In the top-floor room of Mingyue Grand Hotel, light and shadow began to appear around Xu Zihuang's body. Those lights and shadows were extremely clear, reflecting scenes on the light screens.
This was precisely the materialization of spiritual power that only those at the Tangible and Qualitative stage could achieve.
Previously, Xu Zihuang's spiritual power had only just entered the Tangible and Qualitative stage, but ever since he truly completed his fusion with the Tian Meng, he had directly crossed this threshold in one go.
If the Tangible and Qualitative stage of spiritual power could be finely divided into three phases, then he was undoubtedly at the second phase right now. Many abilities that could only be controlled at the Tangible and Qualitative stage were wielded by him as if they were extensions of his own limbs. Materialization of spiritual power was one of them.
Meanwhile, even powerhouses like the Beast God Di Tian and the Evileye Tyrant Ruler were only at the third phase of spiritual power, the peak of Tangible and Qualitative.
As for human soul masters, even among Limit Douluo, their spiritual power stage alone might not necessarily surpass his.
At this moment, in terms of the spiritual domain, Xu Zihuang had already reached the pinnacle of this world. Even without using the second awakening ability of his golden-rank Body Martial Soul, the maximum distance his externalized spiritual power could reach was a terrifying diameter of one hundred kilometers.
The scenes on these light screens were exactly what was happening at this moment on the competition stage in the eastern suburbs of Ming City.
Xu Zihuang and Ye Guyi had been delayed for a while earlier, and the match between the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy and the Snow Demon Sect had already progressed to the team battle phase.
To avoid suspicion, the referee presiding over the match had been changed from Jing Hongchen to another ninth-level soul engineer from the Sun Moon Empire side.
On the Snow Demon Sect team, aside from Wei Na, all six others were unfamiliar faces. Compared to normal people, each of these six had very distinctive features.
There was one with exceptionally thick calves, one with eyes as sharp and piercing as lightning, one with abnormally long hands, and so on.
This afternoon's match, Zhongli Wu had not come to watch in person. However, both Xu Tianran and Jing Hongchen's expressions did not look good.
The Body Sect people had indeed come. From the earlier individual elimination rounds, the gap between the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy team and the young elite generation of the Body Sect could already be seen.
At the referee's signal, members from both sides quickly took their positions on opposite sides of the competition stage.
The Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy side was naturally led by the brother-sister pair Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen. On the Snow Demon Sect side, standing at the very front was a tall, burly young man. The youth was nearly two meters tall, broad-shouldered and wide-backed, with bulging muscles. His reddish-brown long hair was parted in the middle, with strands hanging down on both sides, appearing extremely smooth. His eyes were narrow and long, his gaze ice-cold. Though not particularly handsome, he carried a trace of demonic charm.
Most peculiar of all was his skin, which was extremely fair, crystalline like jade. Faint light flowed beneath the skin, and every movement he made gave the feeling that he had perfectly blended and fused into this world, smooth and natural. His spiritual power and soul power had completely merged into one inseparable whole.
Leaning against Xu Zihuang, Ye Guyi slightly straightened her body.
"Heaven-Man Unity?"
Only those who reached the Heaven-Man Unity realm had a chance to reach the threshold of Super Douluo at rank 95. Otherwise, no matter how good one's cultivation talent or martial soul was, their achievement would stop there.
Ye Guyi had not expected that in this tournament, there would be someone else who could reach the Heaven-Man Unity realm like Xu Zihuang.
"He should be the number one of the Body Sect's younger generation."
Xu Zihuang nodded. Combining his memories from his previous life, he roughly confirmed this youth's identity.
At that moment, both sides began to announce their names.
"Snow Demon Sect, Long Aotian."
"Snow Demon Sect, Wei Na."
"Snow Demon Sect, Wang Yanfeng."
"Snow Demon Sect, Chen Lü."
"Snow Demon Sect, Gu Tong."
"Snow Demon Sect, Jiang Yixi."
"Snow Demon Sect, Chen Yu."
On the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy side were Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, along with the other five main team members who had appeared in previous matches.
The referee suddenly swung his right hand downward, announcing the official start of the match. Both sides' formations instantly changed.
On the Snow Demon Sect side, Long Aotian stood unyieldingly at the very front. Slightly half a step behind him on both sides were Wang Yanfeng and Chen Lü. Behind Wang Yanfeng and Chen Lü were Jiang Yixi, Gu Tong, and Chen Yu.
The six of them formed a sharp triangular formation. Wei Na, as the support-type soul master, stood at the very back of the triangle.
