Yellow light intertwined as two Soul Rings lit up at once, rising slowly from beneath Lin Mo's feet like twin morning suns.
Under the fourfold amplification of his two great soul skills, the "Power of Mo Yu," and the "Power of Xiao Mo," his presence climbed steadily. In an instant, it soared all the way to the level of a high-ranking Soul Elder!
Behind Lin Mo, the Mystic Bird phantom grew ever more solid. Every feather on its azure-gold wings stood out in minute detail, as though it would spread its wings and cleave the sky the very next moment.
He pressed two fingers together and lightly pointed forward.
"Go."
In a flash, the Mystic Bird phantom raised its head and let out a long, clear cry. The brilliant azure-gold flames around it surged, and with a spread of its wings, it swept toward Dai Huabin and his two teammates with sky-swallowing momentum.
As the Mystic Bird phantom drew closer and closer, the pressure Dai Huabin and the others felt grew increasingly powerful.
Before those azure-gold flames even reached them, all three felt waves of searing pain stabbing from the depths of their souls.
Dai Huabin gritted his teeth, veins bulging.
He frantically resisted the almost instinctive urge within him to kneel and submit.
Finally-
"Roar!"
With a tiger's roar, the thousand-year Soul Ring beneath Dai Huabin's feet abruptly lit up. "Third soul skill, White Tiger Vajra Transformation!"
His body instantly swelled, his muscles knotted, and silver-white claws sprang from his ten fingers. Black horizontal stripes appeared across his skin; at the same time, brilliant golden light erupted from within him, enveloping his entire body.
By then, the Mystic Bird phantom was already right before him.
With a thousand-year soul skill at his disposal, Dai Huabin might have been able to take this attack head-on.
But Zhu Lu and Cui Yajie beside him could not!
"Move!"
In that split second, Dai Huabin bellowed and flung his arms wide, shoving both girls away. Then he crossed his arms over his chest and clenched his teeth, bracing himself to take the attack head-on.
Yet the instant Dai Huabin pushed them away-
"Clang!"
Three great, ancient-looking cauldrons shot through the air, splitting into three in midair before descending from above and trapping Zhu Lu firmly within.
It was Xiao Xiao's Threelives Soulstabilizing Cauldron.
At that same moment, the terrifyingly imposing Mystic Bird phantom finally struck Dai Huabin.
Every muscle in Dai Huabin's body tensed.
He had already prepared himself to be blasted away, but then...
"Pop~"
A light, airy sound.
After landing on him, that overwhelmingly imposing Mystic Bird phantom did jack shit. It burst like a firework, then turned into a sky full of azure-gold motes and vanished without a trace.
Dai Huabin: "...?"
He froze, instinctively looking up at Lin Mo in the distance.
Lin Mo raised a finger to his lips, then cocked an eyebrow at him.
It truly was an old man toying with a naughty child~
The next instant, in no more than the blink of an eye, Lin Mo abruptly vanished from his spot in the distance, then appeared before Cui Yajie like a ghost.
Dai Huabin's pupils contracted sharply.
Only then did he belatedly realize:
Shit!
We fell for it!!
That Mystic Bird phantom, which looked like a charged-up ultimate move, had been a feint from the very beginning. Lin Mo's real target was Cui Yajie.
Dai Huabin roared in fury and tried to rush over to help.
But the moment his feet moved, the thick, winding notes of a vertical flute suddenly rang out, twining around his limbs and body like strands of silk. His forward charge instantly slowed severalfold.
On the other side, Zhu Lu was completely trapped by the Threelives Soulstabilizing Cauldron.
She could not use her advantage in speed at all, and she constantly had to endure the vibrations spreading from the three great cauldrons, which left her head spinning.
As Cui Yajie stared at Lin Mo, who had suddenly appeared before her, her pupils contracted sharply in alarm.
Feeling the vast heavenly might emanating from the boy before her, she trembled uncontrollably, and even her legs grew somewhat weak.
She knew perfectly well.
She was absolutely no match for Lin Mo.
