Jiang Wuyue felt a profound sense of exhilaration coursing through his body.
The condensation of blood essence was the unification of physical strength. As blood essence coalesced into a singular force, soul masters would feel their bodies suddenly become one cohesive unit.
This sense of unity allowed soul masters to fight with unparalleled fluidity, especially for power-type soul masters. Having complete control over every part of their body as if it were an extension of their will was crucial in combat.
Jiang Wuyue let out a long, triumphant roar.
Xu Yuan stepped back a few paces, not disturbing Jiang Wuyue's moment of release.
After venting his exhilaration, Jiang Wuyue realized he was still in the middle of a battle.
The condensation of blood essence had bolstered his confidence even further.
He charged forward, closing the distance to Xu Yuan, and resumed their clash.
Xu Yuan met him head-on, spear in hand.
The two continued to collide fiercely.
This was pure combat—pure power-type soul master confrontation. Every move, every strike was intense.
There was no scheming, no flashy soul skills—only raw, brutal power clashing against power.
Jiang Wuyue felt an increasing sense of exhilaration.
He hadn't experienced such a gratifying battle in a long time.
The more he fought, the stronger he became.
Xu Yuan could sense this too, so he gradually increased his own displayed strength, staying neck-and-neck with Jiang Wuyue to maximize the help he provided in condensing Jiang Wuyue's blood essence.
Though blood essence had already condensed, Jiang Wuyue's body was capable of much more. Fully condensing and transforming it would take considerable time, so Xu Yuan decided to use today's battle to push Jiang Wuyue's limits as far as possible.
Jiang Wuyue grew stronger with each passing moment.
Yet Xu Yuan kept pace effortlessly.
When Jiang Wuyue's strength made a relatively leap-like improvement, Xu Yuan finally unleashed his full potential. Blood essence flames erupted around his body, colliding with Jiang Wuyue and forcefully suppressing him.
Jiang Wuyue, unwilling to be suppressed, relentlessly squeezed every ounce of strength from his body. More and more latent energy within him was unearthed, continuously converting into surging blood essence.
Simultaneously, as the battle progressed, he became increasingly adept at wielding his blood essence, improving its effectiveness with each exchange.
He began imitating Xu Yuan, unleashing bursts of blood essence. The sensation of blood essence exploding during combat collisions was deeply impactful, and he mimicked it with remarkable ease.
The gap between being suppressed by Xu Yuan narrowed steadily.
And then—he surpassed him!
At that moment, Jiang Wuyue's heart was filled with boundless exhilaration.
Being suppressed, breaking through, and then reversing the suppression onto his opponent—it was an addictive cycle.
He pressed forward aggressively, his dragon claws relentless, striking again and again without pause.
His body gradually shrank, becoming more refined and concentrated. The reduction in size did not diminish his strength; instead, he became increasingly agile, making his movements in combat even more graceful and impressive.
His dragon claws sliced through the air, emitting sharp, sizzling sounds.
Xu Yuan wielded the Five Elements Spear Technique with perfect precision, defending seamlessly while carefully allowing Jiang Wuyue to feel the thrill of overwhelming his opponent.
Under this intoxicating sensation, Jiang Wuyue's blood essence conversion progressed rapidly, matching the explosive breakthrough he had experienced when pushed to his limits earlier.
Finally, after all of Jiang Wuyue's latent energy had been fully converted into blood essence, Xu Yuan seized the opportunity to swiftly dodge Jiang Wuyue's dragon claw, retreating with a series of jumps to create distance.
Jiang Wuyue turned, his crimson eyes locking onto Xu Yuan. His desire to continue fighting remained fierce.
"Again!"
He unleashed his blood essence outward, even mimicking Xu Yuan by igniting his blood essence flames. Under the influence of these flames, his strength received a shocking boost.
However, as he charged toward Xu Yuan and swung his dragon claw, Xu Yuan also erupted. Blood essence flames surged violently, converging onto the spear shaft as he swiftly drew his long spear.
The spear swept horizontally, colliding with the dragon claw in mid-air.
Bang!
Jiang Wuyue was sent flying backward.
Bang!
He crashed into the combat room's soul-guided energy shield.
Bang!
He landed on the ground.
Climbing to his feet, Jiang Wuyue looked utterly bewildered.
What had just happened?
The reactions of the two female spectators were quite different.
Jiang Qiyue peeked through her fingers, her eyes wide with astonishment, disbelief, and a hint of confusion, unsure of what she had just witnessed.
