Having said that, Ya Li felt a bit helpless inside.
Because of this little rascal Arthur, she'd lost count of how many times she'd had to step in.
She felt like she was turning into some kind of combat nanny.
Meanwhile, Mu Ye's figure shot forward like an arrow loosed from the string, weaving swiftly between the buildings.
"Super Douluo, Three-Word Battle Armor." Mu Ye gave a cold snort as Four-Word Battle Armor wrapped around him.
But the gap between them refused to close. Mu Ye began to grow anxious. A Super Douluo with Three-Word Battle Armor was a strength that approached the level of a Limit Douluo.
And on top of that, his opponent was skilled at hiding and fleeing. If this kept up, catching them would be nearly impossible.
The thought spurred Mu Ye to burst forward with everything he had, pushing his speed even further. A threat from an opponent this strong: if Zhen Hua died, it wouldn't matter, but nothing could be allowed to happen to Arthur.
"Hm?"
Ahead of him, the blood-colored shadow suddenly stopped. It was a female evil soul master.
In front of the evil soul master, Ya Li stood quietly.
The two of them boxed the evil soul master in between them. Ya Li's gaze settled on her: "Making a move in Shrek City, you've got some nerve."
The evil soul master's expression turned grim, secretly regretting having let her cravings override her better judgement just now.
Her cultivation required absorbing blood, and Arthur's overwhelming vitality along with his seemingly limitless recovery ability held a lethal allure for her.
If she could just catch Arthur, she could feast on his blood to her heart's content every single day.
Under such temptation, she hadn't been able to resist making her move, even here in Shrek City.
Looking at it now, it seemed she'd acted rashly. There was no getting away without paying some price.
The evil soul master raised her hand, and a strand of blood-red thread emerged, swaying gently in the air as though it might turn into a lethal strike at any moment.
"Two Limit Douluo-level combatants," the evil soul master licked her ruddy lips, her voice hoarse yet tinged with a sickly excitement, "going to such lengths for a mere junior."
Ya Li's eyes turned slightly cold. "If you make a move in Shrek City, you should be prepared to be left behind here."
Mu Ye couldn't be bothered with words. With his Four-Word Battle Armor active, if he got close enough, this evil soul master wouldn't survive a single blow.
Unexpectedly, the evil soul master, who seemed ready to fight to the death, suddenly had her body burst apart, scattering into strands of blood-colored light flying in every direction.
She didn't flee in a single direction but scattered every which way, vanishing without a trace in an instant.
That was the uncanny thing about evil soul masters: once they were set on fleeing, they were nearly impossible to catch.
But this particular evil soul master happened to specialize in blood.
Mu Ye happened to be something of a specialist himself when it came to blood and vitality.
He extended his Spiritual Power, and just as he was about to make his move, Ya Li, across from him, employed a far more efficient method.
As it happened, Ya Li was the same type of soul master as Arthur.
She, too, could use summoning arts.
"Brother Ming!"
Spirit Beast, Yun Ming!
Just as Ya Li kept constant watch over Arthur to protect him, Yun Ming likewise always kept a portion of his Spiritual Power trained on Ya Li.
The instant she called out,
the sky tore open, and a colossal spear capable of holding up the heavens plunged down from the rift.
The moment the spear's shadow fell, a terrifying pressure swept across heaven and earth, as though the entire world had been drained of color, suppressed beneath that single spear.
In the next instant, a hand appeared out of nowhere and slowly closed around the sky-piercing spear.
With a flick of the wrist, space within a radius of several thousand meters froze instantly around him, and the scattered strands of blood-colored light seemed to hit a pause button, hanging motionless in midair.
The evil soul master's blood-escape technique was rendered utterly useless before Yun Ming.
"This is impossible." The evil soul master's voice rang out from within the blood light, disbelieving.
Yun Ming didn't respond. He merely gave the spear a light shake, its tip quivering faintly.
"Condense."
A single simple word, yet it seemed to carry the will of heaven and earth itself.
"Aaaaah!"
A shrill, agonized scream tore out from within the blood light. Under the crushing pressure of that invisible force, the crimson energy compressed and twisted again and again, until at last it coalesced in midair into a somewhat translucent figure.
It was a woman in a blood-red gown, her face pale yet touched with a sickly beauty, her eyes filled with shock and terror.
Without waiting for her to speak, skipping the interrogation entirely, Yun Ming flicked his wrist again, and the spear gave a light, upward flick.
The instant the spear tip touched forward, a thin thread of golden light sank into the evil soul master's forehead, between her brows.
Her body shattered inch by inch within the golden light, until not even a trace of residue remained.
Ya Li walked over to Yun Ming's side and said softly, "Thank you, Brother Ming."
Yun Ming smiled faintly and reached out to gently ruffle her hair. "This is simply my duty."
He turned to look at Mu Ye. "Body Douluo, you've had a hard time of it."
Mu Ye nodded, counting it as a greeting.
Even though Yun Ming was more formidable than him, he couldn't afford to lose face. After all, the head of the Body Sect held a status equal to that of the head of the Sea God's Pavilion.
Meanwhile, Arthur was busy intimidating Chang Gongyan and Lin Yuhan.
"You two really do have some nerve!"
Arthur looked thoroughly furious. "How dare you try to assassinate me and the Divine Craftsman!"
Honestly, even though he himself knew nothing about the matter, Chang Gongyan had already given up on trying to explain. He simply waited quietly to die.
There was no way to explain this at all.
"I..." Chang Gongyan opened his mouth, but in the end only let out a sigh. "Ugh."
"It wasn't us!" A crisp voice rang out from behind Chang Gongyan. Lin Yuhan poked her head out, her expression stubborn.
"That attack came straight out of your teacher's body." Arthur's face was full of lingering fear. "I nearly died."
"I, I mean it wasn't us." Lin Yuhan's eyes grew moist, and under the pressure of everyone's stares, she started shedding little pearl-like tears.
"Ugh." Chang Gongyan couldn't bear to watch anymore. "It truly wasn't us, but if you want to kill me, I have nothing to say against it. I only ask that you spare my disciple here."
"Actually, letting you two go isn't out of the question." Arthur said, after getting Zhen Hua's agreement. "But you'll need to agree to one condition of mine."
Chang Gongyan and Lin Yuhan both looked up at the same time, a flicker of nervousness in their eyes.
"What condition?" Chang Gongyan asked, his voice low.
"Your Blacksmith Association over on the Xingluo Continent is going to supply me with all my forging materials, free of charge."
That's it?
Chang Gongyan was stunned. He completely failed to notice that the looks from those around him had shifted from anger to pity.
Free resources acquired: +1.
A month passed quickly, and a new semester began.
Arthur's Soul Power had climbed to level fifty-six. Even at the Soul King rank, his cultivation speed remained terrifyingly fast. At this rate, he'd become a Soul Emperor before he even turned fifteen.
But what was even more terrifying was his combat record. Between single-handedly killing two evil Douluo and his forging ability as a Level Seven Holy Craftsman, his cultivation speed was actually the least remarkable thing about him.
Inside the classroom.
Wu Changkong stood on the podium, bored, watching the busy students below, looking a little helpless.
Having students who were too talented was its own kind of headache. They could barely even hold class anymore.
By now, the first-year students' Battle Armor progress was more than halfway complete. It was estimated that within another six months, the plan for every student to have their own One-Word Battle Armor would be realized.
Whether their bodies could actually withstand it was another matter entirely.
Of everyone, Gu Yue was the busiest, since she also had to design Arthur's Two-Word Battle Armor, while leaving room for it to be upgraded to Three-Word Battle Armor later.