Chapter 31

Zhao Yi brought his twin shields together, their spikes pointing outward, and charged at Lin Mo like a maddened rhinoceros.

Both shields were over a meter long, and as he swung his arms, their spikes whistled faintly through the air.

They looked immensely heavy, yet in his hands, swinging them seemed as effortless as throwing an ordinary punch.

Seeing the fist about to smash into him, Lin Mo instinctively dodged to the side.

"Good heavens, if that hit me, wouldn't I end up scattered all over the place?"

Lin Mo's lips twitched as he watched the tremor caused by the boy's missed blow crashing into the ground.

"Whoa, that's terrifying."

He lowered his head to look at his hands, then looked back at his opponent.

Wait, with my martial soul active, my body's strength is comparable to a three-ring Power Attack System Soul Elder's. Even if he really hammered me, it shouldn't hurt much, right?

He pondered this, then looked at that heavy, powerful fist.

Forget it. I'm not a masochist. I don't want to get smashed.

Zhao Yi had little time to rue his missed attack before sweeping his twin shields at him again.

Lin Mo still had too little actual combat experience. He had never considered that his opponent would keep attacking with such a reckless fighting style.

Bam!

The attack slammed squarely into Lin Mo's forearm, its dull impact echoing throughout the arena.

Zhao Yi's grin immediately froze.

In his mind, although his opponent was seven levels above him, his own martial soul was renowned for its outstanding defense and attack. A tool martial soul user who did not block with a weapon would definitely be sent flying several meters.

"How... how is that possible?"

He could feel that his attack had struck something like an iron plate.

Lin Mo shook his arm. Aside from his torn clothing, there was not a single mark on the skin where the blow had landed.

After all, Lin Mo's body was now as strong as a three-ring Soul Elder's. However powerful the Mysterious-Toothed Turtle might be, it could not hurt him without using a soul skill.

One man's joy was another man's sorrow. While Zhao Yi was still shocked and dismayed, Lin Mo was delighted.

"Just as I thought. Even taking that blow head-on barely hurt."

He raised his head, met Zhao Yi's incredulous gaze, and smiled a little sheepishly.

"Sorry, sorry. I forgot just now."

"Forgot what?"

"Forgot that you can't hurt me."

Zhao Yi: "..."

The corner of his mouth twitched, then his embarrassment turned to anger. He pulled his arms back and brought his shields together again.

He stomped forward toward Lin Mo, merging the twin shields as the patterns on the turtle shells abruptly lit up.

A yellow soul ring appeared beneath his feet.

"Stop looking down on me! Mysterious-Tooth Fury!"

With a furious roar, he clapped his hands together. The soul power gathered on the shields instantly became a visible shock wave that thundered toward Lin Mo.

Lin Mo did not dodge. He did not even close his eyes. The sonic wave swept across his body like a gentle breeze brushing over a mountain crag.

Only a few strands of his hair stirred. His feet did not budge, and even his expression remained unchanged.

Level twenty-six against level nineteen: a seven-level difference in soul power, the enhancement from an additional soul ring, and a body constantly tempered by heavenly tribulation.

All that could be said was:

Brother, brother, I gave you your chance.

"Is that all?"

Zhao Yi's pupils contracted sharply at those words.

"Your martial soul really is interesting."

Lin Mo raised his sword and held it level.

"But you can't stop me."

Zhao Yi gritted his teeth and held his twin shields before him again. Much as he wanted to argue, Lin Mo was right. The gap in soul power was too great. He could only steady himself and carefully watch his opponent's movements.

When Zhao Yi saw Lin Mo charging straight at him, a smile curled his lips.

"Hmph! You finally took the bait! I deliberately left you an opening."

Just as Lin Mo slid up to Zhao Yi and Sun Ce prepared to slash at his kidney, something strange happened.

The turtle shell on the back of his hand instantly attached itself to his body, forming a suit of armor.

Clang!

The clear ring of his sword striking something hard left Lin Mo puzzled.

"I haven't seen many turtle martial souls, but what on earth is this? How does the shell on your hand turn into armor?"

