With the blessing of flames, the arrow's penetration was terrifying. Dragon scales were like ice and snow, melted by fire. The arrow pierced through Long Chen's defense, breaking skin.
When flames of over a thousand degrees came into contact with flesh, black, scorched smoke instantly curled from his arm. The heart-piercing pain twisted Long Chen's face.
Yun Ze landed steadily. The moment his feet touched the ground, he once again drew his bow and loosed another arrow.
Long Chen, ignoring the pain, quickly tried to dodge to the side—but his speed was far too slow compared to the arrow. His arm was struck again.
"Ah!" Another miserable scream rang out as Long Chen toppled to the ground. The flesh where the arrow had hit was burned black by the flames.
"Boom, boom, boom…" The Nine-Headed Firebird continuously spewed fireballs, each like a small meteorite, crashing down toward Long Chen.
Long Chen scrambled to his feet and dodged rapidly, pouring his soul power into his body without reservation to ease the burning pain in his arm.
The phoenix flames clung stubbornly, burning in his flesh as if eternal. They had to be suppressed with soul power, or else they would spread through his entire body.
"Huff… huff…" Long Chen barely managed to avoid the fireballs. One hand pressed against his arm, and he gasped heavily.
His eyes were filled with vicious cruelty as he glared venomously at Yun Ze, as though he could devour him whole.
Yun Ze ignored Long Chen's gaze. He stomped his foot and shot forward like an arrow, bringing a gust of wind that made the flames behind him waver.
"Good timing!" Long Chen roared, stamping down hard as well and charging at Yun Ze.
His fighting style relied mainly on close combat. Now that Yun Ze was approaching of his own accord, this was his chance.
When they were close, Yun Ze leapt, his arm wrapped in flames, and threw a punch. A dignified phoenix cry echoed.
The flames on his fist took the shape of a phoenix. The might of the punch was like a phoenix diving, carrying shocking pressure and searing heat.
Bang! Fist met fist, and the clash of strength stirred up a violent shockwave. Pain shot through Long Chen's arm as he staggered back in disarray, losing in pure force.
Yun Ze, leaping in midair without a foothold, was pushed back by the collision but landed smoothly due to his excellent control in dispersing the impact.
At the moment of impact, the flames on Yun Ze's fist poured out like a flamethrower, spewing fierce fire.
The suffocating heat hit Long Chen head-on. He quickly shut his eyes and crossed his arms to block in front of him.
The blazing flames engulfed him. His soul power defenses couldn't fully withstand such high temperatures, and much of his skin was burned.
Long Chen was now truly in a miserable state—his clothes were charred and tattered, exposing large areas of blackened skin.
Surrounded by flames, even if he forced the fire on his clothes out with soul power, it would ignite again, so he didn't bother wasting energy on it.
Instead, he focused his soul power on protecting the cloth over his lower body—that piece of clothing could not be lost.
Boom, boom, boom… Just as Long Chen steadied himself, more fireballs came crashing down, leaving him no time to recover—only to dodge.
At that moment, Yun Ze predicted Long Chen's movement. His second soul ring lit up—the Phoenix Skyflame Arrow.
As the soul ring glowed, Yun Ze charged forward. Behind him, fiery wings of a phoenix took shape. With a leap, the wings beat, lifting him six or seven meters into the air.
He formed the motion of drawing a bow, and a flaming longbow appeared in his hands. Phoenix patterns adorned its limbs, and a flame arrow rested on the bowstring.
This bow and arrow were clearly larger and more powerful than his previous ones. The arrow itself was like a phoenix, ready to strike.
A phoenix cry rang out as the arrow left the string. The fiery bird spread its wings, diving toward Long Chen at great speed, leaving a trail of fire in the air.
A powerful sense of danger surged in Long Chen's heart. He looked up in shock, the flaming phoenix growing larger in his pupils.
Before he could react, the arrow pierced through his right chest. The sharp sting of torn flesh and the burning agony of flame gnawed at him together.
"Ahhh!" Long Chen let out a wretched scream as the phoenix arrow carried his body away.
Behind him, Yun Ze's phoenix wings beat as he hovered in midair. The flaming bow in his hands dissolved into fire and vanished. He did not attack again.
The battle was already over—there was no need to strike further. In fact, if he had wished, he could have killed Long Chen outright just now.
But he did not. The arrow to Long Chen's right chest was a deliberate choice, sparing his life for the moment.
Long Chen's body skidded far across the ground. When he finally stopped, he shot Yun Ze a resentful glance before losing consciousness.
The wound on his right chest was charred black, smoke curling from it. The blood seeping out was scalding hot, and the air was filled with the stench of burnt flesh.
The entire arena fell silent. Everyone was stunned, their expressions varying from shock to disbelief.
"Am I… am I seeing things? Long Chen got completely crushed, hardly able to fight back?" one student asked shakily, doubting his own eyes.
"I… I don't think so," another replied, though uncertainty laced his tone.
After a brief moment of dazed silence, the crowd erupted into heated discussion. They looked at Yun Ze as if he were a monster.
Gu Yuena's face bloomed into a radiant smile. Just as he had said, defeating Long Chen was no problem.
Yun Ze descended slowly, his phoenix wings fading away. With a wave of his hand, the flames on the ground swiftly gathered toward him, merging into his body.
Within seconds, the battle platform was cleared of all fire. Without sparing Long Chen a glance, Yun Ze stepped down.
Defeating Long Chen gave him no special feeling—it was as ordinary as completing a routine task.
Gu Yuena hurried down from the stands, running toward him.
At the rear of the stands, several elderly men still wore expressions of astonishment. Having watched the entire match, they had yet to recover.
"As expected of someone with innate level-20 soul power—what a peerless monster! Remarkable, truly remarkable!" one elder praised excitedly.
The other four nodded in agreement. To fight across a twenty-level gap and dominate the entire time—such talent was terrifying.
"I originally thought Yun Ze's talent with soul tools far surpassed his talent as a soul master. Now it seems that's not the case at all."
"His soul master talent is just as frightening as his soul tool talent," the elder in the center sighed in admiration.
This elder was none other than Xu Lin, the principal of Sun Moon Royal Academy.
When he first heard of the conflict between Yun Ze and Long Chen, he didn't stop it—instead, he brought people to watch.
He had wanted to see Yun Ze's combat strength for himself, so why would he interfere?
The result shocked him. He had thought Long Chen would win, but Yun Ze triumphed instead—and by such a massive margin.
"This child must be cultivated with full effort. In the future, he will surely surpass Yun Ming," one elder said seriously.
It was high praise indeed. The "Yun Ming" he spoke of was the continent's most recognized strongest man—headmaster of Shrek Academy, a rank-99 Extreme Douluo, and a Four-Word Battle Armor Master.