Azure Water Entanglement: Breaking Charm

Azure Water Entanglement: Breaking Charm

The air above the Star Dou Arena was still scorching from the collision between Sun Flame True Fire and Nether Ghost Fire. Hu Liena had barely steadied herself after staggering back when a ruthless cunning flashed through her eyes. She covered the bleeding wound on her chest, while a wisp of pale pink soul power quietly gathered at her fingertips—her final trump card, squeezed from the residual energy in the domain's core. It was not enough to restart the Charm Domain, but it could weave a "false domain" and use mental illusions to disrupt the Cauldron Sword Team's judgment.

"Careful! Something's wrong with her soul power!" Tang San's Purple Demon Eyes spotted the flaw first. As the pale pink soul power flowed around Hu Liena's fingertips, the air around her warped ever so slightly, completely different from the Energy Fluctuation of the Charm Domain earlier. "It's a mental illusion! She wants to make us think the domain is still active!"

But the warning came a step too late. Ma Hongjun was focused on suppressing Yan's Nether Ghost Fire when the false domain's illusion suddenly exploded before his eyes—Yan's figure split into three, each holding a dark blue flaming spear and stabbing toward his wings at once. "Which one is real?" Ma Hongjun instinctively folded his wings to defend himself, but failed to notice that the real Yan had already circled behind him. Nether Ghost Fire seeped through the gaps in his wings, burning him until he cried out in pain. The output of his Sun Flame True Fire instantly weakened.

"Hongjun!" Dai Mubai wanted to rush over to support him, but Xie Yue's twin blades held him tightly in check. Xie Yue had clearly sensed Hu Liena's intention and deliberately intensified his attacks. Ring-shaped blade qi darted about like silver snakes, forcing Dai Mubai to defend with full power and leaving him unable to spare attention elsewhere. "I'm your opponent. Don't even think of saving anyone else!"

The situation on the battlefield instantly became tense again. The cheers from the stands abruptly died away. The spectators who had been waving flags all held their breath as they watched the deadlocked battle on the Star Dou Arena. Some could not help murmuring, "What's going on? Didn't the Cauldron Sword Team have the advantage just now? How are they being suppressed again?" In the VIP section, Emperor Xue Beng's fingers tightened around the dragon throne's armrest once more, while Ning Fengzhi's jade fan stopped in midair, his gaze fixed on Hu Liena's movements.

"Rongrong, can you give me one more Precision Amplification?" Lin Che's voice cut through the battlefield's clamor. He was rapidly moving toward Ning Rongrong, the Azure Water Sword trembling lightly in his palm. A pale golden glow from the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew still lingered on the Sword-Tassel Glazed Bead—the trace of spiritual power it had picked up in the previous chapter. It was faintly hot now, as if responding to his perception of charm energy. "Hu Liena's false domain is supported by spiritual power. I need to precisely lock onto the nodes of her soul power to destroy the illusion completely!"

Ning Rongrong had already been adjusting her state. Thanks to the Recovery Sausage she had taken earlier, she had barely recovered thirty percent of her soul power. The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda once again shone with a pale purple halo, though its luster was much dimmer than before. "No Problem! But my Precision Amplification can only last five breaths. After that, it needs twenty breaths to cool down. You have to make good use of the time!" She drew a deep breath and poured all her soul power into the pagoda's fourth layer. The pale purple glow no longer spread outward in a broad cover, instead condensing into a slender arrow of light that shot precisely toward Lin Che's brow center. "The amplification is active! Your spiritual power perception will increase threefold. Hurry!"

The instant the arrow of light entered his body, Lin Che felt his mind become crystal clear. His previously blurred perception of the battlefield became incomparably sharp—Hu Liena's pale pink soul power was silently connecting through patterns in the air to the mental layers of Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai. The Energy Threads forming the illusions were like a transparent spiderweb, faintly visible amid the lingering black mist. At Hu Liena's dantian, there was also a denser wisp of charm energy. That was the core maintaining the false domain, the hub of the web.

"Found it!" Lin Che's figure suddenly accelerated. The Azure Water Sword traced an emerald arc through his hand, not attacking Hu Liena directly, but cutting off the Energy Threads connected to Ma Hongjun first. As the blade cut through the air, it carried the pale golden glow of Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew. The moment the threads touched that glow, they melted away like ice and snow beneath sunlight. The illusion before Ma Hongjun instantly vanished. He abruptly came to his senses, and his Sun Flame True Fire surged again, forcing Yan back three steps. "Thanks, Captain! That woman's too cunning!"

