"The competitors for this match are Xu Yuan from Shrek Academy and Su Mu, the Fox King, from the Monster Academy of our Star Luo Empire!"
The referee's introduction caused a wave of gasps from the audience.
The Fox King Su Mu was different from Dai Yun'er—he was an established veteran among the Heavenly Kings. Surely, he wouldn't be mysteriously defeated in seconds?
"Both sides, prepare."
"The match begins!"
Xu Yuan stood with his Heaven Origin Five Elements Spear in hand, five black soul rings rising one by one around him.
A sense of overwhelming pressure naturally emanated from him.
He didn't even need to activate the spear's power—simply releasing his martial soul brought forth an oppressive aura.
Su Mu's expression grew solemn as he too released his own martial soul.
His martial soul was the Nine-Tailed Fox, an extremely rare and top-tier martial soul. Foxes were already among the most intelligent species in the spirit beast world, and the Nine-Tailed Fox symbolized wisdom itself. This martial soul naturally carried spiritual attributes, which nourished the soul master's spiritual power and heightened their sensitivity to ambient energy in the environment.
The Nine-Tailed Fox had no lineage on the Douluo Continent. Su Mu's ancestors were natives of the Star Luo Continent, and the Nine-Tailed Fox was exclusive to this region.
As the Nine-Tailed Fox manifested, five tails flared out behind Su Mu, exuding an eerie but majestic presence.
For the Nine-Tailed Fox martial soul, each new soul ring added another tail, marking a qualitative leap in strength. Only upon breaking through to become a Title Douluo with nine rings would it fully transform into a true Nine-Tailed Fox.
Five tails swayed freely, each adorned with a soul ring at its tip.
Five purple soul rings.
Even the mighty Fox King Su Mu only possessed five purple soul rings.
At this moment, the audience was already anticipating how long Su Mu could hold out against Xu Yuan.
After all, the gap in their foundations was immense. Both were Soul Kings, but whereas one had all ten-thousand-year soul rings, the other had only thousand-year soul rings. How could Su Mu possibly win? What could he rely on?
Facing Xu Yuan directly, Su Mu felt an overwhelming pressure wash over him.
His Nine-Tailed Fox martial soul excelled at sensing ambient energy and even received bonuses when manipulating it. But now, he felt as if the entire world had become unfamiliar, as though everything was under Xu Yuan's control.
Strangely, Xu Yuan hadn't used any techniques yet—not even the infamous Seven Forbidden Techniques. Yet, the disparity between them was already so vast.
What Su Mu didn't know was that Xu Yuan had subconsciously activated the later three techniques of the forbidden arts.
It wasn't intentional—his mastery of these techniques had reached such a profound level that their essence began to unconsciously seep into the surrounding environment, drawing upon the power of heaven and earth to nurture his own spirit, energy, and vitality.
At the same time, this was also part of his integration of the Seven Forbidden Techniques with his Heaven and Earth Furnace Method.
Every moment, his spirit, energy, and vitality seemed to be nurtured by the crucible of heaven and earth, increasing his cultivation speed by an additional thirty percent compared to normal training.
Keep in mind, Xu Yuan had already developed three specialized cultivation methods tailored to his own spirit, energy, and vitality. With his exceptional talent, his progress was already lightning-fast, and adding another thirty percent on top of that was nothing short of extraordinary.
Xu Yuan unleashed his blood essence, and the momentum of his spear surged.
The surrounding environment transformed dramatically.
Su Mu, whose perception of ambient energy was highly acute, immediately sensed it—the very fabric of heaven and earth seemed to have shifted ownership.
BANG!
The five tails behind Su Mu thrashed wildly. Two tails on his left simultaneously emitted light—one releasing a pure white halo, the other a seven-colored halo. These halos shot toward Xu Yuan.
At this point, the oppressive force of the Seven Forbidden Techniques finally made itself known.
