Two yellow, one purple-the standard Soul Ring Configuration on the Douluo Continent.
Huyan Li's nose lengthened, his upper lip curled upward, and two tusks grew out. He asked, "Yu Tianheng told me to ask you what your second Soul Skill is."
Wasn't he being a little too straightforward?
On the platform, Ning Fengzhi glanced at Huyan Zhen and found that this "Heavenly Elephant" also had a face livid with anger.
How could my eldest grandson be so clueless? Does he do whatever the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan tells him to? Is our Elephant Armor Sect supposed to follow their lead now?
Once we get back, I must give that boy a proper lesson!
"River." Long Yue had nothing against this fat fellow, even if he looked like the pig-faced, big-bellied Ryoko. "My second Soul Skill."
Huyan Li offered no thanks. He unleashed his first Soul Skill, and a crystalline sheen appeared over his dark-yellow, hardened skin, as though it had been coated in glaze. He strode forward like a mountain of flesh.
Long Yue took considerable issue with people who had no manners, and he grew displeased. "You asked, and I answered, yet you won't even call me 'Brother Long'?"
Huyan Li acted as though he had heard nothing. His steps grew faster and faster as he reached out with a palm the size of a palm-leaf fan and slapped at Long Yue.
"Beat him."
Long Yue did not attack. Instead, he stood where he was and gave an order.
Two figures darted out from behind Long Yue: a cute little monkey and a round-headed cat.
This was a moment that would go down in history-the first time anyone from the Divine Realm Empire had displayed Soul Spirits on an official stage on the Douluo Continent!
Sima Lanxiao needed to sell Soul Spirits to Spirit Hall, so he had to let its people see how powerful they were during the matches.
As for why he wanted Spirit Hall to see them, didn't Spirit Hall occupy the same niche on the Douluo Continent as the Spirit Pagoda?
"So these are Soul Spirits?" Ning Fengzhi understood as soon as he saw the two animals. "The Soul Spirits that provide Thousand-Year Soul Rings look so..."
Cute?
Sima Lanxiao caught the scent of wealth and made his pitch to this potential major customer. "That is merely their outward appearance. Soul Spirits are far more powerful than Soul Rings alone. They can even help Soul Masters fight."
No sooner had he spoken than the two Soul Spirits in the arena transformed.
The cute little monkey became a burly, muscular mountain sprite, springing up to meet Huyan Li's massive palm head-on; the round-headed cat became an orange tiger and pounced onto his back, locking its fangs around his neck.
Below the platform.
Yu Xiaogang launched into a criticism of Long Yue for daring to lose focus even during battle, calling it nothing short of courting death, and told Tang San to take it as a warning.
Tang San, however, asked Grandmaster to look at the two Soul Beasts Long Yue had summoned.
"It seems his third or fourth Soul Skill summons Soul Beasts to fight!" Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang guessed. "A summoning Soul Skill, of all things! It's hard to imagine such a skill appearing on a Mountain Dragon martial soul."
Tang San asked, "Can't a Mountain Dragon martial soul have a summoning Soul Skill?"
Yu Xiaogang shook his head with a sigh. "It's not impossible, just extremely rare. But giving a Mountain Dragon martial soul a summoning Soul Skill is undoubtedly squandering a heavenly treasure. Think about it, Little San."
"The Mountain Dragon is already a top-tier beast martial soul. Why would he need to summon Soul Beasts to fight for him? It's a complete waste of a Soul Skill slot." Tang San was quite clever.
"Haha, exactly." Yu Xiaogang was very pleased with his disciple's answer. "The Mountain Dragon isn't a summoning martial soul. One of Spirit Hall's former bishops had a summoning martial soul, the Martial Soul Codex, and was a Five-Ring Soul King. He could seal the Soul Beasts he killed directly inside his martial soul, then summon them to fight when needed."
"As expected of you, Teacher. You know so much!" Tang San's face was full of admiration, and he once again felt fortunate to have found such a good teacher.
On the platform, Sima Lanxiao explained, "A Thousand-Year Soul Spirit is essentially a thousand-year Soul Beast. What makes it more convenient than a Soul Ring is that a single Thousand-Year Soul Spirit can provide at least three Thousand-Year Soul Rings."
