Lu Yu was just popping a meatball into his mouth when he saw the Soul Ring beneath the young man with the great saber Martial Soul merge into his body. At the same time, the young man shouted in a low voice:
"First Soul Skill-Great Saber Slash!"
"Pfft-" Lu Yu nearly spat out the meatball in his mouth.
On the Soul Fighting stage, the young man's hands were wrapped in Soul Power as he gripped the hilt, and the blade itself gave off a faint glow. Just like that, he raised the great saber, rushed up to the middle-aged Soul Master, and chopped down hard, without any flourishes.
"Wait, that counts as a Soul Skill?" Lu Yu muttered indistinctly.
Anyone who had reached the beginner level of Soul Power control could use an attack like that at will, yet the young man on the stage needed a Soul Skill to pull it off.
Lu Yu shook his head, immediately losing interest in the fight onstage. He lowered his head and looked at his right hand. Soul Power surged and gathered in his palm, and an illusory dragon's head appeared there.
If Guo Jing had been there, he would surely have been surprised to see that Lu Yu knew the first palm strike of the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms-Proud Dragon Repents!
Lu Yu had discovered this after awakening his Soul Power. The martial arts he had practiced in his previous life all required internal force or true Qi to perform.
But Lu Yu had never cultivated even a trace of internal force before his death. After coming to Douluo, he discovered that he could perform those martial arts in full by using Soul Power to activate them.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, these are the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms! Each palm strike should count as a Soul Skill, right?" Lu Yu stroked his chin as he pondered.
Lu Yu had only just started out, yet he was already in no danger of running short of Soul Skills. Those eighteen palm strikes alone would be enough to make others suffer, not to mention that Lu Yu could still absorb twenty-seven Soul Rings.
"Congratulations to Blood Blade on winning the match!" The host's announcement rang out across the arena.
Lu Yu looked up at the Soul Fighting stage and saw the middle-aged Soul Master holding a dark red dagger against the young Soul Master's neck, while the young Soul Master's great saber was raised above his head.
With such wide, sweeping attacks, once an opponent seized an opening, a single strike could prove fatal, leaving no room to fight back.
"Great Sage, it's our turn to put on a show!" Lu Yu set down the takeout box, patted the Great Sage on the back of the head, and recalled him into his body. Then he shouldered his iron staff and headed for the registration desk.
Lu Yu didn't dare get overconfident. He originally had only level 3 Soul Power, but after recalling the Great Sage into his body, his Soul Power instantly rose to level 13.
"Woohoo~ This match is a heavyweight challenge! A newcomer has arrived at the Soul Fighting Arena-'Great Sage Equal to Heaven,' a level 13, one-ring Battle Soul Master, with the Martial Soul 'Lingming Stone Monkey'!"
As the host loudly announced Lu Yu's details, Lu Yu strode out of the contestants' passage with the iron staff over his shoulder, confidence written all over his face.
When the spectators saw Lu Yu's build, a chorus of boos rose from the stands.
"Where did this little brat come from? Go home and drink your milk!"
"Don't piss your pants in fright!"
"A little runt like you wants to be equal to heaven? You're not even as tall as the stick in your hand..."
"Hahaha~"
Listening to the spectators' filthy jeers, Lu Yu curled his lip in disdain. "A bunch of bumpkins. Watch this young master finish the fight in one minute."
"His opponent is Mad Bear, with seven wins in eleven matches-a level 17, one-ring Battle Soul Master!"
A youth of fifteen or sixteen walked out of the contestants' passage on the opposite side. His arms were thicker than Lu Yu's thighs, and he was staring at Lu Yu with a provocative look.
Seeing the difference in their builds, the spectators erupted in angry shouts: "It's rigged! It's rigged! It's rigged!"
The host was long accustomed to scenes like this. Ignoring the spectators, he went on:
"Soul Fighting, begin!"
The moment the host finished speaking, the smile vanished from Mad Bear's face. He let out an angry roar. "Martial Soul Awakening!"
