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Seeing Xiao Wu actually cry, Ye Lan chuckled. "Put away those crocodile tears. Weren't you the one who wanted to cripple me? You can start now."
"I—I didn't…!! Ye Lan, do you remember we used to be classmates?!" Xiao Wu stammered.
"The moment you fired a hidden weapon at my eyes, our 'classmate bond' ended. Now, enjoy what comes next," Ye Lan said.
"Flash!!"
Ye Lan's speed spiked by one hundred and fifty percent. He turned into a streak of gold and appeared before Xiao Wu in an instant.
Xiao Wu's mouth fell open in shock. Was this speed something a mere Soul Elder could explode with?
A golden meteor smashed into her lower abdomen. Power detonated inside her belly.
Urgh!!
Her stomach heaved uncontrollably; bile and acid spewed up her throat.
With a look of disdain, Ye Lan unfolded a Perfect Water Shield, keeping her vomit from touching him.
Watching Xiao Wu handled so savagely, Tang San felt his heart shatter.
"Xiao Wu!!!" he cried in anguish.
Yu Xiaogang saw Tang San's collapse, patted his shoulder, and—for once—didn't know what to say.
Hearing Tang San's sobbing, Ye Lan knew he'd done it right.
He hadn't waited for Tang San to step onto the stage to reveal his true strength. Once Xiao Wu got hurt, Tang San would inevitably lose control and charge up to avenge her.
So the moment Xiao Wu made it onto the platform—and even proposed that ridiculous no-surrender clause—he no longer needed to hide.
While Ye Lan savored Tang San's pain, Xiao Wu seized her chance: her scorpion-tail braid snapped forward and coiled around Ye Lan's neck.
Her first soul ring lit with yellow light—Waist Bow—doubling her core waist strength by one hundred and thirty percent.
Leverage gained through the braid, Xiao Wu was just about to swing her thighs up to clamp Ye Lan's neck—
Ye Lan glanced at her legs with open distaste. He had no mood to admire them.
For a rabbit spirit who constantly caused trouble and picked fights like Xiao Wu, Ye Lan felt nothing but loathing.
Even faced with a pair of "perfect legs," his heart didn't ripple—if anything, it recoiled.
As her thighs closed in, golden light surged in Ye Lan's chest.
"Solar Furnace!!"
A brilliant white soul glow burst from him. He converted Blue Silver Grass into pure, ultimate radiance, fused it with soul power projection, and unleashed a violent shockwave from his sternum.
Bong!!
Xiao Wu was blasted dozens of meters away!
Just as she was about to fly off the stage, Ye Lan stacked Flash with Sound-Shift, vanishing and reappearing behind her. A golden crescent kick sent her arcing back into the center of the arena.
Bang!!
Like a broken doll, Xiao Wu had no strength to resist.
Ye Lan flashed into the air and unfolded Ancient Beast's Touch—Form II: Waterflame, using the shockwave buoyancy to hover.
He didn't even look at Xiao Wu on the floor; he stared instead—coldly—at the crumbling Tang San.
Tang San's eyes were blood-red, whites veined with crimson; two trails of blood-tears streaked down his face.
He'd broken his vow—again.
He had sworn to protect Xiao Wu, to keep her from the slightest harm.
But as she screamed in pain on the stage, he could do nothing.
Tang San watched, helpless, as Ye Lan drifted toward Xiao Wu.
Behind Ye Lan, the eight waves of blue-silver waterflame darkened into eight pitch-black tendrils.
Several of those black tendrils hoisted Xiao Wu aloft. They coiled around her body, binding every limb and curve, leaving only her head exposed.
"No!! You can't hurt Xiao Wu!!" Tang San broke down.
Ye Lan ignored him. The tendril coiled around Xiao Wu's right arm tightened—blood spurted through the gaps in the binding.
"Ahhhh!!!"
Xiao Wu's mouth opened in a howl. Her arm—unbearably, blindingly—hurt.
Hearing her scream, Tang San sobbed, shouting, "I surrender!! Shrek Academy surrenders!!!"
