Not being immune to paralysis didn't mean he couldn't fight.
But if he, someone with a top-tier beast spirit, trained from childhood by the best in the world, were beaten in a messy fashion by a low-born Grandmaster Soul Master with a weak spirit...
Even if he won, it would still feel like a loss.
Du Guyan was watching!
Yu Tianheng was serious, but the habits he'd developed over the years still tripped him up.
He believed a battle shouldn't start with full power. There had to be probing, some room to feel out the opponent.
That also allowed him to show a bit of grace, quickly earn the new teammate's respect, and improve Du Guyan's impression of him.
But instead of grace, what he displayed was embarrassment.
Fang Ling came at him full-force from the start, using a high-power, one-time burst skill that activated with lightning speed.
Yu Tianheng took a direct hit and got injured first.
This was just...
His mood was complicated.
"Enough talking! How can a battle be left unfinished?"
Before Yu Tianheng could respond, Fang Ling charged in again.
Left hand gripping the scythe, he swung from the left side, the outer blade facing Yu Tianheng.
The rhythm, this was now Fang Ling's rhythm.
Yu Tianheng stepped back to evade.
Fang Ling stepped forward again, raising his right hand and reversing his grip.
Mid-swing, the scythe twisted in the air, forming a cold arc as it changed direction. Now the inner blade aimed at Yu Tianheng.
With added strength from his right hand, the scythe accelerated suddenly, slicing downward like a shimmering crescent moon.
Yu Tianheng didn't block it, he stepped back again, faster than Fang Ling could follow.
This time, his yellow soul ring lit up, he decisively activated his first soul skill.
Thunder Dragon Claw!
Even as he retreated, a blue lightning claw formed in midair, lashing out at Fang Ling.
Yu Tianheng's initial probing mindset had been shattered. If he wanted to avoid serious injury, he had to rely on ranged soul skills.
Close combat was too risky, it meant injury and loss of face.
Ranged attacks, though, were different.
Fang Ling's first soul skill was an amplification skill. The second was a one-time burst. He had no ranged skills.
Wielding a long metal scythe made him like a walking lightning rod, standing on a mountaintop during a storm.
Earlier, the lightning from Yu Tianheng's dragon arm required physical contact to transmit.
Soul skills were a different matter entirely.
Pure lightning energy attacks could even be attracted by metal, potentially bending toward the scythe.
Basically, he was a live target.
As long as he was within range, there was no escape.
Fang Ling knew this too. Seeing Yu Tianheng switch tactics, he silently cursed the missed opportunity.
Facing the incoming blue-violet lightning claw, he reacted swiftly.
His body moved like a shadow, his scythe disappearing as he dodged the attack.
The lightning claw streaked twenty meters through the air before fading.
Its path distorted the air and crackled with menacing energy.
It was fast and powerful, a proper greeting from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon.
If it had landed, Fang Ling's lean frame would have taken a serious hit.
Fortunately, even lightning takes time to strike.
Activating a soul skill required time. Soul power had to circulate, and the skill needed to form.
Those tiny gaps were enough for Fang Ling to dodge.
"He dodged that? His first soul skill must boost his reflexes, by quite a bit too."
Yu Tianheng guessed the nature of Fang Ling's first skill.
Noticing that Fang Ling didn't slow down after dodging, only charged faster, he was further shocked.
Yu Tianheng swung his dragon arm and launched another claw strike, only for Fang Ling to dodge again.
Now it made sense.
No wonder his attacks were so powerful, yet he still claimed to be an agility-type.
Even with a prosthetic leg, his speed was no joke. Without a tracking-type ranged skill, hitting him was nearly impossible.
Only a wide-area attack might work.
Yu Tianheng's confidence returned. His second soul ring flared brightly.
Snakes of purple lightning coiled around him and transformed into hundreds of thunder arrows, forming a fan shape aimed at Fang Ling.
Fang Ling had retracted his spirit quickly earlier, which let him dodge the Thunder Dragon Claw.
