Chapter 98: One Person Decides the Victory
During this period, there were also soul masters with flying abilities who were preparing to escape through the sky.
But
"Oh, I almost forgot."
It was like a whisper from a demon in hell.
The emerald barrier that originally blocked the four directions began to extend upward, forming a dome that completed a sealed space.
Seeing this, the students trapped inside panicked. The hopeful smiles that had emerged when they thought they could escape using flight vanished, replaced entirely by terror.
Confined spaces were extremely effective at breaking people's psychological defenses.
"Give up, give up!"
As the Abyssal Flames intensified, many could no longer bear the pressure and shouted frantically, afraid that Ling Shuang might not hear them. It wasn't until the emerald barriers fell and the flames were retracted that their nerves slowly settled.
In less than three minutes, over sixty percent of the core disciples had surrendered.
Of course, there were still some who held on.
Ling Shuang wasn't in a rush to deal with them. After all, Jiang Nannan and the others were still mid-battle. He might as well take the chance to relax a bit.
"There's no other way. I'll have to go all out!" Bei Bei looked at the towering emerald walls, gritted his teeth, and summoned every ounce of soul power in his body.
He had tried to break the barrier many times, but it hadn't shown the slightest damage.
Although the Abyssal Flames Ling Shuang unleashed weren't particularly powerful just casually cast they still forced him to burn soul power constantly to defend against them.
If he didn't find a way out, his soul power would eventually run dry, and he'd be defeated anyway.
Better to try everything he had than lose so pathetically.
Bei Bei's soul rings suddenly lit up.
Ferocious dragon claws sparked with electric light. Behind him, a massive dragon head formed of lightning appeared, crackling with destructive force.
Thunder Dragon Claws. Thunder Wrath. Thunder Dragon Head!
Bei Bei unleashed all his power at once. His soul power surged as the massive dragon head swung its claws toward the emerald barrier.
Boom!
A thunderous explosion echoed.
Bei Bei's pupils contracted sharply.
Cracks did appear on the emerald barrier but it began to glow, and from it surged a pulse of powerful life energy. It wasn't gentle it was overwhelming.
Bei Bei, having just used everything he had to launch that attack, could barely raise his arms to shield himself.
But he was already drained.
There was no way he could block an attack as powerful as the one he had just unleashed.
His defense shattered instantly. His body was launched like a cannonball into the ground. Blood sprayed from his mouth, and he lost consciousness on the spot.
Another down.
Ling Shuang retracted his gaze and shook his head.
He had assumed they'd learn from how often he used this technique.
Apparently, he had overestimated them.
To be fair, Bei Bei's all-out attack might have worked on a normal emerald barrier. But Ling Shuang wasn't stupid he noticed Bei Bei preparing his attack and reinforced the section of barrier in advance.
Not only did Bei Bei fail to break through, but he also triggered a violent rebound.
If Bei Bei had been familiar with Ling Shuang's barrier and stuck to physical attacks like Thunder Dragon Claws instead of mixing them with the elemental Thunder Dragon Head, he wouldn't have suffered such a devastating backlash.
But Bei Bei wasn't the only one who made that mistake.
Boom!
Another explosion rang out. He Cai tuo collapsed. His already dark skin was now pitch-black from the blast.
As a soul engineer, he had attempted to use a level 5 energy cannon.
The result? Predictable.
He wasn't equipped with any defensive soul tools, like an invincibility shield, and his food-type martial soul meant his own defenses were practically nonexistent.
He had no way of resisting the rebound.
If Ling Shuang hadn't restrained the backlash and if Elder Xuan hadn't acted in time, He Caitou would've been critically injured or even killed.
One by one, more surrendered or were eliminated.
Even Huo Yuhao didn't last.
Although his Ultimate Ice martial soul should have countered flames in theory, Ling Shuang's Abyssal Flames were based on destruction, not temperature, and completely ignored that advantage.
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, sensing the presence of the Snow Empress on Ling Shuang, didn't dare to intervene.
With no way to break the barrier, Huo Yuhao was inevitably defeated.
Moreover, Ling Shuang had "specially taken care" of both Dai Huabin and Huo Yuhao. Their bodies were scorched black by the Abyssal Flames not fatally injured, but Ling Shuang had deliberately left residual destructive energy, guaranteeing their recovery would take significant time.
Meanwhile, Jiang Nannan and the others had finished their fights and all emerged victorious.
In the end, the only ones left standing were Xiao Xiao and Zhu Lu, both of whom had been isolated in areas not targeted by Ling Shuang's Abyssal Flame.
With seven spots available and six already taken by Ling Shuang's side, Ling Shuang had intentionally left one final place.
Xiao Xiao and Zhu Lu stood silently as the emerald barriers dropped, clearly confused about what had just happened.
Then Ling Shuang's voice rang out:
"One of you can still advance. Choose."
The two girls blinked, finally realizing what had happened.
They had been spared.
A chance at selection remained?
"I give up," Zhu Lu said almost immediately, without hesitation.
Xiao Xiao turned to her, eyes wide with shock.
Even if the goal of the selection wasn't clear, just gathering all core disciples meant it had to be important.
Zhu Lu gave up so easily?
"You're more suitable than I am." Zhu Lu didn't explain further. She patted Xiao Xiao's shoulder and walked away.
She truly believed Xiao Xiao, with her twin martial souls, was more qualified.
And now, Zhu Lu no longer had a strong desire to win.
Before leaving, Zhu Lu looked back at Ling Shuang one last time.
If only she had even half his strength...
The dust had settled.
But not everyone walked away in a good mood.
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(End of this chapter)