The Shrek Academy team members helped each other off the stage, but before they had gone far, a burly figure suddenly appeared and blocked their way.
The newcomer was none other than Elephant Armor Sect, the sect leader of the Huyan Zhen.
His face was ashen, his large, round eyes fixed on Tang San, and his voice boomed, "Stop!"
The Shrek Seven Devils stopped in their tracks, and Tang San looked up at Huyan Zhen.
"Sect Leader Huyan, the competition is over. What is the meaning of this?"
Huyan Zhen sneered, "What do you mean? I'd like to ask Shrek Academy what underhanded methods you used!"
He pointed to the six Elephant Armor Sect disciples who were being helped off the stage behind him, "Our Elephant Armor Sect's Diamond Mammoth Martial Soul is renowned for its defense and endurance."
Even if you lost, you shouldn't be like this! Did you use any underhanded methods during the match? Poisoning? Or some other despicable trick?
His words were extremely harsh.
In reality, it was because Huyan Zhen could not accept this outcome.
His eldest grandson, Huyan Li, on whom he had placed high hopes, was defeated in the second round of the preliminaries and was even forced to expose his Head Soul Bone.
This made him lose face, which caused him to lose his composure for a moment.
Tang San frowned. "Sect Leader Huyan, the entire competition was witnessed by everyone, including the referee. We won by merit, so how can you accuse us of using despicable means?"
"Strength?" Huyan Zhen sneered, "With your Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul? If it weren't for your External Soul Bone and Martial Soul Fusion Skill sneak attack, could you have won?"
His voice grew louder and louder, clearly intending for everyone to hear. "Do you Frisk I can't detect the Toxic attached to your External Soul Bone?"
All six of my disciples have been poisoned, and you think you can just walk away now? It's not that simple!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the audience erupted in an uproar.
External Soul Bone! Toxic!
These two words together are enough to attract the attention of countless people.
Not everyone could recognize that the spider legs Tang San had previously displayed were Soul Bone, and even more Soul Bone, extremely rare External Soul Bone.
But now, thanks to Huyan Zhen's loud shout, everyone present knew that Tang San possessed External Soul Bone.
Ning Fengzhi stood up from the VIP section.
Gu Rong beside him also stood up, and the two of them appeared below the arena in a flash, blocking Huyan Zhen and Shrek Academy.
"Sect Leader Huyan," Ning Fengzhi gently, "The outcome of the match is already decided. Are you stopping this junior because you can't accept defeat?"
Huyan Zhen's expression changed, and he looked at Gu Rong beside Ning Fengzhi. Only then did he realize that he had indeed lost his composure earlier.
But having already spoken, he couldn't back down.
Huyan Zhen took a deep breath and looked at Tang San: "It's not that I can't accept defeat. It's just that my sect's disciples have been poisoned, and their condition is not optimistic."
Since the poison is from your External Soul Bone, it's only right that you help detoxify it. Isn't that reasonable?
His words sounded grand and dignified, but anyone with discerning eyes could see through his intentions.
Now that my grandson's Head Soul Bone has been exposed, I also have to expose your External Soul Bone completely, so that we can all share the attention of others.
Ning Fengzhi naturally noticed this, but he didn't say anything more.
He simply looked at Tang San and said, " Tang San, since Sect Leader Huyan has said so, then please help the young friends of the Elephant Armor Sect detoxify them."
After all, in a friendly competition, it's False Swipe to stop when things are at their best; it's never good to ruin the atmosphere.
Upon hearing this, Tang San nodded. "Yes, Uncle Ning."
He walked up to the six disciples of the Elephant Armor Sect.
The six men's faces were now pale, and the wounds inflicted by the Eight Spider Lances were beginning to spread with a purplish-black tinge.
Eight purplish-black spider legs slowly emerged from Tang San's back, and he controlled the Eight Spider Lances to gently touch the wounds of the six people.
The purplish-black toxin was slowly drawn back along the spider's legs, and the purplish-black color at the wound faded at a speed visible to the naked eye.
However, Tang San paused slightly during the detoxification process.
He sensed that while the Eight Spider Lances were retrieving the toxins, they were also seemingly devouring the Soul Power within the bodies of these Elephant Armor Sect disciples.
He almost became immersed in the feeling of Soul Power flowing into his body again.
