The moment the metallic crash exploded, Leo instinctively tensed the muscles in his back. He kept his arms folded, allowing the splinters of the wooden stake to fly past his ears. He was clearly thirty meters away from the training ground, yet the soul power that Professor Gordon had unleashed could reach this far.
"Hey, you there..."
A pained whimper made Leo's pupils contract sharply. Black hair swept across the third brass button of the uniform, and the faint glow of the Nether Spirit Cat flickered on the girl's shoulder. When Aria tumbled right into his arms, Leo caught a whiff of the smell of blood mingled with the scent of violet shampoo.
(Thirty - seven breaths ago, there was a glint of ice crystals on the jacaranda tree in the northwest corner.)
This realization made Leo's Adam's apple bob. He fought the urge to steady the girl's waist, and the soul power at his fingertips condensed into a transparent shield. "Can you get up by yourself?" His voice was hoarser than he'd expected. The warmth of his wife's scrying crystal seemed to still be searing the back of his neck.
Aria's ears turned coral - red. She tried to push herself up but found that the meridians in her right arm were numb from the shock. From this angle, she could clearly see the faint greenish old scar under the man's Adam's apple, as if it had been torn open by a beast's claws.
"Zhuqing!"
A soul - power - infused roar shook the wall dust loose. When Blake burst through the last cloud of dust, the claws of the White Tiger's phantom had solidified. He saw his fiancée's disheveled hair brush against the throat of a strange man, and the Shrek school emblem on the other's chest glowed with an eerie silver light - it was definitely not the standard badge issued by the academy.
(How dare he sneak in with a fake school emblem.)
This discovery made Blake's knuckles crack. The attacker they'd encountered in the Star Dou Great Forest three days ago had used a similar trick. The bleeding scratch on Aria's neck made his eyes burn, and some searing emotion swelled in his chest, threatening to break through the soul - power restraint of the Nether White Tiger.
"Boss Dai! The incense is gone!"
Oscar's scream tore through the tense air. In the center of the field, Gordon wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with an uncharacteristic hesitation. At the center of the spider - web - like cracks at his feet, Ryan was propping himself up with the Clear Sky Hammer, and the blood - stained handle of the hammer refracted a strange purple light in the sun.
Tang San gently laid the unconscious Xiao Wu down. As the Blue Silver Grass wrapped around the girl's bleeding ankle, he caught a glimpse of the last wisp of smoke dissipating from the incense burner out of the corner of his eye. This detail made his fingertips tremble slightly - when he had just used the Purple Demon Eyes, he had clearly seen that some external force had accelerated the burning of the incense.
"Teacher Zhao, I'm honored to have fought you," the young man bowed his head in a perfectly respectful manner, but secretly clasped three bone - penetrating nails in his palm. The moment the White Tiger's claws sliced through the air, he had caught the abnormal soul - power fluctuations in the jacaranda tree in the northwest corner.
Gordon's cloak swept over half of the shattered floor tiles. "Meet me at the playground at five tomorrow!" The moment he turned around, a whooshing sound flew past his ear. In the crisp sound of the dagger nailing into the base of the incense burner, the soul - power test crystal burst out with a blinding blue light.
"Did Teacher Zhao forget something?"
As Leo twirled the second dagger and approached, Blake sensed danger. This guy who always lurked in the shadows now had a golden glow dancing in his eyes, just like the Beast King that night in the Star Dou Great Forest. The blue light of the twentieth - level soul power flowed in the crystal, but it made the bronze - skinned back of Gordon's neck prickle.
(The riot in the Soul Hunting Forest two years ago)
(The wails of the dual - attribute ice - fire soul beasts)
(The torn - apart Soul Hunting Squad)
Fragmented memories suddenly flooded into his mind. Gordon spun around猛地, and the pressure of a seventy - sixth - level Soul Saint whipped up a gust of wind. "Kid, report your martial soul!"
"Twin martial souls." The red flame ignited in Leo's left hand, devouring half of his sleeve, while the ice crystals in his right hand froze the hem of his uniform into a hard armor. In the mist of the ice - fire blend, the old scar on his collarbone began to ooze blood. "Level twenty, because of... certain accidents."