The referee replied, stone-cold, "Surrender invalid. In this bout, surrender is not permitted."
Ye Lan's voice turned mocking. "Little San, think of the bigger picture. The more soul power I burn now, the better your chances to beat me later, no?"
Tang San's face went corpse-white. Those were his exact words to Tailong.
"Xiao Wu is different!!!" he roared.
"Oh? You mean Xiao Wu is more important than Tailong?" Ye Lan asked mildly—then the tendril around her other arm squeezed. Fresh blood sprayed.
Xiao Wu screamed again, writhing in agony.
Tens of thousands of spectators roared without pause.
"Lord Ye!!"
"Lord Ye!!"
"Good hit!! All of Shrek must pay!!"
"How can Tailong compare to Xiao Wu!!! Ye Lan, I'm begging you—we surrender!!" Tang San fell to his knees and pleaded.
The rest of Shrek felt a tangle of emotions—Ma Hongjun and Tailong, newly conscious; Jiangzhu; Jingling; and the others.
So they had all been nothing but tools for Tang San.
Unable to watch Xiao Wu's torment any longer, Liu Erlong erupted:
"Ye Lan, stop right there!! I forbid you to hurt Xiao Wu!!!"
Her martial soul erupted. She was about to charge the stage—
Snap!
Twin auras of crushing pressure slammed her flat. The marble floor split into a dragon-shaped trench several meters long.
Sensing that oppressive might, Flender—who had also been ready to move—froze on the spot.
Those two pressures came from none other than the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect's Supreme Elders:
Sword Douluo, Chen Xin.
Bone Douluo, Gu Rong.
An old man with white hair and another with black, both long-haired, gazed down at Liu Erlong with icy indifference.
Chen Xin said, "No one interferes with the Ranking Tournament. Understood?"
Flender bowed hastily. "Honored Sword Douluo, Shrek understands! Erlong only lost her head for a moment—Xiao Wu is her god-daughter, after all."
"Then let her stay down a while longer," Sword Douluo replied, ignoring the flattery as his soul pressure pressed on.
Feeling Grandpa Sword stand up for him, warmth flickered in Ye Lan's chest.
He glanced at the woman embedded in the "dragon trench," then spoke: "When Xiao Wu crippled members of the Heaven Dou Second Team, where was your heartache then? Were they not someone else's precious children? Since when is it 'Xiao Wu may bully others, but others may not touch Xiao Wu'?"
"Let me be clear, Shrek—if you choose to cripple others, be ready to be crippled yourselves."
"He who kills shall be killed in turn!!"
Six tendrils of the Ancient Beast's Touch tightened at once; blood exploded everywhere.
Xiao Wu let out a single scream—and fainted dead away.
Ye Lan tossed her limp body like a rag doll, dropping her before the Shrek crowd.
Gu Rong chuckled. "Little Lan speaks rightly: he who kills shall be killed. The moment you chose to lay hands on the Heaven Dou Second Team, you should have expected a day like this."
"And I doubt the Second Team was the only squad you ruined, was it, Flender?"
Flender, sweating buckets, ducked his head. "We wouldn't dare, we wouldn't dare!"
Before the Sword and Bone Douluo of the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect, the "Golden Iron Triangle" didn't even think of resisting.
Yu Xiaogang could only look at Liu Erlong—pinned in the trench—with aching heart, head bowed and trembling, not daring to utter a word of protest.
He knew that in the eyes of these Super Douluo, a "Grandmaster" below Level Thirty was a joke.
Kneeling by the rivulet of blood, Tang San broke apart. "Jiangzhu!! Heal her, now!!"
"O-okay!" Jiangzhu fumbled to activate her third soul skill.
Green soul light swept out; Xiao Wu's bleeding slowly stopped.
Seeing the injury stabilize, Tang San wiped nose and tears, then took one step after another toward the stage.
"Little San, don't go!!" Yu Xiaogang cried anxiously.
Tang San ignored him. His irises had turned pitch-black.