Unlike the Snow Demon Sect's full-attack formation, the Sun Moon team was almost the complete opposite. Standing at the very front was a team member named Qiu Yi. This person's skin was dark, his height exceeded two meters, and his weight appeared to be at least three hundred jin.
Standing there, he looked exactly like a humanoid ferocious beast. Behind him stood Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen side by side. Only after them came the other members of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy team.
The tall and burly Qiu Yi let out a furious shout. His hands came together in front of him, and a massive, round shield appeared in his grasp.
This round shield was entirely silver-white, perfectly round and convex, with circles of strange patterns on its surface emitting gentle soul power fluctuations. At the very center of the shield was a silver-white gem the size of an adult's fist.
Under the injection of Qiu Yi's soul power, a burst of silver light immediately radiated from that silver-white gem, covering the entire shield and enveloping all his teammates behind him.
At the same time, a ring of ice-blue light extended outward from beneath his feet, spreading across the entire arena.
This was the terrifying poison belonging to Meng Hongchen's Azure Ice Toad. Ice Toad Poison and Ice Poison Ring, under her full activation, these two soul skills instantly covered the whole field.
Even though every member of the Snow Demon Sect team possessed powerful Body Martial Souls, once contaminated by this poison, their combat power would inevitably be reduced to some degree.
However, Wei Na, positioned at the very rear of the Snow Demon Sect team, showed no trace of panic and instead revealed a fresh and lovely smile.
Two yellow, two purple, one black, five optimally matched soul rings pulsed around her at the same frequency. The black fifth soul ring shone brightly, and the snow lotus slowly rising above her palms began to ascend.
As it rose, the pure white snow lotus rapidly expanded, and ice-blue luster appeared on its surface. The light fell upon all her teammates, forming an ice-blue light barrier that completely blocked Meng Hongchen's Azure Ice Toad poison.
And at that very moment, the Snow Demon Sect team, or rather, the elite young generation of the Body Sect, fully erupted.
Long Aotian lightly tapped his right foot on the ground, and his entire body slid forward close to the surface like he was gliding, charging straight toward the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy team. The hundred-meter distance passed in the blink of an eye.
Long Aotian raised both hands high, and the competition stage immediately trembled slightly. Everything in this space seemed to have become a part of him, causing Xiao Hongchen's expression to change dramatically.
Xu Zihuang's level was higher than Long Aotian's; his Heaven-Man Unity had already approached perfection, reaching the state of returning to simplicity. That was why Xiao Hongchen had never personally felt the oppressive pressure brought by Heaven-Man Unity when facing Xu Zihuang.
Although no grand phenomenon appeared, in Xiao Hongchen's eyes, it felt as though the heavens and earth had changed color.
One decisive reason why the Sun Moon Empire had never produced a Super Douluo above rank 95 was their complete lack of understanding of the Heaven-Man Unity realm.
True top-tier soul masters could never be matched by ordinary soul engineers relying solely on soul tools.
Yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, seven soul rings in a row rose from beneath Long Aotian's feet. Moreover, they surpassed the optimal configuration, seven soul rings.
Four ten-thousand-year soul rings, this soul ring configuration even surpassed that of the ninth-level soul engineer presiding over the match.
His first and third soul rings lit up one after another around Long Aotian.
His body slowly swelled, becoming even more robust than before. Immediately afterward, a layer of dark golden luster appeared on the surface of his skin.
Anyone with discerning eyes could see that his first soul skill was likely an amplification of physical abilities, boosting strength, speed, and the like. His third soul skill made his body even tougher, resembling metallization but clearly on a higher level. It somewhat resembled the innate ability of Xiao Hongchen's three-legged golden toad martial soul's third leg.
At this moment, Long Aotian looked as though he was clad in a layer of dark golden armor, his aura imposing. As he charged up to Qiu Yi, his fourth soul ring lit up right behind.
His body seemed to melt like a piece of dark golden metal before being stretched. In an instant, from his arms to the height of his legs, he exceeded five meters. Then his joined arms transformed into a dark golden giant axe.
The giant axe drew back and chopped down fiercely toward Qiu Yi.
Fourth soul skill, Mad God Slash!
During the chopping motion, the dark golden battle axe turned into a jade-like white color. Light rippled, and behind him, a silver-white humanoid phantom condensed into form. This humanoid phantom tightly gripped the handle of the giant axe.
It was precisely the silver-rank Body Martial Soul's second awakening!
Heaven-Man Unity, soul skill, and Body Martial Soul second awakening, the three united as one.
For some unknown reason, Long Aotian had gone all out from the very first move, faintly carrying the intent of deciding the battle in one strike.
