever-changing forms produced dozens of sword lights that rained down on Xia Yi.
Xia Yi's Thousand Forged Green Copper Hammers created fierce gusts of wind as they swung. Each swing precisely intercepted a sword light.
"Let's see what else you can use to block!" Ye Xinglan, now truly angered, thrust her Star God Sword again, producing dozens more sword lights.
She never expected that, despite her strength, she would struggle so much against an auxiliary soul master with one less soul ring.
Xia Yi was reaching his limit. The pair of Thousand Forged Green Copper Hammers in his hands weighed a combined 400 kilograms.
Even with his immense strength, he couldn't possibly match Ye Xinglan's speed in unleashing sword lights.
Moreover, his soul power wouldn't sustain his martial spirit possession as long as Ye Xinglan's could.
If the fight dragged on, the situation would only worsen.
Xia Yi's gaze turned cold. Ignoring the starlight sword lights flying toward him, he suddenly exploded forward, charging straight at Ye Xinglan. His right hammer flew out, cutting off her retreat, while his left hammer swung defensively to protect his vital areas. As he closed the distance, he smashed the hammer down with all his might.
Ye Xinglan frowned slightly. The arc traced by Xia Yi's thrown hammer would soon pass behind her. If she retreated, she would inevitably collide with the rapidly spinning Thousand Forged Green Copper Hammer.
"Don't think I'm afraid of close combat," Ye Xinglan sneered. If Xia Yi only had one hammer in hand, she had plenty of ways to deal with him. Her Star God Sword thrust forward, her first soul ring glowing brilliantly again as a cluster of starlight shot toward Xia Yi.
The starlight struck the Thousand Forged Green Copper again, just as before, clinging to it and spreading along the hammer toward Xia Yi's arm.
Xia Yi ignored it. The hammer continued its downward trajectory. He was confident he could hit Ye Xinglan before the starlight reached his arm.
However, at the critical moment, Xia Yi suddenly felt the Thousand Forged Green Copper Hammer in his hand lose control.
Despite exerting all his strength to smash the hammer down on Ye Xinglan, the starlight clinging to the hammer pulled it upward.
"Fall for me!" Xia Yi roared, forcing the hammer down with all his might. The starlight's power ultimately couldn't match Xia Yi's monstrous strength, and the hammer continued its descent toward Ye Xinglan.
"You've been tricked." Ye Xinglan's second soul ring suddenly lit up, and a shield covered in starlight enveloped her body.
"Boom!" Although the Thousand Forged Green Copper Hammer struck Ye Xinglan's shield, its speed had been reduced by the starlight, and it failed to break through.
Ye Xinglan smiled. When she first used her first soul skill, Sword God Star, she deliberately refrained from controlling Xia Yi's hammer with it to keep him from discovering its true purpose.
As expected, Xia Yi had fallen into her trap.
Seizing the moment after Xia Yi's hammer fell and before he could swing again, Ye Xinglan thrust her Star God Sword at Xia Yi's chest.
"You're the one who's been tricked," Xia Yi laughed. Just as Ye Xinglan thrust her sword, a dark phoenix suddenly burst from his right arm, flying straight at her.
"What?!" Ye Xinglan was bewildered. Wasn't Xia Yi's martial spirit a fox? How could he summon a dark phoenix?
The terrifying aura of the dark phoenix left her no time to ponder. She redirected her sword, using Sword God Star to strike the phoenix, while retreating to avoid the collision's aftermath.
"Of all people, why did you provoke him?" In the audience, Gu Yue's expression turned peculiar as she watched Ye Xinglan retreat.
She already knew how this would end.
The last time Ye Xinglan retreated, Xia Yi had both hands occupied with hammers. Using their momentum, she escaped unharmed. This time, Xia Yi had a free hand, leaving her no chance to retreat.
Just as Gu Yue anticipated, the moment Ye Xinglan leaned back, Xia Yi bent down and grabbed her ankle.
Before Ye Xinglan could struggle, she felt herself swung up with immense force and slammed into the ground.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Stop!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"I said stop!" The referee grabbed Xia Yi's right arm. Six soul rings appeared around the referee, and his immense strength rendered Xia Yi's arm immobile.
But to the referee's surprise, Xia Yi simply switched Ye Xinglan to his left hand.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Before the referee could intervene again, Xia Yi voluntarily released Ye Xinglan.
"It feels so good" Xia Yi exhaled deeply and burst into loud laughter.
(End of Chapter)