As the Soul Rings around him flashed,
Blue Silver Grass Vines shot through the air one after another, whistling as they came!
Compared to the Advanced Assessment,
the Blue Silver Grass Vines Zhao Tao faced this time were faster, thicker, and tougher!
Not only that,
while activating his Soul Skill, the Tang San Illusion suddenly thrust up a hand!
In the next instant,
a strange force surged from his palm,
as if it had latched onto Zhao Tao and was trying to pin him in place!
This was Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, one of the Tang Sect's signature techniques!
It could break through the restriction that Soul Masters could only use Soul Skills, granting them more ways to attack!
"Fleeting Bloom!"
Faced with the ultimate version of the Tang San Illusion, Zhao Tao naturally gave it his all.
As the Soul Rings around him flashed,
two ripples of time spread out, enveloping Zhao Tao and the distant Tang San Illusion!
With Fleeting Bloom's control and boost,
Zhao Tao drew his sword decisively, cutting through the Blue Silver Grass Vines around him.
Then, with a quick sidestep, he dodged out of Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon's range!
"So this is the illusion the Tang Sect claims possesses only seventy percent of its original's strength?"
"Heh..."
"All I can say is, the Tang Sect's little tricks are just as despicable as Tang San himself!"
Sensing the distant Tang San Illusion, Zhao Tao felt nothing but disdain!
With the experience he had gained before his rebirth,
he could tell at a glance that the Tang San Illusion before him was nowhere near Soul Grandmaster level, whether in energy or combat experience!
And as a Transmigrator,
Zhao Tao knew even better that Tang San at the Soul Grandmaster stage could never have been this strong!
After all,
back then, Tang San had spent most of his time holed up in Nuoding Academy and had almost no real combat experience.
Moreover, all his various "cheats"—such as the Eight Spider Lances, Ice Fire Golden Body, his evolved Blue Silver Emperor Martial Soul, and Divine Slaughter's Domain—
had only come to him gradually after he broke through to Soul Elder!
At the Soul Grandmaster stage, Tang San might have had a deeper cultivation than ordinary Soul Masters thanks to the Mysterious Heaven Skill.
But setting aside hidden weapons, Tang San's true strength and cultivation
could never have reached the level displayed by this Tang San Illusion!
In other words—
The Tang Sect's claim that the historical figures simulated in Hero Hall had only about seventy percent of their original strength
was an outright lie!
As for why the Tang Sect would tell such a lie...
To Zhao Tao, a Transmigrator from Blue Star, the reason was obvious!
At its core, this so-called "assessment" was much like the pressure interviews common on Blue Star.
Its purpose wasn't to test ability, but to discipline!
During the assessment,
the Tang Sect could create illusions of its predecessors whose strength far exceeded what they'd really possessed,
making the Tang Sect seem powerful and awesome!
It could also use their overwhelming victories to shatter the candidates' confidence.
That way, the candidates would easily come to believe that the Tang Sect's predecessors were incredibly powerful,
and that being allowed to join the Tang Sect was an immense honor!
The Tang Sect's PUA tactics were truly exquisite.
They had perfectly copied the dog-training methods of their founding ancestor—Tang San.
The latter had turned Huo Yuhao, a child of destiny, into Tang Wutong's devoted lapdog.
He had even castrated himself in Universe Seeking Love Valley, put on a chastity lock, and become a completely loyal servant of the Tang Family.
The Tang Sect itself was just as skilled at brainwashing.
Even a prodigy like Wu Changkong had failed to escape the Tang Sect's discipline, willingly becoming one of its loyal dogs!
And to achieve this...
Besides unrealistically inflating the strength of historical figures' illusions during the assessment,
the Tang Sect had also schemed at every turn, resorting to all kinds of underhanded tricks!
For example,
between each trial, the Tang Sect gave candidates no time to rest at all!
Instead, it made them fight one battle after another, wearing them down!
And at the start of the trials, it gave no instructions whatsoever.
Ordinary candidates could never know that so many stages awaited them.
Nor would they know that their opponents would grow stronger with each one!
Unless they were Transmigrators or Reborn Ones like Zhao Tao,
they wouldn't think to conserve their stamina and Soul Power during the early fights!
With all these factors combined,
even a genius who really reached the ultimate trial
would probably be badly worn down, with less than half their Soul Power remaining.
In that condition,
they would have to face Tang Sect historical figure illusions who were at their peak and had been greatly enhanced.
Defeat would be all but inevitable, their confidence shattered!
Then, after being subjected to the Tang Sect's whole arsenal of PUA tactics,
they would likely lose themselves and submit to Buddha Tang!
"Shameless! Shameless! The Tang Sect is utterly shameless!"
At the thought, fury flashed in Zhao Tao's eyes.
Such a complete distortion of the truth, paired with the Tang Sect's seemingly righteous rules, was so disgusting it made him want to vomit!
Of course, with Zhao Tao's current strength, he still needed to grow before he could expose the Tang Sect's dirty deeds, let alone bring it down entirely.
But...
The Tang Sect's good days were numbered!
Because—
Great Love Douluo, the man who had once filled the Tang Sect ranks with countless loyal servants until they were packed shoulder to shoulder, had returned!
Thinking this to himself, Zhao Tao gripped the Time Burial Sword and charged at the distant Tang San Illusion!
Faced with Zhao Tao's advance, the control-type Tang San Illusion didn't choose to meet him head-on!
Instead, while urging Blue Silver Vines to keep blocking Zhao Tao's way,
he moved backward in an eerie manner, leaving behind a series of afterimages that made it impossible to tell which way he had gone!
Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track!
One of the Tang Sect's six great techniques, it was a mysterious movement art!
In a high-martial world, such a technique might rank no higher than the lowest Yellow-grade technique among the Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow grades.
But in Douluo, a world at the bottom of the cultivation ladder, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track really was a fairly powerful "secret art" for Soul Masters!
Ordinary Soul Masters would be utterly bewildered by such strange footwork!
Fortunately, Zhao Tao had secretly captured a large number of Tang Sect members before his rebirth!
And by searching and refining their souls, he had successfully learned every secret of the Tang Sect's six great techniques!
Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track was no secret to Zhao Tao!
In fact, he had already worked out how to counter it!
Still, Zhao Tao had no intention of simply and cleanly breaking the Tang San Illusion's Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track!
After all, that would definitely make the Tang Sect wary of him!
And since he was certain to refuse the Tang Sect, the two things together might well make it fly into a rage and attack him from the shadows!
The safest approach was to fight the Tang San Illusion for a while longer, then pretend that luck had led him to its true body, and finish it off!
That might seem a little like showing weakness.
But Zhao Tao understood that against a ruthless, unscrupulous, and despicable force like the Tang Sect, which loved to strike from the shadows,
that was the wisest choice!
And so,
Zhao Tao didn't hurry to break the Tang San Illusion's Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track in a single move. Instead, he engaged it in a drawn-out fight!
Before you continue