Heavenly Net and Earthly Web

"!"

Not only did the referee sense this Soul Power Fluctuation, but Tang Wulin and the others were instantly drawn to the pair of twin sisters.

Having all been taught by Wang Yan, they naturally recognized at a glance what the girls were doing.

"Martial Soul Fusion Skill?!"

Zhou Sichen blurted out in shock.

Tang Wulin's expression also turned grave.

Now he finally understood why Huang Chutian had been so confident—why he had remained so arrogant even knowing they had once defeated Ning Tian's Team.

A Martial Soul Fusion Skill used by two Soul Grand Masters was something even a Soul Elder could never contend with.

Almost in an instant, under the effects of the Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Lan Luoluo and Lan Susu's hair began to grow wildly. Countless strands swept toward Tang Wulin and the others, blotting out the sky.

Tang Wulin hurriedly shouted to Zhou Sichen:

"Zhou Sichen, protect Yutong!"

Clearly, among the three of them, he was the only one who had any chance of breaking this Martial Soul Fusion Skill.

Only he could break the deadlock.

The very next second after he shouted, the tidal wave of hair completely swallowed him.

"Wulin!"

Huo Yutong's expression changed at once.

The instant Tang Wulin was devoured by the Heavenly Net and Earthly Web formed from hair, her ever-reliable Spiritual Detection could no longer perceive what was inside.

This was the first time Spiritual Detection had been blocked.

Unease immediately welled up in her heart. She subconsciously took a step forward, but Zhou Sichen hurriedly grabbed her.

"Oh, my little ancestor, if you get dragged in and something happens to you, the boss will probably kill me!"

"!"

Hearing Zhou Sichen's somewhat exaggerated words, Huo Yutong came back to her senses.

"Sorry, I lost my composure."

"It's fine, it's fine."

Zhou Sichen chuckled and recalled his two Summoned Creatures, using them to protect himself and Huo Yutong as they barely held off the entangling Heavenly Net and Earthly Web.

All they could do now was pray that Tang Wulin would bring them victory.

Caught within the Heavenly Net and Earthly Web, Tang Wulin did not panic.

He clenched his right fist. Amid a series of crackling sounds, the Golden Dragon Claw appeared on the Freshman Assessment arena for the first time.

Before this, he had always worried that it might be too powerful and injure someone. But clearly, this was no time to worry about that.

With a light tug, Tang Wulin tore apart all the hair wrapped around him. Bracing himself against the seemingly endless tide of hair, he rushed toward where he remembered the Lan Sisters to be.

Yet the farther forward he went, the uglier his expression became.

Because he could feel that the closer he got to the Lan Sisters, the stronger the hair became.

When the distance between them had shrunk to around five meters, the hair's toughness had reached a terrifying level. Even with his Golden Dragon Body, Tang Wulin found it difficult to break through the Heavenly Net and Earthly Web's blockade.

"...Looks like I'll have to use this."

Tang Wulin drew a deep breath and made up his mind.

Over these Three Months, Mu En had taught him many things, including methods for wielding force.

In the past, he had always relied on absolute Brute Force to forcibly erase the gap between himself and his enemies. Yet his control over force had actually always been half-understood at best.

When Mu En learned of the Crushing Property contained within the Golden Dragon Claw on his right hand, he taught Tang Wulin how to combine it with his own strength.

After two months of study, Tang Wulin had now only just entered the doorway.

At the very least, he could manage something like "sending the Crushing Property out of his body along with his power."

Tang Wulin controlled the rhythm of his breathing, mobilized the blood and qi circulating through his body, concentrated all his strength into the Golden Dragon Claw on his right hand, and then struck out fiercely.

"Boom—"

An airwave blasted from his right fist and shot forward. All the hair blocking the path ahead was instantly crushed.

The airwave was only stopped when it reached the embracing Lan Luoluo and Lan Susu, blocked by the interwoven hair around them.

Tang Wulin seized the opportunity to rush before the sisters. He swung out a claw, concentrating his strength at a single point to shatter their final defense and deliver the finishing blow.

"Urgh!"

With two muffled groans, Lan Luoluo and Lan Susu collapsed to the ground together and lost consciousness.

The Heavenly Net and Earthly Web slowly dissipated, revealing the three people on the field who still retained consciousness.

All three belonged to Tang Wulin's team. This match was yet another overwhelming victory for them.

However, compared to their previous matches, this one had clearly been far more dangerous.

If they had faced Huang Chutian's group three months ago, they might well have fallen here.

The power of the Lan Sisters' Martial Soul Fusion Skill left a deep impression on Tang Wulin's group of three.

So much so that Tang Wulin was still discussing the sisters with Huo Yutong that night.

"Today was really dangerous. Come to think of it, a lot of it was my fault. I clearly noticed that their team had a Trump Card even stronger than a Soul Elder, and I saw that they were twins, yet I never considered the possibility of a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. Thinking back, if we'd had Zhou Sichen send his Summoned Creatures to interfere with them from the start, we probably could have won much more easily."

He was currently sitting in a chair in Huo Yutong's room. Since the two had moved into Sea God's Pavilion three months ago, they had unknowingly formed a habit: before going to sleep each night, they would go to the other's room and chat for a while.

They alternated rooms. If they chatted in Huo Yutong's room today, they would go to Tang Wulin's room tomorrow.

Neither of them had deliberately started it. It was simply an unspoken understanding between them.

Huo Yutong brought Tang Wulin a cup of hot tea and said gently:

"Don't say that. It's true that you didn't make the connection to a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, but neither did I. We just need to be more careful next time."

She had not known how to make tea before. After all, she had never even encountered the cheapest tea leaves while growing up. Her current tea-making skills had been entirely honed through chatting with Tang Wulin every night.

Although the leaves she used were not proper tea leaves, they were even more precious. They were fallen leaves from the Golden Ancient Tree, rich with energy. Simply brewing them into tea was greatly beneficial to Soul Masters.

Tang Wulin took a sip of tea, sighed softly, and said enviously:

"Ah, if only we had a Martial Soul Fusion Skill too. Then we wouldn't have such a hard time dealing with enemies like that next time."

"Haha, that's impossible."

"I know. I'm just daydreaming a little. Everyone has to have dreams, right?"

Tang Wulin shrugged. Just as he was about to change to a lighter topic, he noticed that Huo Yutong's expression had turned strange.

She asked:

"Wulin, did you hear some strange sound?"

"Hm? No."

"..."

Huo Yutong frowned.

Just after the two had finished speaking, an aged voice had suddenly sounded in her mind. It told her to try Martial Soul Fusion with Tang Wulin.

Was it a hallucination?

She stared at Tang Wulin, whose expression was somewhat baffled, for a while before suddenly saying:

"Wulin, let's try Martial Soul Fusion."

Whether it had been a hallucination or not, she did not dislike the idea of close physical contact with Tang Wulin.

On the contrary, she was very much looking forward to it.

Author's Note

Starting from the next chapter, I'll be giving the two protagonists some overpowered boosts in advance.

As for why they still need to be strengthened when they already crush their peers of the same rank?

Because the First Competition Arc is not far off. I don't plan to have Ma Xiaotao compete, so Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong will have to make up for the loss in combat power caused by her absence.

Leaving Ma Xiaotao's character aside, her strength in the First Competition Arc was undeniably absurdly overpowered. Losing her would be almost fatal to the protagonist group, and the only way to make up for it is to give the protagonists some cheats.