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**
The moment Ling Xiao made this statement, everyone was profoundly astonished. Even Ju Douluo had never anticipated that Ling Xiao would make such a choice.
Ling Xiao continued, "These seven brothers—the ' Strength to Pluck Mountains, Might to Cover the World' brothers—are the seven most exceptional individuals of the Elephant Armored Sect's younger generation."
"I presume they have already learned the coordinated execution methods of the Elephant Armor Formation. I ask that the seven of them take the field and allow me, Ling Xiao, to test the might of this formation. If so, this journey will truly not have been in vain."
Hearing this, Huyan Zhen's eyes flashed as he stared intently at Ling Xiao, as if attempting to peer into his inner thoughts. The other elders of the Elephant Armored Sect could not help but whisper among themselves in low voices.
At this moment, things seemed to have completely exceeded their expectations. Huyan Li's defeat at the hands of Ling Xiao had already, to a certain extent, damaged the prestige of the sect.
However, that had been excusable.
After all, the gap in cultivation between the two was quite significant; even if a boundary was suppressed, it did not make them completely equal.
But if, in the upcoming match, seven individuals besieged a single opponent and the highly representative Elephant Armor Formation of their sect was broken, the resulting impact would be completely incomparable to before.
Through such a challenge, Spirit Hall's prestige would naturally skyrocket, while their Elephant Armored Sect would become the sacrificial lamb.
Could it be that everything before was merely an illusion, and Spirit Hall's true purpose on this trip was indeed to suppress their Elephant Armored Sect along with the other sects?
Unable to figure it out in his mind, Huyan Zhen turned his head toward Chrysanthemum Douluo and said in a heavy voice, "Elder Chrysanthemum, what is your view on this matter?"
"Oh?" Chrysanthemum Douluo's expression shifted slightly, making it improper for him to remain silent any longer. He cleared his throat and felt compelled to say, "It is only normal for young people to be curious."
"After all, the Elephant Armor Formation is one of the rare Soul Master formations on the continent and is immensely powerful. Ling Xiao, looking at your demeanor, you seem to have a plan in mind. Why don't you tell us how confident you are in countering the Elephant Armor Formation?"
Yue Guan's words seemed to subtly inform Ling Xiao of the Elephant Armor Formation's lethality, advising him to back down. Of course, when these words reached the ears of the Elephant Armored Sect's members, they carried a completely different nuance.
Unfortunately, Ling Xiao did not seem to take the hint. Instead, his battle intent surged even higher as he spoke, "Elder Chrysanthemum, the Elephant Armor Formation is the heritage formation of the Elephant Armored Sect."
"Any Soul Master with the Diamond Mammoth Martial Soul must practice it; it would not be an exaggeration to call it their Sect-Guarding Formation. Against such a formation, how could I, Ling Xiao, dare to easily claim victory?"
"However, in a battle between powerhouses, no one ever possesses an absolute guarantee of victory to begin with. Yet, I am willing to pour out every ounce of my strength to seize a chance at victory. I ask Elder Chrysanthemum and Sect Master Huyan to grant my request."
As he finished speaking, Ling Xiao cupped his fists in a polite salute and spoke with deep respect.
"Do you still intend to suppress your soul power to the peak of a Soul Elder?"
"Naturally. Suppressing others through a higher realm is not my desire."
"This is..." Chrysanthemum Douluo could not help but feel caught in a dilemma.
Before this, Ling Xiao had said that the very first stop of this challenge journey would undoubtedly demonstrate the towering prestige of Spirit Hall. He had never expected things to turn out like this.
To tell the truth, he had been extremely satisfied with the match between Ling Xiao and Huyan Li. Huyan Li had exhausted all his strength, yet Ling Xiao had still handled him with room to spare.
This display was naturally enough to manifest the true strength of Spirit Hall.
However, challenging the Elephant Armor Formation was by no means as easy as defeating Huyan Li. Ling Xiao was a novice who had only heard of the formation's reputation but had never witnessed it with his own eyes.
This particular formation of the Elephant Armored Sect was anything but simple.
Once the formation was deployed, their defensive power skyrocketed.
Putting aside the fact that Sect Master Huyan Zhen's personal strength was comparable to Titled Douluo, even if he did not take action, the other six Huyan Clan elders possessing the Diamond Mammoth Martial Soul could deploy the Elephant Armor Formation to similarly resist a Titled Douluo.