Su Mu's expression changed drastically as he felt his soul power becoming uncontrollable, its usage slowed down by a factor of ten or more.
Fortunately, it wasn't completely sealed.
But even so, this suppression was already having a significant impact on the battle.
Not only his soul power—his spiritual power now felt clouded, and his perception had dropped sharply.
His gaze toward Xu Yuan was filled with wariness.
The remaining three tails swung in succession.
However, with his soul power suppressed, he could only activate one tail's soul skill at a time. The third tail waved, releasing a dark green halo that enveloped Su Mu himself.
The fourth tail swung, emitting a chaotic-colored halo—a Chaos Halo.
The fifth tail moved, releasing a black halo that rapidly expanded, engulfing the entire arena—a Gravity Halo.
Su Mu quickly unleashed his five major soul skills. Despite the severe drain on his soul power, he showed no hesitation.
If he didn't expend his soul power now, he might not get another chance later.
Thus, the first rule of fighting Xu Yuan was simple: don't hold back.
Though the total amount of his sealed soul power remained unchanged, the rate at which he could output it had decreased. If he couldn't prolong the battle indefinitely, he'd have to continuously use his soul skills to clash with Xu Yuan.
This strategy was collectively devised by the several Heavenly Kings of the Monster Academy.
Even they had never experienced the sensation of continuously unleashing soul skills mid-battle. For someone like Su Mu, who had never simultaneously activated five soul skills before, doing so now was a necessity.
The first white halo landed on the ground around Xu Yuan, forming a circle fifteen meters in diameter. The radiance it emitted condensed the surrounding air, making it viscous and heavy.
The second seven-colored halo followed closely, enveloping Xu Yuan himself.
His soul power began to slowly drain away.
Soul Power Stripping!
The rate of stripping wasn't particularly fast, but it wasn't slow either. As the battle progressed, the cumulative effect would increase, potentially influencing the outcome of the fight.
However, this was only effective against others.
Xu Yuan's spirit, energy, and vitality were unified and integrated into the forces of heaven and earth. By lightly resisting, he nullified the effects of the soul power stripping.
Su Mu's expression shifted slightly.
This was the first time he'd encountered an opponent immune to his soul power stripping.
No—it wasn't immunity. He had a countermeasure!
After a moment, his face grew even heavier with concern.
His fourth soul skill, the Chaos Halo, was also ineffective. The fluctuations of spiritual interference had no impact on Xu Yuan whatsoever.
The fifth soul skill, the Gravity Halo, seemed equally useless. Xu Yuan remained unfazed, as if nothing had happened.
"Not bad abilities," Xu Yuan commented.
He pointed his spear forward.
Crimson flames of blood essence swirled around him, flowing along the shaft of the spear and concentrating at its tip.
Blood essence erupted.
With an explosive force, the rare metal platform beneath Xu Yuan's feet warped instantly. Like an arrow released from a bowstring, he shot forward as a streak of light.
His speed appeared completely unaffected by the combined effects of the Slowing Halo and Gravity Halo.
A fierce pressure approached. Su Mu poured all his soul power into the third tail, causing the dark green halo around him to shine brilliantly.
Block!
He absolutely had to block it.
Su Mu stared intently at Xu Yuan, watching as the tip of his spear struck the Reversal Halo.
The Reversal Halo could reflect any damage back at the enemy, as long as it didn't exceed Su Mu's capacity to withstand it.
This was Su Mu's strongest defensive soul skill and the cornerstone of his reputation as the Fox King.
A turtle-shell defense paired with soul power stripping—this was his go-to battle strategy.
Despite being a Nine-Tailed Fox, his tactics were rather unorthodox.
But there was no helping it. His Nine-Tailed Fox hadn't yet evolved to its peak state. At the five-tail stage, his abilities were strong but not overwhelmingly so, forcing him to rely on combinations of skills.
True offensive capabilities would only emerge at the ninth ring.
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