The fierce wind whipped his clothes relentlessly, making them flutter like a turbulent sea. Wang Zhong’s emerald green eyes, however, showed a stark contrast to his attire, exhibiting a calm, serene quality akin to a clear spring, undisturbed by any ripple.
With his arms crossed over his chest and his right foot retreating to brace against the arena, Wang Zhong’s muscles tensed. He stared directly at the fire phoenix, which flapped its wings, seemingly intent on destroying the heavens and earth. He allowed the opponent, with its mountain-crushing might, to slam into him.
The impact was earth-shattering. A terrifying gale swept through the land, soaring upwards. The overflowing power crushed the shattered stones generated by the collision into dust.
Wang Zhong’s body was forced back by this immense force, his braced foot dragging long, deep furrows across the platform. He was pushed back for nearly ten meters when suddenly, a storm of ice and fire erupted in his eyes. He stomped his right foot down, and the arena behind him exploded under the force of that blow!
Unable to retreat further, Wang Zhong had, with this move, halted his backward momentum. He had used his physical body to bear the brunt of this attack, imbued with terrifying power, standing like an eternal reef against the tide of force, unmoved.
The phoenix flapped its wings, desperately pushing forward, but Wang Zhong had forcefully stopped it. A clang of metal striking metal echoed between them.
Spreading his arms wide, a wild laugh spread across Wang Zhong’s face. He let the phoenix, like a mere gnat, strain with all its might, trying to shake his towering tree.
With his bare body alone, without employing any soul power or soul skills, Wang Zhong had withstood this powerful strike that could easily shatter mountains.
The might of the Eight Extremes Heaven was displayed in its entirety at this moment!
His physical body, a weapon, revealed its ferocity!
This body was one of invincibility, of no damage, of indestructibility!
In the spectator stands, everyone continuously swallowed their saliva, attempting to alleviate the dryness in their throats. The scene before them caused their minds to reel and their bodies to tremble.
A soul master’s body could truly possess such power.
The shattered stones were ground into powder by the sheer force, yet Wang Zhong’s body had endured it all.
“Is his body truly made of flesh and blood like ours?”
“The sound of metal on metal, coming from a person’s body! It must be forged from steel!”
“Why! Why does such a monster exist in the world of soul masters!”
“Are we truly the same age and in the same grade!”
Amidst the crowd’s exclamations of awe, a voice filled with extreme despair and dejection emanated from Class C of the first year.
Feng Yuansheng watched Wang Zhong’s figure, chest puffed out, blocking the fire phoenix. His heart was filled with bitterness and powerlessness. He, who had once prided himself on his physique, had always believed that even if he lost to Wang Zhong, he could one day surpass him with continuous diligent training.
But the scene before him made him realize how foolish his thoughts had been.
The phoenix was like an ant, let alone his own insignificant ferocious tiger.
He could not compare, he could not compare!
The so-called geniuses were truly beings that everyone looked up to.
Although Class A and Class B were only separated by one level, it was like a chasm between heaven and earth. He could not leap over it, nor could he cross it. He could only stand on the other side of the chasm, gazing up at the figure standing on the mountaintop. Even with all his effort, he could not catch up to that retreating back, and instead, the gap widened.
Until that figure ascended to the stars, while he was still struggling in the depths of the precipice.
“Such a body is truly exaggerated.”
On the high platform, Yue Guan’s voice trembled. The attacks from Si Qianyi and the other five were indeed powerful, but in his eyes, they were still insufficient. However, the terrifying reality of Wang Zhong enduring this attack with his bare body left him deeply unsettled.
“With flesh and blood, to rival a top-tier tool spirit! Such powerful physical hardness and strength, I have only seen it in one person.”
“The Holy Spirit Church, the Fourth Elder, the Titan Demon, Ning Wudi!”
Ning Wudi, that was the name of the Fourth Elder of the Holy Spirit Church.