Allowing two Soul Douluo and four Soul Saints to utilize a formation to withstand the attacks of a Titled Douluo was a testament to its extraordinary nature.
As for these seven brothers of the Elephant Armored Sect's younger generation, the one with the highest cultivation was Huyan Li, whose cultivation had already reached Rank 37, stepping into the higher tiers of a Soul Elder.
Huyan Ba and Huyan Shan had both reached the mid-tiers of a Soul Elder, while the remaining four were incredibly close to the peak of the novice Soul Elder realm.
Once the seven of them deployed the Elephant Armor Formation for defense, even a power-attack system Soul Ancestor might not necessarily be able to breach their defense. If Ling Xiao did not suppress his own cultivation and fought with his full strength, Yue Guan would actually be at ease.
But it just so happened that Ling Xiao insisted on suppressing his boundary. Under such conditions, it was truly difficult to have complete certainty. If he failed the challenge against the Elephant Armor Formation, all their previous efforts would be completely wasted.
Huyan Zhen's expression shifted subtly. He seemed to discern that Chrysanthemum Douluo had been completely unaware of this challenge against the Elephant Armor Formation beforehand, meaning it was entirely Ling Xiao's personal decision.
However, this Ling Xiao was simply too arrogant.
To actually think of challenging the Elephant Armor Formation using only the soul power level of a peak Soul Elder!
Even if his true cultivation had reached the Soul Ancestor realm, this act was still remarkably insolent. After all, within the traditions of Soul Masters, formations built upon identical Martial Souls were originally designed to combat enemies across higher cultivation realms.
With the defensive capabilities of the Elephant Armor Formation, it was practically unbreachable by anyone in the same realm. Through the battle just now, Huyan Zhen had also witnessed a glimpse of Ling Xiao's Martial Soul.
In his estimation, if Ling Xiao were to strike with his full power, it was not entirely impossible for him to break the Elephant Armor Formation—which was exactly why he had been worried earlier.
But if he only used the realm of a peak Soul Elder to break the formation, he was simply underestimating the Elephant Armored Sect far too much. Ling Xiao's words did not merely cause waves among the many powerhouses upon the high platform.
As they drifted into the ears of everyone surrounding the square, they triggered a massive chain reaction. The people from Spirit Hall were astonished by his actions, while the members of the Elephant Armored Sect felt insulted and belittled.
The admiration they had felt for Ling Xiao just a moment ago instantly soured into dissatisfaction.
"This Ling Xiao is truly too arrogant! He actually wants to fight seven of them at once. He completely looks down on our Elephant Armored Sect. Even if he hails from Spirit Hall and possesses great strength, so what?!"
"That's right! The Elephant Armor Formation is renowned across the continent, famous for its ironclad defensive power."
"How could it be broken so easily? In my opinion, they don't even need the Elephant Armor Formation; just the seven of them joining forces would be more than he can handle. He won't even live to see the formation deployed!"
Insolent, conceited, overbearing. Such tags became the new impressions the Elephant Armored Sect disciples held of Ling Xiao.
However, for Yan, who also hailed from Spirit Hall and shared an incredibly close relationship with Ling Xiao, he did not believe that Ling Xiao would be unable to break the formation. Rather, his focus at this exact moment had shifted to an entirely different matter.
Standing beside Chrysanthemum Douluo, Yan watched as Ling Xiao finished his declaration of challenging the formation, and his lips could not help but twitch violently.
He still vividly remembered that on the very first day they set out from Spirit City, Ling Xiao had explicitly told him that when challenging the descendants of the major sects, they absolutely must behave with humility and avoid being too arrogant.
He had even instructed Yan to praise or even overhype the opponent's strength and Martial Soul as much as possible. Ling Xiao had certainly achieved the part about praising them; over the course of this single match, Ling Xiao had praised Huyan Li countless number of times.
Even though he had clearly defeated the Diamond Mammoth Martial Soul, he had practically hyped it up to the heavens.
But what the hell is this one-versus-seven situation? Didn't you say we should be humble and not act too arrogant?Or could it be, Ling Xiao, that this is already your behavior after holding yourself back?
Or maybe... he completely forgot the first half of his own sentence and only remembered the second half. As he fought, he just got carried away, the hot blood rushed to his head, and he wanted to show off on an even grander scale.
Regardless of which scenario it was, Yan felt thoroughly speechless.
At this moment, he had to admit that when it came to being insolent and arrogant, he was truly a notch below Ling Xiao and felt utterly inferior.
**
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