Chapter 84: Ferocious

Sensing danger, Kaike immediately unleashed his Third Soul Technique, and the swirling water beside him coalesced into a massive water beast.

The Third Soul Technique, Form of the Water Beast!

If the tangible water beast charges at Tie Li, completely ignoring the destructive power of the purple lightning in the water, it opens its huge jaws, aiming to tear Tie Li apart.

Kaike's form hides within the water beast, awaiting the moment to unleash a swift and deadly strike.

Now he truly resembles a restrained sea ghost, impossible to ignore.

The fierce gaze stays fixed on Tie Li; those six chains, each over five meters long, give him a bad feeling.

The Second Soul Ring on Tie Li lights up; under the First Soul Ring's empowerment, the Second Soul Technique is a pure single‑target attack.

The purple lightning surges entirely onto the hammer, coalescing into a violet orb that, against the water's surface, looks like a purple light sphere.

"This is the Second Soul Technique?" Kaike's eyes suddenly narrow; it's stronger than any thousand‑year soul technique he's seen.

In the gathering place of Thunder Attribute Plant‑type Soul Beasts, Tie Li has refined his own thunder lightning attribute to an astonishing degree.

The Second Soul Technique, already bolstered by the First Soul Technique, also gathers all the purple lightning; the resulting onslaught cannot be anything but powerful.

If such a strong onslaught fails to erupt, Tie Li would begin to doubt whether his cultivation on Baidi is futile.

The water surface erupts with countless bubbles, like boiling water.

The crowd, previously boisterous, suddenly falls silent, only a few people's faces flushing red.

"Sss"

The thunder hammer slams the water beast's body, and the nearly solid form is instantly riddled with countless cracks.

With a booming crack, it shatters completely.

Sensing something amiss, Kaike darts out from the shattered beast, while Tie Li, already prepared, swings his chained arms, trying to restrain Kaike.

But Kaike is too fast; he still gets away by a hair.

Under the barrage of the Second Soul Technique, Kaike is already wounded, with faint crimson streaks in the water.

If he keeps fleeing, I truly have no way to deal with him.

The underwater speed is Tie Li's weakness; that must be acknowledged.

This is a common flaw of land Soul Masters; seeing the strong attack fail, Kaike immediately changes tactics.

"I don't believe you can stay underwater forever," Kaike mutters, his chest slightly concave—the spot just wounded by Tie Li's Second Soul Technique.

At that moment, Tie Li suddenly swims toward the surface, and Kaike thinks his chance has arrived.

He bursts forth with astonishing speed underwater, aiming to stop Tie Li from reaching the surface.

Just as Kaike believes he's about to succeed, he sees Tie Li looking at him with a teasing gaze.

"Oops!" Kaike silently sighs, sensing trouble.

But it's too late.

Having let you run once, will I let you run a second time?

The Third Soul Ring lights up; leveraging the Third Soul Technique's massive attribute boost, it unleashes an even stronger thunder lightning attribute, greatly enhancing the paralytic effect in water.

Kaike's movements become noticeably sluggish; the six chains bind his limbs and waist respectively.

"Mere chains, watch me shatter them."

Kaike's Second Soul Ring lights up, intending to smash the chains with brute force, but these six chains were forged by Tie Li himself, infused with thunder gold ore.

Not to mention a Three Ring Soul Honorable like you; even a Four Ring Power‑type Soul Ancestor would need considerable effort to break free by sheer force.

"Hm?"

Seeing the chains remain unmoved, Kaike senses something is terribly wrong.

Instinctively he looks up at Tie Li, finding Tie Li gazing at him with a teasing look.

As Tie Li pulls hard, Kaike's body is thrust uncontrollably toward Tie Li.

The long‑awaited thunder hammer suddenly slams toward his torso.

"Poof"

Kaike's body is hurled out of the water by Tie Li; the referee, who had been ready nearby, immediately steps in, catching Kaike and dissipating his momentum and arcs of electricity.

"Sss"

The moment the referee touches Kaike's body, he inhales a cold breath, already prepared, yet still gets scarred by the purple lightning.

He is a Level 47 Four Ring Soul Ancestor; even with precautions, he still gets injured by lingering lightning.

Isn't the thunder lightning attribute of his martial soul overly ferocious?

Looking at the half‑dead Kaike, the referee announces the Soul Battle result.

In the private box, Baron Daise, who watched the entire process, lifts the corner of his mouth slightly.

"His strength is great, and he's clever, knowing how to use external objects," the Soul King says beside him.

If it were him, he wouldn't think to use chains to extend attack range and restrict the enemy.

But this tactic only suits battles below the Soul King; when a Soul King is involved, external objects matter little.

At the Soul Emperor stage, it's almost negligible.

Count Daise is very pleased with Tie Li's performance; it's just that he needs three thousand years of whale glue, which makes him feel a bit sorry for himself.

"So young, and still needs whale glue?" Count Daise mutters softly.

Compared with Tie Li and Kaike's duel, the other two Soul Battles—one between a One Ring Soul Master and another between a Second Ring Great Soul Master—are just standard Sea Soul Master battles.

Basically nothing noteworthy; the stronger side wins.

Count Daise orders the steward to escort the three victors back to the Count's manor.

The steward brings the three to the hall, awaiting Count Daise's arrival.

When Count Daise appears, he holds three small boxes in his hand.

"These are advances on your reward; if the day after tomorrow you can defeat the Soul Masters sent by Count Bell, I will give you another reward."

Count Daise's generosity is well-known in Vast Sea City; that's also why when he recruits Soul Masters, many Soul Masters come in response.

Tie Li took the small box, slightly opened a gap, and the amber-colored whale glue lay inside the small box.

The three-thousand-year-old whale glue's color was deeper, and its emitted fragrance was rich.

A hint of joy appeared on Tie Li's face.

"The day after tomorrow is the match, so don't leave tomorrow; first conserve your strength." Count Daise specially came to Tie Li's side and added an extra sentence.

Just now Tie Li opened the wooden box, saw the whale glue, and the joy on his expression could not be hidden; this let Count Daise see his former self, fearing that tomorrow Tie Li would take the whale glue out to play recklessly and damage his vitality, so he hurriedly reminded him.

"Then I'll stay here first?"

Conveniently, that would save two days' worth of hotel fees.

"Mm, I'll have the steward arrange a room for you." Seeing Tie Li so sensible, Count Daise immediately had the steward arrange a room.

Count Daise patted Tie Li's shoulder, revealing a meaningful smile.

"Rest assured, you won't miss out on future benefits."

Nobles will win over outstanding Soul Masters; Count Daise thought he had grasped Tie Li's preferences, felt winning over Tie Li was a sure thing, and what he lacked most was women.

But Tie Li didn't have that idea; once he obtains another piece of three-thousand-year-old whale glue, he will return to Bai Ni Mountain to train, striving to break through to Forty Level within two years.

(End of chapter)