Thinking it over, she canceled her third Soul Skill.
Ning Rongrong used Trapped Beast to catch the vine lash again. This time, her health bar dropped even more than before.
Then she remembered that her third Soul Skill could also remove poison. With the skill turned off, she would be poisoned and take even more damage.
But she gritted her teeth and sent the copied attack back first, then activated her third Soul Skill again.
-4%.
"Oh, I get it. He's completely immune to poison attacks, but under the effect of my third Soul Skill, my attacks deal 100% physical damage plus 60% poison damage, so I still dealt 4% damage to him. Then the Eight Spider Lances probably won't be any use either."
She suddenly understood and simply kept her third Soul Skill active.
The monster swung its vines wildly, but Ning Rongrong caught and reflected them again and again. It took a long time for it to realize that this move was useless, so it switched to a ground-shaking attack.
The vines slammed heavily into the ground, sending out wave after wave of shock.
The shockwaves were much like Zhao Wuji's, but weaker.
If Ning Rongrong could dodge Zhao Wuji's, what use was this attack—
No.
Ning Rongrong's eyes shifted.
The earlier vine lashes against the monster counted as single-target attacks, but what if these shockwaves were area attacks?
What if the shockwaves could treat the monster as multiple targets and deal damage in several hits?
Ning Rongrong put the idea into action. She used a plunging attack to get back to the ground quickly, then activated Trapped Beast to block the blow. Her health dropped less than before, but she couldn't be sure what that meant.
Still, she released the copied attack and sent it back.
-1%
It was a huge disappointment.
Worse still, the monster started focusing entirely on shaking the ground and stopped using its vine lashes. Ning Rongrong had no choice but to copy the shockwaves and send them back. It cost her quite a bit more time, health potions, and mana potions.
The monster realized the shockwaves weren't much use either and switched to poison spikes...
Poison spikes were much like the attack Ning Rongrong had started with, and much like Liu Jiayi's poison spike attack.
They were just more numerous and a little faster.
But even with the increased speed, they weren't that fast. With the speed boost from her second Soul Skill, Ning Rongrong could easily keep up.
At last, the monster began mixing all three attacks together. But Ning Rongrong still had potions left, so none of its attacks could hurt her.
After some more time, a furious roar rang out, and Ning Rongrong finally whittled the monster to death.
But after killing the monster, Lu Ma wasn't happy at all.
He watched the monster's form gradually turn into specks of light on the screen. He saw its white loot drop, but didn't hurry to pick it up. Instead, he started complaining.
"This skill set... is way too simple. Boring, so boring. If your vine attacks used that fast-slow blade trick, if your ground-shaking attack could one-shot me, if your spikes came faster than I could use potions, then maybe I could've had some fun with you."
He moved the character forward. Seeing the loot, Lu Ma finally showed some interest.
It was a Holy Spirit Pill. A Holy Spirit Pill without a speck of dirt on it, exactly like the one Donald had found in the cave at the beginning. Even the description was identical.
"This monster can drop Holy Spirit Pills, too? But what good is just one?"
Lu Ma opened the Martial Soul interface again to check. Reversing the second Soul Skill required two pills, while reversing the third required three.
This one really was useless on its own.
Still, he didn't mind having an extra. He put the Holy Spirit Pill into his spatial inventory.
At the same time, the white mist gradually faded, and with a crash, the barrier shattered.
"We did it!"
At that exact moment, the three people outside had joined forces to attack. Their blows landed on the barrier just as the white mist began to clear.
With the crash, the three thought they had succeeded. Their faces lit up with joy.
But when they saw the Soul Fighting Arena strewn with bloodstains and the monster's green fluids, they couldn't help freezing in confusion. The six people from the stands had just come down, and they froze too.
What on earth had happened up here?
The crowd didn't understand. They looked up and saw her torn blue clothes, her arms covered in wounds, and, above them, a cold face filled with pride. Ning Rongrong seemed to be looking down on them all.
Higher still, the monster had long since vanished without a trace.
Everyone felt a shiver run through them.
"Rongrong!"
Ning Fengzhi rushed onto the platform, took out the medical kit he carried with him, and began bandaging Ning Rongrong's wounds.
Ning Rongrong had been about to tell him it was unnecessary. All she had to do was drink a health potion, and the wounds would disappear.
But then she realized that wasn't certain. Health was one thing, wounds another. Besides, after this fight, her supply of health and mana potions had dropped sharply. She had only a little over 170 of each left. The potions seemed to come only from opening treasure chests, and with how many she'd used this time, her reserves would last her only two more rounds of reckless spending at most.
Every potion saved was one more potion she could keep. Ning Fengzhi's method restored health, too.
Thinking this, she said nothing—not a word.
Her gaze passed over Ning Fengzhi, then Bone Douluo, Flender, and the other six.
These should be the only survivors left in the Soul Arena. The one on the ground, dead beyond all doubt, didn't count.
She looked around. The Great Soul Arena was in such a ruined state that it probably couldn't be used again anytime soon.
Ah... She might as well use this unskippable in-game cutscene to think about what to eat tonight. She'd been at it for quite a while... Had someone asked her out to dinner?
But in everyone else's eyes, Ning Rongrong's blank expression—caused by Lu Ma's absentmindedness—meant something else entirely.
The eight of them felt a chill in their hearts.
Bone Douluo in particular, the only one present besides Ning Fengzhi who had seen Rongrong's deranged state after the Evil Soul Master incident, found something strange about her now. It was as if she had become the opposite extreme.
Usually, Ning Rongrong was cute, mischievous, and willful.
Back then, Ning Rongrong had been frightened out of her wits and desperate for approval.
But now, she clearly wasn't scared out of her wits. Her gaze was cold, as if she had cast everything aside. It was the kind of look that said, "Whether you approve of me or not makes no difference."
It was terrifying.
If this went on, they really would have to discuss with Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin whether to send Ning Rongrong to somewhere like a psychological rehabilitation center.
"Rongrong, are you all right?"
Ning Rongrong glanced at Gu Rong but said nothing.
Gu Rong felt even worse.
Waaah, his adorable little Rongrong seemed to be leaving him...
Flender had the feeling he'd done something wrong, even if objectively speaking, he might not have.
But Ning Rongrong had been hurt so badly. As her teacher, he had to take responsibility.
He stood where he was, preparing to apologize to the two members of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
"Sect Master Ning, this was my—"
"We'll discuss this later."
Ning Fengzhi's stern voice came from ahead. He had just finished bandaging all of Ning Rongrong's wounds.
At this point, nearly everything below Ning Rongrong's head was wrapped in white bandages. It gave her a peculiar beauty.
Flender also keenly sensed that this incident hadn't been a coincidence. He turned and instructed Dai Mubai:
"Mubai, take the other five of them somewhere safe. What comes next isn't something people at your level should know."
Before you continue