Su Yu looked at Wang Dong'er, who was fighting valiantly in the arena, and chuckled, "Although Dong'er's strength isn't anything special, going one versus seven is still no problem for her."
Xue Di softly responded, "So confident, are you?"
"This time, the Hundred Beasts Sect is much stronger than the opponents Mingli and Nannan faced before. Three Soul Ancestors, three Soul Kings, and most importantly, one Soul Emperor. Defeating all of them is not a simple feat. Dong'er, she's not you after all."
Su Yu crossed his arms, his gaze steady, and said with a calm smile, "Let's wait and see, then."
Xue Di's eyes flickered, and she unconsciously looked toward the arena.
Inside, Wang Dong'er was using her advantage as a flying soul master to harass and wear down the Soul King from the Hundred Beasts Sect, gradually shrinking his area of movement.
After a series of attacks, the wings on Wang Dong'er's back lightly swept across the young man's chest, and blood spurted out.
The young man from the Hundred Beasts Sect crashed to the ground, unable to continue fighting.
The Hundred Beasts Sect members quickly carried him away, and right after, a tall girl stepped onto the stage.
The girl was very tall, even half a head taller than Wang Dong'er, who was close to 1.8 meters tall herself. She had a shapely figure, and an oval face, wore the Hundred Beasts Sect uniform, and her proud demeanor was astonishing.
Her skin was a healthy wheat color, adding a wild jungle beauty to her look.
She stared intently at Wang Dong'er, her brown eyes full of fighting spirit.
"Begin!"
With the referee's command, the girl's aura suddenly changed.
A layer of earth-yellow light rose around her, and both her hands turned into sharp claws.
Brown-yellow fur with black spots spread up her arms. She crouched slightly, and behind her, a spotted beast appeared.
A Yellow-Spotted Leopard.
This was the girl's martial soul—a high agility attack-type martial soul with explosive power and leaping ability.
Below her, two yellow, two purple, and one black soul ring undulated—the optimal combination.
Wang Dong'er exhaled lightly, azure eyes sparkling.
"Roar!"
With a beastly roar, the girl's second soul ring lit up, and she shot toward Wang Dong'er like an arrow, reaching her in an instant.
Her sharp claws sliced through the air, aiming fiercely at Wang Dong'er.
She had learned from the previous young man's defeat and went all out from the start, trying to overwhelm Wang Dong'er with lightning speed before she could react.
But she underestimated Wang Dong'er. At the critical moment, Wang Dong'er dodged the attack with a shadow-like movement.
A trace of ruthlessness flashed in the girl's eyes. She braked sharply, changed direction mid-way, and pounced at Wang Dong'er again.
Wang Dong'er's third soul ring lit up, sending out a huge golden orb that split midair, releasing a torrent of golden light blades.
The golden blades covered several meters, erupting like a peacock spreading its tail—beautiful, yet deadly.
The girl's expression changed instantly. The sudden outburst caught her off guard.
At the critical moment, she decisively activated her fourth soul ring.
Her figure became somewhat illusory, then split into eight phantoms, escaping in all directions.
"Swish!"
A hundred and eight golden blades swept across and slammed into the barrier at the edge of the ring, creating ripples.
The girl's phantoms merged again, but blood trickled from her lips.
Even with her soul skill's evasion, she couldn't fully avoid Wang Dong'er's Butterfly Goddess Slash.
Wang Dong'er's attack was simply too sudden.
Before the girl could regain her footing, Wang Dong'er's attacks followed up, keeping her on the back foot.
Hovering in the air, Wang Dong'er launched more golden orbs from her dazzling wings, each one exploding near the girl.
The destructive light energy forced the girl to dodge desperately between explosions.
Wang Dong'er pressed the attack, firing golden orbs relentlessly—a clear display of a flying soul master's advantage, controlling the high ground and waging a battle of attrition.
These Hundred Beasts Sect disciples were strong, but not adept at using soul tools. This put them at a huge disadvantage here. If they'd had a flying soul tool, Wang Dong'er wouldn't have enjoyed such an easy advantage.
But constant bombardment wasn't a solution either—especially since the girl below was an agility-type soul master and not easily defeated by such means.
So Wang Dong'er waited for an opportunity.
Suddenly, the girl below seemed to slip, and a golden orb grazed her, blasting her away.
Wang Dong'er's eyes sharpened—she rained down more golden orbs, then swooped down with her sharp wing-blades.
The girl looked battered, nearly cut by the blades. But suddenly, her eyes turned fierce.
Her fifth soul ring suddenly lit up—a deep beast roar sounded, and her claws slashed out two meter-long energy blades.
With the power of this attack, she was confident she could heavily injure Wang Dong'er at close range.
But Wang Dong'er smiled slyly—a light shield appeared, blocking the fifth soul skill.
"What?"
The girl was shocked.
The shield was a triggered Grade-7 defensive soul tool—Rampart Light—designed by Su Yu himself, capable of blocking any attack below the Soul Douluo level. It could also self-charge by absorbing ambient energy, needing no soul power from the user.
Wang Dong'er had been fighting as a soul master, so this sudden use of a soul tool caught the girl off guard.
While the girl was stunned, Wang Dong'er slammed a golden six-pointed star array onto her, binding her in a golden pillar of light.
