Went to the Hill Behind the Waystation and Took Care of the Second Soul Ring While She Was at It?
However, just as Dai Mubai's tiger claw was about to cross the five-zhang distance,
Zhu Zhuqing, who had stood motionless, finally moved.
Two deep, luminous yellow Hundred-Year Soul Rings quietly appeared beneath her feet. Immediately afterward, Soul Power far more concentrated than that of an ordinary Soul Grandmaster, mingled with the destructive presence of raging lightning, burst from her slender body!
Hell Thunder Shadow Cat, Martial Soul Possession!
Fine, dazzling arcs of dark purple lightning instantly crawled over Zhu Zhuqing's slender limbs. Two cat ears wreathed in purple lightning rose from her black hair, and sharp claws flashing with a cold, ghostly lightning glow sprang from her ten fingers.
Showing no intention of dodging or retreating, Zhu Zhuqing faced Dai Mubai, who had activated his thousand-year third Soul Skill. A cold light flashed in her dark purple lightning-filled eyes, and her body left a purple-black lightning afterimage that was almost impossible to discern with the naked eye!
"So fast?!"
Dai Mubai's pupils shrank to pinpoints as he charged forward!
He had no time to make out Zhu Zhuqing's movements. All he saw was a flash of purple light, and the girl who had been five zhang away vanished from his field of vision as if she had teleported like a ghost!
How was that possible?!
He was a level thirty-seven Battle Soul Elder, and he had activated White Tiger Vajra Transformation! How could a Soul Grandmaster in her twenties be so fast that he couldn't even catch a glimpse of her shadow?!
"First Soul Skill, Hell Stab!"
An icy, bone-chilling shout rang out without warning right beside Dai Mubai's left ribs!
Dai Mubai was scared out of his wits. He hurriedly tried to pull back his right arm to block, but he was a full half-beat too slow!
The cat claw, wrapped in violent dark purple lightning, tore through Dai Mubai's prized dual defenses, White Tiger Protection Barrier and White Tiger Vajra Transformation, as easily as a blade through tofu!
The violent power of lightning surged madly into his body through the wound!
"Ah!!"
Dai Mubai let out a piercing scream. His entire left arm was instantly charred black and paralyzed by the electricity, and his massive body staggered and toppled to the right!
"I told you, you aren't even qualified to make me take a single step back!"
Zhu Zhuqing's gaze was as cold as frost. After landing her blow, she didn't pause for an instant. Her toe tapped lightly against the ground, and her second Soul Ring suddenly lit up!
"Second Soul Skill, Netherworld Hundred Claws!"
Swish, swish, swish, swish!!
Purple-black lightning claw shadows filled the air, pouring down like a raging storm!
Every claw strike was fast to the extreme, and every one carried the penetrating power of lightning that tore through flesh and muscle!
With half his body paralyzed, Dai Mubai had no chance to mount a counterattack. He could only raise his right arm in despair, trying to shield his head and face, but in an instant he was completely swallowed by dozens of sharp lightning claws!
"Bang! Pfft! Crack!"
Amid a rapid series of muffled impacts and cracking bones, Dai Mubai's clothes shredded inch by inch, and his protective Soul Power shattered completely!
For the final blow, Zhu Zhuqing's long, shapely leg, clad in black stockings, traced a fierce arc through the air like a whip of purple lightning and lashed heavily across Dai Mubai's chest!
"Boom!!"
"Pfft!!"
Dai Mubai threw back his head and sprayed a great mouthful of blood. He flew sideways for more than ten zhang like a ragged sack with its strings cut, crashing heavily onto the bluestone ground at the edge of the Soul Fighting platform. His whole body convulsed, and he could no longer get up!
Silence!
The tens of thousands of spectators stared at the scene, their eyes nearly popping out of their heads!
From the start of the exchange to its end, less than three breaths had passed!
Dai Mubai, a level thirty-seven White Tiger Battle Soul Elder who had activated his thousand-year third Soul Skill, had been crushed in a head-on clash by level twenty-nine Zhu Zhuqing, her overwhelming speed and attack power sweeping him aside in an instant?!
In the spectators' area, the glasses in Flender's hand nearly slipped from his grasp. Zhao Wuji's mouth fell wide open, his face full of shock as though he had seen a ghost:
"H-how does that Zhu Family girl's Hell Spirit Cat have such overbearing lightning power?! She's faster than an agility-type Soul Ancestor!"
"Brother Dai?!"
On the other side, Tang San and Xiao Wu were charging toward Keqing when they heard the scream. Catching sight of Dai Mubai lying in a pool of blood, his fate unknown, out of the corners of their eyes, they were both shaken to the core!
They had never imagined that Dai Mubai, the main assault fighter on whom they had pinned their hopes, would suffer such a crushing defeat without even lasting three seconds!
"Xiao Wu, leave Brother Dai alone for now and take down the one in front of us first! As long as we can restrain her, we still have a chance!"
Tang San had, after all, lived two lives. Despite his shock, he quickly forced himself to calm down. He unleashed Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track at full strength, his hands instantly turning white and smooth as jade, while two yellow Hundred-Year Soul Rings lit up beneath his feet at the same time!
"First Soul Skill, Entanglement! Second Soul Skill, Parasitism!"
Rustle!
Dozens of thick, tough Blue Silver Grass vines covered in spikes surged wildly from the cracks between the bluestone slabs beneath Keqing's feet like a nest of snakes emerging from their holes. They reached from every direction to bind her long legs and slender waist!
