Blue Silver Ground Spikes, Suitable for Weaving

"First Soul Skill: Blue Silver Ground Spikes!" The instant Tang San steadied himself, he shouted, as though afraid Tang Mo would not hear him.

"Rustle... whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

As Tang San's pale yellow first soul ring flashed, the ground beneath Tang Mo's feet trembled faintly. Blades of Blue Silver Grass resembling sharpened bamboo burst through the earth, stabbing straight at him.

Facing the suddenly emerging Blue Silver Ground Spikes, Tang Mo did not choose to dodge. After Martial Soul Possession, his pale purple first soul ring flashed, and gauntlets resembling the enormous claws of a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear appeared over his hands.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

As he swung both fists, marks appeared across the gauntlets. Then, like a knife slicing tofu, the gauntlets easily severed the Blue Silver Ground Spikes that had suddenly shot up beneath his feet.

"Rustle... clang, clang, clang..."

The bamboo-like Blue Silver Grass scattered across the ground, and the offensive formed by Tang San's first soul skill collapsed in an instant.

Seeing Tang Mo momentarily airborne with nothing to push off against, a fierce glint flashed through Tang San's eyes. Disregarding the crowd watching him and whether exposing his hidden weapons would disadvantage him, he used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to swiftly approach Tang Mo. His hand swept over the storage soul tool at his waist, Twenty-Four Bridges Bright Moon Night, and several ox-hair-thin needles flew out.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

The sound of the ox-hair-thin needles cutting through the air was extremely faint. Ordinary people could not possibly detect those few insignificant needles.

But to Tang Mo, who had practiced the Observation Method, the needles' passage through the air sounded as clear as if it were right beside his ears.

"Whoosh! Bang, bang, bang..."

Tang Mo pulled a copper soul coin from his pocket and hurled it at the ox-hair-thin needles. The coin collided with the incoming needles one after another, instantly bending them and forcibly altering their trajectories.

The needles, having lost their aim, fell from the air and struck the ground with a series of faint clinks.

After knocking down the cluster of needles, the copper soul coin continued flying toward Tang San without losing momentum.

Tang San, who was watching the copper soul coin with his Purple Demon Eye operating at full power, immediately raised both hands. He activated Mysterious Jade Hand, turning his hands white.

He had originally thought his proficiency in Mysterious Jade Hand and his second-level Mysterious Heaven Skill cultivation would be enough to stop the incoming copper soul coin with one hand. Thus, his other outstretched hand was now holding a small, poison-coated bat-shaped dart between his fingers.

The instant the copper soul coin landed in his hand, the poisoned dart flew from his other hand toward Tang Mo at an exceptionally tricky angle.

It could be said that if Tang Mo landed safely without noticing anything, there would be a considerable chance of the poisoned dart striking his right eye.

Detecting the incoming poisoned dart, Tang Mo held his breath. His gauntlet tapped against the dart and twisted, using the technique of four ounces deflecting a thousand pounds to knock it back.

He could sense that the poison on the dart was not one that sealed the throat upon contact with blood, but a deadly poison that took effect through contact and inhalation.

Clearly, Tang San believed that even if Tang Mo detected the incoming poisoned dart, he would inadvertently inhale the toxins on it.

Meanwhile, Tang San's expression changed drastically as he caught the copper soul coin head-on with Mysterious Jade Hand. Despite its rounded edges, the instant the coin landed in his hand, it caused a stabbing pain, as though he were holding not a copper soul coin, but a sharp cogwheel.

But I've clearly activated Mysterious Jade Hand. Why does it still hurt?

Even though he had yet to cultivate Mysterious Jade Hand to the realm of immunity to all poisons and invulnerability to blades and spears, it was still enough to easily withstand cuts from ordinary swords and sabers.

Before he could figure out the reason, a surge of soul power erupted from the copper soul coin. This soul power originated from the lung-metal qi mobilized by the Five Treasures Body Protection Method. Truly like blades and swords, it easily broke through Tang San's Mysterious Jade Hand and sliced open the skin of his palm.

"Hiss!"

In the blink of an eye, Tang San's palm was riddled with wounds. Sucking in a cold breath from the pain, he immediately flung away the copper soul coin, then endured the pain as he retrieved hemostatic medicine and bandages from Twenty-Four Bridges Bright Moon Night and bandaged his hand.

While he was bandaging himself, despite keeping his Purple Demon Eye fixed firmly on Tang Mo, a momentary lapse in concentration still caused him to lose sight of Tang Mo.

In no time, an indescribable panic filled his heart. Without time to think further, he decisively unleashed his first soul skill, Blue Silver Ground Spikes.

Only this time, the Blue Silver Ground Spikes were used not for offense, but for defense.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

Stalks of Blue Silver Grass resembling Lone Bamboo sprang from the ground and enclosed Tang San. Tang Mo's figure appeared at that very moment, both hands raised. The marks that had condensed on his gauntlets when he severed the Blue Silver Grass earlier instantly transformed into two illusory bear claws and shot out.

"Rustle..."

When the bear claws met the Blue Silver Grass blocking their path, it was like a dump truck meeting speed bumps: the grass could not stop them at all.

As great swathes of Blue Silver Grass were severed at the waist, Tang San was exposed before the bear claws. Seeing that he was about to be struck, he panicked on the spot and flung out everything stored inside Twenty-Four Bridges Bright Moon Night.

Hidden weapons, refined iron, forging tools, spare sleeve arrows... even hard, dry rations.

As he hurled the heap of objects using his hidden-weapon throwing techniques, his soul power drained rapidly, like floodwaters pouring through opened gates.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang..."

The illusory bear claws rampaged forward, continuously cutting through the assorted objects in their way, and reached Tang San in no time.

However, the obstacles had ultimately weakened the attack somewhat, leaving it unable to pierce through Tang San's body.

Tang San circulated Mysterious Heaven Skill at full power, using all his soul power to drive Mysterious Jade Hand. He raised his white-jade-like hands to block the illusory bear claws.

"Slash! Slash!"

After two sounds of sharp blades slicing through flesh rang out, the little finger of Tang San's left hand was severed by a bear claw. Before he could retrieve the severed finger, the bear claw continued flying forward without losing momentum.

Although he had used the technique of four ounces deflecting a thousand pounds to knock one bear claw away, there had been a full pair of them. With one deflected, another remained.

After crushing his little finger, the remaining claw swept past his chest over his heart, forcibly tearing away a piece of flesh.

Tang San's face instantly paled. Although the illusory bear claw had not taken his life, his little finger was gone, directly crippling more than half his hand techniques. He did not know whether diligent study and grueling practice would allow him to master those hand techniques again.

More importantly, his little finger had been crushed, which meant that from now on, he was half a cripple.

The little finger might seem insignificant, but it was actually extremely important, helping with gripping, performing precise movements, and balancing the hand's strength.

Losing his little finger dealt him such a heavy blow that he did not even immediately feel the intense pain coming from his chest.

When he came back to his senses, blood was already pouring from his chest. His face grew increasingly pale from blood loss, and his whole body began to sway, on the verge of collapse.

"Thud!"

He slumped helplessly to the ground, retrieved wound medicine and bandages from Twenty-Four Bridges Bright Moon Night, and began stopping the bleeding and bandaging himself.

"I concede."

Seeing that Tang Mo showed no intention of stopping, Tang San hurriedly shouted those words.