"Holy crap!"
"Little San, we can't fight them!"
"What the hell, this Taoyuan Academy foursome is too damn freaky!"
"A guaranteed win? Who said we could win? Let them come and fight!"
"Little San, are you sure we can exhaust their spirit power before they beat us to a pulp?!"
"Little San, your Point Strength Method is useless! It can't break her Golden Bell Shield at all! Holy crap—her pagoda can smash people too!"
"Little San, I'm really freaking tired! I've been wiped out more than ten times already! On one side, I'm getting locked down by that bitch Zhu Zhuqing's third spirit ability, and on the other, I'm being completely countered by Wang Sheng! His fist style is different from before. I'm not a White Tiger in front of him anymore; I'm a kitten! He can toy with me however he wants! Your Qi Circulation Method is completely useless!"
Tang San's deployment had indeed been perfect.
It was just that reality was a harsh mistress.
Because practice is the sole criterion for testing truth.
Standing before them were:
The strongest defensive support in history, Ning Rongrong, who was completely unfazed by the relentless barrage of Ma Hongjun's Phoenix Fire Line, who remained unmoved even by the Point Strength MethodTang San had taught, and who, with a single Wing Chun One-Inch Punch, could leave him feeling like his insides were torn to shreds.
The hell-grade agility-attack type Spirit Master, Zhu Zhuqing, whose movement technique surpassed Tang San's Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track in its elusiveness, who possessed a locking skill nearly comparable to a Spirit Ancestor's fourth ability, and who could suppress hell with the Ten Halls of Yama.
The ultimate counter to tiger-type Spirit Masters, Wang Sheng, who had mastered the Tiger Subduing Fist and toyed with Dai Mubai in the palm of his hand, a man of dull aptitude but unparalleled perseverance.
And the summoning-type Spirit Master who had shocked the entire arena, Meng Yiran, who was unafraid of Tang San's thread control, who expertly used her Snake Blade to sever his Blue Silver Grass lockdown, who could summon the Ghost Summoning Great Snake to fight, and who used her Nether Hand to absorb Dugu Yan's Jade Phosphor Serpent poison storm into a spiral and turn it to her own use.
The four of them, with their overwhelming strength, pinned Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun to the ground and rubbed their faces in the dirt, leaving them completely powerless to resist.
In just a few minutes, the two were beaten beyond recognition, the ground stained with their blood. The Nine Heart Flowering Apple could heal their injuries, but it couldn't suck the lost blood back into their bodies.
Tang San wasn't faring much better. He was fighting an incredibly frustrating battle, feeling as if he were being countered at every turn. He had his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, but his opponent had the even more mysterious Crossing the Yellow Springs movement technique. He had Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, but the Taoyuan Team had learned the second sequence of the Thousand Netherworld Weapons—Demon-Suppressing Ghost-Hunting, a technique specifically for locking down opponents. He had the Mysterious Jade Hand and was immune to poison, but his opponents had the Nether Hand, which not only feared no poison but could also absorb it for their own use, even absorbing the potent venom attached to his Eight Spider Lances.
In a matter of minutes, Tang San had been forced to use every single one of his trump cards.
"Hah—"
"Aiya~"
"Xiao Wu, what are you doing?"
"Third Brother, I was careless! I couldn't beat her; she's too strong!"
At that moment, Xiao Wu, who had been slacking off on the sidelines, suddenly launched an attack. Unsurprisingly, the moment she locked onto Ning Rongrong with her Waist Bow, she was sent flying by a single One-Inch Punch.
Using the force of the blow, Xiao Wu flew like a kite with a broken string, landing outside the spirit fighting stage. This meant she could no longer participate in the match; she had been eliminated.
An actor.
You tell me, if that's not an actor, what is?
Tang San's face turned ashen.
Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun were being beaten so badly their complaints filled the air.
Ye Lingling's face was also pale. She looked at the members of the Taoyuan Team with a sense of awe and said to her teammates, "You're dying too fast! My spirit power is almost exhausted. If we continue with this strategy, I'm afraid I won't be able to revive you anymore."
I, the Nine Heart Flowering Apple, can heal my teammates, but this isn't a fountain of life where you can revive indefinitely, okay?
Beside Ye Lingling, Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan were already watching, their faces filled with utter shock. Today had truly been an eye-opener.
