"Year 2, Class 1. Wang Dong." Wang Dong strode forward and handed his test form to the referee.
That's right. This time Wang Dong was the first to take the field instead of Huo Yuhao. However, the other students had all expected this sort of change. After all, Huo Yuhao had previously used his special soul skill to intimidate the soul beast, not harm it. This time around, his soul skill had been restricted. Thus, he naturally couldn't be Class 1's opening act. Class 1 needed an opening that would stun their opponents.
In Dai Huabin's eyes, however, Huo Yuhao was a coward. The thought of him kowtowing and acknowledging his mistake to Huo Yuhao turned the intense humiliation he felt into bitter resentment, which wrecked havoc in his mind. Revenge. I want revenge! I will first trample them beneath my feet, then find an opportunity to eradicate them all. No, I want to see them kneel before me, wailing and begging me for mercy! Only then will I kill them!
Dai Huabin, who wasn't even thirteen years old, had long since seen bloodshed. There was already a merciless look in his eyes!
"I choose a thousand year soul beast." Wang Dong's voice drew Dai Huabin out of his reverie. He couldn't help but be taken aback when he heard Wang Dong's selection. Despite his thousand year soul skill, Wang Dong's cultivation was only that of a Soul Grandmaster. He actually dared to choose a thousand year soul beast, the highest ranked opponent in this examination?
The two referees were also shocked.
Two days ago, Huo Yuhao had shocked them. He'd been the first to take the field, and had chosen a soul beast with a cultivation of a hundred years. This was a soul beast reared in the Great Beast Duelling Arena, yet Huo Yuhao had managed to scare it witless with the aura of two hundred thousand year soul rings, an event which had stunned everyone present. This time around, Class 1 had sent out someone else, who'd immediately chosen a thousand year soul beast. Were these kids really intending to corroborate Shrek Academy's slogan, that they only bred monsters?
However, the referee didn't dare to delay the matter any further with Dean Yan Shaozhe in the audience. "Wang Dong, are you ready?"
"I'm ready." Wang Dong nodded with a serious expression on his face as brilliant blue rays of light enveloped him. He didn't waste any time in releasing his martial soul. Even he wasn't sure of himself when it came to confronting a thousand year soul beast.
"Ah!" Cries of surprise rang out as all of the students and even several teachers became gobsmacked by what they saw.
They weren't taken aback by Wang Dong's martial soul, the Radiant Butterfly Goddess, but rather by the three soul rings that had gradually risen from beneath his feet. That's right. There were now three soul rings. This was Wang Dong's secret.
When they'd had to report back to the academy, Huo Yuhao had been late, while Wang Dong had rushed back with only two days to spare! Just what had he been up to? In the short span of just a month, he'd succeeded in breaking through his cultivation bottleneck of Rank 30 with the help of his clan and had even managed to obtain his third soul ring.
Yan Shaozhe's eyes shone as he sat on the Spectator's Stand. With a slight nod of his head, he said, "Good. He has one yellow soul ring and two purple soul rings. This kid's talent and martial soul has far surpassed those of his peers. He's definitely going to be a great asset in the future. However, the Radiant Butterfly Goddess…" A hint of a playful smile lifted the corners of his lips when he mentioned that point.
Wang Dong's third soul ring was also a purple soul ring, which meant that it was a thousand year soul ring. Thus, the Soul Elder-ranked Wang Dong already had two thousand year soul rings.These weren't imitation soul rings but the genuine article.
Dai Huabin would never have thought that Wang Dong would give him such a huge "surprise." That's right, his cultivation in soul power was truly stronger than Wang Dong's by a large margin. But they were both Soul Elders wielding three soul rings! On top of that Wang Dong overpowered him in terms of the ranks of their soul rings. This meant that if they were to compete purely based on their soul skills, Wang Dong would still be able to hold the upper hand in their battle. Thus, the gap between their cultivations would be closed.
