Ma Hongjun was drilling a hole with his gun. The turtle shell was like ice, requiring the flame at the tip of the gun to penetrate little by little and melt it.
Originally, they thought Ye Zhi Qiu would be a coward, but unexpectedly, he actually lit up his fourth spirit ring.
In fact, limited by normal thinking, no one would have thought that Ye Zhi Qiu was not just a defensive spirit master.
The seven Canghui Academy disciples had already sneered, waiting to see the miserable state of Ma Hongjun and the others.
They knew very well how powerful Teacher Ye was. How could a teacher who was chosen to lead the team to the Star Dou Great Forest be a defensive spirit master?
Basically, anyone who faced Teacher Ye for the first time would be defeated by Teacher Ye due to misjudgment.
Their Teacher Ye currently had five spirit skills: one defensive, three control, and one offensive.
And the fourth spirit ring that was lit up now was the fourth spirit skill, an offensive spirit skill.
"Mysterious Ice Ground Spikes!"
Three white ice crystal sharp cone-shaped spikes suddenly emerged from under Ma Hongjun's feet.
"You old bastard!"
Wisps of black energy were already seeping into the ground beneath Ye Zhi Qiu's feet.
Ma Hong Jun was still diligently drilling his spear when suddenly a chill ran through the ground.
"Whoosh!"
Ma Hong Jun cursed, leaping up instantly. His lower body was already covered by the Flood Dragon Scale Armor, and three ice spikes appeared like an ice flower where he stood.
If he hadn't reacted quickly, he would have been pierced by the ice spikes, especially the one in the very center, which was aimed directly at his groin.
This was the opponent's thousand-year soul ring skill, and given the difference in soul power, this attack could very well have crippled Ma Hong Jun's lower body. He
had almost been caught off guard, which fueled a deep anger within Ma Hong Jun.
This misjudgment truly tested his ability to react quickly. If it weren't for the accumulated combat experience of the past three years, and the fact that this was his first time facing a Soul King, even though he had judged the opponent to be defensive, he had remained cautious.
However, the sudden shift from defense to offense still surprised him. If it weren't for the Flood Dragon Scale Armor, he would have suffered a serious loss.
Although the opponent's ice spikes were sharp, they were still only a thousand-year-old soul skill. Ma Hongjun's dragon scale armor also came from a thousand-year-old soul beast, and a seven-thousand-year-old one at that. Even with a difference in soul power, this level of attack was not enough to penetrate the dragon scale armor's defense.
It just hurt a little!
Ye Zhi Qiu was even more shocked. The ice spikes had clearly pierced the opponent, but he didn't see any effect.
He didn't give up and continued to use the soul skill.
"Mysterious Ice Ground Spike!"
Another ice flower appeared where Ma Hongjun was about to land.
However, even with a well-intentioned attack, it didn't work. Now that Ma Hongjun was on guard, it was even less likely to be effective.
Ma Hongjun's second soul ring lit up, and with a loud shout to show off, he shouted,
"Explode!"
The Dragon Soul Spear pointed downwards, and a ball of purple flame energy appeared at the tip of the spear.
"Bang!"
The purple flame ball exploded in the ice flower, and countless ice shards shot out in all directions, causing damage to everyone around.
Xiang Chengxian and Zhu Zhuqing reacted quickly; when the ice blocks flew towards them, they activated their martial spirits, using their cat and tiger claws to block them.
On the other side, the students from Canghui Academy were unlucky; their reactions were slow, and their strength was insufficient to block the flying ice blocks.
"Ahhhhh!"
Four lucky students were hit.
Ye Zhiqiu, determined, continued to attack Ma Hongjun with his Xuanbing Ground Spikes.
"Useless, old turtle!
Don't you have any other tricks?"
Ye Zhiqiu frantically searched for Ma Hongjun's landing point, but after using the Phoenix Playing with a Hundred Birds technique, Ma Hongjun's figure was unpredictable and his movements strange; Ye Zhiqiu couldn't predict Ma Hongjun's movements at all.
Left with no other choice, he used his fifth soul ring.