Didn't that mean Huyan Li was being attacked by two thousand-year Soul Beasts at once?
Huyan Zhen could no longer sit still. Even if the Diamond Mammoth martial soul was hailed as having the strongest defense, a rank-thirty-one Soul Elder could never withstand attacks from two thousand-year Soul Beasts.
Seeing that ferocious round-headed tiger bite down on the back of Huyan Li's neck, Huyan Zhen's eyes widened with fury. He abruptly stood, seemingly ready to intervene and stop the fight himself.
Ning Fengzhi asked, "Sect Master Huyan?"
Behind Ning Fengzhi, Bone Douluo Gu Rong looked provocatively at Huyan Zhen, as though itching to have a go.
Huyan Zhen calmed down, and his lips moved a few times.
"Soul Bone."
"Doesn't doing that undermine the fairness of the match, Sect Master Huyan?" Ning Fengzhi could tell Huyan Zhen was using Sound Transmission to guide Huyan Li, but he could not make out what he had said.
"My grandson's life is in danger, and you still want to talk about fairness?" Huyan Zhen sat down, his mountain of flesh rippling. "If this exhibition match is really supposed to be fair, have Long Yue restrict his strength to that of a three-ring Soul Elder."
Sima Lanxiao did not care to hear such words from Huyan Zhen. "Don't blame others for being stronger when your own training falls short. Long Yue is a year younger than Huyan Li, isn't he?"
"Oh?" A vicious gleam appeared in the tiny eyes set in Huyan Zhen's fat face. A mere Seven-Ring Soul Sage dares mock me to my face? Do you think you're Ning Fengzhi, with Bone Douluo backing you?
"I haven't touched a sore spot, have I?" Sima Lanxiao showed no fear whatsoever. He was a Soul Saint, true, but he was also a Two-Word Battle Armor master. Dealing with a Soul Douluo posed absolutely no problem.
As the two men locked horns, a helmet suddenly appeared on the imperiled Huyan Li, covering his entire head.
The earthen-yellow helmet had nothing remarkable about it, yet it blocked the round-headed orange tiger's bites.
Below the platform, Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang excitedly told Tang San, "It's a Soul Bone! And a relatively precious Head Soul Bone, at that. Bringing you here was absolutely the right decision. You might go your entire life without seeing a Soul Bone like this even once."
Tang San's eyes filled with confusion. "A Soul Bone?"
Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang began explaining how precious and powerful Soul Bones were, only to see Tang San point at Huyan Li in surprise. "Teacher, Huyan Li still got knocked down."
"The difference in Soul Power must be too great... huh?"
Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang turned to look. The round-headed orange tiger had abandoned its attacks on Huyan Li's head and was tearing at his hands instead, while the mountain sprite raised both arms and hammered his head mercilessly.
"Why is that happening?" Tang San asked. "Teacher, look beneath Huyan Li's feet."
Beneath Huyan Li's feet, a patch of brown light had turned the ground into a sluggish swamp and was dragging him down into the sticky earth.
His third Soul Skill, Swamp, released by the mountain sprite Soul Spirit.
"This is..." Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang could no longer offer any real explanation and managed only a hollow reply. "Perhaps it's another Soul Skill."
With his movements restricted and both Soul Spirits ganging up on him, Huyan Li was eliminated without any surprise, even though he had activated his Soul Bone.
Huyan Zhen, the Elephant Armor Sect's master, was livid with anger. If Long Yue had not gone for his grandson's vital points, Huyan Li would never have needed to expose the secret of his Head Soul Bone.
Even if it meant losing, Huyan Zhen would not have let his grandson reveal his Soul Bone.
But Long Yue had gone for the kill, giving Huyan Li no chance at all to concede.
"That leaves..." Long Yue counted the people outside the arena as though taking roll. "Xue Wu from Skywater Academy, Huo Wushuang from Blazing Fire Academy, Yu Tianxin from Thunder Academy, and Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan from Heaven Dou Royal Academy. Heh."
That "heh" said it all.
Long Yue beckoned. "Stop coming up one at a time to hand me your heads. Come at me together."
Before you continue