Let's see him escape this.
To everyone's surprise, Fang Ling didn't retreat, he charged forward into the attack.
He took the hit head-on.
His clothes tore. His body turned black with burns. He ignored the paralysis.
The long scythe reappeared in his hand, and he swung it down hard.
Like a real lightning rod, it attracted many otherwise-missing thunderbolts.
Powerful electric currents left his body numb.
But his expression remained resolute, clearly enduring the attack from a century-old soul ring. His brute-force approach stunned the onlookers.
Qin Ming looked on in shock, lost in thought.
The calm and sturdy twin brothers stayed silent as always.
One handsome blond youth frowned. "Damn… that's intense. But was this recklessness really necessary? Is he losing control?"
Another good-looking blond young man wasn't optimistic either. "This junior really did claw his way out of life-and-death battles. He can endure pain. But unfortunately, he's facing our captain, who just so happens to be his hard counter. He's overthinking it."
Du Guyan crossed her arms, a curious glint in her eyes. There was something intriguing in her gaze.
She didn't think someone like Fang Ling, who had survived brutal deathmatches, would act impulsively for no reason.
There had to be a reason.
Ye Lingling's hollow blue eyes showed a hint of exasperation.
No matter the result, the new guy was clearly going to end up seriously injured.
She'd no doubt be asked to heal him.
This wasn't her first time seeing this sort of thing. She saw it coming.
So she summoned her spirit early.
It appeared as a pink begonia flower with white and pink petals.
Bright and elegant, with vines and leaves cascading on both sides, its graceful appearance swayed gently in the breeze.
The world's number one healing spirit, Nine-Hearted Begonia.
As long as limbs weren't fully severed or the person wasn't dead, it could heal.
The others didn't understand Fang Ling's recklessness.
But Fang Ling had a clear objective.
Just one more step, and his scythe would reach.
Thunder arrows were fast and widespread. No matter how agile he was, he couldn't dodge them all. He would get hit.
So instead of dodging, he pressed forward, enduring some damage in exchange for results.
The key was weak point detection.
While fighting, Fang Ling had been observing.
Finally, after all this time, the skill triggered.
He noticed a weak point in the soul power flow on Yu Tianheng's dragon claw, right in the center of the fist.
Exactly where the previous cut was still bleeding.
That earlier strike was deflected by the thick dragon scales, leaving only a surface wound.
But the pain slightly weakened the soul power circulation in that area.
An opportunity like this couldn't be missed.
He had to strike before it changed.
Even while paralyzed, Fang Ling's scythe weighed 80 jin (about 40 kg). It was heavy enough that, with just a bit of control and momentum, it would swing on its own.
He bet on a true dragon's pride.
Facing a paralyzed Soul Master, Yu Tianheng wouldn't retreat. He'd counter with his dragon fist.
And punches always aimed center mass, right where Fang Ling wanted him to strike.
Let him walk right into it.
And sure enough, Yu Tianheng didn't retreat.
Fang Ling looked paralyzed, and Yu Tianheng didn't expect to take any more damage. He didn't even notice the slight pain in his hand.
This strike would end the spar.
Or so he thought.
But the newly regenerated blue-violet dragon scales were somehow even easier to break than before when touched by that familiar glow.
Damn it!
Yu Tianheng's heart shook.
"Stop! The battle ends here!"
Qin Ming, who had been watching closely, flashed between them to stop the scythe.
Fang Ling was still paralyzed and couldn't stop the strike, but he could retract his spirit.
With a sharp thought, right before his scythe sliced through Yu Tianheng's palm toward the bone, it vanished.
Qin Ming let out a sigh of relief as he caught the immobilized Fang Ling.
Yu Tianheng also breathed out.
As long as it wasn't too long and the limb retained vitality, the Nine-Hearted Begonia could reattach it with no lasting effects.
But the pain and recovery time were unavoidable.
Luckily, Fang Ling reacted fast.
And his spirit retracted just as quickly.
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