Self-Created Soul Skill, Finger Bullet

Because they were standing so close, Xia Liang could clearly see the entire process of Dugu Yan possessing the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul.

Compared to her normal state, after being possessed by the Jade Phosphorous Serpent, not only did Dugu Yan's lower body completely transform into a snake's body, but her jade-green eyes also narrowed into serpent eyes. Her purple hair darkened, and her presence grew more imposing.

Seeing that both sides had summoned their Martial Souls and were ready to fight at any moment, the host quickly moved beneath the Soul Fighting Platform and shouted into the amplification Soul Tool in his hand, "Then, contestants, the Soul Battle begins!"

The impassioned announcement stirred the audience's enthusiasm. Amid the surging cheers and shouts, Dugu Yan merely retreated twenty meters without launching an attack.

She already held the advantage in both Soul Power and Soul Rings in this Soul Battle. If she attacked first as well, she would surely draw boos from the audience.

"Master Xia, considering how hard you work for us students every day, I can give you three moves. For three moves, I'll only defend and won't attack. After three moves, I'll let you know the consequences of foolishly challenging me!"

As she finished speaking, a trace of viciousness flashed through Dugu Yan's eyes. If it had been anyone else, she would have ended the battle directly with Jade Phosphor Serpent Poison without wasting another word.

Killing was allowed in Soul Battles across ranks.

But Master Xia's cooking truly had a unique flavor. If she accidentally poisoned him to death, no one in the entire academy would be able to taste such delicacies again.

Xia Liang accepted Dugu Yan's kind concession and immediately changed tactics. After the one-meter-long Iron Bone Blade vanished from his hand, his First Soul Skill, Netherworld Transformation, and Second Soul Skill, Iron Bone, activated at once.

Xia Liang swiftly raised his right hand. The phalanges at the tips of his five fingers shot out like bullets, tearing through the air as they flew toward Dugu Yan.

Dugu Yan clearly had not expected him to possess a long-range Soul Skill. Faced with the five phalanges flying toward her, she instinctively swept her jade-green snake tail forward.

"Yan, don't block it! Dodge!"

Hearing her teammate Yu Feng's urgent cry from the spectator area, Dugu Yan immediately stopped her sweeping motion and rapidly flattened herself against the Soul Fighting Platform's floor, narrowly avoiding the five flying phalanges.

At that moment, the five phalanges shot straight into the wall beneath the spectator stands.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud.

Five crisp buzzing impacts rang out in succession. They were the sounds of the five phalanges piercing through the wall.

As five pitch-black holes suddenly appeared in the wall, not only the audience in the stands but even Dugu Yan, who had just turned to look behind her, froze in place.

If she had used her snake tail to block those five highly penetrating phalanges just now, wouldn't her tail have been pierced with five holes like that wall?

"You... you're not a Defense System Soul Master!" Dugu Yan glared at Xia Liang, embarrassed and enraged.

By now, all the phalanges Xia Liang had fired from his right hand had regenerated.

In truth, those five phalanges had not been the bones of his own fingertips, but part of the Skeleton Martial Soul, originating from the Skeleton Right Arm. Even if all five phalanges were fired, they could regrow through the consumption of Soul Power without harming his flesh.

He had learned this Self-Created Soul Skill a year ago. Xia Liang had named it Finger Bullet, a homophone of "bullet."

Using an eruption of Soul Power as propulsion, the phalanges at his fingertips could rapidly detach and shoot out, much like a lizard shedding its tail.

With the hundred-percent strength boost from the First Soul Skill, Netherworld Transformation, the hardness enhancement from the Second Soul Skill, Iron Bone, the piercing power of their sharpened tips, and the spiraling trajectory formed by erupting Soul Power, the power of Finger Bullet could easily penetrate at least five centimeters into an Iron Crystal Slab.

A Self-Created Soul Skill grew alongside its Soul Master.

In other words, the higher Xia Liang's Soul Power Level became in the future, the more powerful the Self-Created Soul Skill Finger Bullet would be.

Yu Feng's Martial Soul was the Wind Chime Bird and possessed the Wind Attribute. He could judge the strength of Finger Bullet by the wind speed it produced when fired.

