Surging

"I said I'd smash your teeth, and I meant it."

Tie Li appeared before Sun Yutao and drove a brutal kick into his jaw.

The intense pain knocked him unconscious immediately. His mouth was a bloody mess, with white and red fragments scattering across the ground.

The referee immediately entered the arena and carried Sun Yutao off the soul fighting platform.

At the same time, Tie Li joined forces with the Gale Wolf Soul Elder to deal with Li Yao.

The outcome of this soul fight had already been decided. All that remained was the other side's desperate resistance.

Zhang Yang's gaze settled on the enemy control-system Soul Elder.

"Where'd all that arrogance from earlier go?" Zhang Yang mocked.

His first soul ring lit up!

First soul skill, Dark Canopy!

Dark currents surged toward Weinuosi, restraining him while reducing the damage he could deal.

Dolangbu felt much less pressure, and the delight on his face deepened.

Damn it! Weinuosi cursed inwardly.

Youhe had already eliminated two defense-system Soul Masters. He now attacked Li Yao, intending to eliminate the captain first.

As for why Weinuosi had been deliberately left alone?

Hadn't he been shouting the loudest just now? No one had forgotten.

The three of them joined forces and eliminated Li Yao. Next came the siege of Weinuosi.

"I surren—"

Seeing that things were going badly, Weinuosi tried to concede, but Tie Li suddenly appeared before him and dislocated his jaw with his right arm, leaving him unable to speak.

"Ptooey."

An odd sound came from above. Zhang Yang was making good on his promise to spit on his head.

Tie Li still held Weinuosi's jaw, angling it toward the spit Zhang Yang had dropped.

"Urgh."

Youhe gagged dryly and shot Tie Li and Zhang Yang a gloomy glare.

"I'll have a go too," Dolangbu suddenly said.

The same sound, in the same place.

If looks could kill, Weinuosi would have already sliced Zhang Yang and Dolangbu into a thousand pieces.

"We surrender!" the Giant Stone Team's leader shouted through gritted teeth.

He would rather have watched his team members get eliminated one by one than utter those words.

But if he did not, Weinuosi would suffer the other side's humiliation in full view of everyone. It might even ruin Weinuosi's life.

Anyone who became a Soul Elder before turning twenty would, at worst, become a Soul Emperor in the future. His prospects absolutely could not be ruined over this.

The referee intervened, rescuing Weinuosi and resetting his forcibly dislocated jaw.

"Urgh, I'll kill all of you."

Weinuosi, bent over and vomiting, glared hatefully at the seven members of the Rock Team.

"Let's go!" The Giant Stone Team's leader gave Tie Li and the others a deep look before leaving the soul fighting arena with Weinuosi and the remaining team members.

Winning this soul fight meant they had secured second place.

As for the opponent they would face next, there was no need to guess. It had to be the Martial Soul Hall team.

They had a full seven Soul Elders. What team could possibly have the strength to defeat them?

After winning the soul fight, Kaiqi arrived at the venue.

"Did we win?" Kaiqi asked somewhat sheepishly.

She was supposed to be the team leader and stay with the team at all times.

"Yeah, there were basically no problems," Dolangbu said with a smile.

Seeing that no one was dissatisfied with her lapse in duty only made Kaiqi feel even more embarrassed.

Having won this soul fight, they did not intend to stay and watch Martial Soul Hall's match. It would only put more pressure on them.

Kaiqi led the team back to their lodgings. That person's plans had changed, and they would need to remain in Benoa City for a while longer.

Martial Soul Hall had sent a cardinal, while the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had sent an eight-ring Soul Douluo consecrated elder.

They were both currently in Benoa City.

Kaiqi did not dare make wild guesses about the matter. She could only obediently follow that person's orders.

The next day, Kaiqi led everyone to the Great Soul Arena.

The strength of the Martial Soul Hall team hung over everyone's heads like a shroud of smog.

But wasn't Martial Soul Hall itself the mountain looming over the heads of every soul master faction?

"We've already gotten the second place we wanted. That's enough," Zhang Yang said carelessly.

Among the ten teams that had advanced, their team could only be considered slightly above average. Making it this far was already quite impressive.

Take the Noah Academy Team, for example. They had five Soul Elders and were still eliminated by Martial Soul Hall.

Perhaps because they had worked so hard to reach this point, their unwillingness to accept defeat made them even less willing to face the Martial Soul Hall team.

Tie Li's thoughts were similar to Zhang Yang's, and he found it easier to accept reality.

This was the final, so the matchup would be decided by a draw on the spot!

The leaders of both teams stepped onto the soul fighting platform to draw lots!

This draw resulted in an individual arena battle.

"Eliminating a few of Martial Soul Hall's Soul Elders wouldn't be too bad either, would it?" Zhang Yang's fighting spirit did much to ease the atmosphere.

"Try not to get injured. Just perform normally," Kaiqi said.

So, who would go up first?

Kaiqi looked at the team members, and several of them avoided her gaze.

"I'll go," Tie Li said.

"Alright."

The final order of the seven fighters was Tie Li, Zhang Yang, Dolangbu, Youhe, Ji Feng, Bai Jiao, and Daisi.

Since this was the final, the spectator stands had been closed. Only the members of both teams, the staff present, and the referee in charge of the rules remained in the soul fighting arena.

The leaders of both teams handed their fighting orders to the referee.

At the referee's signal, both teams sent out their first fighters.

Tie Li walked onto the soul fighting platform. Approaching him was a round, chubby man, with swollen folds of flesh squeezed together on his face so tightly that his eyes could not be seen.

"Tie Li, level twenty-four assault-system Battle Soul Master. Martial soul: Forging Hammer."

"Ma Yuzhou, level thirty-three defense-system Battle Soul Elder. Martial soul: Giant Woolly Elephant."

The referee announced the start of the soul fight. Tie Li charged first, lightning flashing in his hand.

First soul skill, Thunder Hammer!

Ma Yuzhou's round body swelled by another size. Layers of black fur wrapped around his body, making his limbs nearly imperceptible.

Two yellow and one purple—the optimal soul ring configuration.

Bang!

The Thunder Hammer struck his body. Tie Li could clearly feel his force being dispersed by the opponent's soft flesh, while the lightning damage it carried was neutralized by the fur on his body. It did not cause much damage.

His defense seemed to perfectly counter the attributes of Tie Li's martial soul!

And his soft, highly resilient defense could not clash violently with the hammer's body, which meant Tie Li could not use shockwaves to break through his defense.

"Your attack is powerful, but you ran into me. My martial soul counters blunt-weapon martial souls. You can't hurt me," Ma Yuzhou's voice rang out.

His second soul ring lit up. His round body began rolling, launching an attack on Tie Li like a massive ball of flesh.

He rolled incredibly fast, not inferior in the slightest to the burst speed of an agility attack-system soul master.

Tie Li dispelled the Thunder Hammer, and his second soul ring lit up.

He intended to use Thunderclap Break's knockback effect to deal with this situation.