Ghost Charm’s hoarse voice, at this moment, also carried a tremor, his shock at Wang Zhong’s performance being impossible to conceal.
The Fourth Elder of the Holy Spirit Church was a Titled Douluo, while Wang Zhong’s current strength was that of a Soul Ancestor! And how old was he? Eight years old!
Although Wang Zhong’s strength and physical hardness could not compare to the Fourth Elder of the Holy Spirit Church, at his age and with his cultivation level, he displayed a shock comparable to a Titled Douluo.
This reality made Ghost Charm’s mind feel dizzy and muddled!
Compared to the shock of Yue Guan and Ghost Charm, Bibi Dong’s eyebrows were tightly knitted. Wang Zhong’s body had once withstood the full force of the Purple Winged Spider Emperor’s attack in front of her, and she knew how terrifyingly strong that small frame possessed.
But now, she noticed something different: Wang Zhong’s complexion was somewhat pale.
On the arena, the smile on Wang Zhong’s face had vanished. The phoenix’s power remained, showing no signs of dissipation, but his body was showing an anomaly. He had vaguely sensed this anomaly the first time he withstood the Purple Winged Spider Emperor’s attack.
This body, comparable to a tool spirit, actually had a flaw and had sustained damage at this moment. This damage was not from external forces but from within.
Having undergone the tempering of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Valleys, Wang Zhong’s Eight Extremes Heaven could be considered to have reached a high level. Its hardness far surpassed those so-called top-tier tool spirits, yet he never expected that while his body was strong, his internal organs were not much stronger than before.
Under the continuous impact of the fire phoenix’s immense power, they had suffered damage of varying degrees.
“As expected, the foundational body required to endure eight hellishly cruel worlds for an entire year to cultivate the Eight Extremes Heaven is not as easy as I imagined.”
“The simulated training environment, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Valleys, immortal herbs, medicinal ingredients, and the existence of soul power allowed me to take a shortcut, greatly shortening those eight years. But the drawback has now been fully exposed.”
“Although the body is as hard as iron, the lungs and heart remain fragile!”
The paleness on his face became more pronounced. Under everyone’s gaze, Wang Zhong suddenly spat out a mouthful of bright red blood, which splashed onto the fearsome, powerful phoenix before him.
“Zhong!”
Below the stage, Hu Lena’s hands were clenched tightly, her face, along with the blood Wang Zhong had spat out, turning ashen.
“I’m done playing with you!”
With blood in his mouth, Wang Zhong raised his right arm, his palm held high, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
“Eight Extremes Heaven, Third Form, River Sever!”
With a loud shout, his right arm descended heavily. The world fell silent at this moment.
The spectators seemed to see a beam of sword light descend from the heavens, carrying the majesty of the divine, arriving in the mortal realm to obliterate all.
The massive fire phoenix split in two in mid-air, the broken edges smooth and clean. Its colossal body toppled to either side, exploding with a roar. The tsunami-like force surged in all directions.
It blew all the spectators askew.
However, this was far from over. The arm Wang Zhong had swung did not stop in mid-air. His body bent down with the swing of his arm, only stopping when his fingertips touched the arena.
The moment his fingertips touched the arena, the earth trembled and cracked. The entire academy shook at that instant.
An unfathomably deep gash extended forward from Wang Zhong’s fingertips. The arena and the distant spectator stands were split in half by this strike. Even the earth connected to the arena was torn apart, with a thick darkness seeping from it.
In the spectator stands, beside that sword gash, Ghost Charm’s shadowy form spat out the figures of dozens of students. If he had not sensed something amiss beforehand and swallowed these students into his dark mist, these people would have been easily cleaved in two, just like the arena.
On the arena, the twin sisters Luo Pianruo and Luo Wanru watched the dark sword mark that was mere inches away from them. Their bodies trembled incessantly. On their identical faces, there was not a trace of color, their complexions ashen, like gold leaf.
The distance from death was but inches away from them.