Staring at Ye Lan, he spoke one word at a time: "Ye Lan, the worst mistake of your life… was hurting Xiao Wu."
"I'll crush your bones—inch by inch!!"
Ye Lan's lips curled. "Let's hope your strength is as hard as your mouth. Don't bore me."
"If either of us surrenders, he's a grandson!" Tang San snarled.
"No interest in being your grandpa," Ye Lan said blandly.
"Referee. Begin the match," Ye Lan added.
"The final bout of the Heaven Dou Empire Ranking Tournament!" the referee proclaimed. "Tang San—martial soul, Blue Silver Grass—Level Forty-Two, 'Must-Kill Type' Soul Sect… versus the 'Azure Emperor' Ye Lan—martial soul, Blue Silver Grass—Level Thirty-Eight, Life-type Soul Elder!"
"This much-anticipated clash of Blue Silver Grass—who will claim the crown?! Let's wait and see!"
At the words "Must-Kill Type Soul Sect," Ye Lan burst out laughing.
"Must-Kill Type? More like Sha-bi Type." He laughed aloud.
"Sha-bi? What do you mean? 'Must-Kill Type' is the title my teacher gave me! I'll show you what 'Must-Kill' really means!" Tang San didn't understand the slang, nor why Ye Lan was laughing.
"Your teacher is also sha-bi—aping forms without substance," Ye Lan said.
(Calling it "Must-Kill Type" doesn't make you an instant killer. Yu Xiaogang really is half a bucket of water.)
"What sha-bi?" Tang San muttered in confusion. Seeing Ye Lan ignore him, he forced himself to calm down.
Facing Ye Lan, he had to be calm.
Otherwise, his revenge for Xiao Wu—and the chance to trample Ye Lan in front of the world—would turn into a joke.
How much soul power did Ye Lan still have? After watching him brutalize Xiao Wu, Tang San couldn't judge.
Ye Lan's burst speed was simply too terrifying. Fortunately, with Purple Demon Eye, Tang San could still track him.
Otherwise, he'd never have risked stepping up.
He believed his advantages were Dark Blue Silver Grass, ten-thousand-year soul bone, Eight Spider Lances, and the Clear Sky Hammer paired with Chaotic Cloak technique.
Without hidden weapons, those four together elevated him to near top-tier Soul King strength.
To guard against a sudden speed burst, black soul light rippled over Tang San. Fine strands of Dark Blue Silver Grass layered over his body like armor.
That way, even if Ye Lan suddenly exploded toward him, he could counter through his "Dark Blue Silver."
As the dark strands wrapped him, his first and fourth soul rings flared yellow and purple.
"Blue Silver Bind!!"
"Blue Silver Prison!!"
A mass of Dark Blue Silver shot up beneath Ye Lan's feet. A one-meter-wide, two-meter-tall prison of blue-black vines snapped shut around him.
Ye Lan didn't even consider dodging.
In his eyes, this "Dark Blue Silver" was a joke.
Even the Blue Silver Emperor must bow before the Plant Emperor—let alone some mere mutant Blue Silver.
Seeing Ye Lan engulfed, Tang San howled in triumph, "Die!!!"
He drove the Dark Blue Silver to inject the Man-Faced Demon Spider's poison into Ye Lan's body.
Countless needle-fine barbs pierced Ye Lan's skin.
Black venom surged into him—and vanished like drops into a boundless sea, leaving the ocean unchanged.
Still uneasy, Tang San detonated his ten-thousand-year left leg bone.
A wash of viridian poison mist blasted from his mouth, drowning the Dark Blue Silver prison.
Watching his vines and soul-bone toxin swallow Ye Lan, Tang San barked a mad laugh. "Hahaha! Ye Lan—now you know what a 'Must-Kill Type' Soul Master is! Rot into sludge for me!"
Inside the dark prison, Ye Lan merely felt a faint dizziness—like drinking fake liquor.
A single pulse of ultimate life-attribute soul power in his core, and every trace of Man-Faced Demon Spider venom—and the ten-thousand-year bone toxin—was erased without remainder.
