The Bird Weary of Flying

Wang Dong beat her butterfly wings and quickly landed. The girl stood on tiptoe, gazing at her with eager anticipation.

Bai Cai didn't respond to Wang Dong. She stepped in front of Xiao Xiao, turned to face Xu Sanshi, and called, "Mental Pollution!"

Kirlia mentally locked onto Xu Sanshi. The pitch-black Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring contracted violently, transforming into a Dark Abyss that twisted the very field of vision.

The Dark Abyss swallowed Xu Sanshi in an instant. Xiao Xiao acted decisively, and the three Soul-Suppressing Cauldrons swiftly returned to her. They merged into one gigantic cauldron, which hung suspended above the Dark Abyss.

Her First Soul Ring and Second Soul Ring lit up at the same time. Cauldron Shock, Cauldron Sweep, the nation's treasured weapon—the Cauldron Oscillation!

The gigantic Soul-Suppressing Cauldron crashed to the ground with a remarkably clear clang. Xiao Xiao remained highly alert. Her First Soul Ring and Second Soul Ring lit up once more, and the gigantic cauldron slowly rose into the air before slamming down again.

After using both sets of Soul Skills, Xiao Xiao panted softly.

Xu Sanshi's Martial Soul clearly belonged to the tortoise family, and its defense was freakishly strong. Cauldron Oscillation had struck him like a lump of steel, and dispelling the force rebounding from it had consumed quite a bit of Soul Power.

The middle-aged referee knitted his brows. His Soul Power sensed nothing unusual about Xu Sanshi. Not only were his injuries minor, but his Soul Power was also plentiful.

If he was fine, why wasn't he fighting back? The middle-aged referee was baffled.

The Abyssal Demon Octopus was an evil Soul Beast that lived in the abyss beneath the sea. It was an indescribably bizarre creature, its body covered in slimy tentacles and lined with fearsome teeth. Abyssal Demon Octopuses that had lived for more than ten thousand years could even prey on Deep Sea Demon Whales.

The Abyssal Demon Octopus was a spiritual-type Soul Beast. Anyone who encountered one without sufficient resistance to mental attacks would not only fall into a negative state, but might even perish by their own hand.

Hallucinations of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch, accompanied by forgetfulness, fear, confusion, bewitchment, and more—the minds of those who encountered it would promptly collapse.

Had the Deep Sea Mermaids not been spiritual-type Soul Beasts that happened to counter the Abyssal Demon Octopus, and had the Snow Empress not been the Ruler of the Far North, with close ties to the Mermaid Clan, Bai Cai could never have hunted an Abyssal Demon Octopus for its Soul Ring.

The Abyssal Demon Octopus was a Sea Soul Beast that lived in the abyss beneath the sea. Whale-type Soul Beasts like the Deep Sea Demon Whale and Evil Spirit Orca often roamed those depths.

The high pressure, darkness, and Sea Soul Beasts made the abyss beneath the sea more dangerous than the Extreme North, even more treacherous than the Far North Core.

Titled Douluo dared to venture into the Far North Core, but they wouldn't dare descend into the abyss beneath the sea. The same was true of Titled Douluo among the Sea Soul Masters.

If they ventured into the Far North Core, they would be safe as long as they avoided the Titan Snow Demon King, the Ice Empress, and the Snow Empress.

But if they descended into the abyss beneath the sea and encountered whale-type Soul Beasts such as the Deep Sea Demon Whale, the Evil Spirit Orca, or the Vast Sea Dragon Whale, they would face certain death.

Whale-type Soul Beasts hunted in groups. The leader of a whale pod was at least a hundred thousand years old and might even have reached the level of a Ferocious Beast. So descending into the abyss beneath the sea was no different from courting death.

The difficulty of obtaining an Abyssal Demon Octopus Soul Ring matched the effects of its Soul Skill.

Kirlia's Third Soul Ring granted the Soul Skill called Mental Pollution. It polluted the opponent's mind and spirit, inflicting multiple negative effects. It had inherited the Abyssal Demon Octopus's full, bizarre wickedness.

The Dark Abyss dissipated, and dust swirled everywhere. The middle-aged referee swept a sleeve, and a gust of wind blew the dust away.

Xu Sanshi stood there dumbly, wearing a half-smile.

"Nannan." Xu Sanshi called softly and embraced the empty air in front of him, his expression tender. "We're married now."

Xu Sanshi puckered his lips like an octopus spitting ink. "Mwah, mwah, mwah..."

"Bei Bei? Why is it you?"

