All Six Skills Had a Counter
Yu Xiaogang nodded and turned to another page of his notebook.
"Based on the latest information, I've analyzed all six of his currently known soul skills. Every one of them has a counter."
"Let's hear them," Tang Hao said.
Yu Xiaogang turned the notebook around so Tang Hao could see the writing.
Tiny words covered the page, with several sketches beside them.
"His first soul skill, Coin of Fate." Yu Xiaogang pointed to the first passage. "This one depends entirely on luck. Guess correctly, and you're restored to full health. Guess wrong, and a bolt of rule-bound heavenly lightning strikes down, severely injuring you outright. According to ancient records, participants have a forty percent chance of winning."
Tang Hao recalled the scene at the tournament. Qin Chuan had used this move to heal his own grave injuries, returning to full health.
"When he uses it on himself, he has absolute authority once a day to guess correctly, with a hundred percent certainty," Yu Xiaogang added. "But when he uses it on someone else, he can only adjust the odds slightly, by about ten percentage points either way. So the core of this skill isn't killing. It's gambling."
Tang Hao nodded.
"His second soul skill, Rock-Paper-Scissors." Yu Xiaogang turned to the next page. "It forces the target to play rock-paper-scissors with him. The loser must stand there and take one blow from the winner, without fighting back or defending. His chance of winning is roughly seventy percent."
Tang Hao's brow furrowed.
"This one isn't much of a problem," Yu Xiaogang said. "Qin Chuan is a control-type soul master with little combat strength. So after winning, he doesn't strike himself but finds someone else to do it for him. On the other hand, that also means he wouldn't dare play Rock-Paper-Scissors with a Titled Douluo."
Tang Hao immediately seized on the key point. "Why?"
"Because if he loses, one blow from a Titled Douluo will kill him."
Tang Hao's eyes lit up for an instant.
He calculated inwardly: If I can force Qin Chuan to play Rock-Paper-Scissors with me, even with only a thirty percent chance of winning, I only need to win once. One strike of my hammer, and Qin Chuan will be a puddle of mashed flesh.
Yu Xiaogang saw what he was thinking and shook his head.
"Forget it. Which game to choose is up to him. He won't choose Rock-Paper-Scissors against a Titled Douluo."
The corners of Tang Hao's mouth turned down.
"His third soul skill, Truth or Dare," Yu Xiaogang continued. "There are two options. Choose Truth-Telling, and it triggers Honesty Lock, requiring truthful answers to questions. Choose dare, and it triggers compulsory execution, requiring the assigned task to be completed."
Tang Hao's expression darkened.
Tang San had suffered badly from this skill.
"This is essentially mind control," Yu Xiaogang analyzed. "But it has one particular feature: refusing to choose isn't an option either. That brings an additional penalty. So when facing this skill in front of a crowd, the best strategy is to choose dare voluntarily."
"Why?"
"Truth-Telling can easily leave you disgraced in public. Whatever you're asked, you have to answer. It's entirely under the other party's control. But dare is different. There's an upper limit to the task's difficulty, and at most, you'll suffer minor injuries. As long as you complete the task, there's no further punishment."
Tang Hao thought for a moment, then asked, "Why doesn't he have to participate in the wager for this soul skill?"
Yu Xiaogang said, "My assessment is that in the first round of the game, the dealer can designate a target directly. If he wants to continue afterward, he probably needs to fulfill a trigger condition. Subsequent games require a wager."
Tang Hao nodded.
"His fourth soul skill, Destiny Roulette." Yu Xiaogang turned the page. "It materializes a six-chambered revolver containing only one Rule Bullet. Both sides take turns shooting themselves. Anyone who fires an empty chamber receives a temporary twenty percent boost to soul power. Anyone who gets shot is stripped of all soul power and forcibly removed from the battlefield."
Tang Hao tapped a finger against his knee.
"According to ancient records, the dealer has an eighty percent chance of winning this game."
Eighty percent.
Tang Hao drew a breath. With only one bullet in six chambers, the odds should normally be fifty-fifty. But Qin Chuan could raise his own chance of winning to eighty percent, leaving his opponent only a twenty percent chance of survival.
"His fifth soul skill, Happy Cultivation." Yu Xiaogang's tone changed here. "This is a support-type soul skill. It assists cultivation and doesn't harm the other party."
"His sixth soul skill, One, Two, Three, Red Light." Yu Xiaogang closed the notebook. "In the first round, the dealer has priority in choosing who will be 'It' for that game. It calls out 'One, Two, Three, Red Light' and turns around. When It looks back, all hostile targets within the domain must remain absolutely still. Any movement, however slight, is a violation, punished by turning into a wooden figure. If a player touches It's back, It is likewise forcibly turned into a wooden figure."
Tang Hao had experienced this firsthand.
"This skill is powerful," Tang Hao said. "But with a little care, it's possible to reach his back before he turns around."
"In theory, yes." Yu Xiaogang nodded. "But the problem is that the dealer can lead participants into breaking the rules. He can turn around suddenly, pretend to turn around, or suddenly turn when you're almost behind him. The rhythm is entirely in his hands. It's very hard to judge."
Tang Hao remembered the scene that day: six Titled Douluo standing there, not even daring to breathe heavily.
Qin Chuan had called out, "One, Two, Three, Red Light," and whipped around. Three of them had failed to hold still and turned straight into wood.
The remaining three, including him, had stood there like statues, not even daring to move their eyes.
Tang Hao would never forget that feeling for as long as he lived.
"To sum it up." Yu Xiaogang closed the notebook and folded his hands on the desk. "Each of these six soul skills has a counter when taken individually. But what makes Qin Chuan frightening is that he can freely choose which one to use. He will always choose the game most favorable to himself."
Tang Hao leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling for a while.
"So there's nothing we can do?"
"There is," Yu Xiaogang said. "The three approaches I mentioned earlier. Keep your distance and attack from range, self-detonate at close quarters, or fight him in successive waves. All three target him personally."
He paused, his tone changing.
"But there's something even more frightening than Qin Chuan himself."
Tang Hao looked at him.
"Spirit Hall has issued the Soul Beast Protection Law," Yu Xiaogang said. "What do you think about that?"
Tang Hao's brow creased.
He had heard about the Soul Beast Protection Law. Spirit Hall had distributed it across the entire continent as a papal edict. Every city and every sect had received it.
Soul beasts over eighty thousand years old could not be killed. Those over twenty thousand years old required approval. Those over ten thousand years old required waiting in line for a quota.
The moment it appeared, the entire Soul Master World had boiled over.
"I know about the protection law," Tang Hao said. "What do you think?"
Yu Xiaogang stood up and walked to the window, his back to Tang Hao.
Outside the window lay the academy's sports ground, empty, without a single person in sight.
"Compared with Qin Chuan himself, this protection law is what's truly terrifying."
Yu Xiaogang's voice slowed. "The other side stands on the highest moral ground. Borrowing the righteous cause of protecting beasts to command all under heaven-truly, this cannot be challenged head-on."
Tang Hao's fingers clenched against his knee.
"And another thing." Yu Xiaogang walked back to the desk. "The protection law is only the first step. I predict that before long, Spirit Hall will establish the Spirit Hall Empire."
Tang Hao's gaze changed.
"When that happens, it will form a three-legged balance of power with the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire." Yu Xiaogang traced a triangle on the desktop with his finger. "Then it will swallow them up one by one."
Tang Hao remained silent for a long time.