Chapter 21: One Versus Two
Just as Xie Yue was about to leave the training grounds, he suddenly spun around, his eyes filled with disbelief.
The calm, refined boy he had met earlier had just said something utterly arrogant.
From their first meeting, Luo Ling had struck him as polite and composed—a gentleman. But now, that image was completely shattered.
"Are you insane?" Yan blurted, equally stunned. Then anger flashed across his face. "What, are you looking down on me?"
"I'm not," Luo Ling said with a faint smile, shaking his head.
Outside the training field, everyone—including the seven Worships—fell silent, watching closely. Only Hu Liena's eyes gleamed with interest.
"Teacher wants to appoint me as the Holy Son," Luo Ling said slowly, his tone calm but firm. "And you're the so-called Golden Generation—the strongest of our Spirit Hall's new blood."
He lifted his gaze, confidence gleaming in his dark red eyes.
"I want you to be completely convinced."
His voice was neither loud nor hurried—but it radiated absolute self-assurance.
"Then let us see this confidence of yours," Xie Yue replied coldly, stepping back into the arena.
He joined Yan's side, the three of them standing face to face.
"Xie Yue, martial soul—Moon Blades! Level twenty-seven, tool-type soul master. Please advise!"
"Yan, martial soul—Lord of Flames! Level twenty-seven, battle-type soul master. Please advise!"
The two reported their names and martial souls before summoning them.
Xie Yue's curved silver blades gleamed with a cold light.
Yan's martial soul manifested as a flaming giant, his body covered entirely in molten rock.
Luo Ling wasted no time. The Raven Shadow Puppet appeared, fusing seamlessly into him. His eyes, dark and deep, glowed faintly crimson—the sign of his Soul of Desire.
"Luo Ling," he said softly. "Martial soul…"
He hesitated for a moment.
His twin spirits were the Raven Shadow Puppet and the Soul of Desire, but the combined form didn't yet have a proper name.
After a brief pause, a sly light flickered in his eyes.
"Luo Ling. Martial soul—Demon of Desire. Level thirteen, battle-type soul master. Please advise."
A chilling aura rippled outward as the demonic shadow merged fully with his body, surrounding him in darkness. The only visible part of him were his glowing scarlet pupils.
Xie Yue and Yan exchanged glances, both men instantly recognizing the sheer pressure emanating from him.
They had seen his martial soul fusion once before, but faced with it head-on, it was several times more terrifying.
Despite being only at the level of a single-ring Soul Master, Luo Ling's energy now rivaled theirs. A violet millennium soul ring pulsed at his feet.
Two martial souls, two abilities—his strength was that of a high-tier Soul Grandmaster.
The violet ring flared, drawing immediate attention.
Yan and Xie Yue tensed, summoning their full defenses. A millennium ring was no trivial thing—it demanded caution.
Yet seconds passed, and nothing happened.
Even Hu Liena tilted her head, puzzled—until she noticed the grim focus on the faces of her teacher and the surrounding Title Douluo.
Only they understood.
Unseen to everyone else, countless threads of darkness had already spread across the field like a web.
The entire arena had silently become Luo Ling's hunting ground.
"Are you two not going to make a move?" Luo Ling's amused voice echoed faintly from the shadows.
After a moment's hesitation, they attacked.
Being hesitant when facing a one-ring soul master would be an embarrassment.
"First soul skill—Slash!"
Xie Yue's Moon Blades gleamed blood-red as he charged forward in a blur of speed.
From the darkness, Luo Ling watched silently. The moment Xie Yue closed in, the shadows vanished—and Xie Yue found himself darting straight into the trap.
Momentum carried him forward… directly into a nest of invisible black threads woven into a massive web.
Instantly, the strands coiled tight, binding him from head to toe.
At that moment, Luo Ling reappeared at the opposite end of the arena, his crimson eyes gleaming faintly as he observed his prey.
Yan was a defensive soul master—tough, but slow. Xie Yue, however, was fast.
With little in the way of offense or shields after merging with his souls, Luo Ling couldn't afford to take direct hits from the Moon Blades.
Which was why his first target was Xie Yue. Trap the agile one first—then deal with brute force later.
The hidden, unseen dark threads made it the perfect ambush.
As Luo Ling disappeared and reappeared, the onlookers gasped.
"What was that ability?" Qian Daoliu asked aloud, brows furrowing.
"That's little Luo's first soul skill from his second martial soul, the Soul of Desire—Spectral Veil," Bibi Dong explained proudly. "It grants invisibility. Even we Title Douluo can't detect it."
The Worships exchanged astonished looks. Qian Daoliu folded his arms, his expression shifting slightly.
"It's more than just invisibility," he murmured.
He had seen it—Xie Yue's blades had clearly passed straight through Luo Ling without harming him.
For a first soul skill to be this powerful… even he could barely imagine what Luo Ling might become one day.
Meanwhile, in the arena, Luo Ling's dark threads wrapped completely around Xie Yue, binding him tight.
Xie Yue struggled desperately, but the web held firm—its strength was that of a Soul Grandmaster now.
Worse, the threads weren't just strong—they drained life and soul power.
Luo Ling didn't absorb his life force, only his energy, replenishing his own in the process.
The power he had spent weaving the trap was already returning to him.
To put it simply—Xie Yue had become his battery.
The Worships watching outside quickly realized what was happening.
"These threads… they seem to devour soul power," Qian Daoliu said grimly.
Bibi Dong's eyes flickered with surprise. She hadn't known that aspect of his ability.
Soon, Xie Yue could no longer fight—completely immobilized, his strength drained. The pride of Spirit Hall's Golden Generation had been rendered helpless in seconds.
That left only Yan.
He stood tense, his eyes darting around the darkened field.
He had no idea how Xie Yue had fallen. One moment he'd been standing, the next—down.
Not seeing the enemy's method made it far more terrifying.
But his pride wouldn't allow him to surrender.
Clenching his fists, flaming rock erupted across his body.
"Second soul skill—Granite Body!"
He roared, and his frame swelled, muscles and skin toughening into molten stone.
"First soul skill—Infernal Magma Charge!"
Both his rings blazed to life. Streams of lava flowed from his arms as he transformed into a molten giant, charging straight at Luo Ling.
As molten droplets sizzled across the arena floor, burning scars into the stone, Luo Ling simply smiled—a sharp, eerily calm smile.
Raising one hand, he let dark threads surge upward—then change.
They turned crimson, glowing faintly like blood.
The Threads of the Soul had awakened once again.
(END CHAPTER)
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