The person who had snatched the saint soul fruit was none other than Xiang Shaoyun. His speed was unrivaled, and he was confident nobody here could match him in speed. The moment he obtained the fruit, he was attacked from all directions.

Their bombardment was not something he could resolve with speed alone; he could only erect his defenses. Six layers of Goldplates wrapped around his body, turning him into a bright golden statue that forcefully withstood the barrage. More than 10 Emperors attacked him at the same time. The combination of their attacks was powerful enough to kill even a Sovereign.

And yet Xiang Shaoyun was able to forcefully resist the attack. All six layers of his Goldplates were shattered, and his actual body suffered many attacks. However, his body had been tempered by flame and lightning and was incredibly tough. Thus, he did not suffer any heavy injuries. Without wasting any time, he used the Overlord's Nine Nether Steps to quickly move away after the attacks landed.

There were still many interesting locations to visit in the secret space. He had already gotten three saint soul fruits, so there was no need to try getting more. It was better to search other locations to see if he could get anything elsewhere. But before he could flee, a figure appeared before him like a gust of wind and attacked mercilessly.

Splitting the Heaven and Earth!

The ambusher attacked with all his might immediately, sending numerous blades of wind forward. The profundity of wind powered his technique, giving it a might seemingly capable of splitting the heaven and earth. In fact, his attack was as powerful as an attack from a third-stage Soul Foundation Realm cultivator.

This attacker was one of the True Martial Academy prodigies, Liu Yuanhao. He was someone with excellent wind manipulation skills, and he was also the person Xiang Shaoyun had stolen the fruit from. He was obviously not willing to let Xiang Shaoyun go and wanted to get the fruit back.

Apart from him, a few others rushed over and attacked as well. One of them attacked with an axe, sending domineering axe energies forward that blocked all possible escape routes. Another person stabbed with his sword repeatedly, sealing the space surrounding Xiang Shaoyun and getting ready to stab him the moment he attempted to escape.

They were each a giant among men and among the strongest in their generation. How would Xiang Shaoyun deal with them?

"All who get in my way will die!" Xiang Shaoyun unleashed the might of his Tiger's Roar. His voice resounded in the vicinity, and as his battle intent surged, he threw his fists out. A fearsome golden radiance shot out and transformed into a charging white tiger.

A large amount of vicious gold energy flooded out as numerous golden fists rained down like meteors, blasting the incoming attacks apart. Instead of fleeing, Xiang Shaoyun unleashed more attacks toward the person blocking his path. Each of his punches contained a supreme fist intent, and their torrential fist energies crashed forth and forced the person before him to retreat repeatedly.

The person blocking his path was fast, but Xiang Shaoyun was faster. The blocker didn't even have the chance to counterattack and could only focus on protecting himself. Luckily for him, Xiang Shaoyun was only utilizing a single star. Otherwise, he would have died by now.

But since Xiang Shaoyun was only using one star, the others quickly found the chance to form a new encirclement around him. They attacked with sovereign weapons, and if Xiang Shaoyun failed to avoid their attacks, he might be sliced into pieces.

As they ganged up on him, Xiang Shaoyun smirked. He unleashed his wind and lightning stars, instantly creating a storm around him.

Wind and Lightning!

A ferocious tornado lashed out like a mighty dragon, tearing the very air apart. The incoming attacks were all ripped apart, and numerous silver lightning bolts as thick as water buckets formed in the sky above them. Over 100 lightning bolts rained down, creating a terrifying sea of lightning. A calamity causing despair had descended upon them.

This terrifying attack had surpassed all their imaginations and was as strong as an attack from a fourth-stage Soul Foundation Realm cultivator. Even in this place where genius among geniuses gathered, few could gain such combat prowess.

With only two stars, Xiang Shaoyun was able to unleash such power. Instantly, three of his attackers were blasted away. Without their defensive armors, they would have been instantly killed by the storm.

The others weren't able to last long either. They fled the storm one after another. The attack was too terrifying, and it had a long duration. Not even these geniuses could stay too long inside the storm.

"Thank you for your time. I'll be taking my leave," said Xiang Shaoyun before leaving like a gust of wind, leaving behind nothing but a series of afterimages.

"Holy shit, that guy is so strong. Is he really only a seventh-stage Dragon Ascension Realm cultivator? If someone tells me he's a peak Emperor, I would believe them," said someone.

"He lives up to his identity as the disciple of the lord guardian who even the elders need to respect. He is already this strong as a seventh-stage Dragon Ascension Realm cultivator. He is probably comparable with that reckless kid from our academy," lamented someone.

"I really don't understand why the Dragon Phoenix Academy would expel a prodigy like him. They don't even want a disciple with such a high chance to become the ultimate winner of this competition? Have the Dragon Phoenix Academy elders gone blind?"

...

One could say that Xiang Shaoyun had won his fame in a single battle.

At a different area in the secret space was a lake. Something amazing had similarly been found there, but the treasures had been divided by the disciples that had headed there.

At the lake, a big battle had erupted between Baili Yixiao and the fourth-ranked disciple from the True Martial Academy. Ultimately, Baili Yixiao won and swaggered off with a treasure from the lake.

Baili Yixiao's name spread throughout the four academies, becoming one of the favorites to win the tournament.

At a different location, Zhan Wushuang had also spread his fame far and wide through his pair of fists. He alone delivered a crushing defeat to two geniuses from the Nine Palace Academy. He also ended up with the biggest gains at that location.

However, the Dragon Phoenix Academy disciples were definitely not the strongest in the secret space. For example, Yu Ziyang had suffered a defeat under the True Martial Academy's Devil Concubine. If Yu Caidie hadn't arrived at the last moment to help him, he would have been killed. Devil Concubine was akin to a thorny rose.

Additionally, Ouyang Chuanqi and Han Chenfei had suffered a defeat under the hands of Little Overlord, Chen Xi. Fortunately, Ouyang Chuanqi was strong enough and Han Chenfei had reached the ninth-stage Dragon Ascension Realm not long ago. Thus, they were able to safely retreat with Tang Longfei, Xuan Yuantian, and Yuan Xuefen.

At this phase of the competition, the True Martial Academy disciples had obtained an advantage over all the other academies.