Dai Huabin's face sank and the expression on his face immediately turned vile, however, his confidence didn't waver. From his point of view, Huo Yuhao didn't have the ability to directly injure soul beasts without using his second soul ring and could only rely upon his spiritual shock of his. Dai Huabin believed that Huo Yuhao could only follow his teacher's advice and pass the examination by accumulating the minimum amount of points required. He also believe d that he would perform even better than Wang Dong. However, he couldn't help but feel nervous despite his complete confidence in himself.
At this moment, a tyrannical aura seeped out from the open metal gates located some distance away from Wang Dong. A tall figure slowly walked out of the beast pen.
Even though it didn't have the speed of that Windspirit Wolf Huo Yuhao had fought the last time, the pressure its aura emitted was far superior.
The soul beast was three metres tall and walked out on its hind legs like a human. There was a faint fishy smell coming from its light brown fur. On its chest was a huge patch of white fur in the shape of a check mark that resembled the veined patterns on the wings of Wang Dong's Radiant Butterfly Goddess. The sheer size of the bear was truly impressive.
The most eye-catching feature of this massive bear was its eyes. It had faintly red eyes that were filled with callousness towards its prey.
Even if they were all similarly aged thousand year soul beasts, the natural strength that gnus, goats, and cows possessed could not be compared to that of lions, tigers, leopards, and bears. Moreover, the probability of these carnivorous soul beasts having cultivated for over a thousand years was also very high.
The thousand year soul beast that Wang Dong was going to face off against was called the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear, a powerful earth attributed soul beast.
Wang Dong spread his wings and took flight the moment he saw his opponent's appearance. However, an enormous formless pressure immediately pushed him down to the ground before he could fly more than five meters into the air. The referee's voice rang out in his ear, "You are not allowed to fly more than five meters above the ground in this advancement test."
The Bloodthirsty Demon Bear didn't appear to be very fast as it slowly walked towards Wang Dong on its hind legs and with an ominous glint in its eyes. However, the stifling aura that came along with it secretly startled Wang Dong. This was his first time facing a thousand year soul beast alone, but nevertheless he was still confident in his strength.
It was also at this time that a three-dimensional image quietly appeared in his mind. Huo Yuhao sat not far off at the edge of the arena, with a faint golden glow already visible in his eyes.
If it wasn't for the bet with Dai Huabin, he definitely wouldn't have chosen to cheat. But this time the stakes were high and he couldn't lose to one of his enemies that had been the cause of his mother's death. In any case, he could also better protect Wang Dong with his Spiritual Detection, so that no harm came his way.
Wang Dong raised his shoulders, clasping his front wings together as he similarly moved forwards. He only took small steps as advanced in the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear's direction. Just like the bear, he wasn't quick at all. Rather, his steps were extremely steady and reflected the calm state of his mind.
The two were slowly approaching one another. The two referees were also attentively observing their movements from a close vantage point. They needed to immediately take action if they felt that Wang Dong's strength had been depleted too far. After all, humans were not like soul beasts. It wasn't as though there weren't any casualties from such events. They'd seen Wang Dong's test form just now and has noticed his status as a core disciple. That fact alone made it all the more important that they not lose him in an accident.
The Bloodthirsty Demon Bear looked a little stupid as it stood up and walked like a human. Not only was it slow, but it was also swaying unstably. However, when it was about thirty metres away from Wang Dong, its front limbs suddenly dropped down. Now, all four of its limbs were touching the ground.
The sudden change shocked Wang Dong, and he unconsciously stopped in his tracks. He then moved a few metres to the side in anticipation.
The Bloodthirsty Demon Bear continued approaching him as though nothing had happened. A mocking expression even seemed to peek through its faint red eyes. When a soul beast reached a thousand years of cultivation, it would obtain some limited form of intelligence. It was only when soul beasts reached a cultivation of ten thousand years or more that they developed intelligence not inferior to that of humans and so were also able to interact in human speech.
