Chapter 30.2. The Finals
An intense, white light suddenly exploded from his body, causing his arms to simultaneously expand as he charged forward. His chest stuck out, and bone-cracking sounds rang out from every corner of his body. His muscles suddenly swelled up, causing his clothes to be stretched taut. All of his muscles were now extremely prominent, and even the air surrounding him seemed to have turned wild.
His golden hair instantly turned black and white, with the white hair taking up a majority. However, the few strands of black hair on his head were especially obvious. Four faint lines appeared on his head, forming the ‘King’ character. (王)
Of the transformations that occurred to his body, his hands had been transformed the most. They doubled in size, and white fur covered the backs of his hands. Short, dagger-like claws began to unceasingly extend and retract from his ten fingers as he moved them, and each claw—eight inches in length—was just like the edge of a knife, and flickered with a cold, ghostly light.
Dai Huabin slowly crouched forward, and his four pupils became a deep, ghostly blue, making it seem as if he were a machine specifically designed for slaughter.
Three halos of light began to slowly rise above his feet; two of them were yellow, while the other was purple. As his soul rings revolved, his surging soul power formed a wave of pressure that exploded outwards.
Huo Yuhao couldn’t help but purse his lips as he saw the White Tiger martial soul. If his martial soul hadn’t undergone a variation, he would’ve possessed a martial soul that was just like Dai Huabin’s! If he also possessed the strong White Tiger martial soul, even the wife of the White Tiger Duke wouldn’t be able to suppress him if she wanted to. Any child of the main bloodline who possessed the White Tiger would be an extremely important person who would be groomed by the clan. Furthermore, he was even the son of the White Tiger Duke, albeit a bastard child.
Various transformations had also occurred to the two girls beside Dai Huabin. The heterochromatic eyes of the black-haired girl on his left—Zhu Lu—became even deeper in colour, and her ears pricked up. Furthermore, her charming figure became even more slender and powerful. Sharp claws appeared on all ten of her fingers, and even though they weren’t as sturdy as Dai Huabin’s, they gave off an illusory sense of swiftness. Although her current speed hadn’t exceeded Dai Huabin’s, her body unexpectedly gave rise to a series of consecutive afterimages as it flickered.
The pink-haired girl, on the other hand, was even stranger. After releasing her martial soul, she seemed to have aged by three or four years, causing her originally twelve-year-old self to turn into a young lady that was filled with youthfulness. Her pink hair grew even longer, and even formed large curls at the bottom, making it look like a pink waterfall that rose into the air. Her eyes became clear and gem-like, causing her whole body to be filled with the vigor of youth. Her ears had become pointed as well, even more so than Zhu Lu’s. Furthermore, one couldn’t help but stare blankly at her perfect features. Most importantly, two long tails had appeared from her back. Each tail was around one meter long, and their thick, pink fur was illuminated by the rays of the afternoon sun, making it so that one couldn’t help but want to rub them.
Cui Yajie’s pink eyes immediately found Huo Yuhao’s, and she smiled charmingly at him. Her first soul ring quietly lit up, but the light coming from it wasn’t very obvious. If one wasn’t paying careful attention to it, it would be overlooked.
Huo Yuhao’s pale gold eyes flashed, but he remained unmoving.
Cui Yajie’s body shook, and her peerless face turned slightly pale. Her martial soul—the Ninetails Fox—was a relatively high-levelled existence among Beast Souls, and it had a few unique characteristics. It would grow a single tail for every extra soul ring she obtained, and her strength would increase accordingly. Her first soul skill was called ‘Charm’, and she’d used it on Huo Yuhao, albeit to no effect.
The Ninetails Fox was part spiritual-type and part assault-type, and she’d chosen the same path for her cultivation. However, Huo Yuhao’s Spirit Eyes were a martial soul that focused completely on the spiritual-type. Due to that, it would be hard for Cui Yajie’s Charm, which was a spiritual-type skill, to affect him.
After this brief period of time passed, both teams were now within fifty meters of each other. Thus, the speed-reducing effect of Xiao Xiao’s Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute started to show itself, causing the speed of Dai Huabin’s trio to decrease clearly. However, Zhu Lu was affected most by it; the number of afterimages she’d created decreased by two, and she didn’t seem so illusory anymore.
As the distance between them shrank, Dai Huabin’s team entered the range of Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection, causing their every move to appear as a three-dimensional image in the minds of Huo Yuhao’s team.
Dai Huabin’s team made the first move. Zhu Lu’s body flashed, causing her speed to suddenly increase. This created a series of consecutive afterimages that appeared behind her as she pounced towards Huo Yuhao. Although she was affected by the speed-reducing effect of the Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute, her speed was still as shocking as ever.
Huo Yuhao’s trio were all inwardly astonished. Before their match started, they’d heard that Zhu Lu’s martial soul was the Netherworld Civet, and that she was an Agility System Battle Soul Master. However, she was undoubtedly the quickest Agility System Soul Master they’d ever met. Were it not for the Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute’s speed-reducing effect, it would’ve been hard to even catch her shadow.
The instant Zhu Lu made her move, Dai Huabin started to go on the offensive. He roared, and in a flash, an intense white light gathered around his head as his second soul ring lit up. Right after that, a ball of white light shot towards Wang Dong. Clearly, he didn’t want to give Wang Dong any chance to save Huo Yuhao.
Cui Yajie was originally using her Charm on Huo Yuhao, but she suddenly shifted the target of her skill to Xiao Xiao.
The three of them coordinated extremely well. They each targeted a member of Huo Yuhao’s team that they had an advantage against. Cui Yajie wanted to disrupt Xiao Xiao’s Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute, giving Zhu Lu the chance to attack Huo Yuhao. Zhu Lu wanted to rely on her speed to take care of the enemy commander. On the other hand, Dai Huabin clashed against Wang Dong’s strength with his own strength.
Were it not for Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection, their team would’ve immediately suffered a loss. After all, there was a distinct gap between the two team’s cultivations. However, the foundational gap between their predictive skills changed the entire situation.
The moment Cui Yajie changed the target of her skill, Huo Yuhao made his move. However, he chose not to work together with Wang Dong. They were currently in a 3v3 match, and if he and Wang Dong joined forces against a single opponent, the remaining person would definitely cause a huge inconvenience to them.
Huo Yuhao released his Spiritual Shock. Target: Cui Yajie.
The timing of Huo Yuhao’s attack was simply too ingenious. The Skydream Iceworm had warned him of the backlash that could occur as a result of his Spiritual Shock, but Huo Yuhao had the help of his Spiritual Detection. Why would he launch an attack on an opponent who was guarding against his attacks? The instant he chose to activate his Spiritual Shock was the exact instant when Cui Yajie changed who she was targeting—the instant she used her Charm on Xiao Xiao.
Cui Yajie’s Charm and Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Shock were both spiritual-type skills, but the difference between the two skills was shown now. Cui Yajie needed visual contact for her Charm to be activated, but Huo Yuhao didn’t need anything of the sort. Furthermore, his Spiritual Shock had no activation signals.
Cui Yajie let out a muffled groan. An intense, stabbing pain suddenly filled her brain, causing her to stagger forward and nearly fall. However, her spiritual power was much greater than an ordinary Soul Grandmaster’s, and Huo Yuhao’s cultivation rank was below hers. Without the assistance of the Haodong Power, Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Shock wasn’t able to pose an enormous threat to her. However, it was still able to stop her from interrupting Xiao Xiao.