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**
In the next second, a thunderous boom resounded across the square.
Ling Xiao's punch slammed directly into Huyan Li's chest, his punching force erupting violently like a volcano.
The tyrannical power caught Huyan Li completely off guard. Even with his Elephant Armor Skill circulated to its absolute limit, his chest still caved in slightly. Huyan Li was forced back three consecutive steps by the massive force.
With each step, a terrifying weight crashed into the ground, causing the green flagstones to fracture inch by inch. The final step carried the greatest force, completely shattering the flagstone beneath his foot into powder.
Having blocked Ling Xiao's punch, Huyan Li stared wide-eyed, gritting his teeth as he looked at Ling Xiao with a solemn expression. He could not help but think to himself: What terrifying strength!
He had never expected that Ling Xiao's raw physical strength would actually surpass his own.
Originally, he believed that although Ling Xiao had a higher cultivation, had absorbed a fourth soul ring, and possessed the strength boosted by a body-refining technique, it would at most make him roughly equal to himself.
This was not an underestimation of Ling Xiao.
But rather because tool martial soul masters were naturally inferior to beast martial soul masters in terms of strength within the same realm. Although his own cultivation had not yet reached the Soul Ancestor realm, he was still a Rank 37 Soul Elder.
The Diamond Mammoth was also an exceptionally formidable beast-attribute martial soul, and its amplification of the physical body was by no means inferior to top-tier martial souls.
Combined with the Savage Elephant Vigorous Method and the Elephant Armor Skill—two body-refining techniques that offered an incredibly pronounced boost to the physical body—
He was confident that based purely on his physical body, he would not lose to a top-tier beast martial soul master at the early stages of the Soul Ancestor realm.
As a tool martial soul master, Ling Xiao used a body-refining technique to make up for his physical shortcomings, so his strength should have been roughly on par with a master of a top-tier beast martial soul.
That was why Huyan Li had made such an assumption.
But looking at it now, he had completely miscalculated. Ling Xiao's strength was a cut above even beast martial soul masters of top-tier status in the same realm. Could it be that he was uniquely blessed with innate divine strength?
Huyan Li thought to himself in shock.
On the other side, Ling Xiao was also secretly amazed.
When his fist struck Huyan Li's chest just now, he only felt that the surface of the physical body was extraordinarily tough, almost unlike a human's. It felt as though he had truly struck a colossal elephant soul beast with a cultivation of nearly two thousand years.
His torso was like elephant hide, incredibly resilient.
It was highly likely that the rare heavy bows and powerful crossbows equipped by the military within the Star Luo Empire would fail to cause any noticeable damage to him unless they were deployed in massive, structured formations.
Tang San's Godly Zhuge Crossbow would be the same; only large-scale utilization could pose an effective threat to him. This was still under the condition that Huyan Li had not even used his martial soul.
Furthermore, this was likely only the minor achievement stage of the Elephant Armor Skill. Once the Elephant Armor Skill reached grand achievement, it would be like donning a precious suit of armor, granting shocking defense.
Even without using soul power to stimulate the technique, ordinary bows and crossbows could be completely ignored.
If paired with the powerful blood and Qi cultivated from the Savage Elephant Vigorous Method, his physical body would practically rival a giant soul beast with a cultivation of over ten thousand years.
Ordinary lethal poisons would also be virtually unable to affect him.
The body-refining methods of the Elephant Armored Sect were truly extraordinary.
A trace of admiration emerged in Ling Xiao's eyes, and he felt a keen excitement for the challenge. This battle today would surely allow him to reap a bountiful harvest.
From their brief clash just now, he could already deduce a few things.
It seemed that the defense of the Elephant Armor Skill focused more on the surface of the body, while the strengthening of the internal body relied more on using the majestic blood and Qi cultivated by the Savage Elephant Vigorous Method to temper and expand.
Therefore, its defensive effect against the condensed, fierce force of the Eight Extremes Fist was exceptionally outstanding.
