Savaging Yu Tianheng

That whip strike had made Yu Tianheng fully realize one thing: Zhao Ming's Steel Whip was far from as simple as it looked.

The force it unleashed upon hitting its target far exceeded what an ordinary blunt-weapon martial soul should have been capable of.

At the very least, in terms of weight alone, this Steel Whip rivaled most top-tier blunt-weapon martial souls.

What alarmed Yu Tianheng even more was the combat awareness Zhao Ming had displayed in that strike.

Zhao Ming would rather take a kick head-on just to ensure his whip landed. This style of trading injury for injury seemed reckless, but it was actually extremely shrewd.

Zhao Ming had absolute confidence in his own defenses. He knew that kick could not hurt him, while his whip was enough to heavily injure his opponent.

He could not afford even the slightest carelessness anymore. Yu Tianheng took a deep breath and swiftly adjusted his strategy.

Yu Tianheng tapped the ground repeatedly, retreating at high speed to widen the distance between himself and Zhao Ming. At the same time, his first soul ring lit up once more.

Blue-violet lightning frantically gathered around his arms, condensing into two savage Thunder Dragon Claws. Electricity crackled around the claws, and every talon gleamed with a chilling light.

Yu Tianheng crossed his arms and slashed out with both Thunder Dragon Claws at once, turning them into two blue-violet blades of lightning that swept straight toward Zhao Ming from either side.

The air violently distorted wherever the lightning blades passed, erupting with piercing crackles. The stray lightning energy carved two charred trenches through the bluestone slabs beneath them.

At the same time, Yu Tianheng activated his second soul skill, Thunderous Might, once again.

This time, however, he did not release the lightning outward to attack. Instead, he channeled all of it into his own body, using the electrical energy to stimulate every cell and push his speed to its limit.

Propelled by lightning, his body turned into a blurred afterimage as he charged after the two Thunder Dragon Claws toward Zhao Ming.

He clearly intended to use the Thunder Dragon Claws to block Zhao Ming's movement and force him to receive the attacks head-on. Then, while Zhao Ming dealt with the claws, he would seize the opening to secure victory through close combat and the crushing advantage of his Soul Power Level.

It was an exceptionally clever tactic.

Yu Tianheng's Soul Power Level was twenty-nine, while Zhao Ming appeared to be only level twenty-two. Under normal circumstances, a seven-level gap in Soul Power was enough to create an overwhelming advantage.

As long as he could drag the battle into a pure contest of Soul Power consumption, Yu Tianheng was confident he could exhaust Zhao Ming to death with his deeper reserves.

However, he had underestimated Zhao Ming once again.

Zhao Ming's expression did not change in the slightest as he faced the two menacing Thunder Dragon Claws.

He gripped the Steel Whip with both hands and continuously poured Soul Power into it. A faint golden glow emerged across the whip's surface.

Then Zhao Ming moved. There were no fancy techniques and no tricky footwork—just a simple downward chop.

The Steel Whip came crashing down from above, whistling sharply as it tore through the air. It struck the exact point where the two Thunder Dragon Claws converged.

One strike shattered all techniques. The two Thunder Dragon Claws exploded beneath the Steel Whip's crushing blow, breaking into countless fragments of lightning that scattered through the air.

Zhao Ming did not pause in the slightest. He stepped forward and directly met Yu Tianheng, who was charging in right behind the claws.

Their figures collided in the center of the training ground. The Steel Whip and dragon claws clashed fiercely, every collision producing deafening metallic booms. The rippling Soul Power blasts scattered dust across the ground.

The two traded blows, and in the blink of an eye, they had exchanged more than a dozen moves.

Over those exchanges, Yu Tianheng grew increasingly alarmed.

He was shocked to find that even though his lightning constantly numbed Zhao Ming's body, and even though his Soul Power Level was a full seven levels higher, Zhao Ming still exerted overwhelming pressure.

Zhao Ming's moves were unbelievably refined. Every attack came at precisely the right moment, every block was flawlessly accurate. His killing techniques seemed tempered through countless battles; every motion possessed a natural fluidity, without a single unnecessary movement or wasted shred of strength.

By comparison, although Yu Tianheng had also undergone systematic training from his clan, he was clearly a level below Zhao Ming in both the use of his techniques and his control over the pace of battle.

After more than a dozen exchanges, Yu Tianheng had gone from evenly matched to being able to do nothing but defend passively.

Zhao Ming's Steel Whip came down like a relentless storm. Every strike was heavy and powerful, every angle vicious and unpredictable, forcing Yu Tianheng steadily backward without even a chance to counterattack.

His arms had been jolted numb, his palms ached faintly, and the Soul Power within him was draining rapidly. Yet Zhao Ming's offensive showed no sign of weakening. On the contrary, it only became fiercer and faster.

Soon, Zhao Ming spotted a tiny flaw in Yu Tianheng's defense. After blocking more than a dozen whip strikes in succession, Yu Tianheng's numbed right arm dipped slightly for an instant.

A sharp gleam flashed through Zhao Ming's eyes. Using his left foot as a pivot, he spun fiercely half a turn. Borrowing the force of the rotation, he swept the Steel Whip outward. It drew a perfect arc through the air before slamming into Yu Tianheng's waist with tremendous force.

With one sweeping strike, the blow was heavier than any before it. Yu Tianheng felt an irresistible force explode against his side, sending him flying through the air in a parabola before he crashed heavily beyond the arena.

His body rolled several times across the ground before barely coming to a stop. The front of his clothes was soaked through with blood, while the Thunder Dragon Claws around his arms collapsed the instant he hit the ground. He was in a miserable state.

The training ground fell silent.

The members of the Royal Dou Team stared at the scene in utter disbelief. None of them had expected the spar to end this way.

Yu Tianheng, the direct descendant of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and a level twenty-nine assault-type Battle Soul Master, had actually lost to a commoner soul master who had grown up an orphan.

Even if this commoner soul master had been adopted by His Highness the Crown Prince and received the support of the Crown Prince's Palace, Yu Tianheng had the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan behind him! The strongest beast martial soul in the world was no empty claim.

Yet Yu Tianheng had lost. And anyone with eyes could see that Zhao Ming had won with ease. The only effective damage Yu Tianheng had inflicted throughout the entire fight was likely the kick that landed when Zhao Ming traded injury for injury.

At every other moment, Yu Tianheng had been completely suppressed. Zhao Ming's two soul skills were both enhancement-type skills, yet despite lacking offensive methods, he had still easily defeated Yu Tianheng. This showed that Zhao Ming possessed not only outstanding cultivation talent, but also exceptional combat awareness and battle experience.