"Xuanbing Rain Curtain!"
Centered on Ye Zhiqiu, dense black energy rose into the air, condensing into black droplets that rained down within a three-meter radius of him. The
black raindrops were extremely dense, completely covering the area; it was impossible to dodge them with mere movement techniques.
"A Hundred Birds Encircling the Phoenix!"
After two years of practicing this spear technique, Ma Hongjun had achieved an impenetrable defense.
The Flame Spear danced in Ma Hongjun's hand, forming a circle around him, enveloped in purple flames.
The black raindrops couldn't penetrate Ma Hongjun's defenses at all.
However, things were much worse on the other side. Dai Mubai, who was closer, was hit by the raindrops. The black raindrops instantly turned into ice upon landing on him, freezing his body.
Soon, Dai Mubai was encased in ice.
At this moment, Ye Zhi Qiu's fourth spirit ring lit up again!
"Xiao San, save Mubai!"
Ma Hongjun shouted. Tang San, who was three meters away, reacted quickly, his Purple Demon Eye constantly monitoring the battlefield.
As Dai Mubai was frozen, his Blue Silver Grass had already entangled him.
With a whoosh, Dai Mubai was lifted up by the Blue Silver Grass and pulled into Tang San's arms.
Just as Dai Mubai left the ground, an ice spike flower appeared where he was.
Ye Zhi Qiu's expression grew increasingly grim. This was the first time he had faced such a monster. Despite being weaker than him, the opponent's flame spear completely countered him.
His most powerful technique was the freezing control of his Xuan Water. His second, third, and fifth soul skills were all powerful control skills, but they couldn't even penetrate the opponent's body. The purple flames on this little monster's body were extremely abnormal; his icy Xuan Water was instantly vaporized upon colliding with the purple flames.
At this moment, Ye Zhi Qiu had no more tricks up his sleeve. It seemed that only his first soul skill, Xuan Turtle Protection, was still somewhat useful.
After a moment, the black rain curtain disappeared; powerful area-of-effect soul skills couldn't last long.
Ma Hong Jun continued to pierce the turtle shell with his flame spear.
Ye Zhi Qiu had completely cowered, ready to poke his head out at any moment, only to be met with a spear flash from Ma Hong Jun's gun.
The Xuan Shui's chilling aura was incredibly strong, and even Dai Mu Bai, encased in ice, used his third soul skill.
"White Tiger Vajra Transformation!"
Without the continued support of the black raindrops, the ice's power gradually weakened, and under the White Tiger Vajra Transformation, Dai Mu Bai quickly shattered the ice covering his body.
"Brothers, use the needles!"
Ye Zhi Qiu was now holed up in his shell, and Ma Hong Jun needed time to poke him open with his gun.
"Here they come!"
Tang San was the first to use his needles. The previous battle had been mostly Ma Hong Jun fighting alone; now he could finally make his move. His speed and technique with hidden weapons were far superior.
Tang San flicked his finger, and between his ten fingernails, golden light flashed as ten fine, dragon-whisker-like needles shot towards Ye Zhi Qiu.
Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai were different. They dared not put the Dragon Beard Needles under their fingernails, so they slowly took them out of their storage soul tools before shooting them out.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..." The whooshing sounds
continued incessantly.
"Clang clang clang..." The clanging sounds
also continued incessantly.
At this moment, the skill of their hidden weapons became apparent. Although Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai had higher soul power than Tang San, the power of their Dragon Beard Needles was not as strong as Tang San's.
Tang San's use of hidden weapons was like Ma Hongjun's spear technique—deeply ingrained. Therefore, he could pour all his power into the Dragon Beard Needles without waste, coupled with tricky angles.
The tortoise shell also had patterns, like the gaps between scales, and Tang San's Dragon Beard Needles specifically targeted these spots to penetrate.
Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai's attacks were much more chaotic. Most of Dai Mubai's Dragon Beard Needles were bounced back and failed to penetrate.
