Tearing Heaven Destroying Earth, Ning Rongrong: Is Long Yuan Gu Linyuan?

The referee raised his right hand.

"Both sides, prepare."

Tang San took a deep breath, his gaze sharpening like a blade.

He raised his right hand, and the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul appeared in his palm.

Two yellow Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet.

A level twenty-eight control-system Battle Soul Master, Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.

"Begin!"

The referee abruptly swung his right hand down.

The instant his words fell, Tang San moved.

Rather than standing still and releasing Soul Skills like Ma Hongjun, he shot toward Gu Linyuan like an arrow loosed from the bow.

His footwork was strange and elusive. With every step, his form shifted between substance and illusion.

This was Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track!

The pinnacle movement technique of the Tang Sect's ultimate arts.

Among those of the same level, almost no one could catch his trail.

Gu Linyuan's pupils contracted slightly.

It was not that he was fast, but that his rhythm was bizarre.

Tang San's steps appeared chaotic, yet every one landed in the most critical position, sealing off Gu Linyuan's routes of attack while creating the best possible angle for himself to strike.

"So this is how a Tang Sect disciple fights? Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track truly lives up to its name," Gu Linyuan muttered.

Tang San closed in. His right hand shot out, his five fingers shaped like claws as they grabbed for Gu Linyuan's right arm.

The Tang Sect's grappling technique, Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, used softness to overcome hardness and borrowed force to counter force.

Once caught by him, one would be drawn along by his strength, lose balance, and fall into a disadvantageous position.

Gu Linyuan did not retreat.

His right arm trembled, and pitch-black Destruction Soul Power surged across his body as he met Tang San's grasp.

Bang!

A dull crash rang out.

Palm and claw collided.

Tang San's fingers clamped around Gu Linyuan's right arm, and he was just about to employ the subtle force of Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon.

Then a terrifying aura came from Gu Linyuan's arm.

It felt as though he had been bitten by some ancient ferocious beast.

Cold, violent, and filled with the Will of Destruction.

Tang San's tiger's mouth shook. His fingers instinctively released their grip, and the recoil sent him stumbling back three steps.

He lowered his head and glanced at his right hand. The tiger's mouth was numb, and his fingers trembled faintly.

"What a terrifying aura..."

Tang San was horrified.

He had merely touched Gu Linyuan's body, yet that Destruction Soul Power had already numbed his hand.

What would happen if he took a strike head-on?

He did not dare imagine it.

Gu Linyuan also frowned slightly.

Tang San's Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon was far more exquisite than he had expected.

It borrowed force to counter force, using minimal strength to deflect immense power and neutralize his strength to the greatest extent possible.

Had the Destruction Soul Power's attribute not been domineering enough, that grab might already have restrained his right arm.

Without using my Martial Soul, it really will be difficult to deal with this guy.

Gu Linyuan thought to himself.

Tang San's fighting style was different from every opponent he had faced before.

He did not clash head-on. Instead, he used technique and subtle force, trying to find his opponent's weakness.

"Tang San is someone who truly fights with his brain," Gu Linyuan evaluated objectively.

"But unfortunately, while using softness to overcome hardness is indeed profound, what does it amount to before true power?"

Outside the arena, a wave of gasps erupted from the spectators' stands.

"My god! Tang San has exchanged so many moves with Long Yuan and still hasn't lost!"

"Not only has he not lost, he even took the initiative to attack! Those people before couldn't even get close to Long Yuan!"

"This Tang San really is no simple opponent!"

On the Soul Fighting Platform.

Tang San steadied himself and took a deep breath.

Long Yuan's Soul Power attribute is very unusual. It carries terrifying destructive power. I can't fight him head-on at close range, or I'll be the one at a disadvantage.

In that case...

Tang San's second Soul Ring lit up.

"Second Soul Skill, Parasite!"

Countless Blue Silver Grass seeds appeared out of thin air by Gu Linyuan's feet, at the hem of his clothes, and even in the air. They instantly sprouted, transforming into tough vines that coiled toward his limbs.

Blue Silver Grass's second Soul Skill, Parasite.

As long as the opponent carried Blue Silver Grass seeds, they could instantly sprout and tightly bind them.

During that instant of close contact earlier, Tang San had already secretly scattered countless Blue Silver Grass seeds, invisible to the naked eye, onto Gu Linyuan's body.

That had been his true objective.

Closing in had not merely been to test Long Yuan's strength, but also to sow seeds.

Gu Linyuan lowered his head and glanced at the vines winding around him. A trace of surprise flashed through his eyes.

What a calculation.

Tang San truly could not be underestimated.

However.

"You think these weeds can trap me?"

"Tang San, you underestimate me too much."

Gu Linyuan sneered, and the Destruction Soul Power within him erupted.

Pitch-black Soul Power poured from his body like a tide. The instant the Blue Silver Grass vines wrapped around him touched the Destruction Soul Power, they rapidly withered and disintegrated.

Though Blue Silver Grass was tough, it was ultimately a plant.

And the Power of Destruction could destroy all things.

Plants were no exception.

Tang San's pupils abruptly contracted.

His Blue Silver Grass could not even last a second against Long Yuan's Soul Power?

