If not for those extra limbs aiding his balance and speed, Lin Yuan would have already been overwhelmed.
'Still... that stick Martial Soul of his is strange,' Lin Yuan thought grimly, dodging another downward swing that left a deep crack on the stone floor. 'With every hit, I feel the death energy of my Abyss Spider Emperor being suppressed. How can my ultimate-type martial soul feel suppressed?'
Just then, a cold electronic voice echoed in his mind.
Ding!
[ Host, it seems you have forgotten about attribute suppression... ]
Lin Yuan's pupils shrank. Before he could even process the warning, Jiang Mo's figure flashed again.
"Second Soul Skill — Rock Tremors!"
Jiang Mo slammed the Heavenly Evil Breaking Cudgel into the ground.
The entire arena shook violently, and in the next instant, gravel and shattered stone burst upward like an earthen storm, surging straight toward Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan's third soul ring glowed faintly. His arms morphed, the black carapace stretching and sharpening into curved blades — sickles glinting with eerie light.
"Third Soul Skill — Scythe Claws!"
He swung his sickle-shaped arms, slicing through the flying rubble. The shattered fragments scattered harmlessly around him.
Whoosh—!
The sound of air displacement made his instincts scream. Lin Yuan turned sharply and crossed his sickles just in time—
CLANG!
Jiang Mo's cudgel slammed against his defense, sending a shockwave through the air. The impact forced Lin Yuan back several steps, the ground cracking beneath his feet.
His spider limbs dug into the floor to stabilize himself, but his arms were trembling.
'How... how did that strike have so much power?' Lin Yuan gritted his teeth. 'I blocked a similar hit before with ease. Why does every strike now feel heavier—like it carries the weight of the previous one?'
Ding!
[ Careful, Host. Your opponent seems to be using a profound stick technique. ]
'A technique that increases its strength with every blow… Wait—' Lin Yuan's eyes widened as the realization struck him. 'There exists such a method… The Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, used by the Clear Sky Clan! Each consecutive attack becomes stronger than the last! I never thought a similar technique could exist for stick-type martial souls…'
He narrowed his eyes, observing Jiang Mo's movements. In the dim light, he caught faint blue trails following each swing, forming afterimages that made Jiang Mo's strikes seem almost illusory.
He wasn't entirely wrong.
The stick technique Jiang Mo was using indeed had roots in the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer. It had been reconstructed within the shadows of Spirit Hall.
Qian Renxue had secretly obtained this technique of the Clear Sky Clan. Not only that, she had had even acquired parts of the Heart Separation Control Technique from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.
From these two legendary techniques, and aided by the Ghostly Trace Movement Technique of the Tang Sect which was learnt by Qian Renxue when she observed Tang San frequently in Holy Soul Village.
With the knowledge of Sixth and Seventh Worshippers of the Elder Hall in stick fighting a new hybrid art was born — one crafted specifically for stick-type martial souls.
They called it the Myriad Tonne Stick Technique — a style that compounded strength, rhythm, and precision with every blow.
Jiang Mo had learned it from none other than the Sixth and Seventh Worshippers of the Elder Hall.
Now, as Jiang Mo advanced with his black-gold cudgel gleaming under the arena lights, Each swing grew heavier, faster, deadlier.
While Lin Yuan was still analyzing Jiang Mo's strange stick technique, his instincts screamed in warning. He didn't dare to relax his guard even for a moment.
Another attack came — the sound of rushing wind tearing through the air, heavier and sharper than before.
He knew this strike couldn't be blocked by ordinary means.
"Fourth Soul Skill — Hurricane of Sickles!"
The dark purple ring beneath his feet flared, and Lin Yuan's aura exploded outward. His eight spider limbs folded into his body as his black armor rippled and reformed. The sickles in his hands elongated, their edges glowing with a grayish-black light infused with death energy.
He spun rapidly, his form becoming a whirling vortex of blades and shadow. A hurricane surged from his rotation, filled with shredding winds laced with the aura of decay. The sound it made was like screaming ghosts, echoing across the arena.
BOOM!
Jiang Mo's descending strike was caught within the storm. For a moment, the entire battlefield was engulfed in dust.
But Jiang Mo did not waver. Even as he was thrown upward by the countershock, his eyes glimmered with unshaken confidence.
'Impressive… but not enough.'
As he fell from the sky, his fourth black soul ring shone with terrifying light.
"Fourth Soul Skill — Magnitude Alter!"
The black-gold cudgel in his hands began to grow, swelling in both size and density. Ancient golden lines across its shaft blazed like molten lava, each rune pulsating in rhythm with his heartbeat.
The audience gasped as the once-normal cudgel expanded — five meters, ten meters, twenty meters — until a colossal weapon loomed over the entire arena like a divine pillar of judgment. The very ground trembled beneath its presence.
Its weight alone distorted the air.
And then —
CRAAASH!
The massive cudgel descended, colliding with Lin Yuan's hurricane of death. The shockwave shattered the arena's protective barrier and sent gales sweeping through the stands. Dust and debris filled the sky, forcing even the teachers to raise spirit barriers to shield the students.
When the chaos settled, silence fell.
The once roaring hurricane had vanished. Lin Yuan lay motionless at the center of the cracked arena, his armor fractured and his breath shallow.
Jiang Mo stood tall, his shoulders heaving. His martial soul had already shrunk back to its normal size, but his face was pale — the enlargement had consumed nearly all his soul power in less than ten seconds.
Even so, he had won.
The referee, who had been completely forgotten amid the storm of power, finally stepped forward, his voice trembling.
"...In the duel between Lin Yuan and Jiang Mo — the victor is Jiang Mo!"
(Author Notes: While I have given explanation about the increase in Jiang Mo's strength is because among the children only he has joined the Twilight Hermit order. In a way he is Qian Renxue's Subordinate as well as a friend. While other children will also have a growth it won't be as exagerated as him)