Wang Dong hesitated at the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear's appearance, and it was in that moment of hesitation that the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear suddenly sped up. A thick layer of bloody light shrouded its whole body, making it look like a red cloud as it sprinted in Wang Dong's direction. It moved so quickly that for a moment its speed was comparable to that of the Windspirit Wolf that Huo Yuhao had fought the other day.
The changes in its speed along with the sudden utilisation of all four limbs, these were all classic strategies used in psychological warfare! It was no wonder thousand year soul beasts were experts among the same rank. The strength displayed by this thousand year Bloodthirsty Demon Bear couldn't be compared to a hundred year soul beast at all.
In the time it took to take two breaths, the bear had already closed the distance between them and was now within thirty metres of Wang Dong. Wang Dong seemed be standing there in a daze as the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear swung its huge paw at him with a ball of bloody light trailing behind its movements.
The judges had been waiting for some action after the slow movements from the two of them. The judges sitting in the Spectator's Stand couldn't help but frown too. They had earlier been pleasantly surprised by a Year 2 Soul Elder student who had three soul rings and was also a core disciple. How could his experience in real combat be so bad that he was terrified to the point of uselessness?
Was Wang Dong terrified? Obviously not. Seeing the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear's huge paw already in front of him, he suddenly slid down on one foot and made a half turn. The Bloodthirsty Demon Bear's slap seemed to brush dangerously close to his body but Wang Dong was already behind the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear.
He unfurled his front wings and made a criss-cross scissoring movement as he swept them across the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear's neck.
The thousand year Bloodthirsty Demon Bear was an exceptional beast. It had immediately sensed that something was amiss the moment its paw came in contact with nothing but air. The bloody light surrounding its body gradually turned yellow and its light brown fur instantly turned as hard as steel.
The instant Wang Dong's Guillotine Wing grazed its tough fur, a series of sparks flew out along with an ear-piercing screech.
Being an earth attribute soul beast, the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear was naturally extremely good at defending. Unfortunately, it had still been a half beat too slow in responding to the situation. The bear thought that Wang Dong had been duped by the psychological warfare it had used against him. Therefore, the bear had pounced rather abruptly under such circumstances. But now, although it had been able to react in time, Wang Dong had taken a huge chunk of meat from its neck with his Guillotine Wings.
Who didn't know how to wage psychological warfare against their opponent? Wang Dong let out a cold laugh. His attack had hit the mark but he didn't follow up on it. With a flap of his wings, his body suddenly retreated five metres back, dodging the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear's frantic counterattack.
Without Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection Sharing, he would've gained quite an advantage even if he hadn't been duped by the bear. However, the Spiritual Detection could help him clearly identify the blood vessels and circulation of soul power within the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear's body, as well as its attack patterns. How could he not utilise this great opportunity?
Sure enough, a stunned look crossed the eyes of all the judges sitting in the Spectator's Stand after witnessing this attack from Wang Dong. Included amongst them were Dean Yan Shaozhe and Director Du Weilun.
Wang Dong had remained calm in the face of the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear's attack and had even used his opponent's stratagem against him. His calm demeanor as he fought against a thousand year soul beast in such close proximity impressed the judges. The judges hadn't even seen such high level battle tactics from students in higher year groups!
The Bloodthirsty Demon Bear roared in both pain and anger as it rose up on its hind legs. Its pale-red eyes flashed with a bloody light as its immense frame swelled with power and began to emit a savage aura. This was the beast's innate skill, Bloodthirst.
The reason it was called the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear was due to the existence of this innate skill. On top of that, its earth attribute and bloodline skill further boosted its strength.
Even the fur on it's body was stained with a red layer once it activated Bloodthirst. An intense stench of blood began to emanate from its body and it pounced towards Wang Dong, its front claws releasing an intense yellow light.
Wang Dong unfurled his wings and forcefully waved them forward, which caused his own body to slide backwards. It seemed like he was trying to increase the distance between himself and the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear.
