As expected of a humanoid soul tool that condensed the latest technology of Mingde Hall and was personally crafted by Jing Hongchen, Lin Xiao only felt as if his soul power had suddenly risen by several levels.
His soul power dispersed and flowed, one stream surged into his palm along the meridians, while the other poured into the Embrace of the Underworld River. The entire right arm lit up with strands of dark red patterns, glowing as if they were the "meridians" of this soul tool.
Boom—
All these changes happened in an instant. The next moment, Lin Xiao's right arm, now covered by the humanoid soul tool, collided fiercely with Xuan Zi's palm.
A massive shockwave spread outward in all directions from the point of impact. The arena platform on the ground couldn't withstand the aftershock and collapsed with a thunderous crash. Even the distant combatants paused for a brief moment, stunned by the aura erupting from this clash.
But Lin Xiao and Xuan Zi, at the center of the battle, had no attention to spare for the reactions around them.
Lin Xiao's first soul ring lit up. He raised his left arm high, and suddenly, numerous gun barrels emerged on the humanoid soul tool covering it. In the next instant, beams of dark red light shot out, completely sealing off every direction around Xuan Zi.
Though it was merely his first soul skill, it was genuinely a ten-thousand-year soul skill, and one released under the enhancement of the humanoid soul tool. This was the perfect fusion of soul skills and soul tools that Jing Hongchen had always pursued, and its power was on an entirely different level.
Xuan Zi's expression changed repeatedly. With the aid of Huo Yuhao's spiritual detection sharing, he could clearly see the trajectories of those incoming attacks. Yet according to Huo Yuhao's calculations, there was not a single gap through which he could evade.
He instantly understood that although Lin Xiao's soul power rank didn't appear particularly outstanding, combined with this humanoid soul tool, he was absolutely not an opponent Xuan Zi could easily defeat.
Although this place was outside Mingdu, if their traces were discovered by Mingdu, reinforcements would arrive in no time at all. Continuing to entangle here would only put them at a greater disadvantage.
His thoughts raced. Xuan Zi decided to hold nothing back. His body suddenly swelled dramatically. The tattered clothes on him could no longer cover his form and tore apart, revealing a body of extremely robust muscles that starkly contrasted with his elderly appearance.
Earth-yellow patterns spread across his body. As Xuan Zi poured soul power into them, the patterns glowed with bright yellow light. From a distance, they resembled pieces of dragon scales covering his entire form.
Lin Xiao's first soul skill had landed fully on Xuan Zi, but every one of those Higanbana Seeds merely created ripples of golden-yellow light on his body; none managed to take root.
Then, the pair of horns on Xuan Zi's head blazed with light. Diamond-like dazzling radiance shot forth like lightning.
Lin Xiao's heart tightened. He lightly tapped his left foot, and blood-red light flared beneath the humanoid soul tool on his left leg. His figure flickered and barely dodged the attack.
Before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, he saw Xuan Zi's powerful body charging toward him like a wild bull.
In his haste, he crossed his left arm in front of his chest. A metallic-shining protective shield unfolded, and his sixth soul ring lit up at the same time. Yet in the next instant, his body was still lifted high into the air by Xuan Zi.
On the ground, Huo Yuhao abruptly raised his head to look upward. In his spiritual detection, Xuan Zi and Lin Xiao's figures had already vanished—they had clearly ascended beyond the range of his spiritual detection, and the sharing was forcibly interrupted.
Lin Xiao's face instantly paled somewhat.
Without having planted an Higanbana Seed on Xuan Zi, he couldn't use his sixth soul skill to transfer the damage he received onto Xuan Zi. He could only shift a portion of the attack to the Higanbana Flowers around him.
Even after dual weakening from his left arm bone and the humanoid soul tool, Lin Xiao still felt his chest churning violently. The full, unrestrained power of a rank 98 Super Douluo was now on full display.
In the empty high sky, the surroundings suddenly grew much quieter. Apart from the cold wind at high altitude, there were no other sounds. Far below, one could still faintly see the Thunder Douluo and several other referees engaged in battle with the Shrek Academy group, with no spare attention for the higher battlefield.
A towering figure enveloped Xuan Zi, somewhat resembling a martial soul's true body, yet different.
For some reason, though that previous strike had clearly inflicted considerable injury on Lin Xiao, leaving him unable to even control his own body as he was carried into the high sky, Xuan Zi sensed no trace of panic from him.
Lin Xiao's face no longer wore that mask; only the faceplate of the humanoid soul tool remained. Yet neither mask nor faceplate could conceal the faint dark purple glow that now appeared between his brows.
Lin Xiao's throat seemed to move slightly. Amid the wind whistling in Xuan Zi's ears at high altitude, several faint, almost imperceptible melodies appeared, as if drifting from a distant seashore, carrying with them a hint of seawater's dampness.
Siren Solo—Chaotic Soul Melody.
Xuan Zi clearly knew there was still a very strange opponent before him, yet for some unknown reason, his mind could no longer focus. Countless chaotic thoughts rose uncontrollably in his heart.
It seemed some familiar faces appeared before his eyes, questioning why he hadn't been by his students' side when they encountered danger in the Star Dou Forest, weeping in pain over their mutilated bodies, asking why he had let a Soul King escape from his grasp.
He seemed to see Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and He Caitou suffering endless torment in the Holy Spirit Cult, painfully asking why he had abandoned the three of them.
Xuan Zi's expression grew dazed, and his body involuntarily staggered in midair.
And just as he lost focus, a terrifying aura enveloped him, seeming to draw him away from this place filled with unbearable pain, toward an eternal peace. But his body's instincts kept sending warnings, forcibly pulling him back from the trance.
Steadying his mind, he saw Lin Xiao's hand already reaching toward him, the right palm mere inches from his body.
Xuan Zi's mind rang with alarm. Circles of yellow halos suddenly flared on the pair of forward-growing ox horns, then shot straight toward Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao sensed no offensive power from it, yet under that glow, his entire body felt as if it were being torn and pulled by the earth below, rendering him completely immobile. The mere inches between them had become an impassable chasm.
Xuan Zi panted heavily. As a rank 98 Limit Douluo, fighting an opponent whose soul power was only at rank 91, beads of sweat dripped unconsciously from his forehead.
He didn't know what effect Lin Xiao's palm would have; he only knew that a layer of cold sweat had already broken out across his body.
Seeing Lin Xiao temporarily unable to break free, his gaze suddenly sharpened.
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