That was not the end of the strange developments. Just as his strike failed, the thick spikes on the turtle shell covering Zhao Yi's body began extending, stabbing straight toward Lin Mo's arm.

"You're really underestimating me."

As a level twenty-six Soul Grandmaster, how could he possibly be stopped by a level nineteen defense-type Soul Master?

His sword had only been blocked because he thought the strike had already succeeded and had not infused it with soul power. After all, that area was easily fatally wounded. If he added soul power, the injury would take much longer to heal. Ultimately, this was only a sparring match.

Bam!

A dull sound came from the point where the two met.

[Cherry Blossom Splendor · Opening]

The attack had looked certain to hit unless the opponent dodged quickly, yet within mere moments, an uncanny slash cut it apart.

Everyone present was startled, including the referee who had been watching the match closely.

In his eyes, Lin Mo had been holding his sword in a forward grip, and the distance was too close for him to turn it. Yet in those few moments, the boy had delivered three strikes at a speed even he could barely follow.

The first severed the extending spikes. The following two carved two cuts through the sturdy turtle shell, deep enough to reveal gashes in the body beneath.

"What a fast sword!"

Feeling a faint sting from his body, Zhao Yi hastily retreated two steps, while Lin Mo used the force of his slashes to fall back.

"Your martial soul is interesting, but you can't stop me."

"Hmph, I haven't even used my soul skill yet. Stop boasting!"

With that, he prepared to attack again, but Lin Mo's words brought him to a halt.

"Really? But what about your two teammates?"

As Lin Mo spoke, he pointed behind him.

Without the slightest caution, Zhao Yi simply turned his head.

His two teammates, Wang Liu and Liu Qian, were being chased and slashed at by Lin Mo's two clones.

As an agility-attack type, Wang Liu was doing somewhat better and had few wounds, but several sword cuts had already appeared on Liu Qian's body.

"If you still want to fight me one-on-one, be prepared for both your teammates to be knocked out of the match."

"Though even if you help them, you'll still be knocked out."

The main reason Lin Mo had not ended the fight quickly was to gain more combat experience, especially against opponents with different specialties.

He wanted to develop new sword moves from these encounters to deal with all kinds of situations.

After all, his future opponent was that esteemed Divine King.

If I'm capable of it in the future, I might as well blow up the entire Douluo Continent. Most of his power comes from his followers anyway. Destroying the whole continent would do.

An absurd thought surfaced in his mind, only to be quickly brushed away.

Damn, have I spent so long in this world that even my thoughts are going crazy? Besides, thinking it through, if I had that ability, I could probably beat him anyway.

He put all those useless, wandering thoughts behind him.

After looking back twice, Zhao Yi finally ran back, intending to save his teammates first.

Although he looked cumbersome, his attacks were quite fierce. Every couple of exchanges, he unleashed his First Soul Skill, [Mysterious-Tooth Fury], driving both clones back.

He shielded the two behind him and began issuing instructions.

"Qian, suppress his real body with firepower in a moment. Then we'll charge straight through."

"Okay!"

And so the three decided to stick together and charge forward.

Instead, this gave Lin Mo a chance to catch them all in one net.

Just as the three were about to reach him.

Lin Mo gripped his sword hilt with his right hand, his eyes half closed. He stood perfectly straight, assuming a sword-drawing stance. Meanwhile, his two clones silently approached the trio.

In Zhao Yi's eyes, however strong Lin Mo was, there were still three of them. As long as all three rushed right up to him together, Zhao Yi could tank the damage and trade blows to take him down.

Unfortunately, it seemed the earlier two slashes had not brought him to his senses.

Lin Mo closed his eyes, quietly sensing the presences rushing toward him.

The distance between the two sides steadily shrank, and everyone's gaze remained fixed on the four.

Ten meters.

Six meters.

Four meters.

Two meters.

Just as those presences were about to reach his face, he snapped his eyes open, rapidly gathering his soul power into his sword.

He thrust his sword into Zhao Yi's shield.

Clang!

A single blow sent Zhao Yi sliding half a step backward, shields and all, halting his charge. Wang Liu and Liu Qian could not help stopping as well.

