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"Twin martial souls, huh?" Qian Renxue snapped out of her brief surprise. So what if Ning Tian had twin martial souls? In front of her Six-Winged Angel, a divine martial soul with an innate soul power of level twenty they were nothing special. Her voice carried a cold edge as she said, "I'll give you that your talent passes the mark, but your strength? Barely enough to scrape by. You know swordsmanship isn't everything. Fights between soul masters come down to soul power, soul skills, and domains. With just four soul rings, you're nowhere near my level."
"Then if I beat you, does that make me worthy?" Ning Tian replied. Eight blood-red spider legs, streaked with white patterns, unfolded from his back. They lifted him up until he stood eye-to-eye with Qian Renxue.
'An external soul bone?' Snake Lance and Porcupinefish exchanged a quick look, their eyes widening. Twin martial souls were one thing, but an external soul bone too? This kid was full of surprises.
Qian Renxue glanced at the spider legs behind him, her fine brows creasing slightly. "You want to challenge me?"
Ning Tian knew she was an extremely proud person, so he used provocation . "What's wrong? The Young Master of Spirit Hall, descendant of the Angel Clan, is too scared to fight?"
She paused, then let out a sharp, cold laugh. "A weak attempt to rile me up, but fine, I'll bite. If you win, I'll call you a friend. If you lose, you'll bow to me. Uncle She, Uncle Ci Xue, wait outside."
"Young Master, this..." Porcupinefish hesitated, shooting a worried glance at Snake Lance.
Snake Lance nodded. "Let's go. This is her fight. She doesn't want us stepping in."
Still, he gave Ning Tian a hard, warning stare before heading out.
Once Snake Lance and Porcupinefish left the sealed underground training ground, Qian Renxue turned to Ning Tian. "Alright, Ning Tian, show me what you've really got."
With a strong flap of her wings, she launched forward, a trail of light streaking behind her. Though she was a power-attack Spirit Emperor, her speed matched agility-attack Spirit Saints like Flender, with his Cat Eagle martial soul.
'Her Angel Domain?' Ning Tian thought. 'If I can't pinpoint her, I'll just hit everything.' He shook his left hand, pouring all his soul power into his second martial soul. The two colored metal ball, gold and silver grew fast, stretching from a foot wide to a full meter. Then it split into dozens of smaller orbs, firing toward Qian Renxue like streaks of light.
At the same time, he unleashed his Sword Domain. A jolt of Evil-Warding Divine Lightning from his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword sparked into his eight spider legs, buzzing with power.
Qian Renxue smirked at the display. With a burst of golden light, her Six-Winged Angel flared behind her, flooding the arena with a heavy, sacred force. The golden glow smashed into the orbs, breaking them into tiny flecks of gold and silver.
"Is that it? That's your second martial soul?" she taunted. Her Holy Sword gleamed as she sped up, closing in like a shooting star.
Right as she swung, Ning Tian's spider legs crackled with golden lightning. In a flash, he vanished from her path, leaving her strike to slice through empty air.
"What?!" Qian Renxue froze, stunned. In her Angel Domain, even an agility-attack Spirit Saint wouldn't be able to escape, let alone Ning Tian. Was it teleportation from his external soul bone? No, teleportation wouldn't work here; she'd locked him in place. It was just raw speed, impossibly fast.
Before she could figure it out, a loud buzzing filled the air, growing sharp and piercing. Qian Renxue's eyes widened as the broken orb fragments came alive, turning into thousands of tiny gold and silver insects. They filled the space behind her, their wings humming like a storm.
Her pulse quickened.
'So, feeding the Evil-Warding Divine Lightning into the Eight Spider Legs does boost my speed,' Ning Tian thought, satisfied. 'But it burns one sword's worth of lightning per use. I've already spent two binding her Holy Sword earlier. Only five left now.'
He didn't give Qian Renxue a moment to breathe. With a push of his mental power, the insects surged toward her. The swarm flooded her Angel Domain, staining its golden shine with their double colored blur.
"Foolish," Qian Renxue snapped, shaking off her shock. Her first soul ring glowed, and the golden haze of her domain gathered into her right fist. She threw a punch at the swarm, sending a huge golden shield barreling toward the insects.
But then her jaw dropped. The golden light barely touched the swarm before the insects ate it clean, leaving nothing behind. The shield crashed into them, knocking some away, but more latched on, chewing through it like paper.
Qian Renxue stared, horrified, as the shield shrank, then vanished, devoured completely by the ravenous bugs.
Her expression darkened. First, that weird lightning that shrugged off her Angel Soul Power, and now these insects from his second martial soul. How were they this strong? They were eating her soul power.
Ning Tian hid a grin. The Golden Devouring Insects could actually devour her soul power.