But even if she could not beat him, there was no way she would simply surrender without a fight.
And so, on this very day, a brave Nine-Tailed Fox decided to charm the greatest incubus on the Douluo Continent-the Mystic Bird.
Cui Yajie clenched her pearly teeth, and the two yellow Soul Rings beneath her feet lit up one after another. Immediately afterward, the panic on her face vanished, replaced by a sweet, faint smile.
"Hey, handsome~"
Her eyes shimmered as Cui Yajie gave Lin Mo an alluring wink, a pink glow quietly spreading outward:
"Be gentle with me, okay~"
Lin Mo immediately froze.
Seeing Lin Mo standing frozen in place, a flash of delight appeared in Cui Yajie's eyes.
It worked!
She could not let this opportunity slip away. Cui Yajie abruptly twisted her slender body, and the two fluffy fox tails behind her instantly shot through the air. Their tips straightened like needles, stabbing straight at Lin Mo's chest with a sharp whistle.
This was the second soul skill of her Nine-Tailed Fox Martial Soul, Fox Tail Needle!
At that critical instant-
"Clang!"
Metal rang against stone as the wings behind Lin Mo curved forward, stretching across his body and blocking the attack securely.
"Y-you weren't charmed?!"
Cui Yajie cried out.
Lin Mo looked at her as though she were an idiot. "If there's something wrong with your eyes, get them treated. Don't act horny on the battlefield."
A Nine-Tailed Fox quietly shattered.
Just as Lin Mo was about to make his move and send her out of the match, Cui Yajie's body suddenly shuddered violently. With a "Wah," she spat out a large mouthful of blood, then collapsed limply backward.
Lin Mo's raised hand froze in midair.
Seriously?
I haven't even done anything yet! You can't beat me, so you're staging an accident??
On the other side of the competition platform, Huo Yuhao still stood where he was, his posture straight and his expression calm. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except for the purple-gold light swirling in his eyes.
When he saw Cui Yajie vomit blood and faint, he lowered his eyes slightly, a trace of scarlet flashing through their depths before vanishing.
The referee soon carried Cui Yajie off the competition platform.
With that, the situation on the field became three against two.
Lin Mo withdrew his gaze, rolled his wrist, then turned to meet Dai Huabin, who was charging toward him with an angry roar.
"Bang!"
Wing met claw with a muffled impact.
Azure-gold and platinum Soul Power collided with a crash, shaking the platform beneath their feet until fine, spiderweb-like cracks spread across it.
Although Lin Mo was only rank twenty-nine, the strength he unleashed already equaled that of a low-ranking Soul Elder.
Or even higher!
The absolute suppression of heavenly might, the impossible-to-guard-against Soul Fire, the high mobility of the spatial attribute, combined with the practical combat experience he had honed little by little through mountains of corpses and seas of blood in his previous life.
Under that threefold enhancement, Dai Huabin could barely find any opening to fight back.
"Bang!"
"Bang! Bang!"
Azure-gold afterimages burst around Dai Huabin. Fists, elbows, knees, wings-every attack struck at a tricky angle, every move was lethal.
In just a dozen or so breaths, Dai Huabin was beaten back again and again. Even the protective golden light formed by his White Tiger Vajra Transformation developed cracks, and he was covered in wounds and bloodstains, looking utterly bedraggled.
But Lin Mo also had to admit that Dai Huabin genuinely had some ability.
Anyone else facing his fierce assault would have fallen long ago.
Yet this guy was like an unkillable cockroach. Relying on his White Tiger Vajra Transformation, he gritted his teeth and stubbornly weathered Lin Mo's attacks time after time.
Meanwhile, Xiao Xiao and Zhu Lu had fallen into a pure tug-of-war of Soul Power.
Zhu Lu was trapped inside the cage formed by the Threelives Soulstabilizing Cauldron. No matter how she darted left or charged right, she could not escape to provide support; meanwhile, because Xiao Xiao was not adept at attacking, defeating Zhu Lu was also difficult for her.
And so, the two remained locked in a stalemate.