On the other hand, Long Yuxue remained calm, as if she had expected Xu Yuan to emerge unscathed.
Watching Xu Yuan send Jiang Wuyue flying with a single spear strike, she couldn't help but stifle a laugh.
Jiang Wuyue stared at Xu Yuan, his bewilderment fading into shock, then solemnity.
So Xu Yuan was this strong!
"Again!"
This time, it was Xu Yuan who spoke.
As Jiang Wuyue's expression grew serious, Xu Yuan charged forward without hesitation, his Heavenly Origin Five Elements Spear enveloped in blood essence flames.
Five Elements Spear Technique.
Until now, Xu Yuan had been purely defensive, executing the technique flawlessly to block every attack.
Now, he unleashed the Five Elements Spear Technique offensively. The spear strikes flowed endlessly, one after another, leaving Jiang Wuyue's dragon claws unable to react. He could only dodge and defend, with no opportunity to counterattack.
Xu Yuan showed no mercy.
The five elements were not just attributes—they represented fundamental principles, universal truths.
The Five Elements Spear Technique was not limited to manipulating the elemental forces of the five elements.
This was a realm unreachable by most, but one that Xu Yuan had grasped.
At this moment, Xu Yuan wielded the Heavenly Origin Five Elements Spear, neither using soul skills nor relying on the first soul skill's version of the Five Elements Spear Technique.
The spear strikes flowed seamlessly: the gentleness of water, the ferocity of fire, the sharpness of metal, the heaviness of earth, and the vitality of wood—all blended together naturally, creating a flawless, fluid offensive.
Meanwhile, the innermost soul ring among the five surrounding Xu Yuan—the first soul ring—seemed to undergo a subtle transformation, its color deepening further.
In Xu Yuan's hands, the Heavenly Origin Five Elements Spear seemed to rejoice and tremble, awestruck by this new iteration of the Five Elements Spear Technique.
This was the catalyst for reaching the ten-thousand-year threshold!
It was clear that after reaching a certain level of advancement, achieving the ten-thousand-year mark required an additional stroke of fortune.
Now, he felt this was it.
By transcending the elemental attributes of the five elements and thoroughly understanding their fundamental principles, this might be the breakthrough he needed to reach the ten-thousand-year milestone.
Jiang Wuyue was completely suppressed by Xu Yuan, unable to retaliate.
In terms of raw strength, he simply couldn't break free from Xu Yuan's relentless assault.
"Roar!"
"Third Soul Skill: Tyrant Dragon Body!"
Finally, he couldn't hold back any longer. His third soul ring flashed as he activated his soul skill.
Not stopping there, he unleashed three more of his soul skills.
"First Soul Skill: Tyrant Dragon Claw!"
"Second Soul Skill: Tyrant Dragon Roar!"
"Fourth Soul Skill: Tyrant Power!"
Four purple soul rings glowed brightly, elevating his base stats by more than one tier.
He swung his Tyrant Dragon claw, colliding with Xu Yuan's Heavenly Origin Five Elements Spear, yet he still stumbled backward step by step.
As for his second soul skill, the Tyrant Dragon Roar, its draconic aura had minimal impact on Xu Yuan—practically none at all. Its only effect was to imbue Jiang Wuyue with an indomitable and unyielding belief under its roar.
"Fifth Soul Skill: Tyrant Dragon Flame Wave!"
He opened his mouth wide, a fierce flame brewing within.
A terrifying fireball infused with draconic might and scorching heat erupted, its energy fluctuations sending chills down the spine. Even a Soul Sage would have to avoid its fury.
But that wasn't all.
As he summoned soul power to form the flame wave, Jiang Wuyue, in a moment of clarity, harnessed the blood essence he had just condensed, igniting it and fusing the blood essence flames into the flame wave.
Roar!
A massive dragon flame erupted from his mouth.
If struck by it, even a Soul Sage activating their martial soul True Body would undoubtedly suffer severe injuries.
As he unleashed this dragon flame, Jiang Wuyue felt a surge of confidence.
He was fully aware of its destructive power.
Boom!
The terrifying dragon flame exploded, bathing the entire combat room in crimson light.
As Jiang Wuyue worried whether Xu Yuan had been caught in the blast, a black figure shot out from the fiery inferno.
At the same time, the glimmer of a spear tip emerged.
"Oh no!"
Jiang Wuyue quickly dodged, but Xu Yuan's spear moved with perfect precision. Even as the spear tip missed, the shaft swung horizontally.
Bang!