Hu Liena's expression instantly turned ugly. She did not expect Lin Che to find the Energy Threads so precisely, much less expect the residual power of Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew to restrain her mental illusions. No longer hiding anything, she released all the charm energy from her dantian. The false domain instantly expanded, its pale pink mist spreading to a radius of thirty meters. This time, it was no longer an illusion aimed at a single person—it plunged the entire Cauldron Sword Team into mental interference. Tang San's Blue Silver Grass trembled faintly, as if it had misjudged Xie Yue's position. Even Oscar's sausage-making ability stalled briefly, nearly causing him to produce a failed sausage.

"Azure Water Entanglement!" Lin Che no longer hesitated. He poured soul power into the tassel of the Azure Water Sword. Emerald sword threads burst from the blade's patterns. Instead of the single-strand attack from before, they turned into dozens of fine threads, weaving themselves into a net in midair like living creatures and enveloping Hu Liena's limbs. The pale golden glow on the threads was the residual spiritual power of Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew. Every strand restrained charm energy, like thorned vines determined to completely entangle Hu Liena's energy hub.

"Do Not Even Think Of it!" All nine of Hu Liena's fox tails spread out at once. Pale pink soul power covered their tips, forming sharp blades of fox fur as she tried to cut off the sword threads. The moment the fox tails collided with the threads, a sizzling sound rang out—the charm energy on the fox-fur blades was instantly neutralized upon touching the glow around the threads. Instead, the fox tails became entangled, like whips bound by vines, no longer able to move freely. Hu Liena let out a cry of pain. She could clearly feel the spiritual power on the threads entering her meridians bit by bit through her fox tails, disrupting the circulation of her soul power. The charm core in her dantian began to fall into disorder.

"Break!" Lin Che shouted in a low voice and sharply twisted his wrist. The sword threads suddenly tightened, the emerald strands embedding deeply into the skin of Hu Liena's limbs. The spiritual power of Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew became countless tiny needles stabbing toward her mental core. Hu Liena felt an agonizing pain explode in her mind. The false domain she had forcibly maintained instantly collapsed, and the pale pink mist dispersed like shattered bubbles. Even the final trace of luster in the fox mark on her brow center completely dimmed—the Charm Domain had been utterly broken and could not be launched again for some time.

"Liena!" Xie Yue's furious roar came from the eastern array point. Seeing Hu Liena bound by the sword threads with his own eyes, he could no longer remain calm. Ignoring the obstruction of Dai Mubai's White Tiger Claw, he forcibly activated his fourth soul skill, Full Moon Twin Blades. Ring-shaped blade qi carrying black mist forcibly drove Dai Mubai back before he turned and rushed toward Hu Liena. "Lin Che! Let her go!"

A gap instantly appeared in the eastern array point's defenses. The remaining Spirit Hall soul masters, who had originally been held back by Xie Yue, seized the opportunity to launch a black mist attack and approached Tang San, attempting to coordinate with Xie Yue and form a pincer attack. Dai Mubai wanted to chase Xie Yue, but the soul masters entangled him. He could only shout anxiously, "Tang San! Stop Xie Yue! Don't let him get near Hu Liena!"

Tang San had long been prepared. The instant Xie Yue turned around, he had quietly buried the Blue Silver Grass he had gathered earlier along Xie Yue's retreat path. The grass blades still carried the residual energy of the Poison Thorn Sausage Oscar had handed him before—this sausage could give Blue Silver Grass a paralyzing toxin. While its effect on a Soul Ancestor like Xie Yue was limited, it could still slow him down. "Blue Silver Grass! Parasite!" Tang San's voice was firm. Blue Silver Grass suddenly shot up from the ground like agile snakes, tightly wrapping around Xie Yue's ankles. The spikes on the grass blades stabbed into Xie Yue's skin, and pale green paralyzing toxin spread through his bloodstream.

Xie Yue's footsteps abruptly halted. He could feel the numbness coming from his ankles. Though it was not enough to rob him of his ability to move, it slowed him by thirty percent. He furiously swung his twin blades, attempting to cut off the Blue Silver Grass. "Tang San! You're seeking death!" Silver blade qi slashed onto the Blue Silver Grass, but left only a Faint White Mark—the Blue Silver Grass was far tougher than before, like highly resilient refined iron.