Not only that, Tang San knew full well how terrifying Keqing's swordsmanship was, so he didn't dare hold anything back.
At the very instant he released the Blue Silver Grass to block her movements, his ten fingers swept across Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges at his waist like butterflies weaving through flowers. Driving the internal power of Mysterious Heaven Skill to its limit, he unleashed Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers, a Tang Sect Hidden Weapons technique!
Dozens of Bone-Piercing Needles and Flying Locust Stones coated with a paralyzing poison, along with a few extremely well-concealed Dragon Whisker Needles, shot toward every part of Keqing's body from high, middle, and low angles, filling the sky behind the shadows of the Blue Silver Grass vines!
Xiao Wu followed close behind. Possessed by her pink Soft Bone Rabbit martial soul, she lit up her first Soul Ring and leaped high into the air, ready to use Waist Bow to hurl Keqing off the platform the moment the Blue Silver Grass and Hidden Weapons forced her to leap clear!
It had to be said that Tang San's combination of Blue Silver Grass control and a Hidden Weapon sneak attack, followed by Xiao Wu's close-range assault, would very likely have brought a bitter end to any local Soul Master of level thirty or even forty, caught off guard.
The spectators in the stands saw only a sky full of blue grass and cold glints completely surrounding the purple-haired girl. Many couldn't help holding their breath.
Yet at the center of the storm of Blue Silver Grass and Hidden Weapons, not even the slightest ripple appeared in Keqing's amethyst-like eyes.
"Petty tricks, and you dare show off your axe skills before the master?"
A cool, melodious snort rang out.
Facing the tough vines winding toward her feet and the dense volley of poisoned needles flying at her, Keqing didn't even take a step.
She merely raised her slender hand. Her one-handed sword, Lion's Roar, gave a clear dragon's cry, and a diamond-shaped Lightning Stiletto flashing with brilliant purple-gold lightning instantly appeared in midair, three zhang above Tang San's head!
"Star Dou Restoration!"
Boom-crack!!
At the critical instant when the Blue Silver Grass vines closed in and dozens of Tang Sect Hidden Weapons were about to touch the hem of Keqing's clothes, her graceful figure suddenly transformed into a streak of dazzling purple-gold lightning and vanished from where she stood!
"What?! Teleportation?!"
Tang San's pupils contracted sharply, and monstrous waves rose in his heart!
His Blue Silver Grass Entanglement and the Hidden Weapons filling the air all struck empty space. Even the Parasitism seeds he had planted in advance were useless after losing their target!
Before Tang San could look up and search for Keqing, a terrifying pressure from a lightning sword poured down directly above him and Xiao Wu, as if the heavens were collapsing and divine might was descending!
There in midair, Keqing's figure appeared in an instant at the Lightning Stiletto.
She looked down from on high at Tang San and Xiao Wu. Her purple hair flew freely in the raging currents of Electro, and her long, beautiful legs, clad in deep purple stockings, traced mysterious star steps in the air. Gripping her sword hilt with both hands, she unleashed the Electro Vision within her, which Chu Yuan had reshaped, in a thunderous burst!
"With blade as my witness, all the world's distractions shall be cut down!!"
Elemental Burst: Starward Sword!!
Rumble!!
In an instant, the entire central main Soul Fighting Arena was bathed in a dazzling sea of purple-gold lightning!
Keqing's figure became a blur of lightning and light in midair. At a terrifying speed beyond the limits of what mortal eyes could follow, she unleashed an incomparably violent flurry of slashes across the Soul Fighting platform's thirty-zhang expanse!
One, ten, a hundred!
Dense purple-gold lightning sword lights crisscrossed like a net spread across heaven and earth, completely covering the center of the Soul Fighting platform!
"Watch out!! Xiao Wu, get back!!"
Tang San was scared out of his soul, his scalp prickling!
Before this lightning sword formation that seemed capable of destroying heaven and earth, his prized Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track were nothing more than a joke!
Crack! Crack! Clang, clang, clang-!!
Wherever the interwoven purple-gold sword lights swept, every Blue Silver Grass vine Tang San had released was chopped into countless charred fragments like brittle, withered grass, unable to last even half a breath!
The Bone-Piercing Needles, Flying Locust Stones, and Dragon Whisker Needles flying through the air were ground into iron powder on the spot by the lightning sword Qi that slipped through every gap!
Because the Blue Silver Grass was linked to Tang San's mind, the backlash from having it all instantly shredded made him grunt, and a thread of blood immediately spilled from the corner of his mouth!
Xiao Wu, who had leaped into the air, bore the brunt of it. Swept by the aftermath of the raging purple lightning sword Qi, her protective Soul Power shattered instantly, and she cried out as she fell from the air!
At the final instant, the sword shadows filling the sky abruptly merged into one!
Boom-!!
A brilliant purple-gold cross of lightning sword light, ten zhang long, descended from the sky and struck the bluestone ground in front of Tang San and Xiao Wu!
A violent shock wave of lightning exploded outward, splitting the incomparably hard surface of the Soul Fighting platform with countless deep, spiderweb-like cracks. Tang San and Xiao Wu couldn't withstand the terrifying blast of lightning and were both sent flying backward, landing in a sorry heap at the edge of the platform!
The dust settled.
Keqing landed lightly in the very center of the Soul Fighting platform. Lion's Roar pointed diagonally toward the ground in her hand, lightning coursing over its blade, and not even the hem of her skirt bore a speck of dust.