His five fingers clamped down fiercely, gripping Ying Yanyang's fist tightly. Wang Zhong grinned; the flames entwined around the opponent's fist were harmless to him.
With his other hand, he balled it into a fist and unleashed an unreserved straight punch, carrying a terrifying momentum like a collapsing mountain peak, smashing fiercely towards Ying Yanyang.
Ying Yanyang's expression sank. He had no desire to experience Wang Zhong's immense strength with his own body.
Flames blazed fiercely. An equally fiery fist collided heavily with Wang Zhong's punch.
Boom!
A violent blast of energy swept across the entire plaza. Shards of rock flew, their impact causing many teachers and students below to cry out in distress and flee in disarray.
"Yue Guan, Gui Mei, provide a shield!"
On the high platform, Bibi Dong gave a soft order. After just the first exchange, the entire arena could not withstand it and was on the verge of collapse. The collision of their powers was evident.
"Yes, Your Excellency!"
Gui Mei and Yue Guan responded in unison, flying down and positioning themselves on either side of the arena. They extended a hand, and their vast, majestic spirit energy protected the entire arena, conjuring a protective shield woven from black and gold.
The appearance of the shield brought great relief to the teachers and students at the edge of the arena. After only two exchanges, a massive arena, five hundred meters long and wide, was nearly half-destroyed. The scorching storm that swept from within was even more terrifying, almost suffocating them!
Within the shield, using the force from the collision with Wang Zhong's punch, Ying Yanyang instantly broke free from Wang Zhong's grasp and stood on the opposite side of the arena, gently shaking his left hand.
Wang Zhong's terrifying strength, even with the enhancement of his Flame Burning and Tinder spirit skills, was still insufficient.
"First Spirit Skill, Force!"
"Second Spirit Skill, Guard!"
"Third Spirit Skill, Break!"
"Fourth Spirit Skill, Speed!"
As four clear shouts rang out, Ying Yanyang's two yellow and two purple spirit rings slowly rotated beneath his feet.
To Wang Zhong's surprise, he expected the activation of the four spirit skills to cause the flames on Ying Yanyang's body to surge. However, this did not happen.
Instead, due to the activation of the four spirit skills, Ying Yanyang's flames subsided considerably at this moment.
If the previous fiery aura was like a mountain ablaze, wild and surging, then after the activation of the four spirit skills, that fiery aura transformed into firewood in a home furnace, calm and gentle.
Although the fiery aura lessened, Wang Zhong's brows twitched intensely at this moment because the pressure emanating from Ying Yanyang had suddenly increased dozens of times!
Such an amplification was directly comparable to the effect of him using the Eight Inner Gates!
"Flame is power, flame is defense, flame is attack, flame is speed!"
"All my spirit skills rely on flame! The stronger the flame's power, the more my strength will increase exponentially!"
Behind Ying Yanyang, a pair of eagle wings unfurled to the sides, fire lashing out in all directions, seemingly intent on burning everything. With raging flames, he set the entire arena ablaze, even the stones began to burn at this moment.
The formidable might of a single-attribute ultimate spirit master was displayed to its fullest extent at this moment.
"Flame is the source of my own power. Compared to it, the amount of spirit power and the physical constitution can be completely disregarded."
"To push one's own attribute to the extreme, is this the astonishing aspect of a single-attribute ultimate spirit master!"
"If the battlefield against the teacher were in a place of fire or lava, his strength might increase by an astonishing margin!"
"No wonder! No wonder Teacher Xia Xuan, the third-year homeroom teacher, could kill a Titled Douluo who was nearly two spirit rings stronger than him with his Spirit Sage cultivation. The root lies here."
Wang Zhong slightly bent his legs, lowering his center of gravity. His left fist hung by his waist, his right hand extended forward in a palm, adopting a defensive posture, his expression extremely cautious.
But no matter how careful Wang Zhong was, he still underestimated Ying Yanyang's strength in this state.
With a flap of his wings, Ying Yanyang's figure instantly vanished, turning into an afterimage. This time, the speed was so great that Wang Zhong had no time to react.
A whip kick, capable of shattering mountains, carrying raging flames, ruthlessly struck Wang Zhong's abdomen.
Boom!
Terrifying qi and flames erupted, like a volcanic eruption. Its power and might were sufficient to be called mountain-crushing and earth-shaking.
Suffering a heavy blow to his abdomen, Wang Zhong could only let out a muffled groan before his body was sent flying into the sky like a shrimp.
With another flap of his wings, Ying Yanyang's body vanished again. When his figure reappeared, he was in the direct path of Wang Zhong's flight.
It was still a powerful whip kick with immense force, delivered without any reservation, striking heavily.
Bang!
The air let out a crackling sound at this moment, like a thunderclap.
Humph, another muffled groan. Wang Zhong's body, kicked by the heavy leg, changed direction mid-air. Not far in that direction, Ying Yanyang was already waiting.
Bang! Bang! Boom! Boom!
A series of loud bangs, like thunder, continuously echoed through the sky.
"Hiss!"
"Yanyang, how ruthless! No mercy at all!"
"He calculated that Wang Zhong doesn't have any flying skills and attacked decisively, blasting him away! He's playing with him like a toy. Too ruthless!"
At the edge of the arena, Xia Xuan covered his eyes, finding it difficult to watch this 'cruel' scene.
As a representative of single-attribute ultimate spirit masters, he knew very well how tragic the opponent's fate would be once they gained an advantage.
Under an environment that perfectly suited their attributes, a single-attribute spirit master, with even a slight advantage, could turn the tide of battle!
A former elder of the Sacred Spirit Cult, Shui Gui, was ground to death by him on the sea because of this.
Even a Titled Douluo met such an end, let alone a young fellow who had just reached Spirit King.
Compared to Xia Xuan's antics, Shuang Yue Lian noticed something different.
Wang Zhong seemed to have deliberately given up resisting, and his body was not as heavily injured as imagined!
"Why is this?"
A wave of confusion swirled in her mind.
On the steps below the high platform, Ling Yuan, Long She, and Ci Tun exchanged glances. For a moment, they were unsure whether to continue watching.
The matter had become quite clear. The disciple the Pope intended to take was that twelve-year-old boy who had reached Spirit King and possessed extraordinary potential.
But now, this boy was being kicked around in the sky like a toy.
Such a tragic reality was truly unworthy of the Pope's favor!
Although the opponent was a Spirit Sage and the gap in strength was unavoidable, he shouldn't be in such a sorry state!
The title "Disciple of the Pope" represented Bibi Dong's reputation!
Gui Bao and Mo Xiong also exchanged a glance in secret. The cold sneer and mockery in their eyes were obvious.
Someone like this actually caught the Pope's eye, truly…
Interesting!
On the high platform, Bibi Dong's jade-like face carried a hint of incomprehension and doubt. Wang Zhong's strength was far greater than this. Even if he was truly caught off guard by Ying Yanyang.
But with his Six-Winged Purple Light Wings, he could completely dodge those attacks in the sky and counterattack.
However, up to this point, Wang Zhong had not shown any sign of using his external spirit bone.