However, the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear's speed had explosively increased after activating Bloodthirst. Moreover, Wang Dong's retreat was half a second too slow. Although its front claws didn't strike him, they dealt a heavy blow to the ground in front of him. Immediately, an intense yellow light blossomed from the point of impact.
This was the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear's earth-type skill, Seismic Wave.
There was a notable difference between the abilities of thousand year soul beasts and hundred year soul beasts. While there was only a possibility for hundred year soul beasts to possess long-range attacking abilities, thousand year soul beasts would undoubtedly possess long-range or area of effect-type soul skills.
Seismic Wave was the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear's specialty. The skill would not only cause its opponent lose their balance due to the strong vibrations, but would also cause them to feel dizzy to a certain extent. As long as the effects of its Seismic Wave remained active, the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear would savagely devastate its opponents soon after.
Because of that, the two referees quickly approached Wang Dong as soon as the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear released the Seismic Wave. They were ready to interrupt the match the moment they felt that Wang Dong was trapped within its Seismic Wave.
Oftentimes during a battle between a soul master and a soul beast, the outcome of the match would hinge on a single soul skill. The situation in which a single soul skill was able to change the situation of the entire match after landing was incredibly common.
Wang Dong's rear wings rose up the instant the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear's paws struck the ground and released the Seismic Wave. Simultaneously, he tilted his front wings downwards as his second soul ring lit up.
He'd flapped his wings forward previously, which had created a backwards stream of air. However, he now only adjusted his actions by a hair's breadth, which immediately caused his retreating body to fly up into the air by borrowing the stream of air, resulting in him instantly rising three meters into the air. Furthermore, his body remained parallel to the ground and was thus able to dodge the rumbling Seismic Wave just in time. As if that wasn't enough, the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear who'd struck the ground was currently right below Wang Dong, its sturdy back completely exposed.
All of the golden patterns on the dazzling blue wings of his Radiant Butterfly Goddess martial soul instantly lit up. A series of terrifying explosions immediately rang out amidst the flickering golden lights.
This was Wang Dong's second soul skill, his thousand year soul skill – the Light of the Butterfly Goddess.
The tyrannical yellow light from the Light of the Butterfly Goddess mercilessly rained down without pause onto the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear's back. Even the sounds that rang out due to the violent explosions were painful! The Bloodthirsty Demon Bear had just released its attack which had left its body slightly sluggish for a brief period. Thus, it wasn't able to dodge Wang Dong's attack. From the moment it was struck by the first ball of golden light, it could only try its best to curl up and use its thick back to endure the bombardment from the Light of the Butterfly Goddess.
The violent explosions lasted for a full three seconds before they finally ended. Wang Dong slowly floated upwards as his dazzling blue wings suddenly turned an intense golden color. He moved his hands back to his chest and his palms touched his chest. Following which, his third soul ring released a large amount of light.
A ball of pure golden light appeared between Wang Dong's palms and then started to expand at an astonishing rate amidst the light surrounding him. In the blink of an eye, the ball was already a foot wide. The ball of golden light was surrounded by golden electricity that illuminated Wang Dong's entire body.
The golden wings on Wang Dong's back unceasingly flickered as they released curved golden shadows that fused with the pure gold ball of light, causing its volume to further increase.
Under the series of explosions caused by Wang Dong's Light of the Butterfly Goddess, the Bloodthirsty Devil Bear was already sprawled on the ground. Although it had gone put everything into its defense, how could a thousand year soul skill be so easily defended against? The flesh on its back had been lacerated and its entire back was stained with fresh blood. The damage has been so severe that even its Bloodthirst had been interrupted.
As an earth-type thousand year soul beast, however, the Bloodthirsty Devil Bear's defensive abilities were extremely powerful. Despite the violent bouts of pain coming from its back due to the Light of the Butterfly Goddess, it hadn't yet lost all of its combat strength. But since two of Wang Dong's blows had struck one of its rear legs, its speed had dropped a large margin which had greatly reduced its ability to move.
