54. For a one-on-one situation

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"I declare the third combat training officially begins!"

The moment Bai Yan announced the start of the battle, the three of them summoned their Martial Souls simultaneously. Brilliant light illuminated the training grounds as their soul rings flickered into existence.

Bai Yan's gaze sharpened, her eyes turning cold and focused—completely different from the previous two battles.

Standing in front of her, Quan Yi could clearly see the change in her expression.

This time, Teacher Bai Yan was serious.

"Second Soul Skill—Blazing Flame Body!"

Scarlet flames ignited from Bai Yan's neck, rapidly spreading across her entire body.

The white feathers covering her transformed, dyed a brilliant fiery red. At this moment, Bai Yan no longer resembled a white crane—she was like a phoenix engulfed in flames.

With a powerful flap of her wings, she shot into the sky like a streaking comet, leaving a burning tail of flames in her wake.

"So fast!"

Quan Yi's pupils shrank. Bai Yan's instant acceleration was so quick that, for a split second, he almost lost sight of her.

She soared into the sky like a rocket, leaving a blazing red arc across the heavens.

But Quan Yi and Huo Wu had already anticipated this.

"Flame Bullet!"

Without hesitation, Huo Wu launched a Flame Bullet directly toward Bai Yan.

Just as the two had planned before the battle, they went all out from the very start.

The moment Huo Wu summoned her Martial Soul, she had already begun condensing her attack.

The Flame Bullet hurtled toward Bai Yan with deadly precision. However, something was strange—Bai Yan did not counterattack with her Flame Feather Strike ability like before.

Both Quan Yi and Huo Wu noticed this anomaly.

"Is she relying purely on her speed?" Quan Yi quickly deduced.

'Underestimating us?'

'But the teacher had made a mistake.'

The Flame Bullet exploded mid-air, erupting into a dazzling burst of fire.

However, unlike before, several stones suddenly shot out from the explosion—Seal of Rhinoceros.

Under Huo Wu's precise control, the stones spread in Bai Yan's direction.

This was a large-scale explosion attack that Huo Wu had specially prepared to counter Bai Yan's superior speed.

She had wrapped multiple Seal of Rhinoceros stones within the Flame Bullet, covering a vast area upon detonation. Once ignited, Quan Yi would trigger all of them at once.

Even if Bai Yan could dodge a single explosion with her speed, escaping multiple simultaneous detonations would be far more difficult.

"Boom!"

A thunderous explosion echoed through the sky.

The flames were torn apart as a shockwave erupted from the simultaneous detonation.

Quan Yi and Huo Wu squinted through the fiery haze, searching for Bai Yan.

"Xiao Wu, be careful!"

Quan Yi's keen senses immediately picked up on three streaks of bright red light shooting toward Huo Wu from the center of the explosion.

Huo Wu's pupils shrank in shock.

Without hesitation, she launched another Flame Bullet from her left hand, aiming directly at the incoming attacks—Bai Yan's Flame Feather Strike!

In that instant, an idea flashed through Quan Yi's mind.

Reacting in a split second, he used his perception to detonate one of the Seal of Rhinoceros stones before the two attacks collided.

"Boom!"

The explosion forcefully disrupted Bai Yan's Flame Feather Strike, deflecting it away from Huo Wu.

However, the resulting blast also sent the remaining Seal of Rhinoceros stones scattering in all directions.

The scattered Seal of Rhinoceros stones flew in different directions. Unlike Huo Wu's Flame Bullets, which she could precisely control, Quan Yi's detonations couldn't dictate the direction of the explosion. However, by timing his detonation just right, he managed to send one of the stones shooting straight toward Bai Yan's last known position.

Calculating the distance in his mind, Quan Yi didn't hesitate.

"Boom!"

At the same time, Huo Wu was already preparing another Flame Bullet, her eyes locked on the sky, waiting for Bai Yan to reveal herself.

"Now's my chance to strike!"

Quan Yi's quick thinking had exceeded even Huo Wu's expectations, giving her a brief glimmer of hope.