"Lingling, have you ever seen a support-type with stronger defense than a Black Tortoise, who can completely dominate a power-attack type Spirit Master?" Yu Tianheng asked blankly, watching the one-sided battle.
Ye Lingling was dumbfounded. "May I ask, can a support-type who can dominate a power-attack type even be called a support-type anymore?"
"Yanzi, do you know of a Spirit Master who can summon spirit beasts to fight?"
"Unheard of."
"Then have you ever seen hands that can absorb potent venom and turn it to their own use?"
"Never."
Seeing her own unique Martial Soul's poison being so easily absorbed by those dark hands, Dugu Yan was completely bewildered.
"I originally didn't want to use lethal force against you, seeing as you don't usually commit evil deeds and are not bad people, and since you were people Fatty and Mubai were interested in. But now I see that mercy only leads to defeat."
"You have chosen the path to your own demise."
The third rule of the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record: Once an opponent is confirmed as an enemy, as long as they deserve to die, show no mercy. Otherwise, you will only bring more trouble upon yourself.
Tang San quickly pulled several black boxes from his spirit tool, the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges, and tossed them to Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun.
"Fire!"
Swish swish swish swish swish—
Dozens of Zhugeshen Crossbow bolts with extreme penetrating power shot through the air.
Their target was the members of the Taoyuan Team: Wang Sheng, Meng Yiran, and Ning Rongrong.
"Hidden weapons!"
Having also studied the knowledge of hidden weapons—and hell-grade ones at that—Meng Yiran and Zhu Zhuqing had almost instantly seen through Tang San's intentions the moment he took out the crossbows.
"You have hidden weapons, and so do we!"
"Thousand Nether: Hellish Flying Flowers!"
Hellish Flying Flowers, one of the listed hidden weapons in the Thousand Netherworld Weapons. It was said that even demons and ghosts would tremble at its terrifying lethality.
From the palms of Zhu Zhuqing and Meng Yiran, a sky full of black, hellish flowers suddenly shot out, precisely intercepting the speeding crossbow bolts.
The hellish flowers spun at an incredible speed. The moment they collided with the crossbow bolts, a crisp clanging sound rang out, and the bolts were actually sliced in half, given no chance to get close.
The remaining Hellish Flying Flowers swept across the ground in a wide arc. Not only did they shred the flesh of Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun, but even Tang San, Yu Tianheng, and the others could not escape. Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling were forced to retreat step by step until they were outside the arena, which saved them from serious injury but also disqualified them from the match.
The scene was incredibly brutal.
"How is this possible!"
"Your hidden weapons are actually stronger than my Zhugeshen Crossbows?"
"This is impossible, impossible—"
Tang San, enduring immense pain, pulled a black hellish flower from his chest. The wound was like a chunk had been gouged out, the flesh and bone within spun into mincemeat. This was an extremely lethal and cruel hidden weapon, perhaps even surpassing the Tang Sect's Storm Pear Flower Needle!
"Meng Yiran, I know your level! Your skill with the Soul-Breaking Saber is nowhere near enough to wield a hidden weapon of this caliber! You've only been learning from Su Ran for a month, and you—you!" Tang San's eyes were filled with disbelief.
He could accept losing a Spirit Master duel; he could just tell himself he needed to keep learning.
But this was hidden weapons!!!
His greatest area of expertise!
The top-tier hidden weapons he had spent over twenty years secretly learning from the inner sect of the Tang Sect!
And he had actually lost to Meng Yiran, who had only been learning for a little over a month?!
Was her talent too high, or was his own comprehension too poor?
"Nothing is impossible. It's all because Teacher taught us well. We still have hundreds of hidden weapons like this to learn," Meng Yiran said calmly.
Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing slowly walked over to clean up the battlefield, kicking Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun out of the spirit fighting stage like dead dogs. They snorted coldly. "Tang San, do you still want to fight?"
"Hundreds of types?!"
"Haha, hundreds of types... so many..."
Our Tang Sect has less than ten hidden weapons of this caliber...
His blood gradually soaked through his clothes. Hearing Meng Yiran's words, Tang San let out a miserable laugh. His mind went blank, his eyes lost their focus, and his legs gave out, causing him to kneel on the floor of the arena.
"We... lose."
Over twenty years of secret learning, over thirty years of cultivation... in the end, it was all worth less than finding a good teacher...
Heh...
Is it laughable?
(End of Chapter)