Sensing the terrifying aura above it, the Bloodthirsty Devil Bear forced itself to turn around. It couldn't help but let out a lament when it saw the terrifying golden ball of light in front of Wang Dong's chest. Raising its front limbs, it managed to barely congeal a ball of yellow light in Wang Dong's direction. The yellow light then turned into a small shield that barely protected its body.
"Alright, the test is over. Wang Dong, withdraw your soul skill." Du Weilun's voice rang out from the tall stage.
However, a soul skill wasn't easy to withdraw. Wang Dong hurriedly moved his hands outwards and the golden ball of light in front of his chest rose into the air. Since the Great Beast Dueling Arena was located outdoors, the golden ball of light shot a hundred meters into the air before numerous golden crescent moon-like shadows blossomed out from it. They looked just like the petals of a flower as they flew into the air and turned into motes of golden light before they finally exploded, instantly creating a spectacular screen of golden light.
The two referees simultaneously made a move and subdued the Bloodthirsty Bear before they declared the end of this round of the advancement test.
There was simply no need for the judges to speak. All the students understood that Wang Dong had passed the test with the highest possible score.
After releasing his third soul skill, Wang Dong's body swayed slightly and his face was clearly pale too. If it weren't for their bet with Dai Huabin, he would have no need to use his third soul skill in this test. However, his aim right now was to do everything in his power to obtain the highest possible score he was capable of.
His third soul skill was called the Butterfly Goddess Slash. It looked like a ball of light, but was actually a slash that contained a hundred and eight blades of light within it. The moment it struck its target, the hundred and eight blades within it would burst outward and rip their target to shreds.
The Light of the Butterfly Goddess was an area of effect attack and though it was very powerful, it lacked explosive power. However, the Butterfly Goddess Slash was different. It sacrificed the lock-on ability and range that a long-distance attack would normally have for unparalleled attack power. The Butterfly Goddess Slash had no way of locking onto a target and the blades of light contained within it would automatically start to leak out once the attack was more than five meters away from the user until it was completely depleted of power. This was also the reason behind the marvelous scene that had occurred earlier.
A major reason why Wang Dong had chosen this skill as his third soul skill was because of Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection Sharing. Only when he had the assistance of Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection could he unleash the full might of this skill.
After talking to each other for a bit, Du Weilun and Yan Shaozhe completed their evaluations.
Du Weilun spoke in a solemn voice, "Wang Dong, who chose to face the highest-ranked thousand year soul beast for his test has obtained a hundred marks for his base score. Considering the attack power of his final soul skill, there was a 70% chance that the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear would've been killed instantly. Thus, he has obtained full marks for his foundations. His performance during the battle can be considered perfect and for that he has obtained the full fifty marks for battle technique."
During the advancement test, differently ranked soul beasts would give different base scores. The lowest-ranked hundred year soul beast would only give ten marks, and only by displaying an extraordinary amount of battle technique and defeating it would a student be able to pass the advancement test. However, the thousand year soul beast Wang Dong had chosen gave a hundred marks as its base score. In addition to the fifty marks he had been given for his battle technique, he had obtained a total of a hundred and fifty marks. In comparison, the advancement test for the Year 2 students only required thirty marks for one to pass. In other words, even if he hadn't been able to defeat the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear, he would've been able to easily obtain over thirty marks.
Wang Dong was overjoyed to learn that he had obtained a perfect score. Huo Yuhao didn't even need to intervene for them to win the bet. He had obtained full marks by himself, which meant that Dai Huabin couldn't even put up a fight against them anymore.
However, before he could rejoice, Du Weilun's next words shot him down.
