With Tang Hao's defeat, both he and Zhu Zhuqing were teleported back into their own consciousness spaces.
Tang Hao instantly let out a scream of utter terror, as though trying to vent all the pain and fear he had suffered. Only after another five minutes did he realize that he had already returned to his preparation space.
[Next match: Qian Renxue VS Hu Liena.]
With a ripple of space, the arena returned to its original state. All the hidden weapons on the pure white floor had vanished.
Two people appeared in the arena. One wore a pink dress, her attire extremely bold and revealing, but an inexplicable sorrow lingered in her eyes, as though something weighed on her mind.
Opposite her stood a spirited blonde girl in a white combat uniform, rapier in hand.
Seeing Hu Liena, Qian Renxue could not help raising an eyebrow. "I didn't expect her disciple to be quite so pretty."
Hu Liena did not know whom Qian Renxue meant, but she had felt a little afraid ever since Qian Renxue entered the arena.
She kept feeling as though she had seen her somewhere before.
As the match began, Qian Renxue shot forward like an arrow loosed from its bow.
She was incredibly fast, and her Martial Soul Possession actually took place in tandem with her attack.
By the time she reached Hu Liena, a pair of enormous white wings had spread behind her.
A sword thrust came at her. Hu Liena dodged hastily, and the blade swept past the side of her face.
She had come within a hair's breadth of being eliminated outright by Qian Renxue. Qian Renxue was far too fast-so fast that she could not react at all.
Hu Liena hurriedly activated Martial Soul Possession, and a tail emerged behind her.
The large tail bristled, thick and huge, looking for all the world like a spiked club.
Hu Liena swung her tail, sending the enormous fox tail smashing toward Qian Renxue.
Qian Renxue paid it no heed. She merely made a light leap, then launched a surprise attack from the side.
Hu Liena had not even finished swinging her tail. She could only quickly borrow its momentum, letting it carry her in a sudden forward rush, barely evading Qian Renxue's rapier.
No, this Qian Renxue is too fast. If this keeps up, one slip in my defense and I'll meet a bitter end.
With that thought, Hu Liena stood still, then swung her fox tail through a full circle.
Her fox tail was no longer the enormous spiked club with bristles sticking out all over that it had been at first. Instead, it resembled a writing brush, splashing ink and sweeping out strokes as Hu Liena swung her body.
What it splashed out was not ink, but Hu Liena's mental fluctuations.
This was the very move she had used to win the battle against a hundred Soul Beasts.
After she used it, any Soul Beast that approached within a certain range would be charmed by her. Rather than attacking her, it would head in the opposite direction.
She had used this innate ability to keep luring several Soul Beasts into fighting one another, ultimately passing the Hundred Soul Beast Trial.
A wave of mental fluctuations swept past. Qian Renxue stood blankly in place with her head lowered, and the rapier in her hand involuntarily drooped.
"Hmph, I knew it. Man or woman, my allure is the strongest. I'll be taking this round."
As she spoke, Hu Liena covered the distance in quick strides, preparing to swing her fox tail and smash the contestant before her out of the arena.
But as Hu Liena drew close on her fifth step, a smile curled at the corner of Qian Renxue's mouth. That final thrust was too fast to see clearly.
"Advance and Thrust!"
The rapier in Qian Renxue's hand pierced straight through Hu Liena's chest. Hu Liena's vision went black, and she immediately collapsed.
[Winner: Qian Renxue!]
At this point, only two contestants had yet to take the stage.
At Heaven Dou Advanced Soul Master Academy, Ye Lingling, Dugu Yan, and Yu Tian Heng sat around a small table, still watching the matches on the sky screen.
"This match is really interesting. A food-type against a support-type. I really wonder how these two passed the Hundred Soul Beast Stage. Could they have used poison like my grandfather? They might also have used advanced weapons like Lou Gao."
"Look, look! They're facing off."
[Next match: Oscar VS Ning Rongrong.]
