Death Siphon rooted itself into the earth, absorbed energy, and fed it back to itself.
Although this was the first soul skill Li Qinglian had created himself, it was actually the core soul skill of the Death Divine Tree Martial Soul.
This soul skill kept the energy within his body fully replenished at all times.
The most sinister aspect of this soul skill was that once an opponent's Soul Power had been completely drained, it would directly absorb their life force to replenish its energy. If they failed to break free from the chains in time, they would inevitably be drained to death by Li Qinglian.
Yan's pupils contracted.
He could clearly feel the Soul Power he had released draining away at an accelerating rate, as though countless tiny straws had pierced the river of his Soul Power and were siphoning it away at an irreversible pace.
"What the hell is this..."
Yan gritted his teeth and abruptly changed his move.
"Second Soul Skill—Granite Rock!"
He brought his palms together, and the ground shook violently. Several enormous slabs of granite burst from beneath Li Qinglian's feet, closing in from all sides to crush him.
The rock surfaces were covered in dark-red magma patterns, combining hardness and blazing heat. If someone were caught between them head-on, even a Soul Elder would be severely injured.
Yan's Flame Lord Martial Soul possessed both fire and earth attributes. Its strength was absolutely greater than Dai Mubai's White Tiger Martial Soul.
"For your age, your reactions are already quite good."
"But your Soul Power is weakening. Didn't you notice?"
The next instant, ash-black vines erupted from the ground.
Second Soul Skill, Withered Glory Prison.
Countless vines exploded outward with Li Qinglian at their center, faster and fiercer than the granite breaking through the ground.
Those vines were covered in barbs from end to end, and a faint aura of death flowed across their ash-black bark. Like living creatures, they wrapped themselves precisely around every slab of granite.
The three enormous rocks actually let out teeth-grating cracking sounds under the vines' strangling grip, and fine cracks began spreading across their surfaces.
"You!"
Yan's expression changed drastically.
That was granite!
What kind of Martial Soul did Li Qinglian have?
It was just a tree. Why were its branches and vines so overwhelmingly powerful?
Yan was practically going mad.
Stepping forward to challenge Li Qinglian had already been humiliating enough.
He had only chosen to stand out on this occasion in order to earn the Pope's favor.
But if he still lost...
Then he truly would have no way to remain at Spirit Hall Academy.
He was thirteen years old. If he could not even defeat a six-year-old child,
then forget becoming the Holy Son—he might not even be able to keep his current position.
Not to mention everyone else's scorn.
He could disregard anyone else, but he could not ignore Hu Liena's opinion of him.
If he lost to Li Qinglian, he would never have the face to stand before Hu Liena again for the rest of his life.
"Oh my god. Li Qinglian actually suppressed Yan? How did he do that? Isn't Li Qinglian's Martial Soul a plant type?"
Hu Liena looked toward the center of the battlefield, her beautiful eyes filled with shock.
Was he really a Soul Grandmaster?
"Indeed. Can a plant Martial Soul really be this powerful?"
Xie Yue let out a breath.
On the Douluo Continent, plant-type Martial Souls were generally classified as Martial Souls with little offensive strength.
Most Soul Masters with plant Martial Souls belonged to the control or support types.
This was his first time seeing a plant-type Soul Master take the assault path!
Moreover, plant Martial Souls were generally not very powerful. The strongest Martial Souls in the world were almost all tool Martial Souls and beast Martial Souls.
Plant Martial Souls were inherently quite rare.
The plant academies on the continent were obscure and did not even compare to the Four Element Academies. That alone showed how disadvantaged Soul Masters with plant Martial Souls were.
Yet all he saw from Li Qinglian was dominance!
Yan's Flame Lord Martial Soul was incomparably powerful. As a dual fire-earth Martial Soul, his second soul skill, Granite Rock, was extremely formidable. Anyone who touched that layer of granite covering him would understand.
Yet Li Qinglian could make those slabs of granite creak merely by constricting them with branches.
How much strength did that require?
"Then do you think Li Qinglian can win?"
Hu Liena stared intently at the battlefield.
As Bibi Dong's disciple, she would not oppose any of her teacher's decisions.
But this time, she suddenly wanted to see Li Qinglian win.
Any emotional woman would hope for a miracle.
But would a miracle happen?
"Hard to say."
"If Li Qinglian and Yan were at the same cultivation level, Yan would have no chance whatsoever."
"But the gap between their cultivation levels is too great. Yan is only using two hundred-year soul skills right now and has not gone all out. Once he gets serious, it will be very difficult for Li Qinglian to win."
Hearing that, Hu Liena nodded.
She also knew Yan's strength.
The level of attack Yan was displaying now clearly had not reached his usual standard.
"Looks like my guess really was right. The Goddess of Life's true form is a tree."
"But the Goddess of Life is so fair and beautiful. How did she give birth to such a black tree?"
"One look tells me this is not the God of Destruction's child."
"Oh my god! No wonder the Goddess of Life only dared to secretly leave him in the lower realm to be raised."
After seeing Li Qinglian use his Martial Soul, Qian Renxue's mind erupted into chaos.
The Angel God's divine consciousness muttered to herself excitedly and gossipily.
This was huge!
Ever since guessing that Li Qinglian had some connection to the Goddess of Life, the Angel God had hidden a wisp of divine consciousness within Qian Renxue's mind.
Upon seeing Li Qinglian's Martial Soul, she became completely worked up.
The God Realm was far too dull. Thousands or even tens of thousands of years could pass without a major event. It was as boring as a stagnant pool!
And now, what was this if not a major event?
This was an event capable of overturning the God Realm!
The God of Destruction was purple, and the Goddess of Life was green, so why was Li Qinglian black?
This towering tree was pitch-black as ink, black beyond black.
Yet she was one hundred percent certain that this tree was absolutely of the same kind as the Goddess of Life.
"But Li Qinglian's tree is so evil. It is filled with deathly aura, decay, and corrosion..."
"Could such a sinister aura be the Evil God's doing? If Li Qinglian is the Evil God King and the Goddess of Life's..."
The Angel God could not help shuddering.
In the God Realm, since Li Qinglian had not been born alongside the Goddess of Life, the Death God King naturally did not exist.
But every law and authority related to death was controlled by someone.
The Goddess of Life held a portion, the God of Death controlled a small portion, and the largest share was entirely in the hands of the Evil God King.
After seeing Li Qinglian's Death Divine Tree, the Angel God naturally became suspicious.
"This is bad. The Goddess of Kindness is my superior. Should I tell her this terrible news?" The Angel God completely panicked.
Why was this becoming more and more complicated?
"Uh..."
Qian Renxue only felt her head buzzing, as though it were about to explode.
The Angel God had once seemed noble and sacred in her eyes, but Qian Renxue had now completely lost her reverence for these gods.
So even gods loved gossip just as much as humans did!
Before you continue