Aria suddenly pressed her hand to her chest. The Nether Spirit Cat let out a shrill screech in her mind, a primal response to the presence of a top - tier predator. The girl stared blankly at the blurred side - face in the ice and fire, and suddenly remembered the stormy night three days ago - when the Nether Spirit Cat was cornered by the Three - Eyed Demon Ape, it was also this intertwined aura of searing heat and extreme cold that had torn through the darkness.
"Get out of the way." Blake's claw phantom grew three inches longer. He couldn't stand the way Aria was looking at that guy, as if a star had fallen into a deep pool. The soul - power shock marks remaining on his fiancée's neck stabbed his eyes, and the White Tiger's killing intent spilled out uncontrollably. "Shrek isn't a dump for losers!"
"Let him try."
Aria's voice was like ice. She stood up, still trembling on her knees, and the black leather armor shimmered with dark patterns in the sunlight. When the vertical pupils of the Nether Spirit Cat met Leo's fleeting golden eyes, some dormant memories suddenly awakened. "That move you used to save me... was it a self - created soul skill?"
The training ground fell into an eerie silence. Tang San's pupils contracted slightly. He noticed that Gordon's right hand, hidden behind his back, was forming seals - the starting gesture of a Soul Saint - level defensive soul skill. Xiao Wu, who had opened her eyes at some point, had the strange sight of the ice - fire blend reflected in her pink pupils.
"Half a stick of incense." The moment Leo crushed the floor tiles, ice - fire wings unfurled behind him with a loud boom. As the red flame swept across Aria's scattered hair, she caught the smell of burning cedar. "Please, Teacher Zhao... go all out."
Blake's curse was swallowed up by the explosion. The moment the red and blue soul powers intertwined in the air to form a Taiji diagram, Gordon finally bared his fangs - the phantom of the Vajra Bear roared to the sky, and all seven soul rings lit up for the first time.
"Two Extremes of Ice and Fire!"
Leo's hoarse roar, tinged with the smell of blood, burst from his throat. He could clearly feel his meridians quivering on the verge of collapse, and the old wounds left by the accident two years ago were awakening. But the sight of Aria's tightly - clenched fist and Blake's bulging veins in his peripheral vision suddenly gave him some absurd courage - just like that time in the blizzard, when he had carried his fever - stricken wife across the frozen canyon.
Hundreds of meters away, the branches and leaves of the jacaranda tree rustled. The wedding ring on the blue - haired woman's finger frosted over, and the scrying crystal reflected the image of her husband's bleeding collarbone. When she saw Aria unconsciously take a step forward, she suddenly chuckled, and the wildflowers within a ten - meter radius withered instantly.
"Idiot..." The murmur melted into the wind, but startled the entire flock of birds in the tree canopy.
The chaotic soul - power current above the training ground suddenly surged. Gordon laughed heartily in the center of the ice - fire vortex. The moment the third soul ring lit up, everyone heard the terrifying sound of bones growing. He transformed into a five - meter - tall Vajra Bear and smashed the ice prisms, but his burning bear paw stopped just three inches above Leo's forehead.
"Stop!"
Headmaster Flanders' shout came down with the screech of an owl - cat. Only then did everyone notice that at the position where the half - stick of incense had been, the incense ash was actually frozen in the shape it had when it was burning - the afterimage of a time - domain soul skill was slowly dissipating.
"Starting tomorrow," Gordon said as he transformed back into a human. The training ground was now in ruins. He stared at Leo's bleeding fingertips, and a long - lost fighting spirit surged in his eyes. "You'll train with the third - year students."
Blake punched the broken wall. When he saw Aria walking towards that jerk, the White Tiger's claws scraped against the stone slab, creating a glaring spark. Oscar, holding a newly - made sausage, froze in place, suddenly grateful that he was just a food - type soul master.
The setting sun stretched everyone's shadows long. When Leo wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and turned around, there were only a few ice crystals left under the jacaranda tree in the northwest corner. He touched his hot wedding ring and smiled bitterly, looking towards the infirmary. Tonight was going to be a long night of penance, he reckoned.