"That would be my honor!"
With a thought, Hu Liena spun once on the spot. Three Soul Rings surrounded her, their colors yellow, yellow, and purple from the inside out. Like Yan's before her, their ages reached the limits for a Soul Master's first, second, and third Soul Rings: over four hundred years, over seven hundred years, and over a thousand years, respectively.
Su Chen studied Hu Liena, the future Holy Maiden of Spirit Hall and first in line to become its next Supreme Pontiff.
Hu Liena had long black hair, a nearly perfect figure, and features that bore some resemblance to Xie Yue's. She gave the impression of a wolf poised to strike. At first glance, this girl did not seem particularly beautiful, but a closer look revealed a peculiar allure. Her voice sounded somewhat husky, yet that huskiness carried a special charm. After she released her Martial Soul, a large, fluffy tail grew behind her, and she became more beautiful.
"Come forth, Golden Sacred Dragon (Five-Clawed Golden Dragon)."
Su Chen stamped his foot, and golden light appeared around him. It condensed into a golden Five-Clawed Golden Dragon. Only one black Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring surrounded him.
If Yan had been worthy of making Su Chen reveal his Martial Soul, then Hu Liena before him certainly was too.
First Soul Skill: Charm
Hu Liena lightly touched a finger to her lips and parted her little mouth, the gesture devastatingly alluring. Her seductive eyes winked, sending him a flirtatious glance, and a strange ripple struck straight at Su Chen's nerves. His mind reeled, leaving his head completely blank.
So you fell under my Charm after all? Hu Liena smiled smugly to herself, though disappointment showed in her eyes. She had thought the seeded contestant from the eastern district might have something special about him. In the end, he was nothing more than this.
Whoosh!
Hu Liena shot forward, driving her delicate fist toward Su Chen's chest. All she had to do was knock him off the platform, and she would be the champion of this friendly tournament.
Thud!
When Hu Liena's fist was only five centimeters from Su Chen's chest, a hand suddenly closed around it, stopping it dead.
"Huh?" Hu Liena let out a startled sound and met Su Chen's gaze. She could not understand why he was unaffected.
"Surprised?" Su Chen looked into Hu Liena's eyes. Her abrupt stop stirred a gust of air, carrying the faint scent of roses from her body to his nose.
Hu Liena did not know that, as a transmigrator, Su Chen already knew her like the back of his hand. To counter this Charm of hers, as well as Xiao Wu's in the future, Su Chen had frequented pleasure houses over the past six years, building up a strong resistance to women's temptations. As for those pleasure houses, he had to admit that their food and wine were second to none.
(Chaosh en Dandan: Don't get the wrong idea, everyone. Su Chen visited pleasure houses purely to learn! Even now, he's still a virgin!)
Su Chen had spent a full six years preparing for this day. Without the Purple Demon Eye, his only option was to build resistance at its root.
"Off you go!"
Holding Hu Liena's hand, Su Chen spun on the spot and flung her hard, intending to throw her off the platform.
But things did not go his way. Hu Liena was remarkably capable. As Su Chen flung her away, her fox tail wrapped around his waist. Borrowing his force to turn it against him, she tried to toss him off the platform instead.
Su Chen staggered perilously close to the edge of the platform. The instant he steadied himself, he stamped down hard enough to crack the ground and shot toward Hu Liena like an arrow loosed from a bow.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The two figures moved like the wind, trading attacks in a dizzying exchange. The sounds of blows cutting through the air rang across the platform. In close combat, the two were clearly evenly matched.
Su Chen held the advantage in strength, while agility was Hu Liena's forte. For the moment, neither could gain the upper hand.
"Handsome, you're quite impressive. Apart from my brother, you're the only person who's ever fought me for this long!"
Throughout the fight, Hu Liena kept speaking. Her voice brimmed with magic, tugging at Su Chen's nerves. Its coquettish sweetness stirred an urge to push her down and ravish her. Su Chen did not know that this was precisely Hu Liena's second Soul Skill, Listen!
If Hu Liena's first Soul Skill worked through sight, then her second worked through hearing. By charming others through their hearing, she could make their movements sluggish and even cause their minds to go blank.
When experts clashed, even a momentary lapse could cost a life. Combined with her wealth of close-combat experience, this allowed Hu Liena to hold her own even against an agility-type Battle Soul Elder above level forty.
"Huh? Something's wrong!"
Su Chen's expression changed. He leaped out of the fight, distancing himself from Hu Liena, and signs of a daze appeared on his face. The perfume is poisonous!
"Handsome, you're accusing me unfairly. My natural scent isn't poisonous!" Hu Liena smiled with her lips pressed together, her eyes thoroughly seductive.
"Your third Soul Skill!" Su Chen looked stunned.
The purple Soul Ring around Hu Liena's body was shining brilliantly. Without anyone noticing, Hu Liena had already activated her third Soul Skill. Its name was also a single word: Smell!
Hu Liena's third Soul Skill filled the surrounding space with a unique substance. When inhaled, it accelerated the flow of blood in the body, strengthening the effects of her Charm. Without realizing it, Su Chen had fallen into her trap.
"You've lost!"
Hu Liena looked smugly at Su Chen. He was the only opponent who had lasted this long against her. More importantly, he was a man. Though charming techniques were effective against women too, they were even more potent when a woman used them on a man.
"No, I haven't lost yet!" Su Chen said with a confident smile.
"It's no use. Once you inhale the charm substance, the only way to remove it is to forcibly expel it with powerful Soul Power. Otherwise, you'll have to wait an hour," Hu Liena said with a confident smile. At Su Chen's current level, he clearly could not force the charm substance out of his body.
"Is that so?" Su Chen smiled, and his Soul Power began seeping into the ground beneath his feet.
"Oh, are you going to use your first Soul Skill?" Hu Liena smiled, looking supremely confident.
She had carefully watched Su Chen's battle with Yan. The moment Su Chen disappeared was the moment he activated the Headhunter Jutsu. This self-created Soul Skill seemed mysterious, but it actually had a weakness. If she left the ground the instant Su Chen vanished, the Soul Skill would be useless against her, unable to pull her underground.
"Earth Release: Yellow Spring Swamp!"
This time, things went against Hu Liena's expectations. Su Chen did not disappear. The surrounding earth element fluctuated, and the ground beneath Hu Liena began to sink. The platform's formerly solid stone surface actually turned to liquid, forming a swamp with a radius of two meters.
"What-!"
Hu Liena's expression changed drastically, and she instinctively tried to push off with her legs and leap free. But there was a swamp beneath her feet. The more she struggled, the faster she sank.
Su Chen smiled. "You've lost!"
Before you continue