Over this period of time, he had already become accustomed to using the devouring ability of the Eight Spider Lances to assist in his cultivation.
But the next second, Tang San suddenly woke up.
This is the competition arena, and under the watchful eyes of everyone, Huyan Zhen is watching closely from the sidelines.
If we were to devour the Life of these people, things would escalate drastically.
He Sheer Force stopped the Eight Spider Lances from devouring, only retracting the toxins.
However, even this brief absorption caused the faces of the six Elephant Armor Sect disciples to turn from pale to deathly white.
They were already weakened by the poisoning, and with some of their Soul Power devoured, they were now even more unsteady on their feet, barely able to stand.
"It's done." Tang San retracted the Eight Spider Lances, his voice calm.
Huyan Zhen carefully examined the condition of his six disciples and confirmed that the poison had been cleared, but seeing their increasingly weak appearance, he couldn't help but frown.
He felt something was off, but couldn't quite put his finger on why.
"Thank you." Huyan Zhen squeezed out the two words through gritted teeth, then waved for his clansmen to help his disciple down.
Ning Fengzhi smiled slightly, "Now that the poison has been cured, we'll take our leave. Sect Leader Huyan, the preliminary rounds are still long; we look forward to the Elephant Armor Academy's performance."
After saying that, he led the Shrek team away.
From the stands, Lin Mo watched this scene quietly.
When Tang San used the Eight Spider Lances to detoxify the Elephant Armor Sect disciples, with the help of the perception provided by his Spirit Eyes, he clearly saw Tang San's momentary pause and the subtle fluctuations in the Soul Power of the six Elephant Armor Sect disciples being extracted.
"I see--"
Lin Mo muttered to himself, a playful expression on his face.
No wonder Tang San's cultivation breakthrough speed was faster than he had expected.
Under normal circumstances, even with his best efforts in cultivation, Tang San's current level would be at most level 42. How could he possibly have reached level 43 or 44 directly like he has now?
For Tang San, who has never consumed Immortal Herb and has yet to encounter any special opportunities, this rate of improvement is indeed quite fast.
Now it seems he did indeed use the devouring ability of the Eight Spider Lances to aid his cultivation.
Moreover, judging from his almost instinctive reaction just now, Tang San has clearly become accustomed to this kind of devouring.
If he hadn't reacted in time, he probably would have devoured the Life of those six Diamond Mammoth Soul Master right in front of Huyan Zhen.
If he actually did it and Huyan Zhen Frisk out—even with Gu Rong present, Huyan Zhen would never let it go.
Devouring the Life of these young disciples is tantamount to uprooting the future of the Elephant Armor Sect; it's a fight to the death.
■gnn8
Just as Lin Mo was about to leave the rest area, several figures walked over from the side.
It was Feng Xiaotian, Huo Wu, Yu Tianxin, and Shui Bing'er.
" Lin Mo!"
Feng Xiaotian lowered his voice, his expression excited, "You were right! Shrek Academy really did have a trump card up its sleeve, Martial Soul Fusion Skill and External Soul Bone —I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes."
Lin Mo looked at the four of them and smiled, "I've given you the intelligence; how you use it is up to you. However—"
He paused, then lowered his voice slightly. "Based on today's observations, I can provide another piece of information."
"What?" Feng Xiaotian asked immediately.
Lin Mo slowly said, "Besides his External Soul Bone, Tang San may have more than one Soul Bone on him—"
Upon hearing this, all four of them were stunned.
Huo Wu was the first to react, her brows furrowing. "More than one? You mean, besides the External Soul Bone, he also has a regular Soul Bone?"
"It's just a guess," Lin Mo said, "But the possibility is not small."
"If that's really the case," Shui Bing'er said, full of confusion, "Then why would he expose his External Soul Bone in such a competition?"
While regular Soul Bone are precious, they are still inferior to External Soul Bone. He could easily use the abilities of a regular Soul Bone; there's no need to expose his External Soul Bone.
This was also the question that Feng Xiaotian and Yu Tianxin had.
External Soul Bone are much rarer than regular Soul Bone. In situations where it's necessary to reveal one's trump card, a normal person would choose to hide their external Soul Bone and use a regular Soul Bone instead.
Lin Mo shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe his regular Soul Bone abilities aren't suitable for arena battles, or maybe it's some other reason."
In short, just keep this in mind and take precautions.