As expected, Ma Xiaotao immediately condensed a flame attack, intercepting the Grade-4 Soul Cannon shell with ease.
But before she could celebrate, Zhou Sichen's soul tool flashed again. The shoulder-mounted soul cannon vanished, only to be replaced by a massive soul cannon turret!
A Grade-4 Soul Cannon Turret—if fired at full power, it could threaten even a high-rank Soul King and potentially harm a regular Soul Emperor, especially considering how much soul power Ma Xiaotao had already consumed!
Zhou Sichen leisurely assembled the soul cannon turret, while Ma Xiaotao gritted her teeth in frustration.
And she couldn't stop him.
Because right beside Zhou Sichen, his three powerful soul beasts stood guard, watching her like hungry predators.
"Damn it!" Ma Xiaotao cursed under her breath.
Seeing this, Dugu Yan and Ling Luochen couldn't help but stifle laughter, while the rest of the audience was left in shock.
The three contracted soul beasts had already exceeded everyone's expectations. And now, with the appearance of this Grade-4 Soul Cannon Turret, it was clear—Zhou Sichen was also a Grade-4 Soul Engineer?!
And someone capable of operating a Grade-4 Soul Cannon Turret was no mere beginner—he had to be an advanced Grade-4 Soul Engineer!
Not only was Zhou Sichen's martial soul exceptionally powerful, but his talent as a Soul Engineer was just as monstrous!
Up on the high platform, Xuanzi and the others completely confirmed that Zhou Sichen was indeed a Grade-4 Soul Engineer, and a wave of shock filled their hearts.
This child... keeps bringing us miracles.
Not only had he, with just three soul rings, made Ma Xiaotao completely helpless against him, but he also had the ability to counterattack?!
Ma Xiaotao knew she couldn't just sit and wait for defeat. But she had no chance to close in and eliminate Zhou Sichen!
Even a fellow rank-63 Soul Emperor would struggle to approach him, unless they had instantaneous movement abilities.
Although Ma Xiaotao already possessed leg soul bones, making her faster than even some Agility-type Soul Masters of the same level, she still didn't attempt a direct attack on Zhou Sichen.
Because given her current condition, it wasn't possible.
Forget the soul power consumption—just the Ultimate Ice from the Ice Jade Scorpion alone was too much of a counter to her!
And if she did get close, could she really defeat that Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear?
The bear might lack ranged attacks, but in close combat?
That 9,999-year-old Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear could potentially overpower Ma Xiaotao in melee!
Not to mention, she only had less than thirty percent of her soul power left!
In less than a minute, Zhou Sichen had already finished assembling the soul cannon turret. He looked at Ma Xiaotao with a smile.
"Senior, although you weren't at your peak when the match started, I gave you plenty of chances. Don't go saying I won unfairly, alright?"
The moment he finished speaking, dozens of metal shells blasted toward Ma Xiaotao, trailing fiery streaks through the air.
Even she had no choice but to prioritize defense.
Her fifth soul ring lit up once more—Phoenix Cloud-Piercing Strike!
A massive fire phoenix emerged, burning away all the incoming soul cannon shells!
Ma Xiaotao remained airborne, but her soul power had now dropped to barely ten percent...
Zhou Sichen, still relaxed, began loading another round of cannon shells.
After all, someone like Ma Xiaotao, a top-tier genius, wasn't going to go down so easily.
But at this point, Ma Xiaotao finally realized something was wrong.
Zhou Sichen... still had soul power left?!
He had already fired a Grade-4 Soul Cannon and activated a Grade-4 Soul Cannon Turret, yet he still had energy?
And let's not forget—he had also used three thousand-year soul skills!
Since when did soul cannons not require soul power to charge?!
The truth was that, thanks to Zhou Sichen's unique cultivation, activating Contracted Soul Rings barely consumed any of his own soul power—because his Contracted Beasts could cultivate on their own.
And as for his soul cannon and turret—they had all been modified.
Although not completely perfected, they had been redesigned to greatly reduce soul power consumption.
If one looked closely, they would notice that rare ores and metals had been integrated into the construction of both his soul cannon and turret.
