Chapter 68: First Victory Over Tang San
As the two fought fiercely with punches and kicks, Tang San suddenly changed his stance. Countless Blue Silver Grasses shot up from the ground, quickly wrapping around Yang Xiong from all directions. This was Tang San's first soul skill: Bind.
Clearly, after fighting for so long, Tang San realized that he probably couldn't win through technique alone, so he began using his soul skills to attack.
The onlookers were a bit puzzled. Why had Tang San fought Yang Xiong for so long without using his soul skills? Was he concerned about something, or did he have another plan?
Even though Yang Xiong reacted incredibly quickly, he found himself surrounded by Blue Silver Grass, especially as the grass seemed to act like a poisonous snake. The grass's resilience had increased significantly, and it now exerted a very strong binding force.
Moreover, the Blue Silver Grass seemed to have developed some kind of tendrils, which poked into Yang Xiong's skin. However, they were blocked by the silver skin covering his body, like striking iron—unable to penetrate.
Yang Xiong let out a furious roar. His silver aura exploded from his body, and he detonated with such force that the Blue Silver Grass wrapped around him was shattered.
But to his surprise, after the Blue Silver Grass was shattered, it released some kind of toxin, which caused a brief feeling of dizziness.
Tang San was overjoyed and quickly attacked again, clearly thinking that Yang Xiong had been poisoned.
However, Tang San was too quick to rejoice. The toxin from the Blue Silver Grass had no effect on Yang Xiong, considering his body had gone through the Ice Fire Refining Body process.
The moment Tang San approached, Yang Xiong launched a sudden attack, landing a heavy punch directly into Tang San's chest. Tang San was sent flying over ten meters, crashing into the ground and creating a small pit about a meter deep.
After a few seconds, Tang San quickly climbed up from the ground, a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth.
Tang San was a bit confused. "Yang Xiong, my Blue Silver Grass is toxic. How could you not be poisoned? How is that possible?"
Yang Xiong smiled. "Sorry, Tang San, I've been refining my body since I was young, and I've been exposed to all sorts of toxins. The Blue Silver Grass's toxin has no effect on me."
Tang San smiled back. "Yang Xiong, your combat ability is even stronger than I expected, especially your physical quality. I admit that I'm not as good as you in that regard, but you made one mistake."
Yang Xiong was a bit puzzled, when suddenly, he felt a fluctuation of soul power around him. Countless Blue Silver Grasses quickly grew from the ground and instantly wrapped around his entire body.
This was Tang San's second soul skill: Parasite. Tang San hadn't used his first soul skill to knock him down but had instead been preparing to release parasitic spores. Only now, after waiting, had he activated it, clearly intending to take Yang Xiong down.
Countless Blue Silver Grasses surrounded Yang Xiong, wrapping him completely like being trapped in a sea of grass. The Blue Silver Grasses even grew spikes, seemingly ready to pierce through Yang Xiong's skin.
Tang San increased his soul power, and the Blue Silver Grass became dense, forming a massive sphere.
Tang San laughed. "Yang Xiong, you've been completely wrapped up by my Blue Silver Grass. It's time to admit defeat."
But just at that moment, Yang Xiong's body suddenly disappeared from the Blue Silver Grass and appeared in front of Tang San in an instant. He threw a powerful punch directly at Tang San.
Even though Tang San reacted quickly and used his Xuanjade Hand to block Yang Xiong's attack, the punch's force was overwhelming, and Tang San was sent flying once again.
Yang Xiong looked at Tang San, whose mouth was bleeding, and shook his head. "Tang San, you never used soul skills to attack me because you knew I could teleport, right? If you had kept fighting with just your body and techniques, I wouldn't have been able to injure you so easily. But using two soul skills in a row has drained your soul power and stamina. Your body can't keep up with my speed anymore."
Tang San wiped the blood from his mouth. "That's right. I didn't use soul skills because I knew you could teleport. I never expected that the spores I released would trap your entire body. Even in that situation, you could still teleport out. Looks like I underestimated you."
"But what I didn't expect was how much stronger your skin and defense are than I imagined. I thought the Blue Silver Grass would pierce your skin, and even if your defense was strong, the toxin would still drain your soul power."
Yang Xiong smiled. "I told you before, I can be both a powerful attacker and a sensitive attacker. I'm also a defensive-type soul master. For defensive soul masters, this toxin is nothing to me."
"Now that you've used two soul skills in a row, your remaining soul power is probably low."
Tang San's face showed determination. "Although my soul power consumption is much higher than yours, don't forget I still have my third soul skill."
With that, Tang San's third soul ring flashed, and countless Blue Silver Grasses appeared, stretching across an area of several dozen meters. The Blue Silver Grass seemed to cover almost the entire battle arena, even surrounding Tang San himself within the attack range.
This was Tang San's third soul skill: Blue Silver Hurricane Array.
Tang San's intent was clear. He was clearly trying to use all his soul power in one final strike. If Yang Xiong teleported out of this area, it would be the same as admitting defeat.
Countless Blue Silver Grasses rushed toward Yang Xiong. The speed of the Blue Silver Grass was much faster than before, and the sharpness of each tendril's tip was strikingly deadly, resembling the forelegs of a Hurricane Mantis, like scythes.