"Scatter!" Xiao Hongchen shouted. In this situation, clashing head-on with Long Aotian was clearly unwise. Even if it meant disrupting their formation and ruining their battle plan, they absolutely could not meet Long Aotian force-for-force.
But before the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy team could react, a sharp, piercing wail rang in their ears.
At the rear of the Snow Demon Sect team, the five soul rings around Wei Na instantly transformed into six pitch-black ten-thousand-year soul rings. The fourth-ranked black soul ring blazed with light.
Amid the ear-piercing wail, a ring of distorted ripples could be seen spreading outward with Wei Na's body at the center.
Behind her, a silver-white ball of light flickered, seemingly containing endless circuits; it was clearly the shape of a brain.
Fourth soul skill, Banshee's Howl. A powerful soul skill combining both spiritual and sonic attacks.
This was the harvest Wei Na had obtained when she went to the Extreme North with Lang Ya some time ago. This fourth soul ring came from a forty-thousand-year Snow Demon.
Moreover, she had unleashed Banshee's Howl while in the state of Body Martial Soul second awakening.
Long Aotian and Wei Na, among the entire seven members of the Body Sect, two had already displayed silver-rank Body Martial Soul second awakening abilities.
The distorted ripples instantly expanded outward, affecting everyone in the arena indiscriminately.
On the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy team, Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, and the control-type soul master Lan Xiu, all six-ring Soul Emperors, experienced a brief blank in their minds accompanied by intense weakness. The remaining four five-ring Soul Kings groaned and bled from their mouths and noses.
Meanwhile, the Body Sect members, who were very familiar with Wei Na, had all prepared in advance and blocked their hearing. Long Aotian, who had once fused with an extremely high-quality head soul bone and was in the state of both Heaven-Man Unity and Body Martial Soul second awakening, was affected only minimally.
The battle axe wrapped in blazing white flames chopped down, directly cleaving the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy team's frontline defender, Qiu Yi, along with his silver giant shield and the automatically activated invincible protective barrier, in half.
At the critical moment, Xiao Hongchen had just managed to regain his senses. He shoved Meng Hongchen away from his side and dodged sideways himself to avoid the blazing white light.
However, the other four people behind Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen were not so fortunate. Although they had invincible protective barriers, without exception, they exploded the moment that blazing white light swept past them.
Long Aotian's strike was terrifying to such an extent that even invincible protective barriers could be broken. Of course, compared to Qiu Yi, who had been directly cleaved in two, they should consider themselves lucky.
Before Xiao Hongchen could even catch his breath, Long Aotian, who had returned to human form, transformed his right arm into a giant hammer once again and smashed it toward his head.
This was clearly an intent to kill.
Xiao Hongchen's heart jolted. His golden third leg instantly melted into liquid metal and wriggled into his right hand. With the core array aggregate in his right hand as the center, it rapidly condensed into a golden shield.
"Boom—"
Hammer and shield collided, and terrifying shockwaves immediately rippled outward. Long Aotian remained unmoved, while Xiao Hongchen staggered backward in a sorry state, his blood and qi surging violently as he spat out a mouthful of blood.
The gap in cultivation and realm was fully apparent at this moment. External forces were ultimately just external.
At this time, the remaining five members of the Body Sect had also arrived. They too had each activated their Body Martial Soul second awakening from the very beginning.
Among the five, the youth named Gu Tong was clearly another powerhouse with a silver-rank Body Martial Soul second awakening. A pair of silver-white eyes appeared behind him, and beams of bright white light shot out from his eyes like electricity.
The instant the white light left his eyes, it strangely completed a seven-color transformation, red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, in an instant. The long-range area attack completely suppressed the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy team's firepower.
Moreover, every attack was abnormally precise.
What enabled Gu Tong to achieve this precision was none other than Wei Na. Wei Na possessed a soul skill similar to spiritual detection sharing, but it could only assist a single individual.
On the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy side, only Meng Hongchen was not constantly in danger of fatal crises. After all, she did not have to face Long Aotian, the strongest on the Body Sect side, as Xiao Hongchen did, nor was she like the others whose invincible barriers had been destroyed and who had already suffered injuries earlier.
Still, the pressure she faced was considerable.
Meng Hongchen's opponent was Wang Yanfeng, a six-ring Soul Emperor. Wang Yanfeng's martial soul was a pair of hands. Under the amplification of bronze-rank Body Martial Soul second awakening, the heavy aura of those enormous hands gave the entire competition stage an overwhelming sense of suppression.
With hands as the martial soul, transformations were endless. Excellent in both offense and defense, suitable for both close and long range.
