Tailong's Crushing Defeat

Yu Mingfei watched Dugu Yan take the stage.

Ye Lingling stepped out from behind him and looked worriedly at her sister on the platform.

"Will Yanyan really be all right?"

Yu Mingfei glanced at Ye Lingling and said, "At worst, she loses this match and wins it back later.

"You have to believe in her, and believe in me too."

Ye Lingling quieted down and nodded firmly, as though cheering Dugu Yan on from below.

"Mm."

On the other side of the spectator area.

The Imperial Dou Team felt thoroughly uneasy. Keeping their distance from Yu Mingfei and Ye Lingling, they watched the battle on the platform from afar.

Yu Tianheng's gaze shifted back and forth between the platform and Yu Mingfei.

He had noticed Yu Mingfei's changes from the very beginning.

Golden eyes, vermillion dragon horns growing from his forehead, a white scaled dragon tail faintly visible beneath his coat...

His heart was now filled with confusion.

"Our Yu Family's Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Soul Masters develop Dragon Transformation traits after reaching level thirty.

"Every ten levels, another Dragon Transformation trait appears.

"My Dragon Transformation limb is my right arm.

"Golden eyes, dragon horns, dragon tail... Yu Mingfei actually has three obvious Dragon Transformation traits!

"Could Yu Mingfei already be level fifty?

"Wasn't his Martial Soul mutated, leaving his Soul Power unable to break through level nine?

"No, I've gone mad. How could I even think something like that?"

Yu Tianheng's gaze was unfocused, and he had no mind left to watch the battle on the platform.

His vacant eyes faced Yu Mingfei's direction.

"Even if his Soul Power broke through and reached level ten, level twenty..."

"Dragon Transformation is something that can only be seen after the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul undergoes Martial Soul Possession.

"There are no obvious Soul Power Fluctuations around him. He hasn't undergone Martial Soul Possession.

"Could it be...

"His changed appearance... and this inexplicable pressure... are because his martial soul mutated again?"

"Dragon Blood... Dragon Aspect..."

Yu Tianheng's eyes reflected the other man's figure. His breathing quickened, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

What he felt most deeply from Yu Mingfei was not his appearance.

It was the fear of Yu Mingfei flowing from his bloodline.

Yes, fear!

His bloodline, his martial soul.

The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon he took such pride in was afraid of Yu Mingfei.

If they had been any closer, Yu Tianheng feared that he would have unconsciously fallen to his knees.

Submitting like a bloodline servant before one of higher rank.

On the Soul Fighting Platform, the scene everyone had imagined—Tailong crushing Dugu Yan with overwhelming force—never appeared.

Logically speaking, Dugu Yan's Poison Arts had been crippled, and the three Soul Skills she relied on had basically become useless.

Given the innate strength of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul, even if Dugu Yan adopted hit-and-run tactics,

she should have been utterly incapable of contending with Tailong.

Tailong's martial soul was the Great Ape, outstanding in both strength and defense.

Among martial souls below the top-tier rank, it was considered exceptionally powerful.

Yet the battle on the Soul Fighting Platform left everyone dumbfounded.

Dugu Yan had abandoned her usual fighting style and no longer spat poison mist.

Instead, like a close-combat Soul Master, she wielded her long serpent tail as a whip, sending Tailong reeling with every agile dodge and turn.

Crack—

Her serpent tail left an afterimage, then curled back just as it touched Tailong's chest and abdomen.

The tip of her tail lashed out with a violent sonic boom.

Tailong's charge was abruptly halted. His body bent like a shrimp, his eyes bulged, and he opened his mouth involuntarily, yet could not spit anything out.

His mind went blank.

Only after a long while did a thought surface.

Damn it, where did Dugu Yan get that much strength?!

Isn't she a poison-type Soul Master?

With [Word Spirit: Royal Selection Servant] empowering her, Dugu Yan's blood boiled throughout her body, leaving her unable to hear his thoughts.

After landing the blow, Dugu Yan swung her serpent tail. Her entire body seemed boneless as she traced a bizarre arc across the platform.