She had originally come up with the idea of embedding multiple Seal of Rhinoceros stones into her Flame Bullets after seeing the large number of grenades Quan Yi had prepared.

Since Quan Yi needed to conserve his soul power, he couldn't afford to waste it on imprecise long-range attacks. So instead, he had entrusted the Seal of Rhinoceros to her.

They had hoped to catch Bai Yan off guard.

But contrary to their expectations, Bai Yan wasn't fazed at all. Instead of being forced into a defensive position, she had immediately launched a counterattack.

Huo Wu had initially intended to use the explosion to block Bai Yan's Flame Feather Strike, but Quan Yi's swift response had turned their defense into an unexpected offensive maneuver.

It was a move even she hadn't foreseen.

If Quan Yi hadn't detonated the Seal of Rhinoceros early, her attack would have only served as a temporary defense.

Even so, Quan Yi didn't allow himself to feel even a moment of satisfaction.

His eyes remained locked on the sky, his expression serious.

"No… it probably didn't work."

He had no confidence that either attack had landed.

As the smoke from the explosions cleared, a crimson figure slowly emerged from the sky.

Bai Yan.

Unscathed.

"How is this possible?!"

Huo Wu's breath caught in her throat.

A large-scale explosion. A surprise counterattack from Quan Yi. Neither had left a single mark on Bai Yan.

Quan Yi now fully understood just how overwhelming Bai Yan's speed was.

Long-range attacks were useless.

His mind flashed back to the final moments of yesterday's combat training. Despite the overwhelming force of their combined soul skill explosion, Bai Yan's body had shown no visible injuries.

Back then, he had suspected it.

Now, he was certain.

She had escaped the explosion's range entirely through sheer speed.

That was why she had shown no reaction to their first attack—because she had already determined it wouldn't hit her.

High above them, Bai Yan's eyes remained calm and indifferent.

To her, Huo Wu and Quan Yi's intricate strategies were meaningless in the face of absolute speed.

Even if she couldn't instantly detect the precise trajectory of the Seal of Rhinoceros stones due to the explosion's blinding light, all she had to do was rely on her reflexes and escape the blast radius before impact.

With that level of speed, she didn't need to block, counter, or evade with complex maneuvers.

She simply moved faster than they could react.

Both their first large-scale ambush and their second surprise attack had been effortlessly avoided.

At that moment, Quan Yi and Huo Wu fully realized the gap in speed between them and Bai Yan.

Huo Wu bit her lip hard, frustration bubbling within her.

But she didn't give in to despair.

She had already made up her mind before this battle even began.

She refused to be defeated so easily.

Even if she couldn't win, she would do her part.

"Xiao Yi, it's all up to you now."

With those final words, Huo Wu launched the last Flame Bullet she had been charging.

Even though she knew it wouldn't affect Bai Yan, she refused to give up.

Bai Yan, unfazed, met Huo Wu's gaze before calmly retaliating with another wave of Flame Feather Strike.

The two clashed repeatedly, exchanging attacks in mid-air.

But it didn't last long.

Huo Wu's soul power was draining fast.

Before she knew it, she was down to her final Flame Bullet.

She understood that this would be her last move in this battle.

After this, she would have nothing left to offer.

Lowering her gaze, she looked at Quan Yi's back.

A small part of her regretted that she wasn't strong enough to fight by his side until the end.

"Boom!"

Two minutes into the battle, Huo Wu's final Flame Bullet exploded.

Her soul power was completely exhausted.

She had fought to her limit.

Staggering backward, she raised her hand to signal her surrender before stepping to the side.

Bai Yan, who had sensed the depletion of Huo Wu's soul power, did not press the attack.

She simply waited in silence, allowing Huo Wu to exit the battlefield on her own.

Then, slowly descending from the sky, Bai Yan's gaze turned to Quan Yi, the last one standing.

"To think I had to expend so much effort just to reach this situation," she remarked. "Truly impressive."

Then, her lips curled slightly.

"Now, let's see your full strength."

Quan Yi tightened his grip, his eyes locked onto Bai Yan.

At this level of speed, if he lost track of her even for an instant—

It would be over.