However, if he were to use the method of the Seven Injuries Fist to try and transform his soul power force into internal force, striking it deep into Huyan Li's body to attack from the inside, he might be able to break the defense of the Elephant Armor Skill.
Nevertheless, Ling Xiao did not intend to actually try using it. After all, the force of the Seven Injuries Fist was far too insidious, easily causing internal injuries and damaging the internal organs to leave hidden ailments.
It was better not to use it. Moreover, to him, Huyan Li was an opponent worthy of sparring and exchanging pointers with, not an enemy. How could he use such ruthless methods just to secure a victory?
That simply did not align with his style of doing things.
"Sticking to your ground without dodging or evading to take my punch head-on—what a powerful defense. However, Huyan Li, how many more punches can you block?"
The moment the words left Ling Xiao's mouth, his figure flashed, turning into a black shadow as he rushed toward Huyan Li.
His speed was so fast that his exact physical form could not be seen clearly, resembling a streamer of energy constantly crisscrossing around Huyan Li's body. At the same time, his fists continuously struck out, targeting Huyan Li's entire body.
Although the force of his punches could not compare to the concentrated burst from earlier, it was not far off. Ling Xiao knew that due to the style of Huyan Li's martial soul and body-refining techniques, his strength and defense were powerful, but his body was heavy.
While he had more than enough explosive power, his agility was lacking. Therefore, Ling Xiao deployed the Profound Sky Swift Fist, using speed to overcome slowness, attempting to break the defense of his Elephant Armor Skill through this method.
However, compared to three years ago, the current Profound Sky Swift Fist had undergone a massive improvement.
Previously, the Profound Sky Swift Fist relied purely on the powerful propulsive force of the Explosive Steps to boost speed, combining it with the condensed, fierce force of the Eight Extremes Fist.
While its might was decent, every single step taken would shatter the ground and emit a booming sound. Although it was incredibly violent, it inevitably appeared somewhat stiff and rigid.
At present, the Profound Sky Swift Fist integrated a Lightness Technique that Ling Xiao had conceptualized and created.
As he leaped and shifted in all directions, he combined soul power circulation to lighten his body with a portion of the Explosive Steps technique to enhance the explosive power beneath his feet.
Not only was he swifter than before, achieving extreme speed, but he was also exceptionally agile and incredibly difficult to evade.
The loud, bursting noises no longer echoed out; his body was light, his turns were far more flexible, and the overall power of the technique had increased by thirty percent.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
A continuous series of muffled, thunderous cracks rang out.
Given the speed of the Profound Sky Swift Fist, Huyan Li could not dodge much at all.
He could only do as he did before, circulating the Elephant Armor Skill with all his might to defend, while occasionally throwing out punches of his own to intercept and withstand Ling Xiao's offensive.
The two instantly locked into a fierce close combat.
With Huyan Li as the center, Ling Xiao continuously threw out punches to launch his assault, his movements incredibly swift and his strikes fast as the wind. It was as if he had transformed into a black whirlwind trapping Huyan Li inside.
Intense gusts of wind tore through the air, letting out howling screeches. When the two exchanged blows, their physical bodies clashing directly, muffled thuds echoed out continuously.
Each sound felt as though it slammed right against the hearts of the spectators.
At the same time, a massive amount of soul power shockwaves rippled outward, resembling air cracking open, to the point where the surrounding space seemed to warp with faint ripples.
As the soul power fluctuations constantly radiated, the astonishing pressure of energy caused many Elephant Armored Sect disciples around the square to widen their eyes in shock.
Setting aside those Elephant Armored Sect disciples whose cultivation levels were below that of a three-ring Soul Elder, even those soul masters who had already attained the Soul Elder realm or had gone a step further to reach the four-ring Soul Ancestor realm felt a wave of astonishment at this moment.
They had never expected that the two individuals on the square, with their highest cultivation not even exceeding the Soul Ancestor realm, could actually wage such a fierce battle without using their martial souls.
The aftershocks generated by their combat could be said to be almost on par with the impact caused by two high-level Soul Elders fighting with their martial souls fully unleashed.
**
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