Then, the sharp wing-blades slashed the girl's abdomen, scattering blood.
The girl from the Hundred Beasts Sect was eliminated. Now only one opponent remained before Wang Dong'er—the Hundred Beasts Sect Captain, Chen Ling.
"Invincible shield?"
In the stands—
Xu Tiannan was surprised by the golden shield erupting from Wang Dong'er.
It looked very much like an invincible shield. Facing a full-power attack from a Soul King, it didn't even tremble—a standard Grade-6 defensive soul tool couldn't do that. And Wang Dong'er didn't even seem tired, just like the invincible shield's effect.
Jing Hongchen shook his head, "Not an invincible shield. It's a new Grade-7 defensive soul tool."
"A new Grade-7 defensive soul tool?"
Xu Tiannan looked puzzled.
Jing Hongchen replied, "Wang Dong'er is now with the Holy Slayer Palace, which has many new types of soul tools nowadays."
Xu Tiannan realized, "Could this be made by Su Yu? I heard he's now a Grade-8 soul engineer?"
Jing Hongchen nodded noncommittally.
Xu Tiannan added, "A Grade-8 soul engineer participating in the Soul Dueling Tournament is a bit unfair. Grade-8 soul tools are so powerful, that they could cause huge casualties. I think such soul tools shouldn't appear in the competition."
"As the Hall Master, I agree—Grade-8 soul tools are heavy weapons and shouldn't be used lightly."
Jing Hongchen glanced at Zhong Liwu coldly.
He knew exactly what Xu Tiannan and Zhong Liwu were thinking—they were worried about Su Yu's status as a Grade-8 soul engineer. If Su Yu could make Grade-8 soul tools, he could use them too. If he did, the Holy Spirit sect would never stand a chance.
In the end, they just wanted to restrict Su Yu's strength.
But they probably didn't realize that Su Yu's soul master abilities were even greater than his soul tool skills. Others might not know, but Jing Hongchen did—Su Yu never even used soul tools in fights. His soul master powers alone could sweep his generation.
With no change in expression, Jing Hongchen nodded, "His Highness is right. Grade-8 soul tools really shouldn't appear in the competition."
Xu Tiannan's eyes flashed, "Then I'll add that rule."
"Please do, Your Highness," Jing Hongchen replied blandly.
Xu Tiannan was puzzled—Jing Hongchen didn't even argue?
Did he not care about restricting Su Yu? But then Xu Tiannan remembered—Su Yu now represented the Holy Slayer Palace. No matter how close Jing Hongchen was to Su Yu, he'd rather see the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy win, as that was his base of power.
From Xu Tiannan's perspective, Jing Hongchen wanted the Sun Moon Academy to win, so he didn't object. Even if Su Yu protested later, Jing Hongchen could blame Xu Tiannan and Zhong Liwu.
What an old fox, Xu Tiannan thought.
Back in the arena, Wang Dong'er faced her final opponent—the captain of the Hundred Beasts Sect, Chen Ling.
A burly man over two meters tall, with arms thick as Wang Dong'er's waist. He was as imposing as a massive door.
Chen Ling looked grim—after Wang Dong'er defeated six already, he was the only one left. If she went seven for seven, it would be a huge humiliation for the Hundred Beasts Sect, which he could not allow. He had to win, maybe even take someone down with him, to advance to the team round.
"Enough! This ends here!" Chen Ling thundered.
Wang Dong'er ignored him, her eyes growing more serious. Both Di Mingli and Jiang Nannan had already gone seven for seven; she didn't want to fall behind. Despite her normally lively and silly demeanor, Wang Dong'er had her pride. If those two could do it, so could she—especially since the Hundred Beasts Sect was much stronger than the previous sects. If she could pull it off, it would mean even more.
She didn't want to fall behind or disappoint Su Yu.
"I'll defeat you myself," Chen Ling declared.
Wang Dong'er frowned, "We'll see how capable you are."
With the trash talk over, the match began.
Golden light rose as Wang Dong'er's gorgeous sapphire wings unfurled. Six soul rings—yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black—shone brilliantly.
The Goddess of Light Butterfly, the most beautiful martial soul, made Wang Dong'er, already stunning, even more dazzling.
Her appearance caused as much of a stir as Di Mingli before her, quickly making her the new goddess in the audience's eyes.
Seeing Wang Dong'er's soul rings, Chen Ling's eyes widened, and a dark light burst forth.
His already tall body grew another foot, muscles swelling, black as steel, and seemingly indestructible.
His nose elongated to over two meters, whipping the air with explosive force.
Six soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black—rose around him, as the phantom of a giant elephant appeared behind him.
The Rock Armored Elephant!
This was Chen Ling's martial soul—an undisputed top-tier martial soul. Named for its rock-like, mountain-like defense.
Its armored defense was proof enough.
The Rock Armored Elephant was a powerful martial soul, excelling in both offense and defense, and dominant on the battlefield.
"Interesting. Looks like Dong'er will have to go all out," Su Yu remarked in the rest area, eyes lighting up with interest.
The Rock Armored Elephant was a natural powerhouse, even stronger than the Vigorous Vajra Bear. Such martial souls were rare—who'd have thought the Hundred Beasts Sect would have one?