The instant Ao Yu sidestepped the glob of corrosive slime, he stamped his right foot hard against the floor and shot toward the gray catfish like a cannonball leaving its barrel. The Molten Fire Longblade in his hand trailed a blazing crimson flame as he slashed straight at the gray catfish's head.
The gray catfish's pupils contracted. At the last possible moment, his enormous body rolled sideways with an agility utterly at odds with his size, narrowly evading the fatal strike. The blade skimmed the scales along his flank, leaving a scorched black mark across their hard surface. The smell of burning protein filled the air.
Ao Yu's strike missed, but his assault did not stop. With a twist of his wrist, he turned the downward slash into an upward sweep, tracing an arc straight toward the gray catfish's jaw. If it landed, the strike would split open his entire lower jaw along with his throat.
Just then, a dark shape hurtled in from the side with the roaring sound of cleaving waves, driving straight toward Ao Yu's waist and ribs. Catching it from the corner of his eye, Ao Yu had no choice but to abandon his pursuit. He drew his longblade back and held it horizontally beside his waist.
Clang!
An enormous sea urchin spine, pitch-black and covered in vicious barbs, slammed squarely into the blade Ao Yu held beside his waist.
Ao Yu steadied himself and swept a cold gaze toward his attacker. A leader covered in pitch-black spines stood there grinning. "Ao Yu, those two aren't your only opponents!"
The instant he finished speaking, the other leaders in the hall unleashed their Soul Power fluctuations as well. For a moment, Soul Power auras of every attribute filled the entire hall-some searing, some razor-sharp, some heavy and