Shameless

Arrogant!

A flash of killing intent crossed Tang San's eyes.

The Eight Spider Lances stabbed out at once, sealing off Zhou Qiubai's retreat from all eight directions.

Every attack carried the Man Faced Demon Spider's deadly venom and terrifying piercing force. Even an ordinary Soul Ancestor would not dare take them head-on.

Zhou Qiubai finally retreated.

His steps remained unhurried, each one precisely avoiding the lance tips.

The White Clothes Sword became a streak of silver light in his hand, its tip deflecting each of the Eight Spider Lances' attacks.

"Clang, clang, clang, clang—"

Sword and lances collided, scattering sparks in every direction.

A flexible sword against spider lances should have been a disadvantage.

Yet Zhou Qiubai's swordsmanship was simply too exquisite. Every exchange borrowed force to redirect force, overcoming hardness with softness.

The Eight Spider Lances were powerful and heavy, yet he constantly led them off course, leaving their strength with nowhere to go.

The longer Tang San fought, the more stifled he felt.

It was like swinging a hammer at cotton.

The man before him had brought the word "skill" to its utmost limit.

I can't drag this out any longer. Tang San's thoughts raced.

In the shadows beside the arena, Tang Hao stood with his arms folded, his brows tightly furrowed as he silently watched the stage.

From the initial probing to the all-out struggle afterward, the swordsmanship and movement technique displayed by the youth named Zhou Qiubai left Tang Hao deeply impressed.

Perhaps even Chen Xin had not been his equal when he was young?

It was not because the power of his techniques was overwhelming, but because his realm was simply too high.

That combat style of overcoming strength with finesse was not something an ordinary Soul Master could possess.

Even more astonishing was his Sword Intent.

As a Soul Master who possessed Divine Slaughter's Domain, Tang Hao's understanding of artistic realms naturally surpassed that of ordinary people.

He could clearly sense a profound power within that youth's Sword Intent, one that nearly touched upon the "Dao."

"Looks like Xiao San will lose this time," Tang Hao murmured.

This was not a gap in Soul Power, nor was it a gap in technique. It was a gap in realm.

That youth's understanding of battle had long surpassed what someone his age should possess.

After all, he had experienced the great terror between life and death in the Star Dou Forest. A fight that was little more than children playing was naturally easy for him.

Tang San might have experience from two lifetimes, but how much true combat experience had he actually gained across those two lives?

Sure enough, the situation onstage grew increasingly one-sided.

Tang San unleashed all eight of his Spider Lances, yet that nimble flexible sword still suppressed him so thoroughly that he could scarcely raise his head.

Every strike accurately targeted the points where he shifted and exerted force, leaving Tang San feeling incomparably frustrated.

Sparks flew across the arena.

Tang San's Eight Spider Lances turned into eight purple-black bolts of lightning in the air, stabbing toward Zhou Qiubai from every angle. Every blow carried an incomparably savage momentum.

Meanwhile, Zhou Qiubai was like a lone boat amid a raging storm. He looked as though he might capsize at any moment, yet he remained completely at ease.

Every step landed with absolute precision in the blind spots of the Eight Spider Lances' attacks.

Those powerful, heavy thrusts were always nimbly evaded just before they could touch him.

"Clang!"

The White Clothes Sword lightly tapped the joint of a spider leg. This time, however, it was not a light touch, but a heavy quake.

Tang San felt a tricky force surge through the Eight Spider Lances, jolting his blood and energy into turmoil and forcing him back three steps.

He knew the spider lances were an External Soul Bone, closely connected to his nerves. The numb, aching sensation made his face turn pale.

"What movement technique is that?" Tang San asked through gritted teeth.

Zhou Qiubai sheathed his sword and stood tall. His white robes were as light as clouds upon the arena, utterly dustless. "Floating Cloud Nine Palace Steps."

What difference would it make even if he told him its name?

Learning martial arts required far more than knowing its name.

"Nine Palaces..." Tang San's pupils suddenly contracted.

The Tang Sect of his previous life had once come into contact with texts concerning Qimen Dunjia, though only superficially. He remembered that the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams were an extremely profound theory of formations.

He had never expected this youth to incorporate formations into a movement technique. It was truly inconceivable.

In the stands, Flender adjusted his glasses and turned toward Yu Xiaogang beside him, his voice slightly anxious. "Xiao Gang, can you tell what Soul Skill that is?"

Yu Xiaogang stood with his hands behind his back, the stern expression on his face twitching slightly.

You think I would understand it?

What Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams? What Floating Cloud movement technique? None of it fell within the theoretical framework of his Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul.

Yet his pride kept him from admitting it, so he could only force himself to say, "Mm... this is an extremely advanced Self-Created Soul Skill."

Then he slowly explained, "It appears casual, but in truth, every step conforms to the principles of heaven and earth. Watch carefully. Every time Xiao San's opponent moves, he happens to position himself in the gaps between Xiao San's changes in force. This is not prediction. It is calculation."

"Calculation?" Zhao Wuji scratched his head, looking bewildered. "How do you calculate it?"

Yu Xiaogang had no choice but to keep making things up. "It requires an extremely strong sense of spatial awareness and mental calculation ability..."

Though he made it sound mysterious, he was not confident at all.

Yet Flender and the others nodded one after another, seemingly convinced by the master's analysis.

Flender nodded as if he understood. "Can it be countered?"

"In theory..." Yu Xiaogang paused. "As long as one finds the pattern of the movement technique, it can be countered. But that requires extremely fast calculation ability and combat experience."

What a remarkable speech—truly a speech of all time!

On the arena, Tang San had already changed his tactics.

Since a direct assault was ineffective, he would counter with skill.

He took a deep breath, and the footwork beneath him immediately became elusive and unpredictable.

With a flicker of his body, he actually transformed into three afterimages that lunged at Zhou Qiubai from different directions.

Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track!

One of the Tang Sect's most advanced movement techniques, renowned for its bizarre and unpredictable changes.

Tang San had trained it painstakingly for more than a decade in his previous life. Now, supplemented by Soul Power in this life, it was even more powerful than before.

The three afterimages were impossible to distinguish as real or fake. Each radiated genuine killing intent, drawing cries of alarm from the audience.

"What Soul Skill is that?"

"Three shadows? How did he do that?!"

A flicker of interest crossed Zhou Qiubai's eyes. Rather than respond at once, he closed his eyes.

Then, he "heard" different rhythms.

Among the three afterimages, the one on the left had the steadiest breathing, the strongest heartbeat, and the most authentic sound of footsteps striking the ground.

"The left."

Zhou Qiubai opened his eyes and stepped forward the instant Tang San's true body lunged at him.

That light step landed precisely at the moment Tang San exerted force and drew breath.

Tang San's vision blurred, and his target vanished at once. Then numbness struck beneath his ribs.

The sword hilt had already tapped one of his acupoints.

"Ugh!"

Tang San grunted, staggering backward as the three afterimages instantly dispersed.

"How is that possible?" He could not believe it.

Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track had never been broken so easily. His opponent had not even watched his movements—he had merely listened with his eyes closed for a moment and found his true body?

"Your movement technique is quite good," Zhou Qiubai said calmly. "But it focuses too much on unpredictability and neglects the foundation. True footwork requires every step to be steady and solid. What is empty becomes ungrounded, and what is ungrounded descends into chaos."

Tang San's face instantly darkened.

Those words struck directly at his weak point.