At that moment, Dai Mubai was suddenly stunned to discover that the coldness always present in Zhu Zhuqing's eyes seemed to have vanished. Her gaze as she looked at him carried a hint of blankness, along with a trace of some indescribable emotion.
Two figures finally merged at the very instant the enemy attacks arrived. The aura of the Evil-Eyed White Tiger and the Nether Spirit Cat fused completely as one. In the next heartbeat, everyone across the entire arena felt the overwhelming wave of energy ripple outward.
A Martial Soul Fusion Technique was never a simple matter of one plus one equaling two. Even two completely identical Martial Souls might not necessarily be capable of producing a Fusion Technique. What was required was perfect complementarity and flawless harmony. When a Martial Soul Fusion Technique was successfully activated, the power it displayed far surpassed the combined ranks of the two Soul Masters — it was something that transcended them entirely.
In the instant of their fusion, the bodies of both Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing vanished. What remained on the dueling platform was a single enormous White Tiger. The tiger's body was entirely translucent, with white fur marked by black stripes and a pair of purple, twin-pupiled eyes. It gazed coldly at the oncoming attacks rushing toward it.
The Black Panther Soul Master Ausuo's panther shadow clone was the first to reach the translucent White Tiger. Compared to the tiger's colossal form — over eight meters long and more than two meters tall — it looked utterly insignificant.
The Nether White Tiger simply raised its right paw and slowly brought it down. With a muffled thump, the faintly purple panther-shaped shadow dissolved into countless motes of light and scattered into nothingness. The Nether White Tiger's translucent body merely swayed slightly. In the next instant, it transformed into a streak of brilliant light and plunged headlong into the raging sea of lightning, surging forward through the storm of thunderbolts.
As the massive White Tiger flashed in that brief moment, it raised its head with regal pride, its haughty, sky-gazing bearing fully displaying the magnificence of a sovereign beast — the undisputed king among all creatures.
The White Dove Soul Master Doudou in the sky had been struck dumb. Every member of the Imperial Battle Team froze for a heartbeat.
BOOM ——
Two figures were sent hurtling backward simultaneously. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Soul Master, Yu Tianheng, was already coughing up torrents of blood in midair. The arm that had been reconnected under the Nine Heart Begonia's effect was broken once again.
His teammate Ausuo fared no better. He had already suffered Soul Power backlash when his third Soul Skill was shattered, and under the Nether White Tiger's sudden eruption, he spat blood and lost consciousness in midair. Fortunately, his own Soul Power was not weak, and he hadn't sustained the kind of devastating prior injuries that Yu Tianheng had. Otherwise, the situation would have been far worse.
The Nether White Tiger vanished the instant its strike was delivered. Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing reappeared on the dueling platform at the same time.
Zhu Zhuqing had completely exhausted her Soul Power and collapsed unconscious directly in Dai Mubai's arms. Dai Mubai himself was in no better shape — having activated the Martial Soul Fusion Technique, all of the supplementary energy from his White Tiger Diamond Transformation had been drained. He was now in a state of skill backlash and had lost all ability to fight. Still, they had succeeded in defeating both the Black Panther Soul Master and the opposing team captain, Yu Tianheng.
Dai Mubai was certain that even the Nine Heart Begonia, miraculous as it was, could not possibly restore those two to fighting condition under these circumstances.
His Soul Power utterly spent, the poison-resistant effect of Oscar's Little Sausage was gradually wearing off as well. Dai Mubai was swaying unsteadily in the toxic mist. At this moment, both Oscar and Ning Rongrong were sheltered under Ma Hongjun's protection, completely unable to send him a Little Sausage to counteract the poison.
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul truly deserved its reputation as one of the most formidable Beast Martial Souls. Despite having sustained devastating injuries twice, Yu Tianheng still had not lost consciousness — though he lay on the ground and simply could not force himself to rise.
What chilled him to the very bone, however, was the battle taking place at the center of the dueling platform: the Shi brothers against the opposing Control-type Soul Master, Thousand Hand Asura.
Tang San gently laid Xiao Wu flat on the dueling platform. Xiao Wu's face was now as pale as gold paper. Although Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Skill — orthodox Daoist internal energy — had helped expel the foreign force that had invaded her body, her meridians and internal organs had suffered severe trauma, and three of her external wounds cut deep enough to expose bone. Had Tang San not promptly sealed the blood vessels at her wound sites, blood loss alone would have claimed her life.
Slowly straightening his body to face the two Black Tortoise Soul Masters bearing down on him, Tang San's expression beneath the Shrek mask betrayed nothing. But his eyes — the only part of his face visible to the enemy — had begun to glow with a faint red light.
Rip ——
Tang San's upper garment disintegrated under the force of his Soul Power, scattering into countless fluttering fragments. Anyone watching from behind him could clearly see eight distinct bulges rapidly rising from the center of his spine. In the next moment, eight strange appendages of Blue Silver Grass burst from his back and unfurled at lightning speed.
These eight strands of "Blue Silver Grass" were unlike any ordinary manifestation. They shimmered with a deep purple luster, gleaming brilliantly under the arena lights. They were none other than the external spirit bone — the Eight Spider Lances.
With the appearance of the Eight Spider Lances, the Soul Power fluctuations emanating from Tang San's body underwent a subtle but distinct change. His entire aura seemed to grow markedly colder, and the temperature around his body dropped noticeably. A thin layer of faint purple mist clung to the Eight Spider Lances.