Mud Shot

Watching the group of bandits, Gula felt a surging wave of malice rushing at him. He said coldly, "Little San, there's no need to hold back against bandits."

What Tang San thought for himself was one thing; Gula opening his mouth and giving permission was another. By building up prestige through small matters, sooner or later he would be able to interfere with Tang San's choices.

"Understood."

Tang San had no more misgivings. With a flip of his hand, two Sleeve Arrows fired from his wrist. Black shadows flashed and struck the neck of the bandit charging at the very front. Blood gushed like a fountain, and he clutched his throat as he collapsed to the ground, his breath cut off.

Xiao Wu was startled. She had not expected the usually quiet Tang San to be able to kill someone so cleanly and decisively.

She had been well protected since childhood, but she had also seen slaughter before. After being distracted for only an instant, she adjusted.

With her Soft Bone Rabbit Martial Soul Possession, she leapt five meters in a single step and went after a lone Black-faced Bandit on the flank.

"Heh heh, little girl, I like you."

This bandit had some black fur growing on his body and possessed the infamous bloodline of a Wolf Bandit. He was a rare mule descendant, one could say a hereditary bandit.

A lecherous look appeared in his eyes as he summoned his Wolf Martial Soul for Martial Soul Possession. But he had no soul rings, which meant he had not yet reached rank ten in Soul Power. The long saber in his hand was more powerful than his claws and fangs.

Xiao Wu was afraid of being cut or bitten, so for a moment she did not dare approach. If she could not restrain the enemy, her Eight-Section Drop was actually useless.

On both sides of the road by the edge of the woods, all kinds of weeds grew thick and lush, concealing no one knew how many travelers' bones.

Gula performed his fitness moves, his Groudon Martial Soul Possession activating. Beneath his feet, a Thousand-Year Soul Ring shone in dazzling splendor.

The Bandit Leader glared wide-eyed and said in disbelief, "A Thousand-Year Soul Ring!"

He suspected he had seen wrong, but the subordinates beside him reacted the same way he did, proving he had not.

He had a black birthmark on his face, so people had given him the nickname Black-faced Fiend. He was a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor who had committed crimes in the Star Luo Empire and fled to the Heaven Dou Empire to become a bandit. But even he only had one Thousand-Year Soul Ring.

A trace of jealousy flashed in Black-faced Fiend's eyes. "I hate so-called geniuses the most. Every one of you thinks you're so extraordinary. I suffered so much to cultivate to Soul Ancestor, yet you lot can surpass me casually."

He decided to act personally. His Black Wolf Martial Soul possessed him. This kind of martial soul was stronger than ordinary wolf soul beasts, but it could not master elemental attributes, and its future potential was average.

Four soul rings appeared—white, yellow, yellow, and purple. As the vicious wolf roared, Black-faced Fiend bent at the waist and hunched his back, as if he had truly turned into a black wolf.

This was a cultivation method he had researched himself. In both cultivation and life, he imitated the lifestyle of a black wolf soul beast. Even blocking the road and robbing people was itself a kind of imitation of hunting behavior.

After all that random tinkering, he had actually managed to achieve something.

His entire body radiated a fierce, baleful aura, looking extremely like a true black wolf, already carrying a hint of the Black Wolf King's might.

Gula raised a hand and pointed. Gravity Control created a Gravity Field, and the air within a radius of thirteen meters seemed to sink. The heavy gravity made every bandit feel terror.

Black-faced Fiend's movements paused, and two Hundred-Year Soul Rings erupted at once. The strength of a Soul Ancestor itself was also extremely impressive.

His bones crackled as he withstood thirteen times gravity, opening his wolf maw like a vicious wolf. A fishy stench rushed straight at them.

Gula frowned. Psychic Power formed a barrier to block the smell, and in front of his face, he created a terrifying ghostly face.

For no reason, Black-faced Fiend felt a burst of panic, and his speed slowed.

A ghostly face, also known as Scary Face, revealed a terrifying expression to frighten the enemy and lower the enemy's speed.

