With his speed, strength, attack power, defensive power, and soul power having increased by 60%, Hua Lantang believed he was now strong enough to rival a six-ringed Soul Emperor even without his battle armor. I don’t care what kind of trick you’re pulling on me. Your power can’t hold a handle to mine!
He slashed at Gu Yue, for he was irritated by her annoying techniques.
“Your opponent is me!” Tang Wulin thundered. He knew his speed couldn’t compare with Hua Lantang’s, but what he lacked in speed, he made up for with the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step. A blur of movement, and he was already in front of Gu Yue. Immediately, he thrust out his claws. Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!
Tang Wulin’s dragon claws and Hua Lantang’s wolf claws crashed into each other, and the impact sent them both backing off a few steps. Hua Lantang looked shocked. His power is still on par with mine?!
But Hua Lantang didn’t let his shock sway him for long. His eyes brightened as his fourth soul ring started shining. He raised a hand and summoned a phantom dragon, and then, a grayish black dragon came out of his back, fused with the phantom dragon, and turned into an Armored Dragon. It stopped being translucent and started taking on a lifelike form, charging towards Tang Wulin.
All of this happened while Hua Lantang was backing off, and he had fused his soul spirit with his soul skill.
He is one of the Monster Eight Kings all right, Tang Wulin thought, but that technique is not enough to beat me! As he emitted a deep, loud roar, a giant phantom dragon head appeared. It snapped open its mouth and sank its large teeth into the Armored Dragon. The poor creature uttered a sharp, piercing cry of pain, struggling to writhe out of the dragon’s mouth.
Yet its efforts were of no avail. A dark golden radiance, and the Armored Dragon collapsed with a loud crack and then got swallowed by the phantom dragon head.
Hua Lantang coughed up a mouthful of blood, his third and fourth soul rings breaking into pieces.
Theoretically, soul rings’ breaking meant the corresponding soul spirit was dead for good; but Hua Lantang’s soul spirit couldn’t have been killed, not when he was still very much alive. Yet due to some unknown reason, his two soul rings somehow collapsed with the Armored Dragon.
Tang Wulin didn’t understand what had just happened either, but this was too good a chance for him to miss. He jerked out both hands and made a pulling motion, dragging Hua Lantang towards him with a tremendous force.
Ye Zhi was distraught, but she was too far away to assist her dearest. She had done all she could; at this point she could do nothing but pray.
With his third soul ring broken, the defensive power provided by his Diamond Dragon Wolf was gone. In desperation, Hua Lantang roared and unleashed his fifth soul skill – Dragon Wolf Annihilating Claws. His claws had turned pitch-black, and they had a special effect of disintegrating anything they touched. This was his most deadly weapon, but he wasn’t about to use them to block Tang Wulin’s golden claws. Instead, he slashed at Tang Wulin’s chest, in the hope of taking him down with him.
At this crucial moment, Tang Wulin turned his head in the direction of Ye Zhi.
Right now, Ye Zhi was too worried about Hua Lantang to consider Tang Wulin’s action strange. When she met his eyes, a wave of energy went inside her head and scrambled her brain, making her lose control of her soul power. Thus, the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda stopped working. She got over her daze and realized what she had done in just a second.
Yet a second was all Tang Wulin needed.
In this second, Gu Yue teleported behind Hua Lantang, thrust out her hand, and delivered a forceful blow to his back. Tang Wulin’s second golden soul ring lit up for the first time in this tournament, his scales shining resplendently.
Hua Lantang brought his claws down at Tang Wulin’s chest, but much to his shock, they didn’t so much as leave a scratch on it. Their special effect wasn’t triggered or didn’t work. Tang Wulin’s scales shone brilliantly, dazzling Hua Lantang.
By then, Tang Wulin’s golden dragon claws had shot out. But before they bit into Hua Lantang’s flesh, Tang Wulin straightened his fingers and struck him on the chest with both palms.
Boom! The impact sent Hua Lantang flying backwards and caused him to spit out a mouthful of blood in mid-air; he could even hear the sound of his bones breaking.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye. And only a few minutes had passed from the moment the match started.
The stadium fell deathly silent. Fang’er’s fast commentary ceased abruptly, because even she hadn’t seen clearly what had just happened.
Hua Lantang hit the ground with a dull thud, unconscious. Desperate beams of light from the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda reached him, but unfortunately, they possessed no power to heal.
Without the assistance of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, Hua Lantang’s defensive power had decreased drastically. If Tang Wulin hadn’t held back, he would have breathed his last.
Gu Yue turned to Ye Zhi, a huge fireball forming in her hand.
“I concede!” Ye Zhi called without the slightest hesitation. She knew she had no chance of winning at this point, but even if she had a very good chance, she would have done the same. This was just a competition, and even the championship was nothing compared to her love’s life. Her heart leaping up into her mouth, she hurriedly deactivated the barrier around her, ran to Hua Lantang, and checked him carefully.
The barrier around the stage opened, and medical teams rushed over to Hua Lantang to tend to his wounds.
Tang Wulin released the pieces of battle armor from his net, and they flew towards their owner and landed quietly beside him.