The dragon's roar faded, and the lingering force on the arena platform slowly ebbed away.
After a moment of dead silence, cheers like mountains roaring and seas surging erupted through the entire Soto Soul Fighting Arena!
The crowd went wild. Everyone sprang to their feet in unison, screaming, shouting, and applauding until the entire venue buzzed and shook.
"He won! He really won!"
"One ring against two! He turned it around barehanded! That's the Great Sage Equal to Heaven!!"
"Unbelievable! Absolutely unbelievable! No Martial Soul, no weapon, and he took him down with one palm strike!"
On the raised platform, the host had shouted himself hoarse. His face was alight with fervor as he announced the final result:
"I declare the winner of this Soul Fighting match to be-the Great Sage Equal to Heaven!!"
Inside the private room, Manager Huang let out a long breath. His taut body abruptly relaxed, and his eyes were full of shock and wild joy.
He turned to the person in charge of the Narvis Soul Fighting Arena, who was sitting at the same table. "Oh my, it looks like the Great Sage Equal to Heaven was a cut above after all!"
Manager Huang stood and straightened his collar, unable to suppress the smug look on his face as he watched the person in charge of the Narvis Soul Fighting Arena with gleeful schadenfreude.
The person in charge of the Narvis Soul Fighting Arena snorted coldly. With a bang, he smashed the teacup on the table to pieces with a slap, then rose and left without so much as glancing at Manager Huang.
On the platform, Lu Yu slowly drew back his palm. The faint, flickering dragon-shaped phantom coiled around his arm gradually dispersed.
The lingering numbness from the lightning remained in his chest, and the blood at the corner of his mouth had yet to dry. But the young man stood tall, his gaze calm and unruffled, without a trace of arrogance or agitation after his great victory.
Staff members hurried onto the platform, carried the unconscious Lin Tian down, and gave his injuries basic treatment.
Lu Yu tilted his head slightly and looked at the seething stands, but his mind was perfectly clear.
He had won, but his shortcomings had been laid completely bare.
In the fight just now, Lu Yu had only managed to hold his own against Lin Tian for dozens of exchanges by relying on his staff techniques and his body, strengthened by whale rubber.
Yet a single hundred-year Soul Skill from Lin Tian had shattered his iron staff.
Ordinary iron was ordinary iron, after all!
Before the onslaught of a true Martial Soul and Soul Skill, it was too fragile to withstand a single blow.
Lu Yu silently reviewed the entire fight in his mind.
Although he had Twin Martial Souls, he couldn't use either of them. One was an External Beast Martial Soul that couldn't possess him for combat, while the other was the Ruyi Staff. But the Ruyi Staff now weighed three thousand jin, far more than Lu Yu could lift at his current strength.
Lu Yu had calculated that by the time he reached level 40, the Ruyi Staff would weigh ten thousand jin. He wouldn't be able to lift it at all; it would be nothing but a decoration.
Watching Lin Tian being carried down from the Soul Fighting platform by the staff, Lu Yu suddenly had an extremely bold idea.
After the match.
In a private lounge at the Soul Fighting Arena.
Lu Yu sat quietly on a sofa with his eyes closed, regulating his breathing and guiding the disordered Soul Power in his body slowly back into place.
Before long, Lin Tian, who lay on another sofa, slowly woke up.
Lin Tian's head felt heavy and swollen, his whole body ached and lacked strength, and the lightning Soul Power in his body was in complete disarray. The lingering force of that incomparably tyrannical, flawless palm strike still remained in his chest.
The moment Lin Tian opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Lu Yu sitting quietly nearby.
The young man's clothes were slightly rumpled, but his expression was composed, and his clear, deep eyes showed no trace of triumph.
"I... lost?"
Lin Tian murmured, his face full of disbelief and utter frustration.
He was a level-twenty-eight Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster with a Martial Soul that possessed powerful lightning-attribute offense and a hundred-year Soul Skill to bolster him, yet a lower-ranked, level-twenty Soul Master with one ring had crushed him and knocked him unconscious with a single barehanded palm strike.
