Zhu Zhuqing stood ten meters away from him, her face as impassive as ever.
Only the fingertips hanging at her sides curled for an instant.
It wasn't that she wasn't nervous.
Twenty-one against twenty-four—the three-level gap in Soul Power had never been one that could be easily ignored in a duel between Agility Attack types.
She knew better than anyone what she would have to bear if she lost, but behind her, there was no way back.
She lifted her eyes. The instant her gaze settled, she released her Martial Soul.
A pair of plush black cat ears rose from the crown of her head, and a long, slender tail unfurled silently behind her.
Dark Gold Demonic Markings appeared across her bare forearms, slender neck, and taut waist and abdomen, flowing slowly along her skin as if alive.
Deep within her naturally cool, feline pupils, a dark-gold abyssal gleam emerged.
The solitary, aloof aura around her suddenly surged with a chilling ferocity and oppressive force.
She was no longer a nimble spirit cat that shunned the world, but a deep-abyss Ferocious Beast lurking in the shadows, ready to tear apart its prey with a single strike.
Two dazzling Yellow Soul Rings rose slowly from beneath her feet and hovered at her sides.
She dipped her head slightly and gave the standard salute for a sparring match. Her cool voice rang across the entire Martial Arts Arena.
"Zhu Zhuqing, Martial Soul: Hell Spirit Cat, level twenty-one Agility Attack System Battle Soul Master. Please advise me."
The spectators' stands buzzed with discussion.
"She's behind by a full three levels of Soul Power! Is she crazy? She dares challenge Senior Brother Lei Xiang, who's level twenty-four?"
"Wait! Look at the manifestation of her Martial Soul! What are those markings? Since when could the Hell Spirit Cat change like that?"
"Tch, it's just a flashy show. The gap in levels is right there. What good is all that fancy stuff?"
In the arena, seeing that Zhu Zhuqing had remained utterly unruffled from start to finish, Lei Xiang deliberately put on the airs of a senior.
He crossed his arms and lifted his chin, calling out haughtily.
"Don't say I'm bullying someone younger."
"You're level twenty-one, and I'm level twenty-four. I'll give you three moves."
"You strike first. I won't fight back."
He looked every bit like a senior looking out for a junior.
But as soon as he finished speaking, the girl across from him gently shook her head. Her voice remained calm and emotionless.
"No need. Make your move."
Those words completely set Lei Xiang off.
The haughtiness vanished from his face, and the veins at his temples stood out.
"Fine, fine, fine! You had your chance and blew it. When you're flat on your back in a moment, don't blame me for holding back!"
Before his roar had faded, Lei Xiang's First Soul Ring lit up beneath his feet, and he lunged forward like a gray shadow.
He was an Agility Attack System Soul Master, and his explosive speed was already tremendous. Yet this lunge carried the brutish force of a Power Attack type.
Soul Power coated his wolf claws, thick and heavy. They tore through the air as they raked toward Zhu Zhuqing's vital points.
"First Soul Skill: Violent Wind and Rain!"
A dense barrage of claw shadows poured down like a storm. The sharp winds from his claws carved scratches of varying depths into the bluestone tiles beneath their feet, their momentum terrifying.
But just as the claw shadows were about to touch Zhu Zhuqing—
First Soul Skill: Hell Stab!
She tapped the ground lightly with her foot, and her figure became a pale-purple blur. Like a ghost, she slipped through the gaps in the impenetrable claw barrage.
Lei Xiang had poured all his Soul Power into that strike, yet he hadn't even touched the hem of her clothes.
His attack had missed, and his momentum was spent.
Lei Xiang's face burned with embarrassment.
He spun around and swung his wolf claws again, launching another Violent Wind and Rain-like assault. His Soul Power surged even more strongly than before, but all he caught was another fading afterimage.
Zhu Zhuqing's figure kept skirting the edge of his attacks. Her steps were light and soundless, like a breeze he could never catch.