An illusory black bear appeared behind Mad Bear, and his already sturdy body grew even larger.
"Tsk, what a pain!" Lu Yu clicked his tongue, frowning slightly. It wasn't that he couldn't win; he figured a body like that could definitely take a beating, so finishing the fight in a minute would be a little difficult.
Seeing that Lu Yu hadn't summoned his Martial Soul and was just standing there with his staff over his shoulder, watching him, Mad Bear felt that Lu Yu was looking down on him. He flew into a rage, Soul Power surging around him as he charged straight at Lu Yu.
Lu Yu still didn't move. He tilted his head as he watched Mad Bear, silently gauging the distance. When Mad Bear was two or three meters away, Lu Yu moved.
Lu Yu stepped forward, propped himself up on the iron staff, and kicked at Mad Bear's head.
Idiot! Mad Bear sneered inwardly and reached out with his right hand to grab Lu Yu's incoming leg.
The corner of Lu Yu's mouth curled up. He drew back his leg, twisted at the waist, and whipped the iron staff free with both hands. Raising it overhead, he smashed it down at Mad Bear's head.
Mad Bear grabbed at empty air. Before he could recover from his surprise, he heard something slicing through the air in front of him. His heart sank. He looked up and saw a pitch-black iron staff right in front of him.
There was no time to block in his haste, so he poured Soul Power into his left hand and tried to grab the descending staff.
Crack-
Bones snapped. Not only did Mad Bear fail to catch Lu Yu's iron staff, but Lu Yu also smashed his fingers.
The force of the blow continued unabated, and Lu Yu landed a solid hit on both his hand and his head.
"Aaahhh~ My hand..."
Mad Bear stumbled back several steps, clutching the fingers of his left hand and letting out an inhuman shriek. One moment he clutched his hand, the next his head, keeping himself quite busy.
"Hey, big guy, hurry up and admit defeat! Watch out for the fingers on your other hand!" Lu Yu grinned, twirled the iron staff, and rested it on his shoulder as he spoke with a provocative look on his face.
Even with a hundred-jin iron staff and a body strengthened by Whale Rubber, Lu Yu hadn't knocked Mad Bear out with that blow. Lu Yu grumbled inwardly that this body was still too weak.
"Brat, I'm going to kill you! Aaahhh~"
Hearing Lu Yu's provocative words, Mad Bear lost the last shred of his reason. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Lu Yu.
"First Soul Skill-Savage Bear Charge!"
Lu Yu was no gentleman who would stand there like an idiot and wait for his opponent to unleash a Soul Skill. The instant Mad Bear's Soul Ring first flashed, Lu Yu charged straight at him.
As he charged, the iron staff in his hands spun so fast it left afterimages. At the same time, as if following local custom, he murmured:
"Flowing Cloud Seven Tremors!"
His charge completed the buildup of force. When he reached Mad Bear, he smashed the first tremor of Flowing Cloud Seven Tremors toward Mad Bear's right side.
Lu Yu had learned this staff technique, Flowing Cloud Seven Tremors, in his previous life on Blue Star, only after spending three years as an apprentice at the Flowing Cloud Martial Arts Hall.
Each tremor required a buildup of force before it could be unleashed. Once the technique was mastered, each subsequent tremor could add the force of the preceding staff strike's shockwave to its own.
It was similar to the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, but that technique used force to strike back with force. If the enemy refused to fight you, you couldn't continue building up power.
Flowing Cloud Seven Tremors, on the other hand, allowed one to build up force directly. Lu Yu had already finished doing so during his charge, so he could unleash the first tremor as soon as he reached Mad Bear.
The instant Lu Yu swung his staff, Mad Bear's Soul Skill activated as well, but it was too late. Mad Bear had barely taken one charging step when Lu Yu's iron staff struck him squarely in the right side.
Bang-clang-
First came the dull thud of the iron staff striking Mad Bear's side, followed by a shockwave that spread instantly from the point of impact.
Mad Bear's blood surged, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. Then he flew sideways for two or three meters before crashing heavily to the ground.