The Glory of the Sun and Moon in the Peerless Tang Sect

Although Xiao Hongchen didn't unleash that golden third leg, the power of his right leg was still astonishing.

Xu Zihuang's golden eyes flashed, and his right leg pressed down instantly, sinking into the granite floor along with Xiao Hongchen's right leg.

Xiao Hongchen quickly calmed down and kicked Xu Zihuang with his left leg, accompanied by a violent blast of air.

Xu Zihuang followed suit, using his left leg to block Xiao Hongchen's attack as well.

This time, Xiao Hongchen felt it more clearly. Even without the amplification of the soul bone, Yu Tianhuang's left leg was still not as big as he had expected.

The two men's legs collided repeatedly, each impact creating a deep crater in the granite floor beneath their feet. Both were moving at incredible speeds, leaving the audience dazzled.

Contrary to their expectations of intense clashes involving various soul skills and soul tools, the final stage was instead filled with bizarre close-quarters combat. And both sides were using only their legs.

On the city wall, Duke Dai Hao of the White Tiger solemnly reminded Xu Jiawei, "Xiao Hongchen's talent is far superior to that girl who used poison before. Your Majesty, you must take these two siblings seriously."

"Xiao Hongchen's mutated martial soul, the Three-Legged Golden Toad, is indeed very powerful. Even for those specializing in Soul Masters, it has the potential to become a top-tier expert." Xu Jiawei nodded in deep agreement, then changed the subject and sighed.

"The situation in the Sun and Moon Empire is becoming increasingly uncontrollable."

Dai Hao nodded and said, "Fortunately, the situation within the royal family of the Sun Moon Empire is chaotic. Besides the eldest prince, Xu Tianran, there are several other princes who covet the throne, and the forces behind these princes are extraordinary. Before the successor is determined, the Sun Moon Empire should not make any major moves."

"Let's watch the match first." Xu Jiawei's gaze was drawn to the battle between Xu Zihuang and Xiao Hongchen on the field.

After another exchange, Xiao Hongchen suddenly leaped more than twenty meters into the air. His golden third leg shone brightly, then extended like a highly malleable metal, stomping down towards Xu Zihuang below the arena.

This isn't some kind of soul skill, but rather an innate martial soul instinct possessed by his Three-Legged Golden Toad martial soul.

A deafening roar echoed through the sky, and the floor where Xu Zihuang was standing collapsed instantly after Xiao Hongchen stomped his foot, sending dust billowing up.

Xiao Hongchen seemed to sense something, his brows furrowed slightly, and he looked up at the sky.

"Buzz—" A sound similar to ice crystals condensing rang out, and a piece of dark red crystal, as thin as a mirror, condensed in mid-air. Xu Zihuang stomped his right foot on it with all his might, his whole body flipped in the air, and his right heel slashed fiercely towards Xiao Hongchen.

Xiao Hongchen was startled; this was the first time he had seen Yu Tianhuang's second soul skill used in this way. Caught off guard, he could only instinctively cross his arms in front of him to block.

As he blocked with both arms, the golden membrane on his body rippled like water.

Although Xiao Hongchen's three-legged golden toad martial spirit possessed astonishing power, it was limited to lower limb strength. In comparison, the strength of his arms was much inferior.

His arms were slightly bent as Xu Zihuang's right heel struck the ground, and then he fell to the ground with a loud bang.

The floor beneath Xiao Hongchen's feet shattered instantly, forming a crater nearly five meters in diameter and more than half a meter deep. Yet, his three legs firmly supported his body, and the golden membrane on his body continued to pulsate.

This golden membrane is the toad skin of his three-legged golden toad martial spirit, impervious to water and fire, and extremely resilient. Moreover, it can greatly mitigate the impact.

Of course, this so-called invulnerability to water and fire only refers to ordinary water and fire. When facing fire-attribute or water-attribute soul skills, it can at most give him a certain degree of resistance.

This is also the martial spirit instinct of his three-legged golden toad martial spirit.

Xu Jiawei's words just now weren't without merit. Xiao Hongchen's three-legged golden toad martial soul is indeed extremely powerful.

With the help of this toad-like skin to mitigate the impact, Xiao Hongchen still felt a surge of energy within his body, but at least he was not injured.

He grinned and smiled slightly at Xu Zihuang, who landed gracefully.

"That move was powerful and very effective."

As soon as he finished speaking, the smile on his face vanished abruptly. The bulge on his back emitted a soft golden glow.

His first and third spirit rings shone simultaneously, and then he waved his hands, scattering hundreds of metal balls and dense metal powder.

These metal spheres floated in mid-air, completely enveloping him.

