Around 20% of the soul power that the Hand of Annihilation took away would go back to her. The power of the Hand of Annihilation was built on the basis of strong soul power. As a thousand-year soul skill, it would deplete as much of Nan Qiuqiu’s soul power as a ten-thousand year soul skill. However, since it helped to restore her soul power, it was still bearable for her. After all, her enemy would suffer the greater depletion.
However, she did not regenerate any of her soul power from that blow. This also meant that her soul skill had been broken. It was destroyed by a summoned being. One had to know that the most powerful ability of the Hand of Annihilation was its ability to destroy summoned creatures! This was something Nan Qiuqiu had never imagined could happen.
“A powerful Hand of Annihilation!” Huo Yuhao complimented Nan Qiuqiu. It was indeed powerful. The palm that the Snow Lady thrust out was one of Ice Empress’ Three Ultimate Techniques, Snowless Glacier! Just as Nan Qiuqiu had expected, her Hand of Annihilation was very adept at fighting summoned creatures. While a spirit was not a summoned being, these two were highly similar. Hence, she was able to constrain the Snow Lady by quite a bit.
Without Huo Yuhao’s assistance in summoning Snowless Glacier, she would still be able to resist the Hand of Annihilation. However, the powerful Annihilation in it was something that the Snow Lady could not take. Huo Yuhao feared that in the subsequent battle, she would face more of this Annihilation. Thus, he recalled her.
Nan Qiuqiu looked coldly at Huo Yuhao and said, “Your summoned being is the most powerful one I’ve seen, as well as the most agile. Not only can it use its own soul skills, but it can even destroy its natural nemesis, the Hand of Annihilation. This is something inconceivable to me. However, without her, you’ll lose for sure.”
Huo Yuhao suddenly smiled and said, “Are you bullying a cripple?”
Nan Qiuqiu paused momentarily. Only then did she realize her opponent was in a wheelchair. However, she said resolutely, “A cripple? Are you an ordinary cripple? If you couldn’t summon such a powerful being, would you still be in this tournament?”
“Yes!” Huo Yuhao replied without any hesitation. “Don’t think that you’ve won. The competition is not yet over.”
Nan Qiuqiu’s right hand glowed with the Light of Annihilation as she said, “Then, I’ll end it for you.”
“Wait, wait,” Huo Yuhao’s eyes betrayed signs of panic as he said, “Don’t you feel shame when you bully a cripple like me?”
Nan Qiuqiu said harshly, “Don’t waste time! While your summoned being is powerful and is able to destroy my Hand of Annihilation, it took quite a toll on you. I can see that this summoned being has a close tie with you. While it’s powerful, it’ll take quite some time for it to regenerate after it has taken too much damage. There’s no point in you stalling.”
Huo Yuhao grit his teeth and said, “Isn’t your type my exact weakness? I’ll still beat you, though!”
When she saw Huo Yuhao’s determined and pained look, a cruel smile crossed Nan Qiuqiu’s face as she said, “Fine! Let’s see how you’ll beat me!” As she said that, she advanced toward Huo Yuhao slowly, step by step.
The judge watched the two of them chat. At first, he wanted to remind them to treat the tournament seriously. However, when he saw Nan Qiuqiu approach Huo Yuhao, he stopped. He was also surprised that she was an Annihilation-type soul master.
Huo Yuhao sat in the wheelchair with an uneasy look in his eye. His right hand gripped the wheels of his wheelchair. While he appeared calm, panic rose in his eyes.
“You, wait!” Huo Yuhao shouted.
Nan Qiuqiu stopped and said, “What? What else do you want to say? You’re really full of crap.”
Huo Yuhao said angrily, “Don’t think that you’ve won. I, I still have a trump card.”
Nan Qiuqiu grinned. This time, she grinned in joy. She suddenly realized that torturing her opponent psychologically made her very excited. This was akin to telling her opponent, “Resist me! The more you resist, the more excited I am!”
“Well done! I want to see you what your trump card is. I thought you said you could win? So what if you can’t win? Your summoned being is decent, why not join the Earthdragon Sect? I’ve never even heard of your Tang Sect before. The Earthdragon Sect is one of the top sects of the Dou Ling Empire.”
Huo Yuhao said angrily, “Rubbish, how can I join your Earthdragon Sect? Does this mean that if you lose, you’ll join the Tang Sect?”
Nan Qiuqiu said, “Yes! If a cripple who has lost his main offensive capability can beat me, that will mean that your Tang Sect is powerful indeed. So what’s wrong with joining you?”
“These are your words? How can I know if you’re trustworthy?” Huo Yuhao asked. As he spoke, he slowly pushed his wheelchair back. To Nan Qiuqiu, every single action of his reeked of fear.
