The Elephant Armor Sect had always favored a defensive counterattack style. Seeing Shrek Academy preparing to launch a full-force assault, Huyan Li was more delighted than alarmed. As long as he drained their Soul Power, victory would be his. Twenty seconds—he wanted to see how they could possibly restrain his brothers for twenty seconds.
The fact that one layer took four seconds to break free did not mean two layers would take eight. The compounded restriction was far greater than Huyan Li had imagined. Apart from his head, his massive body was now completely engulfed within the Blue Silver Grass.
From the very start of the battle, Tang San had used his keen judgment and meticulous planning to keep the entire battlefield under his control. With the Flying Mushroom Sausage, he had neutralized the opponent's greatest advantage as much as possible, and with his three powerful control-type soul skills, he had restricted the enemies below to the fullest extent at this critical moment. Twenty seconds was his most conservative estimate for how long he could keep the other six restrained.
Tang San quickly swallowed a Large Recovery Sausage. His face turned pale. He had not only used
Fortunately,
Roars of tigers, cries of cats, the cracking of shifting bones—all these sounds erupted in the air. Five people launched their attacks simultaneously at Huyan Li's exposed head.
Tang San's objective was simple. Huyan Li was the opponent's strongest fighter and the most crucial link. If they could take him down first, the match would become far easier. The opposing team had no control-type soul master. Huyan Li was not only their captain and core, but also their soul. Crushing him would deal a devastating psychological blow to the opposition. Although Tang San had estimated that Huyan Li's defenses must be extraordinarily formidable, no matter how strong he was, he could not possibly hold out for twenty seconds against the combined assault of five soul masters of comparable rank.
From the moment both sides had released their Martial Souls, Tang San had been searching for the opponent's weakness—just as he had against
In the VIP section,
Beside him,
Huyan Zhen snorted and sat back down. "I don't understand Sect Master Ning's meaning. What have I done?"
Ning Fengzhi smiled mildly and said nothing more. After all, Sound Threading left no evidence. He was curious to see how Huyan Li would escape this killing trap Tang San had set—even with Huyan Zhen's guidance.
But what Ning Fengzhi could not have anticipated was that those two words Huyan Zhen had transmitted to Huyan Li via Sound Threading would completely overturn the situation Tang San had so painstakingly crafted.
Huyan Li let out a thunderous shout. The fourth Soul Ring on his body flared brilliantly. Not only did the Blue Silver Grass wrapping around him begin to crack and tear faster, but his skin underwent another transformation—an additional layer of ice-like crystalline defense materialized over his body.
Boom—
Right behind Jing Ling came
With a thunderous impact, even Huyan Li's defenses could not prevent his feet from being driven completely into the ground. A white mark appeared dead center on his forehead, and the outermost layer of ice shattered instantly. Huyan Li's body swayed.
It had to be remembered that he had been completely on the defensive. To take a full-power strike from Zhu Zhuqing—a soul master whose rank was not far below his own—without sustaining injury was already extraordinarily impressive.
If it weren't for the fact that he could not kill his opponent, Dai Mubai's attack would have been a White Tiger Meteor Shower.
But then something completely unexpected happened. Without any warning, a helmet suddenly materialized on Huyan Li's head. That's right—a helmet. The earthen-yellow helmet looked neither conspicuous nor dazzling.
Yet it was this simple helmet, covering his entire head, that forcibly blocked the combined strike of Dai Mubai and Huang Yuan.
Boom— Huyan Li's calves sank into the ground after his feet. The arena floor was constructed of granite a full meter thick. Amid the scattering light, with a bellow from Huyan Li, the Blue Silver Grass wrapped around his body cracked apart inch by inch, and he broke free entirely from the restraint.
Dai Mubai and Huang Yuan, closest to him, could clearly feel that this terrifyingly large man's strength had surged once more—to a truly horrifying degree. His body had expanded yet another size, and all four of his Soul Rings blazed simultaneously.
A helmet? The rules of the Continental Elite Soul Master Academy Tournament explicitly prohibited participants from using any equipment. The opponents could not have been unaware of this. A flash of insight crossed Tang San's mind. High in the air, his pupils contracted sharply. Two words immediately surfaced in his thoughts—the same two words that Elephant Armor Sect Master Huyan Zhen had just transmitted to Huyan Li through Sound Threading: Soul Bone.
That was right. The helmet atop Huyan Li's head was a Soul Bone.
Soul Bones were divided into six major categories: head, four limbs, and torso. This helmet on Huyan Li's head proved that he possessed one of the six great Soul Bones—the skull bone.
Tang San's strategy had crumbled under this sudden appearance of a Soul Bone. But forcing the opponent to use a Soul Bone undoubtedly shocked everyone who understood its significance.
Everyone knew the value of Soul Bones. Each one was worth an astronomical sum, and few were willing to sell. Once it became known that someone possessed a Soul Bone, they would inevitably become a target of covetous eyes. Huyan Li, while talented, was only at the forty-something level of Soul Power. In the presence of senior powerhouses, protecting his Soul Bone would not be easy.
If Huyan Zhen had not feared the irreversible consequences of his eldest grandson taking repeated blows to the head, he would never have permitted Huyan Li to use this Soul Bone. He would have accepted the loss rather than risk it. But under the lethal situation Tang San had created—to prevent his grandson from being beaten into a vegetative state or suffering severe head trauma—Huyan Zhen had been forced to make this decision. This grandson represented the entire future of the Elephant Armor Sect.
Ordinary spectators might not have known what that helmet was, and lower-ranked Soul Masters might not have guessed either, but the people in the VIP section could certainly tell.
Platinum Bishop Salaras shot a surprised glance at Huyan Zhen beside him, a flicker of jealousy crossing his eyes. Ning Fengzhi, meanwhile, smiled pleasantly. "Congratulations, Sect Master Huyan. Your grandson possesses a Head Soul Bone at such a young age—truly cause for celebration. That said, Sect Master Huyan ought to be cautious. One must take care not to attract the wrong sort of attention."
Huyan Zhen's face was dark as water. Although Huyan Li had resolved the crisis, he felt not the slightest joy. Having his Soul Bone exposed so publicly was anything but good. He let out a cold snort. "The disciples of my Elephant Armor Sect need not trouble Sect Master Ning to worry about them."