Over a dozen snowbeast constructs stood side by side one another to form a singular ring. It was a sight that amazed everyone. To be situated at the center of all that was surely a sure death…
“Roar!! Roar!!”
With the amount of snowbeasts surrounding Ma Xucheng’s person, hardly anyone outside the ring could see what was going on with him other than a red glow of light. It started as a small flicker at first, but then in no time at all, the flicker exploded in intensity and with a tremendous roar!!
The roar came from the ox-headed soulbeast puppet of Ma Xucheng, but there was an intensive glow of light that came from another gigantic figure.
It was a second soulbeast! A horse-like soulbeast that was also a class seven soulbeast! Ma Xucheng was using two of them to fight!
Both soulbeasts were roaring loudly now. Their voices were loud enough to startle even the snow petals falling around them. This was a sign of Ma Xucheng about to attack!
There was a third sound which wasn’t quite as loud as the two roars, but everyone realized what it was as soon as they heard it. Several of the bystanders shivered before using their soulforce to steady themselves.
“This is a…a soul attack!”
Bai Yunfei realized as soon as the warm sensation of the Soul Sentinel Scarf flowed through his body. Ma Xucheng was opening up the battle with a soul attack! And it wasn’t just one soul attack! The other two soulbeasts were using a soul attack as well!
Everyone could feel the soul attack to some degree, but its effects weren’t as strong on them since they weren’t the primary targets. Regardless, the explosive might of the three soul attacks were strong, and it would be without a doubt extremely powerful against Zhang Lengyi, the actual target!
“Clang...bang!!”
Suddenly, two distinct sounds came forth from within the blizzard. The air blustered frantically with the outflux of energy before two of the giant snowbeasts disintegrated into pieces without warning. There was a secondary sound of rustling wind before a shadow flew out from the blizzard zone like a speeding bullet!
This person was Zhang Lengyi!! He flipped several times through the air as he tumbled away, but eventually, he came to a stop and managed to recompose himself by catching a foothold onto a platform of frost beneath his feet.
Nearly half of the snowbeasts inside the blizzard fell apart at once, seemingly losing all form of power when Zhang Lengyi was forced out from his Domain!
“Crack!!”
A violet thunderbolt fell down from the heavens, striking down onto a giant snowbeast to the left of Ma Xucheng and rendering it apart.
“Bang!!”
An intense ball of fire shot out from one of Ma Xucheng’s soulbeasts, turning another snowbeast into a puddle of water.
The two soulbeasts charged from behind Ma Xucheng with an explosive leap to take care of the remaining snowbeasts that hadn’t yet collapsed.
“Pcht….”
Standing far away from the Domain, Zhang Lengyi straightened his back. Pale in the face, the elder spat out a mouthful of blood!!
The crystalline blade in his right hand shook non-stop with blood dripping down onto it. His right hand had parts to it where the flesh was parted.
“Whoosh, whoosh…”
Peals of wind blew through the area without rhythm and blew snow petals further, expanding the Domain in an irregular-shaped circle. But these snow petals that were farther out from the original zone wasn’t charged with Zhang Lengyi’s energy. They were just ordinary petals of snow that soon melted away into thin air when they flew outside of the zone…
Visibility within the blizzard was soon restored back to ordinary levels. Only one person was left standing in that area, and that was Ma Xucheng of the Beast Taming School. In front of him were two large soulbeasts standing solemnly where they were in the air. They looked as if they didn’t even move in the first place, and their auras looked as calm as ever.
He looked up at Zhang Lengyi, a look of contempt and pure loathing appeared on his face. “You’re but a worm that dreams itself a butterfly.” He sneered.
“Pcht!!”
Zhang Lengyi’s mouth twitched again. So angry was he at the words spoken to him!
