Facing the oncoming white light, Lin Yuan's expression did not change. Ripples spread through the space beneath his feet again, and he shifted several meters sideways, easily avoiding the attack. The white light struck the ground, blasting out a shallow crater and sending shattered stones flying.
"Your opponent is me." Lin Yuan's voice was calm. Blue-gold Soul Power surged around him as his right hand curled slightly, invoking the Authority of Wind to form a wind handprint nearly ten feet across. Carrying a shriek that tore through the air, the wind handprint slammed toward Dai Hua Bin.
Dai Hua Bin's pupils contracted sharply. He immediately circulated his Soul Power and crossed his arms before him. With a muffled bang, the wind handprint crashed heavily against his arms. The tremendous impact drove him back again and again, leaving two shallow tracks in the ground beneath his feet.
In the air, Wang Dong remained utterly composed in the face of Zhu Lu's sneak attack. Golden patterns flowed across the wings of her Light Goddess Butterfly, and blade-like edges condensed along them as they slashed toward Zhu Lu's claws. With a sharp clang, the piercing sound of metal striking metal rang out. Zhu Lu was sent flying backward, her arms slightly numb.
Dai Hua Bin let out a tiger's roar and charged forward. At the same time, his first Soul Ring lit up, and a layer of white light formed a protective barrier around his body. This was his defensive first soul skill, White Tiger Body Protection Barrier. Not only was its defensive power formidable, but it could also enhance his combat strength.
The two sides had already been close to each other. With a single tiger pounce, Dai Hua Bin rushed before Lin Yuan, spread both tiger claws, and slammed them down.
On the other side, Zhu Lu darted and weaved as she tangled with Wang Dong. Her speed was incredibly fast. Even Wang Dong had to focus completely, relying on Huo Yu Hao's shared Spiritual Detection and her own cultivation to block Zhu Lu's path and prevent her from approaching Huo Yu Hao to launch an attack.
"A mere little kitten dares act wild before a dragon? Have you ever seen an enraged dragon?"
As soon as he spoke, both of Lin Yuan's arms suddenly underwent Dragon Transformation. Dragon Scales rapidly spread along his arms, covering them all the way to his fingertips. The edge of every scale glimmered with faint Nine-Colored Flowing Light. Jagged bone spikes protruded from his elbows, while sharp claws flashed coldly at his fingertips. Dense dragon might coiled around them, making even the air tremble faintly beneath the pressure.
"Let me show you the gap between us!" Rather than retreating, Lin Yuan advanced, fiercely swinging into Dai Hua Bin's tiger claws. His dragon arm carried a gale that seemed capable of tearing space apart as it collided head-on with the White Tiger's claws.
With a deafening clang, the metallic hum of the collision shook the ears. Dai Hua Bin felt a tremendous force surge through his claws, numbing both arms and sending his entire body flying backward. Violent ripples spread across the White Tiger Body Protection Barrier, which nearly collapsed.
Almost at the same instant, he stomped heavily on the ground with his right leg, forcibly reversing his retreat. At the same time, he unleashed his second soul skill, White Tiger Blazing Light Wave, firing it at Lin Yuan while his body was still sliding sideways.
Lin Yuan's gaze sharpened. The five fingers of his dragonized right hand clenched suddenly as he reached toward the roaring White Tiger Blazing Light Wave. Nine-Colored Flowing Light gathered in his palm, forming a dense energy vortex that firmly locked onto the violent ball of white light.
Bang!
The white light struggled violently in his palm, yet it was bound layer upon layer by dragon power and Space Power. Lin Yuan lightly twisted his wrist, then clenched his fingers hard. The Blazing Light Wave, condensed from Dai Hua Bin's Soul Power, shattered inch by inch like glass, turning into countless tiny motes of light that were instantly swallowed by the vortex in his palm.
"How is that possible?!" Dai Hua Bin's pupils shrank as disbelief filled his face. White Tiger Blazing Light Wave was his core offensive soul skill. Even against Soul Elders of the same rank, it could give him the upper hand. Yet Lin Yuan had crushed it barehanded. This had already surpassed everything he knew about Soul Power intensity.
On the other side, Wang Dong had also fully entered the zone. Her cultivation was no weaker than Zhu Lu's. Though Zhu Lu's Hell Spirit Cat Martial Soul was a top-tier Martial Soul of the Agile Assault System, Wang Dong's Light Goddess Butterfly was of even higher quality, and her overall attributes surpassed Zhu Lu's. With Huo Yu Hao's shared Spiritual Detection supporting her under such circumstances, if she still could not stop Zhu Lu, she might as well quit.
Though Zhu Lu was still extremely fast, she seemed trapped in an inescapable cage. No matter how hard she tried, she could not break through Wang Dong's obstruction. She had also tried to force her way through with attacks, but while her offensive power was not weak, defeating Wang Dong, who was fundamentally a Control-Assault System soul master, was easier said than done.
Dai Hua Bin had noticed Zhu Lu's situation as well. The moment the match began, Zhu Lu had attacked at full force, pushing her speed to its limit in an attempt to break through Wang Dong's blockade. The expenditure of Soul Power had been enormous. Wang Dong, who had planned her tactics in advance, had consumed far less than Zhu Lu.
By now, Zhu Lu's speed had clearly slowed. To maintain his own offensive strength, Dai Hua Bin had long since activated his third Soul Ring skill, White Tiger Vajra Transformation. The massive consumption was gradually becoming difficult for him to bear. Yet Lin Yuan, who should have been suffering equally tremendous expenditure in his eyes, remained as vigorous as ever. If this continued, as one side weakened and the other gained momentum, they might truly lose the match.
