The funny thing was, Oscar knew the Spirit Master in his second match. Although they had never fought together, they were on pretty good terms.
His opponent was a Power Attack Spirit Master whose Martial Soul was a fairly common farming tool—a sickle. But his Martial Soul seemed to have undergone a mutation: the sickle's shaft had grown extremely long, and its blade had become ornate and enormous. When summoned, the whole sickle stood taller than its wielder.
When he saw Oscar step onto the platform, he smiled faintly and followed.
As the two took the stage, cheers had already begun to ring out from the stands, even though the Soul Fighting had yet to begin.
"Next up is the second one-on-one Soul Fighting match in Division Fourteen. Both contestants are Soul Elders!
"Those who often visit the Soto Grand Spirit Fighting Arena will be very familiar with both of them. First, we have Yuanzhen, a Spirit Master with a Self-Created Soul Skill. His opponent is Kong You, wielder of the Death-Dealing Scythe, who has already won five matches in a row!
"These two have always managed to avoid facing each other, but that ends today. Will Soul Elder Kong You continue his winning streak and claim his sixth victory, or will Yuanzhen, who has come from the main Soul Fighting district, emerge victorious? Let's wait and see!"
"It's not easy to get a match with you. Was that girl just now your girlfriend?"
Kong You's sickle looked ornate and sinister, but he himself was a goofball whose greatest hobbies were watching the excitement and gossiping.
"No... Let's talk after the match."
Oscar rolled his eyes, unwilling to discuss the subject any further.
"You should add 'yet' to that. I reckon she'll be yours sooner or later."
Kong You pursed his lips, then spoke seriously:
"Give it everything you've got. I want to see just how wide the gap between us is. We have a year until our agreement comes due. If you can really deliver what I want by then, I'll give up wandering the continent and follow you."
Oscar had watched most of Kong You's matches at the Soto Grand Spirit Fighting Arena, so he naturally understood that he couldn't be Oscar's match. But more than anything, he wanted to know just how big the gap was between them as Soul Elders.
Oscar understood what he was thinking. After all, if their agreement really came to pass a year from now, this guy would be tied to the Sky Net for the rest of his life. It was only natural that he wanted to get a look at his leader's strength beforehand.
Unlike the previous match, both sides waited. Even Kong You, who had summoned the Death-Dealing Scythe, made no move to attack first.
After watching every one of Oscar's matches, he knew that he couldn't afford to drag the fight out. Once he got trapped in a war of attrition, he'd have no chance at all.
The only way to give Oscar trouble was to concentrate all his abilities into one instant and strike at a weakness he had found.
His gray-black eyes studied Oscar's movements. Oscar's low stance, with one hand held forward and the other back, seemed to be riddled with openings. But every time Kong You tried to exploit one, he realized it wasn't a weakness at all. It was more like bait on a hook, drawing him in.
At last, he noticed that the power around Oscar's waist seemed slightly sluggish. His eyes lit up, and he fixed Oscar with a cold stare, like a predator watching its prey.
Three Spirit Rings, two yellow and one purple, appeared around the Death-Dealing Scythe. As they pulsed up and down, they made the weapon seem even more oppressive.
Oscar watched Kong You with an unruffled expression. He wasn't in a hurry at all. He might understand this scythe better than Kong You himself did.
Electrolux had once told him that the scythe might have something to do with death. But for some reason, its aura was mixed, as if some light power had been blended into it, leaving its deathly power impure.
That was also Kong You's greatest weakness. If Oscar attacked the shaft of the Death-Dealing Scythe at the point one-third of the way down, he could restrict the weapon's power and seize victory in one fell swoop.
So even before the two had fought, Oscar already knew he would win.
The instant Kong You charged, Oscar raised a hand and guided him in—a classic Taiji Fist technique for redirecting force!
By the time Kong You reacted, it was too late. He finally understood what that strange force people called Yuanzhen's was!
Fortunately, he had plenty of combat experience. Though the sickle hadn't been caught and held, he could escape the crisis by recalling it and summoning it again.
But his attack had already failed. He could only turn sharply to the side and force some distance between them.
But this was the moment when offense and defense changed places. How could Oscar let him get away so easily?
A long sword appeared in Oscar's hand, and the instant it materialized, he infused it with Soul Power!
The first form, Wind-Sweeping Dust-Clearing, struck!
A fierce flash of swordlight shot straight at Kong You. Fortunately, he had just resummoned his sickle. His First Soul Ring lit up, turning into a gray sphere of light that enveloped him and barely blocked Oscar's strike.
Oscar reacted quickly. Knowing the limits of Kong You's First Soul Skill, he instantly turned the sword point downward and unleashed the third form, Scooping the Moon from the Seabed!
The move sent a chill down Kong You's spine. He hurriedly retreated, then activated his Second Soul Skill. A figure wielding a sickle emerged behind him and charged at Oscar!
Kong You's Second Soul Skill created a clone that could use his abilities and wield the sickle. What no one knew was that his Second Soul Skill and First Soul Skill worked together.
A large part of the Second Soul Skill's power came from the moves it had absorbed through the First Soul Skill.
That secret had helped him trick plenty of Spirit Masters. Today, he planned to use it to pull off something truly spectacular!
Oscar paid little attention to the Second Soul Skill Kong You had summoned. He knew it couldn't be destroyed. The only way to make it disappear was to defeat Kong You.
Oscar lightly tapped his sword forward. After tracing a perfect arc through the air, it struck the shaft of Kong You's sickle with precision.
The blow threw Kong You's First Soul Skill into turmoil. But then Oscar saw a smug smile appear at the corner of Kong You's mouth—and watched the sickle's blade spin toward his neck!
Oscar had expected this. He used the second form of the Taiji Sword Technique, Pushing the Boat Along the Current, to deflect the force of Kong You's strike. Then he turned his sword and redirected part of that force toward Kong You's First Soul Skill!
"So you were still holding back quite a bit. Was that for my benefit?"
The instant Oscar struck the gray sphere of light, he sensed something was wrong. By his calculations, the blow should have shattered Kong You's First Soul Skill and unleashed enough force to end the match on the spot.
"Worth a try, isn't it?"
Kong You shook his head and replied unconcernedly, but inside, he was already shaken to the core.
He had watched Oscar's matches and even calculated the force behind each of his sword strikes. But only now did he truly understand how terrifying Oscar was. The guy had been holding back against his opponents!
That damned strike could probably cut a newly ascended Soul Ancestor in half!