These rare materials could store energy in advance, allowing the user to save a significant amount of soul power.
The only drawback was that it shortened the lifespan of the soul tools, meaning they needed frequent maintenance.
But for Zhou Sichen, this was a minor issue—in fact, it even helped him refine his craftsmanship and techniques.
With the soul cannon reloaded, Zhou Sichen fired another barrage at Ma Xiaotao.
Once again, dozens of Grade-4 Soul Cannon shells locked onto her.
Ma Xiaotao furrowed her brows.
If... if only I had chosen to recover my soul power earlier... would I still be in this situation?
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Dozens of shells streaked through the sky.
This time, Ma Xiaotao didn't try to directly withstand the bombardment. Instead, she flew even higher into the air while activating her first soul skill, Phoenix Fire Line.
Although Phoenix Fire Line wasn't as powerful as Phoenix Cloud-Piercing Strike, its intense heat caused the soul cannon shells to overheat and explode prematurely!
Using her superior flight capabilities, she successfully dodged another round of soul cannon fire.
Her soul power was completely drained.
And that's when the Hellflame Bird saw its chance for revenge.
With a fierce cry, it shot into the sky, chasing after Ma Xiaotao!
Now that Ma Xiaotao had no soul power left...
She was nothing more than a bird that could fly.
Without her soul power, she could no longer unleash powerful attacks to counter the Hellflame Bird.
Despite not having fully reached the 10,000-year level, the Hellflame Bird's combat strength was already comparable to an ordinary 10,000-year soul beast.
Otherwise, it wouldn't have survived Ma Xiaotao's fifth soul skill earlier.
If the Hellflame Bird ever broke through to the 10,000-year level, it would be able to confront Ma Xiaotao head-on—no longer needing to retreat like before!
Was being suppressed?
And by a mere rank-38 Soul Elder?
If anyone had said this before, no one would have believed it!
But now, it was happening right before their eyes...
Zhou Sichen was not a normal Soul Elder.
Three thousand-year purple soul rings.
Three 9,999-year contracted soul beasts.
A Grade-4 Soul Engineer.
Plus, Ultimate Ice's absolute suppression over Ma Xiaotao.
And with her already weakened state...
Regardless of the circumstances, Zhou Sichen had suppressed Ma Xiaotao.
A Soul Elder had completely overpowered a Soul Emperor.
This was an undeniable fact.
On the high platform, Xuanzi and the others gazed at Zhou Sichen with expressions of pure admiration.
Especially considering that Zhou Sichen's background was clean, and that his grandfather had ties to Yan Shaozhe and the others...
Wasn't this basically a gift from the heavens to Shrek Academy?
But just as this thought crossed their minds...
Ma Xiaotao finally reached her breaking point and let out a furious phoenix cry.
"You think I would lose?! I am the Flame Demon, Ma Xiaotao!"
Her entire body ignited, flames twisting and changing.
Seeing this, Yan Shaozhe's face changed.
"This is bad!" he muttered, instantly vanishing from the high platform.
He scolded Ma Xiaotao in a low voice, "Xiaotao! What are you doing? This is just a sparring match—he's your junior!"
Hearing her teacher's reprimand and feeling the gentle, radiant energy flowing from his hand, Ma Xiaotao's blood-red eyes gradually regained clarity.
With a pained expression, she murmured, "Teacher... I can't suppress it anymore!"
Yan Shaozhe immediately understood—her Phoenix Evil Fire was about to erupt.
This was exactly why Ma Xiaotao frequently challenged Ling Luochen—she needed to release some of her Evil Fire.
Of course, Ling Luochen was proud as well. Even though she had lost to Ma Xiaotao many times, she never willingly helped her suppress the fire.
Instead, their battles were always fought at full strength—Ma Xiaotao tried to defeat Ling Luochen, while Ling Luochen tried to overwhelm her and suppress the Evil Fire in the process.
However, since their elemental attributes were of the same level, and Ma Xiaotao's Phoenix Evil Fire was even stronger, the suppression effect was always very limited—especially considering that Ma Xiaotao's cultivation was far above Ling Luochen's.
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