"How is this possible?!"
Qin Ming was beyond shocked to see his attack so easily neutralized. His opponent hadn't even released a Martial Soul yet, yet he could block the strike barehanded and even devour the flames from the Inferno Grey Wolf's claws.
Suppressing his disbelief, Qin Ming quickly shifted his momentum. He concentrated his flames onto his right leg and swept it out like a whip, trailing a streak of fire.
However, Lin Mu was always a step ahead. He effortlessly parried the kick with his left arm and followed up with a lightning-fast straight kick that sent Qin Ming skidding backward across the stone floor.
"He hasn't even summoned his Martial Soul, yet he's completely neutralizing Qin Ming's flames?" Bai Baoshan's pupils shrank. As a defensive-type Soul Douluo, even he couldn't claim to be entirely immune to the heat of a high-level Soul Emperor's fire.
"Perhaps... the quality of his Martial Soul is simply on a different plane compared to the Inferno Grey Wolf," Meng Shenji said solemnly. He realized they had severely underestimated this young man.
The battle continued, and Qin Ming's alarm grew with every passing second. His opponent's raw physical strength and elemental resistance were greater than his own even without the help of a Martial Soul. If he didn't use his signature skills soon, he wouldn't even be able to force his opponent to take the fight seriously.
"Third Soul Skill: Azure Wolf's Fury!"
Qin Ming roared, his third purple Soul Ring blazing. The flames around him surged violently, turning a deeper, hotter shade of orange-red as he channeled every ounce of his Soul Power into a final, decisive strike.
Even before the claws reached him, the scorching heat wave rushed over Lin Mu. The energy contained within this strike was exponentially more intense than before.
Lin Mu's eyes flickered slightly; he finally felt a trace of pressure worth responding to.
Just as the flaming claws were about to strike his face, a set of sleek, crimson armor manifested around him in a flash of light.
"Nava Armor Fusion!"
Since his Martial Soul's evolution into the Fire Qilin, the quality of the armor had improved dramatically. It radiated an ancient, predatory pressure specifically designed to suppress beast-type Martial Souls.
BANG!!
With a single front kick, without even using a Soul Skill, Lin Mu sent Qin Ming flying. The Soul Emperor crashed into the arena wall like a cannonball, leaving a spiderweb of cracks in the stone.
"What kind of Martial Soul is that?" Looking at the majestic, domineering armor, the three Board Members and Xue Qinghe were stunned into silence. There was no record of such a Martial Soul in the history of the continent.
"A rare mutated armor-type Martial Soul?" Xue Qinghe mused. The defensive properties were obvious, but the sheer physical amplification and fire-devouring ability were terrifying.
Qin Ming pulled himself out of the wall, his eyes looking at Lin Mu with a mix of awe and defeat. That one move proved the gap between them was not a bridge, but a mountain. This man's power was likely at the peak of the Soul Saint realm, if not beyond.
"Your talent is unparalleled. I admit defeat," Qin Ming said, his voice strained. However, his aura didn't fade; instead, it became even more aggressive. "But before I step down, I wish to witness your true strength, at least once!"
As a man who was once the youngest Soul Emperor on the continent, Qin Ming had his own pride. Even if he lost, he wanted to see what he was truly up against.
Lin Mu saw the unyielding fire in Qin Ming's eyes and nodded. "Very well. I will grant your request."
Lin Mu stopped suppressing his aura. Suddenly, the air in the arena became heavy, and one by one, Soul Rings began to rise from beneath his feet.
Yellow. Yellow. Purple.
The first three were standard. The instructors nodded; it was an optimal configuration. But when the fourth ring rose, the entire arena fell into a deathly silence.
It was Deep Black.
"A Ten-Thousand-Year fourth Soul Ring?!" Chief Meng Shenji leaped from his seat, his heart nearly stopping. Bai Baoshan and Zhilin stood up in unison, their faces masks of pure disbelief. This defied every known law of Soul Ring absorption.
"Ten thousand years... as a fourth ring?" Xue Qinghe felt a wave of dizziness. Even as the 'Crown Prince', her fourth ring was only a high-level purple ring. No record in Spirit Hall's secret archives showed such an outrageous configuration.
But that was only the beginning.
The fifth and sixth rings rose, both Black. The pressure in the arena intensified, making it difficult for the students in the distance to breathe. Then, a dazzling, blinding Crimson light erupted, filling every corner of the hall.
The seventh Soul Ring, his Martial Soul True Body ring, spiraled upward. It was a blood-red ring carrying a pressure so immense it made the three Soul Douluos feel like they were facing a Titled Douluo. A faint, fiery phantom of a Qilin roared behind him.
"Red... Red?!"
"A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring!!!"
The three instructors rubbed their eyes, but the crimson ring didn't fade. It was real. A treasure that every Titled Douluo would kill for had appeared on a young man in his twenties as his seventh ring.
Xue Qinghe felt her heart being gripped by an invisible hand. Her breathing became rapid, and her gaze turned intensely predatory. 'Lin Mu... I must have you at all costs.'
Opposite him, Qin Ming's fighting spirit had been replaced by a boundless, soul-crushing shock. Faced with a red ring, his pride was like a candle in a hurricane.
"Teacher Qin, shall we continue?" Lin Mu asked calmly.
Qin Ming took a ragged breath and forced himself to stand straight. "Please... enlighten me!"
He activated his sixth Soul Ring, his strongest ability: "Sixth Soul Skill: Blazing Inferno!" A massive pillar of fire scorched the air as it headed toward Lin Mu.
Lin Mu didn't move. He didn't even devour the flames this time. Instead, he simply tapped into his first ring.