First Beating for Tang San!

"Mysterious Heaven Skill? It was basically a soul skill."

"Too bad human strength could never withstand divine power!"

"Let me show you what an all-around boost looks like!"

Their fists collided, and Xiao Xuan could feel it clearly.

It was like steel crashing into cotton—they were on completely different levels.

In an instant, his fist force shrouded in murky energy tore through the Mysterious Heaven Skill's enhancement.

It struck Tang San and sent him flying hard.

Fortunately, the guy had plenty of combat experience.

At the crucial moment, he gritted his teeth and endured it, raising both hands to protect his chest and face.

Otherwise, that one blow alone would have disfigured him.

"How could his strength be this great?"

"Was his first soul skill purely a strength boost?"

"If so, I can't clash with him head-on."

"The quality of this martial soul's soul ring is probably much higher than mine!"

Tang San dropped to one knee, panting heavily in a rather miserable state.

He stared ahead, his eyes full of disbelief.

Based on the previous test results,

after using the Mysterious Heaven Skill to strengthen his body, he should have been able to break through any first-ring skill.

Yet the actual exchange had slapped him in the face instantly.

He simply could not break through Xiao Xuan's Soul Power-covered fist!

"Ha, so this is what they mean by fortunes changing hands?"

"Just now, when Boss Xiao Chenyu used his wolf claws against Tang San,"

"wasn't he also blocked and sent flying back like that?"

"As expected of the Three Illusion Gods Martial Soul, with its peerless talent that triggered heavenly phenomena!"

"Go, Xiao Xuan! He's the one who crippled your brother!"

Seeing Xiao Xuan take the upper hand, the surrounding young masters became even more excited.

They shouted wildly, making the atmosphere increasingly tense.

That was until Xiao Wu shot them a fierce glare.

Her adorably vicious expression immediately frightened the others into silence.

"You think you've won just because of this?"

"That was only a test. Now it really begins!"

"Come on. This farce should be over."

"Blue Silver Grass soul skill, Entangle!"

Tang San took a deep breath and slowly rose from his half-kneeling position.

At the same time, he spoke to distract Xiao Xuan.

A triumphant smile flashed across his face as he lightly moved his fingers.

Suddenly, more than a dozen thick Blue Silver Grass vines burst from the ground without warning, aiming to bind his opponent's joints.

Yet Xiao Xuan was not surprised in the slightest.

Divine Strength Enhancement was a powerful all-around enhancement skill.

Attack, defense, and speed were merely its most basic benefits.

In "enhancement mode," his vision, hearing, and perception were all improved.

The disturbance underground had long since entered his field of awareness.

As the Blue Silver Grass surged forth, he immediately relied on his enhanced speed and jumping power.

He leaped into the air and suddenly raised his hand.

"Need to control the amount. Not too much, not too little."

"I wouldn't mind sending him on his way, but now isn't the time."

"Mm, a few months in bed should do..."

Xiao Xuan muttered to himself as he judged how much Soul Power to gather.

If he attacked at full force,

then with Tang San's current level and abilities, he absolutely would not survive if he were hit.

Though his death would amount to nothing, Tang Hao's threat had to be considered. He could not go too far.

"Is that... an attack-type soul skill?"

"As expected. Since you gave all three soul rings at the same time,"

"you must have tried to keep the skill types evenly distributed."

"That big blue martial soul belongs to the enhancement type."

"Clearly, the other two must have attack skills!"

"It looks powerful enough, but unfortunately, you fell for it..."

Noticing Xiao Xuan's movement, Tang San was equally confident.

Or rather, this was precisely the moment he had been waiting for.

According to Master, the Blue Silver Grass martial soul leaned toward support and mainly focused on control.

At present, it lacked offensive ability.

Tang San had planned from the start to make up for it with concealed weapons.

It would be best if the Blue Silver Grass bindings could trap his opponent.

Even if they could not, they could still force him into the air.

Just like Xiao Xuan's current position—where was there any room for him to dodge?

He pulled out a sleeve arrow and fired it without hesitation!

Everything had been done with extreme secrecy; even Xiao Wu had failed to notice.

But Xiao Xuan had long been on guard against this guy's concealed weapons.

Combined with the improvements to his eyesight and perception from Divine Strength Enhancement,

how could he possibly miss such a small movement?

Behind him, the phantom of the Winged Dragon flickered quietly.

No one noticed it, but the skill had already been activated.

Sun God's Protection!

For thirty seconds, it reduced damage of any type.

Naturally, that did not only apply to physical damage.

The poison that a concealed weapon might carry, as well as paralysis, slowing effects, and similar properties, also counted as indirect damage.

Furthermore, the strength of this skill's effect depended on the gap between the two sides' levels.

Tang San's current strength was less than half of Xiao Xuan's.

The concealed weapon in his hand was also of the lowest possible grade.

There was no suspense at all. It could be blocked with ease!

In other words, for at least the next thirty seconds, Xiao Xuan could attack without any concerns.

"Actually, you're the one who fell for it."

"Sky Dragon's first soul skill, Thunder Summon!"

"First shot! Second shot! Third shot!"

"And finally, let's make this one big!"

According to its original definition, Thunder Summon

was naturally meant to gather energy and unleash an overwhelmingly powerful blast.

But recently, Xiao Xuan had studied and pondered it himself.

He thought of Hu Liena from the Soul Hunting Forest.

That girl's second soul skill, the Deception Orb, was like rolling little energy balls.

Though slightly less powerful, it could be fired repeatedly and required less charging time.

With that realization, Xiao Xuan began applying the same principle.

In truth, Thunder Summon did not necessarily have to be charged to full power.

Gathering 100% of his Soul Power would naturally produce a massive attack.

But by the same logic, he could gather only 1% and fire it off immediately.

That way, he could imitate Hu Liena's method.

Shot after shot, he could release it repeatedly at the cost of reduced power.

Simply put, if used properly,

this skill could be a single devastating cannon blast, or a rapid barrage that barely scratched the enemy.

With Sun God's Protection granting him resistance akin to "absolute defense,"

Xiao Xuan had plenty of time to experiment with a combo.

First, he fired several weaker "stray shots" that were not entirely without threat.

They shot toward Tang San's surroundings, restricting his range of movement.

Then, taking advantage of the moment after Tang San fired his concealed weapon, when his body had no time to dodge,

he gathered enough Soul Power and struck with precision!

"Thunder Summon has enough power, all right."

"But after all, it isn't like a sniper rifle that can aim."

"Tang San doesn't have many skills right now, and his Soul Power is relatively weak, so he's easy enough to deal with."

"But if I encounter those guys with incredible speed or special abilities in the future,"

"even if this move has enough power, it'll be useless if it misses."

Xiao Xuan's thoughts raced as he had already discovered the flaw in the skill.

At the same time, he had a solution in mind.

"I remember... among the second-ring missions,"

"Giant Soldier seemed to have a skill for restricting movement?"

"Looks like once I get back, my priority should be hunting soul beasts!"

"Huh? This guy still hasn't fallen?"

Let me address the brothers' questions:

1. Why is Giant Soldier the God of Earth rather than the God of Destruction? Because earth equals destruction, according to Gaia;

2. Why is Sky Dragon wind-attributed rather than dark-attributed? Because death follows in my wake like the wind, according to Yasuo.

(End of Chapter)