"Are you ready?"
Seeing Tang San rallying his team one last time before the clash, Grandmaster gave the signal.
"We're ready!"
"Ready!"
Both Qian Jue and Tang San's side responded.
"Good. Then this sparring match… begins now!"
With Grandmaster's command, Tang San immediately grabbed Oscar and darted off with Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. Since the wolf spirit was invisible and he couldn't predict its position, Tang San deliberately zigzagged without a clear destination. Only by making himself unpredictable—even to himself—could he avoid being caught.
"I, your father, have a big sausage!"
Oscar, seizing the moment, quickly activated his first spirit skill. His goal was simple—burn through his soul power as fast as possible to produce enough recovery sausages before stepping out, so he wouldn't drag his teammates down.
On Qian Jue's side, the Kindred Bow materialized instantly in his hand. Spotting Dai Mubai and Xiao Wu charging head-on, he retreated while raising his arm—two arrows of light shot toward them.
"White Tiger Barrier!"
Dai Mubai reacted without hesitation, his first spirit skill flaring as he barreled forward. He already had experience; those ordinary light arrows couldn't pierce through his protective shield.
Xiao Wu darted behind him, using his body as cover. From Qian Jue's perspective, only Dai Mubai remained in sight.
Swish!
A green arrow streaked forth. Dai Mubai's expression darkened—he wanted to dodge, but with Xiao Wu right behind him, if he moved suddenly, she might take the hit instead. He grit his teeth, deciding to endure.
It was just a drain on soul power, nothing that Oscar's sausages couldn't restore later.
Bang! Bang!
Two arrows struck him squarely, draining his strength. Still, he pushed through, dragging Xiao Wu with him until they closed in on Qian Jue.
"White Tiger Light Wave!"
Before reaching melee range, Dai Mubai's second spirit ring lit up. A beam of energy erupted from his jaws, while he lunged diagonally at Qian Jue's flank.
The attack wasn't meant to hit. Everyone knew his Light Wave was a straight-line burst, easily dodged in a face-to-face fight. This time, Dai Mubai was using it to cut off Qian Jue's path, forcing his movement. A bold choice—using his only offensive skill not to deal damage, but to control positioning.
Qian Jue hadn't expected that. His evasive step landed exactly where Dai Mubai predicted, and in the blink of an eye, the White Tiger was upon him. Yet he didn't panic—this moment had always been inevitable. Raising the Kindred Bow, he clashed directly.
But unlike his earlier spar with Dai Mubai, Qian Jue wasn't holding back now. Every strike of the bow was sharp and merciless, his angles unpredictable. Dai Mubai, forced onto the defensive, clenched his teeth. He seized the moment, locking his tiger claws onto the bow, pouring all his strength into restraining it.
Now Qian Jue was pinned—perfect for Xiao Wu.
"Hah!"
Xiao Wu burst out from behind Dai Mubai. Her braid snapped forward like a whip, aiming straight for Qian Jue's neck.
Qian Jue knew well how dangerous her braid was. With his bow restrained, being entangled would spell disaster. So, he suddenly ducked low, letting Dai Mubai's weight press forward. The spot where Qian Jue's head had been—was now occupied by Dai Mubai.
Smack!
The braid lashed across Dai Mubai's face instead. The crisp crack echoed, leaving him stunned.
Before he recovered, Qian Jue leaned back, fell deliberately, and coiled his legs. Releasing his bow, he kicked upward with explosive force.
Whoosh!
Dai Mubai shot skyward, sent flying by Qian Jue's counter.
Xiao Wu wasn't dazed though. Seizing the chance, she pounced at the fallen Qian Jue. Without his bow, she only needed to grapple him and unleash her Soft Bone Rabbit techniques to immobilize him until Tang San arrived.
She was almost upon him—when suddenly Qian Jue slid back unnaturally, pulled by an unseen force, widening the gap between them. Then he launched upward toward Dai Mubai.
The wolf spirit.
"Xiao San!"
Xiao Wu shouted, warning Tang San that the wolf wasn't chasing them anymore but had joined Qian Jue above.
Tang San had been watching closely. He tensed, ready to intervene—but paused.
If he left Oscar unguarded, what if the wolf turned back? What if this was a feint? The invisible wolf could strike at any moment.
He glanced at Oscar's sausages—six in hand.
"Oscar, how many more can you make?"
"About six more."
Half his soul power left.
Tang San frowned. Dai Mubai was in danger, but the team's safety came first. After a heartbeat, he made his choice.
"Keep making sausages. If you're attacked, surrender immediately. I'm going to help Dai Mubai!"