Combined with Gu Tong's long-range soul skill suppression, in the blink of an eye, Meng Hongchen was forced into continuous retreat. Even her sixth-level invincible protective barrier was forced to activate.
And of the other four whose invincible barriers had already been destroyed, three had already died; even the referee had no time to rescue them.
The surviving Lan Xiu was also in an extremely sorry state, with nine silver lights constantly flashing in the air to resist Gu Tong's long-range soul skill attacks.
These nine silver lights were called Nine Radiances and were actually nine soul tools, a special type with tremendous rebound properties against any force or energy impact.
But facing the siege of the Body Sect members, no matter how powerful or special the Nine Radiances were, they could no longer protect him.
The ninth-level soul engineer serving as referee for this match was so furious his face had almost turned green. With him as referee, four members of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy had still died; for him, this was simply an utter disgrace.
But unfortunately, the Body Sect members had planned. Spiritual-attribute soul skills were always known for being strange and unpredictable. As a soul engineer, he was somewhat lacking in spiritual power capabilities. Wei Na's spiritual soul skills also affected him.
Although he did not fear Jing Hongchen, the latter was, after all, the Hall Master of the Mingde Hall and held a high and weighty position. So the first thing he focused on after regaining his senses was the situation of Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen.
It was precisely this mindset that led to the current scene.
"Pfft—" Another mouthful of blood sprayed out. Xiao Hongchen was once again sent staggering back more than ten meters by Long Aotian's shock.
The referee's attention was drawn once more, and the besieged Lan Xiu finally reached his limit.
Among the Body Sect, the only female member, Jiang Yixi, suddenly extended the five slender fingers of her right hand. As golden light flowed, they pierced straight through Lan Xiu's body.
Seeing this scene, Xiao Hongchen's eyes nearly turned red.
"Damn it!" The golden shield once again melted into liquid, forming five golden, sharp claws on his left hand, which he swung fiercely toward Long Aotian.
Five dark golden claw shadows streaked across the sky. By combining soul tools with the left arm soul bone skill Darkgolden Terrorclaw's Darkgolden Edge, Xiao Hongchen had replicated a weakened version of Darkgolden Terrorclaw.
But this was the strongest ability he could unleash in such a hasty burst.
On the opposite side, among Long Aotian's seven soul rings, the fifth black soul ring bloomed with deep light. His body suddenly brightened, and amid blazing white radiance, his entire person seemed to ignite as he spun rapidly and leaped into the air.
Fifth soul skill, Heaven and Earth Change!
The rapidly spinning Long Aotian, relying on his overwhelming strength, forcibly shattered those five dark golden claw shadows. Then, carrying an unstoppable, tragic momentum, he descended from the sky.
By now, only Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen remained alive on the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy team. The referee no longer had to hesitate.
"Everyone, stop right now!"
With an ashen face, he first shot out a layer of crimson light barrier to protect Meng Hongchen, then rose into the air and released an ink-green shield to block Long Aotian's attack.
But what horrified him was that after this eighth-level defensive soul tool endured Long Aotian's Heaven and Earth Change, fine cracks had actually appeared on its surface. And he himself trembled in midair as he was forced back several meters.
"Boom—" The explosion continued to echo in the air.
Xiao Hongchen knelt on one knee on the ground, breathing heavily. In just a few exchanges with Long Aotian, he had already suffered extremely serious internal injuries. Not to mention that he had just forcibly circulated soul power while injured to unleash Darkgolden Terrorclaw.
He looked at Long Aotian, who had landed again with an expressionless face, his own face so gloomy it seemed water could drip from it.
The only thing that gave Xiao Hongchen some comfort was that although Meng Hongchen had consumed a great deal of soul power, she was fortunately uninjured.
On the rostrum, Jing Hongchen's expression was likewise extremely unsightly, his eyes filled with venomous hatred.
"Body Sect! What a Body Sect!"
How could he not see that the Body Sect had come fully prepared and deliberately targeted the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy?
'Hall Master Hongchen, rest assured. These young people are the pillars of the nation. After this tournament concludes, this will naturally make them pay the price,' Xu Tianran narrowed his eyes and sneered.
However, compared to Jing Hongchen, he was pondering more deeply the purpose behind the Body Sect's actions.
The Body Sect was indeed overbearing and acted purely according to their likes and dislikes, but to say they participated in this tournament just to kill a few young talents from the Sun Moon Empire, he absolutely did not believe it.
There must be an even deeper reason behind it.
Combining the information he had obtained some time ago, the corners of Xu Tianran's mouth curved into a faint arc as he sneered disdainfully in his heart.
"As long as you have the guts, come at me."
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