"It's the effect of the Power Sausage!" Oscar's voice came from nearby. Taking advantage of Xie Yue being bound, he quickly made a sausage glowing with golden light and threw it toward Tang San. "Tang San, catch it! Eat the sausage, and your Blue Silver Grass will become another thirty percent harder. He won't be able to cut it!" This was an Enhanced Power Sausage he had specially improved. Not only could it increase soul power, it could also temporarily give the user's martial soul a metallic hardness. It had been prepared specifically for Xie Yue's twin blades.

Tang San steadily caught the sausage and swallowed it in one bite. As his soul power instantly surged, he could clearly feel the changes in his Blue Silver Grass—the veins in the grass blades became denser, and a faint Metallic Sheen appeared across their surface. When Xie Yue's second slash landed on the blades, it even produced a metallic clang. The Blue Silver Grass remained completely unharmed. "Xie Yue, your twin blades are useless now!" Tang San's Blue Silver Grass tightened again as he launched his Second Soul Skill, Poison Thorns. More paralyzing toxin entered Xie Yue's body. "You can't even move now, and you still want to save Hu Liena?"

Xie Yue's face turned deathly pale. He could feel the numbness from his ankles gradually spreading upward. The circulation of soul power in his legs became more and more sluggish, and even his twin blades moved slowly. He looked at Hu Liena, bound by the sword threads. She was signaling for him to break through with her eyes, but he could not even break free of the Blue Silver Grass. He could only watch helplessly as Lin Che approached Hu Liena step by step, the emerald blade of the Azure Water Sword gleaming coldly as it pointed directly at her brow center.

"Yan! Come help me!" Xie Yue could only call to Yan in the distance for aid. But Yan could barely protect himself—Ma Hongjun's Sun Flame True Fire had completely suppressed his Nether Ghost Fire. Golden flames trapped him like a cage, burning him with every struggle and consuming enormous amounts of soul power. He had no ability to spare himself for support. "I can barely save myself! Hold on!"

The tide of battle reversed once more. Hu Liena was tightly bound by Azure Water Entanglement and unable to move. Xie Yue's ankles were wrapped in Blue Silver Grass, leaving him paralyzed. Yan was suppressed by Sun Flame True Fire and on the brink of collapse. The remaining Spirit Hall soul masters were also held back by Dai Mubai and Oscar, unable to mount an effective attack. The Cauldron Sword Team had finally taken complete control of the battle. Cheers erupted from the stands again, fiercer than ever before. People waved the Cauldron Sword Team's flags and shouted, "Cauldron Sword Must Win!" Even neutral spectators rose to their feet and cheered for them.

"Hu Liena, surrender now, and you can still preserve the last shred of dignity of Spirit Hall's Golden Generation." Lin Che's voice was calm, yet carried unquestionable authority. The tip of the Azure Water Sword was only three inches from Hu Liena's brow center. The glow of Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew on the sword threads was still suppressing her spiritual power, leaving her unable even to gather the thought of detonating her soul power. "Otherwise, once we act, you'll only lose more miserably."

A trace of unwillingness and humiliation flashed through Hu Liena's eyes. She looked at Xie Yue, trapped by Blue Silver Grass, then at Yan, suppressed by flames. She knew there was no point in continuing to resist. But her pride would not allow her to surrender so easily. Gritting her teeth, she activated her final trace of soul power, attempting to use the remaining energy in her fox tails to break free of the sword threads. "We, the Golden Generation of Spirit Hall, will never surrender to country soul masters like you!"

The sword threads suddenly tightened. Lin Che's gaze turned icy as the glow of Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew surged again and invaded Hu Liena's mental core, bringing the circulation of her soul power to a complete halt. "Don't force me to act. Your Charm Domain is broken, and Xie Yue and Yan are both restrained. You have no chance of winning." He paused, his gaze sweeping toward the referee at the edge of the Star Dou Arena. "The referee is already waiting. If you keep delaying, Spirit Hall will only lose more face."

Hu Liena's body trembled violently, but no longer from anger—from despair. She could feel the spectators around her all watching. Their gazes held mockery and pity, but not a shred of awe—this was a humiliation she had never experienced as the core of Spirit Hall's Golden Generation. She looked toward Bibi Dong in the VIP section, only to see the corner of the Pope's robes vanish behind the curtain. Bibi Dong had clearly abandoned her.