No matter how fierce his assault became, he couldn't touch her at all.
"Can you do anything besides dodge?"
Lei Xiang had completely lost his temper.
In a duel between Agility Attack types, the worst thing was to lose one's cool. But at that moment, all he could think about was tearing apart the impassive face before him.
Amid his roar, the Second Soul Ring beneath his feet flashed brilliantly.
"Second Soul Skill: Berserk World!"
His Soul Power surged in an instant, and his body grew noticeably taller.
His muscles bunched, and his wolf claws grew sharper. But his once-quick movements slowed before their eyes, and even his steps grew heavier, like those of a Power Attack type.
In the sea of consciousness, Gu Chensha watched the scene, his brows lifting slightly as he analyzed it with calm detachment.
It was clear that the Mad Shadow Wolf was a standard Agility Attack System Martial Soul, one whose strength lay in speed.
Yet in these two moves, Lei Xiang had relied entirely on brute force, piling Soul Power into Power Attack tactics.
To increase his killing power, he had completely abandoned the core advantage of the Agility Attack System: speed.
Was this a misconception of his own, or had Lang Taihui, the self-proclaimed strongest Agility Attack bishop, taught him wrong from the ground up?
The thought flickered through his mind, then he dismissed it.
His gaze passed over the seemingly frenzied Lei Xiang and returned to Zhu Zhuqing.
Unlike Lei Xiang, who had thrown away the foundation of his Agility Attack style,
Zhu Zhuqing's steps, breathing, and Soul Power circulation had never lost their rhythm, even as she continued to dodge and circle around him.
The unease that had weighed on her earlier had long since vanished, swept away by her absolute command of the battle's rhythm.
The dark-gold gleam in her slit pupils grew increasingly solid. Her gaze remained fixed on every one of Lei Xiang's movements, waiting for the chance to finish him with a single strike.
Just as Gu Chensha's thoughts settled, the situation in the arena suddenly reversed.
With the boost from Berserk World, Lei Xiang lunged at Zhu Zhuqing like a madman.
His wolf claws came at her with the force to destroy heaven and earth.
He seemed to have the upper hand, but his movements had already fallen into disarray, leaving openings all over his body.
This time, Zhu Zhuqing did not dodge.
Her slit pupils suddenly contracted.
The phantom of the Hell Spirit Cat behind her let out a soundless snarl, and all its light gathered at the tips of her claws.
This was the moment she had been waiting for.
"First Soul Skill: Hell Stab!"
The instant the First Soul Ring beneath her feet lit up, Zhu Zhuqing's figure became a streak of dark purple mixed with golden light, moving faster than she had while dodging!
She didn't meet Lei Xiang's wolf claws head-on. Instead, she skimmed past through a gap in his attack, slipping sideways at an angle that seemed to defy the human body's mechanics. She perfectly avoided his entire assault and rushed straight for the heart of his exposed weakness.
Lei Xiang's pupils contracted. He hadn't even seen her move.
All he knew was that his vision blurred, and suddenly she was right in front of him.
He hurriedly tried to defend himself, but the boost in brute force that Berserk World had gained by sacrificing speed had now become a fatal flaw.
In Zhu Zhuqing's eyes, his movements were slower than a snail's!
"Second Soul Skill: Hell Hundred Claws!"
The Second Soul Ring flashed brilliantly.
This was no indiscriminate flurry of attacks, but a precise, focused strike.
Dark-gold Soul Power followed the tips of her claws, piercing precisely into the core meridian nodes through which his Soul Power circulated.
The abyssal corrosive power of the Primordial Demon Spider Emperor spread in an instant, directly breaking down the flow of Soul Power throughout his body!
With a soft ripping sound, Lei Xiang's Mad Shadow Wolf Martial Soul collapsed at once.
Both Soul Rings abruptly dimmed, and he was hurled backward, unable to control his body.
Before you continue