Watching Dai Hua Bin begin to show signs of fatigue, Lin Yuan's purple eyes flashed with mockery. A cold curve lifted at the corner of his mouth. "What? Out of strength already? A direct descendant of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion only has this much ability? You can't even withstand half my strength, and I haven't even gotten serious yet."
He deliberately paused, lightly tapping his dragonized palm with his fingers. The sound was soft, yet it reached Dai Hua Bin's ears clearly. "If I remember right, you have a Martial Soul Fusion Skill called Hell White Tiger, don't you? Why not use it and let me test its strength? Otherwise, this final will be far too boring."
The spectators were completely dumbfounded. This was the first time they had seen someone actively provoke an opponent into using their trump card during a final. On the raised platform, the teacup in Yan Shao Zhe's hand stopped in midair. A flicker of surprise passed through his clouded eyes before turning into an interested smile. "That kid is arrogant, but he has the confidence to back it up."
Du Wilun stood beside him, one brow slightly raised. "Dean, he knows the power of Hell White Tiger, yet he is still inviting them to use it. Isn't that too risky?"
"Risky?" Yan Shao Zhe shook his head with a chuckle, his gaze fixed on the silver-haired youth in the arena. "Look at how steady his aura is. Even his Soul Power fluctuations have not been disturbed in the slightest. He isn't taking a risk. He is testing them—testing whether this so-called Martial Soul Fusion Skill is worthy of making him use his true strength."
The other teachers around the arena erupted into discussion as well.
"Has he lost his mind? He's actively letting his opponents use a fusion skill? This is Hell White Tiger! The power of that fusion skill rivals the all-out strike of a peak four-ring Soul Ancestor!"
"Where does his confidence come from? Even a level thirty-nine Soul Elder couldn't withstand a frontal charge from Hell White Tiger, could he?"
"Just wait and see. This kid hasn't revealed any trump cards since the match began. Maybe he really has something else up his sleeve."
Lin Yuan's mockery sent Dai Hua Bin's anger boiling over, and his face turned livid. "Since you're looking to die, I'll grant your wish!" As he spoke, a ferocious glint flashed in his eyes. He dispelled the White Tiger Vajra Transformation around himself and suddenly sprinted wildly toward the rear.
Almost the moment Dai Hua Bin turned and ran, Zhu Lu moved as well. She fiercely launched a Hell Stab at Wang Dong, then instantly accelerated, turned around, and chased after Dai Hua Bin.
Dai Hua Bin let out a thunderous tiger roar. As the roar rang out, his entire body swelled again, white fur mixed with black tiger stripes bursting wildly from within him. Zhu Lu lightly bit her lip. A faint black glow covered her entire body, making her form hazy, almost transparent, as she opened her arms and lunged toward Dai Hua Bin.
At that moment, they had eyes only for each other. Dai Hua Bin's twin pupils merged into one, yet the coldness in his gaze did not diminish in the slightest. Zhu Lu's eyes, meanwhile, became as gentle as water, as though she wished to melt him away. The auras of the White Tiger and Hell Spirit Cat completely fused at that instant. The feeling was incredibly strange, as if the White Tiger had devoured the black cat. Intense Soul Power fluctuations erupted from their fused bodies like a volcanic burst. Black and white light fully intertwined amid spreading golden halos. This was an ascension beyond the individual.
A Martial Soul Fusion Skill was not simply one plus one equaling two. Even two completely identical Martial Souls might not be able to perform one, because it required complementary Martial Souls and a perfect match. Once a Martial Soul Fusion Skill was successfully unleashed, its power was far more than the sum of the two soul masters' levels. It erupted in a transcendent fashion.
Dai Hua Bin and Zhu Lu's bodies vanished at the instant they fused, leaving only an enormous White Tiger within the examination area. The White Tiger was translucent from head to toe, with white fur, black stripes, and purple twin pupils, coldly staring at Lin Yuan and the other two.
This was the secret between the White Tiger Duke's lineage and the Zhu Clan, one of the top noble houses of the Star Luo Empire—the mystery of Martial Soul fusion. The Evil-Eyed White Tiger was distinguished most notably by its twin pupils, and it possessed an extraordinarily high compatibility for a Martial Soul Fusion Skill with the Hell Spirit Cat Martial Soul.
Since ancient times, the White Tiger Duke's lineage had maintained close ties with the Zhu Clan. Generations of intermarriage had been the strongest bond and bridge between the two sides. Of course, not every pair of Evil-Eyed White Tiger and Hell Spirit Cat soul masters could perform a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, but in every generation, there would almost always be at least one pair, sometimes even two. Successfully marrying into the Zhu Clan was also one of the important prerequisites for inheriting the title of White Tiger Duke. Dai Hua Bin was the only direct descendant of his generation who had currently achieved Martial Soul compatibility with a daughter of the Zhu Clan.
When the Evil-Eyed White Tiger and Hell Spirit Cat fused, they gave birth to the enormous figure now standing in the center of the examination area—over eight meters long and more than two meters tall—their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Hell White Tiger! The massive White Tiger's body possessed a translucent texture, as though it were an illusion, while Dai Hua Bin and Zhu Lu had completely disappeared. Its enormous body crouched slightly, and in the next instant, it pounced toward Lin Yuan and the other two at terrifying speed, trailing a transparent ripple. As it lunged forward, it held its head high with pride, its domineering posture seeming to look down upon the world, fully displaying the majestic bearing of the king of beasts.
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