Although his soul power was not being stripped too quickly, it still took a toll on his body. His soul power was currently being rapidly consumed within the Soul Power Stripping halo.
Tang Wulin subconsciously concentrated his mind in an attempt to seal his body with his blood essence as best he could to reduce the consumption of his soul power. However, it was still seeping out from his body in silky wisps of smoke.
Su Mu wore an astonished expression as he looked at Tang Wulin. He could clearly sense the immense amount of soul power being stripped from his opponent. However, Tang Wulin’s soul power was significantly denser than what he had imagined, and this made the speed at which it was being stripped become extremely slow. With this, his deepest secrets as a soul master had been revealed.
‘This is… interesting! It’s no wonder even the Madman Long admired him.’
Each and every one of Monster Academy’s Eight Heavenly Kings had their own nickname. Su Mu was nicknamed Fox King. He was the Fox King, Su Mu!
He had a top-tier and extremely rare martial soul, the nine-tailed fox. It was known as one of the smartest species in the animal world and was revered as a symbol of intelligence. Upon birth, it was bestowed with extremely powerful abilities and was unusually sensitive toward Origin Energy.
A nine-tailed fox soul master was so rare that their lineage on the Douluo Continent was almost non-existent. Su Mu’s had an aboriginal ancestor from the Star Luo Continent and his nine-tailed fox martial soul once held great influence over the Star Luo Continent.
With the elevation of every ring in his cultivation base, a new tail would grow, and his power would take a significant leap. Each tail he had growing represented one ability and at this moment, the Fox King, Su Mu was a master-control soul master. He was one of the current Eight Heavenly Kings while Her Highness the Princess was a sub-control soul master.
There was still quite a significant gap between Dai Yun’er and the Heavenly Kings. After all, she was too young. However, she was blessed with natural talents and possessed powers greater than her peers despite her young age. With her identity, one of the Eight Heavenly Kings willingly yielded her position to Dai Yun’er, making her the sub-control soul master within the ranks of the Heavenly Kings.
Su Mu’s control abilities were extremely powerful. He once challenged a dozen similarly powerful powerhouses by himself, and their shirts did not even taint him before they finally exhausted their soul power. They had no choice but to yield just from him using his control ability.
Tang Wulin could not remain still in the face of the Soul Power Stripping halo. He would be completely drained of soul power if he remained stationary so he knelt down as his first golden soul ring swiftly appeared and began glowing. Following its appearance, his body expanded a little, especially his arms. They turned thicker and stronger as a pair of Golden Dragon Claws emerged, making him look bulky but domineering.
“Eh? Something’s different. He did not seem to have that claw on his left hand before.” The Madman Long was watching the scene of the competition on the screen before his face in the waiting area.
Meanwhile, Tang Wulin moved. A valiant dragon’s roar suddenly burst out from his body and golden scales began spreading across his body, it was the Golden Dragon Body!
Tang Wulin’s left foot touched the ground with force as he suddenly pounced forward. The Debilitating Halo’s effect on him was reduced drastically due to the Golden Dragon Body. With only a few steps, he would leave the range of the Debilitating Halo.
Su Mu did not continue to release his Soul Power Stripping halo. Instead, he continuously released Debilitating Halos. It seemed like there was little to no delay between each halo he released. Although Tang Wulin was quite fast, he was still within the Debilitating Halo’s range with every step he took.
The speed of Su Mu’s feet began to increase as well. He circled around the sparring arena’s outer ring as he began running. He was attempting to maintain the distance present between himself and Tang Wulin to the best of his ability.
Tang Wulin scoffed coldly before reversing his blood essence, resulting in a vast increase in his strength. His left foot stepped onto the ground with force, shooting his entire being forward like a cannonball.
Although the Debilitating Halo’s effect was obvious, it was still a first soul skill. The first soul skill a soul master obtains was usually the weakest among a soul master’s abilities.
Coincidentally, Su Mu stopped walking at this moment. Then, he looked at Tang Wulin with an even more pronounced smile on his face.