A mouthful of blood escaped from his lips again, and with that mouthful of blood so did his strength. It seemed that his soul had taken a tremendous blow from the battle so far…
“……”
Watching from the sidelines, the entirety of the audience was completely still. Some of them looked to the calm-faced Ma Xucheng, and then to the deathly-pale Zhang Lengyi. A few of the audience didn’t even know what to think.
It had been only a moment! Just only a moment!! A Mid-stage Soul King like Zhang Lengyi, an elder from the Flying Snow School, had been defeated in just a moment! Zhang Lengyi was basically but a child in front of Ma Xucheng!
“This is absurd…is this the strength of the Beast Taming School’s second elder? Two class seven soulbeast puppets and three soul attacks attacking at once…” Bai Yunfei’s eyes danced with uncertainty and shock. This battle left him with no room for doubt, the difference in strength between him and Ma Xucheng was far too massive to even count.
“Three soul attacks were cast at the exact same time almost. This has to be some sort of secret from the Beast Taming School, it’s on a completely different level than my Charm Bracelet’s abilities. Even if Xiao Qi, Long Zhen, and I were to use our soul attacks, it wouldn’t have nearly enough power as this. I have to be careful of any future battles with Soul Kings…”
Bai Yunfei made sure to make a mental note of what he saw for future references.
Ma Xucheng was a Late-stage Soul King, which meant Zhang Lengyi wasn’t even a match for him on that very basis alone. But in this battle, where Ma Xucheng didn’t even move a finger and yet Zhang Lengyi was easily defeated.
It was hard for Bai Yunfei to think about just how strong the combined power of three soul attacks could have one a person. Even a Mid-stage Soul King like Zhang Lengyi wouldn’t be able to deflect or get away from it fast enough. The plan was for him to use a dozen snowbeasts as a diversion to get close enough to Ma Xucheng. But before that plan could be fully acted upon, or even initialized, he was struck. Struck by the soul attacks and his attack blocked by the ox-headed soulbeast before being blasted back.
Not only was his soul injured, but the attack from the ox-headed soulbeast had also managed to snap half of his bones in half and ruptured a few organs. The blow would’ve been devastating if he was a Soul Exalt, but thankfully, he was not. It wasn’t negligible for a Mid-stage Soul King, but he’d live after some time to heal. An injury to the soul, however, wasn’t as easy to recover from and would need a much longer time to heal from.
“What’s wrong, still want to fight?”
Ma Xucheng’s cold voice rang through the air, sparking a bit of indignation from Zhang Lengyi. The muscles on his face twitched and his eyes flashed with humiliation and anger, but there was nothing he could do. Biting his lips, he swiveled around and traveled to where his female student was. Together, the two left the place.
It was the action of a loser, but he couldn’t afford to fight. He didn’t even think he’d win in the first place. What Zhang Lengyi was hoping for was to hopefully cause some damage to Ma Xucheng. In the end, he was dealt such a devastating loss and given no prize to head home with. He would return home a thoroughly beaten man.
Ma Xucheng sneered one last time when Zhang Lengyi left. As the winner and elder of the Beast Taming School, it was beneath him to try and stop the man from leaving. The man was only a Mid-stage Soul King, and to kill a Soul King without further provocation would only further sully that reputation of Ma Xucheng. In any case, the Flying Snow School wasn’t so weak that to kill the elder would have no repercussions. It was even possible that a war might break out between the two schools; a future with more harm than good.
As if having just finished a very trivial task, Ma Xucheng rustled his robes and turned to leave with Lin Dongxiao in the opposite direction…
……
Not a single person in the audience expected for the battle to end so quickly, and so unexpectedly like that. But with both combatants gone, no one found any reason to stay either.
“Damn, it ended that easily? I didn’t even get to see much, what a mood killer…”
Jing Mingfeng muttered in discontent. As if the show he had been waiting for had been abruptly ended, he slinked down from the tree he was standing on to turn away into the forest.
A few other figures were leaping down from the mountain not long after Jing Mingfeng disappeared. They stopped not too far away from the tree he had been standing on before, staring silently at the area before chasing after him…