Tang San's Blue Silver Grass was now thicker and more aggressive, with more of it surrounding him.
Yang Xiong's lips curled into a smile, his entire body turning silver. His skin and muscles transformed entirely into silver, and with a series of powerful punches, he struck at the oncoming Blue Silver Grass.
Countless Blue Silver Grasses were shattered by Yang Xiong's attacks, but more Blue Silver Grass rushed toward him. This move turned out to be more formidable than Yang Xiong had imagined. Even his silver fists had faint scratches, proving the Blue Silver Grass had indeed become extremely sharp, influenced by the Hurricane Mantis.
The third soul skill of Blue Silver Grass was certainly powerful. Even though Dai Mubai had used both the White Tiger Body Shield and White Tiger Vajra Transformation, he had still failed to stop Tang San's attack.
But at that moment, Yang Xiong suddenly disappeared, appearing in front of Tang San.
Tang San seemed prepared. All the Blue Silver Grass around him quickly attacked, even tearing through the air with a sound.
But Yang Xiong was unafraid. This time, he didn't use his usual brute force with his fists. Instead, he quickly condensed countless amounts of soul power in his hands, forming a blue orb—this was the Spiral Pill.
But unlike his usual use of the Spiral Pill, this time it was much larger. If the previous Spiral Pills were about 15 centimeters, this one was about the size of a basketball.
The Spiral Pill collided with the Blue Silver Hurricane Array. Countless Blue Silver Grasses were immediately destroyed. Even though Tang San used his Xuanjade Hands to block it desperately, even his Xuanjade Hands were shattered. Tang San was struck by Yang Xiong's Spiral Pill and sent crashing into the ground, spitting blood.
The Blue Silver Grass around them lost control and began to dissipate, as Tang San, the user of the skill, had been injured and nearly fainted.
Yu Xiaogang and Xiao Wu quickly rushed to Tang San's side, with Yu Xiaogang's face showing anger.
"Yang Xiong, why did you go so hard on him in a battle between classmates?"
Yang Xiong glanced at Yu Xiaogang. "Master, I held back in the last strike. Otherwise, Tang San wouldn't have just sustained these injuries."
Yu Xiaogang seemed unwilling. "Have you forgotten that Tang San still hasn't used his external spirit bone? Otherwise, it would have been much harder for you to hurt him or defeat him."
Yang Xiong replied, "Master, I suggest you don't say such things. Tang San's external spirit bone hasn't fully merged. Using it recklessly might attract unwanted attention, and it could be dangerous. You should know the value of external spirit bones."
Before Yu Xiaogang could respond, Tang San had already gritted his teeth and stood up.
"Teacher, there's no need to say anything. This time, I lost. Yang Xiong, although I lost to you this time, next time I won't lose so easily."
Yang Xiong smiled. "I'm looking forward to our next battle. Honestly, with your strength, if you weren't exhausted, you probably could have blocked my final attack earlier."
Tang San seemed to realize something. "So you've been wearing me down the whole time, and you only used your final move after I used my third soul skill, expecting that I couldn't take your attack when I was at my full power?"
Yang Xiong nodded. "In terms of combat skills, you're obviously stronger than me, especially with your self-created soul skills. It wouldn't have been hard for you to block my final attack if you hadn't used your soul skills. But once you did, your soul power would be consumed much faster than mine."
Tang San smiled wryly. "I understand now. You calculated that my soul power would be insufficient, so you only fought me with your body skills."
Yang Xiong shook his head. "It's not like that. When it comes to offensive skills, I still can't match you. My physical combat is my strength, but you're more familiar with your Blue Silver Grass and self-created soul skills."
"And even though our soul powers are different, there's still a significant gap in our soul skills. No matter what method you use, you'll eventually fall into my rhythm, especially since your Blue Silver Grass can't break my defenses."
Tang San had a face full of reluctance but accepted the result. He didn't argue anymore.
After Yang Xiong returned to the group, Yu Xiaogang hurriedly asked Tang San, "Little San, how are your injuries? Will there be any serious problems? Let me take you for treatment."
Tang San shook his head. "Teacher, I'm fine. Yang Xiong definitely held back in his final strike, or I would have had more injuries. Although I look messy, I didn't suffer any heavy wounds."
After some rest, Tang San returned to the group.
The others looked at Yang Xiong, who seemed completely calm, and they were all quite puzzled.
After such a fierce battle, even though he had been knocked down several times by Tang San, Yang Xiong didn't look injured at all, and he didn't seem to have exhausted much soul power. It was as if the whole battle hadn't been a big deal for him.
Especially with Yang Xiong's exaggerated combat ability, it was somewhat terrifying. After all, Tang San had defeated Dai Mubai and was among the strongest Soul Elders.
Dai Mubai's face was extremely grim. He understood Tang San's strength better than anyone. But Yang Xiong had easily defeated Tang San, which meant Yang Xiong's combat ability far surpassed his, even though Dai Mubai was at level 37, a full ten levels higher than Yang Xiong.
What was even more surprising was that Yang Xiong hadn't used a single soul skill during the entire battle. What would happen if he released a soul skill?
(END CHAPTER)
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