Lu Tianyu was secretly astonished by Wu Weiyue's perfectly steady footwork. The "Decapitated Axe" move, a derivative of the "Storm Kick," was the most powerful move Lu Tianyu could currently unleash.
If even this move couldn't shake Wu Weiyue, then other derivative moves of the "Storm Kick" would be equally ineffective.
Thinking this, Lu Tianyu deliberately revealed his second soul ring, creating the illusion of using a soul skill, and summoned the Tiger Soul Staff attached to his spine.
"Second Soul Skill - Tiger Soul Staff..."
Although Wu Weiyue was surprised that Lu Tianyu's second soul skill would summon a weapon, he grinned as he looked at the staff, which was almost as long as Lu Tianyu.
He thought to himself that he could smash such a weapon to pieces with a single hammer blow.
"Shave."
Lu Tianyu summoned the Tiger Soul Staff, habitually twirled it, and then suddenly took dozens of steps forward.
In an instant, Lu Tianyu appeared behind Wu Weiyue. As he did, the Tiger Soul Staff in his hand swept out, striking Wu Weiyue's lower back.
Wu Weiyue, enduring the pain of the staff's blow, quickly turned around and swung his octagonal steel hammer at Lu Tianyu's face.
"Shave."
At that moment, Lu Tianyu vanished from Wu Weiyue's sight again, reappearing behind him.
"First Soul Skill - Precise Hammer..."
Just as Lu Tianyu was about to use his superior speed to attack Wu Weiyue's weak point,
a white soul ring suddenly appeared on Wu Weiyue's octagonal steel hammer. The hammer struck the Tiger Soul Staff from an angle impossible for an ordinary person to see.
"Crack..."
The Tiger Soul Staff in Lu Tianyu's hand was shattered by the hammer, breaking into pieces about sixty centimeters. His soul bones were damaged, and Lu Tianyu's soul power immediately fluctuated abnormally.
To others, the Tiger Soul Staff in Lu Tianyu's hand appeared to have been shattered by Wu Weiyue, but in reality, it hadn't recovered since being destroyed by Chadley's soul skill.
With a thought, Lu Tianyu channeled his soul power into the soul bone in his hand. The shattered soul bone on the fighting platform was drawn together by the soul power and reformed into the Tiger Soul Staff.
"Your first soul skill should have a soul skill locking effect, right? You really can't underestimate a ten-year soul skill."
At this moment, Lu Tianyu slightly opened his eyes and asked Wu Weiyue. The angle of attack from Wu Weiyue's octagonal steel hammer was impossible for a human arm to make.
Therefore, Lu Tianyu was 80% certain that Wu Weiyue's first soul skill had a soul skill locking effect.
Wu Weiyue was also somewhat surprised that Lu Tianyu could immediately identify the characteristic of his first soul skill; this was a secret only he knew.
"What soul skill locking? I don't know, kid. If you're scared, just admit defeat."
Since Wu Weiyue's first soul skill had a soul skill locking effect, he absolutely couldn't continue to waste time with him.
Thinking this, Lu Tianyu flashed to Wu Weiyue's side. Lu Tianyu's fists and feet seemed to be one with the Tiger Soul Staff.
Each strike exquisitely avoided Wu Weiyue's defenses and landed on him, forcing Wu Weiyue to unleash his first soul skill again.
Seeing this, Lu Tianyu consciously circled around Wu Weiyue's body, and the octagonal steel hammer in Wu Weiyue's hand also circled along Lu Tianyu's trajectory.
"Shave."
Suddenly, Lu Tianyu's figure appeared behind Wu Weiyue, and the Tiger Soul Staff in his hand struck Wu Weiyue's right shoulder like a venomous snake's tongue. The sudden force, combined with the momentum of Wu Weiyue swinging the octagonal steel hammer, sent
Wu Weiyue tumbling forward and crashing onto the Soul Arena. The octagonal steel hammer slammed into the Soul Arena, creating a large area of spiderweb-like cracks.
The spectators on the viewing platform and Xiaomei, the host flying in the air, both gasped in astonishment. They simply couldn't understand why Wu Weiyue had fallen to the ground.
Wu Weiyue hurriedly stood up, clutching his back, his eyes blazing with anger as he glared at Lu Tianyu.
He thought to himself that this little bastard's attack was too underhanded. If he hadn't reacted quickly enough, canceling his first soul skill and using the momentum of the octagonal steel hammer to do a forward somersault, he would definitely have twisted his back.
"Damn brat, third soul skill - Mountain Crashing Tornado!"
