The Tai family's Martial Soul had also been passed down through generations. He wanted to see just how his father could counter Tang San—the very opponent who had beaten him so completely he couldn't fight back.
As time wore on, Tai Nuo was growing increasingly impatient. Fighting Tang San already carried the stigma of an adult bullying a youth, and now that he still couldn't take him down after so long, where would he save face?
Suddenly, Tai Nuo stopped chasing Tang San. He threw his head back and let out a thunderous roar. "Source of Strength!"
His third Soul Ring—and his first thousand-year Soul Ring—flared with brilliant purple light. He had finally unleashed one of his more powerful Soul Skills.
His body, already massive as a mountain, seemed to swell even larger. Veins bulged beneath his skin like writhing serpents. Around Tai Nuo's body, a vortex of raw force seemed to kick up in the air. With him at its center, the surrounding atmosphere grew visibly heavier.
The moment Tang San saw Tai Nuo stop, he immediately grew cautious, watching the man quietly. A gradually intensifying golden-purple glow began to surface in his eyes.
"Roar—!" Tai Nuo suddenly raised his right foot and slammed it down onto the ground.
A terrifying scene unfolded. The earth shuddered violently, as if the entirety of Heaven Dou City trembled along with it. A crack raced across the surface at blinding speed, reaching Tang San's feet in the blink of an eye. Everywhere the crack passed, loose stone was hurled skyward by the savage shockwave, shooting straight up dozens of meters into the air. In other words, anyone standing along that line who was caught by the spreading fissure would be engulfed by a devastating attack.
Such tremendous power—so force could be used this way too. The thought flickered through Tang San's mind in an instant, and his body had already shifted rapidly sideways. He knew full well that his Soul Power was vastly inferior to his opponent's. Even having opened one of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, there was no way he could go head-to-head with Tai Nuo. All he could do now was dodge. Tai Nuo's approach allowed him to project destructive force at range, but it also undoubtedly burned through his Soul Power at an even greater rate.
The repeated detonations kept the ground shaking. Fissure after fissure surged toward Tang San in a frenzy. Tai Nuo's attacks came in rapid succession, but Tang San dodged even faster. His agile figure darted across the battlefield like a butterfly threading through flowers—advancing, retreating, weaving—as the terrifying shockwaves rushed past him on all sides, never once managing to land a hit.
"Slippery little brat!" Tai Nuo cursed angrily. As a strength-type Soul Master, the kind he despised most were agility-attack specialists. Beings like him lived for head-on collisions. Facing Tang San, he possessed clearly superior strength, yet it felt like there was nowhere to direct that power—and the frustration was suffocating.
"Kid, you forced my hand. Watch my fourth Soul Skill—Tremor of Strength!"
Tai Nuo's fourth Soul Ring blazed to life. Seeing Tai Nuo's body begin to rear back, Tai Long's face drained of color. He bellowed urgently, "Everyone fall back, now!"
Tai Nuo's body coiled backward like a massive bow being drawn. Then, channeling the power of his lower back and spine, he swung both arms forward and, riding the blazing radiance of his fourth Soul Ring, drove both fists into the ground.
A deafening boom erupted. A violent shockwave detonated outward from his body in all directions, engulfing an enormous radius.
The ground had already been battered and scarred from his earlier stomps. Now, struck by this colossal force, the entire surface collapsed. Dirt, sand, and stone erupted skyward. Within a thirty-meter diameter, debris filled the air in a choking cloud. Terrifying waves of destructive force surged upward.
Fortunately, Tai Nuo still had his wits about him. He had directed his full power downward into the earth and constrained the blast radius. Otherwise, with so many onlookers nearby and not all of them capable of protecting themselves, the number of casualties would have been significant.
Even so, Tang San's body was completely enveloped within Tai Nuo's attack range. This kind of omnidirectional assault was something no movement technique could evade. Xiao Wu was already rushing forward with a cry of alarm, but Tai Nuo's power was simply too terrifying—the massive shockwave kept her locked outside the circle of destruction.
"Look, up there!" Someone suddenly shouted. The cry drew the attention of the students and Tai Nuo alike toward the sky.
High above the ground, the swirling dust was gradually settling. Descending along with it was a figure shimmering with purple light.
Eight slender lances extended from his back, their surfaces gleaming with alternating red and white radiance. Countless strands of Blue Silver Grass had coalesced behind him into a rotating umbrella formation, slowing his descent. His cold gaze remained fixed squarely on Tai Nuo. The eight long lances on his back caught the sunlight and blazed with a magnificent brilliance, giving him a strikingly otherworldly appearance.
Gasps of amazement, admiration, disbelief—a cascade of emotions rippled through the gathered students. They could all see that Tang San was a student of the academy's advanced class. To remain capable of escape after taking a full-power fourth Soul Skill from a Soul King-level Soul Master—what kind of strength was that?
If the earlier dodges had been mere technique, then what Tang San displayed now was his true power.
Tai Long's eyes went distant. In this moment, he finally understood just how vast the gap between himself and Tang San truly was. Though both of them were at level thirty-seven, the same rank did not mean the same strength.
It turned out that the instant Tang San saw Tai Nuo coil back like a drawn bow, he had instantly grasped the danger. He released his Eight Spider Lances without a moment's hesitation. All eight lances drove into the ground simultaneously, launching him skyward with their full combined force.