Home Run

The two sides had taken the stage early, and only then did Du Weilun fly down from the spectators' seats.

The teams announced their names.

"Yao Shi, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao."

"Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, Cui Yajie."

Standing between the two teams, he said in a deep voice, "You will now proceed to the finals. The rules have changed somewhat. To let you display your full strength, you may go all out during the match. There is no need to hold back. I will control the intensity of the battle myself. Do you understand?"

"Understood."

Both sides answered in unison, followed immediately by Du Weilun declaring the match had begun.

The two sides instantly spread apart, and all six released their martial souls.

Cui Yajie was the first to attack. With her martial soul possessed, a pair of fox ears sprouted from her head as she used her mental soul skill, Charm, on Wang Dong. Unfortunately, before the attack could get anywhere near Wang Dong, it was dispelled by the energy radiating from Yao Shi's body.

"What? My attack just vanished like that?"

Seeing her Charm disappear several meters away from Wang Dong, Cui Yajie cried out in alarm.

"Be careful. Any opponents who made it to the finals with the same winning streak as us cannot be weak."

Zhu Lu warned the other two to be wary of their opponents. Cui Yajie took the warning to heart, but Dai Huabin, the son of the White Tiger Duke, was far too proud.

Three soul rings, two yellow and one purple, appeared beneath his feet. With a shout, he possessed the White Tiger martial soul and lunged toward Yao Shi's group. Seeing that she could not stop him, Zhu Lu, in her Hell Civet state, hurried after Dai Huabin and fought alongside him.

How could Yao Shi give them the chance to close in? After telling Wang Dong to deal with Cui Yajie first while he and Xiao Xiao held Dai Huabin back for the time being—

He instantly raised a wall of vines woven from several thick tendrils. Dai Huabin's claw only left a few scratches on it, while Xiao Xiao seized the opportunity to use her first and second soul skills, blasting the two of them away.

Taking advantage of their brief stun, Wang Dong swiftly flew toward Cui Yajie. The battlefield was immediately split into a one-on-one and a two-on-two.

Cui Yajie's fox martial soul lay somewhere between the mental and assault types, so her speed was not particularly fast. Wang Dong, despite being an assault-type soul master, was no slow flier either. In an instant, she had closed in on Cui Yajie.

Wing Guillotine was about to come down when Cui Yajie desperately used Charm on Wang Dong. Since Yao Shi was too far away, he could not dispel it—and unexpectedly, it worked.

Cui Yajie also dodged the attack while Wang Dong was briefly dazed.

"Huabin, fall back! Cui Yajie is in danger."

By then, Zhu Lu and Dai Huabin had recovered. Seeing that Cui Yajie was no match for Wang Dong, Zhu Lu hurriedly called out to Dai Huabin, who had been preparing to attack Yao Shi again.

"Tch, annoying pest."

Dai Huabin cursed Yao Shi's wall under his breath, then obediently followed Zhu Lu's instructions and turned back to support Cui Yajie.

"Wang Dong, come back!"

Seeing Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu rushing back, Yao Shi immediately called Wang Dong back. After their days of fighting together, Wang Dong had become utterly obedient to Yao Shi's words. Upon hearing him, she immediately gave up on continuing her attack, circled around Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu, and returned to Yao Shi's side. The battlefield shifted back into a three-on-three.

"Huabin, the defense formed by their support and control-type soul masters is difficult to break through. If we let Cui Yajie fight one-on-one, she will definitely fall behind. Then it will become three against two, and we will have a high chance of losing. Shall we use that move?"

After Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu returned to Cui Yajie's side, Zhu Lu analyzed the situation and spoke to Dai Huabin.

Dai Huabin hesitated upon hearing this. He was the dignified son of the White Tiger Duke, a three-ringed Soul Elder, yet he had to use a martial soul fusion skill against three Grand Soul Masters.

But he hesitated for only a moment. With Cui Yajie still here, they could at least buy enough time to activate the fusion skill. If she were eliminated, they might truly lose.

Dai Huabin nodded and said, "All right. Cui Yajie, help hold them back first."

Cui Yajie stepped forward to shield the two of them, while Dai Huabin pulled Zhu Lu over, withdrew his martial soul, and slowly embraced her.

Seeing their formation, Yao Shi inwardly cursed.

"Xiao Xiao, Wang Dong, use all your soul skills to interrupt them. We can't let them complete the martial soul fusion!"

"Wing Guillotine, Butterfly God's Light."

"Cauldron Shock, Cauldron's Swing."

Along with the thorns Yao Shi controlled as they thrust forward.

Cold sweat continuously beaded on Cui Yajie's forehead as she stood before Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu.

Are you serious with those attacks? Am I supposed to risk my life just to buy you time?

Cui Yajie was not a defense-type soul master and did not dare use her body to block the skills, so all the attacks landed on Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu as they activated their martial soul fusion skill.

Three thunderous booms rang out, kicking up a cloud of dust.

When the dust settled, a towering white tiger stood before everyone.

Damn it, transformation comes with invincibility frames? Smoke means no damage? They really maxed out the buffs.

Yao Shi watched as they successfully fused anyway and grumbled inwardly.

The battle between the two sides had entered its fiercest stage.

Outside the arena, Du Weilun watched the scene and struggled over whether to intervene. After all, the Netherworld White Tiger had appeared. Those three Grand Soul Masters were surely no match for it.

Roar—

The Netherworld White Tiger's roar made many students with lower soul power cover their ears, while Cui Yajie jumped off the stage to avoid being caught in it.

The enormous white tiger flashed forward and pounced at Yao Shi's group. The vine wall Yao Shi had built earlier was easily smashed apart.

"Xiao Xiao, Wang Dong, get behind me!" Yao Shi shouted. Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao immediately ducked behind him.

"Cauldron Shock."

Xiao Xiao used her soul skill in an attempt to halt the white tiger's charge, but it was directly knocked aside.

Yao Shi, meanwhile, continuously summoned vines and thorns, like a sovereign of plants.

Ten, a hundred, a thousand...

The vines and thorns intertwined and coiled around one another, layer upon layer, constantly compressing and becoming denser and sturdier. Gradually, they formed a gigantic vine club dozens of meters long and four meters wide, its surface covered in sharp hooked thorns like a spiked mace.

Everyone stared in stunned disbelief. Could a two-ringed soul master control so many vines? And those vines had been summoned out of thin air, hadn't they? Could the soul power possessed by a mere two-ringed soul master truly accomplish something like this?

Yao Shi's lips curled slightly. "If I can't beat you, can't I just swat you away?"

"Take this!"

As his words fell, Yao Shi swung the giant spiked club at the Netherworld White Tiger. It was neither particularly fast nor slow, but the vine club was enormous.

Facing the huge vine club covered in spikes, the Netherworld White Tiger did not dare confront it head-on and was forced back again and again. But the arena was only so large, and Yao Shi soon drove it to the edge.

Seeing that one more step back would send it off the stage, the Netherworld White Tiger steeled itself.

I'm going for it!

It immediately prepared to counterattack. The moment it leaped into the air, it readied itself to pounce on Yao Shi.

Yao Shi could not help laughing when he saw this. "I never thought you would actually dare jump into the air. What a pleasant surprise."

The airborne Netherworld White Tiger still did not understand what Yao Shi meant when the vine club appeared before it.

Unable to dodge in midair, the Netherworld White Tiger was struck heavily by the thorn-covered vine club. The hooks dug into its fur, and then its body was sent flying like a baseball.

"Home run!!"