"However, the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear is an earth-type soul beast. Its defensive abilities rank amongst the top within thousand year soul beasts, which meant that it still had a 30% chance of blocking your final attack. Meanwhile, your soul power was almost completely drained after releasing that attack. Under such circumstances, there would have been no way for you to contend against it again. If that had happened, you could've been injured by its last-ditch attack or maybe even have been killed. As a soul master, carelessly staking everything on a single attack is an unwise decision. After talking to Dean Yan, we have decided to deduct fifty marks from your score. This puts your final score for this test at a hundred marks. You pass the advancement test."
"Ah?" Wang Dong was flabbergasted, "That's way too many penalties. After all, I beat a thousand year soul beast!"
Yan Shaozhe replied warmly, "As an outstanding soul master, your first priority in a battle must be your own safety. Only after you have guaranteed your safety should you think of how to beat your opponent. How long have you cultivated for? If you end up exchanging your life for the death of just a single soul beast, what meaning would your cultivation have? The reason
we deducted fifty marks from you is because you're a core disciple of the academy. Core disciples receive better treatment than ordinary students, but at the same time they have to fulfill much more stringent requirements. Do you understand?"
Wang Dong was extremely dejected, but there wasn't much he could do. He had no choice but to step down from the stage with his head lowered. Despite his disappointment however, 100 points in the advancement test was already an extremely high score. Not many students received such a score, even from previous years. On top of this, he'd defeated a thousand year soul beast! Indeed, Yan Shaozhe and Du Weilun had been severe on the surface, but they were still very pleased in their hearts. They had only deducted so many points from Wang Dong's score because they didn't want him to become too arrogant.
Wang Dong returned to Huo Yuhao's side, then said with a dejected look, "That was too unfair. I can't believe they actually deducted so many points from my score."
Huo Yuhao replied in a low voice, "Forget it. Your score is more than enough to guarantee that we won't lose the bet. Leave the rest to me; don't worry about a thing. Moreover, it wasn't really that unfair. What do you think your chances of victory would've been if you hadn't had my Spiritual Detection?"
Wang Dong stuck his tongue out at Huo Yuhao, then said, "Probably less than 30%. That big fellow wasn't just difficult to deal with, he was also extremely sly. Hmph, you only need 30 points to pass this test. In other words, Dai Huabin will have to get a score of at least 130 points in order to have a shot at victory. I refuse to believe that he'll be so much better than me."
One must know that Dai Huabin didn't have someone like Huo Yuhao that could secretly aid him! Wang Dong also knew that, in a one-on-one fight, he was no match for Dai Huabin. From another point of view, his Radiant Butterfly Goddess martial soul was a combination of the assault and agility systems, while Dai Huabin's White Tiger martial soul was both the purest and the strongest assault type martial soul. In a direct fight, unless he had something such as Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection Sharing that could help him foresee his enemy's actions, he wouldn't stand a chance.
Of the freshmen this year with the highest battle prowess… Dai Huabin—the son of the White Tiger Duke—was certainly one of the most talented.
"Year 2 Class 2, Dai Huabin." Dai Huabin's powerful voice suddenly echoed outwards. The advancement test had yet to begin, yet his body had already begun emitting a firm, steely aura. As such, he seemed like a volcano about to erupt.
Yan Shaozhe's eyes lit up up when he saw this. He said to the nearby Du Weilun, "Is this the strongest student in Year 2?"
Du Weilun nodded and replied, "The White Tiger Duke's posterity is truly outstanding. His natural talent is actually even a bit higher than his older brother's, who didn't have this level of cultivation at his age. Furthermore, I've heard from Mu Jin that he's put much more effort into cultivating than his peers. Based on his current cultivation speed, it's extremely likely that he'll break through to the Soul Ancestor level in one to one-and-a-half years. If that really does happen, he'll go down in history within the academy."
"It's not that easy to become a Soul Ancestor," Yan Shaozhe said with a faint smile, "however, this child truly is outstanding. Let's keep an eye on his performance."
Dai Huabin didn't wait for the referee as he announced, "I choose a thousand year soul beast."