Ning Tian waved both hands, and the swarm of insects instantly turned into a shimmering cloud of gold and silver, rushing toward Qian Renxue like a rolling wave. After seeing the power of these insects, the arrogance on Qian Renxue's face disappeared. Her second, third, and fourth soul rings lit up one after another.
Inside the Angel Domain, Ning Tian couldn't make out Qian Renxue's soul skills clearly. But through the feedback from his Golden Devouring Insects, he could tell her skills were being eaten up, just like her first soul skill, Angel Assault, which had vanished earlier.
As Qian Renxue unleashed skill after skill, the purifying strength of her Angel Soul Power grew sharper. It seemed the Golden Devouring Insects weren't quite enough to fully overwhelm Qian Renxue and her Six-Winged Angel martial soul. Then again, Ning Tian figured it might also be because his own cultivation level wasn't high enough.
'Damn it, what are these insects? They can swallow my Angel Soul Power and don't even flinch at the Holy Fire.' Qian Renxue thought, swinging her Holy Sword again and again. Each slash cut down seven or eight insects, but against the massive swarm, it was like tossing a handful of water on a raging fire.
Her Angel Soul Power had a purifying effect, and with the Holy Sword boosting it threefold, she held her own. If it were any other Spirit Emperor or even a Spirit Saint, they'd likely have been devoured down to their bones by now.
"Am I really going to lose?" Qian Renxue's eyes flickered with defiance. Memories of her childhood flooded in: her grandfather's warmth, her father's coldness, her mother's distance, even moments she'd imagined ending her mother's life. The thoughts swirled in her mind.
"No, I won't fall here," she told herself. She knew Ning Tian wouldn't dare harm her even if she lost. Two Titled Douluo waiting outside the training room would rush in and cut him down if she signaled them. But the knightly spirit she'd inherited from her grandfather, Qian Daoliu, stopped her from calling for help. She wouldn't let anyone interfere in her fight.
That fierce resolve made her Angel Domain glow again. Her sixth soul ring flared as she activated her sixth soul skill, Angel's Roar. The six golden wings of the angel phantom behind her drank in the domain's energy, golden lightning flickering around her like tiny snakes. She took a deep breath and let out a piercing, ringing cry, her eyes blazing with light.
Under the roar, a huge chunk of the Golden Devouring Insects dropped to the ground, dissolving into specks of light. But the surviving insects swarmed the weakened Angel Domain, eating it away until Qian Renxue's soul power and mental energy ran dry.
'Pure strength aside, the Golden Devouring Insects' only weak spot is mental attacks. She figured that out. But that Angel's Roar burned through most of her mental and soul power. She can't hold a wide Angel Domain anymore,' Ning Tian thought, putting on a show of exhaustion as he pulled back the remaining insects.
To sell the act, he even tucked away his external soul bone. Thanks to Tang Hao, his convenient scapegoat, any backlash from the insects' losses or consumption could be shifted off him. As for the mental sting from Angel's Roar, it barely registered. His mental strength matched Qian Renxue's, and the insects had soaked up most of the attack anyway.
Qian Renxue, though, was truly worn out. She wasn't hurt, but the heavy drain on her soul power and mental energy left her pale and soaked with sweat. Even her golden wings dimmed. She took a deep breath and looked at Ning Tian, her gaze carrying not anger, but a trace of respect.
Controlling such a huge swarm took more than just soul power, it demanded a mountain of mental focus and Ning Tian handled it with ease, something even she couldn't match.
"Ning Tian, you keep surprising me," she said, her voice steady despite her fatigue. "If my sixth soul skill hadn't been a mental attack, I might've lost already. Besides my sister, you're the only one worthy of being my lifelong rival."
She meant it. Qian Renxue was the type to look down on everyone until they beat her. Then she'd see them in a new light, respect them, maybe even grow fond of them. Especially if they were young, talented, and a bit weaker than her, like Ning Tian.
"Same here," Ning Tian replied, pretending to catch his breath. "With my second martial soul, I thought I could take on a Spirit Douluo, but you wiped out most of them. The Six-Winged Angel really lives up to its name."
Qian Renxue gave a faint smile. "Win or lose today, you're my friend now. Let's finish this fair and square. This is my one last strike." She summoned her Angel Domain again, but its reach was small this time, not even touching Ning Tian a hundred meters away.
"This is my last move too," Ning Tian said. A thick azure glow poured from his right hand as he drew his Azure Bamboo Cloud Swarm Sword.
The two didn't waste time on any more words. Qian Renxue's sixth soul ring glowed again, while Ning Tian unleashed his full killing intent, blending it with the Evil-Warding Divine Lightning. He swung his sword three times, each slash tracing a "kill" character in the air, edged with faint golden sparks. Merging three "kill" characters with the lightning was the best he could do with his Seven Killing Sword Technique right now.
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