This time, Zhao Yi truly could not remain composed.

A single strike had driven him back in the middle of his charge. Just how much strength did his opponent possess?

The second strike.

Clang!

Zhao Yi retreated another step. Each time the two behind him tried to attack, Zhao Yi was driven backward again, disrupting them.

The third strike...

Clang, clang, clang!

Lin Mo's sword grew faster and faster, every thrust landing precisely on the same spot. A hairline crack gradually appeared in the huge turtle shell formed by the two overlapping shields.

Zhao Yi desperately tried to counterattack, but whenever he attempted to raise his shields or move in another direction, his opponent appeared before him in the next instant. Then another precise attack struck the spot that had already cracked.

He was too slow.

Just as the turtle shell was about to shatter, Lin Mo chose not to attack again. Instead, he lashed out with a kick, sending all three flying.

Zhao Yi fell to the ground, coughed up a mouthful of blood, and finally passed out in the arena.

"Could his martial soul be injured?"

Like tool martial souls, beast martial souls could also suffer injury and damage, as had happened to Zhao Yi.

Fortunately, injury or damage to a martial soul was not the same as damage to its martial soul origin. It was not a particularly serious problem, though it would require ten days to half a month of quiet recuperation.

Seeing Zhao Yi, who had the highest cultivation and strongest physique, knocked unconscious by a slash, the other two hastily tried to retreat. But as soon as they turned around, they saw Lin Mo's two clones standing behind them with swords in hand.

"W-we... we surrender!"

Truly frightened, Liu Qian's legs gave way, and she collapsed into a seated heap on the ground.

The referee and medical staff immediately entered the arena.

Xiao Xiao and Huo Yuyao also stepped forward.

"First match: victory goes to the Mo Yu Xiao Team."

The entire venue first fell deathly silent, then erupted in enthusiastic cheers.

After examining Zhao Yi's injuries, the referee wiped away his cold sweat.

That was close, so close. It's only an injury. With the little damage Lin Mo left, he should recover after a day's rest. If he'd completely shattered that turtle-shell shield, he would probably need over half a month. If he'd been even more ruthless and damaged the martial soul origin, my teaching career would have been over.

He forced a wry smile.

Meanwhile, Huo Yuyao and Xiao Xiao had already reached Lin Mo's side.

"You were way too reckless, blocking that shield with your bare arm. You gave me a fright! And your opponent was just as bad, throwing all caution aside to attack you. If you'd used the Yin-Yang Reverse Profound Steps to move away then, you could've ended it early."

"Exactly! That was far too reckless."

Huo Yuyao took Lin Mo's hand and examined it for injuries.

"It's fine. Don't worry, I'm not hurt."

"By the way, the sword technique you used against the spikes on his shield was the one you learned on my birthday, right?"

"Mm, Beaded Blossom Splendor. Just the opening portion, though. There was no need to unleash the whole thing."

"No matter how many times I see it, it feels like such a strange sword technique. It really looks like falling flower petals-sword moves you just can't track."

"Of course!"

The three chatted back and forth as they slowly walked off the competition stage.

They had no more matches that morning and only needed to wait for the afternoon draw. With things ending rather quickly, they simply returned to the dormitory to continue cultivating.

Xiao Xiao naturally returned to her room, though before entering, she gave Huo Yuyao a slightly teasing look. Noticing it, Huo Yuyao blushed and waved her away.

After saying goodbye to Xiao Xiao, the two naturally cultivated together. After all, they now cultivated using the Martial Soul Fusion Cultivation Method.

Once back in the room, they sat on the sofa.

"Come to think of it, we've been cultivating for so long, but we haven't even succeeded in fusing once."

What Lin Mo referred to was naturally what had happened in the original story when Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong first embraced.

"There's nothing we can do. After all, Brother Xiao Mo, the soul power of your second martial soul is too weak."

This made Lin Mo even more curious about what his second martial soul could possibly be. What gave it such lofty airs? He had already broken through to two rings, yet it still said the time had not come.

Still, Huo Yuyao was not wrong. The main reason they could not achieve what had happened in the original story was that the soul power of his second martial soul was far too weak.