A bizarre scene unfolded: from the core of these hundreds of metal spheres, metal cannon barrels sprouted forth. In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a hedgehog-like figure.

His first and third soul skills are called Metal Control and Metal Formation, respectively. The metal spheres he threw earlier were actually the core arrays of soul-guided cannons, and the cannon barrels were formed by him through his control of metal elements.

This is the ability of Xiao Hongchen's three-legged golden toad martial spirit; he can control any type of metal. He can even absorb energy from rare metals to aid his cultivation.

Otherwise, how could he have cultivated to the Soul King realm at such a young age?

The second and fourth spirit rings replaced the first and third spirit rings in terms of brilliance.

His second soul skill is called Boiling Gold, and his fourth soul skill is called Sacrifice Gold.

The effect of the Boiling Metal is to greatly enhance the activity of the metal soul power of his three-legged golden toad, multiplying his control over metal in a short period of time, and also allowing him to absorb a large number of metal elements in the air for his own use.

The sacrifice of gold involves burning the condensed metallic elements to generate enormous energy to power the soul-guided cannons.

In other words, he no longer needs to consume his own soul power to use the soul cannon.

It was also because of this fourth soul skill that he was able to activate hundreds of level-five soul guide cannons with his Soul King level cultivation.

Countless golden specks of light appeared in the air, surging wildly towards Xiao Hongchen's body with the force of an ocean embracing all rivers. Each speck of light shimmered with a faint golden halo, as if it were burning.

The intense metallic aura instantly boiled over.

As these golden light spots merged into his body, all 128 level-5 soul-guided cannons on Xiao Hongchen's body began to emit dazzling light. With a series of clanging sounds, these cannons automatically bent and calibrated, all pointing at Xu Zihuang.

A terrifying storm of soul power swept in, and in this continent-wide advanced soul master academy battle tournament, Xiao Hongchen finally revealed his true strength.

In close combat, he did not have much of an advantage over Yu Tianhuang, and after the exchange just now, he had to admit that.

But he is, after all, a Soul Master. Soul Tools are his real advantage.

Xiao Hongchen revealed a genuinely confident smile.

High-explosive shells, blazing shells, shock shells, and explosive shells—all types of level-five soul-guided projectiles—along with various level-five soul-guided rays such as disintegration rays, paralysis rays, and freezing rays, erupted simultaneously, blotting out the sky and completely covering the half of the arena where Xu Zihuang was located. Many of these soul-guided projectiles and rays possessed the ability to lock onto targets.

He didn't intend to win with a single blow, because he knew that Yu Tianhuang's fourth soul skill could imprint other people's soul skills. Jiang Nannan's invincible golden body soul skill, which she had displayed at Shrek Academy, was a strong counter to the abilities of soul masters.

He believed that Yu Tianhuang was very likely to replicate such a skill.

His goal was simply to force Yu Tianhuang to use it. After all, with the Soul Skill "Golden Sacrifice" in hand, casting these level-five soul-guided cannons wouldn't consume his soul power. Maintaining the state of "Golden Sacrifice" was enough.

Just as Xiao Hongchen had predicted.

The deep black fourth spirit ring beside him shone brightly, and a strong golden light rose from Xu Zihuang's body, turning into a light shield that covered his body.

Invincible Golden Body!

No matter what soul-guided projectiles or soul-guided rays landed on or around him, they could not have any effect on him.

When Xiao Hongchen erupted, he had actually used his second soul skill, Mirror Annihilation, to try to control Xiao Hongchen in advance. However, the energy that erupted from Xiao Hongchen's body in the state of Golden Sacrifice was too great, so much so that his dark red crystal shattered before it could condense.

With such formidable strength, Xiao Hongchen truly deserves to be called the number one genius of the Sun Moon Empire.

Xiao Hongchen knew very well that the invincible golden body could only last for three seconds. Moreover, carrying so many soul-guided cannons on his body was too cumbersome. He clearly couldn't let Yu Tianhuang get close to him easily in the current situation.

In order to make the most of his advantages, he moved his three legs in succession, and while carrying at least several thousand pounds of metal cannon barrel, his body was retreating at a rapid speed.

What started as close-quarters combat turned into this all-out outburst, something none of the spectators had anticipated.

But that didn't stop them from cheering. In this final, apart from the very first team fight, this match was the most thrilling.

Bathed in a hail of soul-guided rays and cannonballs, Xu Zihuang, seemingly driven to the brink of despair, remained remarkably calm, standing rooted to the spot. His golden eyes gleamed, and even his body was enveloped in a powerful golden light.

Then a shimmering golden, illusory vertical eye suddenly appeared behind him, and as soon as this golden eye appeared, the originally gloomy weather gradually changed.

