Chapter 117: On the Self-Cultivation of an Actor (1)

On Meng Hongchen's body, five dazzling Soul Rings appeared—two yellow, two purple, and one black—and a light silhouette also emerged behind her.

Her originally wine-red long hair changed, turning snow-white, while her eyes, originally ice-blue, transformed in an instant into a blood-red color, a blood-red that seemed as if it were about to drip fresh blood.

Watching Meng Hongchen's transformation, Su Yu also felt a faint sense of anticipation; after all, he hadn't encountered a worthy opponent in such a long time, and having missed the chance to cross swords during the tournament, he wanted to see just how capable this precious granddaughter of Jing Hongchen really was.

A sense of crisis born from instinct surfaced instantly; above the competition arena, fine threads of rain slowly emerged, while within Meng Hongchen's palms, a faint cyan glow was still appearing.

"I wonder if your poison rain can penetrate my Soul Guidance Shield?"

Su Yu did not attack rashly, because back at the tournament, Su had already witnessed how troublesome this woman's poison was.

It wasn't that Su Yu lacked a way to deal with it, but some methods could not be exposed here, such as his past Instant Teleportation soul skill, and the skills bestowed upon him by his Soul Rings.

Meng Hongchen's body leaned slightly forward, her palms slowly lifting; Su Yu could clearly see that all her exposed skin, including her face and palms, had turned snow-white at this moment, white as jade, crystal clear.

Only that pair of blood-red eyes looked so abrupt and terrifying.

Subsequently, a large amount of fine rain merged into the air following Meng Hongchen's opening movements, and the fine rain surged toward Su Yu along with the airflow.

Su Yu naturally would not be careless; even Bei Bei had suffered at her hands back then, so he certainly could not underestimate this young girl—though she looked beautiful, her methods might not be so pleasant.

A Soul Guidance Protective Shield lit up, a set of Soul Guidance Armor also emerged, and a crystal-like longsword appeared in Su Yu's hand.

With one sword strike, the large amount of fine rain in front of him was directly parted, and the scattered mist instantly swept over the onlookers nearby.

This directly caused those onlookers to suffer an unprovoked disaster, and those with insufficient strength were poisoned immediately.

However, Meng Hongchen's attack had still not ceased; the fine rain above was still falling continuously, and as long as the clouds above were not broken, if this consumption continued, Su Yu would eventually be poisoned.

A Soul Guidance Cannon barrel aimed at the clouds, and following the blooming light within the barrel, the clouds floating above were directly pierced through the rain, landing on the white mist clouds.

The Meng Hongchen opposite remained calm; with a clap of her palms, invisible air currents once again closed in on Su Yu.

To prevent himself from being swept up by the air currents, Su Yu had no choice but to activate his Soul Guidance Protective Shield again, while his Flying Soul Guidance Device sprayed out a large amount of gas to prevent the poison mist hidden in the air from taking advantage of the opening.

The Zhuqing Ice Toad; this type of Soul Beast is known as the king in the cracks in the Extreme North, because its territory lies where the outskirts of the Extreme North border the human world.

Because the population of the species is extremely small and their movements are erratic, they are very rare.

The most powerful aspect of this Zhuqing Ice Toad is its poison, a deadly poison formed by absorbing the extreme cold energy of heaven and earth.

The reason it does not go deep into the Extreme North is, on one hand, because the three great kings of the Extreme North hold sway there.

On the other hand, it is also because although this Zhuqing Ice Toad is entirely ice-attributed, its pair of eyes are fire-attributed, which is extremely unique.

The Zhuqing Ice Toad itself is not well-adapted to the extremely cold regions, but rather generates that special cold poison by alternating its own ice and fire abilities.

However, Su Yu knew that Meng Hongchen's terrifying nature lay in the word "poison," while her other attack methods were not particularly outstanding.

In the original work, it was Huo Yu Hao who suppressed her, because the Ice Empress was completely immune to poison, and Meng Hongchen's output in front of him was essentially just a pile of immunities.

Master Meng, stop scraping, if you keep scraping you'll exhaust yourself to death...

It is hard not to think of this scene, but when Su Yu faced it himself, he realized how troublesome this situation was.

As Meng Hongchen continued to attack, the mist and fine rain in the arena became increasingly dense; one careless move and he would inhale the poisonous gas.

Even the Soul Guidance Protective Shield found it difficult to block it; looking at Su Yu struggling to hold on opposite her, Meng Hongchen also thought of that day at the tournament.

