Qing Mu vs. Qing Tianfeng

"Bulbasaur, use Sleep Powder!"

In the Spirit Duel Arena at Qing Mu's home, Qing Mu waved a hand and commanded the Bulbasaur before him.

"Da Na!!"

In the next instant, pale green powder sprayed from the seed on Bulbasaur's back. It rapidly spread, drifting toward Qing Tianfeng on the opposite side.

At the same time, on the other side of the Spirit Duel Arena, Qing Tianfeng's expression changed when he saw the powder.

After all, he had suffered quite a few losses to this Sleep Powder whenever he fought Qing Mu in the past!

"Hmph! This disgusting move again! But do you think I'll fall for it again? Fourth Soul Skill, Poison Mud Swamp!"

Qing Tianfeng's fourth Soul Ring lit up, and a purple mire giving off a foul stench began to emerge beneath Qing Mu's feet.

As Qing Mu's father, and having sparred with Qing Mu for so long, Qing Tianfeng naturally knew where Qing Mu's weakness lay.

Bulbasaur was powerful, but because it could not possess him, Qing Mu himself became the greatest weakness.

He did not need to defeat Bulbasaur. He only needed to defeat Qing Mu, the source of Bulbasaur, and Bulbasaur would collapse without a fight.

But how could Qing Mu not know something that Qing Tianfeng knew?

The instant Qing Tianfeng's fourth Soul Ring lit up, Bulbasaur extended a Vine Whip and swiftly pulled Qing Mu to its side.

Meanwhile, Bulbasaur used two Vine Whips as stilts, keeping itself unaffected by the Poison Mud Swamp below.

Although Bulbasaur, as a Grass- and Poison-type Pokémon, would not be poisoned, it would still suffer damage. Thus, unless absolutely necessary, Bulbasaur would not casually take an opponent's attack.

Of course, this was mainly because Bulbasaur currently lacked a powerful recovery move: Solar Beam!

If Bulbasaur knew that move, then with Ingrain and Grassy Terrain, it would not even bother moving a single step.

"Damn it, he actually dodged it!"

Seeing that Qing Mu had evaded even his fourth Soul Ring skill, which covered more than half the Spirit Duel Arena, Qing Tianfeng immediately sensed trouble.

If even his widest-range attack could do nothing to Qing Mu, then he had no way of dealing with Qing Mu and Bulbasaur.

At that moment, the Sleep Powder had also reached him.

Qing Tianfeng remained extremely wary of the Sleep Powder that had made him suffer time and again. If he had a choice, he would have immediately retreated several hundred, or even a thousand, meters.

But they were currently in the Spirit Duel Arena, and due to space constraints, their arena was even smaller than an ordinary one. This made avoiding the Sleep Powder even more difficult.

Left with no choice, Qing Tianfeng could only use his First Soul Skill to leap high into the air, temporarily evading the Sleep Powder's attack.

At this moment, Qing Tianfeng truly hated himself for not choosing a poison-wind-type Soul Skill back then. At the very least, it could have blown away Qing Mu's ultimate Sleep Powder move instead of leaving him in such a sorry state now.

"Leaf Blade!"

However, at the instant Qing Tianfeng leaped beyond the range of the Sleep Powder, a mass of thick green leaves burst through the pale green powder and came chasing toward him from every direction.

Watching the large number of green leaves pursuing him from behind, Qing Tianfeng's expression shifted slightly as his third Soul Ring immediately lit up.

"Third Spirit Skill, Green Toad's Roar!"

After a brief charge, Qing Tianfeng let out a deep, piercing croak. The violent sound waves immediately collided with the Leaf Blades fired by Bulbasaur.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"...

After a brief stalemate, countless Leaf Blades shattered amid Qing Tianfeng's croak, but the power of his Third Spirit Skill was nearly exhausted as well.

Before Qing Tianfeng could catch his breath, several enormous seeds radiating pale green light broke through the Sleep Powder once more and shot rapidly toward him.

At this distance, it was already too late to use Green Toad's Roar again. Qing Tianfeng could only use his Second Soul Skill, condensing a pale purple Energy Ball to meet the several enormous glowing seeds.

But the seeds were clearly more powerful than the previous Leaf Blades. Moreover, Qing Tianfeng was using his weaker Second Soul Skill—how could it possibly stop the attack?

As expected, after sacrificing only one seed, Qing Mu's attack broke through Qing Tianfeng's defenses and struck him directly.

"Puh—"

Though Soul Power protected his body, Qing Mu's attack still dealt Qing Tianfeng a heavy blow. Qing Tianfeng immediately fell from the air, and the Soul Skill on the ground was interrupted, reverting to normal.

However, just as Qing Tianfeng was about to crash into the ground, several Vine Whips shot over from afar and swiftly wove themselves into a large net, catching him before he could hit the ground.

Soon afterward, the Sleep Powder rapidly dispersed, revealing Qing Mu and Bulbasaur as they slowly walked toward Qing Tianfeng.

"Dad, are you okay?"

After arriving beside Qing Tianfeng, Qing Mu asked.

"Da Na, Da Na~"

Bulbasaur also looked at Qing Tianfeng with concern and called out.

Hearing Qing Mu and Bulbasaur's words, Qing Tianfeng's mouth twitched. Did he look like he was okay?

Still, Qing Tianfeng sighed and said somewhat dejectedly, "I'm old and useless now. I'm a dignified level forty-four Soul Ancestor, yet I can't even beat a level twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster like you."

"Have you considered that maybe it's not that you're weak, but that Bulbasaur and I are strong?"

Qing Mu smiled at Qing Tianfeng as he stroked Bulbasaur's head.

Time passed quietly. In the blink of an eye, nearly three more years had gone by since Bulbasaur evolved into Ivysaur.

Qing Mu was now ten years old, and his level had reached twenty-nine as a Soul Grandmaster, only one step away from level thirty.

Hearing Qing Mu's boastful words, Qing Tianfeng's mouth twitched again. He had no idea which parent the kid had taken after to become so narcissistic.

However, Qing Tianfeng said nothing about it, because he knew Qing Mu had indeed been telling the truth.

Aside from Qing Mu himself needing protection, Bulbasaur's combat strength alone was enough to rival that of an ordinary high-level Soul Ancestor. Qing Tianfeng could tell as much from how he himself had just failed to defeat it.

Bulbasaur possessed far too many soul skills. Including the skills granted by its Soul Rings, Qing Tianfeng could not imagine how opponents of Qing Mu's level were supposed to win.

After all, even a Soul Ancestor only had four soul skills.

But Bulbasaur? Including its Soul Ring skills, it had more than ten!

Among them were even top-tier soul skills such as Leech Seed, Sleep Powder, Grassy Terrain, and Growth.