At the same time, golden light speared through the gaps in the Dark Blue Silver.
The instant Blue Silver—Luminous Living Spirit surged out of Ye Lan—
—the taut vines turned flaccid.
Bang!!
Dark strands exploded into sooty chaff; the prison unraveled; the mutant vines prostrated themselves, bowing at Ye Lan's feet.
"So this is your 'Must-Kill Type'? Truly sha-bi," Ye Lan said coolly.
"Why… why aren't you poisoned?!!"
Even as Tang San reeled at Ye Lan's immunity, a more terrifying truth struck him:
His Blue Silver Grass… was kneeling to Ye Lan.
"N-No… impossible!! My Blue Silver can't be this weak!!" he screamed, breaking down.
"Showing off your axe before Lu Ban. Playing with Blue Silver… in front of me? Come back after you've cultivated for a hundred thousand years," Ye Lan smiled.
Clutching his face with both hands, Tang San drew ragged breaths, trying to steady himself.
He simply couldn't accept that, even after evolving into Dark Blue Silver, his spirit behaved so lowly before Ye Lan.
Was his Blue Silver truly that base?
Why was Ye Lan's Blue Silver the nobler one?
For Xiao Wu's sake, he crushed the shock down.
A few breaths later, composed at last, eight pitch-black lances sprang from Tang San's back.
Eight Spider Lances. The instant they appeared, his attack power rose by fifty percent.
Using four lances as stilts, Tang San hovered two and a half meters up, looking down at Ye Lan. Then he lunged, driving the Eight Spider Lances to blitz him.
"Oh? Sorry, I've got a set too," Ye Lan smiled.
Eight black tendrils unfurled from his back. His soul power rose by fifty percent on the spot, pushing his total above Tang San's.
Four tendrils snapped forward to meet Tang San's charge.
Purple intent flooded Tang San's eyes—the Purple Demon Eye tracked every arc of Ancient Beast's Touch. He matched four tendrils with four lances.
For a time, unyielding Eight Spider Lances clashed with preternaturally soft-yet-hard, whip-like Ancient Beast's Touch.
Ye Lan opened his Golden Pupils, weaving the tendrils to parry and strike in perfect rhythm.
Bang! Bang! Bang!!
Deadlock—for a moment. Four lances and four tendrils blurred into eight black afterimages, colliding again and again.
Below, Bone Douluo watched and sighed. "Truly a new generation surpasses the old. Two top-grade external soul bones at once in this year's Continental Elite Tournament—and both wielded by Blue Silver spirit masters."
Sword Douluo only cast a single glance and said, "If Tang San hadn't met Little Lan, he might have led his generation. But this era belongs to Little Lan. Tang San is already giving everything he has—and still can't take him."
Yu Xiaogang bristled at that—but didn't dare contradict Sword Douluo outright. He said, a shade too politely:
"Honored Sword Douluo, I can't quite agree. Aren't they evenly matched right now? How can you say Little San is already at his limit and can't win?"
Sword Douluo recalled Ye Lan's battle with the Eris Symbiont, smiled faintly, and said nothing.
Sure enough, the flow turned exactly as he'd foreseen. The duel's balance tilted—hard.
Arms folded, Ye Lan watched sweat bead on Tang San's brow.
A blood-hued aura seeped over the Ancient Beast's Touch. With Blood Armor activated,
its defense and attack frequency spiked sharply.
To keep up with the rainstorm assault of four tendrils, Tang San had to give up hovering. He retracted his "stilts," planted his feet, and committed all eight lances to defense.
"From this angle, you really are easier on the eyes," Ye Lan drawled from above.
Tang San ground his teeth. He hadn't expected his vaunted Eight Spider Lances to be completely suppressed by Ye Lan's tendrils.
Something was wrong—had to be!
His lances came from the sovereign Man-Faced Demon Spider. No matter how fine Ye Lan's external bone, at best it should be equal—right?
Yet reality forced him to use eight lances to fend off four tendrils.
He didn't understand how absurd Ye Lan's library of self-created soul skills truly was.
