One unfortunate member of the Elephant Armor Academy team was struck by Ma Hongjun's explosive attack and fell from the stage. However, this intense assault from their "cannon" disrupted Tang San's airborne formation completely. The attack shattered Tang San's Blue Silver Grass, causing all his teammates to fall to the stage.
Tang San was a bit taken aback. He hadn't anticipated that Elephant Armor Academy, known for their ground attacks, would use such a strategy. This oversight had cost him.
On the bright side, Elephant Armor Academy's formation was now looser due to the loss of two members.
Tang San quickly apologized to his teammates, "I didn't expect Elephant Armor Academy to have this kind of tactic. Airborne combat is no longer viable. I'll focus on controlling them. Take the opportunity to knock them off the platform. Oscar, provide us with recovery sausages!"
The team responded with determination, "Yes!"
Facing the Elephant Armor Academy, Tang San activated his first and second spirit skills, Entangle and Parasite. Despite the chaos, he managed to plant Blue Silver Grass seeds on his opponents.
Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track!
With his opponents momentarily bound, Tang San seized the opening and sprinted toward the four remaining members, excluding Huyan Li.
"Yu Tianxin, I'll take care of these four. You all focus on dealing with Huyan Li," he instructed.
Tang San moved swiftly, using his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to get close to his opponents, aiming to test a suspicion he'd had since the last encounter.
As he passed Huyan Li, Tang San threw a Web Restraint to hinder him, allowing his teammates a better chance to take him down.
Then, Tang San unleashed his fourth spirit ability, Blue Silver Prison, which manifested as a purple cage rising from the ground to trap one of the Elephant Armor Academy members.
Since this spirit skill was powered by a lower-level spirit ring, he couldn't control a group at once without exhausting too much spirit power, even with Oscar's sausage support. Instead, he chose a more sustainable strategy by combining his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track with Web Restraint to control the remaining three.
While using Web Restraint, he activated his Mysterious Jade Hand to discreetly make contact with the other three members. To his surprise, his Xuantian Skill seemed to be drawing in their spirit power, integrating it to enhance his own!
Tang San wondered why his Xuantian Skill had never shown this ability before. Could it be due to the secret technique and medication he'd recently used?
Assuming this as the cause, Tang San formed a quick plan: during future battles, he could boost his own cultivation by making contact with both opponents and teammates to absorb their spirit power!
He then speculated whether his Blue Silver Grass could absorb spirit power as well, since it would allow him to drain energy without needing close contact. With its toxic nature, it would provide a useful cover for his actions.
Tang San tested this theory by embedding his Blue Silver Grass with spikes to pierce his opponents' skin. Although their tough skin resisted penetration, he remembered that the poison didn't require direct contact with blood to be effective. After adjusting his Xuantian Skill to attach its energy-absorbing function to the Blue Silver Grass, he began discreetly siphoning spirit power, drop by drop.
The Elephant Armor Academy members attributed the draining sensation to Blue Silver Grass poison, surprised that it could affect their defenses so much.
Realizing his strategy was working, Tang San felt a surge of excitement, oblivious to the darker implications of this skill. With this, he was certain his cultivation would increase rapidly.
To clarify, Tang San's Xuantian Skill absorbed spirit power with deeper, more invasive effects, whereas Su Ming's Wood Dragon Absorption focused solely on spirit energy. Su Ming's skill simply drained spirit power, causing temporary weakness without lasting physical impact, while Tang San's method affected his opponent's essence, causing visible physical depletion if overused.
Still immersed in his power-draining tactic, Tang San was unaware of the true effects of his absorption.
After securing his opponents, Tang San turned to assist his teammates. Huyan Li had unexpectedly used a spirit bone on his head, significantly boosting his overall defenses.
It took a tremendous effort, but Huyan Li eventually fell to Yu Tianxin's fourth spirit ability, Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Burst.
With Huyan Li incapacitated, the rest of the Elephant Armor Academy team quickly crumbled without their leader.
As the match wrapped up, the announcer Doudou took to the air to declare, "Preliminary match, Thunderclap Academy versus Elephant Armor Academy. Victory goes to Thunderclap Academy!"
This loss enraged the Elephant Armor Clan leader, Huyan Zhen. Despite using their trump card and a spirit bone, they had still lost to Thunderclap Academy, even with only three spirit elders each. If Thunderclap's spirit elders had been more numerous, he might have accepted it, but under these conditions, he felt profoundly humiliated.
Watching from the stands, Su Ming narrowed his eyes. Although Thunderclap Academy had been at a disadvantage at first, Yu Tianxin's strength had ultimately pulled them through. However, Su Ming still hadn't discerned any hidden trump cards from Tang San.