Suddenly, the purple soul ring beneath Wu Weiyue's feet flashed, and then Wu Weiyue spun in place like a top.
The heavy octagonal steel hammer created a visibly powerful tornado, and Xiaomei, flying in the air, exclaimed in horror, "It's Wu Weiyue's third soul skill!"
"A soul skill that guarantees victory in soul battles upon its use! How will our Lu Tianyu, our soul master, deal with this crisis?"
Lu Tianyu guessed the effect of the soul skill just by watching Wu Weiyue's body spin. The rapid rotation of the octagonal steel hammer created a wide-range attack.
From another perspective, as long as Lu Tianyu's speed matched the spinning speed of the octagonal steel hammer, he wouldn't be affected. Thinking this, Lu Tianyu used the Shave Step, quickly running around Wu Weiyue.
The Shave Step was a rapid movement technique derived from the characteristics of shaving; it was essentially adding the power-gathering principle of shaving to ordinary running.
With each step, the heel stomped five times in place, and the second step also involved five stomps in place, allowing for unparalleled running speed through the use of the Shave Step.
Fortunately, the Soul Arena was quite spacious, allowing Lu Tianyu to use the Shave Step to run quickly around Wu Weiyue.
Three minutes later, Wu Weiyue's spinning speed with his octagonal steel hammer slowed down, and the fierce hurricane almost engulfed the entire Soul Arena.
Normally, a Soul Master attacked by Wu Weiyue's third Soul Skill would be dizzy from the tornado by this point and would need to lie on the ground for a long time to recover.
Just as Wu Weiyue, panting heavily, slammed his octagonal steel hammer onto the Soul Arena, he suddenly saw Lu Tianyu, also panting heavily, standing in front of him.
Using the Shave Step to run was fast, but it was also extremely energy-consuming, as it required precise control of each step to be five steps.
If it was too many or too few, it would break the speed balance, resulting in him tripping and falling to the ground.
"Shave, Eight Trigrams Empty Palm..."
Before Wu Weiyue could react, Lu Tianyu used the Shave Step to instantly appear in front of him, and at the same time, he used the Soft Fist to strike Wu Weiyue's lower abdomen.
Like flowing water, the energy penetrated Wu Weiyue's defenses and seeped into his lungs, then erupted, instantly shattering the soul power within him.
With his lungs and internal organs injured and his soul power dissipated, Wu Weiyue felt a sharp pain coming from his lower abdomen, and then his tall and robust body collapsed limply onto the Soul Battle Platform.
The octagonal steel hammer automatically returned to Wu Weiyue's body because he was temporarily unable to circulate his soul power to maintain it. Only then did Lu Tianyu let out a long sigh of relief and straighten his body.
After dispelling his martial soul possession, Lu Tianyu did not feel weak. In fact, he had only used a full-power Tempest Kick, about three minutes of Shave Step, and a Bagua Empty Palm.
In terms of his current martial soul attribute strength, this only consumed about 30-40% of his soul power.
Xiaomei, after all, was the host of the Grand Soul Arena. Even though the fallen player was one she highly regarded, her excellent professionalism made her react immediately. She
landed next to Wu Weiyue from the air and shouted, "Countdown five, four, three, two, one! The winner is Soul Master Lu Tianyu!"
"Congratulations to Soul Master Lu Tianyu, with a record of one win and zero losses. Soul Master Wu Weiyue has ninety-eight wins and twenty-eight losses."
Although Xiaomei had announced Lu Tianyu's victory in this battle, the audience sitting in the stands did not agree.
"How is this possible? How could Soul Master Wu Weiyue lose?"
"What exactly happened? I think Lu Tianyu just lightly patted him."
"Is this a fixed match? Hey, hey, hey, do you think this is a fixed match?"
Lu Tianyu looked up and saw Dai Mubai standing on the Soul Master viewing platform, clenching his fist at him. However, Dai Mubai's face still showed some shock, after all, Lu Tianyu had defeated a Soul Master with a Soul Power of Level 38.
But Dai Mubai believed that Wu Weiyue had indeed been defeated by Lu Tianyu, because he had personally experienced how powerful the Soft Fist was.
Although it looked like just a light pat, the force contained in Lu Tianyu's palm was definitely not weak, otherwise it would not have been possible to completely incapacitate Wu Weiyue with a single blow.
Just as they stepped out of the Soul Arena entrance, Dai Mubai punched Lu Tianyu on the shoulder, saying, "You're really something, kid."
"You actually defeated Wu Dachui, a five-level difference in Soul Power! Hahaha! With you here, we're guaranteed to win the two-on-two Soul Battle!"
