Continue Training!

Stone Bear took a step forward, then suddenly felt his foot tighten. His center of gravity shifted slightly for an instant.

Lan Tian seized that half-breath opening, abruptly lowered his body and slid forward close to the ground. His scalpel precisely stabbed toward the weak layer of keratin behind Stone Bear's right knee.

The blade, infused with Soul Power, plunged fiercely in, slipping about half an inch into a gap in the shell.

At the same time, he flicked his wrist, quietly activating his second soul skill, Spring of Vegetation. A trace of life force clinging to the vines seeped into Stone Bear's body through the wound.

But he had no intention of using that life force on Stone Bear. Instead, he manipulated the seed's instinct to burrow into soil, briefly stimulating the nerve endings in the tissue beneath Stone Bear's skin.

Stone Bear shuddered violently. It felt as though countless fine needles had stabbed the back of his right knee, and a sudden wave of numb soreness exploded through it. His leg went weak beneath him.

He quickly retreated several steps to steady himself. Looking down, he saw that the thin armor behind his knee had cracked open. The wound was not deep, but the location was far too perfect.

Someone in the stands sucked in a sharp breath.

Stone Bear's expression finally changed. He realized that this healing-type opponent was more than ten times harder to deal with than he had imagined.

He no longer dared to keep slowly pressuring and circling Lan Tian. With a low roar, his first soul skill lit up. The keratin layer over his entire body abruptly thickened, his frame swelled a little larger, and he lunged at Lan Tian with both arms swinging.

He was not fast, but the pressure he exuded was immense.

Lan Tian retreated several steps to widen the distance. His second soul ring rose, and Spring of Vegetation activated at full force. Blue Silver Grass vines surged at Stone Bear from every direction like a violent storm. They wrapped around his limbs and, more precisely, coiled around the cracked patch of thin armor behind his knee. The vines tightened, every one of them carrying powerful binding force.

Stone Bear struggled several times, but the vines only wound tighter. The patch behind his right knee in particular sent piercing numbness, itchiness, and pulling pain through him, leaving him afraid to use all his strength to break free.

After several rounds of struggling, his footing was completely thrown into disarray. His center of gravity swayed unstably, and his legs felt as though they had been filled with lead.

Lan Tian gave him no chance to adjust. His scalpel flipped again as he darted close, and with Soul Power poured into it, the tip stabbed viciously into the crack and forcefully pried away the last piece of thin armor.

Stone Bear let out a muffled grunt. His right leg finally gave out, and he crashed down onto one knee on the fighting stage.

He tried to push himself up with both arms, but Lan Tian's vines had already wrapped their way across his entire body, firmly binding him to the platform.

The referee stepped forward and confirmed that Stone Bear could no longer continue fighting, then loudly announced, "Contestant Number Seven, Doctor Lan, wins!"

The stands erupted completely.

Some people stood to applaud, some whistled at Lan Tian on the stage, and others shouted at the top of their lungs, "Where did this healing-type come from? Give us another match!"

Lan Tian released the vines, put away his scalpel, and offered Stone Bear a hand, pulling him up.

Stone Bear used the help to stand, gave him a complicated look, and finally said only, "Are you fucking really a healing-type?"

"I really am."

"Fine. I concede."

Stone Bear dusted the sand off himself and walked off the stage without looking back.

By the time Lan Tian left the stage, a small crowd had already gathered at the entrance to the passageway. Several people who looked like spectators squeezed forward to speak with him, only to be stopped by the Great Soul Arena staff.

Xiao Ling came running up from behind, panting and flipping through her notebook with a rustle. "Doctor Lan! You still have a fourth match today. Your opponent is a two-ring veteran with nineteen wins and three losses. Are you taking it? People in the stands are already betting on you getting three consecutive wins. If you win the fourth match too, the prize money doubles."

Lan Tian rolled his shoulders, sensing that he still had around sixty percent of his Soul Power left.