Jiang Wuyue was sent flying once again.
Looking at Xu Yuan standing tall with his spear, Jiang Wuyue sucked in a sharp breath.
That figure wreathed in blood-red flames now seemed like a war god, leaving a profound impact on him.
Unbeatable. Completely unbeatable.
But this thought vanished in an instant.
The Tyrant Dragon martial soul was one of unyielding resilience.
Glowing lights began to flicker across various parts of his body.
Black light shimmered, and pieces of armor began to materialize, interlocking and merging to form a complete set of battle armor.
Jiang Wuyue was still a Two-Word Battle Armor Master.
With the Two-Word Battle Armor fully equipped, his base strength now rivaled that of a Soul Douluo.
Back when Xu Yuan fought Long Yue, even with Two-Word Battle Armor, Long Yue only managed to display strength at the entry-level of a Soul Douluo.
This wasn't due to anything else—it was simply because any stronger output would have caused Long Yue to lose control of his power.
In comparison, though Jiang Wuyue's Tyrant Dragon was theoretically weaker than the Mountain Dragon King, he faced no risk of losing control. From a young age, he had complete mastery over his strength, and his body had reached its current peak under the constant trials of the Abyss.
The dragon claw descended, and Xu Yuan raised his spear to block.
Bang!
Xu Yuan was forced back six steps before barely stabilizing himself.
Instead of pressing the advantage, Jiang Wuyue gave Xu Yuan the chance to integrate his battle armor.
However, Xu Yuan shook his head slightly.
After joining the Blood God Legion and settling in, he had begun upgrading his One-Word Battle Armor to Two-Word Battle Armor.
Battle armor wasn't necessary within the Blood God Legion, and it couldn't be used in the Abyssal passage anyway, so he decided to focus on upgrading it.
Unlike One-Word Battle Armor, the materials and design blueprints for Two-Word Battle Armor were already prepared. This upgrade was merely a transfer of spiritual essence, which would take no more than three months.
During this transitional phase, his battle armor wasn't suitable for combat.
But he had a mech suit.
A brilliant flash of light illuminated the room as a towering figure of radiant energy appeared.
As the light faded, a mech suit stood in the arena, its surface shimmering with deep starlight and glowing with a faint purple hue. The rest of its body was a silvery-white with a jade-like quality, exuding an aura of sharpness.
"A mech suit?"
Jiang Wuyue was stunned.
Jiang Qiyue and Long Yuxue were equally surprised.
Using a mech suit in sparring?
This was something they hadn't anticipated.
After all, mech suits were generally deployed externally, not emerging directly from the body and fusing with it.
To achieve this, there was no doubt that the mech suit was entirely crafted from spirit-forged metal!
This!
This was unbelievable!
Jiang Wuyue's breathing quickened.
He immediately took a liking to Xu Yuan's mech suit, admiring it more with each glance.
Such a mech suit must be worth an astronomical amount of merit points.
Unable to resist, he exclaimed, "Even as a blacksmith, you can't be this extravagant! Although your mech suit model is relatively compact, the sheer amount of metal used is staggering—you've actually constructed it entirely from spirit-forged metal!"
"Let's continue the fight."
From within the mech suit, Xu Yuan's voice rang out.
Looking up at Xu Yuan's mech suit, Jiang Wuyue didn't hesitate. His previously shrunken form expanded once again, surpassing the previous seven meters, quickly reaching eight, and eventually stabilizing at nine meters.
Even so, Jiang Wuyue in his Tyrant Dragon form was still shorter than Xu Yuan's mech suit.
Xu Yuan maneuvered the mech suit to throw a punch.
The fist slammed forward, causing the very air to vibrate.
Jiang Wuyue didn't dare to be careless. His first four soul rings flashed simultaneously as he swung his dragon claw.
Boom!
Jiang Wuyue was forced back several steps.
Xu Yuan's control of the mech suit was seamless. He advanced swiftly, following up with another punch.
Jiang Wuyue crossed his dragon claws in front of his body.
Bang!
Xu Yuan pressed forward, materializing the Heavenly Origin Five Elements Spear in his mech suit's hands. The ten-meter-tall giant wielded a fifteen-meter-long spear, bringing it down with tremendous force.
Jiang Wuyue's eye twitched. Unwilling to be struck by the spear, he rolled to the side.
Bang!
The floor of the combat room trembled.
Xu Yuan's attacks showed no sign of stopping. After the spear struck the ground, it swept horizontally.
Bang!