"I..." Hu Liena's voice was hoarse. She had barely begun to speak when Xie Yue's roar interrupted her. "Liena! Don't surrender! We still have a chance! I can break free of the Blue Silver Grass!" Xie Yue desperately activated his soul power, trying to break through the paralysis. His twin blades slashed toward the Blue Silver Grass again. This time, though they left a deep mark on the blades, they still could not cut through them. Instead, it only caused his soul power to drain faster.

Tang San shook his head. Blue Silver Grass tightened again as more paralyzing toxin was injected into Xie Yue's body. "Xie Yue, don't waste your strength. Oscar's Power Sausage can keep my Blue Silver Grass active for half a day. Even if you exhaust all your soul power, you still won't cut through it." He looked at Hu Liena, his tone calm. "You lost not because you lacked strength, but because you relied too heavily on charm and underhanded tricks. You forgot the essence of team battles."

Looking into Xie Yue's desperate eyes, then down at her own limbs bound by sword threads, Hu Liena finally lowered her proud head. Her voice was as soft as a whisper, yet it clearly spread throughout the entire Star Dou Arena. "I... surrender."

The moment her words fell, the sword threads of the Azure Water Sword instantly loosened. Lin Che withdrew his soul power and stepped back two paces, giving her the last of her dignity. Xie Yue's body went limp, and he collapsed onto the ground. His twin blades fell with a clang, his eyes filled with unwillingness. Yan also ceased resisting. When the Sun Flame True Fire faded, his body was covered in burns and his aura had weakened to the extreme.

The referee finally walked forward and raised the command token in his hand, his voice carrying a trace of excitement. "Hu Liena, core member of Spirit Hall's Golden Generation, has surrendered. The eastern and southern array points have been controlled by the Cauldron Sword Team. This battle..."

"Wait!" An icy voice suddenly came from a corner where black mist still lingered. Ghost Douluo's figure slowly emerged. In his hand was a black Soul Tool, from which thick, sinister energy radiated. "The match isn't over yet. I haven't made my move."

The stands instantly fell silent, and the earlier cheers came to an abrupt stop. Ning Fengzhi's expression changed sharply. Chen Xin's Seven Kill Sword instantly left its sheath, pale golden sword qi locking onto Ghost Douluo. "Ghost Douluo, the match is over. If you interfere again, you will be violating the tournament rules!"

Ghost Douluo scoffed as the energy within the Soul Tool began to churn. "Rules? Before Spirit Hall, there are no rules! Pope Bibi Dong has commanded that the Cauldron Sword Team must die here. No one can stop it!" He raised his hand and waved. Black Energy spread toward the Cauldron Sword Team—the residual power of the Soul Erosion Array. Though not as concentrated as before, it still possessed the ability to corrode soul power.

"Cauldron Suppression!" Lin Che reacted immediately. The Universe Cauldron floated above his head, and a pale golden soul power field unfolded again, blocking the black energy's attack. "Rongrong, give everyone Defense Amplification! Tang San, prepare Blue Silver Grass defenses! Dai Mubai, Hongjun, get ready to counterattack!"

The seven members of the Cauldron Sword Team formed a battle formation once more. The atmosphere that had just relaxed instantly became tense again. People in the stands showed worried expressions. In the VIP section, Emperor Xue Beng also ordered the Imperial Soul Master Legion to enter the arena. The situation at the Star Dou Arena had once again fallen into an unknown crisis.

Ghost Douluo looked at the Cauldron Sword Team's formation, a cruel smile flashing in his eyes. "Even if you won the match, you can't defeat death. Today, all of you will die here and pay the price for offending Spirit Hall!" His soul power began pouring into the Soul Tool, and the black energy grew increasingly dense, as if it would swallow the entire Star Dou Arena.

Lin Che tightened his grip around the Azure Water Sword, and the golden light of the Universe Cauldron surged again. He knew this was a far more dangerous crisis than any they had faced before—against a Titled Douluo like Ghost Douluo, their chances of victory were minuscule. But as he looked at his companions and their resolute eyes, he felt no hesitation whatsoever. "No matter who you are, if you want to touch the Cauldron Sword Team, you'll have to get past me first!"

Sunlight pierced through the lingering black mist and fell upon the emerald blade of the Azure Water Sword, making it gleam with unwavering resolve. The ultimate confrontation between the Cauldron Sword Team and Ghost Douluo was about to unfold on the Star Dou Arena. And the outcome of this battle would decide whether they could truly leave Heaven Dou City with the glory of champions.