That was why he had been able to warn Dugu Yan in time.

However, even without Yu Feng's warning, those five Finger Bullets would not have truly harmed Dugu Yan.

Because when activating the skill, Xia Liang had already reduced his Soul Power consumption and weakened the overall power of Finger Bullet in advance. Injuries of that degree could be healed by a healing Soul Master's Soul Skill.

Before Dugu Yan could react, Xia Liang had already formed a gun shape with his right hand and pointed it forward. As Soul Power concentrated at his fingertip suddenly erupted, a Finger Bullet the size of a bean shot from his finger, so fast it was like a sudden flash of cold light.

Dugu Yan felt a shiver between her brows and immediately twisted her snake body to dodge toward the front left.

After narrowly evading the flying Finger Bullet, she had yet to steady herself before another incoming Finger Bullet forced her back several meters.

The Skeleton Right Arm had five fingers, which meant it could fire five Finger Bullets consecutively in a short period.

Just before the five Finger Bullets forced Dugu Yan back to the edge of the Soul Fighting Platform, Xia Liang moved. As he accelerated forward, the Black-Purple Ribs covering the right side of his body rapidly grew into a Giant Bone Hand filled with a flesh and blood sensation.

Under the control of his mind, the ten-meter-long Giant Bone Hand thrust forward fiercely. Its palm bones, two meters wide, slammed into Dugu Yan.

The domineering force of the palm stirred up a gale. Dugu Yan first took the Giant Bone Hand's strike, then was blown away by the violent wind and crashed heavily off the Soul Fighting Platform.

This cross-rank Soul Battle challenge ended just like that, hastily and abruptly.

Not only Dugu Yan herself, but every spectator present failed to react.

Everything had happened too suddenly. So suddenly that Dugu Yan had been eliminated without even having time to unleash a single Soul Skill.

Sitting blankly on the floor beneath the Soul Fighting Platform, Dugu Yan watched Xia Liang walk to the platform's edge, her eyes filled with disbelief.

Looking down at Dugu Yan, Xia Liang smiled. "Exactly three moves. Thank you for yielding. You lost this cross-rank Soul Battle."

It was a very calm sentence, yet when it reached Dugu Yan's ears, her entire body trembled.

You lost. That declaration was even more aggressive than the Finger Bullets from before.

What Dugu Yan felt most deeply was humiliation.

She had confidently offered him three moves, intending to end the battle after those three moves.

Yet she had only made things worse and become the loser instead. Who would be willing to accept such a reality?

After staring at Dugu Yan sitting beneath the platform for several seconds, the host finally came to his senses and loudly announced into the amplification Soul Tool in his hand, "Congratulations to Bone King for successfully completing a cross-rank challenge. His record now stands at eleven wins and zero losses. Dugu Yan has been defeated, bringing her record to twenty-five wins and one loss. Mr. Bone King, you may proceed to the front desk later to register your points. Thank you for bringing the audience this cross-rank challenge."

At the Great Soul Arena's main hall, at the front desk.

After showing his Soul Fighting Badge to the receptionist and registering his points, Xia Liang received not only a large bag of Gold Soul Coins as a reward for winning the Soul Battle, but also the ten thousand Gold Soul Coins Dugu Yan had put up as the wager for the cross-rank Soul Battle.

Adding the thirty thousand Gold Soul Coins he had bet on the cross-rank Soul Battle, along with the one-to-three odds.

This Soul Battle victory had earned him a total profit of one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

The Great Soul Arena truly deserved to be called the largest casino on Douluo Continent. Making money here was far more profitable than working in the mercenary business.

With this money, he could do another Whale Rubber deal with the Shui Family in Skywater City.

After storing one-third of the Gold Soul Coins in the Silver Bracelet, Xia Liang placed the remaining two-thirds into the red compartment of the Three-colored Ring. By storing them separately in two Soul Tools, he would not lose everything even if one of them went missing.

Just as he was about to leave the front desk, Dugu Yan suddenly ran out from the direction of the Soul Arena entrance.

Xia Liang tucked the Three-colored Ring into his belt and was about to leave, but Dugu Yan quickly spread her arms and blocked his path.

"Master Xia, you beat me and still think you can run?"