Ma Hongjun's needles, due to their soul power synergy and greater strength, were more powerful. Even if they weren't aimed directly at the patterns, they could still penetrate them, though only embedding them, not completely burying them.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
The three fired continuously, quickly releasing over a hundred needles.
"Stop, that's enough!" Ma Hongjun called for
a halt when Ye Zhi Qiu couldn't hold on any longer and his martial soul state vanished.
Continuing to fire would likely result in death; Ye Zhi Qiu was merely arrogant and domineering, not inherently evil. There was no need for a bloodbath.
At this moment, one had to admire the formidable defense of Ye Zhi Qiu's Xuan Turtle. Even the Dragon Beard Needles fired at full power by the three couldn't penetrate his body.
The turtle shell was an outer layer of defense; when the Dragon Beard Needles pierced the shell, they had very little force left, essentially losing soul power support and curling up upon contact with his flesh.
Therefore, Ye Zhi Qiu's chest and back were now only covered in rashes.
This was mainly because the three men had no intention of killing him, so they didn't aim for his vitals. If they had targeted his groin like they did with Ma Hongjun, the outcome would have been different.
Ma Hongjun remembered this, which is why he only stopped after shooting over a hundred needles.
At this moment, Ye Zhi Qiu was already rolling and screaming on the ground, but the more he rolled, the more intense the pain became.
The seven students rushed over.
"Teacher Ye, what's wrong?"
"Teacher Ye..."
A lotus flower appeared in the female student's hand, and two yellow spirit rings appeared. Her second spirit ring lit up, and drops of green water appeared from the lotus, falling onto Ye Zhi Qiu's body.
Under the healing effect of the green water, Ye Zhi Qiu stopped struggling and his painful screams ceased.
At this moment, Ye Zhi Qiu was lying on the ground with his eyes rolled back.
Ma Hongjun walked over, and the six male disciples quickly and fearfully hid, only the woman stood in front of Ye Zhi Qiu.
"Teacher Ye has already lost, can't you let him go?"
"Don't think too much, I just came to get a needle removed!"
"Xiao San, you come too!"
Removing the needle is painful and a difficult process, and this Ye Zhi Qiu is not Zhao Wu Ji!
As Ma Hong Jun and Tang San turned him over and over to remove the needle, Ye Zhi Qiu screamed again!
"Don't be so arrogant in the future, and keep your people in check.
You're not staying at this hotel tonight; seeing you makes me uncomfortable!"
After a pause, Ma Hongjun glanced at the female student again and continued,
"Except for you!"
The fight was over, so they went back to eat.
This battle gave everyone some experience; quick thinking and reaction time are crucial. You must always be vigilant against any opponent, especially when you don't know their soul skills, as their abilities can be completely unexpected.
Who would have thought that Ye Zhi Qiu's defensive spirit would develop into a control and attack-oriented one?
And Tang San's Blue Silver Grass—who would have thought it would be poisonous?
So, as always, fight seriously!
After dinner, because of Ma Hongjun and his group's impressive performance, they spent a lot of money to book the entire hotel.
The hotel itself wasn't very big; it barely accommodated their group of thirteen teachers and students, leaving only a few rooms available.
Unlike the boys who usually shared rooms, the four girls each booked a room by themselves!
Xiang Chengxian and Zhu Zhuqing, both with cold and assertive personalities, were used to staying alone. Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong, who were usually inseparable and should have shared a room, weren't together tonight.
It was late at night!
Tang
San and Dai Mubai were sharing a room. Tang San tiptoed out of bed.
Dai Mubai was also awake.
Dai Mubai: "Xiao San, what are you doing!"
Tang San: "I'm going to the bathroom."
Tang San went out but didn't return. After a while, Dai Mubai also went out.
He noticed Xiang Chengxian's door was ajar and, out of curiosity, went to take a look.
Just then, Ma Hongjun arrived at Ning Rongrong's door, which was also ajar.
The two brothers exchanged a glance, chuckled, and without a word, simultaneously pushed open their doors and quietly went inside.
In the dead of night, some people toss and turn, unable to sleep!
While others,
damn it, are deliberately trying not to sleep!