But reality was not a game. The weakening would not persist forever.

Black-faced Fiend's Soul Power was far stronger than Gula's. By circulating his Soul Power for a few cycles, he could resist the slowing effect.

Gula's Soul Power was his weak point. He had to end this quickly.

He raised his hand and tossed. Soul Power turned into a blob of yellow soft mud, splattering over Black-faced Fiend's face and blocking his line of sight.

Mud Shot: throwing clumps of mud to attack the enemy while also lowering the enemy's speed.

The move's power was average, and it was a Special Attack that Groudon was not good at. It was hard to see in the game.

But in reality, low power meant low consumption, and slowing the enemy was even more of a godlike effect.

As for Groudon's low Special Attack, that depended on who it was compared to.

A divine beast's weak point still surpassed the vast majority of living creatures.

Moreover, Gula had long since discovered that after he gained Celebi as his Second Martial Soul, each of his own Base Stats would be covered by the higher Base Stat over the lower one, rather than his Base Stats changing along with each martial soul switch.

After all, Gula was a single individual. What Twin Martial Souls strengthened was also him, one target. He would not become a different person just because he switched martial souls.

Gula used Mud Shot continuously. Inside the Gravity Field, Black-faced Fiend could barely move, every step impossible. Gradually, his whole body became covered in mud, and even moving slightly required all his strength.

Especially inside the Gravity Field, the mud was subjected to thirteen times gravity. Carrying a bodyful of mud was no different from carrying a small mountain.

After Black-faced Fiend's Martial Soul Possession, his muscles and body had swollen. At this moment, that had instead become a disadvantage, causing even more mud to stick to him and making him bear an even greater burden.

Mud shaped from energy had to be offset with Soul Power if one wanted to break free, but he had not cared at the very beginning.

As the mud accumulated, the burden had become too great to reverse. He was completely trapped in the mire. If he wanted to break free now, it was no longer something he could accomplish by himself.

On the forest road, a muddy mound could be seen constantly writhing, with faint purple light seeping through the cracks.

But the mud hill only shook violently, blasting open a few holes, and a clear wolf howl rang out. The soft, rotten mud quickly slid down and filled the gaps, and the wolf howl turned back into a whimper.

Tang San had been keeping an eye on Gula the whole time. At this moment, he could not help but put himself in Black-faced Fiend's place.

If he were facing Gula's move, he would first have to avoid falling into Gula's rhythm, pull open the distance, and use Hidden Weapons to counterattack. But Gula also had the Gravity Field, so he could only use Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to circle around him.

Tang San shook his head. The gap in soul rings was too great. With his current methods, it would be very hard to break the Gravity Field.

He gathered his scattered thoughts and continued killing bandits.

Gula had no idea Tang San was using him as an imaginary enemy again. His Psychic Power still wasn't advanced enough to read minds.

After trapping Black-faced Fiend, Gula found himself in a bind.

He had learned quite a few moves by now, but he lacked a way to kill in a single strike.

So he simply picked up a long blade and went over to the mud hill. Using his Psychic Power to sense Black-faced Fiend's position, he drove the blade into Black-faced Fiend's heart, then pulled it back out.

A legendary bandit of a generation had fallen before he could even rise.

After confirming that Black-faced Fiend was dead, Gula went to help Tang San and Xiao Wu kill the other bandits.

The Heaven Dou Empire and Star Luo Empire had been at peace for a long time. There was no war between the two nations, and corrupt officials couldn't exactly squeeze profits out of a group of Soul Masters.

Most of these bandits were Soul Masters. They were not people who had been forced into crime because they couldn't survive; they were purely villains who enjoyed doing evil. Even killing them all might still leave some fish that slipped through the net.

Gula told the two of them his speculation. After some interrogation, they confirmed that Gula's guess was correct.

The three of them had no more burdens and uprooted them completely.

Gula's Base Stats:

HP 100

Attack 150

Defense 140

Special Attack 140

Special Defense 130

Speed 100

Total 760