To strengthen her control, Hu Liena even lifted her left leg, narrowed her eyes, and smiled tenderly, curling her little hands into balls to mimic a fox tucking away its claws and playfully pawing at someone.
This chain of moves gave some spectators, who simply could not withstand such a sight, nosebleeds. They swayed on their feet, nearly fainting.
Pink bubbles and flecks of light suddenly filled Lu Yuan's vision. Even the tense, thrilling dueling arena seemed to have become a place steeped in flirtation.
Outwardly, Lu Yuan and Meowmeow blushed, their gazes turned hazy, and their movements slowed. Their soul skills could barely aim at Hu Liena, leaving them at a disadvantage in an instant.
"Hehe, you really are a little imp."
Hu Liena watched Lu Yuan's reaction with an enigmatic smile.
Sure enough, no one could resist her allure-not even Lu Yuan.
Seeing the usually calm, lively, and adorable Lu Yuan look so bashful amused Hu Liena, too.
She wanted to watch him act like this toward her a little longer, so she was in no hurry to attack.
Fortunately, Meowmeow was rather innocent, like a lotus rising unsullied from the mud. On top of that, Hu Liena's third soul skill, Fox Charm, was somewhat weaker when controlling multiple targets than when controlling just one.
Meowmeow could still perform some basic actions, such as... returning to the martial soul space.
"Meowmeow, hurry back into the martial soul space, then... then come back out."
Lu Yuan practically dragged those words out in a hoarse voice.
"Meow!"
Meowmeow cried out in alarm, suddenly regained a little clarity, and turned into a streak of green light that returned to Lu Yuan's body.
Everyone watched Lu Yuan's external martial soul suddenly disappear, their faces filled with confusion.
"Xie Yue, what trick is Lu Yuan playing? Why did he recall his external martial soul? Don't tell me he thinks he can't beat Nana and is about to surrender."
As Yan spoke, excitement suddenly spread across his face.
After all, his next match was against the seasoned captain of the Golden Generation standing before him, Xie Yue, who could even create powerful soul skills of his own.
Yan had a gut feeling that he definitely could not beat Xie Yue. If Lu Yuan could not beat Hu Liena either, both of them would lose in the semifinals. Wouldn't that put them back on even footing and prove that their strength was about the same?
"I don't think it's that simple. Lu Yuan must have his own reasons for recalling Meowmeow. Huh!"
Xie Yue, who had been watching the fight in the arena closely, suddenly brightened. He patted Yan's shoulder, urging him to pay attention and not get distracted so that he could learn from a duel between genius soul masters his own age.
"Yan, look!"
Something happened that shocked the spectators once again: green light appeared in the arena.
Meowmeow had emerged once more from the martial soul space within Lu Yuan's body, and something neither Hu Liena nor the spectators had expected occurred.
The blush had vanished from Meowmeow's adorable little feline face, and Meowmeow was on alert again.
Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that the Fox Charm effect Hu Liena had placed on Meowmeow moments earlier was gone. Meowmeow's movements were completely unrestricted as well.
"Does... recalling an external martial soul into the martial soul space and summoning it again actually remove its abnormal conditions?"
Among the thousands upon thousands of soul masters watching the battle, there were naturally some sharp minds. They immediately recognized the key to Meowmeow breaking free of the charm, and only then did the others understand the principle behind it.
Lu Yuan did not know whether Yu Xiaogang's Luo Sanpao could do this, but the Meowmeow he had brought from Locke Rian certainly could.
In the game, recalling Meowmeow into the Pokémon backpack and sending Meowmeow out again removed most negative conditions. For Lu Yuan now, that backpack was the martial soul space.
"Then doesn't that mean all the Holy Maiden's skills are useless against Lu Yuan? I remember her skills all involve mental control. In this situation, doesn't she have no choice but to fight Lu Yuan at close quarters?"
The bustling crowd constantly discussed Lu Yuan and Hu Liena as their soul master duel continued in the arena.
"Are you stupid? From the looks of it, only that little green cat can remove Hu Liena's Fox Charm through repeated summoning. Lu Yuan himself clearly can't."
"To catch the bandits, first catch their king. As long as Hu Liena finds a chance to knock Lu Yuan himself down, she'll still win this sparring match."
A male soul master supporting Hu Liena spoke with certainty.
Hu Liena thought the same way. After all, keeping a genius soul master like Lu Yuan, whose rank was almost equal to hers, charmed for a long time was difficult and consumed an enormous amount of soul power.
Meanwhile, Lu Yuan had already activated Photosynthesis, constantly gathering soul power for himself and Meowmeow. If she really let this master-and-companion pair drag her into a war of attrition, she would definitely lose.
"First soul skill, Foxfire Token!"
The first yellow soul ring beneath Hu Liena's feet lit up, and a pink token wreathed in pink flames appeared in her hand.
Hu Liena's first soul skill, Foxfire Token, could be hurled as a ranged attack. It dealt a small amount of direct soul power damage, inflicted a lingering foxfire burn, and weakened the target's mental power to a certain extent, indirectly strengthening her control effects.
Smack!
Just then, something unexpected happened again: Meowmeow actually summoned leaves to attack.
But the target was not Hu Liena. It was Meowmeow's master, Lu Yuan, standing nearby!
"Aah!"
Meowmeow's attack struck Lu Yuan's arm, leaving a deep wound that bled freely. Naturally, the pain pierced him to the core, and he could not help crying out.
Seeing Lu Yuan in agony before her and hearing his pained cries, Hu Liena's heart ached. Even the half-formed Foxfire Token in her hand stopped taking shape.
Although getting close to Lu Yuan had been an order from her teacher, Bibi Dong, after half a year of close contact with him, Hu Liena had long since come to regard the boy as her little brother.
Naturally, seeing Lu Yuan hurt pained her.
But then Hu Liena's pupils trembled. She realized that the charm she had been maintaining on Lu Yuan had failed.
At that moment, Hu Liena finally understood why Lu Yuan had instructed Meowmeow to do this.
"First, he had Meowmeow enter and leave the martial soul space to naturally dispel my charm. Then he had Meowmeow attack him, using intense pain to overwhelm the lure of affection induced by the charm."
"Is that right, Xie Yue?"
Below the arena, Yan had also noticed this. He looked at Xie Yue and explained, only for another question to suddenly pop into his mind.
"But if Lu Yuan hurts himself like this, won't he collapse from severe injuries and blood loss if Nana charms him a few more times?"
Looking at the rather dim-witted Yan, Xie Yue covered his face and gave a helpless, wry smile before reminding him:
"Have you forgotten how long Lu Yuan fought you despite the disadvantage in attributes? Does he look like someone who would do something he wasn't confident about?"
At Xie Yue's prompting, Yan looked back toward the arena and immediately noticed a telltale sign on Lu Yuan's body.
"X-Xie Yue, why is Lu Yuan's wound healing right before our eyes? He... he couldn't be a soul beast with powerful vitality that took human form, could he?"