Seven treasures turn, and glazed tiles appear
Of course, that was what Su Lin thought as he watched the battle. Across from him, the poison spider Soul Ancestor Han Zheng was equally horrified and bewildered.
At first, he had thought nothing of it, taking it for some weak wild Soul Beast that had appeared out of nowhere, something he could crush at will. He had opened with a killing move, hoping to finish the fight quickly and go help Shi Kusou.
But Pikachu was simply too fast, and its lightning attribute countered his Poison-type far too thoroughly. Now he was the one pinned down, unable to get away at all.
"Han Zheng, how can you not even handle a seven-hundred-year-old Lightning Rat? Stop playing around! Finish it off and get over here to help me!"
Shi Kusou's scorpion tail darted in and out of the poisonous mist as he exchanged more than a dozen rounds with Song Yuan, yet he still could not find a gap in her defenses. Instead, the pressure of the blazing flames enveloping her forced him to retreat and reposition again and again, leaving him increasingly irritated as the fight dragged on.
When he glanced toward the flank and found Han Zheng still circling around with the little golden Soul Beast, he could no longer contain his anger. He knew perfectly well that they could not linger here. If a passing patrol or other Soul Masters noticed the commotion and came over, their painstakingly prepared ambush would fail at the final hurdle.
"What are you rushing me for, you old bastard? If you're so capable, kill them yourself!" Pikachu had already tormented Han Zheng into a bellyful of rage and utter frustration, and he immediately roared back.
His shout made even several of the bandits fighting nearby glance over in distraction. Han Zheng himself felt he had lost face. A dignified Soul Ancestor like him had been held up in this corner for so long by a Soul Beast less than a thousand years old. He refused to believe it today-could a dignified level-forty Soul Ancestor like him really fail to catch a little beast that was not even a thousand years old?
"First Soul Skill: Spider Silk Binding!"
His first Soul Ring lit up, and dozens of fine, pitch-black strands of spider silk shot from his ten fingers, weaving into a net that descended over Pikachu's head.
Before the silk had fully descended, a faint, sickly-sweet, bloody smell already filled the air. It was clearly poisonous.
Pikachu paused, then slammed both forepaws against the ground.
Lightning burst from the ground, forming a horizontal wall of thunderbolts. The instant the silk struck it, the strands sizzled under the scorching current. Some blackened and snapped, but even more skirted the lightning wall and continued winding toward Pikachu's limbs and tail from both sides.
Pikachu leaped up, spinning in midair as its tail swept out a ring of electric arcs that knocked away every approaching strand. Yet the instant it landed, Han Zheng had already activated his second Soul Skill.
"Second Soul Skill: Thousand Spiders Devour the Heart!"
The air shuddered violently. Countless tiny phantoms of black poisonous spiders poured out from behind the Soul Ancestor, densely packed as they surged toward Pikachu like a black tide.
Facing the poisonous spider phantoms sweeping down from every direction, Pikachu neither dodged nor retreated. The lightning around its body suddenly swelled, gathering into a circular halo of lightning that exploded outward!
The savage power of lightning instantly swept through the entire area. Every poisonous spider phantom was annihilated the moment it touched the electric light, and the black poison was cleansed away completely by the lightning-utterly overbearing.
"Damn it, where the hell did this Soul Beast come from?!" Han Zheng gritted his teeth. Since when could Lightning Rats fight this well? If every wild Lightning Rat had abilities like these, the Soul Beast Clan should have ruled the Douluo Continent long ago. What place would there be for human Soul Masters?
"Han Zheng! What the hell are you doing? If anyone else discovers us, we'll all die here!" Shi Kusou, still fighting head-on, was burning with anxiety and roared another harsh demand.
One could only say that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda truly deserved its reputation as the continent's foremost support Martial Soul. With the support of a three-ring Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, a level-forty-seven Soul Ancestor could fight a level-fifty-three Soul King to a standstill.
"Shut your damn mouth!" Killing intent showed in Han Zheng's eyes. He immediately stamped forward, and his fourth Soul Ring blazed with light.
"Fourth Soul Skill: Netherworld Heavenly Net!"
An enormous black net of spider silk spread across the sky, instantly covering an area dozens of meters across. Its edges rapidly contracted as though alive, enveloping Pikachu entirely.
Pikachu looked up at the enormous black net rapidly closing overhead, a flicker of panic crossing its lively eyes. It instinctively stepped back, but there was already nowhere left to dodge.
"Oh no!" Ning Cheng, who had been keeping watch on both battlefields, paled at the sight. The instant the net descended, several black strands first bound Pikachu's limbs. It struggled desperately, electric arcs bursting out, but they only burned through a few strands on the surface. The remaining silk wound ever tighter around its limbs like rooted vines. The harder it struggled, the tighter the bindings became.
"Squeak, squeak!"
The tremendous pulling force dragged Pikachu off balance, nearly throwing it to the ground. Its fluffy tail was also stuck fast in the sticky silk. Pale black mist kept pouring in, and the lightning around Pikachu grew weaker and weaker. It tried to unleash powerful lightning, but before it could finish circulating its Soul Power, the poison disrupted it, and the little rat's entire body shook violently.
"Stop struggling." Han Zheng forced a cold, sinister smile onto his face. "Inside my Netherworld Heavenly Net, even a Soul King will have every last bit of Soul Power devoured, little by little."
"Damn it!" On the luxurious carriage, Ning Cheng watched with mounting anxiety. Once this Soul Beast died and Han Zheng was free to act, how could any of them survive?
"Pikachu, come back." Just then, a clear call came from nearby. Pikachu, which had been tightly bound by the spider web, actually broke free by force and turned into a streak of light, shooting straight toward a young man. In the blink of an eye, it took shape again at his feet. Though its presence was somewhat weakened, it had finally escaped the suppression.
This Soul Beast was that young man's soul pet?
For a moment, Ning Cheng and Han Zheng both had the same thought.
Challenging a high-level Soul Ancestor more than ten levels above it was still too much of a stretch...
After sensing Pikachu's condition, Su Lin also frowned. He and his Soul Beast companions were more or less all late-game heroes.
As Pikachu leveled up and learned more and more skills in the future, the combat strength it could unleash would grow ever greater. For now, however, fighting this Soul Ancestor to this extent was already its limit.
After a moment's thought, Su Lin looked at Ning Cheng, whose gaze had turned toward him, and asked, "Big brother, can your boosts be applied to Pikachu?"
The instant those words fell, it was as though someone had pressed pause on the scene.
At those words, the expressions of several people, Shi Kusou included, changed.
The difference was that Shi Kusou's and Han Zheng's pupils abruptly contracted, while Ning Cheng's and Song Yuan's faces filled with overwhelming delight.
"Han Zheng! Kill him! Kill that brat, now!" Shi Kusou could no longer keep his composure and howled in complete disarray. Han Zheng also went utterly berserk. His Soul Power erupted, and his figure became a pitch-black afterimage as he shot toward Su Lin in a reckless surprise attack.
But faster than Su Lin was the boosting light of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak?"
Pikachu blinked in puzzlement. Under the three boosts to strength, speed, and Soul Power, its depleted Soul Power instantly returned to its peak, and the little rat felt utterly refreshed.
With a slight push of its hind paws against the ground, it leaped onto Su Lin's shoulder. A crackling membrane of lightning enveloped its body, with electric arcs extending more than half a foot from its surface, as though it had donned an outer robe woven from pure lightning.
Looking at Han Zheng, who was less than ten meters away, Pikachu curled its mouth into a smug grin.
This little rat was invincible now!