The entire hall fell silent.
The smug smile on Yu Xiaogang's face froze in an instant. His eyes bulged, and even his breathing stopped.
Before he could recover from his shock,
a second ring of light rose right on its heels.
Once again, it was a dazzling, deep purple!
The Second Soul Ring: a thousand years!
Next, an oppressive might like Mount Tai bearing down on them burst from Lin Yuan's body, accompanied by a humming that made their very souls tremble.
A profound black ring, dark as ink and heavy enough to suffocate, settled firmly around Lin Yuan.
The Third Soul Ring was astonishingly a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring!
Purple, purple, black.
Three Soul Rings that defied all common sense and shattered the ironclad laws of Douluo Continent's history were now laid bare before everyone.
Yu Xiaogang's vaunted theory of the Ten Core Competitivenesses was crushed to pieces by that black Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring!
"Impossible... This is absolutely impossible!"
Yu Xiaogang muttered in a daze, clutching his hair with both hands.
"How can the Third Soul Ring be a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring? It defies all common sense!"
Tang San was every bit as shaken as Yu Xiaogang.
The instant his concentration faltered, Lin Yuan moved.
There was no flashy glow from a Soul Skill, nor any earth-shattering roar.
Lin Yuan simply took one step forward.
As his foot came down, the floor of the Spirit Hall's great hall let out a muffled boom, as if struck by a meteorite.
With that single step, an ancient, desolate, and terrifying aura filled with the breath of utter annihilation surged from Lin Yuan's body.
The Nine Nether Beast!
It was the bloodline of a Ten Fiend from the Shrouding the Heavens world—a bloodline that had once struck terror into countless Immortal Kings!
Though Douluo Continent held no records of a Martial Soul of such supreme rank, everyone present could clearly feel the shudder that pierced straight to the depths of their souls.
Behind Lin Yuan, an enormous, boundless phantom with nine tails faintly emerged.
Overwhelming black miasma billowed around it, an absolute force of destruction capable of devouring every trace of life.
Under this terrifying bloodline suppression, the Blue Silver Grass vines Tang San had released were like creatures that had encountered their most fearsome natural enemy.
The vines had been lashing out ferociously only moments ago. Now, they withered and shriveled at a visible speed, like dried-out deadwood.
In an unseen storm, their once-tough blades of grass turned to ash and scattered across the ground!
This was absolute suppression through rank!
One of higher standing didn't even need to lift a finger. The aura of their bloodline alone was enough to reduce ants to ashes.
Tang San grunted as the backlash from his forcibly dispelled Martial Soul sent his blood and qi roiling in his chest.
Before he could steady his breathing, Lin Yuan's figure appeared before him like a ghost.
Too fast!
Tang San's vaunted Purple Demon Eye couldn't even catch an afterimage.
Lin Yuan had no intention of using a Soul Skill. He merely raised his right hand and casually pushed his palm forward.
The seemingly soft, powerless palm held the Nine Nether Beast Martial Soul's overwhelming physical strength.
His palm hadn't even fully touched Tang San when the force of the compressed wind struck Tang San's chest like a sledgehammer.
"Bang!"
A dull thud.
Tang San didn't even have time to defend himself. He was flung backward, his feet lifting off the ground like a kite with its string cut.
He spat a huge mouthful of blood in midair, the scarlet spray tracing a dazzling arc.
Tang San tumbled more than ten meters before crashing onto the hard stone floor with a pained groan.
It felt as though every bone in his body had come apart. Each breath brought a tearing agony.
The great hall was utterly silent.
Yu Xiaogang stumbled backward in terror and fell flat on his backside, all color draining from his face.
One move!
He hadn't even used a Soul Skill!
Tang San—the student in whom he had placed such high hopes, the genius he had hailed as the greatest under heaven—had been crushed with ease, like a piece of trash swept away!
Seated on the dais, Bibi Dong watched Lin Yuan's imposing display, the amusement in her eyes growing ever deeper. She looked at Yu Xiaogang and his disciple as if they were a pair of comical fleas.
Tang San lay on the ground, panting heavily.
The front of his robe was already stained with blood.
A deep sense of defeat washed over him like a tidal wave.
But the pride of a Tang Sect disciple in his bones would never let him admit defeat here.
Tang San clenched his teeth and dug his hands into the floor. He forced his battered body upright, swaying as he struggled to stand again.
He raised the back of his hand and carelessly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
When he looked at Lin Yuan again, his expression had changed.
The shock and testing spirit from before had faded. In their place was a cold, ruthless look, the kind reserved for a life-or-death fight.
Cultivation, Martial Souls, Soul Rings.
To Tang San, the things this world revered as unquestionable truths were only parts of one's strength.
He had lived two lifetimes. The true foundation he stood on, the trump cards he truly took pride in, had never been Blue Silver Grass.
They were the Tang Sect Secret Arts!
They were the peerless Hidden Weapons that killed without a trace!
Tang San swiped both hands across the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges at his waist.
He drove the inner force of his Mysterious Jade Hand to its limit, and his palms instantly turned a lustrous, milky white.
Without wasting a word,
Tang San's arms darted like butterflies flitting through blossoms, his fingers leaving a blur of afterimages.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Piercing whistles suddenly rang through the vast hall.
Several flashes of cold light burst from Tang San's hands.
Willow Leaf Flying Daggers, Refined Steel Caltrops, Bone-Piercing Nails...
More than a dozen kinds of Hidden Weapons, propelled by the Tang Sect's unique techniques, formed an airtight web of death that swept toward Lin Yuan's vital points.
These Hidden Weapons were not only blindingly fast; they also collided with one another in midair, changing their trajectories.
Their angles were viciously tricky, every strike aimed at a lethal point!
The sudden turn of events made Yu Xiaogang, who had already fallen into despair, erupt with delight.
He knew all too well how powerful Tang San's little gadgets were.
Back at Nuoding Academy, even the high-level teachers had suffered at the hands of these unpredictable tricks.
This was no technique an ordinary Soul Master could defend against!
"Good! Good! Good!"
Yu Xiaogang sprang straight to his feet, his excitement making him leap from the ground.
"So what if that kid's Soul Rings are heaven-defying?"
"He has no idea how to deal with this kind of tricky, lethal attack!"
"Xiao San, well done! He's as good as dead this time. There's no way he can win!"
Yu Xiaogang's stiff face twisted with frenzy. As he watched the flashing weapons whistling through the air, he was already imagining Bibi Dong meekly handing over the secret technique and the glorious moment when he reclaimed all his dignity.
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