This battle was destined to be a head-on clash from the very start.
When the Sea Lance Douluo first saw how young Dai Mubai and Ning Rongrong were, he had felt a measure of contempt. Even after Dai Mubai released his White Tiger true body and revealed his seven Soul Rings, that impression hadn't changed. After all, the gap between a Titled Douluo and a Soul Saint was simply too vast.
But once they truly collided, he realized that these two young people were far harder to deal with than he had imagined.
Dai Mubai's opening strike had landed successfully, and he had likewise sensed the Sea Lance Douluo's disdain — but rather than anger, that filled him with delight. The moment his body touched down, his front paws slammed violently against the platform of the Sea Lance Sacred Pillar, launching his massive frame into the air once more as he hurtled toward the Sea Lance Douluo like a bolt of lightning.
This time, his tiger claws were tucked tight against his chest, his entire body blazing with golden light. As he charged forward, dozens of meters above him countless white meteors rained down from the sky, converging on the Sea Lance Douluo in a dense barrage. It was the White Tiger Meteor Shower.
His objective was simple: give the Sea Lance Douluo no time to recover, and use the small advantage he had seized at the start to press the opponent into a losing position. It was undoubtedly his best option at this moment.
Dai Mubai's White Tiger Martial Soul was at its most fearsome in close combat, but the few offensive skills he possessed also carried devastating power. Under Ning Rongrong's amplification, that power was pushed to its absolute limit.
As the White Tiger Meteor Shower unfolded, yet another layer of amplifying light enveloped Dai Mubai — Ning Rongrong's third Soul Skill, Soul Power Amplification. Though it was only her third Soul Skill, each of Ning Rongrong's amplifications increased power by eighty percent. As the world's premier support Martial Soul, the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile House was itself a monstrous existence.
"Good —!" The Sea Lance Douluo barked. With the Sea Lance Sacred Pillar at his back, he had nowhere to retreat. Seeing the White Tiger form and the meteor shower bearing down on him simultaneously, he gripped his long spear with both hands and drove it into the ground before him. The next instant, his seventh Soul Ring blazed to life. In a single heartbeat, his entire body transformed into a golden liquid and merged into the spear.
This was something Dai Mubai had never witnessed before — and even Tang San had never seen it. A Soul Master's own body fusing with a tool Martial Soul — this was the true unity of body and spear.
Because of the advantage gained from his opening strike, by the time the Sea Lance Douluo merged into the spear, Dai Mubai was already upon it. His tiger claws exploded outward from his chest, and a deafening metallic clanging erupted as countless sparks burst from the surface of the Sea Lance. The White Tiger Meteor Shower raining from above struck the spear without exception.
But the strange thing was, no matter how ferocious Dai Mubai's attacks were, they felt as though they were striking an indestructible metal — aside from the flying sparks, there was no sensation of his attacks actually connecting with the Sea Lance Douluo's true body. The White Tiger Meteor Shower slamming into the spear's shaft merely sent up cascades of white light, with none of the expected impact.
What was going on?
"Mubai, watch out!" A shout rang out from the shore — it was Tang San. The moment the Sea Lance Douluo had manifested that strange Martial Soul true body, Tang San had opened his eyes. Though he had been cultivating, his spiritual sense had been scanning the entire Sea within the Sea, and he naturally perceived the unusual situation unfolding in the battle between Dai Mubai and the Sea Lance Douluo. Assisting in the fight would be against the rules, but shouting a warning was not. Sensing something wrong, Tang San immediately called out.
Dai Mubai, like all his companions, trusted Tang San almost blindly. His massive white tiger body retreated without the slightest hesitation. Nearly the instant he pulled back, the golden spear embedded in the ground snapped violently upward, and countless golden lights exploded outward like threads of rain — as if the sun itself had burst apart, scattering innumerable golden afterimages.
Each golden thread set off a chain of sonic booms in the air, and the entire platform of the Sea Lance Sacred Pillar was filled to the brim with golden radiance in the span of a single breath. Vaguely, one could see another ring of black light expanding outward.
