Practical Combat 3

The fist struck the phoenix feathers, but Feng Yu was not shattered as everyone had imagined.

Instead, the moment it touched Huang He's fist, it was as though streams of sulfuric acid were viciously hammering into his hand.

Did it hurt? It hurt!

That was Huang He's only thought. The opponent's spirit abilities could dissolve Soul Power, and those detestable black feathers now stabbed into him like the sharpest blades.

To his horror, he discovered that his Soul Power was being dissolved by the feathers, while his wounds continued to widen.

While Huang He stood stunned, Lin Li's figure had already swayed. Her elbow smashed viciously into his lumbar spine as her hand lightly grasped the hand holding her shoulder.

With a backward flip in midair, she directly threw him off the arena. It all happened too quickly.

So quickly that none of them could see how she had done it. The instant Lin Li threw Huang He down, she had already withdrawn the Soul Power ravaging his body.

The phoenix feathers that had been fluttering through the air vanished at that moment, as though the beautiful, stirring scene from before had merely been an exquisite dream.

Lin Li stood on the arena. Her hair ribbon had fallen off from the impact, and the girl's hair now hung loose around her shoulders. A streak of dried blood remained at the corner of her lips.

She looked fragile yet resolute. Yet at that moment, no one was unmoved by the girl on the stage, because none of them could believe that a girl who had only just broken through to Soul Grandmaster could defeat an old hand from the Great Soul Arena.

Even Ning Lanlan was shaken. She had always believed that Lin Li's talent was the source of her pride. Now, she realized that even if she possessed such talent—

Would she dare fight someone whose strength so clearly surpassed her own?

She would not! A genius destined to become a Titled Douluo only needed to cultivate quietly. That was all.

But Lin Li was like a weed, enduring every blow of wind and rain.

Lin Li slowly walked down the arena steps. Huang He's face was somewhat flushed as well.

Had he held back? No, he had not! When the opponent released her Second Spirit Ability, he had already gotten serious. Yet she had forcibly defeated him through the traits of her martial spirit and spirit abilities!

A favored child of heaven? No, she was a monster!

After Lin Li stepped down, only one-tenth of her Soul Power remained. The Second Spirit Ability consumed a great deal.

The phoenix feathers filling the sky had looked beautiful, but only five of them could truly be considered killing moves.

Seeing Lin Li's unsteady steps, Zhou Yurou hurried over, intending to support her.

Lin Li shook her head to indicate that she did not need help, then smiled at Huang He. "Thank you, Spirit Elder Huang, for going easy on me."

Huang He waved his hand. "You flatter me." Then he looked at Ye Lian and said respectfully, "Principal Ye, if there is nothing else for me, I shall take my leave first."

Ye Lian returned his smile. "All right. We should also thank Soul Elder Huang He for his valuable guidance."

After Huang He left, Ye Lian frowned as she looked at the group. "To be honest, your performances today were all very poor!"

She calmly pointed out each person's shortcomings. For example, Wang Ming's reaction speed was too slow, and he could not properly control the rhythm of battle.

Rou'er's attacks were too soft. The Swift Shadow Cat King was a Soul Beast known for its attack power and speed. Even if she wanted to become an Agile Attack Battle Spirit Master, she still had to train her offensive strength.

Zhou Yutong had the same problem as Wang Ming. She had wanted to seize the initiative, but as a Control System Spirit Master himself, how could Ling Xuan possibly fail to anticipate her intentions?

Ling Xuan, on the other hand, was far too arrogant. He did not seize control of the battle's rhythm from the start; every time, he passively accepted the situation before trying to control and take command of the pace.

As for Lin Li, Ye Lian immediately gave her a stern scolding as well. Why had she not immediately widened the distance against a Spirit Master who could not fly?

She had powerful spirit abilities. After dodging the first attack, she could have used them to inflict heavy damage right away, so why had she not?

Her mouth rattled on like a machine gun, firing off a startling barrage without stopping for even a moment.

Only half an hour later did she say calmly, "There will be sparring matches every month from now on.

Those without soul rings or spirit abilities will watch those with soul rings fight and point out their flaws! Do not waste your time."

Then her sharp gaze swept across the group, and her voice rang out with undeniable authority. "Can you take every practical battle seriously?"

Everyone immediately shouted, "Yes!"

Ye Lian smiled in satisfaction. "Good. I hope you remember what you said today. Class dismissed."

With that, she left with graceful steps.

Lin Li had recovered some Soul Power by then, and she no longer looked quite so "weak."

She wiped the dried blood from the corner of her lips and could not help reviewing her battle with the Spirit Master possessing the Blazing Claw Exploding Bear martial spirit.

Before Lin Li could say anything, Zhou Yurou came over and carefully examined her. "Are you all right?"

Lin Li shook her head. "I'm fine. I just feel like I still haven't fully brought out my strength."

Zhou Yurou comforted her, "Xiao Li, you've already done very well. You don't have any experience in actual combat against others, either."

Lin Li gave a hum of agreement. "That's true." But she needed to think about the daily expenses for the Demon God Body Tempering Method.

Zhou Yurou pulled Lin Li toward the third cafeteria, saying angrily as they walked, "That bastard Class Monitor! Next time, I'm definitely bringing an eye mask!"

Damn it, even Ye Lian had prepared nose plugs. Next time, she would put one over him directly and stop that bastard from using his powerful control on her again.

Hearing Zhou Yurou's words, Lin Li was helpless as well. Yet his two spirit abilities happened to be very similar.

Both relied on controlling the environment. Perhaps that would completely change once he acquired his third soul ring.

The Demon Eye Demonic Tree did not rely solely on Spirit Attribute control. It possessed extremely terrifying control abilities in its own right; the spiritual aspect was merely incidental.

Zhou Yurou, however, could only use spiritual and wind control. Her First Spirit Ability had a major flaw—if someone deliberately guarded against her martial spirit, her control would instantly become ineffective.

But who said one could only breathe through the nose? The skin, the scalp—what part of the body did not have pores?

If she found a Soul Beast proficient in this area in the future, Zhou Yurou's control abilities would definitely be greatly enhanced.

After eating with Lin Li, she went to the largest pharmacy in Saint Er City. However, when she saw the price of the medicinal ingredients for the mixed medicinal bath—

She could only leave helplessly. It was too expensive. One dose cost six Silver Spirit Coins.

That was almost as expensive as nearly ten kilograms of Soul Beast blood.

After thinking for a long time, she gritted her teeth, went back inside, and took out three Gold Soul Coins to buy six doses of medicinal ingredients for the medicinal bath.

No, her physique was still too weak. She had nearly been unable to endure merely from the shock of the opponent's spirit ability.

But she had not considered the difference in their Soul Power. One was a Soul Grandmaster who had only just entered level twenty-one, while the other was a Silver Douluo from the Great Soul Arena. Every Soul Elder who possessed a Silver Battle Soul Badge was above level thirty-five.

The enormous gap in Soul Power naturally resulted in a difference in strength...

Even though her soul rings exceeded the standard limits, they could hardly create any meaningful gap before the third ring.

The gap between Spirit Masters would only truly widen after the fourth ring, including the quality of their martial spirits, soul ring configurations, and the number of soul bones they possessed.