He was getting into the rhythm of the fights. Smiling, he said, "I'll take it. Why wouldn't I? It took effort to get warmed up today. If I don't fight to my heart's content, I'll have come for nothing."

Xiao Ling's eyes lit up, and she quickly made a note in her notebook. "Alright! The fourth match is set for a quarter of an hour from now. Get some rest—I'll get you some water!"

Lan Tian took the cup Xiao Ling handed him and drained half of it in one breath. Leaning against the wall of the preparation room, he closed his eyes and regulated his breathing.

Although he had not won the battle against Stone Bear too badly, two consecutive matches had consumed over forty percent of his Soul Power. The muscles around his knees and shoulders were also slightly sore.

He circulated Endless Life through his body twice in rapid succession, repairing the minor strain. At the same time, the Soul Power recovery effect brought by Spring of Vegetation continued to work. In less than half the time it took to drink a cup of tea, his Soul Power had recovered by nearly another ten percent.

Xiao Ling poked half her body through the doorway. "Doctor Lan, your opponent for the fourth match has been decided. His name is Duke, and his Martial Soul is the Shadow Panther. He's a level twenty-three agility attack-type Soul Master. Nineteen wins, three losses, and he's been fighting at the Great Soul Arena for nearly three years. He's incredibly fast and specializes in circling behind opponents for sneak attacks. The opponents you faced in the last two matches were both the frontal, hard-hitting type. This time, it's a fast attacker. It'll be different."

Lan Tian opened his eyes. "Does he have any obvious weaknesses?"

"Not exactly, but his endurance is average. His burst period can probably last three to five minutes. If you can outlast that, his speed will drop noticeably." Xiao Ling flipped through her records. "Also, he injured his left ribs before. They healed, but he may subconsciously guard that side more carefully."

Lan Tian nodded and committed the information to memory.

A quarter of an hour later, he stepped onto the fighting stage again.

Duke was tall and lean, dressed in fitted black leather armor. His gaze was as sharp as a hawk's. He stood motionless on the stage, but the Soul Power fluctuations around him were already brewing in secret.

After his Shadow Panther Martial Soul Possession, he seemed to grow another inch taller. Half-inch claws extended from his fingertips, glinting with a cold metallic sheen.

There was no nonsense at the start.

Duke's tempo was too fast. The instant the starting bell rang, he became a black shadow, rapidly circling toward Lan Tian's flank. He moved so fast his figure was almost impossible to see. A string of footsteps pattered across the sand like dense raindrops, shifting left and right, making it impossible to determine his true angle of attack.

Lan Tian suppressed his instinct to dodge and stood still, spreading out his senses to catch the subtle rhythm of his opponent's footwork.

Though Duke's footfalls changed unpredictably, every shift in direction came with a brief instant where he had to transfer his center of gravity.

In the gap after Duke's third change of direction, Lan Tian's Blue Silver Grass suddenly burst forth. Vines shot up from the ground without warning, laying down a crisscrossing field of tripwires beneath Duke's feet.

Duke clearly had not expected such a prediction. One vine hooked around his ankle, slowing him for an instant and exposing a fleeting opening.

Lan Tian's scalpel followed immediately, but Duke reacted with astonishing speed. He forcibly twisted his waist and abdomen halfway around, avoiding a vital strike. The blade left only a shallow scratch on his leather armor.

Using the momentum, he flipped backward and retreated. After landing, his expression changed, gaining a trace of wariness.

Duke clearly adjusted his tactics afterward. He no longer pursued flashy circling maneuvers, instead launching several swift ambushes through short bursts of explosive speed.

Every charge tore through the air with a shrill whistle.

Relying on his extensive combat experience, Lan Tian anticipated and blocked the attacks. After fending off six or seven of them, he had more or less figured out Duke's most common attack angles and rhythm patterns.

At a crucial moment, he caught the opening in Duke's defense around his left ribs. The scalpel slashed precisely across the area beneath them. Though it did not cut deeply, the numbing herbal juice on the blade had already seeped in.