Tang Wulin was moving at an intense speed and arrived before Su Mu almost immediately.
Meanwhile, the soul ring on Su Mu’s third tail glowed as he conjured another halo. This time, the halo was green. In fact, it was a dark-green soul ring!
The halo was no longer flying toward Tang Wulin. Instead, it flew toward himself. Then, it descended and circled around Su Mu, increasing its range as it expanded to a diameter of about ten meters.
Before the dark green halo touched the ground, Tang Wulin had already arrived at his destination.
However, a ghastly scene emerged in the next moment.
The moment Tang Wulin stepped into the dark green halo, the only thing he could feel was nausea. It was as if the sky and ground was spinning, making him feel as if his world was currently being flipped upside down. As his vision blurred, Su Mu vanished while he continued dashing forward.
Tang Wulin staggered and dashed for a few steps before steadying himself. Soon, he came to a sudden realization as he quickly turned around.
Su Mu was still standing there stoically. He did not seem to be much different from how he was before. The only difference was that the dark green halo beneath his feet was giving off an unusual shine.
Yes, it was only after stepping into the dark green halo that Tang Wulin began getting this ghastly feeling. ‘Could this be…’
This was the Reversal Halo! A control-type soul skill that was immensely powerful. This was Su Mu’s miraculous defensive skill.
He was a rather impressive control-type soul master even when he had only two soul rings. However, the moment he obtained his third soul skill was when he truly became Monster Academy top student.
The Reversal Halo was capable of reversing everything that entered its range. Attacks, be it long or short-ranged ones could be reversed. Even the movement of opponents could be reversed as well. Tang Wulin for example, would have his movements reversed when he dashed in such that he would leave the halo a mere moment later.
The halo was known as the Repelling Halo for a reason; it repelled every living being that entered its range.
This was the first time Tang Wulin had ever witnessed such soul skill. He was feeling a little curious while astonishment washed over him. Monster Academy deserved the reputation it had!
Su Mu smiled as he looked at Tang Wulin, gesturing for him to ‘please’ continue toward Su Mu’s direction.
Tang Wulin waved his right hand and a radiance streaked outward. The radiance was his Spirit Forged Heavy Silver Hammers.
They shot toward Su Mu ferociously with a howl but it was the same as before. Just as they entered the area of effect of the dark green halo, they were reversed and went backward almost instantly, shooting toward Tang Wulin instead.
However, Tang Wulin managed to raise his hands to catch the hammers. He was unable to help himself from gasping in admiration. “Reversal Halo… How impressive! It’s definitely something to behold.”
Su Mu’s second tail shook ever so slightly as another Soul Power Stripping halo flew out and encircled around Tang Wulin’s body. He continued to strip Tang Wulin of his soul power.
Tang Wulin did not move this time. Instead, he relied on the Golden Dragon Body to seal his own body. He was trying to reduce the speed of his soul power depleting as best as he could.
He looked at the dark green halo as his mind began working rapidly.
The Reversal Halo seemed like an unsolvable enigma on the surface, especially since it was capable of reversing anything. If that was the case, how was he supposed to break it?
First, he could exhaust Su Mu’s soul power to render him incapable of releasing the soul skill. This would naturally break the halo.
Secondly, he could dash into the halo by force because he believed that Su Mu’s halo had its limits.
The first method was rather unrealistic. Su Mu was a five-ringed Soul King after all. It was an unlikely event for him to be exhausted of his soul power, especially after Tang Wulin had witnessed the impeccable control he had over his soul skills.
Since that was the case, the second option was the only one left. Tang Wulin squinted as a glimmer was seen in his eyes. At the very next moment, he was seen, once again, dashing toward Su Mu.
Just as he was about to enter the Reversal Halo’s range once more, Tang Wulin stomped his left foot on the ground right outside the Reversal Halo. Streaks of incorporeal golden dragons emerged from beneath his feet but remained outside the halo. Instead, the incorporeal golden dragons gathered behind him, pushing his body by force to bore into the Reversal Halo like a cannonball.