The drizzle suddenly stopped, the dark clouds gradually dispersed, and a ray of golden sunlight fell directly on Xu Zihuang, giving him an aura of majesty as if he were a king ruling the world.

Xiao Hongchen was momentarily dazed, and then, when he came to his senses, he felt a strong and indescribable palpitation.

In shock, he quickly increased his firepower, frantically firing soul-guided cannonballs and soul-guided rays. The cannon barrels melted due to the high temperature, but he quickly used his soul skills to condense new metal cannon barrels again.

The roar continued, and the three-second invincible golden body was about to expire.

Lang Ya and Yu Tao, who were in a corner of Xingluo Square, paled drastically. Yu Tao even cried out in a low voice, "Second Brother, we guessed right, it really is—"

Before he finished speaking, the illusory golden vertical eye behind Xu Zihuang began to solidify, and its color changed from golden to black iron, then bronze, then silver, and finally to an incomparably dazzling gold.

If you look closely, this solid, golden vertical eye is Xu Zihuang's golden pupil magnified countless times.

A golden light flashed, and all four spirit rings on Xu Zihuang's body disappeared. His body slowly floated up, hovering in mid-air.

The students from Shrek Academy and Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy stared wide-eyed. Even with the barrier of the soul guide shield, they could feel the wildly rising aura emanating from Xu Zihuang.

Even with Elder Xuan's extensive knowledge, he was filled with disbelief.

"How is this possible? A second awakening of a Gold-level Body Martial Soul?!"

Shocked, he also felt an unbearable headache.

Yu Tianhuang possesses a second awakening of his innate gold-level body martial soul, enough to drive that old monster of the Body Sect mad.

Even if it means becoming enemies with Shrek Academy, or even fighting to the death, they would probably not hesitate.

A massive golden vertical beam floated up and enveloped Xu Zihuang's body. A golden halo flickered, and a layer of violently distorted golden light instantly spread outward from his body.

The dense array of soul-guided projectiles and soul-guided rays fired by Xiao Hongchen were completely annihilated in the distorted golden light.

In the next instant, Xiao Hongchen's pupils dilated, and the more than one hundred metal cannon barrels on his body turned back into metal powder. He knelt down blankly, as if he had become a soulless shell.

All of this happened in an instant.

Even though Huang Jinxu, the Heavenly Fiend Douluo, arrived at Xiao Hongchen's side after a brief moment of distraction, he was still half a step too late.

He quickly reached out his right hand and placed it on Xiao Hongchen's shoulder to check on Xiao Hongchen's condition. Two yellow, two purple, and five black spirit rings appeared one after another from beneath his feet.

Xiao Hongchen suffered no physical injuries, but a strange spiritual force had appeared within his soul power. Even with his Title Douluo-level strength, he was unable to expel it.

Xu Zihuang landed back in the center of the competition platform. The gloomy sky cleared up, and the warm sunlight scattered onto the platform and then quickly expanded outwards.

The excessive depletion of his mental strength, soul power, and even life force left him feeling extremely exhausted, but the ability of his original martial soul to awaken a second time was clearly imprinted in his mind.

"Gold-level Second Awakening".

He never expected that what he controlled was the power of a second awakening of a Gold-level Martial Soul.

Master Ma, Meng Hongchen, and other students from the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy rushed onto the competition stage to check on Xiao Hongchen's condition. Xu Zihuang glanced over and said, looking exhausted.

"He is not in any danger and will recover after a period of rest."

"I hope that after the competition, you can also help Senior Brother Xu and the others detoxify." He was obviously saying this to Meng Hongchen.

After saying this, Xu Zihuang's consciousness began to blur. Stinging pain, fatigue, exhaustion, and all sorts of negative sensations surged from within him.

However, before he could fall, an incredibly powerful soul force lifted his body up, and before he completely lost consciousness, he only vaguely felt himself falling into a warm and soft embrace.

Old Ma picked up Xiao Hongchen and glared angrily at the Shrek Academy students.

Elder Xuan, who had just used his soul power to support Xu Zihuang, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"What, trying to rebel? My disciple said it's nothing, so this student of yours won't have any problems. To put it bluntly, if someone dies, you should blame the referee. According to the competition rules, in order to demonstrate their true strength, the participating students must go all out. The referee is in control of the competition, so if someone dies, it's the referee's fault."

"Oh, right. There's something I must make clear. Immediately after the competition, detoxify my disciples. If any injuries occur, it will be your responsibility, and you won't need to return to the Sun Moon Empire."

Elder Xuan's words were spoken without much variation in tone, yet they struck the hearts of everyone at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy like a heavy hammer.