As if he'd noticed something amiss, Xu Sanshi hurriedly shoved the empty air away. His voice turned hostile. "Where's my Nannan?"

"Nannan~ Nannan~"

Xu Sanshi suddenly grew dazed and foolish, his mouth crooked and his eyes askew. "Hehe~ Nannan~"

The middle-aged referee frowned and hurriedly grabbed Xu Sanshi by the shoulders. "Student Xu Sanshi, snap out of it! The Soul Fighting hasn't ended!"

"Bastard! You dare steal my Nannan?"

His Third Soul Ring lit up in an instant. Black Tortoise Power reinforced his Black Tortoise Shield. Xu Sanshi flew into a rage and swung the shield again and again. "I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

As the Black Tortoise Shield swung savagely, the middle-aged referee raised his left arm and moved faster than Xu Sanshi could react. Like iron tongs plucking a coal from the fire, he snatched the shield away. "Student Xu Sanshi, can you hear me?"

After several rounds of tugging, the referee still couldn't retrieve the Black Tortoise Shield. Xu Sanshi suddenly dropped to his knees, weeping. "Father, your son has been unfilial."

The audience erupted in an uproar. Xu Sanshi's condition was clearly abnormal, as if he'd lost his mind.

The Dark Abyss created by a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring had driven a fifth-year core disciple of the Martial Soul Department—a low-ranked Soul Ancestor with a mutated Black Tortoise Martial Soul focused on defense, Xu Sanshi, the Eternal Defense—out of his mind and into a state of confusion.

Apart from Soul Skills that inflicted continuous damage, the effects of most Soul Skills couldn't be reversed. If a Soul Skill caused burns, dispelling the remaining Soul Power wouldn't make the burns disappear.

Unless he received treatment in time, Xu Sanshi's madness...

"Nannan, don't go, don't go." Xu Sanshi knelt and hugged the empty air, crying at the top of his lungs. "How can I go on without you?"

"Nannan, take me with you!" Xu Sanshi suddenly went berserk, banging his head against the ground, his hair in disarray. "Nannan, my Nannan!"

The ground thudded with every impact. Xu Sanshi's forehead was dark red, blood seeping into the earth. He looked wretched beyond words.

The middle-aged referee lightly tapped the ground with his toes, crossing dozens of steps in an instant before landing in front of Huo Yuhao. "Huo Yuhao's team, do you concede?"

Bei Bei had suffered backlash from a Soul Skill, and Xu Sanshi had lost his mind. Huo Yuhao alone remained unharmed.

At the start of the fight, Xiao Xiao had sent the three Soul-Suppressing Cauldrons to besiege Huo Yuhao. He'd used Ghostly Hidden Tracking Steps and Mysterious Jade Hand along with Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, struggling to fend them off.

Cauldron Oscillation was overkill against Huo Yuhao, so Xiao Xiao had used only Cauldron Shock. Huo Yuhao had barely managed to hold out.

Xu Sanshi used his Fourth Soul Skill, Black Tortoise Displacement, to force a switch with Bai Cai. Xiao Xiao immediately diverted two Soul-Suppressing Cauldrons to try to block Bei Bei, giving Huo Yuhao a chance to catch his breath.

Kirlia copied and used Black Tortoise Displacement. Bei Bei willingly took the backlash from the Soul Skill, leaving Huo Yuhao unharmed.

Bai Cai and Kirlia returned to their side and used their Third Soul Skill, Mental Pollution. The Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring produced by the Abyssal Demon Octopus transformed into a Dark Abyss and swallowed Xu Sanshi. Xiao Xiao then diverted all three Soul-Suppressing Cauldrons to attack him, following up with two Cauldron Oscillations.

Throughout the entire Soul Fighting, Huo Yuhao hadn't taken a single hit.

Cauldron Shock wasn't an offensive Soul Skill. Most of its damage came from the weight of the Soul-Suppressing Cauldron.

Huo Yuhao used Ghostly Hidden Tracking Steps and Mysterious Jade Hand along with Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon. He was slipperier than a loach. The three Soul-Suppressing Cauldrons chased and blocked him from every direction. Although he'd been kept on the run, he'd never been hit directly by one.

So the outcome for Huo Yuhao's team now rested entirely on Huo Yuhao. They could stubbornly resist and delay Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi's treatment, or simply concede and let the treatment teachers come onto the stage to help them.

"Referee, sorry for the trouble. Please take Senior Brother Bei Bei and Senior Xu Sanshi offstage for treatment."

Huo Yuhao bowed apologetically, then turned to face Bai Cai's team. His eyes reddened, and his voice was a little hoarse. "I haven't lost. I haven't lost!"