It completely overturned everything Lin Tian thought he knew.
Hearing him, Lu Yu opened his eyes and looked at him calmly. "Oh, you're awake! Faster than I expected!"
Lin Tian gritted his teeth and pushed himself upright, staring hard at Lu Yu. There was a barely perceptible tremor in his voice. "What kind of move was that? Your First Soul Skill is Vajra Indestructibility! Could it be..."
"That's right, it's just what you're thinking. A Self-Created Soul Skill!" Lu Yu answered openly.
Lin Tian swallowed. "How is that possible? How old are you? How could you have created a Soul Skill yourself?"
Lu Yu grinned and spread his hands, wearing an expression that practically begged to be punched. "Talent is the kind of thing that can't be explained in words!"
At that, Lin Tian fell completely silent. He didn't know what to say. In his eyes, Lu Yu was a bug!
If you said Lu Yu had no talent, he could create his own Soul Skill. If you said he had talent, his First Soul Ring was a ten-year white Soul Ring.
Whichever way you looked at it, you couldn't refute it!
Lu Yu was silent for a moment before getting straight to the point. "Lin Tian, I didn't come to you to show off my talent."
Lin Tian rolled his eyes. "Then what did you come to me for?"
Lu Yu's gaze was calm, and each word was clear. "I've seen your records. Your Thunder Pattern Staff Martial Soul attacks fast, breaks through armor, and has a paralyzing effect."
Lu Yu paused and summoned Great Sage before continuing, "This is my Martial Soul, the Lingming Stone Monkey. It's an External Beast Martial Soul and can't possess me for combat."
"You probably felt it in our fight just now. My staff skills are highly developed, but I don't have a Martial Soul to match them."
Lin Tian's gaze swept back and forth between Great Sage and Lu Yu. He could hardly believe that someone so skilled with a staff didn't have a staff as his Martial Soul, but instead had an External Beast Martial Soul he had never seen before.
Seeing the surprise and confusion in Lin Tian's eyes, Lu Yu continued:
"Your Martial Soul is the Thunder Pattern Staff, while I lack a weapon that suits my hand, so-join me!"
Lin Tian's pupils contracted sharply, and he jerked his head up to look at Lu Yu. "You want me to join you? Be your subordinate?"
"Not a subordinate." Lu Yu shook his head, his tone sincere.
"A teammate, a partner, a companion!"
"My greatest shortcoming right now is that I have no weapon I can use. My staff skills are extremely strong, but I have no staff to use."
"Your Thunder Pattern Staff Martial Soul is extremely strong, but without top-tier staff skills to support it, you'll only end up squandering your life!"
"I'll use your Martial Soul to fight, and I'll teach you staff techniques. We'll complement each other and both come out ahead!"
At those words, Lin Tian froze completely.
He stared blankly at Lu Yu, his mind reeling.
If I could learn those staff techniques, unfathomable even to ghosts and gods, and that strange oscillating force of his...
At the thought, Lin Tian's heart pounded wildly, and a towering desire flared in his eyes!
Lin Tian had always prided himself on his exquisite staff skills. Only now did he realize that he had been nothing but a frog at the bottom of a well.
Seeing how moved Lin Tian was, Lu Yu added, "You can think it over. There's no need to force yourself."
Lin Tian took a deep breath, raised his head, and stared intently at Lu Yu as he spoke solemnly:
"I can join you!"
"But I have only one condition-you must teach me all of your staff techniques!"
Hearing this, Lu Yu's lips curved into a faint smile.
"A gentleman does not go back on his word!"
Lu Yu nodded lightly, looking perfectly at ease.
"From now on, you'll practice staff techniques under me, and I'll borrow your Thunder Pattern Staff to fight."
"Starting now, at the Soto Soul Fighting Arena-two sages as one! Let this be the first stop on our path to fame!"