Zhuqing Battles Lei Xiang (Part 2)

Zhu Zhuqing stood ten meters away from him, her face holding its usual indifference.

Only the fingertips at her sides curled up for a moment.

She wasn't not nervous.

Level twenty-one against level twenty-four, a three-level soul power gap in a speed-attack type duel was never an easily ignored difference.

She knew better than anyone the consequences of losing, but behind her, there was no longer any room to retreat.

She raised her eyes, and the moment her gaze settled, her martial soul was released.

A pair of incredibly soft black cat ears stood up from the top of her head, and a slender cat tail unfurled silently behind her.

On her exposed forearms, slender neck, and tight waist, fine dark gold demonic markings instantly appeared, flowing slowly along her skin as if alive.

The depths of her originally cold, feline vertical pupils were also dyed with a deep abyss-like golden sheen.

Her originally solitary and cold demeanor was suddenly surged with heart-stopping ferocity and oppressive pressure.

She was no longer a nimble, reclusive spirit cat, but a ferocious abyss beast lurking in the shadows, ready to tear its prey apart in a single strike.

Two rings of dazzling yellow soul rings slowly rose from beneath her feet, then hovered at her sides.

She slightly bowed her head, performing a standard sparring salute, her clear voice echoing throughout the Martial Arts Arena.

"Zhu Zhuqing, martial soul Hell Spirit Cat, level twenty-one speed-attack type battle soul master, please give me your guidance."

The audience seats buzzed with discussion.

"A full three levels of soul power difference! Is she crazy? Daring to challenge senior Lei Xiang, who is level twenty-four?"

"No! Look at her martial soul's anomaly! What are those demonic markings? When did the Hell Spirit Cat gain such a change?"

"Hmph, it's just a showy display. With the level difference, what's the use of being so flashy?"

Lei Xiang in the arena, seeing Zhu Zhuqing remain unfazed from beginning to end, instead deliberately put on an air of seniority.

He crossed his arms, tilted his chin up, and arrogantly raised his voice.

"Don't say I'm bullying the younger."

"You're level twenty-one, I'm level twenty-four. I'll let you have three moves."

"You attack first, and I absolutely won't retaliate."

He put on a show of taking care of a junior.

But as soon as he finished speaking, he saw the girl opposite him gently shake her head, her voice still calm and unwavering, betraying no emotion.

"No need. Attack."

This single sentence completely ignited Lei Xiang's temper.

The arrogance on his face instantly faded, and the veins on his forehead bulged.

"Good, good, good! You had your chance and you didn't take it. When you're beaten down later, don't blame me for not holding back!"

Before his roar even finished, Lei Xiang's first soul ring lit up beneath his feet, and his entire body transformed into a gray shadow, lunging forward.

He was a speed-attack type soul master to begin with, his explosive speed already extremely fast, but this lunge carried the brute force charge of a power-attack type.

His wolf claws were covered in thick soul power, instantly tearing through the air, slashing towards Zhu Zhuqing's vital points.

"First Soul Skill: Violent Wind and Rain!"

The dense claw shadows poured down like a torrential rain. The bluestone slabs beneath his feet were scraped with shallow and deep scratches by the sharp claw wind, creating a terrifying momentum.

But the moment the claw shadows were about to touch Zhu Zhuqing.

First Soul Skill: Hell Stab!

She lightly tapped her foot, her figure turning into a faint purple afterimage, ghosting through the gaps of the impenetrable claw shadows.

Lei Xiang's attack, poured out with all his soul power, didn't even graze her clothes.

Missing his strike, his move was spent.

Lei Xiang lost face.

He abruptly turned, his wolf claws slashing out again, still a fierce assault like Violent Wind and Rain. The soul power fluctuations were even stronger than before, but what he grasped was still only a wisp of afterimage.

Zhu Zhuqing's figure constantly danced at the edge of his attacks, her steps light and silent, like a gust of wind that couldn't be caught.

No matter how fierce his assault, he couldn't touch her at all.

"Are you only capable of dodging?!"

Lei Xiang's eyes turned completely red.

The most crucial thing in a speed-attack type duel was to avoid impatience, but at this moment, his mind was filled with tearing apart the indifferent face before him.

Amidst his roar, his second soul ring beneath his feet instantly flashed.

"Second Soul Skill: Berserk World!"

His soul power surged instantly, and his body visibly grew taller.

His muscles bulged, the sharpness of his wolf claws intensified, but his originally swift footwork visibly slowed down, and even his steps gained some of the clumsiness of a power-attack type.

Within the sea of consciousness, Gu Chensha watched this scene, his brows arching slightly as his internal analysis remained calm and ripple-free.

It was evident that the Mad Shadow Wolf was a standard agility-attack system martial soul that excelled in speed.

Yet, over these two moves, Lei Xiang had relied entirely on brute-forcing his way through with raw soul power.

In pursuit of lethality, he had completely abandoned the core speed advantage of the agility-attack system.

Was this a cognitive bias of his own, or had Lang Taihui, the man touted as the strongest agility-attack bishop, taught him incorrectly from the very root?

This thought flashed through his mind only for a moment before he cast it aside.

His gaze moved past the frenzied Lei Xiang and settled back onto Zhu Zhuqing.

In stark contrast to Lei Xiang, who had discarded the very foundation of his agility-attack nature, Zhu Zhuqing was different.

At this moment, even while she was constantly dodging and weaving, her footsteps, breathing, and the circulation of her soul power had never once lost their rhythm.

The slight panic she had felt earlier had long since dissipated, replaced by absolute control over the tempo of the battle.

The dark golden luster in her vertical pupils grew more solid, locking firmly onto every one of Lei Xiang's movements, waiting for that single, fatal opportunity.

The moment Gu Chensha's thoughts settled, the situation on the field suddenly reversed.

Bolstered by the amplification of Berserk World, Lei Xiang lunged toward Zhu Zhuqing like a madman.

His wolf claws carried an earth-shattering momentum.

Although he appeared to hold the advantage, his footwork had long since fallen into chaos, leaving his entire body riddled with undefended openings.

This time, Zhu Zhuqing did not dodge.

Her vertical pupils constricted sharply.

The phantom of the Hell Spirit Cat behind her let out a silent roar, and all the light converged onto her claw tips.

This was the moment she had been waiting for.

"First Soul Skill: Hell Stab!"

The moment the first soul ring beneath her feet lit up, Zhu Zhuqing's figure transformed into a streak of dark purple mixed with golden light, moving even faster than when she had been dodging!

She did not meet Lei Xiang's wolf claws head-on; instead, she hugged the gaps in his attack, sliding past at an angle that defied human ergonomics, perfectly avoiding all his offensives to strike directly at the core of his vulnerability.

Lei Xiang's pupils shrank; he hadn't even seen her move.

He felt a blur before his eyes, and his opponent was already upon him.

He scrambled to retreat and defend, but the brute force amplification he had gained from sacrificing speed via Berserk World now became a fatal flaw.

In Zhu Zhuqing's eyes, his movements were as slow as a snail!

"Second Soul Skill: Hell Hundred Claws!"

Her second soul ring flashed instantly.

This was not an indiscriminate barrage, but a precise, single-point breakthrough.

Dark golden soul power followed her claw tips, piercing precisely into the core meridian nodes of his soul power circulation.

The abyssal corrosive power derived from the Primordial Demon Spider Emperor spread instantly, directly disintegrating the flow of soul power throughout his entire body!

With a soft, tearing sound, Lei Xiang's Mad Shadow Wolf martial soul instantly collapsed!

His two soul rings suddenly dimmed, and he was sent flying backward, completely out of control.