In the blink of an eye, she had circled around to Tailong's rear flank.

Before he could react.

Her serpent tail exerted force again.

Skimming close to the ground, it swept fiercely at Tailong's right ankle.

Bang—

Another successful strike!

Tailong lost his balance, his body tilting as he was about to fall.

But he was, after all, a Soul Elder with extensive Soul Fighting experience.

The muscles all over his body swelled. Bracing himself on one foot, he twisted and recovered his center of gravity.

But how could Dugu Yan let such an opportunity slip away?

She concentrated all her strength at the tip of her tail and thrust it out with a sharp hiss, wrapping it around Tailong's suspended right ankle.

Her slender waist swayed.

Transmitted through her muscles and bones, wave after wave of unceasing force drove the tip of her tail into constant twists.

A soft crack— sounded.

Tailong's right leg bent in midair and flailed wildly under the immense force.

The balance he had nearly regained was lost once more.

This time, there was nothing he could do.

His left foot, gripping the ground, began to tilt. The front of his foot lifted, and the massive inertia left his heel unable to support him.

He slammed heavily onto the ground.

The enormous impact surged up from the hard floor beneath him.

Thud—

Am I going to lose?

I can't even beat a woman?

Blood rushed to Tailong's head. His eyes turned crimson, and his expression twisted ferociously.

But his fury became hollow as his body was launched into the air again.

His burly body traced an arc through the air.

Thud—

Another fall!

"Aah—"

Tailong roared, Soul Power erupting around him as he forcefully rose with a twist of his waist.

"Come again!"

He roared as he scanned his surroundings, trying to find Dugu Yan and counterattack.

But what entered his sight was a ring of strange looks from the spectator area.

Members of the Blue Overlord Team...

Members of the Imperial Dou Team...

Unfamiliar Soul Masters...

Staff members...

And Yu Mingfei's dazzling golden eyes...

Dugu Yan had actually thrown him straight off the Soul Fighting Platform!

According to the rules, leaving the platform meant defeat.

Beneath the dome, the referee, flying through the air with wings spread wide, made the judgment at the right moment.

"What a splendid match! Soul Elder Dugu Yan wins!"

"Heh."

Yu Mingfei chuckled softly and turned his gaze back toward the platform.

Dugu Yan's blood and energy were surging. Supported by her serpent tail, her upper body stood perfectly straight.

She looked down from the platform and smiled brightly at Yu Mingfei and Ye Lingling.

She cultivated Poison Arts, and with her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul, her purple hair and green eyes had already set her apart from ordinary people.

With that smile, the coldness on Dugu Yan's face melted away in an instant.

She exuded an extraordinary and unusual charm.

"Yanyan! That was amazing!"

Only then did Ye Lingling snap out of her daze. Covering her lips with both hands, she stared wide-eyed at her sister in astonishment.

"Of course she's amazing," Yu Mingfei agreed with a smile.

After being tempered by the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and Immortal Herbs, then absorbing my Dragon Blood, Dugu Yan's physical strength has already far surpassed Soul Masters of the same rank.

Not to mention that under the enhancement of "Royal Selection Servant," her strength, speed, and physical resilience are in no way inferior to a Soul King's.

What does Tailong have to fight her with?

Dugu Yan released her Martial Soul Possession. Her long serpent tail transformed back into legs, and she raced down from the platform.

"Yu Mingfei, I won!"

Her emerald-green eyes were like translucent jade as she looked at him nervously.

The moment she approached him, her entire body suddenly went limp, and she collapsed into Yu Mingfei's arms.

The effects of [Royal Selection Attendant] were temporary. Now that the Word Spirit's enhancement had vanished, the consequences of her exhausted stamina immediately surfaced.

"Wow~" Ye Lingling gasped softly. Seeing Dugu Yan collapse into Yu Mingfei's arms, she blinked and quietly smiled.

Hidden beneath her black veil, it went unnoticed by everyone else.

When Dugu Yan came back to herself, she realized she was lying against a warm chest.

She lifted her head and met Yu Mingfei's gentle, concerned gaze.