Based on Wang Dong's precedent, the referees weren't surprised by Dai Huabin's choice. Once they'd asked Dai Huabin if he was ready, they immediately sent out his opponent.
Coincidentally, Dai Huabin's opponent was extremely similar to his martial soul.
A low roar echoed as a nimble, two meter-long, tiger-like soul beast leapt out of the beast cage.
Once it had leapt out of the iron cage and landed, it began to carefully observe the nearby Dai Huabin. Its body was pale-yellow, and had long, dark-green stripes running through its fur. Its figure was a bit smaller than the Flaming Demon Tiger that Huo Yuhao had seen, but it appeared to be more agile. Its two eyes emitted a dark-green radiance as it observed Dai Huabin. It was a Wind Tiger—one of the fastest amongst wind-attributed tiger-type soul beasts.
The Wind Tiger seemed to realize that there was a dangerous aura coming from Dai Huabin's body, as it didn't move forward, but instead began to move laterally. It was obviously planning to use its speed in order to probe its enemy's abilities and strength. Its four paws trailed along the ground as if it were cotton; they didn't make a single sound.
The dangerous aura emanating from Dai Huabin's body suddenly lessened, which caused the Wind Tiger to charge. However, Dai Huabin didn't even release his White Tiger martial soul when he saw this. This action left the referees surprised. What was this student trying to do?
After gauging the situation, the thousand year Wind Tiger judged that the threat represented by Dai Huabin wasn't all that great. A green light flickered through its eyes as its four paws were suddenly pressed flat against the ground. Afterward, its body suddenly accelerated towards Dai Huabin like an arrow. It looked like a green bolt of lightning as it pounced towards Dai Huabin, as its speed was much faster than other, similarly wind-attributed soul beasts. Needless to say, its attack power was also many times stronger as well. Wolves and tigers were already on two different levels, let alone a hundred year soul beast and a thousand year one.
The distance between the two parties was almost instantly reduced. The Wind Tiger's two front paws opened in midair as it flashed forwards, which revealed its sharp claws. The tiger shot proceeded to shoot ten foot-long blades of wind towards Dai Huabin as it shot towards him. Its trailed behind the blades it had sent towards Dai Huabin, as its body was the strongest weapon it had at its disposal. The sharp claws at the end of the tiger's palms glittered with green glint as it approached Dai Huabin as well, which caused a large amount of wind-type soul power to fluctuate as they cut through the air. This in turn made its claws gain even more penetrating power.
Despite being faced with the attack of a thousand year Wind Tiger, Dai Huabin still didn't evade. Instead, the roar of a tiger suddenly echoed; he had at last released his White Tiger martial soul. Once he had, he immediately attacked the Wind Tiger fearlessly. His fighting style was different from Wang Dong's, however. What he relied on wasn't skill, but absolute strength, as both his first and third soul rings simultaneously lit up.
Dai Huabin's body suddenly began to emit the aura of a White Tiger now that he'd released his martial soul, which caused the thousand year Wind Tiger to involuntary show a panic-stricken expression. The White Tiger stood at the apex amongst tiger-type soul beast; wild White Tigers were considered kings amongst tiger-type soul beasts. This Wind Tiger, however, was now in midair. Even if it were faster, it still wouldn't be able to dodge in its current situation. It would have to wait until the end of its attack to display its superior speed.
Dai Huabin's thousand year soul skill caused his body to suddenly expand; it reached its peak condition instantaneously. Under normal circumstances, when he used his third soul skill, he would require a certain amount of time in order to complete this transformation. Despite this, he had reduced that time to the minimum; one could imagine what kind of toll this had on his body. If one were to look at his outward expression however, they wouldn't notice anything amiss.
Dai Huabin's White Tiger Shield began to emit a layer of white light now that he'd activated his White Tiger Vajra Transformation, while his tiger-like claws turned golden.
