Tang Hao Makes His Move

"Sister Xiao Wu!" Two work-study students hurried over to help Xiao Wu up. The parts of her body struck by the Explosive Eight-Stage Kick were numb and aching, and she had lost the ability to fight.

Supported by the two work-study students, Xiao Wu let out cries of "Ow!" as she returned to the crowd. She had already conceded defeat.

"Xiao Wu—" Seeing Xiao Wu beaten so badly, Tang San couldn't help shouting.

Because he had shared twenty levels of Soul Power with Combusken, Ye Chen had only ten levels of Soul Power to fight with. As a result, he had no advantage in his clash with Tang San and was instead suppressed at every turn.

At that moment, masses of Blue Silver Vines were wrapped around Ye Chen's body and limbs, binding him in place so he couldn't move.

Tang San had originally wanted to press his advantage, but Xiao Wu's defeat forced him to change tactics. To keep Combusken from building up more speed, he simply left Ye Chen alone, turned, and charged toward Combusken, who had landed safely.

The Explosive Eight-Stage Kick he had just performed had consumed a great deal of stamina. On top of that, having endured Xiao Wu's Explosive Eight-Stage Throw had left him with injuries of varying severity. After landing, Combusken was overcome by intense pain and weakness, and for a moment it failed to notice Tang San's attack.

Using Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, Tang San raced behind Combusken, leaving a string of afterimages. Ye Chen hurriedly warned it, "Combusken, dodge!"

At the command, Combusken turned instinctively, just in time to see Tang San's Mysterious Jade Hand clenched into a fist and swinging toward its face.

Combusken tried to jump back and dodge, but the sharp pain in its legs kept it from moving. Tang San's punch landed squarely.

"Chamo—!" A cry of pain rang from Combusken. Tang San's Mysterious Jade Hand was as hard as stone. Strengthened by his Rage and the inner energy of the Mysterious Heaven Skill, his punch was absolutely no weaker than a full-power blow from a Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster.

After taking Tang San's punch, Combusken was sent flying, crashing heavily to the ground twenty meters away.

It was easy to see from its performance that although the Explosive Eight-Stage Kick was astonishingly powerful, it consumed a tremendous amount of stamina.

Combusken had also relied on its exceptional ability to stay airborne, using rapid stomps of both legs against the air to perform the midair eight-stage kick as if it were flying. This put far too much strain on its legs.

Realizing this, Ye Chen sighed inwardly. He hadn't expected the Explosive Eight-Stage Kick Combusken had just learned to be a skill with a recoil effect.

Coming back to his senses, Ye Chen saw Tang San's First Soul Ring light up. Empowered by his first Soul Skill, Blue Silver Bind, he had already flung out countless Blue Silver Hidden Weapons.

With hidden-weapon techniques to guide them, the Blue Silver Hidden Weapons shot toward Combusken from all directions.

"Combusken, use Ember!" Ye Chen gave the command while also trying to break free of the Blue Silver Vines wrapped around him.

It would have been fine if they were ordinary Blue Silver Vines, but Tang San's vines now carried a trace of paralyzing poison. As they coiled around Ye Chen's body and limbs, the poison had built up to dangerous levels inside him.

His body was growing more and more numb, and it was hard to break free with only ten levels of Soul Power.

Before Ye Chen could escape the Blue Silver Bind, Combusken staggered to its feet and spat a great many sparks forward. The Blue Silver Hidden Weapons streaking toward it were all burned away before they could even turn.

Seeing this, Tang San gritted his teeth in frustration. If only his Blue Silver Grass were immune to fire, he wouldn't be countered by the fire attribute.

Just as Tang San was feeling helpless, Combusken's right leg was suddenly struck by a hidden weapon, forcing it to drop uncontrollably into a half-kneel.

"What happened?" Tang San wasn't the only one confused; Ye Chen was baffled too. With the help of Insight, he had clearly seen every Blue Silver Hidden Weapon burned away by Ember. So why had Combusken still been hit?

Seeing that he had the advantage, Tang San didn't bother wondering why. He flung his hands wildly, sending countless Blue Silver Hidden Weapons flying toward Combusken.

Its legs were already under tremendous strain from using the Explosive Eight-Stage Kick, and its right leg had just been ambushed by an unknown hidden weapon. Now half-kneeling on the ground, Combusken was completely unable to move, so it simply spat out Ember again, burning away the countless Blue Silver Hidden Weapons streaking toward it.

The eerie scene happened again. The Blue Silver Hidden Weapons were clearly all burned away, yet hidden weapons still struck Combusken's left leg, right shoulder, and left shoulder.

These hidden weapons were far more powerful than Tang San's Blue Silver Hidden Weapons. After being struck by one attack after another, Combusken fell to its knees, both arms hanging limp as numbness spread through its shoulders. It couldn't move.

Seeing the few pebbles that had appeared beneath Combusken's feet at some point, Ye Chen immediately understood. Those pebbles must have been the hidden weapons used to ambush it.

Judging by Tang San's bewildered expression, he clearly wasn't the one who had attacked. Could it have been Tang Hao, hiding in the shadows?

Aside from Tang Hao, a Titled Douluo, who else present could use pebbles as hidden weapons without anyone noticing?

Ye Chen couldn't make sense of it. Tang Hao had never interfered when he sparred with Tang San before, so why had he chosen to step in this time?

Could it be because the wager this time was knowledge of medicinal herbs, and Tang Hao didn't want Tang San to lose?

Or was Tang Hao afraid Tang San would become discouraged if he kept losing and give up on cultivating Blue Silver Grass to cultivate the Clear Sky Hammer instead, so he'd attacked from the shadows?

Whatever the reason, Ye Chen was sure of one thing: Tang Hao had taken a dislike to him.

As the saying went, a wise man did not stand beneath a crumbling wall. Once this sparring match was over, he would submit his graduation application and leave Nuoding Academy tomorrow as soon as possible.

Coming back to his senses, Ye Chen focused his thoughts. He planned to dismiss his Body Martial Soul and return Combusken to his body, so that Tang Hao couldn't ambush it with more pebbles.

Suddenly, Tang San got the first move and used his first Soul Skill, Blue Silver Bind. Masses of Blue Silver Vines wrapped around Combusken's body and limbs, leaving it unable to move.

As a result, Ye Chen discovered that he couldn't return Combusken to his body. Could Blue Silver Bind actually prevent an External Martial Soul from being summoned or withdrawn?

Blue Silver Bind alone naturally couldn't prevent an External Martial Soul from being summoned or withdrawn.

However, having learned from his three previous defeats to Ye Chen, Tang San had thoroughly researched the Torchic Martial Soul long ago. Combining that with his teacher Yu Xiaogang's observations of how Luo Sanpao's Martial Soul was summoned and withdrawn, he had discovered that infusing Blue Silver Bind with the inner energy of the Mysterious Heaven Skill gave the vines an additional ability to cling through inner energy.

Although this consumed extra inner energy, it could effectively prevent an External Martial Soul or a tool Martial Soul from being summoned or withdrawn.

Seeing that Combusken couldn't be withdrawn and had lost its ability to fight back, Tang San gave a cold laugh and swiftly flung both hands forward. Countless more Blue Silver Hidden Weapons shot toward Combusken.

Fortunately, even though Ye Chen couldn't return Combusken to his body, he could still retrieve the twenty levels of Soul Power he had shared with it.

As that Soul Power returned to his body, Ye Chen instantly shattered the Blue Silver Vines binding him, then used Agility to race in front of Combusken.