"Thankfully, Uncle Sword is alright."
Ning Fengzhi finally felt a wave of relief seeing Sword Douluo's injuries fully healed.
Soon, an incredulous look flashed in his eyes; he had never seen such astonishing healing abilities.
The original Nine-Hearted Begonia was already incredibly strong, undeniably the top healing-type martial soul on the entire continent.
However, much like the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, the Nine-Hearted Begonia had a fatal flaw: only two Nine-Hearted Begonia soul masters could exist at the exact same time.
It was precisely for this reason that the Ye family, despite possessing the Nine-Hearted Begonia, did not pose a true threat to the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's status.
However, the ability Ye Lingling had just displayed was not limited to simply healing injuries; she had also perfectly restored Sword Douluo's soul power to its absolute peak.
In terms of pure support abilities alone, her Nine-Hearted Begonia was currently even comparable to the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda.
"Could it be that her martial soul has also evolved?"
Ning Fengzhi's eyes flickered slightly. After thinking it over, this was the only plausible possibility.
After all, Ning Rongrong and Lin Mu's relationship wasn't very good; they had even had several conflicts in the past.
Ye Lingling, however, knew Lin Mu intimately, unlike Ning Rongrong.
This suggested that if Lin Mu was willing to help Ning Rongrong resolve her martial soul's inherent flaws, he must have already addressed Ye Lingling's martial soul issue; otherwise, Ning Rongrong wouldn't have been the one to receive this immense benefit.
Perhaps Lin Mu even possessed pills that could reliably evolve martial souls.
Previously, Ning Fengzhi had taken pills refined by Lin Mu, which had slightly loosened his stubborn cultivation bottleneck, but he hadn't fully broken through the shackles.
If he could obtain a higher-quality pill, perhaps his martial soul could also evolve.
While evolving into a Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda was entirely unrealistic, he would be more than content with just an Eight Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda.
After all, Ning Fengzhi's soul power had stagnated at level seventy-nine for many frustrating years.
With only Level 79 soul power, he could only apply a single amplification at a time, making him unable to fully amplify Sword Douluo simultaneously like Ning Rongrong could.
However, if he took a top-grade pill, he could definitely break through to the Soul Douluo level in one fell swoop.
In this way, he could also fully amplify a Titled Douluo, no longer needing to strictly conserve his soul power as before, which would greatly improve the sect's overall combat strength.
Just as Ning Fengzhi was secretly calculating his options, Sword Douluo's seventh soul ring suddenly shone brightly.
After suffering two brutal punches from Lin Mu, he instantly felt like his old bones were about to fall completely apart.
Even with Ye Miaoyun and Ye Lingling's continuous treatment, the phantom pain wouldn't disappear.
"Seven Kill True Body!"
In an instant, the originally four-foot-long Seven Kill Sword instantly enlarged dozens of times, hanging suspended in the sky above the field.
The sheer pressure it emitted alone made the surrounding soul masters tremble with instinctive fear.
Sword Douluo was already a Level 97 peak Douluo, and with Ning Rongrong's full amplification, the attack power of this impending strike was dangerously close to that of a Limit Douluo.
In an instant, the Seven Kill True Body unleashed its devastating power, slashing heavily down at Lin Mu.
Facing Sword Douluo's full-force attack, Lin Mu didn't meet it head-on. Instead, he calmly dodged to the side, easily avoiding the Seven Kill True Body's incredibly sharp blade.
Although Thunder Atlas Armor's defense was astonishing, he wouldn't foolishly choose to take the hit head-on when dodging was an option.
However, Lin Mu didn't just flee. In the instant he dodged, he threw another punch directly at the broad side of the Seven Kill True Body.
Instantly, the entire arena was filled with violently crackling golden lightning.
BOOM!!
With a deafening roar, the seemingly unstoppable Seven Kill True Body shattered instantly, and Sword Douluo suffered a massive backlash, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood.
To him, these physical injuries were nothing; he could recover completely anyway thanks to the healers.
However, faced with such unparalleled physical power, he suffered a huge blow to his fighting spirit.
He had originally thought he could force Lin Mu to use a soul skill, but he never expected that the other party could completely overwhelm him using brute force alone.
"Sect Master Lin, your power is too astonishing. I concede defeat," Sword Douluo said helplessly.
The outcome of the battle was now abundantly clear, and there was absolutely no need to continue fighting.
Even if he desperately used his ninth soul skill, Lin Mu would definitely be able to dodge it effortlessly. Continuing to fight would only result in him getting beaten up even worse.
Although he had been beaten by Lin Mu many times before, this time was different. With so many people watching, he had to save whatever face he had left.
"You're not fighting anymore?"
Lin Mu frowned slightly. They had only fought a few brief rounds, and he hadn't had nearly enough fun yet.
However, Sword Douluo didn't want to be beaten up anymore, and he didn't want to lose any more face in front of everyone. He quickly leaped away from the arena.
Just then, Tang San suddenly flew to Lin Mu's side, bowed slightly, and said respectfully, "Master, I see you haven't had enough fun yet. How about I spar with you?"
"Alright, it'll be a good opportunity to try out your newly learned Golden Thirteen Halberds," Lin Mu said with a faint smile.
Although Tang San's soul power was not as high as Sword Douluo's, in terms of overall combat strength, Tang San was definitely above the old man.
This was especially true of the Golden Thirteen Halberds, which were personally taught by the Sea God's divine sense.
The technique greatly improved Tang San's close-combat ability. Even without the Clear Sky Hammer's attached soul rings, his close-combat skills were absolutely no weaker than Sword Douluo's.
"Please enlighten me, Master!"
"Golden Thirteen Halberds, First Form: Unfixed Storm!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Tang San swung the Sea God Trident, and suddenly more than a dozen dazzling golden halos flew out.
These halos seemed to be equipped with locators, flying straight towards Lin Mu with unerring accuracy.
However, although these golden halos were fast and densely packed, compared to Lin Mu's speed, they were as slow as crawling snails.
Unless Lin Mu deliberately crashed into them, there was zero chance of them actually hitting him.
"This move works well against others, but it's a bit insufficient against your master."
As he spoke, Lin Mu flashed directly behind Tang San, throwing a punch without hesitation that violently slammed Tang San against the thick wall at the edge of the arena.
BANG!!
A loud sound of shattering stone rang out as Tang San embedded himself deeply into the wall.
At the exact same time, Ye Miaoyun and Ye Lingling instantly began to heal Tang San, a true testament to their mother-daughter tacit understanding.
Compared to the arguably more powerful Sword Douluo, Tang San's physical endurance was far, far greater.
After all, he had collected a nearly complete set of soul bones. Except for his head soul bone, the others were all over 100,000 years old, and his torso soul bone was remarkably a million years old.
Coupled with his external soul bone, which had evolved several times, his physical endurance was no less than that of a true Limit Douluo.
A moment later, Tang San freed himself from the cratered wall. Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, he looked at Lin Mu with a grave expression.
"Such terrifying power! No wonder Master could easily wield the Sea God Trident."
Besides strength perfectly comparable to a 100,000-year-old soul beast, he also possessed near-instantaneous speed, making for a truly invincible combination.
The skill Tang San had just used, though only the first move of the Golden Thirteen Halberds, was capable of immobilizing any opponent, no matter how strong, for a full eight seconds if it hit successfully.
Against a god-level opponent, the control time would be reduced, but it would still be an absolute minimum of three seconds.
The problem was, it was impossible to hit. No matter how powerful the effect of the Unfixed Storm was, it was completely useless if it simply missed the target.