Without waiting for an answer, Tang San sprinted toward Qian Jue.
Tang San's instinct was right—Dai Mubai's situation was dire.
After Qian Jue kicked Dai Mubai flying, he himself was also carried upward by the wolf spirit, surging straight toward Dai Mubai.
None of Tang San's group had any means to hover in midair; once in the air, that was Qian Jue's domain.
Naturally, Dai Mubai realized this too. In midair he had no place to gain leverage, not even the ability to make the simplest evasions. Facing Qian Jue's ferocious assault, he could only resign himself to fate—doing all he could while leaving the rest to heaven. He unleashed both of his spirit skills in succession—White Tiger Barrier and White Tiger Light Wave—trying to block Qian Jue's approach.
But just as said before, a straightforward attack spirit skill, when released head-on like this, was basically impossible to hit its target. Qian Jue, carried by the wolf spirit, merely shifted once in the air and slipped past easily.
The next moment, Dai Mubai felt a violent pain surge from his abdomen. His body, which had already started to fall, was smashed upward again.
It was the wolf spirit's attack.
Meanwhile, Qian Jue had activated the agility effect from the Fox's Left Leg Bone, greatly reducing his body's weight. Thus, even after the wolf spirit left, he still continued flying toward Dai Mubai by inertia. And right now Dai Mubai, hunched over uncontrollably, face twisted in agony from the blow, suspended in midair with no way to gain force—could make no reaction whatsoever to Qian Jue's arrival.
What followed was a brutal, inhumane aerial beating. The wolf spirit struck Dai Mubai once, then circled back, dragging Qian Jue for another strike. Then the wolf hit him again, then Qian Jue again—strike after strike.
When Tang San finally rushed over, what he saw was precisely this scene.
Xiao Wu, being purely close-combat, had been helplessly watching from below ever since Dai Mubai was kicked flying. But Tang San had some ranged ability. Seeing Dai Mubai being beaten like this, of course he couldn't stay silent.
With a turn of his body, several Flying Locust rocks of his own making shot toward Qian Jue, whistling through the air with a sharp swish.
Naturally, Qian Jue had been paying attention to them all along. At this moment he was still maintaining the wolf spirit's first spirit skill—Shared Perception—so the situation on the field had never left his sight. Borrowing force from the wolf, he twisted in midair, narrowly slipping past the hidden weapons.
Tang San, unwilling to give up, flung several Bone Piercing Needles next. But this time things were even worse—Qian Jue spun Dai Mubai's body as he pulled him along, and the Needles ended up embedding themselves into Dai Mubai's backside, triggering yet another miserable scream.
…
At this point Tang San had no way out. Qian Jue's tactic was simply too ruthless—taking advantage of their lack of aerial ability. He and Xiao Wu could only watch from below as Dai Mubai suffered.
Sigh!
Letting out a long breath, Tang San took out a large recovery sausage, wanting Xiao Wu to restore some soul power, adjust her state to the best condition possible, and prepare as much as they could for the fight once Qian Jue landed. At the same time, in his heart he pondered how he might guard against this move of Qian Jue's.
But ever since Xiao Wu had charged forward, she hadn't even touched Qian Jue. She had barely consumed any soul power at all—so what was the point of eating a big sausage?
Thus, Qian Jue continued his airborne pummeling of Dai Mubai, fists and kicks raining down for quite some time before he finally judged the timing to be right. With his back turned to Tang San and the others, he drew the Kindred Bow, making a light slash at Dai Mubai's neck, then flung him off to the side.
Seeing this, Tang San and Xiao Wu rushed over. Tang San in particular released a mass of Blue Silver Grass, which whipped upward to coil around Dai Mubai, slowing his fall, hoping to catch him.
Qian Jue, watching, smiled faintly. Riding the wolf spirit, he immediately descended in the opposite direction—his target locked onto Oscar.
Oscar had just finished producing a big sausage when he saw Qian Jue speeding down toward him. Panic flashed across his face—why was he coming for him!?
Oscar instinctively wanted to call for Tang San and the others to support him. But he immediately realized—wouldn't that be exactly what Qian Jue wanted? Moreover, his spirit power was already completely spent, all consumed in making sausages. He was of no use now. Saving Boss Dai was what mattered.
If he stayed on the field, he would only drag them down. Better to step out quickly.
A pity, though, that the sausages he had just made couldn't be delivered.
Thus, as he watched Qian Jue descend, Oscar calculated the timing. Just as Qian Jue was about to reach him, he raised his hand:
"Dean Flender, I forfeit!"
And with that, he was out.