Stolen techniques alone could never bridge that gap.
Having had his fun, Ye Lan freed two more tendrils. Six black whips hammered straight for Tang San's chest.
Faced with sixfold force, Tang San could only stack all eight lances into a single barricade.
Boom!
The eight lances couldn't withstand the combined strike. They buckled, snapping back into Tang San's chest.
Power detonated through his heartspace—he was blasted more than twenty meters away!
Staring up at the dim ceiling, Tang San coughed blood and forced himself up.
"Surrender," Ye Lan said with a sneer. "I'll reluctantly accept a grandson like you."
"No. I won't surrender—not even if I die!!" Tang San glared, eyes burning.
Surrender, and he truly would be Ye Lan's "grandson."
Even if Blue Silver failed, even if the Eight Spider Lances failed—he still had the Clear Sky Hammer!
"Come, hammer!!" Tang San roared.
A small black hammer appeared in his palm. Countless eyes fixed on it.
This was the hammer that had felled Feng Xiaotian in a single blow.
Gu Rong murmured, "Interesting. Is the Clear Sky Sect stepping onto the stage?"
Chen Xin was indifferent. "No hammer will help. Little Lan and Tang San are simply not in the same class. I hear the Star Luo Empire fields an all-Soul King team—only a lineup like that might force Little Lan to go all out."
Yu Xiaogang's face drained. "An all-Soul King team?! That many geniuses—how is that possible?!"
"Xiaogang, you don't think Tang San is the only genius in the world, do you?" Chen Xin replied.
About the newly emerged Myriad Beasts Sect, Chen Xin wasn't deeply informed—Seven Treasures Glazed Sect influence didn't extend through Star Luo. But learning of an all-Soul King team wasn't difficult; the Myriad Beasts Academy squad was the hottest name in Star Luo.
Seeing Tang San summon the Clear Sky Hammer, Ye Lan decided to give him a little shock.
Golden soul light flared across his body; around the stage, thirty-six massive Golden-Veined Galaxy Vines erupted from the ground.
Each combat Blue Silver unit he summoned now carried eight hundred percent of a base Blue Silver's life force.
Bathed in gold, a second radiance—emerald—exploded from Ye Lan. A verdant domain washed over the entire arena.
Nature Domain boosted Blue Silver life again by fifty percent—now twelve hundred percent of base.
Ultimate Water trait—activate!
Blue Silver life doubled once more—up to two thousand four hundred percent of base!
His third soul ring glowed violet-black. Inwardly, Ye Lan whispered: Life-Link.
The life force of all thirty-six combat Blue Silvers flowed into him.
At this moment, Ye Lan possessed life force equal to his own plus eighty-six thousand four hundred percent of a base Blue Silver's life stacked atop it!!
A health bar of despair appeared above Ye Lan's head.
He shifted that impossible bar onto a single combat Blue Silver.
Now, Ye Lan could eat the full strike of a peak Soul Emperor without flinching.
Even a Soul Sage's blows—he could tank a few.
In the span of a blink, his life amplification was complete.
Unaware of any of this, Tang San's feet flashed with white light—Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step flowed under him.
His silhouette flickered, weaving left and right, trying to avoid the Galaxy Vines that laced the floor.
Ye Lan didn't care. He let Tang San come.
Feeling himself draw near, Tang San didn't think—he only believed in one thing: smash Ye Lan.
He poured soul power into the Clear Sky Hammer; the small black head swelled to watermelon size.
"Die!!!"
He leapt high, bringing the gigantic hammer down on Ye Lan.
The force compressed the air into a gale before the hammerface, blasting Ye Lan's golden bangs back.
Hands clasped behind his back, Ye Lan watched the Clear Sky Hammer descend.
DOOOOM!!!
At the instant of impact, a shockwave rippled from center stage to the stands, snapping clothes like flags.
Ye Lan stood—untouched.
Behind him, one combat Blue Silver ruptured in an instant—then regrew just as quickly.
"Didn't eat enough this morning? Is that all you've got?" Ye Lan said lightly.
(End of Chapter)