Just as Yu Yan—clad in ice armor—reached him, Sturdy Man unhurriedly raised a fist to meet the incoming blow.
Under ordinary circumstances, a Spirit Elder who had undergone the baptism of a thousand-year spirit ring could effortlessly overpower a two-ring Spirit Grandmaster in raw strength; that certainty was why Sturdy Man acted so arrogantly.
But Yu Yan was no ordinary case. He had first devoured huge quantities of Whale Dragon to push his physique to a level comparable to a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor, then endured the baptism of a spirit ring more than 4,500 years old.
In terms of strength alone, Yu Yan could easily crush Sturdy Man and beat him until even his own mother wouldn't recognize him.
Of course, Yu Yan didn't unleash his full power at once. For the moment he showed only the level befitting a Spirit Grandmaster; once Sturdy Man relaxed, he would explode with everything and deliver a nasty surprise.
The ice-clad fist collided with Sturdy Man's knuckles. Holding back, Yu Yan was driven backward by the force pulsing from Sturdy Man's punch.
As he retreated, his disguised yellow second spirit ring flashed via the Cang Feng Secret Art. Four Profound Ice Chains shot out beside him and snaked toward the motionless Sturdy Man.
"Spirit, Possess!"
Facing the four chains, the somewhat theatrical Sturdy Man stepped forward. The blood-red great wolf that had merely been summoned until now finally merged with him in Martial Soul Possession.
After the Fusion, Sturdy Man's frame swelled slightly; his nails became dark-red lupine claws, his canines lengthened past his lips, and dark-red fur coated his arms, shoulders, back and part of his cheeks. His eyes turned blood-red with vertical pupils, and a faint, nauseating reek of gore surrounded him—like a man-shaped wolf draped in a pelt of blood.
Pleased with his new form, Sturdy Man swung a paw at the Profound Ice Chains, intending to shatter them outright and flaunt his might before two such young Genius Spirit Grandmasters.
Ideals are wonderful; reality is harsh.
The effortless snap he pictured never came. His palm struck the chains with a dull thud—unharmed, while his hand stung from the impact.
The four chains crisscrossed around him, forming a cage of ice.
Xiao Wu, circling for an opening, activated her Second Spirit Ability: Moonlight Possession. Moonlight Energy condensed into a spear in her grip, and she thrust it between the chains at Sturdy Man.
Beginning to feel the pressure, Sturdy Man deployed his Second Spirit Ability. Hands wreathed in thick blood-colored spirit power, he seized the moon-spear.
Unwilling to pull her punch, Xiao Wu shouted and poured in more force; the moon-spear tore free of his grip and stabbed into his shoulder.
Pain twisted Sturdy Man's face.
"First Soul Skill: Boiling-Blood Wolf Howl."
"Awooo—"
The first spirit ring settled on him as he threw back his head and unleashed a mighty wolf-howl laced with spirit power and sanguine energy. Desperate to turn the tide, he poured everything into the skill.
The sound struck Xiao Wu—closest to him—sending her mind reeling and her blood churning, leaving her frozen for an instant.
Frost Scale Armor grants some resistance to mental skills; seeing her plight, Yu Yan sealed the armor's eye-slits so the sound could not reach him.
With no sound reaching his ears, the howl had no effect on Yu Yan.
Xiao Wu's daze lasted only a moment; trapped in the ice-chain cage, Sturdy Man could not capitalize on it.
Comprehensive Amplification already boosts mental force, and Moonlight Possession adds further resistance—together they snapped Xiao Wu back to awareness.
The Boiling-Blood Wolf Howl barely touched Yu Yan and Xiao Wu, but Yu Qingfeng and Li Rong, rushing to help, were left dizzy and nauseated, temporarily out of the fight.
Farther off, many in the caravan collapsed from that single howl—proof of its formidable power.
Unfazed, Yu Yan calmly tightened the ice-chain cage and released cold to hamper the trapped Sturdy Man.
Recovering, Xiao Wu shaped her moonlight into a Sharp Weapon and struck again.
With his first skill useless and his situation worsening, Sturdy Man resorted to the third skill he least wanted to use.
"Blood for strength, life for power."
"Third Soul Skill: Life-Burning Blood Boil."
A purple thousand-year ring descended; under the special incantation Sturdy Man's body rapidly withered.
In the blink of an eye he was pale and gaunt, skin clinging to bone, half-dead.
Moments later a terrifying crimson berserk spirit power erupted, multiplying his strength two- or three-fold.
"Xiao Wu, fall back!"
Even as Yu Yan cried out, Xiao Wu—already sensing danger—had leapt dozens of steps to his side.
"What's happening to him?"
Watching the drastic change, Xiao Wu turned to the better-informed Yu Yan.
"He's traded his own vitality for power; afterward he'll need to drain other creatures' blood—typical of Fallen Soul Masters."
Under the might of Spirit Hall, which worshipped the Angel God, no one chose to become a hunted Fallen Soul Master unless their Spirit was inherently blood-linked.
Failing to replace Spirit Hall after toppling it had let Fallen Soul Masters run rampant ten millennia later—one reason Yu Yan despised Tang San.
Back to the present: the man's Spirit was clearly blood-related, and from that Yu Yan easily inferred the most likely truth.
While they spoke, Sturdy Man—now truly Emaciated Man—struck.
Using his Second Spirit Ability, Blood-Wolf Claw, Emaciated Man battered the Profound Ice Chains. On the third blow the cage shattered, and he burst free.
Free of the chains, Emaciated Man glared at Yu Yan and Xiao Wu with venomous eyes: "You two have cost me dearly. I'll drain your blood, devour your flesh, crush your bones and suck the marrow."