That day, even Ling Luochen, a selected member cultivated by the Shrek students, was defeated by her; if not for that guy named Huo Yu Hao, she definitely could have made more than half of the opposing team lose their combat effectiveness!

"I have to say, as a Level 4 Soul Engineer, you can be proud of reaching this level, but if you want to defeat me, you are still far off!"

An ice-blue radiance lit up simultaneously from thirteen locations on her body. These thirteen locations were her forehead, shoulders, chest, elbows, lower abdomen, hips, knees, and hands.

The thirteen clusters of ice-blue light transformed rapidly, turning into a delicate set of ice-blue armor that protected Meng Hongchen's entire body.

Although this armor of hers was a full-body suit, it did not look bloated or redundant in the slightest.

Every part was so exquisite, and the armor featured magnificent blue-gold patterns; the already beautiful Meng Hongchen looked even more heroic and spirited against the backdrop of this armor.

A pair of Ice Blue Longswords extended from her hands, three feet long and slender.

Behind her, three pairs of folded wings, only a foot long, also opened simultaneously.

Just by putting on this Soul Guidance armor, she radiated a thick, icy aura.

Su Yu's crystal-like longsword vibrated again, the resulting air wave pushing the poison mist back once more; just as a flaw appeared in the poison mist, a dazzling diagonal Cross Slash flew violently toward Su Yu.

Su Yu did not evade; with a twist of his longsword, he slashed at the center of the Cross Slash.

The Cross Slash disintegrated instantly under Su Yu's sword strike, a scene that even surprised Xiao Hongchen, who was watching from the side.

"This guy named Luo Yu can actually take the senior sister's Cross Slash; I'm afraid many Level 5 Soul Engineers couldn't even take that!"

"It seems Xuan Ziwen has indeed taught a good student; interesting, truly interesting." Xiao Hongchen's gaze scrutinized the youth without leaving a trace.

Xiao Hongchen was actually thinking a lot; in fact, even people of their own age found it difficult to hold out against them for so long. If this guy named Luo Yu wasn't a Soul Beast that had undergone re-cultivation, he was definitely a genius!

"Let me see, where is your limit?"

Xiao Hongchen smiled slightly, stroked his small mustache with a feigned air of maturity, and turned his gaze back to the competition arena.

Seeing that her First Spirit Skill could not cause damage to Su Yu, Meng Hongchen then unleashed a ring of ice-blue light that spread out from under her feet, covering the entire competition stage in the blink of an eye.

Second Spirit Skill: Ice Poison Ring.

With the appearance of the Second Spirit Skill, Su Yu could feel his Soul Guidance Device beginning to struggle against the incoming ice mist, but he had to show his own superiority in this battle; otherwise, it would be difficult to encounter such an opportunity to showcase himself in the future.

Since that is the case, then I am sorry.

The longsword emitted a crisp, trembling sound, and Su Yu strode forward; with every step he took, his momentum climbed continuously.

After five steps, Su Yu's aura actually had a faint tendency to rival Meng Hongchen's.

This move was not a soul skill bestowed by a Soul Ring, but a soul skill created by Ji Juechen.

During this month, Su Yu had also wheedled quite a few good things out of Ji Juechen, only then managing to get Ji Juechen to agree to a sparring match with him; this move was stolen from that time.

No, to be precise, it was copied at that time.

The ice-blue twin swords clashed continuously with the crystal longsword, the rain-like sword radiance constantly shattering Su Yu's sword Qi, and the sky full of sword shadows was dazzling.

However, Meng Hongchen's attacks also created an opportunity for Su Yu; as the two engaged in swordplay, the surrounding poison mist was completely dispersed by the escaping sword Qi and sword radiance, making it impossible to pose a threat to Su Yu.

The seemingly critical situation had actually, unknowingly, developed a side favorable to Su Yu.

The ice-blue slender swords in Meng Hongchen's hands were two Level 6 Soul Guidance Devices, and the armor on her body was also a Level 6 Soul Guidance Device.

Su Yu, however, was rather pitiful; if not for the sake of maintaining his identity, how would he ever have needed to be so shabby?

The soul guidance armor on his body was Level 4, the soul guidance protective shield was Level 5, the flying soul guidance device on his back was Level 4, and the crystal longsword in his hand was transformed from his own fragment martial soul.

His equipment was a whole tier behind; if it were anyone else, being able to fight like this would already be astonishing.

But Su is different; if he disregarded the consequences and unleashed his full power, he could completely kill Meng Hongchen in an instant!

However, for now, he could only honestly keep up the disguise; otherwise, all his efforts would be in vain.

