What Kind of Martial Soul Was This? Yu Xiaogang Was Stumped

Flender had complete confidence in Qin Yun.

Four Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings. With potential and strength like that, how could Tang San win?

Qin Yun was a little surprised too.

He hadn't expected Tang San to challenge him on his own initiative.

It seemed Tang San had gained quite a bit from his trip to Star Dou Great Forest.

But they had both grown stronger, and Qin Yun had gained far more this time.

He withdrew his gaze and beckoned to Tang San.

"Come on."

Tang San needed no further invitation.

He shifted his feet, blue light flashing beneath them. More than a dozen strands of Blue Silver Grass burst from the ground and spread rapidly along its surface, winding like snakes.

The vines were thinner than before, with a dull sheen and fine ridges running along their length.

The Man Faced Demon Spider's Soul Ring had transformed them, giving them far greater toughness and strength than before.

Qin Yun stuck to his previous strategy.

He raised his hand and snapped his fingers twice.

Boom! Boom!

Two explosions erupted on either side of Tang San's path, sending shockwaves rolling and stone fragments flying.

But Tang San's advance did not stop as it had last time.

He had already shifted his footing a heartbeat before the blasts reached him.

He used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, his figure darting left and right.

He did not know how Qin Yun's attack worked, but as long as he kept changing direction, Qin Yun would have a hard time hitting him.

The maneuver, however, took a heavy toll on his stamina.

Tang San's lips tightened slightly.

The same move won't work on me twice.

Under cover of his advance, Blue Silver Grass had swept in from every direction.

Faced with the encircling vines, Qin Yun remained composed.

He neither retreated nor summoned a Diamond shield. Instead, he brought his hands together before him, pressed his palms against each other, and rubbed them lightly back and forth.

It was a small movement, as though he were twisting an invisible thread.

But a faint wisp of dark gray mist suddenly seeped between his fingers, carrying a putrid smell.

It was a new compound: Arsine (AsH₃).

At room temperature, it was slightly heavier than air. It could ignite without an open flame, explode violently when subjected to friction, and produce smoke laden with highly toxic arsenic compounds when burned.

The mutated Blue Silver Grass had also gained considerable fire resistance.

White Phosphorus could no longer ignite it easily.

So Qin Yun had upgraded his approach too.

If phosphorus fire would not burn it, he would try something hotter and more poisonous.

He flicked the cloud of Arsine toward the Blue Silver Grass whipping at him.

Seeing Qin Yun's move from a distance, Tang San scoffed inwardly.

He wants to use the same trick to burn my Blue Silver Grass?

He's made a serious mistake.

Instead of withdrawing the grass, Tang San poured in more Soul Power and drove even more vines toward Qin Yun from behind.

But the instant the Arsine touched the Blue Silver Grass, everything went differently from what he had expected.

As the dark gray mist met the vines' outer layer, a blinding white light exploded outward like a spark landing in a barrel of oil.

The flames were more than twice as fierce as the phosphorus fire. They swallowed an entire vine almost the moment they sprang up.

They burned brilliant white, with tremendous heat.

Even the air rippled and warped.

Worse still was the smoke produced as the Arsine broke down in the fire.

The white smoke had a distinctly acrid odor and spread quickly with the wind.

The arsenic compounds in it were enough to make anyone who inhaled them dizzy and nauseated within moments, struggling to breathe.

Tang San was closest. The sharp, pungent smell rushed into his nose at once.

Pain stung his throat, and he stumbled half a step despite himself.

Then came another threat.

As the Arsine continued to burn and its smoke spread, it kept colliding with oxygen in the air.

A string of small explosions burst across the area covered by Blue Silver Grass.

The blasts went off like a lit chain of firecrackers.

Starting three feet in front of Qin Yun, they raced backward toward Tang San's feet.

Tang San's expression changed sharply. He pushed Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to its limit and retreated again and again, but the edge of one blast still grazed his left arm.

His sleeve was scorched black in an instant.

Fine gray smoke rose from its edge.

In a single exchange, Tang San had been forced onto the defensive again.

He glanced down at his charred sleeve, then looked up at Qin Yun, who had not moved a step.

His Blue Silver Grass's fire resistance was useless against Qin Yun's methods.

This man...

How many kinds of attack does he have?

The onlookers' reactions varied.

Ma Hongjun muttered under his breath.

"I knew Tang San was no match for him..."

Dai Mubai said nothing.

His gaze remained fixed on the slender figure in black beyond the crossing waves of Soul Power.

Zhu Zhuqing stood beside Ning Rongrong.

She was watching Qin Yun too, her eyes filled with shock and admiration.

Ning Rongrong made no effort to hide her feelings. She clasped her hands before her chest, her eyes shining.

"He's incredible!"

Xiao Wu stood at the very front of the crowd, her fists clenched and her lips pressed into a thin line.

"Xiao San, you have to win!"

She watched Tang San fall into danger and saw Qin Yun burn away his Blue Silver Grass once more.

Her eyes were full of worry.

Yu Xiaogang, meanwhile, was utterly baffled.

He searched through every Martial Soul theory and ancient text he knew.

Not one offered a clue that explained what he was seeing.

No Soul Ring flashed. There was no preparatory motion for a Soul Skill.

Even the Martial Soul itself had appeared between the boy's hands for only an instant.

Where had that gray-white mist come from?

What had caused those brilliant white flames?

One question after another filled his mind.

Martial Souls generally fell into two categories: beast Martial Souls and tool Martial Souls.

Qin Yun's was most likely a tool Martial Soul, but what on earth was it?

Flender's voice sounded, unhurried.

"Well, Xiaogang, what do you think of my student?"

"You've studied Martial Souls for so many years. Have you ever seen a child more unusual than him?"

"Did you manage to see what his Martial Soul is?"

Yu Xiaogang met Flender's gaze, equal parts teasing and smug, and fell silent.

He had always prided himself on his knowledge of Martial Soul theory and claimed to have read every rare treatise under the sun.

Yet he could not make the slightest sense of Qin Yun's Martial Soul.

Yu Xiaogang had little ability, but he cared deeply about saving face.

He could not bring himself to ask Flender directly.

The battle continued.

Though Tang San was at a disadvantage, he had no intention of stopping.

The poisonous smoke made him frown slightly, but arsenic compounds were no great threat to him.

The real problem was the chain of explosions following him.

The attacks were impossible to predict and could erupt beneath his feet at any moment. He had to pay extra attention to every step.

I can't just defend. That leaves me at his mercy.

Tang San thrust out his right arm and pulled out a short black crossbow.

He raised it and fired.

Three short bolts whistled through the air, their tips coated in a dull finish.

He had specially modified them to block magnetic attraction.

Qin Yun's magnet would not sweep them all away like it had last time.