Chapter 52: The Powerful Pidgeotto

"Got you!"

Shui Bing'er's lips curled up slightly. Seizing the moment when Mo Hui was knocked back by her Ring of Rejection, she unleashed a Freezing spell right at his landing spot.

"She's trying to use this chain of control to lock me down."

Seeing this, Mo Hui instantly recognized Shui Bing'er's intention and understood that he had fallen into a disadvantageous position.

He did not possess many abilities to enhance his strength or break free from crowd control. In a one-on-one scenario, once Shui Bing'er successfully locked him down, she would never give him a chance to break out of the ice, subjecting him to continuous control until his defeat.

On the other side, Shui Bing'er let out a sigh of relief. During the brief exchange just now, her soul power had already been halved by her opponent. If this consumption battle continued, she would undoubtedly lose.

Fortunately, she had managed to exploit his flaw. Now that he was controlled by her Ring of Rejection, the duration of his acceleration technique had ended, and she had accurately predicted his landing spot. Given the area of effect of her Freezing soul skill, there was simply no way for him to dodge this.

Once he was immobilized, she could continuously cast Freezing to seal him in place until the match ended.

The plan was wonderful, but reality did not unfold according to her expectations.

"Pee-weet!"

Just as Mo Hui was about to land, Pidgeotto, which had been hovering in the air the entire time, suddenly swooped down, grabbed Mo Hui's body with its talons, and rapidly ascended.

Crack~

A split second later, numerous ice crystals formed beneath Mo Hui, but they failed to trap him high up in the sky.

Witnessing this, Shui Bing'er's pupils constricted. *Damn it! How could I forget that his martial soul is a rare detached-type martial soul, and it can fly!*

"Pee-weet!"

High in the air, after dodging Shui Bing'er's Freezing spell, Pidgeotto found a corner and gently set Mo Hui back down on the ground.

Upon returning to the ground, Mo Hui looked at Shui Bing'er, a hint of genuine appreciation appearing in his eyes for the first time. "Your chain control technique is very good. From here on, I will fight you seriously."

"What!?"

Before Shui Bing'er could fully recover her composure, Pidgeotto transformed into a streak of cyan light in the sky and charged straight toward her.

*Too fast!*

This was Shui Bing'er's first and only thought, because in that instant, Pidgeotto had already arrived right in front of her.

Crack~

Her ice armor was instantly shattered by Pidgeotto's cyan wings, which were condensed with soul power. A pain akin to shattered bones radiated from her chest, causing Shui Bing'er to cough up another mouthful of blood as she was sent flying backward.

While airborne, Shui Bing'er attempted to seize the opportunity to cast her Ring of Rejection, but almost instantly, a tremendous force struck her from behind. The severe pain immediately interrupted the spell she was about to release.

Shui Bing'er tilted her head slightly to look back, only to find that Pidgeotto had somehow appeared directly behind her, launching another attack.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"...

What followed was a nightmare for Shui Bing'er. Within the span of just three miserable seconds, her entire body in mid-air was struck dozens of times. The power of each blow was not the least bit inferior to Mo Hui's very first punch.

Whoosh~

Before the effect of Quick Attack ended, the cyan light transformed back into Pidgeotto and returned to Mo Hui's side. Deprived of Pidgeotto's support, Shui Bing'er's body began to plummet toward the ground.

Thud~

Shui Bing'er's delicate body crashed heavily onto the stone pavement. Her vision rapidly blurred, her consciousness began to fade, and she was no longer able to maintain her martial soul, causing the ice phoenix projection to vanish along with it.

At this moment, the entire soul fighting arena fell into absolute silence. Everyone was utterly stunned.

Only Mo Hui waved at the teacher stationed below the arena and shouted, "Teacher, hurry up and treat her!"

A soul master's physique is far stronger than that of an ordinary person. Although Shui Bing'er was heavily injured, it was not life-threatening. However, without prompt treatment, it might leave behind lingering hidden injuries, which was why Mo Hui immediately called for the academy's teacher to begin treatment.

"Ah, oh!"

Prompted by Mo Hui's call, the teacher in charge of healing below the arena snapped back to reality. He hurried onto the stage and immediately used his soul skill to treat the unconscious Shui Bing'er.

Hiss~

Up on the viewing platform, the five headmasters of the elemental academies all drew in sharp breaths of cold air at this sight.

Even Feng Qingcang was deeply shocked. He had expected Mo Hui to win, but he never anticipated that he would win so thoroughly and effortlessly. This was a complete, crushing domination.

*It seems I still underestimated him somewhat.*

Feng Qingcang gazed deeply at Mo Hui, who had returned to reading a book in a quiet corner, his heart surging with intense excitement.

Such a genius was virtually unheard of. He even felt that Mo Hui's talent surpassed that of the absolute top geniuses of the Spirit Hall's Golden Generation that he had witnessed.

"This kid, he really doesn't know how to cherish jade and pity flowers."

At this moment, Shui Yue'er said with a trace of displeasure.

The female students of Tianshui Academy were all beauties, and Shui Bing'er was among the very best in the academy in terms of both appearance and temperament. How could that boy possibly bring himself to hit her so hard?

As soon as Shui Yue'er uttered those words, Feng Qingcang's heart skipped a beat. If Shui Yue'er were to relentlessly target Mo Hui, that would spell trouble.

Therefore, Feng Qingcang hurriedly reassured her, "Headmaster Yue'er, please forgive him. The kid is just like that, but he knows his limits. While Shui Bing'er's injuries look severe, they are actually just internal trauma. With the treatment from our academy's teacher, she will be fine in a few days."

The teacher responsible for healing students at Wind Blade Academy was a Soul Emperor, after all, so his healing effects were naturally formidable. Minor injuries could basically be healed in a matter of minutes, and even severe injuries—as long as they weren't fatal or involved severed limbs—would heal within days.

"Hmph! Of course I know that, or why do you think I'm still sitting here?" Shui Yue'er snorted coldly.

Under the treatment of the Soul Emperor teacher, Shui Bing'er's injuries recovered by seventy to eighty percent within just a few minutes, and she regained consciousness.

Once she woke up, Mo Hui and Pidgeotto walked over to her together. Mo Hui extended a hand and said, "It was a pleasure fighting you today."

For the first opponent who had genuinely posed a threat to him, Mo Hui showed ample respect.

"I am also glad to have encountered an opponent as strong as you!"

Shui Bing'er reached out and shook Mo Hui's hand, her azure eyes fixed intently on him as if trying to see right through him.

It was a miserable defeat—an utterly miserable defeat. Everyone had been deceived by the person in front of her. His greatest asset wasn't his self-created soul skill, nor his formidable close-combat rushing ability, but rather that bird that had stayed by his side the entire time!

After a moment of hesitation, Shui Bing'er asked, "Can you tell me how much of your true strength you actually used just now?"

Upon hearing this question, Mo Hui smiled faintly and replied, "Seventy percent. You managed to force out seventy percent of my power!"

"Seventy percent?"

Hearing this, Shui Bing'er took a deep breath. This guy was truly unfathomable; up until now, he still had thirty percent of his strength unrevealed.

Having answered the question, Mo Hui returned to his spot, took out a book, and resumed reading.

Perhaps because the strength Mo Hui displayed was too terrifying, or perhaps because his previous fighting style had been overly brutal, no one else stepped forward to challenge him for the remainder of the event, granting Mo Hui some rare peace and quiet.

However, even though Mo Hui did not return to the stage, the exchange meeting among the five elemental academies continued. Student after student took turns sparring, and in the process, Mo Hui observed several rather interesting techniques.