After the two attacks collided, air currents swirled wildly across the arena, and fine dust scattered in every direction under the shock of the two surges of Soul Power.
Lin Tian drew back his staff and flipped through the air. The moment his feet touched the ground, the contempt in his eyes vanished completely, replaced by grave solemnity.
He had thought that, with his cultivation as a level 28 Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster, he could easily defeat Lu Yu, who had only one ten-year soul ring, in two or three moves.
But in that head-on clash, the strength that erupted from Lu Yu's slender frame and the strange force of vibration hidden in his staff technique had far exceeded Lin Tian's expectations.
"No wonder you've kept a perfect record at the Soto Soul Fighting Arena. You do have some real skill."
Lin Tian spoke in a deep voice, gripping the Thunder Pattern Staff tightly with both hands. The blue light flowing along it grew ever brighter, and tiny sparks of electricity wound around the shaft with a faint crackle.
Lu Yu's hand tingled slightly around his pitch-black iron staff, and waves of soreness spread through his palm. Although the built-up vibrating force of Flowing Cloud Seven Tremors' first tremor had driven Lin Tian back, their Soul Power Levels were eight levels apart, and Lu Yu had suffered from that strike too.
Lu Yu chuckled and advanced instead of retreating, his footwork nimble and elusive as he closed in again with his iron staff. "I wouldn't presume to call it skill, but it's enough to deal with you."
As his words fell, Lu Yu's staff flashed through the air. Gone were the showy flourishes of before; now every strike was swift and fierce. The staff howled through the air, bearing a force both fierce and domineering as it closed in on the vital points all over Lin Tian's body.
For the next few moments, the two fought at close quarters, probing each other in a contest of pure staff technique.
The iron staff and the Thunder Pattern Staff clashed fiercely again and again, an uninterrupted series of thunderous bangs echoing throughout the Soul Fighting arena.
After the two staffs had collided dozens of times, an extremely faint cracking came from the iron staff in Lu Yu's hand. The slight sound was drowned out by the thunderous collisions, and Lu Yu did not notice it at all.
As they exchanged probing blows, Lin Tian grew more alarmed the longer they fought. Lu Yu's staff technique was even more profound than that of the person who had taught him.
No, I can't keep dragging this out. If we keep competing in staff technique, I'll lose sooner or later!
Lu Yu caught the change in Lin Tian's expression and guessed that he was about to use a Soul Skill. He used one tremor of Flowing Cloud Seven Tremors to force Lin Tian back, then flipped backward through the air to open the distance.
The once-heated cries from the stands gradually died down. Every spectator stared fixedly at the ring, afraid even to breathe.
Everyone was stunned. No one had expected Lu Yu, with only a single white ten-year soul ring and a lower Soul Power Level, to hold his own against a Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster for so long without falling behind in the slightest.
"This is absurd! A one-ring fighter is actually holding his own against a two-ring fighter!"
"The Great Sage Who Surpasses Heaven's lightning Soul Power is extremely powerful in attack. Any other One-Ring Soul Master would have been crushed and gravely injured long ago!"
"The Great Sage Equal to Heaven is too strong! That staff technique, that movement technique-there's no way an ordinary Soul Master could master them!"
Murmurs rose from the stands. In the ring, Lin Tian's patience had finally run out.
Lin Tian's face grew utterly cold, and a ruthless glint flashed in his eyes. He held nothing back.
"Your staff technique is strong, I'll give you that, but battles between Soul Masters aren't won with staff technique alone!"
The cold words fell, and the first hundred-year soul ring beneath Lin Tian's feet suddenly lit up before merging into his body.
Thick arcs of electricity surged wildly along the Thunder Pattern Staff. The blue light on its shaft instantly turned a blinding, brilliant purple. Thunder crackled and exploded as fine purple electric serpents wound around the staff, and a terrifying force capable of breaking formations swept toward Lu Yu.
"First Soul Skill: Thunderclap Break!"