The spectators all thought that Dai Huabin should've first tried to resist the thousand year Wind Tiger's attack before he attempted to counterattack. He didn't plan on doing that however. What he planned to do was something that the average person would never attempt.
Dai Huabin didn't pay any attention to the ten wind blades approaching him. He also ignored the two powerful tiger claws filled with destructive power closing in on him. Instead, he aimed at the Wind Tiger's head with both of his claws. If one were to see this, one would simply think that it was suicidal!
Even the widely-experienced Yan Shaozhe and Du Weilun were greatly surprised by his actions. Was this really the fighting style of a twelve-year-old? He looked even more ferocious than a soul beast!
At this point, the Wind Tiger had already been influenced by the White Tiger's aura released by Dai Huabin. Because of this, it had become somewhat scared.
The wind blades it had flung towards Dai Huabin struck his body one after another. Even though the White Tiger Shield had been strengthened by the White Tiger's Vajra Transformation, it wasn't able to completely nullify ten successive strikes from a thousand year soul beast. Bloodstains appeared on Dai Huabin's shoulders and chest, yet this didn't even cause him to flinch; it was as if he couldn't feel any pain. After they were weakened by his White Tiger Shield, the Wind Tiger's wind blades were only able to leave a few superficial wounds on his body.
Both Dai Huabin and the Wind Tiger's claws closed in on each other at the same speed. However, based on the time they'd attacked and their arm's lengths, it seemed like the Wind Tiger's claws would reach Dai Huabin first.
This was a battle of brute force! Who would win?
When two tigers meet each other, the most valiant will win!
The Wind Tiger was already somewhat scared. When it saw that it was about to collide with Dai Huabin, it promptly retracted its claws and tried to grab ahold of his arms; It wanted to stop its opponent's attack.
However, Dai Huabin had already displayed this sort of reckless fighting style. How could he possibly be scared? He suddenly released a deafeningly loud roar. This roar contained the dignity of the king of the beasts, and if one were to look into the Wind Tiger's eyes, they would notice that its pupils had instantaneously widened. Under the effect of his mental counterattack, the speed of its claws immediately slowed down by a bit. At the same time, Dai Huabin suddenly infused his legs with strength, which caused his body to shoot forwards like an arrow.
By doing this, he made it so that the Wind Tiger's claws would only hit his shoulders, while at the same time making it so that his own claws would gain even more speed.
"Peng––" The Wind Tiger's claws smashed into Dai Huabin's shoulders. At the same time, its pupils shrank as Dai Huabin's two golden claws ruthlessly smashed towards the Wind Tiger's head from both sides.
At that moment, their fearful fight had reached its peak. The Wind Tiger's muffled groan echoed outwards. The moment it was about to be hit, it suddenly opened its jaws wide in a last ditch attempt to bite Dai Huabin's palms.
However, Dai Huabin was determined to win; would this really make him stop? He recklessly smashed his claws into the Wind Tiger's mouth, ripping apart the Wind Tiger's cheek muscles, the Wind Tiger's sharp teeth piercing his palms in the process. Despite this, he managed to grab hold of the Wind Tiger's long, sharp teeth and break its jaw so that it couldn't close its mouth.
At this time, his second soul ring suddenly lit up, which caused a ball of white light to ruthlessly explode inside of the Wind Tiger's open mouth. This was the White Tiger's Fierce Light Wave!
"Stop." Du Weilun's voice echoed from atop the high platform. The two had fought for only a short time, yet the victor and the loser were already clear.
However, Dai Huabin was already brimming with killing intent. In his mind, what he was fighting wasn't the Wind Tiger, but Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong. He took advantage of the fact that the Wind Tiger was still in a daze in order to arch his body backwards and cut open its soft abdomen, while at the same time, he used his claws to tear the tiger's lower jaw apart with a cracking sound. Its stomach was cut open at the same instant as he tore apart its jaw.
As the Wind Tiger's body lay atop of Dai Huabin with its belly cut open, Dai Huabin immediately became drenched in blood.