“Of course I’ll live up to my words!However, you’ll have to live up to yours, too! There’re many benefits to joining the Earthdragon Sect. Let’s stop wasting time and end this!” As she said that, the tips of Nan Qiuqiu’s feet touched the ground as she charged toward Huo Yuhao. She lifted her right hand, and her fourth soul ring lit up once again. Another Hand of Annihilation appeared. However, this time, it was making a grabbingfor Huo Yuhao!
The wheelchair’s wheels stopped spinning because Huo Yuhao had lifted his right hand. The look of terror on his face was wiped clean off. What replaced it was a smile.
He raised his right hand and waved it slightly. A huge dark-golden claw suddenly appeared. This razor-sharp claw was almost 8 meters long, and several times bigger than the Hand of Annihilation. It was terrifyingly sharp, and seemed capable of tearing the world apart. Wherever it touched, the air would be torn into five, long, black lights. Space itself was being torn apart!
The Hand of Annihilation was itself annihilated instantly. As the dark-golden claws slapped downward, they enveloped Nan Qiuqiu entirely.
Instantly, Nan Qiuqiu, who had thought victory was at hand, was dumbfounded. The terrifying dark-golden claw had not reached her, and yet, she could feel that the protective layer of soul power around her was being torn apart.
I’m screwed! Nan Qiuqiu’s brain went blank. At this moment, all she could think about was survival and the smile on Huo Yuhao’s face.
At this moment, an emerald light suddenly surrounded Huo Yuhao. Following that, a huge pillar of light suddenly shot out from behind him. It aimed itself at Nan Qiuqiu’s body, enveloped her, and then moved her back 10 meters. The dark-golden claw that seemed only inches away from her body suddenly disappeared. It was forcibly retracted.
Nan Qiuqiu had now turned into an ice sculpture. Huo Yuhao remained in his wheelchair. To everyone present, he still looked like a cripple.
Everyone was silent.
This change in fortunes stunned everyone. No one thought that this youth, who sat in a wheelchair and who had only been battling with his summoned being, was able to attack with so much power. When the dark-golden claw appeared, the spectators, who were protected by a barrier from the arena, could still feel a terrifying aura. It was like a ferocious beast had appeared!
As he looked at the pink light glowing from within the ice sculpture, Huo Yuhao pushed himself up before Nan Qiuqiu. With his right hand, he tapped the ice and said, “Judge, I’ve won.”
Doubtlessly, with the sharpness of his claws, he could have pierced through Nan Qiuqiu’s body if he had wished to.
“Individual elimination Round 4, victory: Tang Sect,” announced the judge numbly, staring at Huo Yuhao in shock.
Yuhao retracted his Darkgolden Terrorclaw and tapped on the ice sculpture that contained Nan Qiuqiu. At the same time, he hit the ground with his right hand. His entire body and wheelchair flew a few meters into the air.
The pink light suddenly brightened, and Nan Qiuqiu broke free from the Ultimate Ice. Protected by her Protective Annihilation, the Ultimate Ice did not affect her as much as it did the others, and she had still been able to move. If she was given enough time, she could break out. However, this was because Huo Yuhao controlled the energy he had placed in Ice Empress’ Wrath. He did not want to hurt her.
“Stop!” The judge turned around and blocked Nan Qiuqiu. “The round is over, you’ve lost. Get off now. If you want to fight, you can do it in the team section.”
“I, I didn’t lose. You liar!” The last bit was aimed at Huo Yuhao.
The judge was perplexed as he said, “He has already shown mercy. If he really smacked you with his claws, you wouldn’t be alive.”
Rage made Nan Qiuqiu’s chest rise and fall vigorously. Of course she knew that Huo Yuhao had shown mercy. However, she could not accept it! How… How terrifying is he? All that earlier was a show. With such a terrifying move, why would he be afraid of her?
Huo Yuhao smiled at her and said, “It’s time for you to honor your word. The Tang Sect welcomes you. If you learn our Secret Techniques, the Annihilation power of your Rogue Dragon will increase greatly.”
“Pft! Who wants to join your Tang Sect, stop dreaming!” Nan Qiuqiu cursed as she walked off the stage.
Huo Yuhao sighed and said, “Trust is all a man has. If you don’t live up to your words, this incident will be in your heart forever. Your progress in cultivation will be harder.”
Nan Qiuqiu’s body froze. She turned around and said, “I made a bet with you. If you die, I don’t have to honor it.”
As she said that, she turned to the waiting area and shouted, “I’ll marry whoever kills this bastard!”
Her voice was loud indeed. Not only did her teammates hear it, but those in the main podium heard it too!
Huo Yuhao’s conversation with Nan Qiuqiu during the round had been inaudible to them. When she shouted that, a question surfaced in everyone’s mind. What exactly did Huo Yuhao do to her?