Dai Mubai's enormous body retreated rapidly until he stood before Ning Rongrong — he could retreat no farther, for she was directly behind him. Once they fell into the water, they would be in even greater danger. On this platform, they at least had some chance of winning.
The massive tiger head opened its jaws wide, and a torrent of white light surged forth — not scattering, but condensing before Dai Mubai into a white shield of light, blocking the residual force of the golden spear's explosion. After using this Soul Skill for so many years, how could it not have evolved? This shield of light was precisely a clever application of the White Tiger Blazing Light Wave in the White Tiger true body form.
The golden light struck the white shield, instantly raising countless tiny ripples across its surface like raindrops on a still lake. The White Tiger Blazing Light Wave poured out ceaselessly while Ning Rongrong behind him amplified with everything she had, and only together did they barely manage to hold back the detonated golden radiance.
On the shore, Tang San's gaze had turned grave. Through his spiritual sense and his own judgment, he could tell that the previous strike had been the Sea Lance Douluo's eighth Soul Skill. His seventh Soul Skill had allowed his body to merge into the spear like water, while his eighth appeared to be able to temporarily deflect or even absorb a portion of an enemy's attack through the spear and reflect it back in an instant. If Dai Mubai hadn't retreated so quickly, taking the detonated spear head-on would likely have decided the match right then. To seize back the initiative, the Sea Lance Douluo had revealed his true strength in only their second exchange.
What a powerful tool Martial Soul true body. As the Great Master's disciple, Tang San had never learned from him that a Tool Soul Master could merge their body into a tool Martial Soul when using the true body form. In the Soul Master world, Tool Soul Saints and above were already far fewer in number than Beast Soul Saints and above. Was this exceptional case something unique to Sea Soul Masters?
Tang San couldn't be certain, but one thing he was sure of: after the fusion of body and weapon, this Sea Lance Douluo's strength was absolutely greater than that of an ordinary tool Martial Soul true body. With no physical body to target, Dai Mubai had lost his point of attack and could only aim at the opponent's golden spear. But judging from what had just happened, the golden spear possessed not only astounding defensive capability, but also seemingly limitless offensive power in this state of tool true body.
The ripples on the shield dissipated quickly. Having dodged the golden spear's direct assault and with Ning Rongrong's support, Dai Mubai managed to withstand the rain-fine golden threads using the White Tiger Blazing Light Wave.
The golden spear had now been launched into midair, sweeping past the side of the Sea Lance Sacred Pillar as though it had gone out of control and falling toward the Sea within the Sea.
Uncertain of what was happening, Dai Mubai did not immediately pursue. Ning Rongrong tossed a large recovery sausage into his open tiger mouth and ate one herself, both of them simultaneously adjusting their Soul Power states.
At that moment, the golden spear had already reached the surface of the sea — or more precisely, it lashed across the surface. With a thunderous crack, a shimmering curtain of water was whipped up by the golden spear. Sweeping sideways, the spear sent thousands of water droplets hurtling toward Dai Mubai and Ning Rongrong like luminous points of light, accompanied by piercing shrieks as they tore through the air. At the same time, the golden spear flipped in a full rotation, its point angling downward as it dove toward the Sea within the Sea.
"Stop it — don't let it enter the water!" Tang San's voice rang out once more, this time no longer a panicked shout. Through his observation, he had already detected the underlying pattern. He condensed his voice into a thread, transmitting it directly into Dai Mubai's ear.
Hearing Tang San's warning, Dai Mubai understood immediately. The Sea Lance Douluo's fusion with the spear to deliver that previous strike must have cost him enormously in terms of energy. As a Sea Douluo, he could only unleash his greatest power within the ocean. Those water droplets were primarily meant to obstruct him. There was no time to wonder why the Sea Lance Douluo hadn't simply plunged directly into the water instead of launching a blocking attack first and losing the opportunity. His massive body was already lunging forward.