The muscles in Lin Tian's arms tensed abruptly as he poured all his Soul Power into the Thunder Pattern Staff. Wreathed in the violent power of lightning, he drove off with both legs and charged at Lu Yu.
The strike was blindingly fast and ferociously powerful, bearing a domineering might that could crush everything in its path. Even the air was torn apart by the power of lightning, producing a piercing howl.
Lu Yu's pupils abruptly contracted. Without time to think, he immediately used his Soul Skill.
"First Soul Skill: Vajra Indestructibility!"
In an instant, Lu Yu's entire body turned gold. He then held his iron staff across his chest to block.
Boom-!!!
A deafening explosion rang out!
Purple-blue lightning erupted in an instant, and a violent shock wave of Soul Power swept wildly outward from the point where the two staffs collided.
In the next instant, an alarming scene unfolded.
The iron staff that had accompanied Lu Yu through thirty-eight battles gave a sharp crack under the violent lightning power of the hundred-year Soul Skill.
Crack!
An instant later, the iron staff exploded into countless small fragments of black iron, which sprayed in every direction amid raging Soul Power!
The remaining terrifying force of lightning struck Lu Yu's chest without obstruction!
Boom!
Like a kite with a severed string struck by a heavy hammer, Lu Yu was hurled backward. He crashed hard onto the ring and rolled several meters.
Fortunately, Lu Yu had used his first Soul Skill, which kept him from suffering too much damage. He pushed himself up with both hands, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and looked coldly at Lin Tian.
The entire arena fell deathly silent!
All the spectators stared, dumbfounded, their hearts tightening at the sight of Lu Yu on the ground.
In the private box, Manager Huang also clenched his hand tightly, his heart leaping into his throat as he watched the arena with a tense expression.
The gap in Soul Power Levels, the suppression of the Soul Skill, and the loss of his weapon-disadvantages weighed on Lu Yu one after another, yet they had not crushed him in the slightest.
Lu Yu slowly straightened up, his tall figure still standing steadily in the ring.
Across from him, Lin Tian held the Thunder Pattern Staff wreathed in lightning and looked down at Lu Yu, his voice thick with contempt and disdain.
"Your weapon's gone. Aren't you going to summon your Martial Soul yet?"
As his words fell, Lin Tian stepped forward, preparing to bring the fight to a definitive end.
But the moment Lin Tian moved, Lu Yu slowly closed his eyes in the ring, and the presence around him abruptly changed.
His Soul Power, once gentle and restrained, was no longer bound by the conventional way Soul Masters circulated it. Instead, it became a vast, majestic, ancient and domineering force that quietly surged around him.
That presence was steady and weighty, restrained to the utmost. It seemed calm and untroubled, yet concealed boundless explosive power capable of destroying heaven and earth.
This was a power beyond the conventional Soul Skill system of the Douluo Continent, the utmost firmness and strength of Great Xia martial arts!
The path of the staff was cut off; then he would decide the outcome with his palm!
Lu Yu's eyes snapped open, his gaze sharp as a blade. The air around him froze in an instant.
He bent his knees slightly and lowered his stance, his body steady as a rock. His hands rose with the motion, forming an ancient and powerful palm stance!
The first palm of the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms-Proud Dragon Repents!
The faint, indistinct silhouette of an eastern dragon appeared behind Lu Yu, winding over his shoulder and enveloping his entire right arm.
"What a show!" Lin Tian sneered, paying the palm strike no heed. Thunder Pattern Staff in hand, he charged straight at Lu Yu, bearing the remaining might of lightning.
The instant Lin Tian was about to close in, a brilliant light flashed in Lu Yu's eyes, and his palm shot forward!
A dragon's roar exploded throughout the Soul Fighting Arena, making everyone's ears ring. By the time they recovered from the ringing,
the situation in the arena had already changed. Lu Yu stood steadily on the Soul Fighting platform, still holding the posture of his palm strike.
Lin Tian, meanwhile, lay sprawled on his back on the Soul Fighting platform, unconscious.