One Man, One Blade

Aor Bai quickly steadied his Martial Soul.

He had dared to provoke them at the camp entrance, so he had already considered the possibility of facing Yuan Yu in the arena. With a thirty-four-level gap in Soul Power, he had no chance in a head-on clash. There was only one thing he could do: wear Yuan Yu down as much as possible and create an opening for the two teammates behind him.

The Referee lowered his hand.

"Begin!"

Aor Bai's four Spirit Rings lit up almost at once.

Dozens of roots spread across the ground, and sharp spikes erupted beneath Yuan Yu's feet one after another. They did not aim for vital points. They targeted his hem, soles, and scabbard, seeking only to make him expend Soul Power a few more times.

Yuan Yu did not draw his blade.

Wind Pattern lit beneath his feet. Following the faint sound of each spike before it rose, he walked toward Aor Bai step by step.

The first spike shot up behind his heel.

The second grazed the hem of his white clothes.

The third had barely broken the surface when Yuan Yu planted his sole on it and forced it back into the earth.

Aor Bai changed his hand gesture, and the Groundspike Flower before him bloomed fully.

His purple fourth Spirit Ring flared. Roots across the entire arena burst from the ground, forming a cage woven from sharp spikes.

"Groundspike Flower Prison!"

The cage closed in from all sides. Roots even sealed the space overhead.

Only then did Yuan Yu grip his blade's hilt.

The Sun Wheel Blade slid less than a foot from its sheath.

Golden sunlight surged along its edge, and the roots that touched it rapidly withered yellow. Yuan Yu thrust forward with the blade still partly sheathed,