This was where Dai Mubai's fearsome qualities showed. He didn't dodge the water droplets' attack — instead, both tiger paws came up before his eyes to shield them, and his enormous body forced itself forward in a direct charge at the golden spear.
Tang San's judgment was once again proven correct. Just as the spear's tip was about to pierce the water's surface, it suddenly halted. The point trembled violently, splitting into countless spear shadows that churned the seawater below, instantly dyeing it gold. Like a great whale drawing water, it sucked the ocean upward into the spear. And in the process, the golden spear swelled rapidly in size.
"This is an inner domain — he's devouring seawater, absorbing the energy within to strengthen himself. Attack quickly, don't give him the chance!"
Tang San's instruction came again, but Dai Mubai had already plunged into the curtain of water. Normally, he could have reverted to his human form, which would have drastically reduced the number of droplets striking him. But if he did that, the fine water droplets would likely slip past his body and hit Ning Rongrong. So Dai Mubai chose to bear every last drop of the attack himself rather than risk her.
This was where Dai Mubai's characteristics as a powerful attack-type Battle Soul Master truly shone. Under the quadruple amplification of the White Tiger Barrier, White Tiger Diamond Transformation, White Tiger Demon God Transformation, and the White Tiger true body, his defensive power had already reached a terrifying degree. Coupled with Ning Rongrong's eighty percent defense amplification, Dai Mubai's massive body was as solid as a fortress.
The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile House's amplification scaled proportionally — the stronger the target, the greater the total amplified energy. With Dai Mubai's base strength, the defense was naturally terrifying.
The water droplets struck his body, and intense pain lanced through him — but Dai Mubai could clearly tell it was only superficial. He certainly wasn't the type to take such a beating without striking back. A blast of White Tiger Blazing Light Wave erupted from his jaws, forming a white pillar of light that slammed into the side of the golden spear.
The Sea Lance Douluo hadn't expected Dai Mubai to be this savage — instead of holding his ground and defending with skills as anyone normally would, he had charged straight through the attack. The spear, struck by the White Tiger Blazing Light Wave, had its water-absorbing process disrupted. The slightly enlarged spear went tumbling through the air and crashed down some distance away.
Dai Mubai snorted coldly, his entire body flaring with golden light as a layer of fur drifted to the ground — the superficial damage from the water droplets, nothing more.
"Fall back. Hold the platform and counterattack. As long as the spear can't absorb water, there's no rush to attack," Tang San said calmly.
The golden spear, now hovering parallel to the sea's surface, pointed straight at Dai Mubai. Just when the Sea Lance Douluo expected Dai Mubai to chase after him — planning to lure him over the water before unleashing a full-power strike — he was startled to find that Dai Mubai hadn't lunged forward at all. The massive body had already reached the water's surface, but with two slaps of his front paws against the water, he actually flipped himself backward and landed squarely on the platform of the Sea Lance Sacred Pillar. At the same time, a hazy mist of iridescent color billowed forth, completely engulfing the platform. The Sea Lance Douluo's vision was instantly cut off — Dai Mubai and Ning Rongrong had vanished from sight.
Even a powerhouse of the Sea Lance Douluo's caliber couldn't help but feel a surge of frustration at this. It was as if this challenger could see through every thought in his mind and refused to fall for a single trap. Not only had he disrupted his powerful charging ability, but his defense was rock-solid with no opening to exploit. What frustrated him even more was that during the trial, he couldn't draw upon the power of the Sea Lance Sacred Pillar — and now the platform itself had been seized by his opponent. It was maddening.
Little did he know that while Dai Mubai couldn't read his thoughts, Tang San — watching coolly from the sidelines — served as Dai Mubai's brain. His ability to analyze and control the battlefield was already formidable, and now, observing from a non-combat state, combined with spiritual sense that surpassed even the Sea Lance Douluo's own for judgment, how could Dai Mubai possibly make a mistake? The Sea Lance Douluo was now facing what could only be described as Tang San's intellect fused with the combined strength of Dai Mubai and Ning Rongrong.