As everyone discussed their tactics, a stick of incense burned down in no time.
"Time's up. How did your discussion go?"
The incense stuck in the ground had burned down completely. Zhao Wuji turned around and looked at Li Luo and the others.
Li Luo and the others turned around as well, summoning their Martial Souls one after another.
Before Zhao Wuji could announce the start, Li Luo was the first to toss out three Prism Balls.
Then three purple Thousand-Year Soul Rings slowly rose from beneath Li Luo.
"Come out, Haji San, Haji Wu, Haki Rongrong!"
The three Prism Balls, almost identical in appearance save for a few small details, were tossed above Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Ning Rongrong.
The Prism Balls released colorful beams of light that enveloped Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Ning Rongrong respectively.
Zhao Wuji eyed Li Luo's Soul Rings with curiosity. Although Dai Mubai had already told him about Li Luo, he still wanted to see Li Luo's three Thousand-Year Soul Rings with his own eyes.
What's more, Li Luo's Martial Soul was obviously that colorful ball, not the Blue Silver Grass Dai Mubai had mentioned.
So Zhao Wuji didn't interrupt Li Luo. He simply watched in silence, curious to see what would happen next.
Under the colorful beams of light, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Ning Rongrong each flickered and vanished in a streak of light. Then, with another flash of color, they reappeared where they had been.
The whole sequence looked complicated, but it happened in the blink of an eye.
At that moment, a purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring tinged with color appeared around each of Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Ning Rongrong.
This was Li Luo granting them a buff.
All attributes increased by forty percent. Martial Souls entered Prismatic state.
Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Ning Rongrong also summoned their Martial Souls: the Prismatic Blue Silver King, the Prismatic Soft Bone Charming Jade Rabbit, and the Prismatic Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.
Their respective Soul Rings rose beneath them.
Yellow, purple, purple; yellow, yellow, purple; yellow, yellow, purple.
Meanwhile, Zhu Zhuqing watched silently from the side. Nothing had changed for her.
"Huh?"
Zhao Wuji was surprised when he saw Tang San's Soul Ring Configuration.
"Hiss!"
But when he saw Ning Rongrong's Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, he drew in a sharp breath.
Still, he didn't hesitate and immediately prepared to attack.
"Since you're all ready, I'll get started!"
As he spoke, Zhao Wuji casually tossed out a stick of incense and stuck it into the ground. Dai Mubai stepped forward and lit it.
Once Dai Mubai had lit the incense, Zhao Wuji shot forward like a cannonball, charging straight at Ning Rongrong.
Take out the support first—that was the unchanging battle principle of Soul Master Duels on the Douluo Continent.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda was a famous support-type Martial Soul on the Douluo Continent. Although Ning Rongrong's pagoda had nine tiers, Zhao Wuji still believed her Martial Soul was the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.
So he chose to attack Ning Rongrong first, rather than Li Luo, who was also a support.
But Zhao Wuji's plan was doomed to fail.
The instant Zhao Wuji moved, Tang San struck first.
"Third Soul Skill, Blue Silver Pole Vault!"
As Tang San spoke, the third Soul Ring around him flashed.
A thick Blue Silver Bamboo Pole appeared beneath Ning Rongrong's feet, carrying her two and a half meters into the air.
At the same time, rows of Blue Silver Bamboo Poles sprang from the ground on either side of Ning Rongrong.
Li Luo and Tang San had already used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to dodge to the side.
Zhao Wuji charged past his target and slammed headfirst into a bamboo pole.
The Blue Silver Bamboo Pole was so hard that Zhao Wuji's forehead hurt from the impact.
"What kind of ridiculous Soul Skill is this?"
Seeing Ning Rongrong standing atop a bamboo pole, Zhao Wuji tried to shake it and knock her down.
But the moment he wrapped his arms around the pole, he realized it was so sturdy that it wouldn't budge.
When he found he couldn't shake the pole, Zhao Wuji tried to break it with brute force.
Two punches landed, but Zhao Wuji hadn't used a Soul Skill—and he still couldn't break even one bamboo pole.
"You've got to be kidding me. How is this bamboo pole so hard?"
When he failed to break it, Zhao Wuji finally lost his temper. He activated Martial Soul Possession, and the second Soul Ring around him flashed.
"Second Soul Skill, Vajra Fist!"
Zhao Wuji was a Soul Saint, so even the power of his second Soul Skill rivaled a Soul Ancestor's full-force attack.
The pole had already taken several heavy blows. Under the barrage of Zhao Wuji's Vajra Fist, it finally toppled, wobbling as it fell.
But it didn't break. That was how hard Tang San's Blue Silver Bamboo Pole was.
The Blue Silver Bamboo Pole had fallen, but Ning Rongrong hadn't. She had already jumped onto another pole.
Zhao Wuji was so angry at the bamboo pole that he hadn't noticed Ning Rongrong's movements.
"Nine Treasures Turn Into Glazed Glass, the second treasure is speed!"
Out of danger, Ning Rongrong first gave herself a buff to increase her speed. Combined with the forty percent increase to all attributes that Li Luo had given her, she could now sprint along the row of Blue Silver Bamboo Poles without worrying about falling.
Zhao Wuji was furious now. He kept leaping, trying to knock Ning Rongrong down, but she was simply too agile. On top of that, knots of Blue Silver King Grass summoned by Tang San kept appearing beneath her feet to trip Zhao Wuji up, so every one of his attacks missed.
After being toyed with like this, Zhao Wuji grew irritated.
The third and fourth Soul Rings around him flashed in succession.
"Third Soul Skill, Gravity Crush!"
"Fourth Soul Skill, Position Tracking!"
A tremendous weight pressed down over Ning Rongrong, but she was in a Dominant Body state atop the Blue Silver Bamboo Pole. It had no effect on her, and she continued sprinting along.
But Zhao Wuji's Position Tracking was a lock-on Soul Skill. No matter how nimbly Ning Rongrong moved along the poles, it was hard for her to evade his pounce.
Zhao Wuji lunged straight at Ning Rongrong. Just then, a Blue Silver Bamboo Pole appeared out of thin air in her hands.
Tang San had summoned it.
With the pole in her hands, Ning Rongrong immediately felt more confident. She swung it at the charging Zhao Wuji with all her might.
"Take that!"
The hard pole came crashing down squarely on Zhao Wuji's head.
The pole was hard, and Zhao Wuji felt a sharp pain on top of his head.
"Hiss!"
With a cry of pain, he was knocked straight to the ground.
But he was a Soul Saint, and his Martial Soul was the Vajra Diamond Bear. His defense was nothing to scoff at.
Ning Rongrong simply didn't have much strength, so the blow hadn't caused Zhao Wuji any obvious harm.
Enraged, Zhao Wuji prepared to attack again, but Tang San and Xiao Wu weren't standing around watching. They immediately joined the fight and attacked him.
"Blink!"
Xiao Wu's third Soul Ring lit up. She vanished in an instant, then appeared behind Zhao Wuji, hefting a huge Blue Silver Bamboo Pole and smashing it into his back.
"Take that!"
"Ugh... Hiss!"
Caught completely off guard, Zhao Wuji grunted as the blow landed and staggered several steps forward. Suddenly, another grass knot appeared beneath his feet. He couldn't dodge in time and tripped, crashing to the ground.