With a ripple of space, the arena was cleared once more, and the two were summoned into it.
Oscar had not expected his opponent to be Ning Rongrong, ranked third on the Pride of Heaven Ranking.
Ever since the Pride of Heaven Ranking displayed Ning Rongrong's image, he had fallen for her at first sight. But he had never visited the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and he was in Spirit City.
Now that they had met, Oscar's first words were merely a bashful "Hello," his face as red as a quail's.
Inside Heaven Dou Imperial Advanced Soul Master Academy, Dugu Yan roared with laughter.
"This Oscar is so funny. Is he here for a match or a blind date? Why is his face so red?"
Ye Lingling could not help smiling either.
Everyone on the Douluo Continent could hear the contestants' conversations within the Dragon-Tiger Ranking's battle space. Only the eight contestants in the preparation area and the two contestants in the arena could not see one another.
Meanwhile, in the arena, Ning Rongrong glanced at Oscar, then chuckled. "Interesting."
She caught the scent of her own kind on Oscar.
Ning Rongrong clasped her hands behind her back and stood ramrod straight. At first glance, she had the bearing of a grandmaster, still as a deep pool and towering as a mountain.
"Has someone taught you a cultivation method recently?"
"I don't think so. I haven't practiced any cultivation methods."
"You haven't?" Ning Rongrong frowned, but that air about Oscar could not be faked.
"You're lying. Your body, your Soul Power, and your Martial Soul are all highly coordinated and unified."
At Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong stood solemnly on a mountaintop, watching the match on the sky screen.
"Two Elders, what do you think she means? Does this continent's foremost prodigy have some unique insight?"
Chrysanthemum Ghost Douluo both shook their heads.
"The body, Soul Power, and Martial Soul being highly coordinated and unified-no one has ever raised this concept before."
"Everyone believes Soul Power is inherently noble. Without Innate Soul Power, even someone with a Martial Soul cannot cultivate. As for the body, it's merely a supporting role among supporting roles, used only to bear the pressure brought by Soul Rings."
"But now someone is saying that a cultivation method someone teaches can bring the body, Soul Power, and Martial Soul into a state of high coordination and unity. But even if they were coordinated and unified, what use would that serve?"
Chrysanthemum Ghost Douluo could not answer this question, and almost no one on the Douluo Continent could answer it either.
In the arena, Ning Rongrong continued explaining.
"Even two Soul Masters who are complete strangers may be able to fuse their Martial Souls, forming a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. If you treated your body, Soul Power, and Martial Soul as three Soul Masters, and the three formed a Trinity Martial Soul Fusion Skill, what effect do you think that would have?"
Oscar's mouth fell open. "Wouldn't that mean you could unleash an incredibly powerful, gigantic Martial Soul Fusion Skill all on your own and casually trounce opponents at the same level?"
Outside the screen, Tang Hao of the Clear Sky Sect and five elders were also watching the Dragon-Tiger Ranking from a mountaintop. They were startled when they heard this.
"A Trinity Martial Soul Fusion Skill at any time, anywhere-is that man's secret? No wonder we couldn't defeat that Wang Qiye even when we joined forces."
"But that doesn't seem possible. The body doesn't have Soul Power, and how could Soul Power be treated as a Martial Soul? A Trinity Martial Soul Fusion Skill at any time and anywhere is simply impossible."
Within the Dragon-Tiger Ranking, Ning Rongrong gave Oscar an exasperated glare.
"Idiot, it signifies a state of perfection. It signifies absolute control over yourself. Just like you right now: although you've only made four sausages with different flavors, and those four sausages merely differ in texture and flavor without actually having any effects at all, you could never do something like this without practicing that person's cultivation method."
Outside the sky screen, Tang Xiao of the Clear Sky Sect instantly burst out laughing.
"What kind of ridiculous effect is that? It only lets you make grilled sausages with different flavors, and they don't have any effects at all. Doesn't that mean there's no point in practicing that cultivation method?"
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