Tang San retreated without the slightest hesitation, his feet moving in the Ghost Shadow Phantom Trail. In the narrowest of moments, he slipped past Dai Mubai's attack. At the same time, the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul he had released sprang to life — thick, blue-black vines spiraling outward from every direction toward Dai Mubai's body. As for Tang San himself, he seemed to melt into the tangle of vines and vanish without a trace.
Dai Mubai's evil eyes flashed repeatedly, his entire body cloaked in surging Soul Power. With sweeping motions of his hands, he deflected every vine that rushed toward him.
He had originally intended to cut straight through the thick vines of Blue Silver Grass, but he was shocked to discover that they were extraordinarily tough. Even with his tiger claws empowered by thirty-seven levels of Soul Power, he could only cut halfway through each vine as he swept them aside, unable to sever them completely. And the moment a vine slipped free of his claws, it healed at astonishing speed.
A faintly sweet, tea-like fragrance drifted through the air between the vines. They seemed to surge endlessly from every direction. Despite Dai Mubai's strength and speed being massively amplified by his Martial Soul, he simply could not break free of their range.
Blue Silver Grass? Dai Mubai was stunned. He had never imagined that Blue Silver Grass could be so formidable. His opponent had one fewer Soul Ring, yet the Blue Silver Grass alone could temporarily hold him in place. If they were matched in Soul Rings, the outcome of this battle would be far from certain.
Dai Mubai had never been a patient man, but his competitive spirit was exceptionally fierce. A blinding white light erupted without warning — his evil eyes turned white, and of the three Soul Rings on his body, the first one blazed with radiant light, forming a dome of white luminescence that repelled all the surrounding vines and kept them from getting close.
Immediately after, his second Soul Ring lit up as well. An enormous mass of white light condensed in an instant, and with a roar from Dai Mubai, a sphere of milky-white light burst from his mouth.
The abilities granted by Dai Mubai's first two Soul Rings — the White Tiger Protective Barrier and the White Tiger Blazing Light Wave — were unleashed simultaneously, and their terrifying power was instantly on display.
From the outside, Dai Mubai's body appeared completely entangled within the massive vines. Just as Xiao Wu was beginning to let out a sigh of relief, countless beams of white light suddenly shot through the gaps in the vines, followed by the deep, thunderous boom of an explosion.
The vines of Blue Silver Grass shattered and scattered in an instant. A powerful shockwave swept through the lobby of the Rose Hotel, leaving it in complete disarray.
A Martial Soul and its host were one and the same. Tang San's face immediately turned pale, and he took a step back before steadying himself.
The white light gradually subsided, revealing Dai Mubai's powerful frame. The shattered Blue Silver Grass began to re-form around Tang San, but the number of vines was far fewer than before.
"Tang San, the offensive power of a Beast-type Martial Soul will always surpass that of a Tool-type Martial Soul. Your Blue Silver Grass was more impressive than I expected, but in the end, it still can't hold me."
Tang San smiled calmly. "That's not necessarily true." In a flash, Tang San's second Soul Ring blazed to life. Dai Mubai's body suddenly stiffened. A layer of fine, dense vines had somehow already appeared on his skin, and as the radiance of Tang San's second Soul Ring surged, they grew at lightning speed, binding Dai Mubai's body tightly within their grasp.
Though the thorns on the vines were barely an inch long, their relentless tightening sent waves of searing pain through Dai Mubai's entire body. At the same time, he realized with alarm that his body was beginning to go numb.
Long before Tang San had reached level twenty, the Great Master had already decided what kind of Soul Beast his second Soul Ring would come from.
Tang San's second Soul Ring came from a plant-type Soul Beast known as the Ghost Vine. The maximum age allowable for a second Soul Ring was seven hundred and sixty-four years, and the Ghost Vine Soul Ring Tang San had obtained boasted at least six hundred years of cultivation.
The Ghost Vine was a terrifyingly dangerous plant-type Soul Beast. It possessed an extremely potent neurotoxin — once pricked by its thorns, the venom would spread immediately through the body, dissolving flesh until nothing remained but fertilizer for the Ghost Vine. More feared still among Soul Masters was the Ghost Vine's parasitic ability. When it attacked, it would release countless microscopic seeds that latched directly onto its enemy's body. Given enough energy from the Ghost Vine, or enough nutrients absorbed by the seeds, they would sprout and grow on the host. Once the neurotoxin spread through the body, the result was the same.
Obtaining this six-hundred-year Ghost Vine Soul Ring had been no small feat. Even the headmaster of Nuoding Academy — a forty-two-level Tool-type Soul Ancestor — had gone to great lengths, relying on his own Martial Soul that held a natural advantage against plants, to barely subdue the creature and allow Tang San to deliver the final blow.
After obtaining the Ghost Vine Soul Ring, Tang San's attributes across the board improved dramatically. His Blue Silver Grass became far tougher, taking on an appearance reminiscent of the Ghost Vine, though its original color and texture were preserved. Moreover, the toxin it carried had evolved into a neuro-paralytic agent of greatly enhanced potency — even the trace it released into the air could produce a tangible numbing effect.
The soul skill that the Ghost Vine Soul Ring had bestowed upon Tang San was Parasitism.
By infusing the vines with Soul Power, the parasitic ability could produce effects surpassing those of the original Ghost Vine itself. Under the injection of Soul Power, the parasitic seeds would sprout in an instant, immediately achieving an entangling effect that left opponents with no chance to defend against it. It could only be described as an insidiously treacherous control skill.
The resilience of his two-ring Blue Silver Grass was plain to see — even a thirty-seven-level Dai Mubai wielding his White Tiger Blade had been unable to cut through it completely. He had underestimated Tang San, underestimated Blue Silver Grass, and in the end, he had fallen for the trap.
Meeting the surprised glint in Dai Mubai's eyes, Tang San spoke. "My Blue Silver Grass is poisonous. You should have inhaled some of it earlier. Then, when you channeled your Soul Power to unleash a powerful attack skill to break through my vine bindings, it inevitably accelerated your blood flow, causing the toxin to take effect faster. Though you may not have felt anything yourself, the surface of your skin had already begun to go numb — which is how the parasitic Blue Silver Grass seeds took root without your noticing. You've lost."
Dai Mubai stared at Tang San. Apart from his head, his entire body was now wrapped in Blue Silver Grass. His evil eyes flickered with fierce light. "Fine. Fine indeed, your Blue Silver Grass. If I were like you, with only two rings, I would have lost. My body is already paralyzed — it would be nearly impossible to break free from these vines. But I have one more ring than you. I suppose I'll have to show you the skill of my third Soul Ring."
The purple ring flared to life in an instant. The air around Dai Mubai's body warped and distorted. His evil eyes turned blood-red, and then — with a deafening explosion — every vine of Blue Silver Grass wrapped around his body, including the parasitic seeds, was blown into fine powder.
Dai Mubai's body underwent a second transformation.
Tang San drew in a sharp breath. "So this is the skill of a Thousand-year Soul Ring?"