Lu Tianyu shook his head slightly, a warm smile returning to his face as he squinted, "No, I was able to beat Wu Weiyue because his weaknesses were too obvious. Although his attack power was formidable, his speed was far inferior."
"Then, despite being slower than me, he used a Soul Skill with a locking effect. If I just used it slightly, he'd be bogged down by his own Soul Skill. You could say he lost because of his own weaknesses."
Dai Mubai had no interest in listening to Lu Tianyu's explanation, excitedly leading him to the main Soul Arena counter to collect the gold coins from their Soul Battle victory and register for the two-on-two Soul Battle.
Back in the Soul Master rest area, Lu Tianyu said to Dai Mubai, "Mubai, your one-on-one Soul Battle hasn't even started yet, right? Is it really okay to sign up for the two-on-two Soul Battle now?"
Dai Mubai chuckled and said, "If the opponent is too strong, I'll concede. I definitely won't hold you back on the Soul Battle stage."
Lu Tianyu didn't quite understand Dai Mubai's actions, so he sat down cross-legged and said, "Whatever. I'll meditate and try to recover my Soul Power as much as possible."
"I feel like I'm playing duo queue with you to rank up, you're a Bronze/Iron level player."
Dai Mubai felt something was off about Lu Tianyu's words, but still replied, "Playing duo queue? Ranking up? We play two-on-two Soul Battles to rank up."
He used to come to the Soto Grand Soul Arena to participate in one-on-one Soul Battles with a mixed record, and he had only accumulated three points so far.
He still needed ninety-seven points to upgrade to Bronze Soul, and even if he upgraded to Bronze Soul, he would need to win one hundred more matches to reach Silver Soul.
Who knows when he'll be able to advance to Silver Soul Master? But teaming up with Lu Tianyu for a 2v2 Soul Master match is a sure win.
With proper execution, reaching the King rank—no, the Silver Soul Master rank—is a piece of cake.
Not long after, an announcement came over the loudspeaker instructing Dai Mubai to proceed to the fourth arena. Lu Tianyu squinted at Dai Mubai and said, "Go ahead. I need to recover my Soul Power; it'll help with the upcoming 2v2 Soul Master matches."
Dai Mubai nodded and went through the Soul Master's special passage to the fourth arena. About seven minutes later, Dai Mubai returned to the rest and preparation room, looking slightly excited.
Lu Tianyu knew from his expression that Dai Mubai had won, but still reminded him, "You should hurry up and recover your strength. You can enjoy yourself later when you get back to the academy."
Hearing Lu Tianyu's words, Dai Mubai could only sit cross-legged and circulate his Soul Power, but inwardly he muttered: What's wrong with Lu Tianyu? I feel like he's a teacher at the academy, always so indifferent to everything.
In truth, Lu Tianyu was deeply confused; he didn't know what he was pursuing.
Becoming a Soul Master was merely a way to live more easily and freely. Many times, Lu Tianyu thought that even as a Soul Master, he would still be a useless nobody.
To avoid sinking into despair, Lu Tianyu could only numb himself with cultivation. Just now, after spending about seven minutes alone, he began to recall the regrets he had left behind in his previous life.
"Please have Bai Yu team move to the third arena."
"Please have Bai Yu team move to the third arena."
Only ten minutes after Dai Mubai returned to the rest room, this announcement came over the loudspeaker.
When registering for the two-on-two Soul Battle, teams needed to choose a name. Lu Tianyu and Dai Mubai discussed it and decided to use the last character of both their names as their team name.
Lu Tianyu stood up and stretched, immediately eliciting a series of crackling sounds like popping beans.
"Let's go, Mubai. After the two-on-two match, go back to the academy and get a good night's sleep."
Dai Mubai stood up and said, "Xiaoyu, aren't you tired of staying cooped up in the academy every day? It's rare to get out, so tonight I'll take you to a good place."
Lu Tianyu turned his head and saw the wicked smile in Dai Mubai's eyes. He understood Dai Mubai's thoughts after a moment's thought.
"Mubai, I think you should focus your energy on cultivation right now. Playing and having fun aren't things we pursue at our age."
Dai Mubai didn't know where he had given himself away, but he felt that Lu Tianyu didn't understand his situation at all.
As the two walked side by side towards the third arena, Dai Mubai finally said, "Xiaoyu, what's the point of you cultivating so hard every day?"
Lu Tianyu was silent for a long time after hearing Dai Mubai's words. His mind was filled with vivid memories of his previous life, memories he dared not recall.