Jiang Wuyue had nowhere to dodge and was sent flying by the spear strike.
"Stop! I give up!"
Jiang Wuyue finally called out.
Xu Yuan retracted his spear, seeing that Jiang Wuyue had truly conceded. The spear dissolved, and with a flash of light, the mech suit fused back into his body.
Jiang Wuyue exited his martial soul embodiment state, and his battle armor retracted into his body as well.
His grimacing expression revealed that his entire body ached.
He hadn't felt it during the battle, but now that he was out of combat mode, the pain hit him fully.
"Xu Yuan, that was a mech suit just now?"
Jiang Qiyue stepped forward, clearly astonished by the question.
Obviously, such a luxurious mech suit left her deeply shaken.
"Yes, that's my mech suit. It's entirely crafted from spirit-forged metal and is currently classified as a Purple-grade mech suit. However, its amplification doesn't fall short of any Two-Word Battle Armor," Xu Yuan explained.
The amplification Xu Yuan referred to wasn't the kind achieved through soul-guided artillery.
He meant the mech suit's enhancement of actual combat strength.
This mech suit wasn't operated via a conventional control system. Instead of sitting in a cockpit and pressing buttons, Xu Yuan controlled it directly, with his body seamlessly integrated using soul power as a medium, achieving perfect fusion between the mech and soul master.
In truth, Xu Yuan's description was somewhat conservative.
The amplification provided by this mech suit far exceeded that of Two-Word Battle Armor.
Some inferior Three-Word Battle Armor didn't offer much more amplification than this mech suit.
The use of spirit-forged metal was standard for Two-Word Battle Armor, but don't forget—the sheer quantity of spirit-forged metal used in this mech suit was staggering.
While the combined spiritual essence of this much spirit-forged metal might still fall short of the spiritual essence of Three-Word Battle Armor's soul-forged metal, Xu Yuan's mech suit was constructed entirely from divine alloy!
"You're being way too extravagant."
Though Jiang Qiyue criticized him for being extravagant, the envy and admiration in her eyes betrayed her.
Such a mech suit was undeniably captivating.
The soldiers of the Blood God Legion were more obsessed with mech suits than battle armor.
Battle armor struggled to perform at its full potential in the Abyssal passage, whereas mech suits could operate optimally.
Of course, as new mech technology improved, advancements in battle armor technology naturally followed.
From soul-guided weapons to the principles applied in mech suits, these innovations inevitably extended to battle armor, enabling them to convert Abyss energy for operation within the passage.
However, battle armor was inherently intricate, with core arrays that were far more complex and limited space. For now, it couldn't maintain its original amplification effects on Douluo Star while gaining the ability to function effectively in the Abyssal passage.
Given this reality, soldiers in the Blood God Legion relied more on mech suits for combat within the passage.
Not only were mech suits easier to equip with functional modules, but they were also more versatile tools compared to battle armor, which was uniquely tied to soul masters. Mech suits, on the other hand, were interchangeable and customizable.
"Your strength is sufficient, but I advise you not to rush into the Abyssal passage just yet," Jiang Wuyue suggested. "It's clear that your mech suit provides a significant boost, so you should upgrade it and incorporate energy conversion technology to ensure smoother operation in the Abyss environment."
"That's right. I also recommend you complete your mech suit upgrade first," Long Yuxue agreed, stepping forward. "We can't predict what dangers you'll face in the Abyssal passage, so you should always aim to arm yourself to the fullest extent possible."
Xu Yuan nodded.
"I understand your point."
But he didn't agree with their suggestion.
"I'll upgrade my mech suit. Once the upgrade is complete, I'll invite you both to join me deeper in the Abyssal passage," Xu Yuan said. "My goal this time is simple—to experience the Abyssal environment and conduct some basic experiments. I don't need to go too deep; I only need to enter the range of the Abyssal passage and come into contact with Abyssal energy. At most, I'll venture just far enough to encounter Abyssal creatures, kill them, and conduct foundational research."
Xu Yuan's demands were modest.
He wasn't the type to take unnecessary risks.
This trip was purely for conducting basic experiments and research.
Only after completing these foundational tasks could he proceed with many aspects of his cultivation.
"Alright, even without a mech suit, with our combined strength, we can handle a Ba An if we encounter one in the Abyssal passage," Jiang Wuyue declared confidently, patting his chest. He wasn't upset by Xu Yuan's response.
Having just made significant progress, he felt a bit invincible at the moment.
Long Yuxue listened to Jiang Wuyue's words, finding something odd about them.
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