Sneak Attack

Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track did indeed pursue variation, but its excessive reliance on change left the foundation of every step insufficiently solid.

It worked fine against ordinary opponents, but once it encountered a true expert, this flaw would be magnified without limit.

This was a problem the successive ancestors of the Tang Sect had wanted to solve, yet none had succeeded.

As for Tang San?

He had practiced the Tang Sect's Mysterious Heaven Skill from birth through reincarnation and then another reincarnation, without a shred of innovation. How could he possibly understand Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track?

So, on the Douluo Continent, there seemed to be very few true experts.

Even a single Tang Sect hidden weapon technique could slay gods.

"Again!"

Tang San was unwilling to accept it, fury blazing in his heart.

Having lived two lives, he had been a Tang Sect genius in his previous life, and in this one, he possessed Twin Martial Souls. How could he lose to someone older than him?

He was already close to surpassing even Dai Mubai.

This time, he went all out.

The Mysterious Heaven Skill surged to its limit, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track fully unleashed. His body split into five afterimages as he darted across the arena like a Ghost.

Fast, faster!

The five afterimages shifted and crossed, real and false impossible to distinguish, leaving everyone dazzled.

Yet Zhou Qiubai remained calm and unhurried.

His footwork changed. It was no longer the simple Nine Palace Steps; he began moving in circles.

With one step, his body drifted and turned like floating clouds.

The second step followed, his robes light as a breeze brushing willow branches.

Third step, fourth step, fifth step...

Every step landed in the gaps between Tang San's shifting afterimages, sealing off his next angle of attack in advance.

When Zhou Qiubai took his sixth step, Tang San's five afterimages abruptly froze in unison.

Because Zhou Qiubai's step had landed precisely at the convergence point of all his movement paths.

No matter which direction Tang San attacked from, he would run into that sword.

Left with no choice, Tang San could only forcibly change his move.

Yet as he changed, Zhou Qiubai immediately changed with him.

As this step landed, Zhou Qiubai's body suddenly blurred, transforming into two phantom images.

These were not mere afterimages like those of Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, but visual remnants created by footwork pushed to its absolute limit.

The two phantoms stood to the left and right, making it impossible for Tang San to tell which was real.

Then came the eighth step.

Zhou Qiubai's true body appeared at Tang San's left, his sword point aimed directly at Tang San's wrist.

Tang San was startled. Mysterious Jade Hand activated instantly, turning his palm jade-white as he forcibly received the strike.

"Clang!"

The sword tip struck his palm, producing the sound of metal colliding with metal.

Mysterious Jade Hand, a supreme Tang Sect art—once mastered, it could receive blades and swords head-on.

However, Zhou Qiubai's sword was no ordinary sword.

The flexible sword flicked in his hand, its blade bending like a whip as it slipped around Mysterious Jade Hand's defense, its tip swiftly stabbing toward Tang San's elbow joint.

"Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon!"

Tang San shouted lowly, using his left hand to perform a Tang Sect grappling technique in an attempt to seize the blade.

However, the sword was too fast.

Just as his fingers were about to touch it, the blade twisted strangely again, nimbly slipping through his fingers.

Then it swept upward, pointing straight at his throat.

Tang San was forced to lean back, narrowly avoiding it.

But Zhou Qiubai's ninth step had already fallen.

Like floating clouds returning to their place, he returned to the center of the arena.

Tang San staggered backward, his face pale. The three most vital acupoints on his body all throbbed faintly with pain.

They were the concealed force left behind by the sword tip during their exchange.

Nine steps.

In merely nine steps, Floating Cloud Nine Palace Steps had completely countered Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.

This was not a suppression of speed, but a suppression of realm.

Every step Zhou Qiubai took had accounted for all of Tang San's variations. Every step had waited in advance along Tang San's unavoidable path.

Such a battle was suffocating.

"I... lost?" Tang San's voice was hoarse.

From childhood until now, he had never lost. Yet today, he had lost.

Tang San had enjoyed smooth sailing throughout his life. He had awakened Blue Silver Grass and the Clear Sky Hammer, Twin Martial Souls—one weak, one strong—and believed himself the model of a useless talent rising to greatness. Relying on Blue Silver Grass, he had never once been defeated. Yet today, he had gained a stain upon his record.

But he had to admit that if the concealed force at those three points erupted, he would immediately lose all combat ability.

His opponent had already shown mercy.

The referee was about to announce the result when a flash of unwillingness passed through Tang San's eyes.

Having lived two lives, he had never suffered such humiliation.

How could he lose?

How could he possibly lose!

And to a Soul Grandmaster with lower Soul Power than his!

In his previous life, he had been a Tang Sect genius. In this life, he possessed Twin Martial Souls. He should have been invincible among his peers.

Yet now, he had been defeated.

Defeated by a Soul Grandmaster who had not even used a soul skill.

What angered him even more was that footwork—Floating Cloud Nine Palace Steps.

If he could obtain that footwork and combine it with his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, his strength would surely increase greatly.

Greed spread through his heart like wild grass.

"It isn't over yet!"

Tang San suddenly growled. A mechanism in his sleeve clicked softly.

Three streaks of black light shot out like lightning, aimed directly at Zhou Qiubai's face, throat, and heart—three vital points.

Sleeve Arrows!

The angles of those three arrows were vicious, their timing ruthless. He clearly intended to take a life.

An uproar broke out among the spectators.

"Sneak attack!"

"Foul!"

"Referee!"

The referee was stunned as well and failed to react in time.

Zhou Qiubai's gaze instantly turned cold.

He had long noticed the unusual movement within Tang San's sleeve; the sound of the mechanism had been crystal clear.

The moment the Sleeve Arrows fired, he moved.

Not to evade, but to meet them head-on.

The White Clothes Sword drew a circle through the air.

The blade was soft as silk, yet the circle it traced contained a strange rhythm.

Sword qi flowed within the circle, forming a transparent vortex.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The three Sleeve Arrows shot into the ring of sword qi as though entering a swamp, their speed sharply reduced.

Then the sword qi swept them aside, changing their direction.

"Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!"

The three bolts embedded themselves in the pillars at the edge of the arena.

Their tails trembled, emitting a faint hum.

Zhou Qiubai sheathed his sword and looked at Tang San, his eyes icy.

"A sparring match ends at the proper point." His voice was calm, yet it carried a bone-chilling coldness. "Using hidden weapons to ambush someone and take his life... is this your martial path?"

Tang San's face flushed red, then turned white.

He had wanted to say, "The victor is king," but the words would not leave his mouth.

Because that strike had indeed violated the rules and crossed the bottom line a match should have.

If he had succeeded, there would naturally have been nothing to say. But he had failed.

What alarmed him even more was the move his opponent had used to neutralize the Sleeve Arrows.

That sword technique, using softness to overcome hardness, was another supreme art he had never seen before.

Greed spread through his heart like raging flames.

He had to obtain these things!

If these martial arts fell into the hands of the Tang Sect, the Tang Sect's glory could surely be restored on the Douluo Continent.

No, it could even rise to an even greater height.

"I... I was merely impulsive for a moment." Tang San gritted his teeth, suppressing the greed in his heart as he spoke with feigned sincerity. "I lost too quickly and could not accept it, so I... my apologies."

As he spoke, he cupped his fists toward Zhou Qiubai in apology.

That apology contained three parts greed, three parts resentment, and four parts unwillingness.

It alone contained no remorse.

He would remember today's humiliation. And those martial arts, he would have them too.

Yu Xiaogang hurried onto the arena.

"Xiao San!" he shouted sternly. "How could you use those weapons? This is an arena, not a fight to the death!"