To avoid being too shocking to the world, during the twentieth clash of sword Qi and sword radiance with Meng Hongchen, Su Yu "accidentally" let his soul power run low and was struck down to the ground by Meng Hongchen's sword, subsequently being completely "suppressed" by her, and the entire situation was instantly reversed.

"Is this really all there is to it? It seems you are still not quite qualified enough, what a pity..."

Seeing this, Xiao Hongchen also shook his head helplessly, clearly somewhat disappointed in Su Yu's performance.

However, he did not know that his every move, every word, and every action had already been seen through by Su Yu.

Yo ho, you kid have quite high standards; it seems I really must step it up, otherwise it would be embarrassing to be looked down upon by a loser like you.

Since you've said as much, then today I must arrange something for your sister!

Shrek's top-tier freelancer, ready!

A delicate sphere was tossed out by Su Yu, and Meng Hongchen brought her twin swords down without mercy, but as Su Yu channeled his power, this Level 5 soul guidance device instantly released a soul guidance protective shield, blocking the twin swords.

Yet the next moment, a flash cannon was fired directly at Meng Hongchen's face.

Amidst Meng Hongchen's surprised facial expression, Su Yu could feel just how large the psychological shadow area of the Meng Hongchen opposite him was.

"Ah!"

"Which wicked bastard fired that flash cannon, my eyes..."

"Who, who is it, come out for me!"

"Ah~~"

…………

Under a series of screams, Su Yu knew that everyone present had basically fallen for this insidious trick.

Actually, Su Yu was still being conscientious; not pulling out an energy gathering soul guidance cannon at this moment and telling them that the era of adults has changed was already quite decent of him.

Just like that, the two siblings, caught off guard, both fell for the trick, but at least they were both Soul Kings and still had recovery abilities; after a brief moment of blindness, Xiao Hongchen managed to recover in time.

But Meng Hongchen was different; the moment she went blind, she deployed her soul guidance protective shield, completely protecting herself under it and giving Su Yu no chance at all, but what she didn't notice was that behind her, there was a tiny mirror fragment.

Seeing everyone blinded, Su Yu had originally intended to release his martial soul, but thought better of it; after all, this was a good opportunity to improve his own soul guidance strength.

With a slight movement of his fingers, the explosive sphere attached to Meng Hongchen's soul guidance armor instantly activated.

When Xiao Hongchen opened his eyes again, he was surprised to discover that on Meng Hongchen's back, there was actually an activated explosive soul guidance device attached.

Yet in the very next instant, this explosive soul guidance device exploded with a boom; although it was only a Level 4 soul guidance device, it still could not break through the protection of the Level 6 soul guidance armor.

Boom!

A loud noise came, Meng Hongchen was knocked to the ground, and the poison mist in the surroundings, having lost its control, also dissipated and eventually vanished into thin air.

Damn, did I play a bit too hard?

Should I have held back some strength? If I really defeated her, that would be bad.

If she were really defeated, Mingde Hall would definitely thoroughly investigate the background of this person named Luo Yu, though Su Yu wasn't afraid of anything being found out.

But there is no such thing as a secret that doesn't leak; if something were to go wrong, I'm afraid all previous efforts would be wasted, and I might even lose my life here.

However, fortunately, Meng Hongchen's soul guidance armor was effective, and Su Yu also took the opportunity to lie down on the ground, feigning a look of exhausted soul power, gasping for air in big gulps.

Struggling to stand up from the ground, "Senior sister is truly formidable, I concede."

The timing was about right; Su Yu estimated that the effect had been achieved, otherwise, it would be hard to wrap things up if the fight continued, because if he accidentally used too much force, the winner wouldn't be Meng Hongchen...

However, the necessary face-saving work still had to be done, otherwise Meng Hongchen wouldn't be able to step down; if he didn't do some preparatory work now, there would be no point in talking about scouting the terrain later.

"Many thanks to senior sister for showing mercy; if it weren't for senior sister holding back at every turn, I, Luo Yu, would have been defeated long ago. Today's battle with senior sister has allowed me to see what true strength is. Many thanks to senior sister for your generous instruction!"

Words must be spoken fully to be useful; the same words, when applied to different people, produce different effects.

If Su Yu were one of those guys who were knocked down in a few moves, saying these words would likely be considered shameless bootlicking.

This is the gap between people; with these words from Su Yu, he gave Meng Hongchen plenty of face, otherwise, it would be hard to justify a regular team member fighting like this in front of a Level 4 Soul Engineer.

Since there was a way to step down, Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen were also exceptionally appreciative of Su Yu.