"So this is the attribute of his Soul Power..."

"Damn it! What exactly is wrong with this guy?"

Tang San clenched his teeth, a flash of unwillingness crossing his eyes.

But he did not give up.

At the very instant the Blue Silver Grass vines disintegrated, his first Soul Ring lit up as well.

"First Soul Skill, Entangle!"

Even more Blue Silver Grass burst from the cracks between the stone slabs of the Soul Fighting Platform, spreading across the sky like a green tide as it surged toward Gu Linyuan.

One vine, ten vines, a hundred vines.

Dense Blue Silver vines poured in from every direction, sealing off every space Gu Linyuan could use to evade.

The entire Soul Fighting Platform almost instantly became a sea of Blue Silver Grass.

Tang San stood at the heart of that sea, both hands controlling every vine.

I refuse to believe you can destroy so much Blue Silver Grass at once!

Gu Linyuan watched the overwhelming Blue Silver vines rushing toward him, the corners of his mouth lifting faintly beneath his hood.

"Not bad."

He spoke softly.

"Stronger than I expected."

"But this is as far as it goes."

Gu Linyuan raised his right hand.

The Scepter of Destruction appeared in his palm.

A pitch-black staff, a dark-red gemstone, and two Soul Rings.

One purple, one black.

A thousand-year Soul Ring and a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring.

This was the first time he had released his Martial Soul in the Great Soul Arena. Tang San could take pride in having forced him to use the true power of his Martial Soul.

The black Soul Ring instantly lit up, its dazzling radiance illuminating the entire Soul Fighting Platform.

Tang San's eyes widened abruptly.

Black!

A ten-thousand-year Soul Ring?!

His mind went blank.

A two-ring Soul Grandmaster possessing a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring?

How was that possible?

Even a Title Douluo-level powerhouse could not absorb a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring at the two-ring Soul Grandmaster stage. A Soul Ring's age was directly tied to one's cultivation; this was the most basic common knowledge on the continent.

Yet Long Yuan had shattered that common knowledge.

No, not shattered it.

He had crushed it.

Tang San had no time to think. His instincts had already taken control of his body.

Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track was driven to its limit. His figure swiftly retreated through the sea of Blue Silver Grass, attempting to open the distance.

Because he could feel it.

The aura emanating from the Scepter of Destruction made even his soul tremble.

It was a Will of Destruction a hundred times stronger than during their close-range contact earlier.

Gu Linyuan raised the Scepter of Destruction.

The second Soul Ring shone with an intense black light.

"Second Soul Skill."

"Tearing Heaven Destroying Earth."

His voice was low and calm, like a judgment delivered from the depths of the netherworld.

The scepter swung down.

Dark-golden radiance burst from its tip.

A pair of dark-golden giant claws slashed down through the air.

Ten dark-golden claw marks swept forward like ten fissures tearing apart heaven and earth.

Each claw mark was several meters long, dark-golden light mixed with black Power of Destruction.

Wherever they passed, the air was torn apart, space twisted, and even the ground of the Soul Fighting Platform was plowed into ten deep ravines.

Tang San's sea of Blue Silver Grass was like paper before those ten claw marks.

The vines were shredded. All life seemed to vanish in that instant, and even the stone slabs of the Soul Fighting Platform were thrown into the air.

The entire Soul Fighting Platform was covered in dense dark-golden claw shadows.

There were no blind spots.

There was no escape.

Tang San stood at the edge of the Soul Fighting Platform, watching the ten overwhelming claw marks surge toward him, his mind blank.

He wanted to dodge.

But there was nowhere to dodge.

He wanted to block.

But what could he use?

His Blue Silver Grass, his hidden weapons, and his Tang Sect ultimate arts were all utterly incapable of withstanding that destructive power.

This was not a gap in technique.

This was the crushing advantage of power.

A chasm between a mortal and a monster.

The claw marks stopped half a meter in front of Tang San.

The dark-golden radiance slowly faded.

"You lost."

Calm.

Tang San stood frozen in place.

His hands were trembling, his legs were trembling, even his lips were trembling.

He, Tang San, had crossed over from the Tang Sect to this world. Relying on the Mysterious Heaven Skill and his mastery of hidden weapons, he had never once been defeated.

Yet now, facing a peer with cultivation equal to his own, he did not even have the right to resist.

The entire arena fell silent.

A deathly silence.

Among the thousands of spectators, not a single person made a sound.

Their mouths hung open, their eyes wide, yet they could not say a word.

What had they just seen?

A two-ring Soul Grandmaster had unleashed a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring.

A two-ring Soul Grandmaster had turned the entire Soul Fighting Platform into ruins with a single soul skill.

Was that still human?

That was a monster.

No, even monsters were not that terrifying.

"That Martial Soul looks so familiar. Is he Gu Linyuan? Is he Brother Yuan?"

Ning Rongrong's face turned pale as she stared fixedly at Long Yuan's Martial Soul.

That dark violet scepter radiating a terrifying aura seemed strangely familiar to her.

Could it really be a coincidence?

"No, it can't be. Gu Linyuan's broken walking stick was completely useless. How could it possibly be compared to Long Yuan's scepter? This must be a coincidence. It has to be."